The pilgrimage toward peace
Peace is something that must be worked for, in King's opinion. Peace is not the default setting for the human experience, therefore, he believes communities have to band together and be brave to do what is right. That definitely comes at a price in this book. The main theme is that, just like the Israelites wandered in the desert, trying to attain paradise, so also the American South must wander through discomfort, violence, fear, and hatred, to eventually accomplish racial harmony and peace.
Religious transcendentalism
Martin Luther King, Jr is a Christian minister, but he is famously liberal in his theology. His appreciation of Eastern thought is obvious, and his approach to nonviolence is clearly influenced by Gandhi, who demonstrated in India for the removal of British rule. King is a transcendentalist who views religion as a pursuit of justice, which is thoroughly biblical. The way he interprets Christianity isn't emotional or hypothetical, but rather, he views Christianity as an urgent reminder to live justly, at peace with one another.
The healing of societal brokenness through neighborly love
When Martin Luther King, Jr encountered the gospel, it meant something radically different to him than it meant to the Montgomery white people, who read the same Bible every Sunday. To King, the story of Jesus was about social brokenness being healed through neighborly love. It is upon this idea that his famous argument is predicated: That nonviolence is to wish your enemy were your friend and then to try and accomplish that.
