The identification of divine justice with civil justice became the central theme of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 60s. This identification was consistent with black religious tradition and with the Bible. To justify his fight against injustice, Martin Luther King, Jr., referred not only to the Exodus and Jesus Christ but especially to the prophets of the Old Testament. He quoted Amos often: “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (5:24 RSV).
