“Justice, and only justice shall you follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the LORD your God is giving you.” Deuteronomy 16.20

As a general term, “justice” describes the condition of people living together in community according to the teaching of God’s Law. Justice is therefore nothing more than love worked out in all our relationships, roles, and responsibilities.

The Law of God explains the concept of justice as operating at five levels. Loving our neighbors requires that we understand the practice of justice and that we seek it always.

The five types or levels of justice are (1) obligatory: those practices that bind us to others in mutual expectations, such as vows, contracts, and good faith market practices (just weights and balances); (2) preventive: we saw an example of such laws in the statute requiring a railing around the roof; (3) restorative: when, whether by neglect or malice, we have caused our neighbor to experience harm or loss, it is our responsibility to restore his health or property accordingly; (4) retributive: at times restorative justice may require an overpayment of the loss incurred as a form of punishment against wrongdoing, or it may entail some form of physical punishment, including the death penalty; (5) distributive: the final form of justice takes into account our responsibilities toward those who serve the community in spiritual and civil leadership as well as the needs of the poor.

Each member of the community is responsible to understand the demands of justice and to ensure that, in all our practices, as well as in our communities, justice and only justice defines the terms of our social contract.

For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the life of faith, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Book Store.