“When you make your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not go into his house to collect his pledge. You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you make the loan shall bring the pledge out to you.” Deuteronomy 24.10, 11

Justice and the character of God

We have been making the point that justice, in Biblical terms, is an expression of the very character of God. God is just; men act justly when, in their actions, they reflect His being and attributes. The being and attributes of God are revealed in His Word, beginning with His Law.

We cannot have a just society where partiality in public policy favors those who are able, by one means or another, to garner influence for their special interests, whatever those may be. Nor can we expect that men, apart from some fixed standards, will be able to create anything other than temporary – and therefore unstable – terms and policies for a just society.

When our view of justice is anchored in the character and purpose of God, we may establish public policies that are reliable and sure from one generation to the next, and that do not favor one group or individual over another. Scripture, beginning with the Law of God, is clear concerning the nature and demands of justice, understood as a reflection of the character and purpose of God. Our responsibility, in seeking to apply the Law of God to public policy in our context, is to understand the nature of justice, as revealed in the Scriptures, and to think through the application of the ancient canons of God’s Law to our contemporary situation.

Justice as encoded in the Law of God is a jewel of five facets. Justice is obligatory, preventive, distributive, restorative, and retributive in nature, depending on the situation and circumstances. We want to examine each of these facets of a Biblical view of justice, if only in the briefest of forms.

T. M. Moore

Visit our website, www.ailbe.org, and sign up to receive our thrice-weekly devotional, Crosfigell, featuring writers from the period of the Celtic Revival and T. M.’s reflections on Scripture and the Celtic Christian tradition. Does the Law of God still apply today? Order a copy of T. M.’s book, The Ground for Christian Ethics, and study the question for yourself.