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“In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don't.” 
~Blaise Pascal

Demanding Justice

11/29/2014

2 Comments

 
This post isn't directly in regards to Ferguson, but the debacle that has ensued has inspired it.  On the one side, those who believe that Michael Brown did not need to be killed have cried out for justice.  But the cry is for justice in a particular direction, that is to say they want justice for Michael Brown.  On the other hand, some, like Sean Hannity of Fox News, have cried out for justice as well, but they are also crying for justice in a particular direction; they want justice for Officer Wilson.  The underlying implication of these cries is that getting justice for one person means not getting justice for the other.  Is this how we ought to understand justice?  Perhaps Scripture can help.

Throughout Scripture justice and righteousness are frequently used together, for instance in Psalm 33:5 it says that God loves both justice and righteousness. These two concepts are closely related, and they both seem to be hard wired into the human spirit.  This is known by our own experience as well as Scripture.  Although humanity's idea of justice has been impacted by sin, it is clear that the general idea of justice is present in all people.  The apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 2:15 that God's law is written on people's heart.  Law and justice are not the same thing, but they are interdependent.  So what is justice?  Leviticus 19:36 gives us a clue, it says, "You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin; I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt."  The idea here is that the weights used would be accurate in their measurement, unbiased toward the seller and the buyer.  In the realm of legal justice, law represents righteousness and functions as the weight by which a person(s) is measured.  

Justice is not achieved only in the measurement of righteousness.  In order for justice to be achieved an appropriate consequence or payment must be applied.  This idea is what is being referenced in Exodus 21:23-25, "But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise."  When there is a victim, there must be appropriate punishment towards the perpetrator and appropriate reparations made to the victim; only then is justice achieved.  

There are a couple of things absent in the discussion above.  First, there is the absence of emotion.  Nowhere in Scripture, that I can find, are the emotions considered in the determination of justice.  Whether a person "feels" that justice was done is very different from whether justice was actually done.  Second, justice for one person is not a negation of justice for another.  In other words, justice is about a passionless evaluation of the facts and appropriate judgment executed based on those facts.  When justice is achieved all reparations are made and all crimes are paid for.

Understanding justice isn't only about how people interact in a just way, it is foundational for understanding the gospel.  God loves justice He cannot allow for injustice; eventually, justice will be achieved.  This will not be achieved until eschaton, but the groundwork of the cross has been laid down.  The price for sin has been paid satisfying God's demand for justice.  For those who accept the gift of salvation they are declared righteous because justice has been satisfied.
  
In the mean time we have an imperfect justice system established and executed by imperfect people.  Nevertheless, when we evaluate whether justice was done in any situation these are the principals we ought to use in our evaluation.
2 Comments
Danny Wright link
11/30/2014 02:29:22 pm

I am just a moron and a loser, and I mean that. Just want to point out that in the third sentence of the second paragraph "humanities", ought to be "humanity's", showing possession of the "idea".

<i>"The idea here is that the weights used would be accurate in their measurement, unbiased toward the seller and the buyer."</i>

I'm not sure this is correct. Honest scales makes an honest transaction. If you pay for 10 ounces when in reality you are only getting 9.5, you are being robbed by the seller, which is generally the possessor of the scales; just like today when you buy gasoline, or bananas.

<i>" In the realm legal justice, law represents righteousness and functions as the weight by which a person(s) is measured." </i>

Not sure what you mean by this sentence. I'm going to assume that there should be an "of" between "realm" and "legal". Still this sentence makes no sense. But I am interested in what you're trying to say so perhaps you can clear it up for me... if you don't mind. Are you saying that <i>all</i> law represents legal justice, or God's law? Because man's law is not necessarily just. It is legal to crush and dismember the unborn because they are unwanted. I would say that that is unjust. Would you?

<i>"Justice is not achieved only in the measurement of righteousness." </i>

I'm not following this at all. What does righteousness have to do with justice? Did Jesus, who was righteous, need justice?

<i>"In order for justice to be achieved an appropriate consequence or payment must be applied. "</i>

For what? Has some unrighteousness occurred that demands justice? For the sake of discussion I will assume that there has been, though it is necessarily an assumption on my part, which should not be.

<i>"This idea is what is being referenced ..."</i>

What idea? I, the reader of your writings, have no idea what idea you're talking about. That idea needs some development I think. Of course I am just a moron and a loser, so it really could just be me.

4th paragraph makes perfect sense.

"<i>eschaton</i>?" My on-board dictionary doesn't have this word. A "bing" search gave me some ideas. My advice? Though you didn't ask for it? Lose the fifty dollar words when you can. But this is not a fifty dollar word, it is a hundred dollar word. I personally would not lose those, I'd shoot them dead. Perhaps when you're writing a peer reviewed paper for your super intelligent peers , wherein all those scholarly types will have a clue as to the meanings of hundred dollar words, but little else, such words will fly. But in the mean time don't send people on Bing searches away from your blog. My advice only, from a loser and moron, so take it for what it's worth.

<i>"In the mean time we have an imperfect justice system established and executed by imperfect people. Never the less, when we evaluate whether justice was done in any situation these are the principals we ought to use in our evaluation."</i>

They say that brevity is the soul of wit. Some professors like to think that they can say things unintelligible and get credit for being witty. They wind up looking more like a moron than I do, except that I know that I am a moron and a loser, and they don't. Here's my point. When you say "<i>these are the principles..."</i> you really should have laid out some clear principles as an antecedent to "these". And you should have done it without having to write a book, thus "brevity".

I love that you brought into the whole of your piece the Gospel. I love that a lot; but still, as I said, I am a moron and a loser, so what do I know?.

Keep up the good work dear friend. Think, think, think, and you'll be fine.

P.S. and BTW, "never the less" is one word: "nevertheless".

God bless. if you have comment moderation, please don't feel obligated to publish this. We all need frank criticisms, but we don't all need the whole world to see them... right?


Reply
John Byrne
12/3/2014 12:53:14 pm

Danny,

After reading your comment I went back and read what I wrote. While I don't have a Harvard degree, I thought the ideas and principals were presented in a reasonably clear manner.

Also, since this blog is more of a hobby for me, the amount of time I can spend responding is limited. I think if you go back and read the post carefully most of your questions will be answered.

On the other hand, if you would like to become my editor and help me find millions of readers so I can write blog posts for a living, I would be happy to spend more time crafting my posts to be even more clear and interacting with readers.

Thanks for reading the post, I hope you will continue to read.

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    John Byrne is a pastor who has been spouting off his opinions his entire life (just ask his mom).  This little blog is his venue for continuing in this tradition.

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