Little Book of Biblical Justice Flashcards
Jeremiah 22:13-16
Jeremiah attacks King Jehoiakim for building an ostentatious palace on the back of exploited labor.
Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice; who makes his neighbors work for nothing, and does not give them their wages; who says, “I will build myself a spacious house with large upper rooms,” and who cuts out windows for it, paneling it with cedar, and painting it with vermilion. Are you a king because you compete in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? says the LORD
What does God say it means to know him?
To eat and drink and do justice and righteousness?
Then it was well with him. He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? says the LORD (Jeremiah 22:13-16).
What are the 4-key components of Biblical justice?
- Distribution (entails the appropriate distribution of social benefits and penalties among contending parties.)
- Equity (Justice requires fairness and balance.)
- Power (exercise of legitimate power)
- Rights (honoring the rights or entitlements of people, especially in conflict situations.)
Why is justice real?
Because God is real.
From a Christian perspective, justice must have a real objective existence, because justice derives from God, and God exists apart from human speculation.
Why is justice one of the major themes of the Bible?
Justice is one of the most frequently recurring topics in the Bible. For example, the main vocabulary items for sexual sin appear about 90 times in the Bible, while the major Hebrew and Greek words for justice (mishpat, sedeqah, diskaiosune, krisis) occur over 1000 times.
Which aspects of life does Biblical justice touch on?
Biblical justice touches on every aspect of life—the personal and the social, the public and the private, the political and the religious, the human and the nonhuman—and therefore requires a variety of translation terms to encompass its various applications.
What does the Biblical language of righteousness broadly refer to?
doing,
being,
declaring,
or bringing about what is right.
What are two things righteousness in the Bible conveys? (R&R)
- Righting what has gone wrong.
- Restoring things to a condition of “rightness” or righteousness.
What does the word “shalom” mean?
Shalom is the Hebrew word for “peace.”
What does the word “shalom” denote?
Shalom denotes the positive presence of harmony and wholeness, of health and prosperity, of integration and balance. It is the state of soundness or flourishing in all dimensions of existence—in our relationship with God, our relationships with each another, our relationship with nature, and our relationship with ourselves. Shalom is when everything is as it ought to be. In this sense, shalom encapsulates God’s basic intention for humanity—that people live in a condition of “all rightness” in every department of life.
What ingredients are required to know shalom?
The achievement of both justice and peace.
They are inseparable ingredients of the same reality.
Justice cannot ultimately be established by…?
… justice cannot ultimately be established by nonpeaceful means. There is no justice in war.
“Covenant” is the Bible’s word for?
Committed relationship
The formal commitment which brings the relationship into existence and specifies the rights and responsibilities of both parties.
The law derives its authority from?
The will and purpose of God for human blessing and fulfillment.
(Not from the coercive power of the state.)
The law requires all covenant members to?
Act with justice and mercy towards each other.
Biblical law has a ____ or ____ function.
pedagogical or educational function.
Biblical law is addressed to not just legal specialists, but also to the…
entire community - spelling out in simple terms what life in covenant relationship with God entails (see especially Deuteronomy 29:10-12).
The array of diverse stipulations that make up the Mosaic Torah are better understood as representative…
samples of legal reasoning, built up steadily over time and in widely different circumstances, from which guidance could be drawn for other situations.
The purpose of “ultimate sanctions“ such as capital punishment is to mark them as…?
especially serious.
Biblical assertions about God’s active, punitive intervention in human affairs need to be assessd in light of the basic worldview conviction that….
Deeds carry their own INHERENT OUTCOMES.
There are forces at work within human actions themselves that carry the doers along in their wakes, bringing either blessing or bane, depending on whether the deeds are good or bad.
What is an essential prerequisite for human freedom?
Knowledge that human actions are of consequential importance, and we cannot escape responsibility for those consequences, for this is an essential prerequisite for human freedom.
In the biblical worldview, sin is considered to be not only a matter of moral failure incurring guilt, but also
a source of pollution or contamination which threatens to spread like an infectious disease unless it is eliminated.
