Justice

“With liberty and justice for all,” concludes the Pledge of Allegiance many of us Americans learned as little children. This pride in “justice” is at the core of our conception of government but seems as well a deep inner sense of obligation. We instinctively decry injustices, morally offended at the breach they create. Whether a member of a revolutionary force seeking the overthrow of tyrannical government, or merely an armchair critic of some local court decision, we feel passionately about the issue of justice.

What does justice require? Conflicting answers to that question form the foundation of disputes ranging from international geopolitical issues to local tax policy. The universality of the term, and the desire of any “cause” to claim it, illustrate the richness of the concept and its ambiguity. Everyone claims their view is just. The fact that legal systems, philosophers and citizens all sense the need to claim that “justice” is on their side suggests the innate power of the concept.

What Is Justice?

While philosophers have long debated what constitutes justice, the essential meaning is at least partially clear. The images of the goddesses of justice in Greek mythology suggest some of the basic themes. The goddess stands sometimes blindfolded—a symbol of impartiality. Other times the goddess holds up the balance scales—a common symbol today of law. The scales reflect the weighing to find what is true and fair, testing the true value of what is weighed. These attributes are the basis for the judgment the goddess executes as symbolized by the sword often carried in her hand. In these images we have much of our common notions of justice—impartiality, truth and fairness.

These classic cultural images of goddesses of justice testify also to the transcendent character and transcultural commitment to the principle of justice. Our Western philosophic and legal tradition is rich in the search for justice. For Greek thinkers, justice was one of the four cardinal virtues. Plato gave justice a central role in the moral life of man and society, as the virtue which binds the common life. Aristotle devoted one book in his Nicomachean Ethics to justice.

While Greeks contributed the philosophic dimensions of justice, Rome focused more on law and administration. Romans sought to develop a legal system that embodied their conception of justice; their special contribution to the quest for justice was the systematic way they established and effectively administrated laws.

The Biblical Contribution

If Greeks and Romans dealt with law at the level of philosophy and politics, it was the “people of the book,” the Hebrews, not only with philosophy and bureaucracy but also with their concrete relational principles, who provided much of the moral and ethical dimension to justice that we inherited. Our very emotional commitment to justice owes much to our spiritual heritage from Israel. The Scriptures make strong statements about the concept of justice.

Justice is a dimension of God’s character. For the Jews, justice was not merely a human quest in the context of a world ruled by fickle gods, as among the Greeks, but rooted directly in the character of God. Thus the biblical witness about justice begins with the fact that Yahweh was a God of “justice,” and it is from this that the richness of biblical justice expands (Psalm 72:1-4; Psalm 99:4). Justice was found through divine revelation and not through human searching. There was an inherent and revealed justice which God, and to a limited extent nature itself, revealed. All nations are subject to this justice (Amos 1-2; Romans 1).

Justice is an ethical, moral category. The moral dimension of justice is demonstrated by the fact that the very word for justice in the Scriptures is often translated as “righteousness.” Justice is not simply a matter of structures, and certainly not abstractions, but is intimately connected with right living. In the New Testament we are encouraged to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). There is an integral relationship in Scripture between the concepts of righteousness and justice. To do justice is to act rightly. Thus justice is not so much a political or legal theory as a moral and spiritual call.

Justice is the duty of humanity under God. That justice is the demand of God for all nations, and the special duty of Israel, the covenant people, is made clear from the prophetic calls and denunciations. Injustice is condemned. Amos declares, “Let justice roll on like a river” (Amos 5:24), and the judgment of God falls on Israel for institutional and personal injustice. Doing justice is not a tangential or merely consequential aspect of God’s people—it is at the core of the obligation of a covenant people. So central is this duty that God rejects the worship of people who allow or participate in injustice around them (Amos 5:21-24).

Justice is chiefly action, not philosophy. For the Old Testament, justice was not a mere philosophic virtue. Indeed, little time is spent with the nuances of “justice.” The emphasis is on doing justice—on action. The prophets insisted on justice “at the gate”—the local court where the elders ruled. It was a justice that required fair dealing in business transactions, credit arrangements, buying and selling of goods, the administration of justice generally. Its enemies were privilege, bribery and unfair advantages (Amos 5:11-15; Amos 8:4ff).

Justice is concern for the weak against power and privilege. The Old Testament evidences a special concern for justice for the poor and oppressed. If there were any place where injustice might be observed, it was with the poor, widows and orphans who lacked the knowledge or power to assure justice and were often victims of “sharp” traders and corrupt politicians. Some have turned this biblical concern into a Marxist view of an oppressed class embodying truth and a liberation theology. It is, however, more properly seen simply as a recognition that these are the persons who are typically the victims (see Amos 2:7; Amos 4:1; Amos 5:11-12; Amos 8:4ff). This moves the biblical view of justice beyond a mere concern for imparticularity; it involves particularity toward those who are most vulnerable, for otherwise they will not receive a fair deal.

Justice and Objective Truth

In the biblical tradition one key element emerges about justice. We noted that justice is often seen chiefly in procedural or generalized terms, a question of fairness and equality for the law. Much of our modern sense of justice is also loaded with these procedural commitments: public trials, due process, equal protection and so on. But often the question is, What is fair? Unless there is some universal guide, a truth to which we turn, the debate is simply one of rhetoric with all claiming they represent justice. What is the actual content or substance of justice? Unless justice is merely procedure, then justice must also relate to what is “right.”

The biblical tradition is clear. Justice is not just impartiality of judgment, it is judgment in accord with right and truth—with righteousness. It is judgment in accord with an objective standard. It is fair because not everyone gets the same reward or punishment; the reward or punishment is deserved. Biblical thought was not alone in emphasizing the necessity of assessing one’s duties and rights in order to really “do justice.” The idea of right, giving people their due, is also part of Greco-Roman thought. According to Justinian, justice was “to render to each on his right.” Socrates saw it as “giving to each man what is proper or due to him.” Even the utilitarian J. S. Mill said justice was what another has a right to claim from us, and hence not mere generosity.

Thus one cannot really define justice or measure its achievement, or have some confidence in a permanent standard, without an inquiry into what is right inherently. Societies which establish justice without a reference to eternal standards typically degenerate into tyranny, as the communist experience so clearly evidences. Thus the issue of justice is ultimately linked to questions of theology, belief and so-called natural law.

Contemporary Confusion

The Divorce of Justice from Norms. “Jurisprudence is deserted,” declared one student of philosophy. Sadly the great historic relationship between justice and right that we have noted has largely disappeared. Little is left of the concept of justice but political advocacy. The collapse of a worldview has affected the study of justice as much as any discipline.

In today’s pluralistic and positivistic culture, justice loses authority and potency. There is no longer a consensus on what is “right” or “true.” Where this objective standard is absent, justice becomes an illusive quality without any defining limits. Justice has largely lost any real objective meaning and simply becomes a political slogan. The radical Marxist speaks of “revolutionary” justice while killing his opponents; the political activist might speak of “radical” justice or “gender” justice. Justice means only their personal view. We are left with a jurisprudence much like the biblical condemnation that “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25 NKJV). Compare this with Proverbs, where the discovery of what is “right and just and fair” begins “with the fear of the Lord” (Proverbs 1:3-7).

Justice as Mere Process and Skill. In today’s value-confusion, justice as the term used in political and social life is almost totally process matters—means, not ends. Justice is due process, hearings, public trials and democratic processes. This leads to justice becoming merely formal or instrumental. When it comes to ends and goals there is only silence or confusion. Parallel to this is a shift in philosophy and culture to see justice as the work of courts, lawyers and government. It has become a sort of skill or special interest of a segment of the community.

Most citizens do not see justice as an aspect of their own duty. This shrinking of the vitality of the principle of justice robs it of its social, political and spiritual meaning. Combined with its loss of moral content, it becomes less relevant. Thus the story of the friend of a supreme court justice who, on dropping him off at the court one day, bid him farewell with the advice “Do justice,” to which the justice was said to reply, “That is not my job. I do law.”

Christians and Justice

Teaching Justice. Christians, inheritors of biblical tradition, must be lovers and doers of justice. Yet too often justice has been a rare topic of teaching. Faithfulness to Scripture and to the character of God requires Christians to “let justice roll on like a river.”

Rooting Out Structural Injustice. We have sensitive radars that quickly detect personal injustices—disparity in criminal sentencing, unfair enforcement of the law, police brutality. Biblical justice is to be evident in every relationship—for example, fairness in business practices. However, justice involves not just individuals, but systems and structures as well. In Greek thought and in biblical traditions justice was not only an attribute of individual relations, but also a governing principle for society as a whole. Biblical thought compels the recognition that whole institutions and nations may embody evil and act unjustly. Indeed, often institutionalized injustice is the most difficult to root out because it is intractably settled into, and hidden within, the culture. Institutions such as slavery were long defended by people who were personally committed to justice but failed to see the structural injustice involved.

American evangelical Christianity has often ignored social and public justice. We have forgotten not only the biblical heritage, but also that of the Wesleyan revivals where the recovery of vital faith affected the public institutions of society. The antislavery movement is part of that heritage. Today issues of justice demand a prophetic and biblical voice. Areas such as protection of human life, genetic engineering, race relations, economic systems and criminal justice systems ought to call for the clearest Christian thinking.

Carrying Out Justice as a Calling. Perhaps the most critical need is to change our concept of justice. Justice doesn’t just merely reside in courts and books as we so often think; justice actively works in us when we are faithful to our calling and to our God. The church ought to be a community uniquely recognized for its vital commitment to justice. By so doing we might return the concept to its holy place—before the throne of God.

» See also: Laws

» See also: Social Action

References and Resources

J. Dengerink, The Idea of Justice in Christian Perspective (Toronto: Wedge, 1978); K. L. Oresti and M. Brouch, “Righteousness, Righteousness of God,” in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, ed. G. F. Hawthorne, R. P. Martin and D. G. Reid (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1993) 827-37; N. Snaith, The Distinctive Ideas of the Old Testament (New York: Schocken Books, 1964); M. Walzer, Spheres of Justice: A Defense of Pluralism and Equity (New York: Basic Books, 1983).

—Lynn Buzzard