Feature
7 October 2024

Did you know that the Bible contains more than twice as many references to justice than references to prayer? Yet not many of us give significant attention to issues of justice, and even less of us invest time and energy to better understand biblical justice. Since justice is evidently important to God, it ought to be important to His Church, and to us. It deserves our attention.

What comes to mind when one hears the word “justice”? Many would think of retributive justice, a system that metes out appropriate punishment to those who have committed a crime. The punishment ought to be proportionate to the wrongdoing: the person should not be punished more or less than he deserves. Attempts at retributive justice can be regarded as unjust when such proportionality is absent. This is felt especially strongly when someone who has committed a serious offence is given a punishment that is much lighter than expected. People protest that this is unfair; in their eyes, the justice system has failed to be just.

The Bible does teach retributive justice, and this is particularly clear in the Old Testament. The book of Leviticus, for instance, specifies the appropriate punishment for a wide range of sins. The principle of proportionality is applied, as we see in Lev 24:17-20:

Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death. Whoever takes an animal’s life shall make it good, life for life. If anyone injures his neighbour, as he has done it shall be done to him, fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him.

“An eye for an eye” is not intended as a licence for violence, but as a way of limiting punishment to what is proportionate. Retributive justice is undoubtedly biblical.

However, to see justice only, or even primarily, as retributive justice is to have too narrow a view of it. The biblical understanding is far deeper and richer! The biblical vision of justice upholds not only retributive justice, but restorative (or reparative) justice. God’s justice does not only seek to punish wrongdoers but also to make whole the victims of injustice. In fact, restorative justice is more prominent in the Bible than retributive justice. More is said regarding restorative justice, perhaps because it is often counter-intuitive and counter-cultural.

Foundational to a biblical understanding of restorative justice is the concept of equality: in God’s eyes, all human beings are equal in worth, because He has made every one of them in His image (cf. Gen 1:27). Regardless of race, nationality, gender, vocation, or any other social categories, they have inherent value and dignity. Any action or system that disregards the worth of persons is unjust, and goes against God’s plan and design for humanity. The caste system upheld in parts of India is often criticised, but most, if not all, societies have an unofficial “caste system”. Even in informal settings, we often hierarchise people based on their socioeconomic status: the rich are esteemed, and the poor are marginalised.

Prov 22:2 challenges such behaviour by declaring: “The rich and the poor meet together; the Lord is the maker of them all.” Mindful of our inclination to show favouritism to the rich, James instructs us to “show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory” (James 2:1). We are not to dishonour the poor man (2:6) by showing favour to the rich man. James sees treating the rich and poor equally as an extension of the biblical command, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (2:8).

Scripture teaches us to recognise the dignity and value of each person, but it demands more than a mere change of perspective. Action is expected. Deut 15:11 instructs the people of God to “open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land”. We have a responsibility—both personal and corporate—to use financial means to lift up the poor and marginalised, for “[our God] raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honour” (1 Sam 2:8a).

Lev 19:15 instructs us to take things a little further still: “You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbour.” Our systems often favour the rich and powerful, but we must do our best to ensure that the poor and powerless are given their fair day in court. At times this requires advocacy, and we are to speak up for those who have no voice of their own. As Prov 31:8-9 exhorts us, “Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

Biblical justice is both retributive and restorative. When we lift up the poor and oppressed, provide for those who lack, and speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, we reflect the character of God. The Church in Singapore has been blessed with the resources to make a significant difference in our society by pursuing a biblical vision of justice. May the Lord grant us wisdom and courage “to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with [our] God” (Mic 6:8).

Christopher Chan serves as a priest with the Anglican Diocese of Singapore and is currently the Acting Vicar of St Andrew’s Cathedral. He is married to Adeline, and they have a daughter named Shannon.