Old And New Testament Views On Social Justice Religion Essay

venerable And New will Views On Social Justice Religion EssayChristians regard the Bible as a uniquely important source for piece life on matters of belief and practice. For human beings to live a life that is meaningful and dignified, they have to be in a just and fair society that looks up to the need of otherwises. For this to happen justness has to be emphasized, it has to be the driving force.In the Bible, God clearly imposed kindly precaution upon his people especially the poor and the marginalized. In Bible, numerous passages such as in 1 John 3 17 and James 314-17 draw peoples attention towards neighborly concern and mixer umpire.DEFINITION OF SOCIAL JUSTICE.Defining companionable justice, Dr Paul Kengor said, Historically, social justice has meant different things to different people, and so equally today(Online). This line actually means that social justice is a just a branch of justice that accommodates all forms of justice, it being soda pop justice, economi c justice distributive justice, rectificatory justice and so forth. We can in this paper in that locationfore, say that biblical justice entirely consists of social justice because there atomic number 18 many chapters like Matthew 1823-35 it talks about penal fairness that needs punishment by the book but lacks mercy is non the kind of justice desired by God. Also in Matt 201-16 the summary on social justice is an economy of care for the crude good with social sustainability, healing, and transformation. marshall in his book said, There is huge amount data to deal with. There are hundreds of texts in the Old and New Testament, which speaks explicitly about justice, and hundreds more, which refer to it implicitly. Justice is in fact one(a) of the most frequently recurring to topics in the Bible (20053). What actually marshall means here is that, Biblical justice covers all aspects of life in terms of justice such as the personal and the social, the public and the private, the political and religious, the human and nonhuman.But on the other hand, such remarks may mean that biblical justice does not consist entirely of social justice, but also unconditional justices such as political justice and many others. Marshall said, Justice entails the appropriate distribution of social benefits and penalties and contending sorties(20056). Still more despite such analysis, social justice in biblical justice concept, remain inclusive of other justices because, the product of each justice is a social concern to the need.OLD will CONCEPTS OF JUSTICEMarshall in his book wrote, Often in Hebrew Bible, righteousness (sedeqah) and Justice (mishpat) occur as a word pair with just about identical meaning But let justice roll down like water, and righteousness like an overflowing stream (Amos 524)(200512. So this statement means that righteousness in the Bible incorporates the idea of doing justice and doing justice conveys the idea of putting right what has gone wrong.Soci al justice of the Old Testament indeed was concerned with heavy(p) according to need thought it worked antagonistically to the other it was really social justice and to another a different justice. For example, the obstetrical delivery of Israel by God from slavery in Egypt, it was a justice on social concern to them by God but it was under a covenant. Marshall said, Biblical justice is therefore covenant justice. It is the practical outworking of Israels special relationship with God (200515). We can say, that indeed God did well for the Israelites out of the obedience to the rectitude He gave them through Moses at Mount Sinai. The Law actually reviews what needed for Israel to live in peace, to experience what the God intended for human society, and all was make out of the covenant which was made.In this justice, Israel had seen God intervene in their liberation from the oppression of slavery, to lead her safely through the wilderness and to constitute her as a free independen t people. This became Israels own experience that God was a God of justice, Isaiah 308. Gods justice towards the covenant people was a call the Israelites to act towards one another I the way God had acted towards them, with justice, mercy and equity.It is also recorded in some chapters like in Leviticus 19 15 You shall not redeem an unjust judgement you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great with justiceyou shall judge your neighbour. It is aslo written on social justice in the Old Testament that, You shall not deprive a resident alien or an orphan of justice you shall not take the widows garment in pledge. Remenber that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there therefore I command you to do this, Deuteronomy 2417-18. This has actually pointed to Marshalls description of Gods justice for covenant, through biblical justice which leds to social justice and further with the concerns with giving according to need.Sometime, Biblical justice points at social justice with no concern to giving according to need. Marshall said, justice requires impartiality at other time partiality(200538). In Exodus 233, nor shall you be partial to the poor in a lawsuit. As for Marshall, he poits to this kind of justice in accord to what he called criminal justice. Actually, we can support his point with the biblical justice on social justice in Exodus 2221-24. God warns the Egyptians with His wrath in favour of the resident aliens, widows and orphans.In other instances, Marshall said, Gods bias or invidious option for the por is, ultimately, in the interest of equity. In the perennial struggle for social Justice (200541). This statement from Marshall actually talks about distributive justice that considers fair dealing between men. This is also a biblical justice of Gods bias according to Marshall, can be seen through Gods historic intervention to manner of speaking powerless impoverished Israel fro the hands of the Pharoahs in Egypt, and feed them in wilderness. This is Gods justice which is purely social justice which was give according to the neen of Israel at that particular time.The other Gods justice which is in nature of social justice that is concerned with the giving according need is actually in Deuteronomy 2419-2. This justice provides specific well-being and protection for the por and vulnerable. It is inform of law which guarantees access to food. They are given justice according to the need for survival. This is purely a social justice for social concern in biblical justice.OLD TESTAMENT CONCEPT OF JUSTICE.In the New Testament, biblical justice is not different from that of the Old Testament because the words that are used for justice remain the same, like righteousness but differs only that most of them are teaching by Jesus Christ. Jesus in part of this bible portrays biblical justice consisting social justice by barely giving according to the need. Marshall wrote, At the outset of His ministry, Jesus deliberately evoked this messianic expectation by defining His own mission in terms of bringing justice to the poor (200550). Indeed this is what Jesus had started to do, Isaiah 611. The life-time of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good parvenues to the oppressed, to bind up the broken -hearted, and to proclaim liberty to the captives release to the prisoners. For Jesus to accomplish this he spurned social discrimination, he promoted social justice and gave it according to the need.To the rich man who wanted to know he was to do to enter the kingdom of god, Jesus to him to distribute all that he had and share the money with the poor. This is another biblical justice from our Lord Jesus Christ, as sign for social justice, which he had promoted.To fight social discrimination, Jesus openly criticized the self-righteous arrogance of the religious experts and knowingly antagonized them by enjoying intimate fellowship with sinners and outcasts. Fo r example in Matthew 913 when He said, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners and also in Luke 527-23, a story of how He met Levi the tax collector and how the Pharisees and Scribes complained about it. Therefore, social justice of Jesus who is characterized by giving according to need viewed in Levis story, Jesus also assessed a new community, which was inclusive, and the poor were to be given preferential option.CONCLUSION.Indeed, both Old and New Testament provide Biblical justice which is entirely consist of social justice that is concerned only with the giving according to the need because it is a complex multifaceted reality. It relates to every dimension of human experience. Biblical justice to its social justice seeks to restore dignity to those who have been unjustly deprived of, to meet their basic needs.Jesus proclaimed of the Kingdom of God as a social justice. That is, proper use of wealthy and not excluding the weak and th e vulnerable from participation in national matters.