The truth is, there is a lot of talk today about things like “social justice”. It is often rather fuzzily defined – if defined at all. It is more meant to give you a nice buzz – to make you feel good. It is often little more than a motherhood statement, a mantra to sway the masses and push an agenda. Those who run with this phrase and this concept tend to be mainly of the left – be they secular or religious lefties. And when progressive Christians push this, biblical notions of justice are often marginalised, while socialism and leftist nostrums tend to be promoted.
A little while ago on the social media I posted the following: “Some folks – myself included – are now fully regretful of once being on the wrong side of history. As a wild and rebellious youth, I was one of those radical leftists who hated the West and who did all I could to see it destroyed. Obviously, my conversion to Christianity at the age of 18 put an end to that radicalism, and now I look back wondering how I could have been so blind.”
One person replied with this question: “Was it a strong sense of ‘Social justice’ that made you hate everything about Western civilisation?” I said this in response: “If it was, it was a misplaced and skewed notion of real justice.”
The truth is, there is a lot of talk today about things like “social justice”. It is often rather fuzzily defined – if defined at all. It is more meant to give you a nice buzz – to make you feel good. It is often little more than a motherhood statement, a mantra to sway the masses and push an agenda.
Those who run with this phrase and this concept tend to be mainly of the left – be they secular or religious lefties. And when progressive Christians push this, biblical notions of justice are often marginalised, while socialism and leftist nostrums tend to be promoted.
I have often written about these issues, such as here: billmuehlenberg.com/2013/01/06/on-social-justice/
And here: billmuehlenberg.com/2019/12/17/socialism-social-justice-and-the-churches/
A number of important new books have appeared on these matters that are worth being aware of. I am just now putting together an annotated bibliography on some of the best titles, and hope to have that posted fairly soon. So keep your eye out for that.
In the meantime, let me mention just one of these very good books. Last year Scott David Allen released Why Social Justice Is Not Biblical Justice: An Urgent Appeal to Fellow Christians in a Time of Social Crisis (Credo House). It is a helpful look at how biblical justice differs so markedly from what is being presented by progressive Christians.
While this article is not a proper review of the book, it will offer a number of key ideas and quotes from it. Hopefully this will encourage you to get a copy for yourself. Very early on in the book he lays out some key definitions. Biblical justice is “conformity to God’s moral standards” and involves “living in right relationship with God and others; giving people their due as image-bearers of God.”
