 And so when I talk about justice or Christian theology of justice, I always want to begin with the scriptures. So I'm going to use the scriptures to define what I mean by justice, what I mean by the Christian pursuit of justice, to help us get beyond many of the divides that have us wondering about what's the Christian's witness in the public square. So first, a Christian theology of justice, and if it's okay, we're going to start with the Bible. We're going to move from the Old Testament, and we're going to say a little bit about the New Testament, and then we're going to get out of here. In the discussion of justice, for the Christian starts with God, in the scriptures depict God as the God of justice, according to the Psalmist, who declares that God is the King who loves justice. Also in Psalm 99.4, you hear that God establishes equity. Psalm 97 says that righteousness and justice are the foundations of God's throne. For God's reign, according to the Psalms, is rooted in God's justice. What does it mean, though, when you say that God loves justice, we're still not at a place of clarity? Our adventure to say that it means that God loves fairness or right dealing. For example, Deuteronomy says, you must not be partial in judging. Hear out the small and the great. You should not be intimidated by anyone for judgment as God's. In any case, it is too hard for you. Bring to me and I will hear it. So to say that God loves justice means to say that God loves to see people treated fairly and that he intervenes when this is not the case. But immediately we begin to talk about a God of justice and a God who likes fairness. We have to deal with the possibility of being overly simplistic because the moment you begin to talk about God as just, you have to qualify or expand that conversation because we did not always want God strict justice. We always want God's mercy and grace. And this is good news because God is often gracious towards us. And this is clear from the beginning because God's grace towards Adam and Eve means that he doesn't give them the strict judgment that they can receive, namely death. In grace intervenes again where despite Israel's idolatry, God reveals himself as the gracious and compassionate one who doesn't give Israel what they deserve. The Bible is full of passages where God's graciousness for a stall strict justice. For example, Psalm 51, where God is gracious towards David. David is very happy then in this context when God doesn't give him the strict justice that he deserves. And so there's an apparent tension in the Bible between God's strict justice, giving us what we deserve and his gracious desire to save those who call upon him. Much of Israel's history then is God not enacting the strict terms of the covenant. Instead we see over and over again a manifestation of his grace. He sends his prophets to warn Israel of their covenant violations because he doesn't want to punish them. Look at this noteworthy here though to note that God often speaks to Israel to highlight their injustices towards the poor. And this apparent tension between God's justice and his graciousness is ultimately resolved on the cross of Christ where we see the extent of God's justice, his graciousness, and his covenant faithfulness fully revealed in Christ. That is why in Romans God is depicted as both just in terms of keeping the terms of the covenant and justifier as the one who brings about forgiveness. So we want to talk about God as a God of justice and a God who likes everyone to be treated fairly. We also want to have at the same time a strong theology of God's graciousness that gives full weight to his propensity to have mercy upon us. So in the Bible also though if you want to continue to complicate this definition. In the Bible it speaks about God as a God of justice. This justice is often co-located with the concern for the needy. Here I have in mind passages like Psalm 97 and verses 16 to 18. God is repeatedly depicted as the champion of the poor. The poor can look to God for help when society has turned its back on them. In other words, concern for injustice towards the poor is the manifestation of God's justice. So one of the things that I like to say to people when we have this entire conversation is in some ways it can be bored all the way down to the existence of one word in the Old Testament and that is the word the oppressed. The Bible has a category for people in the Old Testament called the oppressed and these people are oppressed meaning they're poor, they lack resources and they're not being treated fairly. And these people aren't just being treated unfairly by individuals but society that steps upon their dreams. They're denied justice. And so the Bible often says the widow, the orphan and the oppressed, God comes and fights for them. So justice then is not simply about fair dealing. Justice in the ways it relates to the biblical testimony is God's desire to see the oppressed receive justice.