![]() ![]() A much-related term in scripture is mishpat, often thought of as “rectifying (or retributive) justice”-punishing wrongdoers and caring for the victims of unjust treatment. Righteousness is considered “primary (or distributive) justice”-that is, right behavior that, if exercised by everyone, would eliminate all of society’s social ills. In his book Generous Justice: How God’s Grace Makes Us Just, Tim Keller points out that the Hebrew word most often translated as “righteousness” in scripture ( tzadeqah) refers not to private morality, as many people wrongfully think, but to day-to-day living in which a person conducts all relationships in family and society with fairness, generosity, and equity. As God has said, “Cursed be anyone who withholds the justice due to the immigrant, the fatherless, and the widow” ( Deuteronomy 27:19), and to those who ignore the plight of the hungry, naked, sick, and imprisoned, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” ( Matthew 25:41). With each turn of the wheel, his righteous anger burns. This man-a prophet, maybe Amos-points to a flaming wheel, which represents God’s coming judgment on all those who fail to uphold social justice on the earth, who continue to oppress society’s most vulnerable people. The artist, Solomon Raj, set the focal point at the center, at the man in white. This over-seven-foot-tall batik (dyed cloth artwork for hanging), called Thirst for Justice, was commissioned in 2001 by Bread for the World, an organization that seeks to end world hunger. ![]()
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