It seems hardly necessary to make an argument for the universally experienced suffering and injustice prevalent in the world. If pain really is God’s “megaphone to rouse a deaf world”, as C. S. Lewis argues, then the message is deafeningly clear and God might consider turning the volume down a bit. When it comes to pain … More Crucified Justice 2: A Universal Yearning
I have so far in this series highlighted the inadequacies of two of the key aspects of the popular human system of social ethics: (1) that human beings have the ability to wisely and justly direct the course of history, and (2) that humanly created structures, powers, and programs are able means to bring lasting … More Cruciform Justice 10: The War of the Lamb
As we mentioned earlier, the humanistic optimism that drives the prominent secular theories of government acts as if human beings control the course of history. This is a responsibility too large for any human being and inevitably stirs up within them an overbearing anxiety, fear and despair. Many have therefore painted themselves into a Darwinian … More Cruciform Justice 9: Living Out of Control
The Cross calls us to a justice that moves us beyond the law of retribution: “An eye for an eye.” As Moltmann observes, “If evil is recompensed with evil, then the one evil is always oriented on the other evil, because only in that way is it justified.” While scoffed at by many, there is … More Cruciform Justice 8: Getting Beyond Retribution
Jurgen Moltmann is the foremost proponent for approaching the world’s suffering through the lenses of the cross. For Moltmann, “Christian theology must look at the question of Christ’s suffering before looking at the suffering of the world. It can only form a critical theology of its contemporary environment only in as far as it has … More Cruciform Justice 7: The Critique of the Cross
BRINGING GOD INTO THE MIX As indispensable as justice and peace are to a world of suffering and injustice, are these the highest goods worth striving for or dedicating our lives to? A biblically minded Christian must answer ‘No.’ For those who find their lives within the redemptive narrative of the creator and redeemer God … More Cruciform Justice 6: Between ‘The Rock’ & A Hard Place
BUSINESS AS USUAL IN THE ‘FIGHT’ FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE Before exploring the world-altering event of the cross and a cruciformed concept of justice, we need to spend some time in what will be much more familiar territory for most of us. I speak of the marketplace of ideas where ‘the fight for freedom,’ the … More Cruciform Justice 4: Business As Usual in the ‘Fight’ for Peace
Jeremy L. Berg 