Biblical Justice and Restorative Justice

The Bible was a source of inspiration for many who constructed the institutions of contemporary criminal justice. It was also a resource for some of the early practitioners of restorative justice. Its influence on both groups continues. The following articles examine the relationship between biblical justice and restorative justice.

Peace Studies programmes

from the entry on PCPJ Blog: Michael Westmoreland-White compiled this.... As a service, I thought I would list all the U.S. colleges and universities that have programs with names like “peace studies,” “peace and global studies,” “peacebuilding and conflict resolution studies,” etc. I found there were enough that I decided just to list the church-related ones and do the others in a separate post. Typically, such programs are multi-disciplinary involving faculty from several departments including international studies, history, philosophy, religious studies, international law, economic development, and/or political science or sociology. The earliest such programs in the U.S. were in institutions related to the “historic peace churches” (Mennonites, Church of the Brethren, and Friends/Quakers), but it has spread beyond them.

A justice that reconciles -- new study guide from Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand

 

Harris,Scott. Learning to Live with Evil.

N.T Wright’s latest book, Evil and the Justice of God, is an invitation to the Christian community at large to revisit the problem of evil. As a response to his own theological journey as well as the relatively recent barrage of international examples of evil, Wright enters into an open-ended academic dialogue wherein he tables his own well-reasoned reflections on the topic. More importantly, though, the pastoral quality of his writing solicits various potentially broader audiences to consider, for themselves, whether evil is real and how scripture informs our understanding and response to the issue. He proposes both a renewed Christian rubric for understanding and talking about evil and teases out the implications for Christian action in three areas.

Turner, Martin. David -- Restored at a Cost.

This sermon uses 2 Samuel 12:1-25 to discuss the consequences of harmful actions and the difficulties of restoration.

Hough, Katherine Lorelle. Restorative Justice and Restorative Theology: A Dialogue.

This paper explores restorative justice in criminal law and proposes a restorative theology for Christianity. It focuses on the process and practice of restorative in each discipline, noting the similarities, disparities, and where one discipline might borrow, with integrity, from the other. (author's abstract)

James Samuel Logan. Good Punishment? Christian Moral Practice and U.S. Imprisonment

"...this book will suggest that a Christian social ethics of "good punishment" focused on the contemporary United States practice of imprisonment can be developed through a re/constructive critique of the "Anabaptist Methodist" Stanley Hauerwas's theological ethics of punishment. To focus Christian social ethics on the contemporary United States practice of imprisonment, which is now employed on an unprecedented scale, is to foreground a major obstacle to the transformation and restoration of offenders in community as well as society at large. An assumption underlying the effort that follows is that incapacitating and controlling socially destructive persons is a legitimate social aim for any society wishing to preserve itself. Indeed, it would be naive to deny that in a highly complex society at least some minimum system of justice is necessary. This includes police, courts, and other institutions set up to adjudicate justice claims whenever some fair distribution of goods and/or rights has been "criminally" disrupted. In addition, society must continually secure effective ways of addressing criminal breaches of responsibility that threaten the cohesion of the nation. Central to Christian perspectives on criminal justice is the requirement of discerning the difference Jesus makes for Christian participation in society's understanding and carrying out of punishment. Christian must continually struggle with how best to embrace the praxis of criminal justice while demonstrating a politics of better hope for society. This better hope should connect the Christian worship of God to a radically reconfigured reality of justice ushered into human history by God's self-unveiled love and justice in the person of Jesus Christ." (excerpt)

Clapsis, Emmanuel. Violence and Christian Spirituality: An Ecumenical Conversation

"What is the relationship of our Christian faith to the violence we see in the world? How do we respond to violence in a manner that is rooted in our faith and our relationship to God? In this relationship with a God of peace and justice, how do we experience peace and justice in our own lives and labour so that they may be realised in the lives of others, in our communities, and in our world? These are some of the questions addressed by a number of theologians and lay people from different Christian traditions when they met in 2005 for an ecumenical conversation on Violence and Christian Spirituality. Edited by the Orthodox theologian, Fr. Emmanuel Clapsis, their papers cover issues such as Christian witness in overcoming violence, including reference to the World Council of Churches' Decade to Oversome Violence (2001-2010), the churches; response to domestic violence, religious freedom and human rights, and contributions towards an ecumenical spirituality for a culture of peace." (Editor's Abstract)

Townsend, Christopher . An eye for an eye? the morality of punishment.

The moral foundation of punishment is a problematic issue which has prompted several competing views. A biblical perspective is anchored in the principle of retribution: punishment is deserved in proportion to the seriousness of an offence. However, the biblical endorsement of retribution is qualified and carefully nuanced. The fundamental aim is not to inflict suffering on offenders but to reassert the existence of the moral order that governs human life. That moral order emphasises the connections between justice, right relationships and seeking after community well-being. For this reason, punishment should normally aim both at making reparation to victims and at restoring offenders into the community. Taken together these priorities highlight shortcomings in our criminal justice system and suggest directions for reform. (excerpt)

Schluter, Michael . How to create a relational society: Foundations for a new social order

In an earlier Cambridge Paper (September 2006), a biblical ‘Charter for Humanity' was proposed within a ‘relational framework'. This second paper seeks to answer the question, ‘How do we move towards relational well-being?' The place where the Bible sets out the foundations required to create a society of right relationships in terms of structures, resources and processes is primarily in the law which God gives to Israel when it is first established as a nation. The paper explores how these institutional norms, as deepened and extended by the rest of biblical teaching, provide the basis for social transformation today. (excerpt)

Smith, Patrick J.. A Method for the Maddness: Restorative Justice as a Valid Mode of Punishment and an Advancement of Catholic Social Thought.

Part I of this article will discuss the traditional justifications of punishment and their comparative strengths and weaknesses. Part II will then explore a relatively new approach to punishment known as restorative justice, analyze to what extent it is justified by traditional concepts of punishment, and examine its compatibility with principles of Catholic Social Thought. (excerpt)

Leverton, Reed. “Today you will be with me in paradise.”1 – The Case for Consideration of Restorative Justice as a Component of Christian Doctrine.

The scope of this essay is limited to a discussion of Restorative Justice as a different way of looking at the traditional view of criminal justice, as well as how and why its fundamental goals of encounter, amends, reintegration and inclusion combine to make it far more compatible with Christian doctrine than our present approach to crime and its consequences. The paper is conceptual in nature, and due to space limitations does not address specific procedures or modalities, nor does it provide a detailed comparison of the prevalent theories as to how criminal behavior should be addressed. Finally, the fact that it is written from a Christian viewpoint is in no way intended to be exclusionary; i.e., Restorative Justice has application beyond Judeo-Christian tradition;3 this paper just happens to be written from that perspective. (excerpt)

Manley-Tannis, Richard. Faith Based Mediation: A Discussion.

Contemporary mediation within our Western context is perceived as something that is new or innovative. The birth of the current model, and the ADR field in general, can be pinpointed to the late 1970s and early 1980s. This was a time when the need for alternatives to the existing judicial mechanisms was increasing due to overload and the realization that the equity of the system was often over-shadowed by procedure and form. What has been lost, however, or has remained on the periphery of most discussions, is that mediation has an ancient divine origin. To discern this ancestry, therefore, as the Midrash story goes, the image of God as present in the mud with us offers a humbling, yet invigorating, reminder that our creative sense does not exist in isolation. Mediation has been and is a metaphor of the potential of our own transformative relationship with one another and in turn with God. (excerpt)

Winter, Bruce. Punishment as Remedy

Bruce Winter is a scholar of early Christianity in the Greek and Roman worlds. In this article he reflects on a what a Christian vision of punishment looked like at the time of the early church, in contrast to the practice of imprisonment in the Roman world. Winter begins with a sketch of the nature and use of imprisonment in the Roman world before and at the time of the early church. This leads to a discussion of principles from the apostle Paul’s letters that provide a basis to reflect on the purpose of punishment. Winter concludes from Paul’s letters that punishment is not to be an end in itself; it is meant to achieve a purpose. Specifically, punishment within the Christian community is meant to be remedial for the offender and for the community. In this perspective, the ultimate intention or aim is to restore fractured relationships

Claassen, Ron. A Peacemaking Model: A Biblical Perspective

Building upon his prior paper – “A Peacemaking Model" – Ron Claassen extends his development of a peacemaking model for dealing with conflict, wrongdoing, injustice, and violence. He notes at the outset several key words in this model: peace-shalom; love-agape; forgiveness; confession; atonement; repentance; and trust. These words are used in both the faith and the secular worlds, but with a variety of meanings. One of Claassen’s strategies then in this paper is to use stories and traditions from his faith tradition (he identifies himself as a Christian-Anabaptist-Mennonite) to help clarify his understanding and use of each idea. His overall aim is that this peacemaking model and article will contribute to a dialogue regarding restorative justice in communities.

Bulmer, Garth. Restorative Justice: A Reflection of the Reign of Christ

In this sermon, the Reverend Canon Garth Bulmer reflects on restorative justice and Restorative Justice Week, beginning with his own experience as a prison chaplain as a young man. That experience changed his life and shaped his ministry. Thus he considers in brief the nature of restorative justice; issues and problems related to the use of incarceration; restorative justice and liberty, equality, and fraternity; circles of support and accountability; and restorative justice as a contemporary model of the reign of Christ.

Marshall, Christopher D.. Beyond Retribution: A New Testament Vision for Justice, Crime, and Punishment

In Beyond Retribution, Christopher Marshall explores the New Testament for teaching on crime and justice. He first explores the problems involved in applying ethical teachings from the New Testament to mainstream society. He then surveys the extent to which the New Testament addresses criminal justice issues, looking in particular at the concept of the justice of God in the teachings of Paul and Jesus. He also examines the topic of punishment, reviewing the debate in social thinking over the ethics and purpose of punishment-including capital punishment-and he advocates a new concept of "restorative punishment." The result of this engaging work is a biblically based challenge to imitate the way of Christ in dealing with both victims and offenders

Van Ness, Daniel W. Normalisation, Reintegration and Restorative Justice

Normalisation has much in common with the criminological theories of reintegration and restorative justice. Each is concerned with easing the entry or re-entry of previously-stigmatised individuals into the community as productive members. These movements are surfacing as a reaction to more formalised, offender-oriented (or patient-oriented) interventions, but they also challenge attitudes within the community. The emphasis on community reflected in each of these movements is not new; in fact, it is expressed in Jewish and Christian traditions and in the Old and New Testaments.

Bianchi, H. Biblical Vision of Justice

People use the concept of retaliation to justify a repressive criminal law system, claiming it is found in the Bible. A check of the original Hebrew text shows that where western translators use the words 'retaliation' or 'retribution,' the original words are related to peace. Compared to St. Jerome's translation and the King James Version, only the German translation by Martin Buber is fair and honest. The Old Testament does not say 'retaliate' when crime occurs, but rather recommends peace through conflict resolution processes. An 'eye for an eye' means a person should never demand during the negotiation more than the value of it. The laws of Moses are not rules of behavior, but an indiction of the direction in which individuals should go. The Ten Commandments mean that when people follow God's directions, they will not kill or steal. The criminal law system does not live up to its promise to bring justice, but instead provokes criminality. The legal system should be interpreted according to two Hebrew concepts: 't'sedeka' meaning to speak the truth, and 't'shuvah' meaning to stop something if it is wrong, repair the damage, and take another approach.

Hadley, Michael L.. The spiritual roots of restorative justice

This book consists of a set of papers examining religious and philosophical foundations for restorative justice. The papers grew out of the "Spiritual Roots" project, an interdisciplinary and international research project to explore multi-faith perspectives on crime and punishment, especially the traditional roots of those perspectives and how those roots relate to key ideas and practices of restorative justice. The perspectives examined come from a number of religious and philosophical traditions: aboriginal religion; Buddhism; Chinese philosophy and religion; Christianity; Hinduism; Islam; Judaism; and Sikhism. The distinctiveness of each tradition is respected, while their fundamental contributions to criminal justice issues are recognized. The collection also contains a substantial introduction by the editor to multi-faith reflection on criminal justice, a paper on philosophical theories of criminal punishment, and an epilogue describing specific instances where restorative practices were employed in aboriginal cases in Canada. Authors include academics and practitioners in the criminal justice sphere. The project and the book constitute a significant contribution to the exploration of religious dimensions in the formation of criminal justice ideas, perspectives, and practices.

Segal, Eliezer. "Jewish perspectives on restorative justice."

In discussing Jewish perspectives with respect to restorative justice, Segal points to the central importance of Torah in Jewish life. Torah, meaning "instruction", refers to a complex set of commandments from God to the people of Israel. In a strict sense, Torah consists of the first five books of the Jewish Scriptures. In a broad sense, Torah consists of those books and the subsequent tradition of commentaries on them. Adherence or obedience to divine law or Torah is in many ways more important than adherence to doctrine. At the same time, certain key doctrinal ideas in the Scriptures form the foundation for the Torah way of life: humanity created in the divine image; the common origin of all humanity; peace; liberty; love for others; the dialectical interplay of mercy and justice; and the freedom of the will (allowing us to turn from evil). With all of this as background, Segal discusses certain key ideas and practices in the Torah and in Jewish life that bear upon the nature of wrongdoing and response to it: restoration; punishment; and atonement. For example, property crimes required restoration of the stolen or damaged property, or compensation for the property. In addition to financial penalties, possible punishments included exile, corporal punishment, and capital punishment. It is noteworthy that rabbinic law re-interpreted many possible forms of corporal punishment (the "eye for an eye" of Exodus 21:22-24) into a system of compensation, and it made capital punishment very difficult to administer. Nevertheless, the Torah did not see a fundamental inconsistency between the imposition of punishment and what we might consider the more restorative aspects of adjudicating wrongdoing in the Torah.