Fray Luis Ponce de León entered the University of Salamanca at the age of fourteen and in 1544 joined the Augustinian order. In 1561 he obtained a chair in Theology at Salamanca; in 1571 he attained the chair of Sacred Letters as well. While at the University, he translated classical and biblical literature and wrote on religious themes. He was denounced to the Inquisition and was consequently imprisoned at Valladolid from March 1572 until December 1576; the charges against him were then abandoned, and he was released with an admonition. The first day after returning from four years’ imprisonment, all eyes were on him, waiting for what bitterness, what railing, what grudges were four years imprisoned in his heart, waiting for public vindication from his seat of power, his lectern. He began that lecture with, “As we were saying yesterday…” and continued with the sublime voice of his calling, which was to impart young intellectuals in this Spanish university we visited with truth and virtue.
I feel like I’ve been unable to speak for some time now on this blog, unable to write or even converse. But today I am back, and for me it was just yesterday. I would start with something very short, a simple thought that maybe is (or isn’t) profound. And this one is for my conservative friends. It’s actually more of a question.
The opposite of justice is _____________________.
(see comments for the answer)
4 comments:
The opposite of justice is injustice.
My first thought was mercy is the opposite of justice.
How does mercy differ from injustice?
Is injustice simply the lack of justice (in man's eyes)?
Is mercy a matter of some type of "blessing" (ugh, how I hate that word) being woven into the equation of justice-not-taking-place?
I think a lot of us think that mercy means eternal forgiveness without sowing and reaping ever coming into play.
My experience is that although God forgives me (and He has, and does), showing that He is merciful, He also is just, and in my life I reap what I've sown...even though I'm forgiven.
I see forgiveness and reaping/sowing as two totally different things.
And yet, it seems there are times when God's mercy takes place exclusively, and there is no reaping.
Other times it seems the reaping takes place even though forgiveness is (or has been) granted.
Because of seeing God unpredictably author things as He sees fit, I've given up trying to guess or know how He's going to address any situation.
I'm learning how to let Him be God, and just watch Him with my head poked around the corner, like a kid who stays behind but watches their dad closely as he goes off to do something.
I just read in Ezekiel this morning a reminder that God's dealings with things are when He sees fit.
This is hard to digest. Particularly when you're getting your nose bloodied every single day and there seems to be no end to the punches.
This is beginning to know what it was like for Jesus, to be pummeled and yet at the same time knowing God is with you through the pummeling.
You know injustice is going on, though it's hard to even see cause of the punch barrage.
I hate the idea that people think Christians are entitled to justice. Jesus guarantees us the opposite, folks.
And yet there's this "take a stand" Movement among the Body.
Whatever.
Of course, “mercy” is the predictable response for all of us that nursed on the tit of modern Christianity. Someone talks about the mercy of God, and what we were trained to say is, "Yes, but the Lord is also a just God..." And it's quite the shame. Not only because we were misled about the character of God but also because we were so busy thinking about our response that we never got to savor the thought that God is merciful. And just be embraced by that knowledge. It's truly an amazing thought.
Actually mercy is far from being justice’s bane. Mercy is justice in action.
When God says, “Let justice roll on like a river” it is not his anger at alternative lifestyles or his demand for holiness in a world whose mantra is tolerance. It is not a divine caveat to his divine mercy. It is the demand of a fierce lover on those with power concerning those without. It is a demand for those who bear his family name to identify with the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized, the maligned, the forgotten, the abused, the slaves, the weak, and to give them justice whenever we can. It is the recognition that the wealthy and the powerful and the popular and the dignified have no problem getting justice in exchange for their tangible or intangible goods. It is the recognition that there is no justice among Men, that it must be borrowed from Heaven. And wherever it is found, it is the recognition that Heaven has already come.
When the widow was knocking on the door of the unjust judge she wasn't looking for a fair hearing. The concept of a “fair trial” wasn't thought of for hundreds of years. She wanted something different: justice. That judge and everyone else already knew what was just, and she got as much of it as the world had to offer, as much as her money could buy, zero. The idea of maintaining justice in the courts is to stop allowing might to be right and weak to be bleak.
A lot of what I read in Christianity about justice is this idea that God is nice, but he's also mean. And when I read that I feel like I bought my ticket but wound up in the wrong theater or something. Because justice to God is rather something like: "the one who has power obtaining for the one without." God after all is known as "the Just and the Justifier so that no one can boast". Justice has more to do with the strong ones rescuing the weak ones, snatching the world out of the fires of injustice. With one word, God sent Jesus to give us justice. And I think he would have us speak that selfsame word.
But just to be sure, I did a search for where the words justice and mercy appear together in the Bible. I found three:
1. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. (Matthew 23:23)
2. This is what the LORD Almighty says:
Administer true justice
Show mercy and compassion to one another
Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless,
the alien or the poor
In your hearts do not think evil of each other
(Zechariah 7:8-9)
3. Hate evil, love good, maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the LORD God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph. (Amos 5:15)
Mercy and justice are not presented as the poles of God but as the way of God. God is just (merciful) and therefore he wants his children to be just (merciful) too. Mercy is justice in action against injustice.
That’s why justice and religion don’t mix well. Religion seeks to stay safe and secure within the confines of rituals like weekly assemblies and within codes of acceptability. Injustice settles right in on the front lawns of religion. Justice, on the other hand, is that riot in the heart that boils over into mercy for the oppressed, that can no longer stand to sit. Religion is mad about sin. Justice is mad about injustice. That is why God relays through Amos—
I hate, I despise your religious feasts
I cannot stand your assemblies…
Away with the noise of your songs
I will not listen to the music of your harps
But let justice run down like water
And righteousness like a mighty stream
The thing is—
God has showed me, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of me but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God?
And speaking of humility...I'm sorry that this turned out to be one heckuva comment and not much of an answer to you, bro. But what can I say? You got me all fired up!
"one heckuva comment and not much of an answer to your question".
That's pretty much all I do on your blog! HEH HEH
Your ponderings often prick my thinking, and I go off into stream-of-consciousness typing.
Touche!
LOL
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