I was so looking forward to read this book! Finally! Let’s address the injustices of today from a Christian perspective!

Oh, Jim…when will you learn?

This may be the dumbest solution to a real problem. The only way for judges to do their job well is for all of them to be Christians who study their Bible regularly. Huh. It was Christians who study their Bible regularly that kept slavery going, impeded the civil rights movement, and push for these horrible convictions and punishments in the first place.

Well, I had high hopes for this. Yes, we crave justice. Yes, we don’t have it like we should.

But:

<i>The correct starting point of justice must be - and can only be - God.</i>

But man interprets the Bible! The author and I are on the same page about the need for justice in our world. But I don’t get how anyone can say something has to come from God. Because all of it is man’s interpretation.

<i>God is holy - He is the moral standard. God is righteous - He conforms to the moral standard. God is just - He requires His creatures to likewise conform to the moral standard.</i>

These all sound good on the surface - but they are going to conform to what man <b>thinks</b> God’s moral standard is - not what God’s actual moral standard is. See the difference? No one reads the Bible without interpretation.

And then we get into God’s wrath. Justice includes punishment - and God is all about that, too. According to this author, anyway. Quoting from Romans 13:

<i>Once a human judge determines if conduct was good or bad, justice is to follow. “If you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain,” and as God’s servant he is “an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer” (v. 4). Don’t miss the mention of God’s wrath. Wrath is God’s holy response against sin and unrighteousness (Rom. 1). God must judge sin. When He does, the Bible calls it His wrath. God expects human judges to carry out His wrath on evildoers.</i>

Oh, good god. Or, maybe not so good.

He then gets into unjust laws in the past. In this section, he described many horrid, racist laws that do not square with God’s law. But it’s still his interpretation. While I agree that all of these laws are atrocious, I don’t believe it’s because they go against the Bible, but because they take away human dignity and equality.

And then.

Oh no.

And then.

Ugh. He uses the Bible to suggest Row v Wade is unjust.

And then you realize he’s a fucking homophobe. He claims the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling is unjust “because it arrogantly dismisses biblical marriage.”

Justice for all! (Unless you’re gay, then fuck you!)

*sigh*

He suggests that we have injustice for 2 reasons: we don’t know everything and we have implicit bias.

The problem I have isn’t with the first reason - it’s with his answer to it. We must pray and discern the will of God. I’m sorry - but that’s crazy. What - we throw the First Amendment out the window, make Christianity a state-sponsored religion and force all people in government to worship the Christian God and pray to him for all our decisions? I don’t see another path if this preacher has his way.

Now, I do love his chapter on implicit bias. I think this should pulled out of the book and be required reading for everyone. It’s an excellent primer on implicit bias - what it is, and how to avoid it.

Of course, we get to the next chapter - and in the same chapter where he says <i>Government leaders can suffocate individual liberty through laws designed to wrongly control its citizens</i> he also says same-sex marriage should be outlawed. Well, which is it?

And he tries to argue the same old faux Christian persecution bullshit - religious liberty is under attack in our country. Uh, no - just because you aren’t allowed to force your religion on other people doesn’t mean it’s under attack. The First Amendment is there so you can’t force your religion on others - not so you can.

But, then - I agree with all his suggestions for prison reform.

And he ends the book with all the crazy fundamentalist Christian end times shit. It cracks me up that people think they know exactly what the end times are going to be like - what judgment day is going to be like and what the afterlife is going to be like. Because almost every Christian denomination knows exactly what it’s like - but none of them agree.

And then, there’s this quote:

<i>An evil leader who was responsible for the slaughter of millions, such as an Adolf Hitler, will endure more punishment than perhaps a peaceful but unbelieving Aborigine who worked a subsistence farm his entire life. A child rapist and murderer will be sentenced to more torment than a moral, dedicated but unbelieving public school teacher. Everyone will be judged.</i>

This is so stupid. It still puts hateful believers above compassionate unbelievers. What kind of god is this?

Disappointing. So much potential. And so much crap.

<i>Thanks to NetGalley and Moody Publishers for a copy in return for an honest review.</i>

I am sorry, I did not realize that this book on social justice was tied to the bible. I have not read the bible, and know things only second hand through literature and pop culture. It seemed to read this book you needed to have a greater understanding so I am passing on this book. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

This book is different and in terms of its importance, I would highly recommend it. Due to the fact things in the world are getting worse, this book is relevant. Justice means different things to different people, so the author carefully explains what he means by Justice in terms of the Lord and not the world.

Few things grieve the human soul more bitterly than the taste of injustice. It is one thing to feel the last of the why when we are guilty; but to be victims of punishment when we are so innocent is exceedingly difficult to bear. "Justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us..we walk in gloom. We grove for the wall like the blind; we grope like those who have no eyes; we stumble at noon as in the twilight, among those in full vigor we are like dead men...we hope for justice, but there is none. (Isaiah 59:9-11)

The lack of justice can bring us to despair or it can bring us to worship. This text was a breath of fresh air. It brought to my attention issues I was not aware of and hope that can move me forward to others. The book is organized into 4 parts, each addressing a key questions.

Part 1- What is justice?

Part 2 - Why is justice Elusive?

Part 3 - How should we do Justice?

Part 4 - Will we ever see Justice in this World?

Without answering the first question, we will never move forward. Justice means different things to all of us. But is right? This is answered biblically and how we are part of the problem. This is a truth question. There is absolute justice just as there is absolute truth. Without absolute truth, there is no hope for justice. The text clearly shows when the starting point of justice starts with man, you will end up with varying conceptions of justice.

I loved his quote here.

God is holy - He is the moral standard
God is righteous - He conforms to the moral standard
God is just - He requires His creatures to likewise conform to the moral standard.

The stats that were provided were mind boggling and should cut to our hearts. How many men and women are in prison. We have 5% of the world's population and 25% of its prisoners.
The 3 strikes you are out has loaded up our prisons and jails. What is encouraging are the new enforcement initiatives to combat racism and our own leanings. Our own racism is so engrained in our own hearts, that we are not aware of it. But we need to be and we to combat those.

We need to be a people that love kindness, walk humbly and do justice.

A Special Thank You to Moody Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review

Although the structure of the book felt quite academic to me, it is a great way to introduce the reader to the concept of justice, how it varies from person to person, and what the purpose of the book is.

J.Paul breaks the theme “Justice” in 4 different parts. He defines what Justice is (using a theological approach), describes why it can feel elusive, provides practical examples of how Justice can be carried out, and discusses if we will ever see justice in this world.

A particular train of thought that stood out for me was when J.Paul expressed his astonishment at us thinking unjust situations will change but not turning up to election polls to vote for people who can effect such much needed changes that yield a semblance of justice.

There is a story he tells of a man, Potchen, who was given a second chance at life in a manner that spoke of dignity and justice. That story made me smile.

Rating: 3.5/5

Favourite Quote: “The wrongly incarcerated need an advocate. They need someone standing up for them. They need a person committed to justice who selflessly invests time in pleading their cases. You do not need to be a lawyer, judge or law enforcement officer. You just need to have a passion to see those wrongly accused gain justice.”

Is justice possible? That is the question J. Paul Nyquist, president of Moody Global Ministries, asks in his new book, Is Justice Possible?: The Elusive Pursuit of What is Right. Nyquist, writing as a theologian, is not writing about social justice, as theologians tend to do, but about "justice we see in the courts: legal justice." Nyquist discusses what justice is, why it is elusive, and what Christians should do in a world where justice will never be perfect.


The most compelling parts of Is Justice Possible are the stories Nyquist tells about times when justice was not served. Truly we live in a fallen world, and our efforts to do justice, no matter how noble or righteous, will fall short from time to time. Whether from imperfect knowledge, implicit bias, or evil intent, many men and women have been convicted of crimes they did not commit. Despite the imperfection of the system, "God still expects justice to be served through our government, leaders, and judges." God provides the measure of justice, for "without a righteous standard of measurement, we can believe certain actions are straight when they are crooked."


We can look forward to perfect justice, but not until the final judgment. "We can and do make mistakes in our rendering of justice today. We lack knowledge, are plagued by sin, and have implicit bias. We do our best, but we make mistakes. No mistakes will be made on that day. Every judgement will be perfect and right."


The hope Nyquist offers contrasts sharply with the many examples he gives of justice gone awry. But he doesn't leave us without hope for justice in this life. We can vote for elected officials whose platforms reflect biblical justice, we can advocate in defense of underrepresented or marginalized groups, we can acknowledge implicit bias and work against it. Nyquist's legal and political perspective is insightful and his theological perspective is welcome. Christians seeking a solid theological treatment of legal justice would be well-served to pick up Nyquist's book.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

What is legal is not necessarily right. What is right is not necessarily protected by the law. Put it another way, just because we have a legal system does not mean we have a justice system With startling stories of unfair imprisonment, abuse of power, lopsided punishment, and lack of fairness in meting out the punishment, we are reminded once again how elusive justice is even in societies that pride themselves about their premier justice systems. Petty crimes get crushing punishments. Suspicions are tied more to skin colour rather than the evidence of the crime. Wrongful convictions get overturned without much compensation. It is entirely human to crave justice for we are born with that inner desire to seek fairness. Distinguishing between social justice and legal justice, author Paul Nyquist focuses on the latter mainly because it tends to be more neglected. He also limits his description to the American scene and seeks to give a Christian response. With the big picture about possibilities surrounding the issue of legal justice, readers can use four key questions to probe the main issue:

What is Justice?
Why is Justice Elusive?
How Should we do justice?
Will we ever see Justice?



The key reason why earthly justice systems are inadequate is because it does not have the correct starting point: God. For God's justice is holy, righteous, just, and also merciful. Nyquist then defines justice as "the application of God's righteous moral standards to the conduct of man." It is not to reform people nor to suppress crime. It is to uphold God's holy righteousness. He looks at man's role in the execution of justice and gives biblical examples of the various ways biblical characters have imparted justice. God has consistently judged the peoples and nations for their acts of injustice. He then gives us four reasons why justice in our world is elusive. Man makes unjust laws; have limited knowledge of the scope of justice; darkened understanding of life; and implicit bias. Many of the chapters begin with a startling story of injustice, highlighting the unfortunate racial plight of the blacks and hispanics, made more evident in the chapter about implicit bias. As long as we are enslaved by the limitations of legislation, cognitive knowledge, spiritual darkness, and neurological effects, justice will remain elusive. The key is to get back to God and to obey Micah 6:8 by doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly. He deals with the political and the public arena, giving personal observations about issues such as:

Abortion: Roe vs Wade
Voting for political candidates
Same-sex marriage
Slavery
Personal liberty
Pretrial limbo
Overcriminalization
Prison Rape
Civil Rights
and others.

At the personal level, there are other activities we can adopt to increase our efforts toward better justice systems. There are suggestions like prison ministries, helping with released prisoners, donate to legal funds for the poor, and many more. Toward the end, we see a gradual awareness of heaven and the reality of justice systems on earth. Perfect judgement can only come when the Lord comes again. Thankfully, Nyquist concludes with a more positive note. He is aware that the shocking negative examples may lead some people to conclude that the present justice systems are hopelessly flawed. They are less than perfect but there are also good people in the legal system who will make things right. He ends with a heartwarming story of Mr Potchen who in his dire straits decided to rob a bank so that he could go to jail to have a shelter over his head and three meals a day. The judge saw through his plight and intention, decided not to jail him and put him on parole instead. It was an act of mercy upon recognizing the unfortunate set of circumstances that befell Potchen. That story alone moves the book from pessimism to optimism. It also gives us a better glimpse of perfect justice of what would happen when God eventually returns.


J. Paul Nyquist is President of the Moody Global Ministries and has served in capacities as pastor, professor, and leader of an international church planting missions agency.

Rating: 4.5 stars of 5.

conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of Moody Publishers and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

Nyquist does an amazing job at blending the gospel message of Justice, with modern day issues. The balance used in educating on our worlds injustices, yet steering away from the majority of political stances is admirable.

In Is Justice Possible? we are taken through a journey of the many injustices of our world. We seek answers together with the author and come to the conclusion that there is only so much we can do here on this earth. We can fight together for justice, as we should, but ultimately Christ will be the judge.