WHAT IS JUSTICE_by W.Mugambi Arimi

PURSUE RIGHTEOUSNESS, FAITH, LOVE, AND PEACE.
FROM 2 TIMOTHY 2:14_26

What is the meaning of the word PURSUE?
To follow in order to capture, to overtake; it is used metaphorically of seeking after peace.
What is the meaning of Righteousness (DIKAIOSUNE)? =which means the character or quality of being right or just, =Rightness- Which denotes an attribute of God = just=without prejudice or partiality= rightwise i.e. straight way=right conduct. All this means Justice.
What is justice?
In the pledge of allegiance to the flag we end with “WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL” which everybody except Wilson learnt as little children. Justice in the majority of many courts of law is mostly represented at the entrances by a lady/woman (a goddess) who stands sometimes blindfolded_ a symbol of Impartiality. Other times the goddess holds up the balance scales; the scales reflect the weighing to find what is true and fair, testing the true value of what is weighed. These attributes are the basis for the judgment the goddess executes as symbolized by the sword (Biblically it represented by the word of God as in Eph 6:17) often carried in her right hand. It is closely guarded meaning it is not there to be misused. It guarded with compassion. Compassion is represented as feminine. No wonder the guardian is then a lady. In these images we have much of our common notions of justice, truth, and fairness.
For the Greek thinkers (from whom we have borrowed heavily), justice was one of the four of Thomas Aquinas’ cardinal virtues=cardio (Latin) (hinge on which other virtues pivoted)). These were justice, wisdom/prudence, courage/fortitude, and moderation/temperance or self control. Virtue in this case relates to the nature of noble-minded, culturally developed person. T the Romans it signified the firmness and solidity that one who was noble maintained in public and private life. The classical tradition (epitomized by Socrates, Plato and Aristotle divided virtue into two categories: those that were moral: having to do with character, and those that were intellectual: having to do with the mind).Important to this was the concept of the mean, sometimes called “the golden mean.” All errors with respect to the virtues involve either an excess or a deficiency of the virtue in question. Thus the virtue of courage means that we ought to avoid the extreme of rashness or cowardice. The shortcoming of this argument in relation to the biblical teaching is that good cannot by attain by insight only. Thus Paul comments “what has Athens to do with Jerusalem? Although we can not deny that our Christian character has been profoundly shaped by these Greek influences. E.g.Thomas Aquinas. The fundamental assumption to this thinking is that grace (which is by faith) perfect nature.
While the Greeks and the Romans dealt with this at the level of philosophy and politics, on the other hand the people of the book (Hebrews) not only with philosophy and bureaucracy but also with their concrete relational principles; by providing much of the moral and ethical dimension to justice and therefore what we have inherited through our Judeo-Christian heritage.
Well, the scripture makes strong statements about the concept of Justice!Unexpected End of Formula
v That justice is the dimension of God_ for the Jews, justice was not merely a human quest in the context of a world ruled by fickle gods, as among the Greeks, but rooted directly in the character of God. Thus the biblical witness begins with the fact that Yahweh was a God of ‘justice’ and it is from this that the richness of biblical justice expands as stated in Ps 72: 1-4 99:4. Justice in this case was found through divine revelation and not through human searching. There was an inherent and revealed justice which God, and to a limited extent nature itself, revealed. All nations are subject to this justice Amos 1-2 and Romans 1.
v Justice is an ethical and moral category. The moral dimension of justice is demonstrated by the fact that the very word for justice in the scriptures is often translated as “righteousness” Justice is not simply a matter of structures, and certainly not abstractions, but is intimately connected with right living. In the new Testament we are encouraged to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” (Mt 6:33) To do justice is to act rightly. Thus justice is not so much a political or legal theory as a moral and spiritual call.
v Justice is the duty of humanity under God. That justice is the demand of God for all nations, and the special duty of Israel, the covenant people, is made clear from the prophetic calls and denunciations. Injustice is condemned. Amos declares, “let justice roll like a river” (Amos 5:24), So central is this duty that God rejects the worship of the people who allow or participate in injustice around them.(Amos 5:21-24).
v Justice is chiefly/highly action, not philosophy: In the Old Testament the prophets insist on justice “at the gate” –the local courts where the elders ruled. It was a justice that required fair dealing in business transactions, credit arrangements, buying and selling of goods, the administration of justice generally. Its enemies were privilege, bribery and unfair advantages (Amos 5:11-15; 8:4)
v Justice is the concern for the weak against power and privilege. If there were any place where injustice might have been rampart in the Old Testament was with the poor, widows and orphans (in Kenya orphans are being fed with Dog food) who lacked the knowledge or power to assure justice and were often victims of sharp traders and corrupt politicians (while I am speaking here the dragon of corruption in Kenya is snorting and resisting the noose of justice- talk of 1980 coffee scandal). Justice is a concern of those who are most vulnerable.
WHAT IS FAITH?
Faith is not a single act, though it begins with a single act. Faith is action, a commitment of one’s life to Jesus Christ. It is a process of continuous growth, development and Christian nurture from less to more mature stages. Faith is as much a verb or action as it is a noun. The concept of spiritual growth and development is found throughout Scripture.
According to Fowler, a person comes to the activity of faith through one’s community. For children that community is their parents. The community expands to include their Churches’ teachers and pastors, their denomination and eventually a community of committed believers regardless of denominational affiliation. Faith involves the person, person community, and God.
Faith has six developmental stages
1. Projective faith. This stage is based on the authority of one’s family and / primary caregiver. People in this stage imitate their authority figure and copy what they do. Ultimate reality for this stage is whatever the authority figures say is true and ultimate. Children believe whatever they are told by their parents.
2. Mythic-literal faith. This where authority is based on an enlarged community of faith e.g. Church.
3. Synthetic-conventional faith. This where a person synthesizes and identifies with a larger group of believers beyond his or her immediate Church and accepts their explanation of ultimate reality. E.g. catechism, Church membership etc. People at this stage accept the standard doctrine and other teaching of their Church and of the people in their denomination. Hence the word synthetic-conventional
4. Individuating-reflective Faith. Persons at this stage begin to evaluate and self-consciously reflect on the issues and problems associated with their faith commitments. This is the stage when one internalizes one’s faith. Ultimate truth is understood not just because it was taught by one’s faith community and acceptable doctrines of the church, but because it has been critically examined and accepted as one’s own. This strong commitment to this. This stage is said to start at late adolescence to adulthood, but many adults never develop this far.
5. Paradoxical-consolidated. This is clearly a stage of faith development that even few adults achieve. People at this stage recognize the validity of others’ beliefs yet clearly internalize their own. Their own truth is clearly and consciously held together with the recognition that “all truth is God’s truth.” A person at this stage goes beyond the clearly defined theological formulas and continues to probe deeper, higher and broader to discover more of God’s revelation. They live in the tension of having accepted clearly defined truth for oneself and yet recognizing that one has glimpsed only a small part of the ocean of God’s truth. There is more to be known of God than the creed and Church can teach us. We are responsible to search more and know the God of our own faith.
6. Universalizing Faith. This stage is very rare. The paradoxes and complexities of ones faith that have been wrestled with in the previous stages become less important compared to being swept up into the oneness of being in Christ. Example here is the anti- Nazi theologian Bonhoeffer, whom it said he was hanged in a similar fashion Christ, was crucified. In this stage ultimate truth is perceived not just as propositional but as relational. This stage calls forth a radical commitment to the ethics of the kingdom and an active participation in working out the righteousness of the kingdom of God in this present age.
WHAT IS PEACE? (EIRENE).
It is the harmonious relationship between men/women, between nations, friendliness, the harmonized relationship between God and man which is accomplished through the Gospel. It is a sense of contentment; it is Shalom/soteria/salvation, wisdom that is from above