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Biblical Justice
Lesson Three
Justice Redefined(The Importance of Worldview)
Chapter 4 of the book “Why Social Justice is
not Biblical Justice”
Paul Jehle
Why Social Justice is not Biblical Justice, by Scott
David Allen, 2020
Biblical Justice defined
◼ Webster (1828) – the virtue which consists in giving to everyone what is his due… principles of rectitude…
◼ Conformity to God’s moral standard (commandments) ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ – God is Law & Love
◼ Communitive: giving people their due as image-bearers of God
◼ Distributive: impartially rendering judgment, righting wrongs;
…punishment for lawbreaking. Reserved for God and God-
ordained authorities including parents in the home, elders in the
church, teachers in the school, and civil authorities in the state
Social Justice defined
Oxford Dictionary - justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society.
“Individuality gives way to the struggle for social justice.”
Scott Allen (p. 43) – The tearing down of traditional structures and systems deemed to be oppressive, and the redistribution of power and resources from oppressors to
victims in pursuit of equality of outcome.
The Pattern (process) of Social Justice
◼ (1) Thesis of doubting God, attitude of our sin nature
◼ Social justice rests on the sovereignty of the group/individual and thus
has denied the existence of the Transcendent God
◼ (2) Antithesis of discontent/entitlement (no responsibility)
◼ Social justice rests on perceived injustice “with no fault of my own”;
must punish oppressors of perceived “oppressed” individual/group
◼ (3) Synthesis of denying consequences for one’s actions
◼ An attempt to equalize outcomes by treating people unequally and not
according to the rule of law, ultimately resting on vengeance
The Nature of God’s Justice vs. Social Justice
Biblical Justice
◼ Transcendent Law-Giver – God
◼ Rule of God’s Law and Equity
(restitution to victim)
◼ God-given Rights of Individuals
◼ Checks and balances against
corruption in people & leaders
◼ Due Process of Law regardless
of race, background or status
Social Justice
◼ Autonomy of Self / Group(s)
◼ Vengeance against Oppressors
(reparation to groups)
◼ Government-granted Rights
◼ Redistribution of wealth and
justice based on the oppressed
◼ Unequal due process based on
race, background or status
The Power of Worldview
◼ (p. 51) A worldview “is the (mental) window by which we view the world, and decide, often subconsciously, what is real and important, or unreal and unimportant” (Philip Johnson)
◼ Biblically, a worldview is the “set of
presuppositions or premises by which
our mind reasons for action”
◼ Logos, Word, means “reasoning” and is
the root for logic (premise to conclusion)
The Challenge of Worldview - to walk the talk◼ A Dichotomy with the Church and World
◼ Today’s Church is often isolated from the world (one extreme) or
integrated with it but not “in the world and not of it” (John 17:15-16)
◼ A heart after God but a mind rooted in the premises of the world
produces a dichotomy – we don’t “walk our talk” – (the dialectic)
◼ Inconsistent Living – you should no longer walk as the rest of the
Gentiles walk, in the futility of the mind… that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man… and be renewed in the spirit of your mind… put on the new man… true righteousness – Eph. 4:17-24
God judges or blesses a nation
based on the condition of His people - Psalm 33:12
Christianity vs. WorldlinessA Matter of Presuppositions
◼ Colossians 2:6-7 – rudiments of Christ
◼ As you have received (premise), walk (evidence)
◼ Rooted and built up in him, established (premise)
◼ Rudiments of Christ are internal, invisible, truth (absolute based),
positional… and bring forth the fruit of consistent living (behavior)
◼ Colossians 2:8 – rudiments of the world
◼ Worldly rudiments take you captive (prisoner), walk vs. talk
◼ God corrects us by the consequences of premises, lack of fruit
◼ Worldly rudiments are external, visible, experience centered,
performance based… or demanding outcomes from false premises!
Barometric PressureAddressing cultural influence…
He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world – 1st John 4:4
A barometer measures atmospheric pressure
(layers of air wrapped around the Earth)
God uses the culture around the Church as a barometer of its worldview
- An effective church transforms (influences) the culture is martyred by it
because it is salt and light (Mt. 5:12, 13-16)
- If ineffective, the church is “trodden under foot” or over-regulated and
seen as irrelevant by the culture (lacking active sanctification – Mt. 5:13)
Speaking of doctrine
…a little leaven leavens the whole
lump – Galatians 5:9
Leaven causes bread to
rise due to the gas
produced (air) as it is
mixed with dough
“(Jesus) compares the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees to leaven – even getting a little bit mixed in what you believe will impact
everything.” – Tara-Leigh Cobble
Leaven
The Value of a Conscious Worldview
◼ Everyone has a worldview, but we aren’t all conscious of it
◼ Being conscious of our worldview means…
◼ We readily see cause and effect from premises to lifestyle
◼ We learn to discern the seed from the fruit
◼ What you sow, you reap (Gal. 6:7)
◼ Today’s church isolates cause from effect – (the dialectic)
◼ The other extreme is to reverse cause and effect – (outcome-based)
◼ Seeking first the Kingdom (Mt. 6:33) – connects cause and effect and inspires us to apply His Law/Word in every area
◼ See Chart on page 166 of Go Ye Therefore and Teach All Nations
The Doctrine of Sanctification◼ Though the seed of truth has been planted (regeneration) it
must now germinate in the soil of heart and mind to grow
◼ The mind must germinate what the heart (spirit) has received
◼ Sanctification is the renewal of the mind or learning to think from
Biblical premises and draw conclusions consistent with them
◼ Heb. 4:12 states that the Word separates spirit (heart) from soul
(reasoning) so we can discern improper thinking
◼ Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also
◼ God designed us to be ruled from the inside-out
◼ To be ruled by God, we must think thoughts after
God and rise to a higher level of thinking…
BODY
SOUL
SPIRIT
Shifting Worldviews
Premodern – before 1700
◼ Based on Judaism, Christianity
and Islam – monotheism
◼ Ultimate authority (and justice)
in God and His revealed will
◼ The State must adhere to a
higher law (God’s, or some form
of religious accountability)
◼ Planted in 30 AD, and then 600,
it bore fruit through the 1830’s
Modern – 1700-1950
◼ Based on Science as “god”,
denial of God’s Transcendency
◼ Ultimate authority (and justice)
on the material (not spiritual)
◼ The State must adhere to the
higher law of scientific truth
accepted by consensus
◼ Planted in the 1780’s, it would
bear fruit in the 1880’s (100 yrs)
Shifting Worldviews, part 2
Postmodern – 1950 on…
◼ Based on the sovereign,
autonomous individual
◼ Ultimate authority (and justice)
is subjective and imaginative
◼ The State need not adhere to
any higher law, but itself can
impose its truth on all
◼ Planted in the 1920’s, it bore
fruit in the 1990’s (70 yrs)
“Social Justice” worldview
◼ Based on the autonomy of
selected, victimized groups
◼ Ultimate authority (and justice)
is determined by the oppressed
◼ The State is to impose penalties
unequally and selectively to the
perceived oppressors
◼ Planted in the 1990’s, it bore
fruit in 2020 (30 yrs)
Consequences of Believers retreating
◼ 1849 - Marxism/Communism re-labels counterfeit justice
◼ 1859 - It finds fertile soil in the theory of Evolution
◼ Though Marxism fails in Russia, China, North Korea,
Vietnam, Cambodia, Cuba and now Venezuela…
◼ It is still taught in American Universities, High Schools / Colleges
◼ It disguised its tenets with a new methodology and “clothing”
◼ 1950 - Cultural Marxism (Gramsci – Frankfurt School) used
◼ Oppressed victims as the proletariat – the working class
◼ Oppressors (Bourgeoisie) – business owners – are privileged…
Why is “social justice” theory so appealing?
◼ For many, especially the young, discovering a new meaning (for life)… is thrilling. Social justice ideology does everything a religion should. It offers an account of the whole; that human life and society… must be seen entirely as a function of social power structures, in which various groups have spent all human existence oppressing other groups, and it provides a set of principles to resist and reverse this interlocking web of oppression. - Andrew Sullivan, essayist, page 50
◼ When believers retreat from living out their worldview in their lives and the culture, false philosophies rise in influence
The Result of a Secular-Sacred Syncretism
◼ Religion – Christianity absorbs Liberation Theology
◼ Evolution - Theistic evolution, re-interpreting Genesis 1
◼ Charity – Government redistribution of welfare
◼ Ethics – Moral relativism, absolutes adjusted for victim
◼ Crime and Punishment – Society at fault, pay rehabilitation
◼ Law – precedent law (antinomian), judicial supremacy
◼ Foreign Policy – Nationalism, imperialism, utopianism
◼ Climate – “Climate Justice” – punished for producing liberty
PEERS TEST
1988-2018 – 30 yrs(120,000 youth)
Only 1% of Christian youth understand a basic Biblical
worldview in… P – politics
E – economics
E – education
R – religion
S – social issues
PEERS TEST
1988-2018 – 30 yrs(120,000 youth)
Only 1% of Christian youth understand a basic Biblical
worldview in… P – politics
E – economics
E – education
R – religion
S – social issues
The Danger we face…
◼ This exchange of false worldview presuppositions for true, biblical ones does not happen automatically when we receive Christ as Savior. It is a lifelong process, and it isn’t easy or simple. – Scott Allen, page 53
◼ I worry that too many people are trying to hold on to both Christianity and critical theory. That’s not going to work in the long run. We’ll constantly be forced to choose between them in terms of values, priorities, and ethics. As we absorb the assumptions of critical theory, we will find that they inevitably erode core biblical truths. – Neil Shenvi, page 54.
In Summary, why is Social Justice a Counterfeit?
◼ It redistributes wealth according to government, not God
◼ It rests on a false worldview, on man, not the Word
◼ It forces a believer into syncretism, merging secular and sacred
◼ It has rushed in where Christians have left a vacuum in culture
◼ Its fruit has demonstrated the cause of our slide to socialism
◼ We face a new generation arising with a secular worldview
◼ Believers who attempt to apply social justice will be constantly
frustrated, since its premises conflict with Biblical truth
