Publisher Description

Christianity's demographics, vitality, and influence have tipped markedly toward the global South and East. Addressing this seismic shift, one of today's leading Christian scholars reflects on what he has learned about justice through his encounters with world Christianity.Philosopher Nicholas Wolterstorff's experiences in South Africa, the Middle East, and Honduras have shaped his views on justice through the years. In this book he offers readers an autobiographical tour, distilling the essence of his thoughts on the topic. After describing how he came to think about justice as he does and reviewing the theory of justice he developed in earlier writings, Wolterstorff shows how deeply embedded justice is in Christian Scripture. He reflects on the difficult struggle to right injustice and examines the necessity of just punishment. Finally, he explores the relationship between justice and beauty and between justice and hope.This book is the first in the Turning South series, which offers reflections by eminent Christian scholars who have turned their attention and commitments toward the global South and East.

Back Cover

Justice Matters Nicholas Wolterstorff's encounters with world Christianity have shaped his views on justice through the years. In this book he reflects on what he has learned and distills the essence of his thoughts on justice."Drawing on his experience of being confronted by those who have suffered injustice, Wolterstorff helps us understand why and how such experiences should make a difference for how justice is understood. His reflections on the relations of beauty, hope, and justice are profound and moving."-- Stanley Hauerwas , Duke Divinity School; author of many books, including With the Grain of the Universe and Hannah's Child "I have been so deeply grateful, over many years, for the gift of rigorous scholarship Dr. Wolterstorff has brought to the body of Christ. Now my gratitude expands all the more with his newest gift: his work on biblical justice made accessible for even wider audiences and, most of all, the sharing of his personal journey. This is a book that I will use in many settings for years to come."-- Bethany H. Hoang , director, IJM Institute for Biblical Justice" Journey toward Justice is not only a fine primer in the basics of Christian political thought, it is an inspiring testimony about what it means to seek the shalom that God intends for the creation, narrated in firsthand encounters with the realities of human suffering."-- Richard Mouw , Fuller Theological Seminary"Wolterstorff's Journey toward Justice is far more than his personal story of how his encounters with suffering people shaped his thinking (and life) around an active concern for justice. The book combines this story with deep and clear thinking, centered in the biblical revelation, about how Christians should think about justice and about the implications of a biblical concern for justice in the contemporary world."-- C. Stephen Evans , Baylor University"If you have not read Wolterstorff's great books on justice, you should. This book--accessible and profound--is the easiest place to start."-- Miroslav Volf , Yale Divinity School; author of A Public Faith

Table of Contents

Contents

Series Preface
Series Editor's Foreword
Part 1: Awakening
1. Two Awakening Experiences
2. An Evening in Amman
3. Questions about Starting from the Wronged
4. One Difference That Starting from the Wronged Made
5. Another Difference That Starting from the Wronged Made
Part 2: Justice and Rights
6. Opposition to Rights-Talk
7. What Are Rights?
8. Rights Grounded in Worth
9. Why Rights-Talk Is Important
10. Is Rights-Talk for Expressing Possessive Individualism?
Part 3: Justice in Scripture
11. Natural Rights in Three Church Fathers
12. Justice in the Old Testament
13. On the Claim That Justice Is Supplanted in the New Testament
14. Justice in the New Testament
15. On English Translations of the New Testament
16. More about Justice in the New Testament
17. Justice and Love
18. Justice, Love, and Shalom
19. Does Scripture Imply a Right Order Conception of Justice?
Part 4: Righting Injustice
20. Human Rights
21. Six Days in South Africa
22. Art in the Struggle to Right Injustice
23. On the Blocking of Empathy and the Hardening of Hearts
24. The Structure of Social Justice Movements
Part 5: Just Punishment
25. A Visit to Honduras
26. St. Paul's Rejection of Retributive Punishment
27. What Paul Said about the Task and Authority of the State
28. Justice, Forgiveness, and Punishment
Part 6: Beauty, Hope, and Justice
29. Justice and Beauty
30. Hope
31. Recap
Index

Long Description

Christianity's demographics, vitality, and influence have tipped markedly toward the global South and East. Addressing this seismic shift, one of today's leading Christian scholars reflects on what he has learned about justice through his encounters with world Christianity.Philosopher Nicholas Wolterstorff's experiences in South Africa, the Middle East, and Honduras have shaped his views on justice through the years. In this book he offers readers an autobiographical tour, distilling the essence of his thoughts on the topic. After describing how he came to think about justice as he does and reviewing the theory of justice he developed in earlier writings, Wolterstorff shows how deeply embedded justice is in Christian Scripture. He reflects on the difficult struggle to right injustice and examines the necessity of just punishment. Finally, he explores the relationship between justice and beauty and between justice and hope.This book is the first in the Turning South series, which offers reflections by eminent Christian scholars who have turned their attention and commitments toward the global South and East.

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