Thread: Forgiveness does not preclude justice. On the contrary, without forgiveness, you may pursue something less like justice for all and more like revenge for you- two eyes for an eye and two teeth for a tooth. Forgiveness and justice go together--our culture separates them. 1
If God wanted to forgive us without doing justice there would have been no need for the Cross. If God wanted to pursue justice without forgiving us there also would have been no need for the Cross. The Cross testifies that, with God, these two only exist together. 2/6
True forgiveness and justice exist together because (see Augustine) both are forms of love. A failure to do justice fails to love the human community and God. A failure to forgive fails to love your enemy and God. So forgiveness and justice can and must proceed together. 3/6
Our culture sees reality as mainly power. So forgiveness seems a failure to exert power over the perpetrator. But see Rom 12:18ff. Forgiving love is the only way to truly overcome evil--otherwise evil will capture, harden, use you as it did the perp. 4/6
Because of God's 'simplicity' we cannot pit his wrath/judgment against his love. A loving God will be angry at the evil that harms the creation and humanity he loves. God is too loving to shrug at sin and not do justice. But he is also too loving to just destroy & not forgive. 5
BTW - I'm working on a book about forgiveness (gulp!) I appreciate the various forms of pushback to these twitter posts and to the article. It helps me think it out. Thanks, all. 6/6
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