• Home
  • About Me
  • Blog
    • Apologetics
    • Atheism
    • Bible
    • Devotion
    • Church
    • Evangelism
    • Hiddenness of God
    • Leadership
    • Philosophy
    • Religious Pluralism
    • Science and Faith
    • Theology
  • My Books
  • Video
  • Talks
  • Invite Me
No Result
View All Result
Rick Mattson Outreach Ministry
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Blog
    • Apologetics
    • Atheism
    • Bible
    • Devotion
    • Church
    • Evangelism
    • Hiddenness of God
    • Leadership
    • Philosophy
    • Religious Pluralism
    • Science and Faith
    • Theology
  • My Books
  • Video
  • Talks
  • Invite Me
No Result
View All Result
Rick Mattson Outreach Ministry
No Result
View All Result

Bible Interpretation Part 4: The Justice Objection 1

October 15, 2017

In my prior three posts I responded to 1) the naturalistic objection to Bible interpretation, 2) the literalistic objection and 3) the pluralistic objection.

This post is about the “justice” objection, which has various forms but perhaps can be summarized as follows:

It would be unjust of God to reveal himself primarily in only one religious tradition such as Christianity and the Bible, and exclude other traditions such as Islam and Hinduism.

By “unjust” we mean unfair, unequal, showing partiality, biased. Any interpretation of the Bible that leads to these injustices cannot be accepted.

Two replies:

Human justice: The notions of justice just mentioned are grounded in human wisdom. But why should God be held to ideas of human justice?

If God wishes to reveal himself in certain ways and not others, that’s his business, his prerogative, his justice.

Source of justice: Where do we get our ideas of justice that we bring to God? If the answer here in America is “cultural preferences for fairness and equality,” we rightly ask, What makes American cultural preferences a reliable source of wisdom?

It wasn’t that long ago that “American cultural preferences” took for granted the inferiority of women and minorities.

* * *

I don’t wish to be a curmudgeon who dismisses the good intent of justice advocates in interpreting the Bible. In fact, I am a justice advocate myself in other ways.

But as a traditional Christian I think it’s important to ground our ideas of justice in the character of God rather than the character and ideas of flawed human beings and their ever-changing culture(s).

 

Next week: The justice objection of gender and race.

 

image courtesy of Pixabay

Share120Tweet75
Rick Mattson

Rick Mattson

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

About Me

Rick Mattson Outreach Ministry

Rick Mattson

Evangelist & Writer

Hello & welcome to my blog! My name is Rick Mattson and I'm a traveling evangelist/apologist.

SUBSCRIBE! You'll be notified by email whenever a new post comes out
Loading

Categories

  • Apologetics (152)
  • Atheism (47)
  • Bible (32)
  • Church (67)
  • Devotion (102)
  • Evangelism (52)
  • Hiddenness of God (9)
  • Leadership (65)
  • Philosophy (7)
  • Religious Pluralism (14)
  • Science and Faith (3)
  • Theology (1)

Popular

  • Apologetics for Kids

    Apologetics for Kids

    328 shares
    Share 131 Tweet 82
  • Tradition as a Guardrail

    326 shares
    Share 130 Tweet 82
  • Muslim Dialogue

    311 shares
    Share 124 Tweet 78
  • Objective Truth is Back

    306 shares
    Share 122 Tweet 77
  • What I’m Working On: Part 1 of 3: Inside-to-Out

    306 shares
    Share 122 Tweet 77
Facebook Twitter

© 2022 Site by 5BCreative

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Blog
    • Apologetics
    • Atheism
    • Bible
    • Devotion
    • Church
    • Evangelism
    • Hiddenness of God
    • Leadership
    • Philosophy
    • Religious Pluralism
    • Science and Faith
    • Theology
  • My Books
  • Video
  • Talks
  • Invite Me