This is John at the Bible Project. This is the second part of our conversation on the

biblical theme of justice. Justice is a biblical motif that carves its way through the

entire biblical narrative and has its climax to Jesus. But the question is, what does it

look like to do justice? If I honor the Bible as a source of divine wisdom, I have to reckon with the

fact that this extraordinary emphasis on the vulnerable, people were vulnerable, and that their problems

need to become the problems of those with influence and resources and voice, and that that's the

definition of a just community. That just is the case. And justice and righteousness, it's primary

meaning is my posture towards the vulnerable and the poor in our community, and it's not simple.

If it were simple, these problems wouldn't plague our communities. There are many different ways to

think about that, and many people have different opinions on how it should be done. Regardless,

the Bible is pretty clear, justice and righteousness are central to the heart of God. Today, we're going

to have a complicated conversation about justice, and it's related word righteousness.

Thanks for joining us. Here we go.

So, this restorative versus retributive thing is blurring for me a little bit because

with the Exodus story, they kind of become one and the same. They're being oppressed,

which is wrong, and they're being taken advantage of, which makes them poor,

and then their poverty makes them more likely to be taken advantage of. So, they kind of go hand in hand.

So, is that the case? The Old Testament is just kind of this hand in hand thing that people who are

vulnerable are usually taken advantage of. So, really, this distinction becomes less and less important.

Yeah, Nicholas Walter Storff, he's a philosopher, he's a follower of Jesus, I forget where he teaches.

I kind of wish I had that last name. Walter Storff.

Walter Storff.

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