Justice and Mercy
Our understandings of justice and mercy are greatly influenced by our views of Jesus and redemption. Through texts like “Gods Work of Grace”, “A Spectrum of Views: Traditional Christian Responses to the Holocaust”, and verses in the books of Luke and Isaiah, we see a variety of different viewpoints that shed light on this topic.
A good starting point in understanding our views of justice and mercy is in the book of Luke. In this story we hear about Jesus approaching a few men who were traveling to another village and were talking about Jesus not being in the tomb. Jesus approaches them and converses with them about what they are talking about. It isn’t until the men invite him to join them at supper that they realize that …show more content…
This is a topic mentioned in God’s Work of Grace where God appears to Buddha but that this God might not have been the true God. Muslims, Jews, and other religions view justice and mercy different than Christians because their beliefs of God and Jesus are different from our own. An example of this would be the examples of forgiveness and mercy that Jesus shows in through the Bible that are different from what Muslims would read in the Torah. Because of these different teachings, we already have a different mindset on topics like mercy and justice. This is not to say that other religions can’t be saved, because that assumption would be exclusive not inclusive like Jesus shows us in the story of the Last Supper. Another aspect of mercy that many Christians assume is the fact that God can still allow non-Christian’s to be saved. “If people are saved in other religions, it is in spite of, rather than because of those religions as such.” (Tiessen 17). A reason why this is a fairly common belief in Christianity is because of the fact that God has control over justice and mercy and also that God is a forgiving and loving God who believes in second chances. Another example of the Bible affecting our views of Jesus and redemption and furthermore our insight on mercy and justice is chapter fifty-three in the book of Isaiah. This story tells about a servant who is ordinary in appearance and is hated and rejected, yet willingly takes the pain himself in order to benefit others. As Christians, we see this person as being Jesus which is different from what a Jewish reader would see it as. This is an example of differing views of justice because of how we ourselves might face difficulty in being Christians ourselves and our hope for justice to be served when we leave this life and enter into God’s
Our understandings of justice and mercy are greatly influenced by our views of Jesus and redemption. Through texts like “Gods Work of Grace”, “A Spectrum of Views: Traditional Christian Responses to the Holocaust”, and verses in the books of Luke and Isaiah, we see a variety of different viewpoints that shed light on this topic.
A good starting point in understanding our views of justice and mercy is in the book of Luke. In this story we hear about Jesus approaching a few men who were traveling to another village and were talking about Jesus not being in the tomb. Jesus approaches them and converses with them about what they are talking about. It isn’t until the men invite him to join them at supper that they realize that …show more content…
This is a topic mentioned in God’s Work of Grace where God appears to Buddha but that this God might not have been the true God. Muslims, Jews, and other religions view justice and mercy different than Christians because their beliefs of God and Jesus are different from our own. An example of this would be the examples of forgiveness and mercy that Jesus shows in through the Bible that are different from what Muslims would read in the Torah. Because of these different teachings, we already have a different mindset on topics like mercy and justice. This is not to say that other religions can’t be saved, because that assumption would be exclusive not inclusive like Jesus shows us in the story of the Last Supper. Another aspect of mercy that many Christians assume is the fact that God can still allow non-Christian’s to be saved. “If people are saved in other religions, it is in spite of, rather than because of those religions as such.” (Tiessen 17). A reason why this is a fairly common belief in Christianity is because of the fact that God has control over justice and mercy and also that God is a forgiving and loving God who believes in second chances. Another example of the Bible affecting our views of Jesus and redemption and furthermore our insight on mercy and justice is chapter fifty-three in the book of Isaiah. This story tells about a servant who is ordinary in appearance and is hated and rejected, yet willingly takes the pain himself in order to benefit others. As Christians, we see this person as being Jesus which is different from what a Jewish reader would see it as. This is an example of differing views of justice because of how we ourselves might face difficulty in being Christians ourselves and our hope for justice to be served when we leave this life and enter into God’s