What people today call “fairness” and “social justice” is what the Near Eastern civilizations called “justice.” Not letting income inequality decimate your country as the wealthy join land by land (Isaiah 5:8) and letting the foreigners and fatherless receive equal treatment as the native born and the wealthy. Here is what Psalm 72 has to say about government and justice.
O God, give the king your justice
and the king’s son your righteousness
so that he may judge your people with righteousness
and your oppressed people with justice.
May the mountains bring peace to the people
and the hills bring righteousness.
May he grant justice to the people who are oppressed.
May he save the children of needy people
and crush their oppressor.
Does this not sound identical to how we talk about "fairness" and "social justice"?
What people today call “tolerance” is what the Near Eastern peoples called “mercy.” The refrain that "we should be tolerant" cannot literally be about tolerance, because tolerance is putting up with something undesirable. You tolerate being in debt or an annoying coworker. So we must really be abusing the English language because we forgot what the word "mercy" referred to. Calls for tolerance are really calls for mercy.
"He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8)
O God, give the king your justice
and the king’s son your righteousness
so that he may judge your people with righteousness
and your oppressed people with justice.
May the mountains bring peace to the people
and the hills bring righteousness.
May he grant justice to the people who are oppressed.
May he save the children of needy people
and crush their oppressor.
Does this not sound identical to how we talk about "fairness" and "social justice"?
What people today call “tolerance” is what the Near Eastern peoples called “mercy.” The refrain that "we should be tolerant" cannot literally be about tolerance, because tolerance is putting up with something undesirable. You tolerate being in debt or an annoying coworker. So we must really be abusing the English language because we forgot what the word "mercy" referred to. Calls for tolerance are really calls for mercy.
"He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8)
