All Things Reconciled: Essays on Restorative Justice, Religious Violence, and the Interpretation of Scripture
Ebook
Overview
The modern restorative justice movement, perhaps one of the most important social movements of our time, was born in a Christian home to Christian parents, specifically to Christian peace workers striving to put their faith into action in the public arena. The first major book on the subject was written primarily for a church audience and drew deeply on biblical themes and values. But as restorative justice has moved into the mainstream of criminological thought and policy, the significance of its originating spiritual impulse has been minimized or denied, and subsequent theological scholarship has done little to probe the relevance of restorative perspectives for doctrine and discipleship. In this collection of essays, Christopher D. Marshall, a biblical scholar and restorative practitioner who has devoted his career to exploring the relationship between the two fields, considers how peacemaking Christians can honor the witness and authority of Scripture, including its apparently violence-endorsing strands, as they strive to join in God's great work in Christ of "reconciling to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross" (Col 1:20).
Top Highlights
“Peter and John were also repeatedly thrown in jail, and, like Paul, they too were sometimes busted out of jail by divine intervention.225 The early church was actually led by a bunch of jail-birds, and God was primary accomplice in their escape!” (source)
“But perhaps the strongest deterrent was Israel’s own experience of imprisonment in Egypt and the indelible mark it left on her national memory, and consequently on her social policy. Israel never forgot the bitterness of slavery, nor God’s action of setting her free from servitude. Israel therefore never used enslavement as form of criminal punishment.238 She did still practice a form of slavery, but never felt easy doing so, and covenant law built into the institution several limitations and humanitarian protections.239 Indeed in many ways Hebrew slavery was a more humane institution than modern imprisonment, for slaves were at least permitted to participate in normal family and community life.” (source)
“Rates of recidivism make a mockery of any claim to be ‘correcting’ people. Plain common sense should tell us that we will never defeat violence by throwing violent people together in a violent environment, especially in light of what has been called ‘the contagious nature of criminality.’251 Prisons are self-defeating because they foster the very behavior they purport to control. They generate the hatred and hostility they claim to correct. This is why, in the Bible, God’s solution is not to refine the prison system but to set prisoners free.” (source)
“In a world where justice rarely means peace or love or wisdom
but instead retribution and punishment, we are offered in
Christopher Marshall’s life-long train of studies in All
Things Reconciled an opportunity to reconsider the
basic meaning of justice.... by way of seeing that the God of the
Bible’s vision is for humans to be reconciled to God and for humans
to be reconciled with one another.”
—Scot McKnight, Northern Seminary, Lisle Illinois
“Christopher Marshall’s expertise as a New Testament
scholar, public theologian, and pioneering advocate of restorative
justice, is abundantly evident in this wonderful collection of
essays. Marshall guides us toward a more faithful reading of
scripture and to a more courageous participation in the peace and
justice of God. There is great wisdom here.”
—Murray Rae, University of Otago
“In this engaging book, Chris Marshall not only extends his
groundbreaking work on restorative justice, but reflects on what
his involvement in the movement for restorative justice has taught
him about Christian engagement in secular civil society, and
reflects on what restorative justice implies for the way we look at
God . . . Throughout these chapters, Marshall shows himself to be
both a skilled interpreter of the Bible and a wise guide to some of
the most pressing social problems of today.”
—William T. Cavanaugh, DePaul University
“A fabulous collection of writings by a long-term pioneer and
prophet of restorative justice. Marshall’s work is full of fresh
biblical insights and deep theological wisdom.”
—David Tombs, University of Otago, New Zealand
Product Details
- Title : All Things Reconciled: Essays on Restorative Justice, Religious Violence, and the Interpretation of Scripture
- Authors:
- Marshall, Christopher D.
- Swartley, Willard M.
- Publisher: Cascade Books
- Publication Date: 2018
- ISBN: 9781606087893
Christopher D. Marshall holds the Diana Unwin Chair in Restorative Justice at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. His many publications include Beyond Retribution: A New Testament Vision for Justice, Crime, and Punishment (2001), The Little Book of Biblical Justice (2005), and Compassionate Justice: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue with Two Gospel Parables on Law, Crime, and Restorative Justice (2012).