1. Do God’s laws of restitution that are being promoted in prisons by Colson and others have no reference to God’s ultimate judgment and dealings with mankind? Does this restorative justice have reference to this life only and no connection with God’s final judgment? Is restorative justice in no way connected to or reflective of God’s eternal character?
2. If the word justice means righteousness or “right-useness” would not bringing someone to justice mean bringing them to right-useness or restoration? Is God’s final justice less than the temporal human stories of restorative justice where there is repentance, forgiveness, restitution, and in the most astounding stories, even victims and perpetrators reconciled? Could these temporal earthly stories outdo God’s overall Story?
3. There is now a clearer teaching in our churches that “justice” is not getting justice but rather doing justice. We are being taught that the goal of true justice is restoration of the perpetrator, not just getting even. We know from the Spirit of God that this is right and good. Would God do anything less in His cosmic scheme of justice?
4. What about the place of social justice that is a major theme in Scripture? If most of the world’s poor are from non-Christian nations then is social justice just a temporal fix for 90% of these people who are (destined either by statistics or by predestination) going to an eternal hell?
5. And when God speaks of “justice for all the oppressed” is He speaking for just the believing oppressed? If not then when do the world’s poor receive the justice they are promised when most die without ever seeing it? Do they receive justice for their unjust suffering after they die and then later are they consigned to hell forever for their “unbelief”?
6. Explain how millions of “unbelieving” children who have been victims of the sex trade receive their justice from God if they are without faith in Christ when they die after the “age of accountability”?
7. How will God give justice to two evil nations who have committed injustices to each other when they will both end up in hell?
8. How can there be justice meted out fairly if all unbelievers are consigned to the same sentence of “separation from God”? How do you have degrees of absolute and utter darkness? How do you have degrees of separation from God, the sole Source of light, life and love? How do you have degrees within the absence of everything that is good?
“It’s a pity the law doesn’t allow me to be merciful.”
Javert, Les Miserables