Confronting Injustice without Compromising Truth: 12 Questions Christians Should Ask about Social Justice
Overview
God does not suggest, he commands that we do justice.
Social justice is not optional for the Christian. All injustice affects others, so talking about justice that isn’t social is like talking about water that isn’t wet or a square with no right angles. But the Bible's call to seek justice is not a call to superficial, kneejerk activism. We are not merely commanded to execute justice, but to “truly execute justice.” The God who commands us to seek justice is the same God who commands us to “test everything” and “hold fast to what is good.”
Drawing from a diverse range of theologians, sociologists, artists, and activists, Thaddeus Williams builds a case that we must be discerning if we are to “truly execute justice” as Scripture commands. Not everything called “social justice” today is compatible with a biblical vision of a better world. The Bible offers hopeful and distinctive answers to deep questions of worship, community, salvation, and knowledge that ought to mark a uniquely Christian pursuit of justice.
In Confronting Injustice without Compromising Truth, Williams confronts our religious and political tribalism and challenges readers to discover what the Bible and the example of Jesus have to teach us about justice. He presents a compelling vision of justice for all God's image-bearers that offers hopeful answers to life’s biggest questions.
This is a Logos Reader Edition. Learn more.
- Features contributions from a diverse range of theologians, sociologists, artists, and activists
- Brings in unique voices to talk about their experiences with various social justice issues
- Challenges readers to discover what the Bible and the example of Jesus have to teach us about justice
- Part 1: Jehovah or Jezebel? Three Questions about Social Justice and Worship
- Part 2: Unity or Uproar? Three Questions about Social Justice and Community
- Part 3: Sinners or Systems? Three Questions about Social Justice and Salvation
- Part 4: Truth or Tribes Thinking? Three Questions about Social Justice and Knowledge
Top Highlights
“Look deep enough underneath any horizontal human-against-human injustice and you will always find a vertical human-against-God injustice, a refusal to give the Creator the worship only the Creator is due. All injustice is a violation of the first commandment.” (Page 18)
“If we infuse the terms systemic and injustice with biblical meaning, then systemic injustice is any system that either requires or encourages those within the system to break the moral laws God revealed for his creatures’ flourishing.” (Page 79)
“We are, each of us, far more corrupt and corruptible, capable of unleashing far more injustice, than we admit to ourselves.” (Page 16)
“The first commandment, to have no gods before God, is where any authentically Christian vision of justice begins. Devalue the original by putting something else in his place and it’s easier to treat the images like garbage.” (Page 17)
“Second, Paul told the truth that being ‘in Christ Jesus’ is a new identity that transcends other group identities” (Page 48)
This is the most important book I have recommended in over twenty years. I have known Professor Williams for many years as a graduate student, friend, and faculty colleague. He is recognized as a person who walks what he talks. Thus, he brings biblical rigor, fidelity, cultural sensitivity, and concern to the topics in this book. It is now the go-to resource for clear, biblical thinking about social justice. I know of no other evangelical book with such rigor, insight, biblical fidelity, ethical maturity, and breadth of coverage as this one. This is the book for you!
—J. P. Moreland, distinguished professor of philosophy, Talbot School of Theology; author of Finding Quiet
Confronting Injustice without Compromising Truth is the book I’ve been waiting for! This is the book that explains and analyzes the social justice movement—that treats it fairly and evaluates it critically. This is the book that prioritizes the gospel as the foundation for any true justice. This is the book that helps Christians understand why they must emphasize social justice, but why they must emphasize the right kind of social justice. This is the book I highly recommend.
—Tim Challies, blogger at www.challies.com, author of Do More Better
Williams offers a needed correction to some of the excesses in today’s modern social justice movement. He does so without denying the existence of many of the problems such movements hope to address. The addition of Confronting Injustice without Compromising Truth to our personal libraries will help us to move closer to a holistic approach to issues tied to social justice.
—George Yancey, professor of sociology, Baylor University; author of Beyond Racial Gridlock
- Title: Confronting Injustice without Compromising Truth: 12 Questions Christians Should Ask about Social Justice
- Author: Thaddeus J. Williams
- Publisher: Zondervan
- Print Publication Date: 2020
- Logos Release Date: 2020
- Pages: 261
- Era: era:contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
- Subjects: Social justice › Religious aspects--Christianity; Christianity and justice
- ISBNs: 9780310124498, 9780310119494, 9780310119500, 9780310119487, 0310124492, 0310119499, 0310119502, 0310119480
- Resource ID: LLS:CONFINJUSTICE
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-29T22:57:15Z
Reviews
4 ratings
Donald A Cheyney
1/22/2021
Edith
12/30/2020
David Wolcott
12/17/2020
Social justice is one of the most important topics today but also one of the least understood. This is the keyword used to signify that we care about lives and rights and yet there is so much fighting in society over these two words. What can we do to seek peace and justice amid such division? Thaddeus Williams provides the best path forward by actually seeking justice on the very concept of social justice. With great charity and greater clarity, Thaddeus weaves together both personal testimony and established evidence to clearly separate real justice from an impostor masquerading under the name. Rather than submitting to the popular polemic practices of today’s world, Mr. Williams instead graciously explains the foundations of “Social Justice B” (as he defines it) and shows that, however well-intentioned its adherents may be, that path is fraught with as much injustice as “Social Justice B” attempts to fight. Alongside exposing such foundations, Mr. Williams makes a strong case for a better view, a better approach to justice, one that actually answers questions rather than only making accusations. One of the unique features Mr. Williams includes that testifies to his thorough treatment of the subject is the testimonies of various individuals in their struggles with injustice. As often as not, these individuals come from their own histories of being racist or intolerant, having to learn the dangers and failures of such perspectives, growing and learning how to love their neighbor, and now standing firmly against such discrimination. In opposing polemics and vitriol, Mr. Williams has crafted a book that guides without demanding, educates without indoctrinating, and drives for truth without driving away others. This is a book that will stand firm for years to come as a benchmark in the discussion of justice and inequality and is an invaluable resource in these times both nebulous and tumultuous.
