In the Christian tradition, the classical conception of justice as suum cique (to each what is due) is redefined by the Christ-event, God’s activity in and for the world. For Christians, all moral, political, and philosophical concepts are revealed and sustained in their fullness by Jesus Christ. Through his incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus is literally God’s revealing of Godself – God’s will, God’s love, God’s justice – to the cosmos. While Aristotelian and Jewish conceptions precede the Christian account, Christians believe that justice is only intelligible as justice because of who Jesus is – God’s justice for the world. Justice for Christians has a double operation: It exposes the character of God and requires humanity to be like God. Through its development and embodiment, the peculiar concept of Christian justice has had a transformative impact on both the religion and globe.
Aristotle divided the classical conception of justice as suum ciqueinto two...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Aquinas T (1964) Summa theologiae, vol 1, 2, and 3 (trans: McCabe H). Blackfriars, London
Aristotle (2003) The Nicomachean ethics (Penguin Classics) (trans: Thompson JAK, Tredennick H (eds)). Penguin Classics, London
Augustine (2009) The city of God against the pagans (Cambridge texts in the history of political thought) (trans: Dyson RW (ed)). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Coogan MD, Brettler MZ, Newsom CA, Perkins P (eds) (2001) The new Oxford annotated bible. New revised standard version (NRSV) with the Apocrypha, 3rd edn. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Davies B, Evans GR (eds) (2008) Anselm of Canterbury: the major works (Oxford World Classics). Oxford University Press, Oxford, ANSELM
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Hassell, T.S. (2011). Justice and Religion: Christianity. In: Chatterjee, D.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Justice. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9160-5_137
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9160-5_137
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-9159-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-9160-5
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law