Social justice and salvation (Centre for Applied Christian Ethics (CACE), Ridley College)

Last year Dr Tim Foster (Ridley College), Merrill Kitchen (former principal of Churches of Christ Theological College) and I spoke at a theological forum run by World Vision Australia. The topic was Social Justice and Salvation.

Short versions of the papers presented at the forum are now published by the Centre for Applied Christian Ethics (CACE) at Ridley College, Melbourne. There is an additional article written by Nils von Kalm in response to the speakers at the forum.

The full articles can be found here.

Below are the excerpts from the articles (one from each author).

"If Jesus’ death effectively dealt with evil, if his resurrection was bodily and real, and if Jesus now reigns as Lord, we cannot for a moment see salvation as something that lies in the future, but something that is both present and future. This is the whole basis for Pauline ethics. So in Colossians 2 & 3, Paul states that we have died with Christ and we have already been raised with Christ, so we ought to live the resurrection life now. Salvation is about the present and the future. Salvation is not something we wait for, but something we can enjoy here and now, genuinely anticipating what happens in the future." (Foster)

"It must be acknowledged, also, that there is a strong apocalyptic element in the Hebrew understanding of salvation. The religious, social and political control entities constantly challenged the values of justice and equality valued by the Israelites, with the threat of annihilation constantly around the corner. But it is not an understanding of triumph over others as much as a ‘rescue from attacking nations’ (Zech. 12:7) and the ‘gathering of the dispersed’ (Is. 43:5ff) that will have a final conclusion in God’s timing. Salvation is described in Isaiah as a ‘well’ (Is. 12:3), in which ‘all the world can share its salvation.’ The promises of salvation in these Biblical documents were nearly always corporate in their focus. It was not just about the privilege of Israel over and against others but it brought good news for all humanity." (Kitchen)

"People in Rome were familiar with socioeconomic, political and religious oppression. The early Christians in Rome were not exempt from this, experiencing all sorts of injustices. In light of this, Romans 12:9-21 would have made good sense to Paul’s audience. They are called to be patient in affliction (thlipsis) and joyful in hope (12:12). They are to “love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour,” and “associate with the lowly” (12:10, 16; NRSV). The society in ancient Rome was highly hierarchical. Slaves did not enjoy mutual affection from free people. Those in relatively high positions on the social ladder did not normally give honour to those in the lower classes. Hence Paul astonishingly envisages a huge status-reversal taking place." (myself)

"The great hope of the Christian message is that God is in the process of putting the world to rights, as N.T. Wright describes it. What we read in passages like Isaiah 65 and Revelation 21 is the wonderful story of the new heavens and the new earth, of heaven and earth coming together. It is about God coming here to live with His people. What we see is not us going ‘up’ to be in heaven, but heaven coming here. This is the transformation that we long for, and it is coming. It will be a transformation of not just society, but of the human heart as well. It will be a time when there will be no more tears and no more pain (Rev 21:4), a time of justice and peace for all. But note also that Jesus says in Revelation 22, ‘I have come to make all things new’. In the new creation, it will not be just humanity that is transformed, but the whole creation. Our hope is that ‘the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God’ (Rom 8:21)." (von Kalm)