Social Justice in the Old Testament

• From the beginning, God intervened in the lives of God's people so as to call them to a contextual understanding or correct worship of the 'one true God', ritual purity and sexual morality, as well as 'just' behaviour in society.: 'B.Singer-Towns. Living in Christ: Catholic Social Teaching, Christian Life in Society. Saint Mary's Press,2012. pp18-19'
• Relationship between God and his people

  God is seen as a mentor, guide, and protector. God is always watching over the people to ensure that they are on the correct path. God is a guide, calling them to "contextual understanding or correct worship of the 'one true God', ritual purity and sexual morality, as well as 'just' behaviour in society".
• The covenants in the Old Testament called people to promote social justice in their own contexts.
• How God called people in the Old Testament to promote social justice

  1. Instructing Noah to build an ark and save the animals, demonstrating the importance of caring for all living beings

  2. Commanding Noah to spread the message of righteousness and warn others about impending judgement, emphasising the need for justice and compassion in society

  3. Calling Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, advocating for the oppressed and marginalised

  4. Calling Abraham to test the faith held by the people and promote the social justice that humans must persevere through hardships and trust in God

  5. Revealing injustices to Amos and warning of impending judgement, urging the people to repent and establish justice and righteousness in society

  6. Providing Micah with the ability to prophesize the importance of acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God, inspiring societal change towards righteousness
• Noah


  • God called Noah to promote social justice by instructing him to build an ark and save the animals, demonstrating the importance of caring for all living beings. God also commanded Noah to spread the message of righteousness and warn others about impending judgement, emphasising the need for justice and compassion in society.
• Moses


  • God called Moses to promote social justice by leading the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, advocating for the oppressed and marginalised, and guiding them towards a promised land where they could live in freedom and equality.
• Abraham


  • God called Abraham to promote social justice through faith and belief, testing the faith held by the people and promoting the social justice that humans must persevere through hardships and trust in God.
• Amos


  • God called Amos to promote social justice by revealing injustices and warning of impending judgement, urging the people to repent and establish justice and righteousness in society.
• Micah


  • God called Micah to promote social justice by providing him with the ability to prophesize the importance of acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God, inspiring societal change towards righteousness.
• Social justice


  A concept that describes the movement towards a socially just world, based on the concepts of human rights and equality, involving a greater degree of economic egalitarianism through progressive taxation, income redistribution, or property redistribution
• Egalitarianism (as a political doctrine)


  • Promotes the idea that all people should have the same equal political, social, economic, and civil rights, based on the foundation of inalienable human rights
• Egalitarianism (as an economic doctrine)


  The driving force behind socialism and communism, seeking to remove the barriers of economic inequality by means of redistribution of wealth
• The problem with economic egalitarianism is the mistaken premise that the rich have become wealthy by exploiting the poor, and that socialist programs tend to create more problems than they solve
• Christian view of social justice

  The Bible teaches that God is a God of justice, and supports the notion of social justice in which concern and care are shown to the plight of the poor and afflicted, but the biblical exhortation is more individual than societal, and the Christian worldview doesn't assume the wealthy are the beneficiaries of ill-gotten gain
• Christian vs. contemporary notions of social justice

  The Christian view encourages individual giving out of love, while the contemporary view replaces the individual with the government, which decides who receives the redistributed wealth
• There is tension between a God-centered approach to social justice, which sees Christ as Savior bringing heaven to earth, and a man-centered approach, which sees the government in the role of savior bringing in a utopia through government policies