Justice and Peace Kiss

 With the recent renewal of pursuing racial justice, I am reminded of this from the civil rights and peace movements of the ‘60s and’70s.

            No Justice – No Peace

            Know Justice – Know Peace

It is commonly understood as an appeal for justice to achieve the goal of peace, but I believe it also expresses a profound reality of human nature, human society that is evident in all cultures through history.

 

This hope is marvelously expressed in Psalm 85:10. “Righteousness and peace will kiss each other.” I am no Hebrew scholar, so I looked up the word tsdeq which can be translated both as “righteousness” and as “justice.” This is not unique to Hebrew. I know, for example, that in Spanish the word for both righteousness and justice is justicia. Nicholas Wolterstorff explored this in his 1981 book Until Justice and Peace Embrace. So the connection could legitimately be expressed as justice and peace will kiss each other.

 

One of the hazards of our hyper-individualistic culture is that we think of righteousness in terms of personal, individual moral rectitude and miss out on the communal dimensions of righteous living that are embodied in justice. Nothing wrong with personal, individual moral rectitude, but it is only one part of biblical righteousness. Justice is essential too.