The Cases of Amanda Knox, Casey Anthony, & Troy Davis

In his book, "Simply Christian," NT Wright makes the point that there are basically four human yearnings that are often a puzzle for us in life.  These include our search for justice, spirituality, relationships, and beauty.

The appeal of the book is not that the author is trying to "prove" that Christianity is true but that it does offer a very compelling worldview that addresses these four key human quests.  Wright invites us to read the bible in this context to see if it makes sense.  The subtitle of the book is "Why Christianity Makes Sense."

The recent legal cases involving Amanda Knox, Casey Anthony, and Troy Davis highlight the puzzle of justice in very dramatic ways.  As I write this blog entry, a large crowd of Italians are shouting, "shame, shame, shame!" in protest of the release of Amanda Knox.

The air time we give to cases such as these speak to our basic human longing for justice.  The heart of the Christian faith addresses this need again and again.  Very briefly, here are some points of connection with the biblical witness on this topic of justice:

• The creation story/human sin of Adam & Eve - This tells the story of a good creator God who created the world and called it good.  Because of sin, this good creator God longs to rescue the world from sin and death.  What is compelling about this is that this is a worldview that embraces our time and space world.  There are many other worldviews that long to escape this present world.  Christianity is not one of them (even though there are Christian theologies that get this wrong.)
• The prophets of the Old Testament constantly hammer away at the need for justice, specifically in a how they are to care for the poor and the alien.   By the way, we often screen this part of the bible out since these scriptures step on our toes but we do so at our own peril.
• Jesus announced the good news which is the coming of God's kingdom on earth.  This involves establishing God's justice on earth leading to a time when the whole world will be made new again.
• Jesus died on a cross by the Roman Empire even though he did not deserve death.  In the cross of Jesus, the injustice of the Roman judicial system is contrasted with the justice of God in which the death of Jesus will lead to a just world.
• The purpose of the church (see the Book of Acts) is to live in such a way that anticipates that future time when Jesus will return and will establish God's kingdom on earth for eternity.

The recent legal cases that have been in the news and continue to be debated and discussed, point to our longing for justice.  The Christian faith speaks an important word regarding this basic human quest for justice.  It provides an opportunity for the church to say, "We don't have all the answers but the good news of a loving creator God who sent Jesus to make the world new again speaks a vital word to those who are seeking justice in a broken world."
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