Customer Reviews

Beyond Retribution: A New Testament Vision for Justice, Crime, and Punishment (Studies in Peace and Scripture)

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Marshall's book is thoroughly enjoyable and incredibly insightful. It is the first book of its kind and examines the issue from a broad and well-informed perspective.

Marshall shows God's heart for reconciliaton and redemption convincingly and makes the Gospel sound like Good News for everyone.

The only thing that detracts from the book is that it is written for theological insiders and would be difficult for anyone not conversant with the issues he raises to engage with.

This book offers a significant and prophetic challenge to historical and contemporary penology, and should be required reading for all aspiring lawyers, pastors, and politicians.

This book is unique in that it brings the New Testament vision of Justice into direct and critical conversation with contemporary practices of punishing crime. It provides a rich resource for anyone convinced of the necessity of a turn from retributive justice to restorative justice. Highly recommended.

Many Christians have been raised on a simplistic"an eye for an eye" theology. This book challenges one's thinking and theology about God's perspective of justice and mercy. God is still an advocate for the voiceless and powerless in our society. This book is a must read for any Christian that has a prison or jail ministry, a must read for any Pastor that ministers to the marginalized, and a must read for any Christian that believes in the God's Kingdom Coming on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Many people view God as an immovable Judge administering inflexible justice. Worse still, the form of justice that most people talk about is a specific form of justice: Retributive Justice. Marshall has done us a huge favour by pointing out to us that biblical justice is far "beyond retribution".

For those who subscribe to the concept of God administering inflexible *retributive* justice, it is bad news that God is the perfect Judge. Indeed, who can stand before a perfectly retributive Judge who is bent on punishing every sinner with eternal damnation, separate from the presence of God?

Marshall, through his comprehensive and biblical study of the subject of justice, shows us what the Bible teaches about justice. Although the book is subtitled "A New Testament Vision for Justice ...", I think the subtitle is too limiting. In this study of biblical justice, Marshall refers frequently to the Old Testament as well.

The book is very practical, because it deals with how biblical justice should be applied in the real world. However, in my opinion, the heart of the book is in Chapter Two, "The Justice of God in Paul and Jesus." I find this chapter insightful and enlightening. Marshall, through his scholarly and biblical approach, opens my mind to understand, for the first time, how Paul and Jesus, being Jews, would view justice in the Hebrew and Old Testament tradition. He notes that biblical justice is "shalom-justice" (p. 45) and not the narrowly interpreted retributive justice of the western world which, in turn, is based heavily on Greco-Roman, not biblical, traditions.

This is a critical differentiation: justice for restoration of shalom (peace), or justice for retribution. Marshall builds a strong case that the biblical justice as Paul and Jesus teach is more for the restoration of peaceful relationships among humans, and between humankind and God, than for retribution.

"Beyond Retribution" is a definitive work on biblical justice. Although many of us are not personally involved in administering justice in our society, this is a must-read for all pastors, Bible teachers, and theologians. This book is a "game changer". It points us to reconsider our narrow conceptions about God as a retributive Judge, and open our eyes to God as a restorative Judge. For far too long and too much have Christians taught a fire and brimstone God who finds it necessary to punish all sinners with eternal damnation as an immovable Judge administering inflexible (retributive) justice. It is refreshing to rediscover God as a predominantly restorative God instead.

I came across this book in 2005, recommended by my seminary dean, and I still refer to it often. It has been a landmark book for me to understand God better as Parent more so than Judge. When we understand that God, the perfect Judge, administers perfect justice to restore shalom among humans and between humankind and God, and shows us from the Bible how to do it ourselves, it is Good News indeed.

This change in understanding actually opens up a new can of worms. It requires the Christian to rethink the reason for the passion of Christ. If the purpose of the crucifixion of Christ is not to pay for God-imposed retributions for sinners, then what is it? Marshall does address this briefly (p.44), but that is not an area that Marshall intends to cover, and a much bigger topic than this review can handle.

I highly recommend "Beyond Retribution".

A very thorough and well thought out study on crime and punishment. Bible and logic based information and analysis.
Difficult theological terminology, but worth the read. (In fact, I need to re-read it.)

An informative and inspiring book that presents and explores the New Testament vision of restoration and redemption, an approach that is much needed in our currently retributive justice system if we are to be truly a 'just' society. Highly recommended.