Justice That Restores [Hardcover]

Charles Colson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2001

America's justice system is broken. Offenders repeat and return to jail. Chuck Colson shows why the prevailing systems of criminal justice simply don't work. The book showcases Colson at his best, including personal stories, historical study, and shocking statistics. Bottom line: only a system that is based on a biblical worldview, a system that restores both the offender and the offended, will have any lasting success. This authoritative work is Colson's legacy statement about criminal justice. These proven principles can reverse the current criminal decline.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ostensibly about the justice system, this book is in large part a rehash of the decades-old culture war between the Left and the Right, in which Colson argues that almost all left-of-center assumptions about humanity and God are wrong and dangerous, and that those of the Christian Right are correct. Rife with false dilemmas (e.g., individuals are to blame for crime; their environment is not), Colson's arguments are puzzling, since he targets an audience of evangelicals who are already on his side. More confusing is the fact that in his last few chapters, Colson reveals his support for prison reform initiatives of both the Left and the Right, and in doing so occasionally contradicts himself. For example, after repeatedly bemoaning the futility of therapy as a tool for rehabilitation, he ends the book by praising several programs that have strong therapeutic components. In addition, after arguing that the rising prison population is a valid indicator of a culture increasingly prone to "coarse crimes," he later agrees with scholars who say that only a small minority of inmates are serious criminals. While Colson never fully acknowledges that he agrees with liberal thinkers about anything, he does, for example, gingerly critique some aspects of the war on drugs. The book's anecdotes about Christian-run prisons, community courts and creative sentencing are inspiring and would likely motivate readers of all stripes. Sadly, these stories are footnotes to a diatribe that will appeal to only a narrow audience.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap

Since his incarceration in the aftermath of Watergate, Charles Colson has consistently lived and worked for a singular purpose: To transform the hearts and minds of people in prison. For twenty-five years, he has been associated with justice reform. And still today he maintains a deep passion for those behind bars and their families.

Colson's personal experience, his study of the justice system and prison reform, and most of all his interactions with prisoners themselves all come together in this new, insightful, and prophetic new book, Justice That Restores.

America is at the crossroads, he argues, and lacks clear direction in which way to turn. All the utopian theories and ideologies have failed. We build more prisons, but crime increases, and more facilities are needed. Inequities and injustice in the system abound. America needs to do something. Now.

He writes, "The remedy to this crisis goes far beyond building more prisons, hiring more police, or writing tougher penalties into the law. Such measures, no matter how draconian, will have no effect on consciences or on the culture that trains consciences. Moral failures don't register on metal detectors, and other proposed panaceas such as eliminating poverty and racism, tighter gun controls, better education, or more therapy are nothing but palliatives for the crime problem."

What is the answer?

The answer is found in the lives of Leon and Danny and Don, whose stories are told here, as well as in the lives of thousands of other convicts who have changed fundamentally deep down inside themselves, not because of the government or the justice system, but because of a connection with someone who has helped bring about a spiritual change. It is not just a change of heart, but a change of soul.

Here lies the answer: Justice That Restores.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers; 1St Edition edition (May 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0842352457
• ISBN-13: 978-0842352451
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,209,546 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

The well-known story of Charles Colson's transformation from President Richard Nixon's "hatchet man" who was "incapable of humanitarian thoughts" to founder of the Prison Fellowship Ministries and internationally recognized Christian author and speaker is a triumph of God finding a man and a man finding God. His 1973 conversion to Christianity was followed by a guilty plea to obstruction of justice and a seven-month prison sentence in 1974. He founded Prison Fellowship Ministries in 1976, fulfilling a promise made to fellow inmates that he would "never forget those behind bars."

Charles Colson's first book, "Born Again," was released in 1976 and instantly became an international best seller. He has authored 16 books that have collectively sold more than 5 million copies worldwide, including "Justice That Restores," "How Now Shall We Live?," "Burden of Truth," "Answers to Your Kids' Questions," "The Good Life," "Gideon's Torch," "Why America Doesn't Work," "Kingdoms in Conflict," and "Loving God."

The phenomenal growth of Prison Fellowship Ministries over the last 25 years leads Charles Colson and some 50,000 volunteers to serve the needs of prisoners in over 88 countries. In addition to Prison Fellowship, he founded Justice Fellowship, Neighbors Who Care, and Angel Tree. Angel Tree is a program that provides Christmas presents to more than 500,000 children of inmates annually. He is also a syndicated columnist, international speaker, and commentator on the nationally syndicated radio broadcast "BreakPoint." He received the prestigious Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion in 1993 and donated the $1 million prize to Prison Fellowship's Endowment Fund.

Charles Colson remains committed to the unity of the church, the relationships between church and state, and the struggle between the spiritual and secular worlds. He constantly encourages Christians to understand biblical faith as an entire worldview and to adopt biblical faith as a perspective on all life.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There is another side to the Moon!, February 7, 2004

By 

Manuel Hernandez (Groton, CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Justice That Restores (Hardcover)

This book is superbly written and well documented. He has a section describing the Changing Character in Crime which just simply will send chills up your spine.

Throughout the book Colson is asking, What is the Remedy? What is Justice? What Must We Do? He does not tip toe around these questions. He presents historical examples and modern statistics and you must decide. I especially liked the Alternative Sentencing section. Not giving the Judges the power to lessen the sentence of a horrific crime but at the same time not overloading the prisons with minor crimes and then be forced to release sentenced criminals by the courts.

He looks at the common sense cost and effectiveness of present sentencing. Towards the end of the book he does point to prison systems that are working. And the stats show the reduction of recidivism as a result of these new faith based prisons.

Personally I do not understand why these newer systems cannot be seen as win-win-win situations. The taxpayer saves money, the prisoner does not return to jail, and society gets a responsible citizen back in society.

I cannot understand a less than excellent review being given by a person that has not served in a prison system. I serve in the Ct. Dept. of Correction and after reading this book not only are my eyes are open to reality but so is my mind. There really needs to be a better way than what we are doing today and I believe that at the very least this book should get the legislatures, wardens and citizens asking, no demanding for positive changes. I would love to see what would be the result if every warden in a state be given this book to study and then to come together with Mr. Colson, The Governor and the Commisioner of Correction.

Mr. Colson needs to write another book in this vein of thought. This book went by way too soon.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Book Review on Justice that Restores from ZiBai Liu, June 22, 2009

By 

Louiszebraaa "—«" (New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Justice That Restores (Hardcover)

Justice That Restores By Charles Colson

A critical book review by ZiBai Liu

Introduction:

Being a Christian with a loving heart and having experienced the criminal justice system in his life, Charles Colson, the founder of the Prison Fellowship Ministries and Prison Fellowship International, examined the criminal justice system in America and studied the reasons of its failure and brought a way out. Different from other writers such as Howard Zehr and Gerry Johnstone who talk about the restorative justice in a more sociological way, Charles gives the present criminal justice system a critique from a biblical worldview. He thinks that the root of its failure is the misunderstanding of the justice which leads to a chaos in society and causes people to loss the moral tradition. Charles believes that there is a redemptive way from the biblical worldview and only this way could bring the society back to order -shalom-- by employing the new criminal justice system---restorative justice.

Summary :

Charles admits that ""the present system falls woefully short", and he thinks the modern worldview is the cause. He urges that we need to re-examine some philosophical questions such as the nature of law, anthropological understanding of human nature and the causes of crime, and then find these answers from the Bible. Charles feels confident on the transforming power of Christ which can restore the current criminal system by introducing a new system called "restorative justice". There are four parts in his argument: creation, the Fall, redemption and restoration.

Part 1: Creation----- "what is justice"

Charles states that society need to have an objective foundation of justice and law to keep people living in order. He found that people have lost the traditional view that God ultimately stood behind the law which provides moral guidance. He believes that a law which only God reveals can provide us true justice. Charles blames the flaws of modern culture which has been profoundly affected by naturalism. He rebukes the naturalism's view on law of nothing but a social construction imposed by those in power to control, and it can lead to tyranny and chaos. He mentions the change of crime conception in King Henry's time from the biblical model of calling for reparation by offender to the victim, to a model requiring a penalty to government. Charles also critiques the relativists who think law is subjective for it can not provide basic standards of justice, and it would lead to chaos in the law.

Part 2: the Fall----"The Roots of Crime"

Charles proclaims that the failed and flawed criminal justice policies are caused by a wrong view of human nature thus lead society in a mess. He thinks authority should understand that its role of using the law to restrain sin is from God, who gives government a task to preserve order by punishing those wrongdoers. (Romans 13:4) Charles discusses the secular views of human nature especially Utopianism which holds that "human beings are by nature purely good--perfectible by education or political change" and it denies the Christian view of original sin. Charles argues that ignoring the original sin would lead to denying moral accountability and personal responsibility. It would dull the conscience and coarsen of crimes. Charles thinks that criminals need to realize the original sin and have a confession and get the salvation and personal transformation.

Part 3: Redemption

Charles emphasizes the original sin which defiles everyone (Romans 3:10) and leads human beings to make wrong moral choices and then commit crime. (Romans 7:15) Charles quotes what Pogo said: "We have met the enemy, and he is us" to affirm that individuals who make wrong moral choices should be responsible for their acts and criminals should not blame the environmental influence. He states that the since law is written on the human heart, so the moral conscience can be trained to acknowledge their own moral failure. Charles argues that the root cause of crime is the deterioration of a society's moral fabric and he found that when moral ethos in society goes up, the crime rate drops. So he suggests that only Christianity can give individuals the true moral training which would lead them make right moral choices and then transform the societies and eradicate the root of crime.

Part 4: Justice That Restores

Charles emphasizes the importance of the love relationship which flows from God to humans and among humans. He states that the restorative justice can offer aspects of the biblical view of shalom which keep people living in the right order that God intended. Charles argues that the restorative justice agrees with the biblical principle in the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19. Charles appreciates the wise sentencing practice of restorative justice as he quotes Peter Walker's writing: "to view crime primarily in terms of broken relationships between people and only secondly as an offense against soceity's laws gives a radically different perspective on offending and on the punishment of offending behavior." He also mentions the magic moment which is when offender recognizes the harm has been done and repents, and it is the heart of restorative justice to bring reconciliation repairing the relationships among victim, offender and community.

Appraisal:

Having a same view with Gerry that there is a need of the rebirth of ancient practices, Charles rebukes the current criminal justice system which has been badly influenced by wrong philosophies from naturalism and relativism as their understanding of the true meaning of justice has gone far away from the Bible. Marshall also states that God's justice is manifested in the gospel where God's rectifying power accomplishes justice on earth and God justifies the one who has faith in Jesus. Similar to what Marshall thinks that justification is "primarily a legal concept" which reflects the legal status of a person before God , Charles emphasizes that the true just social order only comes from God and the law should reflect God's objective truth which is the foundation of justice. Charles realizes the neglecting of this connection between God's law and social law is the problem of present criminal justice system, and it agrees with what Marshall points out that there is a divorce between the doctrine of justification and issue of social justice.

As Marshall states that "justification has been confined to the religious sphere of thought", and few people can sense the relationship between the justice from God and issues of social justice , Charles brings a way of relating these two issues very well.

Zehr who has fame of "grandfather of restorative justice" addresses the core of restorative justice is to put right the wrongs, and it implies reparation or restoration of harms offenders have caused. Johnstone summarizes that instead of only punishing offenders, "restorative justice helps to heal the wounds of crime suffered by the victim". Instead of understanding restorative justice only from sociological and sociopolitical point of view like Howard Zehr and Gerry Johnstone, Charles gives the restorative justice a biblical explanation. He understands that the heart of the restorative justice is the point of transformation which is human heart's changing. Charles focuses on the redemptive power and true forgiveness of sin as well as community transformation on his understanding of restorative justice. He thinks the restorative justice grounds in the peace of God's created order, which offers aspects of the biblical view of shalom.

Agreeing with Peter Walker that we should "view crime primarily in terms of broken relationships between people" , Charles argues the reason why justice is not realized is because individual responsibility in the context of community, individual transformation and healing of relationships in neglected. He mentions that there is a spiritual moment---magic moment---when offenders realize their responsibility for their crime, and are transformed to be willing to restore the relationships between people and also between God, which Charles thinks is the central goal of criminal justice system.

In concurrence with Johnstone's idea that community must be prepared to become involved in the resolution of conflicts between offenders and victims, Charles argues that restorative justice must provide opportunity for offenders to be reintegrated into community. He thinks when community court offers initiative help such as job training, restitution program to offenders can reinforce the notion of individual responsibility and reduce recidivism, thus "individuals and cultures can be redeemed, and community's peace can be restored."

Johnstone emphasizes the on going relationship with offenders which means we should not simply cut them off as enemies. Charles takes the same stand and advocates prevention programs such as the Choice program to help troubles kids stay with their families, and MatchPoint program which sends Christians mentors to have a long-term relationship with offenders to demonstrate the unconditional love of Jesus Christ. It is like what Michael wrote: "we are not looking back to punish the past, we are trying to create the future....to recreate harmony and to re-member."

Critique:

Charles' understanding of the environment's influence on crime seems a bit vague to me. In one way, Charles agrees with psychologists Samenow and Yochelson and Harvard professors James Q. Wilson's study result which shows crime has no correlation with environment, poverty, race, or oppression but with moral training. He believes the reason for committing crime is only because human beings make wrong moral choices. But in... Read more ›

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Colson gives whole new perspective to justice, July 2, 2001

By 

Patrick J. Nolan (Leesburg, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Justice That Restores (Hardcover)

Chuck Colson, probably the most influential Christian writer alive today, tackles the knotty questions, "What is justice?" and "How should a modern Christian view our current justice system?" He has a very readable style, using stories of real lives to make his points. Colson makes no bones about his view that our current justice system is horribly out of kilter. But he does more than critique the system. He brilliantly analyzes the philosophical and theological errors that got us in this mess, and lays out a vision for how we can restructure the system to make it repair the harm done to victims and communities, and reform the hearts of offenders. He calls this approach "Restorative Justice", and cites many places in the US and around the world where it is being practiced. This book put my experiences with crime in perspective. It gave me hope, where I had given up on finding a solution to the scourge of crime in our neighborhoods. This is probably the most important book any Christian can read this year. Once you have read it, you'll have a clearer understanding of how society should respond to crime, and what things you can do to help. I highly recommend this book.