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Editorial
Alwyn Thomson
Comment:
Failed Politics?
Norman Hamilton
From
the Director: Words and Deeds
David W Porter
Loyalism
and Me
Philip Rankin
Real
Life
David Campton
Policing
Matters
Sam Pollock
The
Crisis Within
Eddie
Kinner
Loyalism
- The Issues
Mervyn Gibson
Scapegoating
Billy Mitchell
Review...Beyond
Retribution
Stephen Graham
Down
to Basics
Malachy
O'Doherty
Faith
in the Future
David
W Porter
For
God and His Glory Alone:
Study 1: Love
REVIEW
Beyond Retribution: A New Testament Vision for Justice, Crime and Punishment
The title of this book is a little deceptive as Marshall covers much
more than a "New Testament vision for justice, crime and punishment".
In fact, it seems to me that his work on the Old Testament and his theological
and philosophical analysis on various theories of criminal punishment
are among the best sections in the book.
There has been a
growing debate in theological circles about retributive and restorative
theories of justice and punishment. While retributive punishment appears
to be the dominant paradigm, there increasingly seems to be a shift towards
thinking about restorative theories of justice. Marshall's book is an
attempt to set restoration theory on solid theological ground, something
which has been largely missing from the debate. This book does it well,
and succeeds by considering matters apart from the New Testament itself.
Marshall's arguments and comments with reference beyond the New Testament
make this book better than it would otherwise have been.
It is impossible
to cover the entire remit of Marshal's work and so I will simply pass
on four "snap-shots" that are, to me, worth noting:
1 Marshall rightly
calls for caution in the discussion. The New Testament tends to talk more
about sin and its consequences and about salvation than it does about
crime and punishment and we must be careful not to equate crime with sin.
We must also recognise that the New Testament is addressed to believers
in a community of faith and not to secular rulers administrating justice.
So, it is not clear how relevant the New Testament is to matters of public
policy and how relevant its teachings are to those outside of the community
of faith. The New Testament does not provide a blueprint for secular penal
justice or a strict theory of punishment.
2 Restorative justice,
argues Marshall, is much more prevalent in the Old Testament than we might
think. Admittedly, retribution themes are found in the Old Testament,
but counter-themes of restoration also appear. Retribution seems most
poignant when God's wrath is seen in the complete destruction of a guilty
party. However, Marshall points out, we cannot infer from this that scripture
promotes a complete and coherent retributivist theory – certainly
not along the lines of the Western notion. He points out that the central
intention is the maintenance of shalom and of the covenant. A criminal
offence breached relationships that were established by the covenant.
Punishments were not good in and of themselves; rather they were an aid
to communal living. Justice was not about giving someone his or her just
deserts; it centred more on restoring community relationships. This also
applies to the seemingly harsh and retributive punishments such as exile
and death. The goal was not punishment, as an end in itself – it
was to restore the community to its commitments under the covenant. Thus,
the killing of a person was not retributive in the strict sense, it was
more a case of purifying or purging the community of a sin that would
threaten the existence of the covenant community if it were not dealt
with. On a number of occasions the Bible speaks of such actions in terms
of a 'cleansing'.
3 Marshall's summary
of the various theories of criminal punishment was to me one of the best
parts of the book. He discusses problems with retribution theories –
such as the difficulty in accurately defining just what punishment is
'equal' to any given crime, and the tendency of a retributive mindset
to overlook victims. Deterrence theories are also critiqued and found
wanting – in terms of providing a justification for punishment more
brutal than would be acceptable, and in terms of their potential justification
of punishing innocents if it has a deterrent effect.
4 The analysis of
capital punishment is also refreshing
and a break from what seems to have become the norm in terms of Christian
thinking on this issue. It seems ironic, given how Jesus died, how the
early martyrs died, and how thousands more Christians have died in the
past 100 years, that among the most vocal groups in favour of either the
retention or reintroduction of the death penalty have been Christian ethicists.
Not so Marshall. He critiques the death penalty both biblically, offering
alternative interpretations to passages that seemingly support it or require
it, and also addresses the other arguments in favour of it – showing
how they are either morally unacceptable, unjust, or practically useless.
Anyone interested in the theological debate about retribution and restoration, or in the ethical debate concerning how criminals should be treated will be interested in this book. I commend it highly.
Stephen Graham is Research Assistant at the Centre for Contemporary Christianity in Ireland, which is a ministry of ECONI.
Book Details: (click to order on-line)
BEYOND RETRIBUTION: A New Testament Vision for Justice, Crime, and Punishment
Published
by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co:
Cambridge, 2001.
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