Historical Book Justice

In the Old Testament, the Israelites were seen as people who failed to listen to God’s commandments. Despite knowing beforehand that they would be punished for their disobedience, they still continued to commit sin. God tried to deter their misbehavior by promising them many blessings, but it worked to no avail. Due to the insubordination of the Israelites, He made sure that the promises He made to them would be withheld and that they would face consequences.

After conquering northern Israel in 722 B.C.E., the Assyrians engendered centuries of political intrigue and laid the foundation for future unscrupulous kingdoms and idolatrous people.1 Once the Babylonian empire overthrew Josiah, the King of Judah, Habakkuk began to compose a prophetic book, questioning the ways of God. Above all, Habakkuk could not comprehend why “the evil circumvented the just”2; he thought that the impiety of the world did not correlate with a supposedly just God.3 Throughout his narrative, this biblical prophet came to understand that “the just man, because of his faith, shall live” (Hb 2,4). Eventually discovering that righteousness and faith in God lead to justice, Habakkuk cried out to the people of Judah through

Just like any other civilization, the Israelites had multiple social classes. At the foundation of the civilization was the working class. This was made up of the farmers and artisans who labored all day and produced the items that were often traded throughout the kingdom. The next tier was the military and royal court. Anyone that served in the military was well respected by people of all classes. The royal court consisted of any government officials, scribes, and the king’s royal cupbearer. Scribes were the secretaries and typically involved in judicial and financial affairs. The royal cupbearer was tasked with filling the king’s goblet with wine and serving it to him. Second to the top of the social classes were the priests. Similar to Ancient Egypt with the gods, priests were believed to have direct contact with the god the Israelites worshiped: Yahweh. Because of this connection, priests were considered to be very sacred to the Israelites. At the top of the social pyramid was the king. The king of the Israelites ruled over the kingdom, defended it, but also “rules on behalf of Yahweh, the Israelite god” .

The book of Judges introduces us to the long years of Israel’s struggle to maintain control of the Promised Land and serves as the transition from the conquest to the kingdom. It deals with events following Joshua’s death (c. 1380 BC)

One of the most problematic and controversial issues in The United States of America is affirmative action. Affirmative action is a policy of affording minorities certain privileges in order to combat the historical prejudice against them. In an effort to redress the historical injustices faced by African Americans, Hispanics, and other minorities, universities and employers across the nation have taken race into account when admitting students or hiring employees. Abigail Fisher, of Texas, applied for admission into the University of Texas at Austin (UT) and was denied; she sued the public university on the grounds of racial discrimination or reverse racism in the supreme court case Fisher v University of Texas.

Justice and equality has always been the chief principles that people have held on to, and throughout time laws have been passed so this could be achieved. Hammurabi’s Code of Law and the Hebrew Covenant Code are two examples of peoples setting up a justice system for themselves. Moses and Hammurabi both impacted their societies, but Moses has the greatest impact for today because of his moral and equal law. The modern world is not one of tough laws and severe penalties, but one that seeks out equality and justice for all, the Hebrew Covenant Code fits perfectly into the laws of modern

In his essay “The Myth of Justice,“ anthropologist and author Michael Dorris disputes the idea that life is fair and believes that true justice is an unattainable fallacy. Dorris avows that anyone who has ever lived through life’s circumstances would agree that life is not fair and there is no correct balance. He declares that justice is a fallacy people believe to make life endurable. Dorris refers to his youth when he was taught of a Golden Ledger in which salvation can be found through good works. He affirms it is the idea of justice and not religion that soothes people.

The Laws of Hammurabi is one of the best known texts that come from ancient Mesopotamia. They spell out the judicial judgment and punishments of crimes according the king at the time, Hammurabi. The laws themselves are often seen as being brutal, but the degree to which they are proportional to the crime done. While they shed some light on how the concept of justice may have been perceived then, the prologue to these laws provides more context to the conceptualizations of kingship and how religion plays into these realms of politics.

God’s goodness and mercy far transcends the comprehension of the most brilliant human mind! He “who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth”(Psalm 113:6).Yet in His infinite love for us He stoops down to reveal Himself to us by a multitude of illustration, types, and shadows, so that we may learn to know him. This paper will describe what is meant by the Kingdom of God; examine the religious philosophy of the various sects of Judaism during the Second Temple period: Pharisee, Sadducees, Essenes, and Zealots, describe the religious philosophy and political philosophy of each sects, it will also describe how the Messianic expectation differ from the Messianic role that Jesus presented, and include an exegesis of

Republic governance had several characteristics that by understanding those characteristics one will better understand the New Testament social pattern. Ideas of deification of royal patrons, basic mistrust of some religious movements, foreigners, slavery, the oikonomia, and unofficial associations all need to be studied

When reflecting on significant members of ancient times, Hammurabi and Moses symbolize substantial advancement in the creation of laws. Hammurabi of Babylon introduced his code centuries apart from Moses and his laws for the Hebrews; however, there are similarities shared between the two. Several reasons can be distinguished as to what accounts for the comparison within each set of laws. Along with having an abundance of similarities, the differences shared between the two are also evident. To understand the similarities and differences analyzed in this essay, each set of laws will be compared regarding the treatment of parents, marriage, dishonesty in court, class-systems, importance of agriculture, and the customs of each civilization. The time period, culture, and geographic location are responsible for the similarities and differences of Hammurabi’s Code and The Law of Moses.

As Plato makes clear, political philosophy also concerns happiness, nobility, goodness, justice, divinity, and the arts. Plato also states Politics serves as human happiness, therefore, political philosophy studies human happiness. One of the most fundamental moral and political concepts is justice. Justice refers to individual virtue, the order of society, as well as individual rights in contrast to the claims of the broad social order. In Book I of the Republic, Socrates discusses the meaning and value of justice.

In the book of Joshua and previously, the people of Israel are told to remove all of the people that are in the land that God had given them. They are not to leave even one person alive, because Yahweh wanted only His people

Joshua answered,“You heard the instructions that I commanded the people to do. You must obey it just as everyone else and you will be a part of God's never ending victorious army.”

The Republic of Plato begins in a similar fashion that many other Platonic dialogues begin, with that of a question. The conversation between Socrates and the aged Cephalus becomes a philosophical discussion of what advantages money has brought to Cephalus' life. Cephalus replies that money has allowed him "to tell the truth and pay one's debts" (331 b). Nevertheless, Socrates believes this does not portray an accurate description of what justice is. The rest of the first book is a discussion of the definition of justice, mainly that of Thrasymachus' definition. Socrates takes his normal role as an interrogator of peoples' views. The conversation focuses on justice but actually must be viewed in the context of how each