Social Justice Is Essential to Faith
Isaiah leaves no doubt that social justice is at the heart of prophetic faith. He calls the covenant people to repentance and it is very clear what he expects: Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow (1:16–17). Three groups of people were the most vulnerable in ancient Israel and these three groups are repeatedly mentioned in the prophetic literature: strangers/aliens (non-Israelites), widows, and orphans. Authentic faith in the prophetic tradition involves pleading their cause, defending their dignity, and rescuing them from their oppressed condition. There are some positive signs that a growing number of evangelicals are coming to realize that redemptive justice is not peripheral to the gospel, but at the very hea...