Editorial Matters: the evangelical ghetto

This is a themed issue on justice, and it begins with an uncomfortable question: why have evangelicals had so little to say about it? The answer is not that the Bible is silent. It is that a whole area of Scripture has been allowed to fall out of the ordinary diet of preaching and study.

A hole in our reading

When the prophets and the law are read selectively, justice can come to look like a political enthusiasm rather than a biblical command. The opening article traces how that happened and what it costs.

Justice in public life

From there the issue widens. The command to love the neighbour is traced into questions of law and international order. Just pricing is set against the assumptions of mainstream economics. A review essay weighs a substantial evangelical treatment of Scripture and law, and two further articles examine national policy and the language of a war on terror.

A resource, not a slogan

The issue closes with a bibliographical essay, offered as a guide for readers who want to go further. Our hope is that justice becomes again what Scripture assumes it to be: a normal part of faithful Christian living, not the property of one wing of the church.