Christians Concerns For Social Justice Issues Essay

, Research Paper

Christians Concerns for Social Justice

Since the beginning of time people have been concerned with social justice issues. Social justice is helping people using God’s love as a tool to do it. St. Catherine of Siena, and the prophet Isaiah, were two people who knew what social justice really meant and they were concerned with it. Also the Lutheran church is very concerned with different types of social justice issues. Through these three sources we are able to see the different types of social justice issues that arose in their times and through exploring them we will find out that they are not unlike the ones that exist today. Also we will find out that even though not all three of the sources are Christian they all act like the Christian church teaches us to in order to tackle social justice issues

Catherine of Siena grew up in Italy during the fourteenth century. Many things were happening at this time in the world, people had a lot of the same concerns about the future as we do today. The fourteenth century was a time of many wars, of famine, and of many sicknesses including the bubonic plague. Also church at this time was full of people who were losing faith, and it was spiting into two parts. They also had many of the same problems as we have today such as poverty, problems between ethnic groups, hunger, oppression, and homelessness. There was also corruption among the powerful just like today. This is why study Catherine of Siena because many of her concerns for the state of society and social justice issues are not unlike ours today.

One concern that Catherine has for society is she feels that self-centered love may destroy us and we must rid ourselves of it “You understand, therefore, dearest brothers and lords, how self-centered love destroys the city of soul, and also destroys and overturns our earthly cities”(Catherine 40). Catherine feels that there is a lot of selfishness in the world today and we must stop it before it destroys us. She also feels that selfishness will destroy our souls. It is like the devil working with in us. She also says that if something is not done soon about the selfishness in the world it will not only destroy our souls but also our cities. For instance, a selfish king will try to rule the world, and by trying to rule the world this king will probably destroy many people and cities along the way. Also a king that is selfish will never grow and if he never grows he won’t be able to help his people. Selfishness is just one concern that Catherine has for the state of society. If you think about we also have this concern. We would like people to be less selfish and help out others in order to have harmony in this world and to live out God’s will.

Another concern for society that Catherine has is she seems to think that people have trouble coping with there problems. We find this out by a letter that she wrote to her brother who was having some troubles in Italy. She tells us that all we have to do in order to get through hard times is be patient “I beg you, therefore, to hold the weapon of patience firmly so that you may receive benefit from all your troubles”(Catherine 21). As you can see Catherine sees patience as a weapon that can help you get through many things especially hard times. She knows that this is a difficult task so she gives three suggestions how this may be done. The most important and interesting one is ”Firstly, I want you to think about the shortness of live, for you are not certain even of tomorrow” (Catherine 21). This is a very good suggestion not only for the time of Catherine but also for us today. We all have hard times and if we are patient we will get through them. A good way to do this is to do what Catherine says, think about how short life really is and you will begin to see that your problem maybe isn’t so big. Catherine knew a lot about social justice issue and how to try to solve. Another person that was just a concerned with social justice issues and for the state of society was the phrophet Isiah.

Through God Isaiah was able to see some problems that God’s people were having. Isaiah the prophet lived in and around 500 B.C. during a time when Jerusalem was in turmoil. The book is broken up into the basic parts. The first Isaiah talks about a divided monarchy and the fall of the Israelites in the northern kingdom. The second Isaiah deals with exile. While the third Isaiah tells about the Israelites returning to Jerusalem form Babylon, rebuilding of the temple, and the reestablishment of the Torah. All three books show concern of social justice issues and the state of society.

One concern for society that Isaiah has is that God’s people are sacrificing things especially animals for an easy way out of their sins. He fears that the people are loosing their faith, and are just sinning and sacrificing because they can “What care for the number of sacrifices. Says the lord…Trample my courts no more! Bring no more offerings…”(Isaiah 1:11-13). Also Isaiah would like to see God’s people wash themselves clean of sin. Instead of sinning all the time they should do good in the world and by doing good in the world they will reap the benefits of the land “If you are willing, and obey, you shall eat the good things of the land”(Isaiah 1:19). Isaiah concern is a valid one because the people seem to being doing wrong and they will not fulfill god’s will and g