Preventive Justice Today – The Law of God and Public Policy

Preventive Justice Today
The Law of God and Public Policy

We still believe in the practice of preventive justice.

“If fire breaks out and catches in thorns so that the stacked grain or the standing grain or the field is consumed, he who started the fire shall make restitution.” Exodus 22:6

In the community where Susie and I used to live, we were required by our neighborhood association to remove the snow from our sidewalks as soon as possible—within 48 hours. This was in order to protect the safety and ensure the well-being of delivery persons and neighbors who may be out on a stroll. There was no penalty for not removing the snow. However, if we did not remove it, and someone was injured or could show that he had been unduly inconvenienced by our neglect, he may have had grounds to collect damages from us.

The neighborly thing to do was to keep the sidewalks clean in front of our homes and thus bear witness to all who may enter our neighborhoods that here we love our neighbors as ourselves.

Further, in that same neighborhood the members of the community covenanted together not to use certain kinds of chemical fertilizers on our lawns, as our drainage and runoff ultimately found its way to the Chesapeake Bay. This was not a statute of our town but simply an agreement in our neighborhood covenant, so that we would be doing our part to prevent injustice to the environment.

The community in which our neighborhood was located depended for its water on seven wells. In order to ensure that our water was as good as it could be, local statute prohibited the use of certain kinds of fertilizers or other outdoor chemical treatments. During summer months, signs would appear in various places in the community advising us that the town council had determined that “Voluntary Water Usage Restrictions” were in effect. The policy of our elected officials was to discourage neighbors from committing injustice against one another by failing to exercise appropriate regard for the water supply.

Such policies and statutes reflect the preventive justice facet of God’s Law, and are to be welcomed, not begrudged. While it is possible to go overboard on such matters—ask any small business person who has to conform to OSHA regulations—we still require such laws to keep us thinking about our neighbors and working to maintain justice within our communities.

Preventive justice is the second facet of the five-faceted jewel of Biblical justice.

Visit our website, www.ailbe.org, and sign up to receive our thrice-weekly devotional, Crosfigell, featuring writers from the period of the Celtic Revival and T. M.’s reflections on Scripture and the Celtic Christian tradition. Does the Law of God still apply today? Order a copy of T. M.’s book, The Ground for Christian Ethics, and study the question for yourself.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T. M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.