We've been having some interesting conversations about biblical authority over at Bill's site. Bill is reflecting on an article by N.T. Wright that Mike recommended here sometime last week. An excellent read, I must say - thanks to Mike for pointing it out.

One thing that somehow came up in the discussion was the issue of social justice and whether we as Christians are required to seek and practice it outside of the Church (big "C"). To a lot of folks, this would seem to be a no-brainer, but I want to be fair to the topic and to the commenter who asked for specific biblical passages related to social justice. I can't in good conscience just dismiss the statement, because then I would be guilty of the sort of theological obstructionism that comes of assuming one's viewpoint to be that of scripture, which reduces conversation to competing claims of what is obvious, self-apparent, and just plain right. So my plans are, for the next few posts, to walk through what I see to be a very prominent plot thread, so to speak, in the tapestry of the biblical narrative on the subjects of justice, mercy, and love. I'm going to try to assume nothing, but recognizing that such an assumption of neutrality is doomed nearly from the start, please offer your critiques of my thoughts where they go astray. Hopefully this will be more than a theoretical exercise and we will find ourselves challenged by the radical love of God for a fallen humanity.