Justice That Restores

Dunblane. Littleton. James Bulger. Stephen Lawrence
These names read like a war memorial, evoking crimes, which transfixed us with horror, so we could only ask 'Why?' 'What has gone wrong?' Meanwhile that same disregard for human life and dignity grows, like a huge gaping crack in the foundation of civilised society, undermining its very survival.
The answer is not, writes Charles Colson, more police, more prisons or tougher sentencing. It lies in how we answer four foundational questions: "Who are we?", "What is justice?", "Can we be redeemed?", "How does redemption apply to crime?"
Colson contends that no worldview other than the biblical one can sustain a rational, liveable and just society, and that by returning to it we can retrieve a system of justice which restores peace and order to individuals and to society.