Faithful Friday: Why Social Justice Is Not Biblical Justice

Why Social Justice Is Not Biblical Justice book cover on white doily

If you're looking for a book that evaluates social justice from the lens of the Bible, I heartily recommend Why Social Justice Is Not Biblical Justice: An Urgent Appeal to Fellow Christians in a Time of Social Crisis by Scott David Allen. It's an outstanding look at how Christians can better understand the origins of the social justice movement and its ideology while comparing it to God's heart for the nations, His definition of justice as found in Scripture, and what it means for Christians to care for the least of these (Matthew 25:31-46).

I love that this book isn't afraid to examine critical race theory and critical social theory and get into the weeds of explaining the differences between communitive justice and distributive justice, amongst other terminology and concepts. The author does an excellent job of highlighting why regarding humanity through the sole lens of a power struggle between oppressor and oppressed is ultimately destructive, and how Christians should pursue God's perfect justice instead.

One of the reasons I continually turn to this book is because I'm professionally trained in the fields spoken of in this book, which I admit is an interesting space to be in as a Christian. While I'm well-versed in social justice vocabulary and tenets and can understand where people are coming from, I constantly have to evaluate these teachings against the Bible. That's where this book makes a meaningful difference to me both personally and professionally. The teachings that the author delves into line up with what I have learnt so there is no sensationalizing of the material, and its outcomes are accurate with what I've seen from people who operate from a social justice worldview.

I appreciate that this book does not minimize the need for Christians to respond to social crises, but that it affirms why God's comprehensive biblical justice is the mindset we should be operating from instead of the world's. This book is a thoughtful treatment of so many of the social issues facing the church today, and would be an informative read for anyone involved in ministry or curious about the subject matter.

Comments

Christian Book Review Programs

Over time, I've been on the hunt for Christian book review programs that readers can join. As a result, I've been able to compile the following list which may be of interest if you are seeking review copies of Christian books. This list mostly applies to print and ebooks, although some publishers offer audiobooks as well. If further information is available for any of the publishers below (or any missing publishers), please let me know as I am happy to update this list—thank you! Please note that you can also search for these publishers on NetGalley and other review sites in case there are no review programs available or you don't qualify for one 😊 List last updated: June 4, 2026 Christian Publishers 10ofThose Availability: US, Canada, and UK residents Format: Only books published by 10ofThose qualify for review requests so as to avoid impeding with other Christian book review programs Genre: Christian non-fiction, children's books Email for availability and eligibilit...

Review: Friends with the Hero - Heroes of Freedom Ridge #10

At the pace I'm going, I might just finish the Heroes of Freedom Ridge series this year! Friends with the Hero was my first introduction to Jessie Gussman, and I look forward to her next book in the series. Book Synopsis Can a chance encounter with a former childhood best friend be the start of a beautiful romance? When volunteer firefighter Frank “Tuck” Tucker responds to a false alarm in the middle of the night at the new bake shop in town, he doesn’t expect to come face to face with his childhood best friend. In her nightgown no less. He also didn’t expect to get hired as her new assistant. But that happened, too. Along with an odd tingling in his hand when they shook that didn’t used to be there when they dug for crawfish down by the creek. But he needs a job and hers was the only place in town hiring. She didn’t seem to care that his former career as a smoke jumper didn’t provide much experience in baking cakes. Patience Martel isn’t sure what caused her smoke ala...

Didactic Scenes

I love researching and recently looked into Harlequin's Love Inspired line's submission guidelines to find out if there were certain parameters in the stories they accept and publish. One of the lines that stood out to me was: "Mandatory faith element that is integral to story and shows rather than tells, avoiding didactic, preachy tone or doctrinal language." This had me thinking about one of the cinematic attributes I've heard over the years between British and American movies and television, where one tends to show the story and have people reason it out, whereas the other can get into further detail, eliminating the need to piece things out as much when watching a story. I wish I could find the source for this thought as it's shaped how I view and compare a lot of mysteries and dramas (I confess that I may be a tad too shy for British comedies)—broadly speaking, of course. As a result, I can understand how didactic language isn't always pleasant to s...