Editing Justice (section)

==Divinity and religious conceptions of justice==
{{Main|Divine command theory}}
Advocates of divine command theory say that justice and the whole of morality is the authoritative command of God. Murder is wrong and must be punished, for instance, because God says it so. Some versions of the theory assert that God must be obeyed because of the nature of God's relationship with humanity, others assert that God must be obeyed because God is goodness itself, and thus doing God's command would be best for everyone.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Quinn |first=Philip L. |year=1990 |title=The Recent Revival of Divine Command Ethics |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2108047 |journal=Philosophy and Phenomenological Research |volume=50 |pages=345–365 |doi=10.2307/2108047 |jstor=2108047 |issn=0031-8205|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

An early meditation on the divine command theory by [[Plato]] can be found in his dialogue, [[Euthyphro]]. Called the [[Euthyphro dilemma]], it goes as follows: "Is what is morally good commanded by the gods because it is morally good, or is it morally good because it is commanded by the gods?" The implication is that if the latter is true, then justice is beyond mortal understanding; if the former is true, then morality exists independently from the gods and is therefore subject to the judgment of mortals.<ref name=":2" /> A [[Argument from morality|response]], popularized in two contexts by [[Immanuel Kant]] and [[C. S. Lewis]], is that it is deductively valid to say that the existence of an objective morality implies the existence of God and vice versa.{{cn|date=February 2025}}

[[Judaism|Judaic]], Christian, and [[Muslim]] theology traditionally follow that justice is a present, real, right, and specifically, governing concept, along with [[mercy]], and that justice is ultimately derived from and held by God.{{cn|date=February 2025}} According to the Bible, such institutions like the [[Law of Moses|Mosaic Law]] were created by God to require the [[Israelites]] to live by and apply God's standards of justice.{{cn|date=February 2025}}

The Hebrew Bible describes God as saying about the [[Judeo-Christian-Islamic]] patriarch [[Abraham]]: "No, for I have chosen him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice;...." ([[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] 18:19, [[New Revised Standard Version|NRSV)]]. The [[Psalms|Psalmist]] describes God as having "Righteousness and justice [as] the foundation of [His] throne;...." (Psalms 89:14, NRSV).{{cn|date=February 2025}}

The [[New Testament]] also describes God and [[Jesus|Jesus Christ]] as having and displaying justice, often in comparison with God displaying and supporting [[mercy]] ([[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] 5:7).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Guest |date=4 June 2018 |title=Bible Verses About Justice - Justice in the Bible |url=https://sharedhope.org/2018/06/04/biblical-justice-and-social-justice/ |access-date=7 April 2025 |website=Shared Hope International |language=en-US}}</ref>