This chapter is titled 'Justice in the New Testament'. One of the parables in the New Testament that Nygren based his understanding of justice or the lack thereof is the parable of the labourers. In the parable Jesus tells, the owner invites people to come and work in his vineyard for a day's wage. People came forward. One joined the work in the morning; another in the afternoon and still another one later. Different people joined at different time. At the end of the day, the one who came early got the day's wage he was promised. He was okay there. But he realised that the owner pays the same amount of money to the guy who came in the afternoon and also to the one who came later. He complaint that it's not fair that others got as much as he got saying that since he joined early he should get more. The owner said that he got what he deserved and he was not treated unjustly. The question is: was the owner unfair or unjust? Well, Nygren thought the owner treated him unjustly!
But this interpretation made Nygren argues that justice is supplanted in New Testament with love. Nick argues that justice is not supplanted in the New Testament with love. Justice runs through New Testament as well. It is there in the Old Testament and it continues in the New Testament too. Nick takes Luke's 4 where Jesus read the Old Testament text and then concludes that in him what the Old Testament text says in coming true. And that text is about bringing good news of release to the oppressed. Nick goes on cite other texst too to make his point.
In the next chapter Nick argues why oftentimes English reader of New Testament misses out 'justice' though it's THERE. It's got to do with translation!
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