WCIUjournal
Copy of SOCIAL JUSTICE

Social Justice

In what ways does a godly presence in a society lead to social justices?

Photo credit: Gustave Deghilage - Flickr

Posts tagged works of the devil
Lessons from History that that Can Help Us Understand the Chaos in America in 2020

by Ralph D. Winter

These excerpts from Winter’s lectures for the course, Foundations of the World Christian Movement, can help us understand the historical context for American’s current social upheaval. Winter’s insights and analysis can give hope. He saw a pattern in history of chaos followed by societal flourishing, which he challenges believers to purposely work toward. A major concern of Winter’s in his last years was that evangelicals would become aware of the schemes of the evil one and engage in organized efforts to overcome evils in society as well as in the realm of disease. In this way, he strongly believed, God’s reputation could be restored and the peoples of the earth could be winsomely encouraged to choose to be part of God’s Kingdom.

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Editorworks of the devil, Lord's Prayer, transformation, evangelicals, social reform, social action, history, Ralph D. Winter, chaosComment
Analysis of the American Immigration Crisis and a Crisis in the First Epistle of John through the Lens of a Social Scientific Model

by Beth Snodderly

First John 3:8: The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. Ralph Winter quoted this verse frequently in his last years. In my doctoral studies I explored this verse in great detail to discern what the original audience might have thought was included in the phrase, "the works of the devil." I used a Social Science model called a "Status Degradation Ritual" to understand some of the dynamics in the First Epistle of John. The author’s community is having to distinguish between “the children of God,” and those who are having their status degraded to “children of the devil.” In this article I ask if this model also applies to the way some politicians talk about asylum seekers at America's southern border who are fleeing violence and intolerable conditions. Do the degrading comments by top leaders put those people in a position of being non-persons in the eyes of many people? How should believers respond? 

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EditorScripture, discrimination, evil, works of the devil, social justiceComment