§ 1 The argument
Scripture's standard for civil justice regarding the shedding of innocent blood is emphatic and exclusive — 'justice, and only justice, you shall pursue' (Deut. 16:20). Where God has defined an act as murder, the state's duty is to establish equal justice against it, not to legislate a policy that permits some killing while prohibiting other killing. A law that deliberately protects some children and not others is 'partiality' (Deut. 16:19; Lev. 19:15) and an 'unjust statute' whose authors are pronounced 'woe' (Isa. 10:1-2).
§ 2 Supporting points
- The doubling 'justice, and only justice' (tsedeq tsedeq) reads as an intensifier that excludes compromise.
- God forbids partiality in judgment (Deut. 16:19; Lev. 19:15) — unequal protection is by definition partial.
- The 'woe' of Isaiah 10:1-2 falls on those who write unjust statutes, not only those who kill.
- 'To justify the wicked... is an abomination' (Prov. 17:15) — statutory exceptions that pre-acquit the guilty are condemned.
§ 3 Discussion questions
- Does a bill that bans abortion after a heartbeat but permits it before satisfy 'justice, and ONLY justice'?
- Is a deliberately unequal law an act of impartial justice, or of the partiality Scripture forbids?
§ 4 Related
Source transcript
Drawn from
Does the Pro-Life Movement Hate Justice? (T. Russell Hunter, 'Justice Alone') — The thesis of the 'Justice Alone' talk.
§ 5 References
The case here rests on the cited scriptures; see Related below.