A Review of Restorative Justice and Retributive Justice

What Is Retributive Justice?Retributive justice is the idea that wrongdoing must be repaid with punishment.It focuses on penalty, vengeance, and giving someone what they deserve.Human systems often operate this way:You hurt someone → you suffer.You fail → you are cast out.Justice becomes mainly punitive.There are certainly consequences for sin in the Bible. God is holy and takes evil seriously. But Scripture also reveals that God’s ultimate goal is not destruction — it is redemption.Restorative justice seeks healing, reconciliation, and transformation.Instead of asking:“How do we punish the offender?”It asks:“How do we restore what was broken?”This is deeply biblical.Throughout Scripture, God continually pursues restoration:restoring Israel,restoring sinners,restoring relationships,restoring creation itself.The heart of God is not endless abandonment, but redemption.What Is Restorative Justice?