The Justice of God: Vindication, Government, and Judgment | John Owen

Deep Dive into A Dissertation on Divine Justice by John Owen - The Universal Justice of God - The Idle Fancies of the Schoolmen -The Arguments of Durandus against Commutative Justice - Suarez's Censure of the Scholastic Reasonings -His Opinion of Divine Justice -The Examination of It -A Description of Universal Justice from the Sacred Writings -A Division of It in respect of Its Egress -Rectitude of Government in God, What, and of What Kind -Definitions of the Philosophers and Lawyers -Divisions of the Justice of Government -A Caution Respecting These -Vindicatory Justice -The Opinions of the Partisans -An Explication of the True Opinion -Who the Adversaries Are -The State of the Controversy Farther ConsideredJohn Owen's dissertation begins by defining the universal justice of God as His absolute perfection and rectitude, which directs all His actions according to wisdom, truth, and mercy. The author critiques various scholastic theologians, such as Durandus and Thomas Aquinas, for their confusing and often contradictory views on whether commutative or distributive justice applies to God. He specifically rejects Francis Suarez's attempt to ascribe both forms of justice to God, arguing that Suarez did this to improperly justify the doctrine of human merit.The core of the text addresses God's vindicatory, or punitive, justice. The author asserts that this justice is an essential, natural attribute of God, meaning that if a rational creature sins, God must necessarily punish that sin to maintain His supreme right and dominion. This position is contested by Socinian adversaries, who argue that God's justice does not require a penal satisfaction for sin and that He can simply choose to forgive transgressions freely. The author also expresses dismay that some orthodox theologians, like Rutherford, mistakenly concede that punishing sin is merely a free act of the divine will, which weakens the defense of Christ's necessary satisfaction.Finally, the author reconciles the necessity of vindicatory justice with God's divine freedom. While God's initial decree to create the world and permit a state where sin could occur was an entirely free act, once sin exists, the exercise of punitive justice becomes a necessity. However, this conditional necessity does not eliminate God's freedom. He explains that God acts from His own understanding and will, much like how God is entirely free but must necessarily speak the truth if He chooses to communicate.Reformed Theologian GPT: https://chat.openai.com/g/g-XXwzX1gnv-reformed-theologianYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/@ReformedExplainerSpotify Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1t5dz4vEgvHqUknYQfwpRI?si=e-tDRFR2Qf6By1sAcMdkdwhttps://buymeacoffee.com/edi2730