Retribution Is God's Face, Not Our Fist

The natural instinct binds us: enmity answers enmity, kindness answers kindness. A dog stretches its neck to be patted and snaps at a raised stick. We are creatures of reciprocal reaction. Yet Christian morality requires us to master this instinct through strenuous effort. When Paul writes, 'Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto wrath,' he does not merely forbid violent acts—law already restrains those in civilised times.…