A loving justice - the companion to faith in God

Abstract

In the so-called Temple Sermon of the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 7: 1- 15), one can see very clearly that faith in the living God of ancient Israel implied a commitment to justice. Jeremiah does not mince his words; indeed, he proclaims explicitly that one deceives oneself if one claims to believe in Yahweh without being committed to justice. He told the people of Judah in the sixth century B.C. not 'to trust in these deceptive words: This is the temple of Yahweh, the temple of Yahweh, the temple of Yahweh'. The people of God were using His name in vain, namely by taking refuge in hollow professions of faith. The latter can only be true, if they are real and not something purely notional or abstract.