Restorative justice and Jesus Christ: why restorative justice requires holistic christology

The holding of certain convictions about Jesus Christ and a commitment to the justice he articulated require a holistic Christology for any vision of restorative justice to be deemed Christian'. A holistic Christology, by which is meant a Christology incorporating an integrated understanding of Jesus' life, death, resurrection and Spirit, holds that Jesus was crucified in part because he taught and practiced a vision of justice that was based on enemy-love. The resurrection of Jesus not only vindicates Jesus' teaching and death but reconciles enemies. The presence of the Spirit make justice and reconciliation central concerns for the Christian Church. In presenting this argument, key biblical texts from Luke-Acts are analysed in the context of a dialogue with a range of theological conversation partners, including CFD Moule, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, John Howard Yoder, Miroslav Volf and Eduard Schweizer. The thesis concludes with the identification of discipleship practices for Christian individuals and expressive models for Christian communities that give expression to a consciously biblical vision of restorative justice.