Brooks Harrington - No Mercy, No Justice

No Mercy, No Justice is a very powerful book and not for the faint of heart.

Brooks Harrington is a unique Christian person. He was, and is, an attorney, having tried numerous cases, many of which had to do with abuse and domestic violence often against children. And he is an ordained clergyperson, now serving as the director of a justice ministry connected to First United Methodist Church in Ft. Worth, Texas. Let me say, by means of full disclosure, Brooks was a student of mine at Perkins School of Theology in a class of introductory preaching. He was a truly outstanding student and preacher then, topping his graduating class. But what was startling about him was his enormous commitment to the ideas he has expressed in this book, namely, the need to address with full honesty the deep and complex relationships between justice and mercy in the life of Christian faith. He speaks again and again of his work in the courtroom and on the streets among the homeless and abused of his city, probing for ways to address those two central issues in Christianity. He writes of the dominant culture, the one we live in where justice is sought and applied often devoid of mercy. But also he addresses those Christians who would expect only mercy and never Gods justice against their refusals to show mercy to all. In rich biblical analyses, from the prophets of Israel and especially from the potent parables of Jesus, he shows how justice without mercy may be calloused and cruel, while mercy without justice may be empty and simplistic.

I admit readily that the book was a real workout to read, not because the prose was not limpid and clear, but because I felt convicted again and again by my own complicity in the dominant narrative, and my own unwillingness to tender mercy to all and not to receive the justice from God that I should expect for my failings. I found the final chapters retelling of Mark 45 a beautiful summation of the books central claims. That chapter alone is worth the books price, but it will not have its full impact until the rest has been read.

When Brooks Harrington came to see me just before his graduation from seminary, he announced that he was going back into the work of the law. I was surprised, for he had been serving as a pastor (details of which you will read in his book), and I imagined he would continue to do that. But he went on to say that the study of theology had taught him how to use his great skills as legal advocate in new and richer ways. And he is doing just that now. I thank the God who called him to that work, and I thank God and Brooks for this book that challenges and provokes.

John C. Holbert

Professor Emeritus of Homiletics

Perkins School of Theology

Southern Methodist University