Clarence Jordon of the Koinonia community in Georgia has pointed out that throughout the Bible is a kind of progression, an unfolding of understanding. Christ pursues this direction. Instead of unlimited retaliation or even limited retaliation, he calls for unlimited love-and it is no accident, perhaps, that he graphically calls for forgiveness to 70x7. Christ's focus on forgiveness, restoration and reconciliation rather than retribution is thus quite logical, and not a rejection of the overall thrust of the Old Testament. The biblical view suggests a way of viewing crime which is closer to the way we actually experience it.
Crime is a violation of people and of their relationships.
Justice, then, ought to seek first of all to repair, to make right. Justice identifies needs and obligations so that things can be made right through a process which encourages dialogue and involves both victims and offenders. A restorative approach to justice would understand that the essence of crime is a violation of people and of harmonious relations between them. True justice would have as its goals restoration, reconciliation and responsibility rather than retribution. Restorative justice would aim to be personal.