The Justice of Jesus: Restorative, Not Retributive w/ Joash Thomas

About this episode

Joash Thomas discusses a holistic vision of justice rooted in the way of Jesus, contrasting retributive and restorative justice while critiquing the impact of colonization and individualism on the church's witness.

In this episode, Joash Thomas challenges Western Christians to recover a holistic vision of justice rooted in the way of Jesus. Drawing from his new book The Justice of Jesus , Joash contrasts retributive and restorative justice, highlights the global church’s theological depth, and critiques the “colonizer’s gospel” that prioritizes soul salvation over bodily and communal healing. He explores how colonization, individualism, and Christian nationalism have distorted the church’s witness, and offers a practical, hopeful path forward that centers marginalized neighbors, deepens civic discipleship, and calls the church to follow the Spirit’s lead toward holistic restoration. About Joash Joash Thomas is a Canadian-based speaker, advocate, and ordained minister focused on biblical justice, global theology, and civic discipleship. A former political consultant in Georgia, he now works at the intersection of faith and international human rights. Joash is the author of The Justice of Jesus: Liberating Our Broken Communities, Healing the Oppressed, and Redeeming Our Politics , and he leads weekly reflections through his Substack, Jesus, Justice, and Joash . Get full access to Disarming…

People in this episode

Host: Caleb E. Campbell

Guest: Joash Thomas

Topics covered

• restorative justice
• retributive justice
• Christian nationalism
• colonization
• civic discipleship
• theological depth

Keywords

• justice
• Christianity
• colonization
• individualism
• theology
• civic engagement
• restoration

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Jesus, Justice, and Joash

Books & works: The Justice of Jesus, The Justice of Jesus: Liberating Our Broken Communities, Healing the Oppressed, and Redeeming Our Politics

More episodes of Disarming Leviathan Podcast

• The Hidden Costs of U.S. Immigration Policies w/ Matthew Soerens · June 11, 2026 · 36 min
• The American Church and Global Refugees w/ Daniel Yang · June 4, 2026 · 34 min
• A special series for June 2026 · May 17, 2026 · 2 min
• An update and an invite. · April 24, 2026 · 2 min
• Special Episode: Interview with Surge Network · March 21, 2026 · 42 min
• A Revival of What Kind? · February 5, 2026 · 29 min