ABSTRACT
Attempts to engage theology and the law in dialogue have been few in number. The conviction of practical theologians writing on criminal justice, is that public debate on issues of justice is enriched and deepened where lawyers and theologians engage with one another (Forrester, 2012). Viewing theology and law as dialogue partners can be mutually enriching. Each brings something different and distinctive to the discussion. More than 40 years ago, Bishop David Jenkins (1980) made this case, arguing that theology can best serve the quest for an answer to how society responds to crime by keeping alive in criminology those awkward questions that are frequently neglected about the struggle to be human. In the spirit of theology and law as dialogue partners, this chapter argues that the shift in focus from retributive to restorative values which has taken place in both the modern criminal justice debate and in contemporary atonement theology, offers rich potential for critical dialogue between atonement theology and restorative justice theory. Both speak of justice as relational and consequently of the need for a participatory process; both understand the purpose of punishment as being restorative rather than retributive; and both understand the ultimate goal of justice to be reconciliation. The chapter is both theoretical and practical: in the first part of the chapter, critical questions for theology and law will be raised through a mutual critical dialogue between restorative justice and atonement theology, while in the second half original case study data will demonstrate very practically how atonement themes and restorative justice principles can successfully combine to help address crime within the prison context.
