Background in The Old Testament
The Pope traces the message of divine mercy back to earlier books in the Bible. He discusses the repeated instances of God returning to his people after their abandoning him.
John Paul also takes of the issue of contrasting mercy with justice: "in many cases is shown to be not only more powerful than that justice but also more profound." He writes that Scripture shows that "Mercy differs from justice, but is not in opposition to it, if we admit in the history of man ... the presence of God, who already as Creator has linked Himself to His creature with a particular love."
Read more about this topic: Dives In Misericordia
Famous quotes containing the words background and/or testament:
“Silence is the universal refuge, the sequel to all dull discourses and all foolish acts, a balm to our every chagrin, as welcome after satiety as after disappointment; that background which the painter may not daub, be he master or bungler, and which, however awkward a figure we may have made in the foreground, remains ever our inviolable asylum, where no indignity can assail, no personality can disturb us.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”
—Bible: New Testament Jesus, in Matthew, 25:21.
Here and in 25:23, said to the two “profitable servants” in the parable of the talents.