What Hath Justice to Do with Righteousness?: Reclaiming the Intersection of Protest and Prayer

by Charlie E. Dates

Justice is God's Righteousness in Action

Reclaim what was always meant to be whole. Justice and righteousness are not opposing forces but inseparable pillars of God’s design. But often our minds divide them, even set them in opposition to one another.

In What Hath Justice to Do with Righteousness?, Rev. Dr. Charlie E. Dates provides a biblical and historical overview of the bond between these two pillars of the Christian faith that challenges our assumptions, renews our understanding, and invites us into a new movement of protest and prayer.

With biblical wisdom, theological reflection, and an honest critique of cultural blind spots, this book boldly declares that justice is God’s righteousness in action. True justice cannot exist apart from righteousness, and righteousness is hollow without a commitment to justice. God’s justice restores and reconciles. “When Jesus hung on a cross, God got justice, and we got righteousness.”

In What Hath Justice to Do with Righteousness? you will:

Understand Justice Through a Biblical Lens: Explore how the Bible defines justice as an expression of God's character and His kingdom purpose.
Resist Systemic Injustice on Biblical Grounds: Learn how Scripture equips believers to stand against oppression and advocate for equity in society.
Persevere in God’s Truth: Receive spiritual guidance and motivation to remain steadfast in the pursuit of God’s justice.
Dates challenges assumptions, exposes divisions, and delivers a call to action for both protest and prayer. Prepare to be called, inspired, and equipped to resist systemic injustice on biblical grounds and embody both justice and righteousness in every step you take. Are you ready to unite what the world seeks to divide?

Genres: Christian, Christian Non Fiction, Nonfiction, Christianity, Social Issues, Social Justice, Christian Living

152 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 25, 2026

Reviews

[Aashish Baskaran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Convicting and compelling.

“What do you do when God stops going to your church, but because the music is so good and the sacrifices are so large, you can’t tell that God has left the building?”

[Alexandria Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

if you have taken the call of christ seriously, it includes justice and righteousness. thank you, thank you Pastor Charlie for this book! I’m blessed, challenged, convicted, and pushed forward by your words!

“the fight for justice was not a substitute for the gospel but a consequence of the gospel.”

[Darcy · Rating 4.75 out of 5]

What an important book! In What Hath Justice to do with Righteousness: Reclaiming the Intersection of Protest and Prayer, Dates challenges both those who pursue justice without righteousness and those who focus on righteousness but neglect justice. I have witnessed the very issues Dates examines at work in the Canadian context where, much to the chagrin of conservatives who wish to deny its existence, racism continues to drive social inequity. But Dates is not one-sided. He equally challenges those who seek redress from structural injustice void of a personal response to the gospel—a progressivism that denies the place of Scripture and faith—as those who seek a personal righteousness while minimizing or ignoring structural sin—a conservative “gradualism” that resisted the civil rights movement in the 60s and dismisses concerns of ongoing racial issues today as “woke.” Dates courageously explores the legacies of and interactions between Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Billy Graham—back-to-back chapters that form a profound case study of his thesis. While Dates holds forth a sincere hope for transformation in both faith and activism, there is a genuine concern that gives a sense of urgency as the book builds to its climax. I only hope that it is read widely and engaged faithfully.

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding. Packed with powerful information about America’s churches failing in matters of justice. There’s much to learn. Our action is sadly overdue.

[Ryan Hiney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish good reads had increments of 0.5 stars. This book has a compelling case for why you should care about personal piety and social justice.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rev. Dr. Dates provides a riveting, interesting take on how justice divorced from righteousness looks. He relates multiple times and in multiple ways how the relationship between justice and righteousness is like that between faith and works and gives examples of how different churches, going both direction, have failed to hold to both virtues.

Dr. Dates primary discussion is that the American church has traded justice away to focus solely on righteousness to the point that it has hurt the church’s witness to the world. This, he summarizes as: “Rather than more singing, we need more marching while singing. Rather than more holy convocations, we need less obstruction of justice.” His call is that the church not only reflect the righteousness of God internally but also the justice of God externally because “justice is what righteousness looks like in practice.”

An amazing read and worth it for everyone.

[Noah · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The greatest contradiction throughout the history of American Christianity is that many of those who profess right doctrine about God are the ones who are most opposed to social justice in his name.”

“Jesus himself preached against injustice. “‘ The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,’ said my Lord. ‘He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; . . . liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind’” (Luke 4: 18 NKJV). It turns out that Jesus understood his heavenly Father to be the God of the oppressed. Why don’t we hear more statements like this from preachers with a high view of Scripture and a high view of Christ? It might be because all we read are the commentaries of non-oppressed people! As a result, all we see is the Bible from the lens of the slave master rather than from the field of the enslaved.”

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I highlighted about a third of this book.

[Courtney Vineyard · Rating 3 out of 5]

“But justice is never the sole goal; conquering injustice with your soul intact is the goal.”

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jesus loves justice. That’s an of course in my eyes, but I pray this book will open more people’s eyes to such a basic scriptural truth, that justice and righteousness belong together.

[Dale Chamberlain · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is courageous, incisive, and brilliant.

[Oliver Berry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now you know. This is a powerful witnessing tool. Put it to “God’s” use.

[DeAron Washington · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would impoverish my vocabulary trying to fully capture how this book has blessed and challenged me. This book has a prophetic tone and accurately diagnosed our current cultural moment. No one is safe from the rebukes offered in these pages. He critiques white evangelicals, progressives, the black pulpit and everybody else.

Don’t believe me? Go read the book.