Justice Lifts the Nations by Paul Robert

In part 5 of his signature film series titled How Should We Then Live? Francis Schaeffer visits the old Supreme Court Building in Lausanne, Switzerland. Here are Schaeffer’s comments.

We are in the old Supreme Court Building of Switzerland in Lausanne. This painting was done in 1905 by Paul Robert. The judges had to pass it each time they came to try a case, to remind them of something. The Bible gives a basis, not only for morals, but for law. How should the judges judge? How, indeed, so that the judgment would not be arbitrary?

The Bible gives a basis, not only for morals, but for law.
—Francis Schaeffer—

Justice here is not blindfolded; and her sword does not point upward, but down, to this book: The Law of God. This was the sociological and legal base for Northern Europe after the Reformation.

As the Reformation emphasis that the Bible is the only final authority took root, the ordinary citizen was increasingly freed from arbitrary governmental power.

POINTS FOR DISCUSSION

1. What are some possible reasons Robert depicted Justice as not being blindfolded? Would this ever potentially be problematic? If not, why not?
2. What might the light surrounding the head of Justice represent?
3. What is the significance of Justice’s pointing her sword downward, rather than upward?
4. Summarize the message conveyed in the fact that Justice’s sword is pointing directly to “The Law of God.”
5. How does God’s Law enable a nation to be free and prosperous?

Group assignment: Draft a one-to-three-sentence summary of the main message conveyed in Justice Lifts the Nations.

Interesting fact: The name of the central figure in Paul Robert’s painting is Justice. In fact, Justice is her first and only name. She is not Social Justice!

The Wikipedia article on Robert is available here.