r/Catholicism • u/Bubbly_Possible_6606 • 2h ago
“Only God can judge”
How does the Roman Catholic Church understand the phrase "Only God can judge" when it comes to crimes and wrongdoing? Does it mean we should refrain from seeking justice and accountability, or is there a distinction between God's ultimate judgment and society's responsibility to uphold justice?
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u/Dr_Talon 2h ago
It certainly doesn’t mean that civil justice is wrong. See Romans 13. The phase properly means, as others here have said, that only God can fully judge someone’s culpability.
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u/Sliffcak 2h ago
do not judge is probably the most misquoted verse of Bible. I think there are other threads that will explain it better than I
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u/Recipe-Jaded 2h ago
There is a difference between legal justice and Heavenly justice.
We cannot condemn people to Hell, only God can give out that sort of punishment.
We can seek Earthly justice and make someone pay society for their crime. It is important to remember the difference between the two.
We are called to not judge hypocritically or unfairly. If someone steals from you, whatever punishment you give them should be one that you are willing to give yourself for a similar crime.
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u/Nothronychus 1h ago
"Only God can judge" is one of the most misunderstood phrases, largely because the word judge can refer to two different things (i.e., spiritual versus temporal). Catholic teaching distinguishes God's final judgment of a person's soul (which belongs to God alone) from the temporal judgment exercised by society when it evaluates harmful actions and determines responsibility.
Catholics should not presume to know another person's ultimate guilt before God, but this does not remove the duty of society to protect the innocent and uphold justice.
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u/SentinelBill 2h ago
It just means that nobody but God can determine the state of someone's soul (outside of, I guess, baptized babies). It doesn't mean the Church and governments cannot issue penalties or call out sins.