The human community is impossible without a sense of justice and knowing what is right and wrong, Rev. Dr. Richard H. Lowery told the opening of the Thursday morning session of the 2009 Disciples General Assembly. 

Lowery is Interim Dean and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Lexington Theological Seminary in Lexington, Ky. He is on loan from Phillips Theological Seminary, where he is the Johnnie Eargle Cadieux Professor of Hebrew Bible.

Lowery said the sense of community began in Genesis when God recognized that ‘man’ could not survive alone and created ‘woman’ to bring togetherness.  He said God is by nature social, sharing with humans.  “God rules but doesn’t rule alone. God exercises power in community.”

Genesis and the Garden of Eden is the ideal model God wants to see on Earth, “it is the picture of what the world should be, the vision of hope, the dream of wholeness.”

Human community is impossible without a sense of justice and knowing what is right and wrong. He said it is better to live in community than be alone but it also leads to making choices between right and wrong.  “Moral judgements come from living in community.”

The downside he said is that knowing the difference between right and wrong also includes the ability to do wrong.

“We can’t expect to escape our humanity as God brings heaven to earth,” he said.