Martinus: Livets Bog, vol. 4, sect. 1254

1254. If the structure of society today is such that it "takes revenge", "punishes" or "chastises", then this is the absolute height of perfection, which means, it is the height of what society today understands by, or can provide in the form of "justice". But this naturally does not mean that society at a later point in time will not be able to envisage a kind of "justice" that is even more perfect. As long as society has not gained experiences or insight into the "absolute truth" behind all the natural laws of life, which in reality means "neighbourly love", it has of course to stick only to the suppositions or notions that it has been able to form about the laws of life. But gradually as its experiences accumulate and become science or wisdom in the consciousness of society, this society must of course also change its suppositions about "justice" in favour of an insight into "justice" that is far clearer and more elevated than the insight it has today. And this changing of its view of "justice" must inevitably continue until the laws of life are totally exposed as actual facts. And since they are then no longer mere suppositions but pure truth, its view of "justice" can no longer be changed. A "justice" that is based on the laws of life that have been revealed as facts is the very peak of the living being's view and perception of "justice". The judicial laws created by a society in conformity with this culminating view of "justice" will of course at that time be quite different to the judicial laws that are based on the view of "justice" that is accessible to modern society today. That this future view of "justice" will not be the most perfect one for society today is of course only what we have already pointed out, but since it is naturally just as obvious that society's view of "justice" today is just as imperfect for the society of the future, we will here be able to see that it is of some importance that a certain knowledge of this future's view of "justice" is generated. It is precisely this view that is beginning to come to the fore in all the beings that today have more or less grown away from being able to "take revenge" and "punish" and therefore begin to feel that they are at odds with society's religious and judicial clauses. Indeed, in many situations they do not even have the heart to insist on making claims on their neighbour or holding him or her responsible – these being rights or claims that society authorises – therefore choosing to suffer in these situations rather than have their neighbour "punished" or have inflicted upon him or her the mental and physical unpleasantness, the "disgrace" and the branding as a "criminal" that the state's "penal code" authorises.