Expert: Fr. Michael - 3/23/2007

Question
It is a common response to any disapproval of immoral behavior in society for someone to say, "Judge not, lest ye be judged". How does one respond to that Biblically?

Answer
       Traditional Catholics are often taunted by Modernists when objective
matters of faith and morals are discussed:  "By what authority can you
judge?"  The short answer is:  "By God's authority."

       One must make a distinction between INTERNAL and EXTERNAL judgment.  
When Our Lord says:  "Judge not, that you be not judged" (Matthew 1:7/DRV),
His dictum refers to one man's judgment of another man's INTERNAL state of
soul.  Only God can see the internal disposition:  was the external action
done out of good or ill, out of friendship or fear, etc.?  Man can see only
the external result, not the internal intention.

       On the other hand, WE MUST MAKE EXTERNAL JUDGEMENTS.  We do this
every day.  A parent judges his child's action unacceptable and punishes him.  
A judge or jury judges a criminal guilty.  We judge that murder is wrong,
that adultery is wrong, that theft is wrong.  These are external judgments
that we must make by God's authority.  Otherwise, the commonweal falls.  We
must judge the external action -- we don't want criminals walking around
because they cannot be judged!  God gives us that authority, as He
established the state with its due authority:  "Render therefore to Caesar
the things that are Caesar's" (Matthew 22:21/DRV).

       This "judge not" is a typical ploy of the Modernists.  It's a way of
saying that we cannot judge anyone else's morals.  We can't say that adultery
is wrong, or homosexuality, or theft.  Of course, not even the Modernists
really believe this.  They don't advocate the dismissal of law-courts.  They
don't advocate the firing of judges.  They don't advocate letting murderers,
thieves, and rapists go free with impunity.  Obviously, even for them,
EXTERNAL judgment is just and a necessity.  They just judge differently, not
in accordance with God's law.

       So what does this "judge not" dictum really mean?  St. John clarifies
it for us:  "Judge not according to the appearance:  but judge just judgment"
(John 7:24/DRV).  In other words, it is not judgment itself that is
condemned, but UNJUST judgment.  Catholic teaching is that just judgment is
proper when it pertains to EXTERNAL judgment.  For example, it is perfectly
acceptable to judge an external act such as  murder, to consign the murderer
to the courts, and to execute the murderer if found guilty.

       What we cannot do, as only God can do that, is judge the INTERNAL
disposition.  Perhaps the murderer was not compos mentis when he committed
the murder.  Courts can try to infer from external actions what might have
been the internal motive, just as a priest can try to infer the culpability
of a penitent, but only God knows the true heart as a certainty.

       So, when someone gives you that "judge not" quotation to suborn every
kind of moral and doctrinal perversion, tell them to go down to the
courthouse, dismiss the judges and juries, and lock the doors!  "Moral
relativism is not only an intellectually bankrupt idea; its real-life
consequences can be deadly."  Otherwise, we would have no justice in this
world -- just anarchy.