This collection, by leading legal scholars, judges and practitioners, together with theologians and church historians, presents historical, theological, philosophical and legal perspectives on Christianity and criminal law. Following a Preface by Lord Judge, formerly Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, and an introductory chapter, the book is divided into four thematic sections. Part I addresses the historical contributions of Christianity to criminal law drawing on biblical sources, early church fathers and canonists, as far as the Enlightenment. Part II, titled Christianity and the principles of criminal law, compares crime and sin, examines concepts of mens rea and intention, and considers the virtue of due process within criminal justice. Part III looks at Christianity and criminal offences, considering their Christian origins and continuing relevance for several basic crimes that every legal system prohibits. Finally, in Part IV, the authors consider Christianity and the enforcement of criminal law, looking at defences, punishment and forgiveness. The book will be an invaluable resource for students and academics working in the areas of Law and Religion, Legal Philosophy and Theology.

This book explores both historical and contemporary Christian sources and dimensions of global law and includes critical perspectives from various religious and philosophical traditions. Two dozen leading scholars discuss the constituent principles of this new global legal order historically, comparatively, and currently. The first part uses a historical-biographical approach to study a few of the major Christian architects of global law and transnational legal theory, from St. Paul to Jacques Maritain. The second part distills the deep Christian sources and dimensions of the main principles of global law, historically and today, separating out the distinct Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Christian contributions as appropriate. Finally, the authors address a number of pressing global issues and challenges, where a Christian-informed legal perspective can and should have deep purchase and influence. The work makes no claim that Christianity is the only historical shaper of global law, nor that it should monopolize the theory and practice of global law today. But the book does insist that Christianity, as one of the world's great religions, has deep norms and practices, ideas and institutions, prophets and procedures that can be of benefit as the world struggles to find global legal resources to confront humanity's greatest challenges. The volume will be an essential resource for academics and researchers working in the areas of law and religion, transnational law, legal philosophy, and legal history.

In the past, Christianity has had both positive and negative influences on democracy. Christian churches have served as benevolent agents of welfare and catalysts of political reform. But they have also served as belligerent allies of repression and censors of human rights. Christian theology has helped to cultivate democratic ideas of equality, li

In the past, Christianity has had both positive and negative influences on democracy. Christian churches have served as benevolent agents of welfare and catalysts of political reform. But they have also served as belligerent allies of repression and censors of human rights. Christian theology has helped to cultivate democratic ideas of equality, liberty, and responsibility. But it has also helped to perpetuate repressive ideas of statism, elitism, and chauvinism. In the future, Christian attitudes and actions concerning democracy will face a formidable challenge-both from inside and outside of the Christian community. From inside, new liberation and ecumenical movements will continue to challenge Christianity to lend greater aid to the poor and the oppressed and greater support to the cause of political reform and renewal. From outside, the couapse of socialist ideologies, the emergence of Islam, and the growing secularization of the West will challenge Christianity to develop a more coherent and consistent teaching on democratic law and politics. This collection brings together leading politicians, clerics, and academics of a variety of political positions and Christian persuasions to debate what Christianity has contributed in the past and what it should contribute in the future to the shape of democratic government around the world. It is a crucial contribution to current thought on religion and politics.

This collection, by leading legal scholars, judges and practitioners, together with theologians and church historians, presents historical, theological, philosophical and legal perspectives on Christianity and criminal law. Following a Preface by Lord Judge, formerly Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, and an introductory chapter, the book is divided into four thematic sections. Part I addresses the historical contributions of Christianity to criminal law drawing on biblical sources, early church fathers and canonists, as far as the Enlightenment. Part II, titled Christianity and the principles of criminal law, compares crime and sin, examines concepts of mens rea and intention, and considers the virtue of due process within criminal justice. Part III looks at Christianity and criminal offences, considering their Christian origins and continuing relevance for several basic crimes that every legal system prohibits. Finally, in Part IV, the authors consider Christianity and the enforcement of criminal law, looking at defences, punishment and forgiveness. The book will be an invaluable resource for students and academics working in the areas of Law and Religion, Legal Philosophy and Theology.

This book explores both historical and contemporary Christian sources and dimensions of global law and includes critical perspectives from various religious and philosophical traditions. Two dozen leading scholars discuss the constituent principles of this new global legal order historically, comparatively, and currently. The first part uses a historical-biographical approach to study a few of the major Christian architects of global law and transnational legal theory, from St. Paul to Jacques Maritain. The second part distills the deep Christian sources and dimensions of the main principles of global law, historically and today, separating out the distinct Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Christian contributions as appropriate. Finally, the authors address a number of pressing global issues and challenges, where a Christian-informed legal perspective can and should have deep purchase and influence. The work makes no claim that Christianity is the only historical shaper of global law, nor that it should monopolize the theory and practice of global law today. But the book does insist that Christianity, as one of the world's great religions, has deep norms and practices, ideas and institutions, prophets and procedures that can be of benefit as the world struggles to find global legal resources to confront humanity's greatest challenges. The volume will be an essential resource for academics and researchers working in the areas of law and religion, transnational law, legal philosophy, and legal history.

What do we mean when we refer to people as being equal by nature? In the first book devoted to human equality as a fact rather than as a social goal or a legal claim, John Coons and Patrick Brennan argue that even if people possess unequal talents or are born into unequal circumstances, all may still be equal if it is true that human nature provides them the same access to moral self-perfection. Plausibly, in the authors' view, such access stems from the power of individuals to achieve goodness simply by doing the best they can to discover and perform correct actions. If people enjoy the same degree of natural capacity to try, all of us are offered the same opportunities for moral self-fulfillment. To believe this is to believe in equality.

This truly interdisciplinary work not only proposes the authors' own rationale but also provides an effective deconstruction of several other contemporary theories of equality, while it engages historical, philosophical, and Christian accounts as well. Furthermore, by divorcing the "best" from the "brightest," it shows how descriptive equality acquires practical significance. Among other accomplishments, By Nature Equal offers communitarians a core principle that has until now eluded them, rescues human dignity from the hierarchy of intellect, identifies racism in a new way, and shows how justice can be freshly grounded in the conviction that every rational person has the same capacity for moral excellence.

Spanning thousands of years, this new collection brings together writings and teachings about sex, marriage, and family from the Jewish, Christian, Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist, and Confucian traditions. The volume includes traditional texts as well as contemporary materials showing how the religions have responded to the changing conditions and mores of modern life. It reveals the similarities and differences among the various religions and the development of ideas and teachings within each tradition. Selections shed light on each religion's views on a range of subjects, including sexuality and sexual pleasure, the meaning and purpose of marriage, the role of betrothal, the status of women, the place of romance, grounds for divorce, celibacy, and sexual deviance.

Separate chapters devoted to each religion include introductions by leading scholars that contextualize the readings. The selections are drawn from a variety of genres including ritual, legal, theological, poetic, and mythic texts. The volume contains such diverse examples as the Zohar on conjugal manners, a contemporary Episcopalian liturgy for same-sex unions, Qur'anic passages on the equality of the sexes, the Ka--masu--tra on husbands, wives, and lovers, Buddhist writings on celibacy, and Confucian teachings on filial piety.

Contributors include: Michael S. Berger, Emory University; Azizah Y. al-Hibri, Richmond School of Law; Alan Cole, Lewis and Clark College; Paul B. Courtright, Emory University; Patricia Buckley Ebrey, University of Washington; Raja M. El-Habti, Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights; Luke Timothy Johnson, Emory University; Mark D. Jordan, Emory University

Statistics on the American family are sobering. From 1975 to 2000, one-third of all children were born to single mothers, and one-half of all marriages ended in divorce. While children from broken homes are two to three times more likely to develop behavioral and learning difficulties, two-parent families are not immune to problems. The cost of raising children has increased dramatically, and married couples with children are now twice as likely as childless couples to file for bankruptcy. Clearly, the American family is in trouble. But how this trouble started, and what should be done about it, remain hotly contested. In a multifaceted analysis of the current state of a complex institution, "Family Transformed" brings together outstanding scholars from the fields of anthropology, demography, ethics, history, law, philosophy, primatology, psychology, sociology, and theology. Demonstrating that the family is both distinctive in its own right and deeply interwoven with other institutions, the authors examine the roles of education, work, leisure, consumption, legal regulation, public administration, and biology in shaping the ways we court and marry, bear and raise children, and make and break family bonds. International in approach, this wide-ranging volume situates current American debates over sex, marriage, and family within a global framework. Weighing mounting social science evidence that supports a continued need for the nuclear family while assessing the challenges posed by new advocacy for same-sex marriage, and delegalized coupling, the authors argue that only by reintegrating the family into a just moral order of the larger community and society can we genuinely strengthen it. This means not simply upholding traditional family values but truly grasping the family's growing diversity, sustaining its coherence, and protecting its fragility for our own sake and for the common good of society.

This accessible and authoritative introduction tells the American story of religious liberty from its colonial beginnings to the latest Supreme Court cases. The authors analyze closely the formation of the First Amendment religion clauses and describe the unique and enduring principles of the American experiment in religious freedom - liberty of conscience, free exercise of religion, religious equality, religious pluralism, separation of church and state, and no establishment of religion. Successive chapters map all of the 240+ Supreme Court cases on religious freedom - covering the free exercise of religion; the roles of government and religion in education; the place of religion in public life; and the interaction of religious organizations and the state. The concluding reflections argue that protecting religious freedom is critical for democratic order and constitutional rule of law, even if it needs judicious balancing with other fundamental rights and state interests. Clear, comprehensive, multidisciplinary, and balanced, this classic volume is an ideal classroom text. This new 5th edition addresses fully the new hot-button issues and cases on religious freedom versus sexual liberty; religious worship in the time of COVID; freedom of conscience and exemption claims; state aid to religion; religious monuments and ceremonies in public life; and the rights and limits of religious groups.

"The Teachings of Modern Roman Catholicism on Law, Politics, and Human Nature" examines how modern Catholic thinkers have answered the most pressing political, legal, and ethical questions of our time. It discusses the enduring teachings of important Catholic intellectuals of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Leading contemporary scholars analyze these thinkers' views on the nature and purpose of law and authority, the limits of rule and obedience, the care of the needy and innocent, the ethics of war and violence, and the separation of church and state, among other themes. A diverse and powerful portrait of Catholic legal and political thought, this volume underscores the various ways Catholic intellectuals have shaped modern debates over the family, the state, religion, and society. The book focuses on the writings of Pope Leo XIII (1810-1903); Jacques Maritain (1882-1973); John Courtney Murray (1904-1967); Pope John XXIII (1881-1963); Gustavo Guti?rrez (b. 1928); Dorothy Day (1897-1980); and Pope John Paul II (1920-2005).

"The Teachings of Modern Protestantism on Law, Politics, and Human Nature" examines how modern Protestant thinkers have answered the most pressing political, legal, and ethical questions of our time. It discusses the enduring teachings of important Protestant intellectuals of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Leading contemporary scholars analyze these thinkers' views on the nature and purpose of law and authority, the limits of rule and obedience, the care of the needy and innocent, the ethics of war and violence, and the separation of church and state, among other themes. A diverse and powerful portrait of Protestant legal and political thought, this volume underscores the various ways Protestant intellectuals have shaped modern debates over the family, the state, religion, and society. The book focuses on the work of Abraham Kuyper (1827-1920); Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906); Karl Barth (1886-1968); Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945); Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971); Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968); William Stringfellow (1928-1985); and John Howard Yoder (1927-1997).

Divided into two volumes, "The Teachings of Modern Christianity on Law, Politics, and Human Nature" offers a landmark collection of writings from twenty leading Christian thinkers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and analyses of their work by leading contemporary religious scholars.

The first volume examines modern Christian thinkers' views on the most pressing political, legal, and ethical questions of our time. The essays present a vital new understanding of the diversity and richness of modern Christian legal and political thought from 1880 to the present. The contributors reveal the theological roots of modern legal systems as well as the relevance of modern Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox thought to current debates about the family, state, religion, and society.

Essays consider the ideas, influences, and intellectual and cultural contexts of a variety of figures, including Jacques Maritain, Gustavo Guti?rrez, Dorothy Day, Pope John Paul II, Susan B. Anthony, Karl Barth, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Reinhold Niebuhr, Martin Luther King Jr., Nikolai Berdyaev, and Vladimir Lossky. The contributors illuminate these thinkers' views on issues that continue to affect modern pluralistic societies, including the nature and purpose of law and authority, the limits of rule and obedience, the care and nurture of the needy and innocent, the rights and wrongs of war and violence, and the separation of church and state. The historical focus and ecumenical breadth of this collection fills an important scholarly gap and revives the role of Christian social thought in legal and political theory.

The second volume of "The Teachings of Modern Christianity on Law Politics, and Human Nature" is an annotated reader of works by the figures discussed in this volume.

Divided into two volumes, "The Teachings of Modern Christianity on Law, Politics, and Human Nature" offers a landmark collection of writings from twenty Christian thinkers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and analyses of their work by leading contemporary religious scholars.With selections from the works of Jacques Maritain, Gustavo Guti?rrez, Dorothy Day, Pope John Paul II, Susan B. Anthony, Karl Barth, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Reinhold Niebuhr, Martin Luther King Jr., Nikolai Berdyaev, Vladimir Lossky, and others, "Volume 2" illustrates the different venues, vectors, and sometimes-conflicting visions of what a Christian understanding of law, politics, and society entails. The collection includes works by popes, pastors, nuns, activists, and theologians writing from within the Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Christian traditions. Addressing racism, totalitarianism, sexism, and other issues, many of the figures in this volume were the victims of church censure, exile, imprisonment, assassination, and death in Nazi concentration camps. These writings amplify the long and diverse tradition of modern Christian social thought and its continuing relevance to contemporary pluralistic societies. The volume speaks to questions regarding the nature and purpose of law and authority, the limits of rule and obedience, the care and nurture of the needy and innocent, the rights and wrongs of war and violence, and the separation of church and state. The historical focus and ecumenical breadth of this collection fills an important scholarly gap and revives the role of Christian social thought in legal and political theory.The first volume of "The Teachings of Modern Christianity on Law Politics, and Human Nature" includes essays by leading contemporary religious scholars, exploring the ideas, influences, and intellectual and cultural contexts of the figures from this volume.

"The Teachings of Modern Orthodox Christianity on Law, Politics, and Human Nature" examines how modern Orthodox Christian thinkers have answered the most pressing political, legal, and ethical questions of our time. It discusses the enduring teachings of important Orthodox Christian intellectuals of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Leading contemporary scholars analyze these thinkers' views on the nature and purpose of law and authority, the limits of rule and obedience, the care of the needy and innocent, the ethics of war and violence, and the separation of church and state, among other themes. A diverse and powerful portrait of Orthodox Christian legal and political thought, this volume underscores the various ways Orthodox Christian intellectuals have shaped modern debates over the family, the state, religion, and society. The book concentrates on Russian philosophers Vladimir Soloviev (1853-1900) and Vladimir Lossky (1903-1958); Russian theologian Nicholas Berdyaev (1874-1948); Russian nun and social reformer Mother Maria Skobtsova (1891-1945); and Romanian theologian Dumitru St?niloae (1903-1993).