Biblical Foundations of Procedural Law
Michael P. Schutt & Jeffrey A. Brauch, eds., A Study on the Biblical Foundations of Procedural Law (Inst. for Christian Legal Studies 2002).
This is an excerpt of a forthcoming longer work. This 32-page pamphlet is designed for study groups seeking a Biblical perspective on procedure and the rule of law.
A Higher Law: Readings
Jeffrey A. Brauch, A Higher Law: Readings on the Influence of Christian Thought in Anglo-American Law (2nd ed. 2008). xix, 479 pp.
This work, prepared as an introduction to basic principles of legal philosophy and legal history for first-year law students, “encourages students to recognize and seek the biblical foundations of law and legal institutions.” The comments and questions throughout point the reader to major issues and further study. The readings are edited specifically for 1Ls, so it is well suited to the inquiring novice. Its breadth and depth of inquiry, however, give plenty of fodder to the scholar as well. This is a great introduction to the basic issues in biblical integration and a helpful outline of the history of the common law.
Legal History: the first section of this book gives a brief but comprehensive look at the foundation of Anglo-American common law (pp. 1-191). Chapter 1 contains historical examples of higher law thinking from Aquinas, Blackstone, and others (pp. 3-80). Chapter 2 focuses more closely on examples of higher law thinking within the common law itself (pp. 81-127). And Chapter 3 discusses how higher law thinking has been replaced by legal relativism (pp. 129-91).
Criminal Law: the readings on Criminal Law provide a brief, but deep introduction to the major philosophical issues in the criminal law (pp. 195-283). Excerpts from Blackstone, Charles Colson, Judge Nygaard, Jeff Tuomala, C.S. Lewis, and others center on human responsibility, competing theories of punishment, and the nature of the criminal law.
Civil & Criminal Procedure: the section on civil and criminal procedure (pp. 285-316) provides a brief history of a few procedural protections of the common law and the sources from which these protections arose.
International Law: in this collection of essays and excerpts, Dean Brauch includes a chapter discussing preemptive war and the just war theory (pp. 359-82).
Relevance of the Higher Law: Part C of this book, “Current Thinking on How God’s Law Should Affect Man’s Law,” excerpts definitive works from major modern movements (pp. 383-471). The chapter titles in Part C indicate the focus: “What is the Role of the Old Testament Law Today?” and “To What Extent Should Higher Law Be Applied to Modern Society?” This is a fine introduction to the major modern themes in the state, the church, and the law.
What’s a Nice Christian Like You Doing in a Profession Like This?
Michael P. Schutt, What’s a Nice Christian Like You Doing in a Profession Like This? 11 Regent U. L. Rev. 137 (1998-99).
A very short essay in answer to the ever-present challenge: “How can a Christian lawyer represent guilty people?” In addition, Prof. Schutt briefly discusses the basic question of God’s justice as opposed to human justice and the public’s concerns about lawyers.
Also, part of this essay addresses the importance of moral procedure, sometimes pejoratively called “legal technicalities,” to the separation of God’s jurisdiction and man’s.
The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution
Bernard Bailyn, The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution (Cambridge, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press 1967).
From Amazon: In every area of Bernard Bailyn’s research–whether Virginia society of the 17th century or the schools of early America–he transformed what historians had hitherto thought about the subject. In The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, the most famous of his works, Bailyn uncovered a set of ideas among the Revolutionary generation that most historians had scarcely known existed. These radical ideas about power and liberty, and deeply rooted fears of conspiracy, had propelled Americans in the 1760s and 1770s into the Revolution, Bailyn said. His book, which won the Pulitzer and Bancroft prizes in 1968, influenced an entire generation of historians. For many, it remains the most persuasive interpretation of the Revolution. –Gordon S. Wood (Wall Street Journal)
From the publisher, regarding the new edition published in 1992: To the original text of what has become a classic of American historical literature, Bernard Bailyn adds a substantial essay, “Fulfillment,” as a Postscript. Here he discusses the intense, nation-wide debate on the ratification of the Constitution, stressing the continuities between that struggle over the foundations of the national government and the original principles of the Revolution. This detailed study of the persistence of the nation’s ideological origins adds a new dimension to the book and projects its meaning forward into vital current concerns.
The Spirits of ’76: A Catholic Inquiry
Donald J. D’Elia, The Spirits of ’76: A Catholic Inquiry (1983).
From the publisher: In The Spirits of ’76, historian Donald D’Elia offers one of the most original sets of essays ever penned on seven of the greatest founding fathers. D’Elia analyzes the development of his figures’ philosophical and religious convictions. Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Rush, John Adams, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Benjamin Franklin are all presented here in an unusually revealing light.
Religion and the American Constitutional Experiment
John Witte, Jr., Religion and the American Constitutional Experiment: Essential Rights and Liberties (Westview 1999).
Steven D. Smith offers a thoughtful and thorough review at First Things. To get a taste, here are the first several paragraphs:
John Witte’s book on religious freedom is a work of impressive erudition and formidable complacency. Witte capably surveys the historical developments preceding the First Amendment and supplies a helpful overview of the often neglected period from the adoption of that amendment through the 1940s, when the Supreme Court invaded the field. Later chapters give interesting details on the history of tax exemptions for church property and also furnish a comparative perspective with a quick look at international human rights law. The book contains a wealth of information about, for example, state constitutional provisions and Supreme Court decisions, much of it accessibly presented in appendices. And the chapters summarizing modern establishment and free exercise clause decisions discuss the central cases, accurately on the whole. If the overall presentation here is a bit convoluted, the problem results in part from the fact that it is hard to present in an orderly and sensible way material that is the opposite of orderly and sensible.
Taken as a sort of primer/reference work, in short, this is a useful book to have on the shelf. But the book promises to be more than that. In his introduction, Witte notes that modern developments in religious freedom “have bred not only frustration about the vast inconsistencies of the American experiment but doubts about its very efficacy.” Later he describes our situation as one of “acute crisis.” Witte proposes to address this crisis by “return[ing] to first principles” in order to reassess those principles in light of the American experience.
This preview raised my hopes, but I misunderstood what Witte had in mind. I thought that by reassessing first principles, Witte meant something like reexamining the basic assumptions that underlie the modern discourse and decisions concerning religious freedom. That sort of reexamination is sorely needed. Instead, Witte vigorously and uncritically acquiesces in the same old assumptions. He gives us more of what we already have too much of.
From the Center for the Study of Law and Religion (of which Witte is the Director) comes this brief description:
This volume offers a novel reading of the American constitutional experiment in religious liberty. The First Amendment, John Witte Jr. argues, is a synthesis of both the theological convictions and the political calculations of the eighteenth-century American founders. The founders incorporated six interdependent principles into the First Amendment — liberty of conscience, freedom of exercise, equality of faiths, plurality of confessions, disestablishment of religion, and separation of church and state. Both the nuance and the balance of these six principles have often been lost on current interpreters of the First Amendment. Religion and the American Constitutional Experiment urges a return to the principled approach to religious rights, evident both in the American founding era and in the modern international human rights movement. Witte uses these principles to analyze the free exercise and establishment case law of the last two centuries. He then illustrates the virtues of his principled approach through analysis of the thorny contests over tax exemptions for religions and the role of religion in the public school, among others.
Moral Foundations of Constitutional Thought
Graham Walker, Moral Foundations of Constitutional Thought: Current Problems, Augustinian Solutions (1990).
This book examines constitutional theory on a broad level.
What’s a Constitution Among Friends?
Craig A. Stern, What’s a Constitution Among Friends? – Unbalancing Article III, 146 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1043 (1998).
Professor Stern deals with the modern view that Article III of the United States Constitution cannot be read literally. The experts say that “[s]uch a reading . . . would doom the District of Columbia courts, courts-martial, the welfare state, and more.” As a result, “[C]ourts and commentators have sought to escape the constitutional text by drafting exceptions, striking balances, or proposing Pickwickian readings of Section 1 of Article III.” Stern’s article suggests that “Section 1 of Article III does work, and that Chief Justice Marshall was the vanguard not for escaping the text, but for reading it carefully. Section 1 does not threaten life as we know it in the United States, nor does it threaten even most of the developments thought to run afoul of the Section. Read carefully, Section 1 does provide principled answers for some troublesome questions.” In the process, Stern uses techniques such as reading the actual text of the Constitution and discussing the original meaning of “judicial power.”
Recapturing the Constitution
Stephen B. Presser, Recapturing the Constitution: Race, Religion, and Abortion Reconsidered (1994).
The author argues that twentieth-century Supreme Court jurisprudence was grounded on secular humanism and faddish cultural doctrines, rather than the rule of law. It seeks to encourage a return to the vision of the framers.
Restoring the Constitution
H. Wayne House, ed., Restoring the Constitution: Is Judicial Activism Destroying the Constitution? (Probe 1987).
This volume contains nine essays on the topics “Judicial Restraint and the Nature of the Constitution” and “Perspectives on Constitutional Interpretation.”
In God’s Image
George P. Fletcher, In God’s Image: The Religious Imperative of Equality Under Law, 99 Columb. L. Rev. 1608 (1999).
Professor Fletcher explores the “religious foundations for the commitment to equality,” using biblical and philosophical sources. He then briefly evaluates Supreme Court jurisprudence on race, gender, and wealth in light of his equality analysis.
Covenant and Constitutionalism
Daniel J. Elazar, Covenant and Constitutionalism: The Great Frontier and the Matrix of Federal Democracy (1997).
This is volume three in the author’s series, The Covenant Tradition in Politics. This work discusses the biblical idea of “covenant” and the transformation covenant principles through history.
Political Sermons of the American Founding Era
Ellis Sandoz, ed., Political Sermons of the American Founding Era, 1730-1805 (Liberty Fund, 2d ed. 1998).
This two-volume set is an unlikely source of quick guidance to biblical principles applied to the law. At more than 1500 pages, the sermons give flavor, color, and character to the varied themes of religion and politics, rather than law in the late 18th century. There are a good number of sermons that address “rights,” usually freedom or worship or other religious or associational liberties. With the extensive index, however, a little digging will yield some gems relevant to other areas of legal study. There are a number of sermons, for example, examining the duties of the civil magistrate as God’s agent and other related subjects.
On the Value and Inviolability of Human Life
John Paul II, Encyclical Letter on the Value and Inviolability of Human Life: Evangelium Vitae (1995).
This encyclical addresses, among other things, abortion, euthanasia, and the death penalty. Most important from a legal perspective is its view of the role of the state that leads to Church doctrine on the death penalty (¶¶55-56). In addition, the Pope speaks to political and civic activity of civil leaders, “intellectuals,” and teachers, among others, to create a “culture of life.”
Contexts of the Constitution
Neil H. Cogan, Contexts of the Constitution (Foundation Press 1999).
This is a sourcebook of basic texts on the underlying principles of the U.S. Constitution. The materials are grouped by topic: constitutionalism, republicanism and democracy, separation and balance of powers, federalism, equality and rights.
Religious Liberty in Western Thought
Noel B. Reynolds & W. Cole Durham, eds., Religious Liberty in Western Thought (1996).
Another book in the Emory University Studies in Law and Religion series, this book contains ten chapters, collectively tracing the development of religious liberty, in practice and theory, from Marsilius of Padua (early 14th century), through Luther, Calvin, Locke, and others through the American Founding.
Christianity and the Constitution
John Eidsmoe, Christianity and the Constitution: The Faith of Our Founding Fathers (Baker 1987).
This is more than a simple discussion of the document itself; it is also a history of the religious ideas that shaped it. Part One, “Background,” discusses how Calvinism, Puritanism, and other religious influences shaped early America and the views of the founders. Part Two, “Meet the Founding Fathers,” examines the particular religious beliefs of thirteen founders and delegates to the Constitutional Convention. In Part Three, Professor Eidsmoe examines the Constitution, the Declaration, and the principles reflected in the words of those documents. It is a fine introduction to many important themes, but at 411 pages, it will take some commitment to finish.
Debate on the Constitution
Bernard Bailyn, ed., Debate on the Constitution (1967).
This impressive two-volume collection, published by the Library of America, includes speeches, articles, and letters during the ratification debate. The historical context of the letters and articles, including the Federalist Papers, provides unique insight and great reading. Each volume exceeds 1100 pages. The volumes include excellent commentary by Professor Bailyn, chronologies, tables, and a full index.
Look Who’s Talking
Craig A. Stern, Foreign Judgments And The Freedom Of Speech: Look Who’s Talking, 60 Brooklyn L. Rev. 999 (1994).
This article addresses the problem of conflicts of interest and the first amendment. Professor Stern discusses the conflicts problem in terms of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity: “Thus, conflict of laws is a jurisprudential formulation of the problem of the One and the Many, with neither the One nor the Many being ultimate.”
The Philosophical Origins of Modern Contract Doctrine
James Gordley, The Philosophical Origins of Modern Contract Doctrine (1991).
From the publisher: The common law of England and the United States and the civil law of continental Europe have a similar doctrinal structure, a structure not found in the English cases or Roman legal texts from which they supposedly descend. In this original and unorthodox study of common law and legal philosophy the author throws light on the historical origins of this confusion and in doing so attempts to find answers to many of the philosophical puzzles which contract lawyers face today. Re-assessing the impact of modern philosophy upon contract law, the author concludes that modern philosophy having failed to provide a new basis for a coherent doctrinal system in the law of contract, the only hope for devising such a coherent system lies in re-discovering the neglected philosophy of Aristotle and Aquinas.
God, Man, and Law: The Biblical Principles
Herbert W. Titus, God, Man, and Law: The Biblical Principles (Institute in Basic Life Principles 1994).
This important book, part casebook (it contains numerous court opinions), part history lesson, and part legal and theological treatise, addresses every important legal theme. It is divided into eight sections (God, Man, Legal Education, and Law; Law: The Biblical Foundations; Jurisdiction; Equality; Fault; Vow; Dominion; Restitution), and each section is followed by a set of study questions with scripture references, designed to lead the reader to the scriptures for answers to the important issues raised in the chapter. The text and interspersed readings do not provide pat answers, but point the reader to issues for deeper reflection and study.
With regard to the section on legal education, Dean Titus’s work addresses the history of American legal education and the impact of social Darwinism and scientific humanism on the law school (pp. 1-29).
Because of this structure and the book’s length (309 pages plus notes, index, and glossary), this book would be excellent for group discussion or as a source book for a bible study. Dean Titus writes in his introduction that his book is “designed to challenge the reader to develop a Biblical understanding of law, with particular focus on law in the United States of America.”
Note: Also available online here.
Mission Possible
C. Scott Pryor, Mission Possible: A Paradigm for Analysis of Contractual Impossibility at Regent University, 74 St. John’s L. Rev. 691 (2000).
Professor Pryor sets out a detailed model for accomplishing one subset of the mission of biblical integration: a “theologically informed historical development of the foundations of the law.” In doing so, he evaluates from many angles every aspect of a theologically-driven mission.
As part of his article on the mission of Regent Law School, Professor Pryor demonstrates the application of his suggested models to the area of contractual impossibility.
A House Divided? Anabaptist and Lutheran Perspectives on the Sword
David M. Smolin, A House Divided? Anabaptist and Lutheran Perspectives on the Sword, 47 J. Legal Educ. 28 (1997).
From Smolin’s introduction:
“Christian law teachers deal with one question that would be no different if we taught history or sociology: what does Jerusalem (our religious faith) have to do with Athens (the academy)? But, because we are law teachers, there is an additional question we must answer: what does Jerusalem have to do with Rome (the state)? . . . We are children of the notion that an entire civilization–including the sword, including government, including force and war–can be Christian, even though we worship a Lord who declined a political kingdom and went to die on the cross. Many theological traditions have wrestled with this dilemma; I will emphasize here the Lutheran and Anabaptist perspectives, and then compare them to Roman Catholic and Calvinistic approaches.”
The Law of the Covenant: An Exposition of Exodus 21-23
James B. Jordan, The Law of the Covenant: An Exposition of Exodus 21-23 (1984).
From the inside flap: How relevant are the laws of the Old Testament for today? God said that Israel was to be a light to the nations (Hebrews 42:6). That someday all nations would come to Jerusalem to receive the Law (Micah 4:2). That in His Law, “every transgression and disobedience receives a just recompense” (Hebrews 2:2). That all peoples would marvel at the wisdom and justice of Israel’s laws (Deuteronomy 4:6-8). Yet, with the change from the Old to the New Covenant, there are clearly changes in the Law, “for when the priesthood changes, there must also take place a change of law” (Hebrews 7:12). How, then, are we to approach the many laws found in the Old Testament? Some of them are obviously superior to our modern law today (such as restitution instead of imprisonment for theft.) Some of them have obviously been superseded in Christ (such as the sacrificial system). Some of them seem overly harsh (such as the death penalty for “cursing” parents). Some of them seem weird and strange (such as the prohibition on boiling a kid in its mother’s milk). In this book, Mr. Jordan provides four introductory chapters of the nature of Biblical law, on the redemptive historical context in which the law was first written, and on the overall changes in the law system which the New Covenant brings. Then, moving to the concrete, Mr. Jordan provides the first truly in-depth commentary on the case laws of Exodus 21-23, the Book of the Covenant. The laws are taken up one at a time. In each case, the question is asked, “What did this law mean to the people of the Old Testament age?” Then the question is asked, “What relevance might this law have for the Christian faith today?” Finally, the question is asked, “How does this law shed light on the work of Jesus Christ, of whom all Scripture speaks? That is, how can we preach Christ from this law?” In his preface, Mr. Jordan states that he has not tried to say the last word on these chapters of Scripture, but that he has tried to say a first word, and to challenge the Church to look further into these verses to find the wisdom for today. No preacher and no student of the Word can afford to be without this study.
Note: This book, published by the Institute for Christian Economics, is a worth-while introduction to a theonomist view towards Exodus 21-23. One should be sure to read the Introduction by John M. Frame. Pages 93 – 130 address Criminal Law, and pages 131 – 144 address Property Law.
The book is available for download here, or here (PDF).
The Death Penalty: A Philosophical and Theological Perspective
Colloquium, The Death Penalty: A Philosophical and Theological Perspective, 30 J. Marshall L. Rev. 463 (Winter 1997).
Note especially the presentation by Walter Berns.
Religion and the Criminal Law: Types and Contexts of Interaction
W. Cole Durham Jr., Religion and the Criminal Law: Types and Contexts of Interaction, in The Weightier Matters of the Law: Essays On Law And Religion 193 (John Witte Jr. & Frank S. Alexander eds., Scholars Press 1988).
The Christian Executioner: Reconciling “An Eye for An Eye” with “Turn the Other Cheek”
Jill Jones, The Christian Executioner: Reconciling “An Eye for An Eye” with “Turn the Other Cheek,” 27 Pepp. L. Rev. 127 (1999).
Should a Christian Lawyer Serve the Guilty?
Thomas L. Shaffer, Should a Christian Lawyer Serve the Guilty?, 23 Ga. L. Rev. 1021 (Summer 1986).
On this topic, see also Michael P. Schutt, What’s a Nice Christian Like You Doing in a Profession Like This?, 11 Regent U. L. Rev. 137 (1998-99).
Readings on Criminal Law’s Biblical Foundations
Michael P. Schutt, ed., Readings on the Biblical Foundations of the Criminal Law (Institute for Christian Legal Studies 2001).
This first installment in the Biblical Tradition and the Law Study Series collects several of the works by Stern, Tuomala, and Titus cited above and presents them in edited form, with study and discussion questions. The 88-page booklet is designed for Bible Study discussion groups of law students.
Value of Punishment
Jeffrey C. Tuomala, The Value of Punishment: A Response to Judge Richard L. Nygaard, 5 Regent U. L. Rev. 13 (1995).
A brief, direct explication of the biblical bases for and means of criminal punishment and a critique of fashionable alternatives.
Christ’s Atonement as the Model for Civil Justice
Jeffrey C. Tuomala, Christ’s Atonement as the Model for Civil Justice, 38 Am. J. Juris. 221 (1993).
This article explains: “Legal doctrines are justified by, and maintain coherence as part of, a particular worldview. . . . The doctrine of Christ’s atonement is of singular importance for theories of punishment as it is the judicial archetype of the way in which God deals with sin and crime. . . . The civil magistrate, as “minister of God for justice,” should deal with crime and civil wrongs according to the same principles by which God deals with sin through the atonement.” This is a must read; it sets the groundwork for a theory of justice based upon God’s justice.
Torah and Murder
Craig A. Stern, Torah and Murder: The Cities of Refuge and Anglo-American Law, 35 Val. U. L. Rev. 461 (2001).
An excellent demonstration of applying biblical principles to modern legal questions—here, manslaughter and murder.
Crime, Moral Luck and the Sermon on the Mount
Craig A. Stern, Crime, Moral Luck and the Sermon on the Mount, 48 Cath. U.L. Rev. 801 (1999).
In this article, Professor Stern answers the puzzling question “Why are criminal attempts punished less severely than completed crimes?” In the process, Professor Stern explains much more, exploring the biblical principle of limited civil authority and the doctrine of God’s sovereignty, arriving at an answer based upon God’s truth.
Ecology and Life: Accepting Our Environmental Responsibility
Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, Ecology and Life: Accepting Our Environmental Responsibility (1988).
The Environment & the Christian
The Environment & the Christian: What Does the New Testament Say about the Environment? (Calvin DeWitt ed., 1991).
Environmental Stewardship in the Judeo-Christian Tradition
Environmental Stewardship in the Judeo-Christian Tradition: Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant Wisdom on the Environment (2000).
A monograph from the Acton Institute. The work includes three scholarly essays with extensive citations. Each essay is written from a different theological perspective. The first is based upon the Torah, the second on the teachings of the Catholic Church, and the third a “biblical” approach from a Protestant perspective. The essays were approved by committees of distinguished scholars.
Pollution and the Death of Man
Francis Schaeffer, Pollution and the Death of Man (1970).
This is a classic on Christian stewardship. Schaeffer explores the biblical basis for our clear duty of environmental stewardship.
The Foundations of Christian Bioethics
H. Tristam Engelhardt Jr., The Foundations of Christian Bioethics (2000).
Front flap: For decades, Engelhardt has alluded to the ethics that binds moral friends. While his ‘Foundations of Bioethics’ explored the sparse ethics binding moral strangers, this long-awaited volume addresses the morality at the foundations of Christian bioethics. The volume opens with an analysis of the marginalization of Christian bioethics in the 1970s and the irremedial shortcomings of secular ethics in general. Drawing on the Christianity of the first millennium, Engelhardt provides the ontological and epistemological foundations for a Christian bioethics that can remedy the onesidedness of a secular bioethics and supply the bases for a Christian bioethics. The volume then addresses issues from abortion, third-party-assisted reproduction, and cloning, to withholding and withdrawing treatment, physician-assisted suicide, and euthanasia. Practices such as free and informed consent are relocated within a traditional Christian morality. Attention is also given to the allocation of scarce resources in health care, and to the challenge of maintaining the Christian identity of physicians, nurses, patients, and health care institutions in a culture that is now post-Christian.
The Strong Family: Growing Wise in Family Life
Charles R. Swindoll, The Strong Family: Growing Wise in Family Life (1991).
What makes a family strong? Check your list: clean-cut kids, church every Sunday, fish on the bumper, Bible reading in the home. So what’s missing?
Authenticity.
Chuck Swindoll urges us to apply biblical principles in authenticity—between husband and wife, parents and children, and brothers and sisters. In doing so, we won’t get a perfect family . . . just a strong one.
Of Marriage and Monks, Community and Dialogue
Patrick McKinley Brennan, Of Marriage and Monks, Community and Dialogue, 48 Emory L. J. 689 (1999). (Reviewing John Witte Jr., From Sacrament to Contract: Marriage, Religion, and Law in the Western Tradition (Westminster John Knox Press 1997)). (Invited).
A Reply to Drs. Carlson and Hitchcock: Still a Fool’s Game—The Mistaken Pursuit of Family Virtue through Politics and Law
Douglas W. Kmiec, A Reply to Drs. Carlson and Hitchcock: Still a Fool’s Game—The Mistaken Pursuit of Family Virtue through Politics and Law, 10 Notre Dame J. L. Ethics & Pub. Pol. 647 (1996) (book review).
Homosexuality and American Public Life
Christopher Wolfe, ed. Homosexuality and American Public Life (Spence Publishing 2000).
From the publisher: “Philosophers and lawyers make the definitive case that homosexuality is both a moral and psychological disorder and a matter for compassionate but urgent public concern.” Introduction by William Kristol and afterward by Richard John Neuhaus. Contributors include Robert P. George, Hadley Arkes, Gerard Bradley, Michael Pakaluk, and David Coolidge.
Love Must Be Tough
James Dobson, Love Must Be Tough (Updated 1996).
Dr. Dobson provides advice to an innocent spouse on methods for responding biblically to a partner’s infidelity, cruelty, or abuse in marriage.
The Family, Civil Society, and the State
Christophe Wolfe, ed. The Family, Civil Society, and the State (Rowman and Littlefield, 1998).
A detailed look at the Family and modern social institutions, this book includes essays from a who’s who of lawyers and cultural critics. It is divided into four parts:
The first part of the book explores what is distinctive in the current situation of the family, and offers both optimistic and pessimistic assessments of the family in our time, as well as a historical overview. In the second part, authors look at the family today; demographics, economics, and social pathologies are all discussed. Part three offers analysis of the family and American law, especially the law of divorce, and the fourth part deals with the relationship between the family and two profoundly important facets of the structural framework of American life: our capitalist economic system and the cultural power of the media. Finally, the fifth part surveys the various areas of public policy, and concludes by asking whether, and what, public policy can do for the family. (From the publisher).
From Sacrament to Contract
John Witte, Jr., From Sacrament to Contract: Marriage, Religion, and Law in the Western Tradition (1997).
“At one level, From Sacrament to Contract is a report of five richly developed conceptual constructs: marriage as sacrament in the Catholic tradition, as social estate in the Lutheran reformation, as covenant in the Calvinist tradition, as commonwealth in the Anglican tradition, and as contract in the inheritance of the Enlightenment. . . . But Witte has done more than equip his readers to continue ‘the endless Western dialogue’ on marriage, in the sense of being able to understand something of what has been said and politely to say it again. . . . . Professor Witte’s wonderful book responds to what he argues is a crisis–the disintegration and marginalization of the West’s store of wisdom about marriage and family, indeed the virtual cessation, except at the margins, of a genuine dialogue about marriage’s and family’s goods and goals and the means of their realization.”
Marriage and Same-Sex Unions: A Debate
Lynn D. Wardle, Mark Strasser, et al., eds., Marriage and Same-Sex Unions: A Debate (2003).
The book covers all the bases of the debate in a true “debate” format: one scholar takes one side of the issue, another takes the other, then each responds to the other’s article. The participants are all recognized scholars and/or experts in the arena.
Marriage and the Liberal Imagination
Robert P. George and Gerard Bradley, Marriage and the Liberal Imagination, 84 Geo. L. J. 301 (1995).
This article addresses marriage, homosexuality, and public policy.
Immigration Justice: Beyond Liberal Egalitarian and Communitarian Perspectives
Michael Scaperlanda, Immigration Justice: Beyond Liberal Egalitarian and Communitarian Perspectives, Routledge Rev. Soc. Econ. (Vol. LVII No. 4, December 1999, p. 523).
Who is My Neighbor?
Michael Scaperlanda, Who is My Neighbor?: An Essay on Immigrants, Welfare Reform, and the Constitution, 29 Conn. L. Rev. 1587 (1997).
Professor Scaperlanda argues that that the Welfare Reform Act “conflicts with a Judeo-Christian vision of our constitutional community:” “[A] Catholic Christian vision of who we are as a constitutional people forbids a policy choice that places the burdens of welfare cuts mainly on the backs of noncitizens. . . . [T]his argument’s roots are deeply embedded in . . . Judeo-Christian teaching.”
Natural Law Theory and the Law of Nations: Some Theoretical Considerations
James V. Schall, Natural Law Theory and the Law of Nations: Some Theoretical Considerations, 15 Fordham Int’l L. J. 997 (1991-92).
Church, State, and International Human Rights: A Theological Appraisal
David M. Smolin, Church, State, and International Human Rights: A Theological Appraisal, 73 Notre Dame L. Rev. 1515 (May-July 1998).
From the author’s introduction: The purpose of this essay is to suggest the attitude that Christianity, as one of the great world religions claiming the allegiance of perhaps a third of humanity,’ ought to adopt toward the international human rights movement. My thesis is that the Christian church should maintain a clear distinction between her mission and language and those of the human rights movement. The church is called to engage the various ideologies, religions, and powers in this world, an engagement that often includes learning from and appreciating the relative good within non-Christian movements, religions, and ideologies. The church’s engagement with these various religions, ideologies, and powers should identify and further common values, goods, and goals based upon our common humanity and congruencies in belief and practice; these engagements must not, however, obscure the distinctive claims of the Christian faith.
Just Cause
Jeffrey C. Tuomala, Just Cause: The Thread That Runs So True, 13 Dick. J. Int’l L. 1 (1994).
Professor Tuomala argues that “[j]ust cause is the central element in the centuries-old just war doctrine of Christian thought.” In this article, he analyzes the legality of unilateral actions under the requirements of customary law, the U.S. Constitution, and the just war doctrine, and discusses the “positive relation between law and sound policy decisions.”
Peace on Earth
John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Peace on Earth: Pacem in Terris (1963).
This encyclical begins by addressing “natural rights” and duties: “The natural rights with which We have been dealing are, however, inseparably connected, in the very person who is their subject, with just as many respective duties; and rights as well as duties find their source, their sustenance and their inviolability in the natural law which grants or enjoins them.” “Therefore, to cite a few examples, the right of every man to life is correlative with the duty to preserve it; his right to a decent standard of living with the duty of living it becomingly; and his right to investigate the truth freely, with the duty of seeking it ever more completely and profoundly.” Pacem in Terris ¶¶28-29.
It then moves on to discuss the nature of the State and its relation to God, from whom it derives its moral authority. It notes that laws passed contrary to the moral order are not binding on citizens (¶51). The major focus, however, is on the relationship between states and their moral duties one to another.
Law of War and Peace
Hugo Grotius, The Law of War and Peace (1625).
Grotius is often called the father of international law. Others have called him the father of the “modern” theory of natural law.
A House Divided? Anabaptist and Lutheran Perspectives on the Sword
David M. Smolin, A House Divided? Anabaptist and Lutheran Perspectives on the Sword, 47 J. Legal Educ. 28 (1997).
From Smolin’s introduction:
“Christian law teachers deal with one question that would be no different if we taught history or sociology: what does Jerusalem (our religious faith) have to do with Athens (the academy)? But, because we are law teachers, there is an additional question we must answer: what does Jerusalem have to do with Rome (the state)? . . . We are children of the notion that an entire civilization–including the sword, including government, including force and war–can be Christian, even though we worship a Lord who declined a political kingdom and went to die on the cross. Many theological traditions have wrestled with this dilemma; I will emphasize here the Lutheran and Anabaptist perspectives, and then compare them to Roman Catholic and Calvinistic approaches.”
The Tradition of Natural Law: A Philosopher’s Reflections
Yves R. Simon, The Tradition of Natural Law: A Philosopher’s Reflections (Fordham Univ. Press 1992) (reprint).
From the publisher:
The tradition of natural law is one of the foundations of Western civilization. At its heart is the conviction that there is an objective and universal justice which transcends humanity’s particular expressions of justice. It asserts that there are certain ways of behaving which are appropriate to humanity simply by virtue of the fact that we are all human beings. Recent political debates indicate that it is not a tradition that has gone unchallenged: in fact, the opposition is as old as the tradition itself.
By distinguishing between philosophy and ideology, by recalling the historical adventures of natural law, and by reviewing the theoretical problems involved in the doctrine, Simon clarifies much of the confusion surrounding this perennial debate. He tackles the questions raised by the application of natural law with skill and honesty as he faces the difficulties of the subject.
Simon warns against undue optimism in a revival of interest in natural law and insists that the study of natural law beings with the analysis of “the law of the land.” He writes not as a polemicist but as a philosopher, and he writes of natural law with the same force, conciseness, lucidity and simplicity which have distinguished all his other works.
Beyond Positivism: A Theological Perspective
Frank S. Alexander, Beyond Positivism: A Theological Perspective, 20 Ga. L. Rev. 1089 (Summer 1986).
From the author’s introduction: Contemporary American legal scholars who oppose positivism have not generally attempted to set forth in any systematic way their own theories of human nature. They have sometimes discussed questions relating to individuality, to community, or to the pur- posive nature of existence, but they have generally neglected at least one of these three topics. To illustrate this, and to explore its implications, I have chosen three examples. The first, Philip Soper, while offering a strong concept of individuality, develops only a weak concept of community, and largely ignores the concept of purpose. The second, Michael Perry, offers a strong concept of community but a weak and undifferentiated concept of individuality, and an even weaker sense of purpose. Lon Fuller, in contrast to the other two, develops each of these three concepts, but his concept of community is abstract and he fails to give substantive content to his concept of purpose. Because of its general weakness in the sphere of ontology, contemporary American legal thought–nonpositivist as well as positivist–would benefit greatly from theology. Theology undertakes as one of its major pursuits an inquiry into the nature of individual and collective being. The theological concepts of creation, covenant, and redemption as expressed in the Judaic-Christian tradition are directly related to, and indeed have helped to form, our assumptions concerning the nature of the individual person and of the community.
In Defense of Natural Law
Phillip E. Johnson, In Defense of Natural Law, First Things, Nov. 1999.
This is an excellent book review article by Phillip E. Johnson in which he discusses “the new natural law philosophy of Germain Grisez, John Finnis, and several others.” The above link will direct you to the text of the article, originally printed in “First Things” in November 1999 (sign-up required).
Note: The article is also available to read online at the Discovery Institute.
America’s “Culture War”—The Sinister Denial of Virtue and the Decline of Natural Law
Douglas W. Kmiec, America’s “Culture War”—The Sinister Denial of Virtue and the Decline of Natural Law, 13 St. Louis U. Pub. L. Rev. 183 (1993).
The Possibility of a Christian Jurisprudence
Jonathan Edward Maire, The Possibility of a Christian Jurisprudence, 40 Am. J. Juris. 101 (1995).
The Natural Law: A Study in Legal and Social History and Philosophy
Heinrich Rommen, The Natural Law: A Study in Legal and Social History and Philosophy (Thomas R. Hanley trans., Liberty Fund 1998) (1936).
From the publisher: Originally published in German in 1936, The Natural Law is the first work to clarify the differences between traditional natural law as represented in the writings of Cicero, Aquinas, and Hooker and the revolutionary doctrines of natural fights espoused by Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau. Beginning with the legacies of Greek and Roman life and thought, Rommen traces the natural law tradition to its displacement by legal positivism and concludes with what the author calls “the reappearance” of natural law thought in more recent times. In seven chapters each, Rommen explores “The History of the Idea of Natural Law” and “The Philosophy and Content of the Natural Law.” In his introduction, Russell Hittinger places Rommen’s work in the context of contemporary debate on the relevance of natural law to philosophical inquiry and constitutional interpretation.
The Intellectual Context of Natural Law
James V. Schall, The Intellectual Context of Natural Law, 38 Am. J. Juris. 85 (1993).
From the author’s introduction:
The subject of natural law, though one of the really fascinating subjects of our philosophic and legal tradition, is not widely considered today even in law schools or political science departments, let alone in philosophic or theological treatises, all of which actually have something to say about the subject. However, it is a perennial theme of remarkable vigor and interest to those perceptive thinkers who are brave enough to reconsider the topic.
The Weightier Matters of the Law
The Weightier Matters of the Law: Essays on Law and Religion (John Witte, Jr. & Frank S. Alexander eds., 1988).
This book is a great collection of essays in tribute to Harold J. Berman.
Legal History (pp. 1-170):
This section contains six essays on “Historical Interaction of Law and Religion,” including essays on “Ockham and the Origin of Individual Rights,” “Marriage Law in the Lutheran Reformation,” and “Religion, Law, and Revolution in the Shaping of Harvard College.”
Jurisprudence (pp. 179-335):
This section, “Religious Perspectives on Law,” contains seven essays, including: James Luther Adams, Conceptions of Natural Law, From Troeltsch to Berman (179); W. Cole Durham, Jr., Religion and the Criminal Law: Types and Contexts of Interaction (193); John V. Orth, Casting the Priests Out of the Temple: John Austin and the Relation Between Law and Religion (229).
On the Nature of Human Liberty
Leo XIII, Encyclical Letter on the Nature of Human Liberty: Libertas Praestatissimum (1888).
The encyclical, on the relationship between human freedom and absolute truth, is a discussion of the sources and nature of human liberty, grounded in the eternal law: “[T]he eternal law of God is the sole standard and rule of human liberty, not only in each individual man, but also in the community and civil society which men constitute when united. Therefore, the true liberty of human society does not consist in every man doing what he pleases, for this would simply end in turmoil and confusion, and bring on the overthrow of the State; but rather in this, that through the injunctions of the civil law all may more easily conform to the prescriptions of the eternal law.” Libertas ¶10. Leo criticizes certain liberal theories of the separation of church and state (¶¶18-22), freedom of speech and the press (¶23), and freedom of conscience, except as it may be said to affirm the individual’s freedom from “an omnipotent state” to obey God and his commands (¶¶30 and 31). The focus of this encyclical is the relationship between human freedom and absolute truth.
Natural Law and Contemporary Public Policy
Natural Law and Contemporary Public Policy (David F. Forte ed., 1998).
A collection of articles on natural law theory as it relates to a wide variety of subjects. The authors come from all political and religious perspectives.
Law Without Values
Albert W. Alschuler, Law Without Values: The Life, Work, and Legacy of Justice Holmes (2000).
The publisher explains, “In recent decades, Oliver Wendell Holmes has been praised as ‘the only great American legal thinker’ and ‘the most illustrious figure in the history of American law.’ In Law without Values, Albert Alschuler paints a much darker picture of Justice Holmes as a distasteful man who, among other things, espoused Social Darwinism, favored eugenics, and as he himself acknowledged, came ‘devilish near to believing that might makes right.’. . .
His pernicious legacy, according to Alschuler, is evident in twentieth-century legal thought, whether one takes an economic or a critical legal approach. Contrary to the perception of many modern lawyers and scholars, Holmes’s legacy was not a “revolt against formalism,” or against a priori reasoning; it was a revolt against the objective concepts of right and wrong–against values.”
On this topic, see also, James Gordley, When Paths Diverge: A Response to Albert Alschuler on Oliver Wendell Holmes, 49 Fla. L. Rev. 441 (1997), and Michael P. Schutt, Oliver Wendell Holmes and the Decline of the American Lawyer: Social Engineering, Religion, and the Search for Professional Identity, 30 Rutgers L. J. 143 (1998).
50 Questions on the Natural Law
Charles E. Rice, 50 Questions on the Natural Law: What It is and Why We Need It (1995).
In simple question and answer form, Professor Rice defends and discusses natural law theory and modern misconceptions about it. It is short and accessible to the novice.
Law and Truth
Dennis Patterson, Law and Truth (Oxford 1996).
“Patterson devotes a chapter to each of six major schools of contemporary jurisprudence: legal formalism, legal realism, legal positivism, and the jurisprudential theories of Ronald Dworkin, Stanley Fish, and Philip Bobbitt. He explains why each is seriously or fatally flawed and, in the concluding chapter, presents his own alternative formulation. In so doing, he takes on seemingly all of the major figures of contemporary legal thought. Yet, his conclusion–a powerful defense of law’s integrity as a social and argumentative practice–will be appealing and even comforting to many lawyers. It is a potent rejoinder to the various “law and” movements and . . . is consistent with the emerging long-term direction of the legal academy.”
Michael A. Livingston, Postmodernism Meets Practical Reason (Book Review), 107 Yale L. J. 1125 (1998).
More on this book, from the description by Oxford Unversity Press:
Are propositions of law true or false? If so, what does it mean to say
that propositions of law are true and false? This book takes up these
questions in the context of the wider philosophical debate over realism and
anti-realism. Despite surface differences, Patterson argues that the
leading contemporary jurisprudential theories all embrace a flawed conception of
the nature of truth in law. Instead of locating that in virtue of which
propositions of law are true, Patterson argues that lawyers use forms of
argument to show the truth of propositions of law. Additionally, Patterson
argues that the realism/anti-realism debate in jurisprudence is part of a larger
argument over the role of postmodernism in jurisprudence. For this,
Patterson offers an analytic account of postmodernism and charts its
implications for legal theory. This book will be of interest to those in
legal theory, philosophy, social and political theory, and ethics.
In Defense of Natural Law
Robert P. George, In Defense of Natural Law (Oxford 2001).
From the description by Oxford University Press:
In Making Men Moral, his 1995 book, George questioned the central
doctrines of liberal jurisprudence and political theory. In his new work he
extends his critique of liberalism, and also goes beyond it to show how
contemporary natural law theory provides a superior way of thinking about basic problems of justice and political morality. Students as well as scholars in law, political science, and philosophy will find George’s arguments stimulating, challenging, and compelling.
A Preserving Grace
A Preserving Grace: Protestants, Catholics, and Natural Law (Michael Cromartie ed., 1997).
A collection of recent essays by well-known Catholic and Protestant lawyers and scholars. A good introduction to the main issues in modern natural law theory.
Natural Rights and the Right to Choose
Hadley Arkes, Natural Rights and the Right to Choose (2002).
Michael Novak says, “I can think of no book more important to the survival and good health of the American republic — and its most precious experiment — than this little masterpiece. Too many who argue about the elephant in the middle of our room focus exclusively on choice, or exclusively on life; it is Hadley Arkes’s genius to see that the fundamental issue is that of natural right. Forget about life for a few hours, and forget about choice; get the question of natural right straight. Then much else will in due course make itself clear.” Michael Novak, Hadley’s Comet, National Review Online, April 30, 2003.
Law and Gospel
John Warwick Montgomery, Law and Gospel: A Study in Jurisprudence (Christian Legal Society 1978).
This 50-page monograph is designed as a study guide on the basic law school subjects. There are 20 extremely short sections, most covering one topic in one or two pages. (For example, the Torts section is two pages long). In the section, Dr. Montgomery sets out a brief discussion, usually with quotations from scripture or case law. He then poses a handful of questions based on the text, along with some scripture references for further study. This little text will reward a close reading. Each section is short enough that it can be covered in small bites.
The First Grace
Russell Hittinger, The First Grace: Rediscovering the Natural Law in a Post-Christian World (2003).
Hittinger takes a broad approach to natural law theory, providing applications across a broad spectrum of legal and non-legal concerns, with a view to reclaiming the natural law rooted, fundamentally, in theological truth. Hittinger discusses the decline of natural law theory and the decline of civil society. In doing so, he addresses the American founding, assisted suicide, judicial activism, religious liberty, and natural rights (the length of this book is 283 pages, plus notes and index).
Professor Budziszewski praises its usefulness across the theological spectrum: “The contribution of The First Grace to Catholic moral theology should be plain, but it should be read at the other end of the churchyard as well. For some time, evangelicals have been seeking high and low for the materials of a public philosophy. Although they find the idea of natural law attractive, the only sort of natural law theory that Scripture-sensitive Protestants could embrace would the sort that Hittinger champions—one that acknowledges its rootedness in the providence of God.”
J. Budziszewski, Prima Gratia (Book Review), First Things, April 2003, at 61-62.
In Search of a Christian Commonwealth
Daniel L. Dreisbach, In Search of a Christian Commonwealth: An Examination of Selected Nineteenth-Century Commentaries on References to God and the Christian Religion in the United States Constitution, 48 Baylor L. Rev. 927 (Fall 1996).
Justinian: Lieutenant of Christ, Legislator for Christendom
Craig A. Stern, Justinian: Lieutenant of Christ, Legislator for Christendom, 11 Regent U. L. Rev. 151 (1998-99).
Christianity and Law
Stephen C. Perks, Christianity and Law: An Enquiry into the Influence of Christianity on the Development of English Common Law (Avant 1993).
A very brief history, traveling the same ground that Berman covers so much more thoroughly (Perks’s book is a mere 59 pages). A good introduction, but a very summary treatment.
God’s Revelation: Foundation for the Common Law
Herbert W. Titus, God’s Revelation: Foundation for the Common Law, 4 Regent U. L. Rev. 1 (1994).
This relatively short article (37 pages) provides an excellent introduction to the common law and its Christian roots. The article touches on all the fundamental issues for the Christian lawyer: It is an excellent introduction to natural law, the law of property, biblical jurisdiction, and religious freedom. Because it is short and introduces the student to a wide range of important biblical issues, it is a must read.
Law and Revolution
Harold J. Berman, Law and Revolution: The Formation of the Western Legal Tradition (Harvard 1983).
Professor Berman, in one of the 20th century’s most important legal histories,
concludes that ‘the history of Western law, and especially of its origins, reveals its rootedness in the deepest beliefs and emotions of a people. Without the fear of purgatory and the hope of the Last Judgment, the Western legal tradition could not have come into being’ (p. 558). This is the challenging thesis of a powerfully argued history and theory of law and jurisprudence. Berman methodically (and repeatedly) takes aim at the prevailing dogmas and Idols of the Theater in conventional scholarship of every trendy ideological stripe in a synthesis of polemic, analysis, and narrative history presenting a master of his craft at his magisterial best. This is an outstanding book, perhaps a great one.
Ellis Sandoz, Book Review, 45 La. L. Rev. 1111 (1985).
Law and Revolution is neither an easy nor a quick read (558 pages, plus notes and index), but it is an important book, well worth the effort.
The Lord’s calling a basis of our way of life
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, The Lord’s calling a basis of our way of life, III.X.6 (John T. McNeill ed., Ford Lewis Battles trans., Westminster Press 1960) (1559).
Chapter X, section 6 is a classic formulation of the Protestant idea of “calling.” Note that Institutes is available online here.
Christian Faith and Legal Practice
Joseph G. Allegretti, The Lawyer’s Calling: Christian Faith and Legal Practice (1996).
From the publisher: A noted law school professor reflects on the spiritual vacuum at the heart of the legal profession and suggests ways of reintegrating that profession with the deepest aspirations of its members.
B&N review: Lawyers in our day are facing a crisis of meaning. Distrusted by the public, stressed by overwork and questioning the value of their contribution to society, legal professionals find themselves in a situation where work has lost its connection with deeper beliefs. The crisis they face is essentially spiritual. How can lawyers bridge the gap between their beliefs and their daily work? Joseph Allegretti maintains that law can be a true vocation – a “calling” from God. He points to ways that lawyers are or can be healers in society, and he explains how their service to clients resembles a covenant relationship. Lawyers and law students will find his vision of the legal profession to be rich with possibility.
On Human Work
John Paul II, Encyclical Letter on Human Work: Laborem Exercens ¶¶ 24 ff. (1981).
A continuation, expansion, and explication of the Church’s social teaching on work. Written on the ninetieth anniversary of Rerum Novarum, the encyclical sets out the basis of the Church’s social teaching in Genesis and then develops the idea of the “spirituality of work.”
This resource is available online.
On Being a Christian and a Lawyer
Thomas L. Shaffer, On Being a Christian and a Lawyer (1981).
An important book, because, among other things, it laid the groundwork for more mainstream scholarship in the area of law and religion.
PR / Ethics Law Review Articles
This is a great list of articles addressing professional responsibility and legal ethics from a Christian perspective (or at least implicating Christian principles and ideas). Also, many of these articles address what it means, or should mean, for an attorney to be a Christian. Topics such as vocation, calling, and the practical outworkings of one’s faith in the legal profession are examined in some detail.
Joseph Allegretti, Lawyers, Clients, and Covenant: A Religious Perspective on Legal Practice and Ethics, 66 Fordham L. Rev. 1101 (1998).
Gordon J. Beggs, Laboring Under the Sun: An Old Testament Perspective on the Legal Profession, 28 Pacific L. J. 257 (1996).
Jeffrey A. Brauch, John Winthrop: Lawyer as Model of Christian Charity, 11 Regent U. L. Rev. 343 (1999).
Robert F. Cochran, Honor as a Deficient Aspiration for “The Honorable Profession”: The Lawyer as Nostromo, 69 Fordham L. Rev. 859 (2000).
Robert F. Cochran, Professionalism in a Postmodern Age: Its Death, Attempts at Resurrection, and Alternative Sources of Virtue, 14 Notre Dame J. Leg. Ethics and Pub. Pol. 305 (2000).
Teresa Stanton Collett, Speak No Evil, Seek No Evil, Do No Evil: Client Selection and Cooperation with Evil, 66 Fordham L. Rev. 1339 (1998).
Professor Collett, whose work focuses on legal ethics in a moral or religious context, discusses the problem for the Christian lawyer of associating with the “unsavory client.”
Daniel O. Conkle, Professing Professionals: Christian Pilots on the River of Law, 38 Cath. Law. 151 (1998).
How can one be a Christian in the legal profession? Professor Conkle provides several perspectives.
Timothy W. Floyd, The Practice of Law as Vocation or Calling, 66 Fordham L. Rev. 1405 (1998).
A brief essay on the basics of the idea of the lawyer’s vocation.
Bruce Frohnen, The Bases of Professional Responsibility: Pluralism and Community in Early America, 63 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 931 (1995).
Leslie Griffin, The Relevance of Religion to a Lawyer’s Work: Legal Ethics, 66 Fordham L. Rev. 1253 AND
Thomas D. Morgan, The Relevance of Religion to a Lawyer’s Work – Legal Ethics: A Response to Professor Griffin, 66 Fordham L. Rev. 1313 (1998)
Randy Lee, Faith Through Lawyering: Finding and Doing What is Mine To Do, 11 Regent U. L. Rev. 71 (1998-99).
This lengthy article explores what it means to be called to be a lawyer.
Arthur Allen Leff, Unspeakable Ethics, Unnatural Law, 1979 Duke L. J. 1229 (1979).
Susan R. Martyn, Are We Moving in the Right Dimension? Sadducees, Two Kingdoms, Lawyers, and the Revised Model Rules of Professional Conduct, 34 Val. U. L. Rev. 121 (1999).
Professor Martyn, a member of the commission reviewing the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct for possible revisions in 2001, addresses issues of confidentiality, conflicts of interest, and fiduciary duty from a Lutheran perspective.
Michael P. Schutt, Oliver Wendell Holmes and the Decline of the American Lawyer: Social Engineering, Religion, and the Search for Professional Identity, 30 Rutgers L. J. 143 (1998).
A discussion of the view of Holmes and thousands after him that the law is an engine and lawyers are social engineers. With this utilitarianism, I contrast Alexis de Tocqueville’s view of the lawyer and the role of the lawyer informed by God’s call and a proper view of the law.
Michael P. Schutt, What’s a Nice Christian Like You Doing in a Profession Like This? 11 Regent U. L. Rev. 137 (1998-99).
A very short essay in answer to the ever-present challenge: “How can a Christian lawyer represent guilty people?” In addition, Prof. Schutt briefly discusses the basic question of God’s justice as opposed to human justice and the public’s concerns about lawyers.
Thomas L. Shaffer, The Profession as Moral Teacher, 18 St. Mary’s L. J. 195 (1986).
Thomas L. Shaffer, On Religious Legal Ethics, 35 Cath. Lawyer 393 (1994).
Proverbial Practice
Gordon J. Beggs, Proverbial Practice: Legal Ethics from Old Testament Wisdom, 30 Wake Forest L. Rev. 831 (1995).
“The Old Testament book of Proverbs supplied foundational moral values for our nation’s legal ethics. With the adoption and revision of formal codes, moral teaching has virtually disappeared from legal ethics. This essay suggests that the wisdom of Proverbs offers a timely challenge to the character of the legal profession by advocating values which include justice, purity, mercy, humility, honesty, candor, truthful testimony, and civility.”
Markets and Morals
Jonathan Sacks, Markets and Morals, First Things, Aug./Sept. 2000, at 23.
Sacks explores the relationship between private property, morality, and the biblical tradition and its view of man.
Read this resource (subscription required).
A brief write-up on Sacks in The Independent is available here. Another article by Sacks dealing with similar themes is available from the The Times here.
On the Hundredth Anniversary of Rerum Novarum
John Paul II, Encyclical Letter on the Hundredth Anniversary: Centesimus Annus (1991).
The Pope reviews and affirms the social teachings of the church first promulgated in Leo’s Rerum Novarum. In his discussion of Rerum Novarum, Pope John Paul addresses the nature of man, the right and duties inherent in private property ownership (¶¶30-31), the role and nature of the state (¶¶40-48), and the relative weaknesses and strengths of political and economic systems of the world. In addition, he addresses the “welfare state” and the relative rights and duties of the State, individuals, and intermediary institutions in caring for others (¶48).
On Christianity and Social Progress
John XXIII, Encyclical Letter on Christianity and Social Progress: Mater et Magistra (1961).
This encyclical addresses issues of work, private property, and social justice, first set forth seventy years earlier in Rerum Novarum. Pope John summarizes and quotes extensively from Rerum Novarum, Pope Pius XI’s Quadragesimo Anno, and from Pius XII, tracing changing conditions regarding work, property, and wealth. In discussing the role of private property, John lauds state and public ownership of property (¶117), and cautions against evil men in positions of power (¶118).
On Reconstruction of the Social Order
Pius XI, Encyclical Letter on Reconstruction of the Social Order: Quadragesimo Anno (1931).
Commemorating the fortieth anniversary of Rerum Novarum, this encyclical is most significant for the development of the principle of subsidiarity:
“This is a fundamental principle of social philosophy, unshaken and unchangeable. . . Just as it is wrong to withdraw from the individual and commit to a community what private enterprise and industry can accomplish, so too it is an injustice, a grave evil and a disturbance of right order, for a larger and higher association to arrogate to itself functions which can be performed efficiently by smaller and lower societies. Of its very nature the true aim of all social activity should be to help members of the
social body, but never to destroy or absorb them.”
In addition, Pope Pius XI builds on Rerum Novarum’s foundations:
Pius XI’s teaching in this encyclical can be summed up under two heads. First he taught what the supreme criterion in economic matters ought not to be. It must not be the special interests of individuals or groups, nor unregulated competition, economic despotism, national prestige or imperialism, nor any other aim of this sort. On the contrary, all forms of economic enterprise must be governed by the principles of social justice and charity.
The second point which We consider basic in the encyclical is his teaching that man’s aim must be to achieve in social justice a national and international juridical order, with its network of public and private institutions, in which all economic activity can be conducted not merely for private gain but also in the interests of the common good.
John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Christianity and Social Progress: Mater et Magistra ¶¶38-40 (1961).
On Capital and Labor
Leo XIII, Encyclical Letter on the Condition of the Working Classes: Rerum Novarum (1891).
Rerum Novarum, the major landmark in Catholic social teaching, addresses work, private property, and the social ends of each. On these subjects, Rerum Novarum should be read in light of encyclicals celebrating its fortieth, seventieth, ninetieth, and one hundredth anniversaries, explaining, affirming, and expanding upon Leo’s teaching (see below). Pope John XXIII summarizes the key teachings of Rerum Novarum:
[Work must be regarded] not merely as a commodity, but as a specifically human activity. In the majority of cases a man’s work is his sole means of livelihood. Its remuneration, therefore, cannot be made to depend on the state of the market. It must be determined by the laws of justice and equity. Any other procedure would be a clear violation of justice, even supposing the contract of work to have been freely entered into by both parties.
Secondly, private ownership of property, including that of productive goods, is a natural right which the State cannot suppress. But it naturally entails a social obligation as well. It is a right which must be exercised not only for one’s own personal benefit but also for the benefit of others.
As for the State, its whole raison d’etre is the realization of the common good in the temporal order. It cannot, therefore, hold aloof from economic matters. On the contrary, it must do all in its power to promote the production of a sufficient supply of material goods, “the use of which is necessary for the practice of virtue.” It has also the duty to protect the rights of all its people, and particularly of its weaker members, the workers, women and children. It can never be right for the State to shirk its obligation of working actively for the betterment of the condition of the workingman.
It is furthermore the duty of the State to ensure that terms of employment are regulated in accordance with justice and equity, and to safeguard the human dignity of workers by making sure that they are not required to work in an environment which may prove harmful to their material and spiritual interests. It was for this reason that the Leonine encyclical enunciated those general principles of rightness and equity which have been assimilated into the social legislation of many a modern State, and which, as Pope Pius XI declared in the encyclical Quadragesimo Anno, have made no small contribution to the rise and development of that new branch of jurisprudence called labor law.
Pope Leo XIII also defended the worker’s natural right to enter into association with his fellows. Such associations may consist either of workers alone or of workers and employers, and should be structured in a way best calculated to safeguard the workers’ legitimate professional interest. And it is the natural right of the workers to work without hindrance, freely, and on their own initiative within these associations for the achievement of these ends.
John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Christianity and Social Progress: Mater et Magistra ¶¶18-22 (1961).
Philosophical Foundations of Tort Law
Philosophical Foundations of Tort Law (David G. Owen ed., 1995).
From the publisher: This collection of original essays on the theory of tort law brings together a number of the world’s leading legal philosophers and tort scholars to examine the latest thinking about its rationales and current development. The contributions here range from law and economics to the latest in rights-based theories. The ever-engaging topic of causation is the subject of one cluster of essays, while other clusters deal with remedies, with the tort/contract divide, and with strict and other special forms of liability.
Personal Responsibility and the Law of Torts
Douglas H. Cook, Personal Responsibility and the Law of Torts, 45 Am. U. L. Rev. 1245 (1996).
Tort Law in the Aristotelian Tradition
James Gordley, Tort Law in the Aristotelian Tradition, in Philosophical Foundations of Tort Law, 132 (David G. Owen ed., 1995).
Rethinking Comparative Law
Saul Levmore, Rethinking Comparative Law: Variety and Uniformity in Ancient and Modern Tort Law, 61 Tul. L. Rev. 235 (1986).
Contains a brief but illuminating discussion of some of the Exodus case laws in light of other ancient legal systems.
Negligence or Strict Liability?
Douglas H. Cook, Negligence or Strict Liability? A Study in Biblical Tort Law, 13 Whittier L. Rev. 1 (1992).
A brief and helpful introduction to the central question in Tort law, based upon a careful analysis of the Exodus case laws. A good introduction on and example of how to use the Scripture to answer contemporary questions.