This new addition to the Oxford Handbooks series is to be welcomed. Covering some two millennia, this massive work of near 900 pages tells the story of the interaction between Christianity and law from both a historical and contemporary point of view, and not merely in the Christian western world, but globally. The editors based at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University have brought together an international team of some sixty five scholars, although the majority are from the United States which is reflected in the text. The sixty chapters spell out how Christianity and law have long influenced each other as in some measure they still do to-day. The volume defines Christianity as Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox and various denominations within them, while law is seen as the normative order of justice, power and freedom. Its field is as comprehensive as can be imagined. Legal historians as well as practitioners and those engaged in ethical issues will find more than enough to interest them.
There are six parts to the Handbook. Part I looks at Christianity and law from a historical perspective describing Christian contributions to law and legal thought, beginning with biblical law and covering the subsequent two millennia. In contrast, Part II considers the global interaction of Christianity and law to-day. Part III identifies Christianity’s contribution to core legal subjects, while Part IV reviews issues concerning canon law, human rights and religious freedom. Part V examines Christianity’s influence on emerging areas of law, and finally, Part VI concludes by reflecting on Christianity’s contributions to enduring legal principles and values.
In the opening chapter, Brent A. Strawn rightly associates biblical law with the Hebrew wisdom tradition. Both were concerned with that order which God had ordained, as indeed was Christianity. Continually, that order is challenged by historical events, science and ethics to which each generation must respond. As T. Jeremy Gunn points out, Thomas Moore would have kept his head had he lived two centuries later (pp. 164f.). ‘Yet’, as Russell Sandberg reminds us, ‘history in general and legal history in particular keeps on going’ (p. 217). Each generation has a free hand. This process is spelt out in subsequent chapters on: Christianity and Roman Law, the Church Fathers, Byzantine Law, Germanic Law, Medieval Scholasticism, Classical Canon Law, Medieval Civil Law, Orthodox Christianity after Byzantium, Protestant Reformation, Catholic Reform and the School of Salamanca, the Church of England and Protestant Established Churches in Europe (1648–1800), Christianity and Law in the Early Americas, the Enlightenment, the Nineteenth Century and the Twentieth Century.
Part II’s global study of the contemporary interaction of law and Christianity covers Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Post-Soviet Space and Eurasia, Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia and China. As one would expect, these essays present a very varied picture. Much depends on a state’s attitude to human rights. Indeed, within continents what is orthodox Christian teaching can sharply differ and therefore also the law. Nevertheless, the role of Christianity remains surprisingly significant.
Core legal subjects are examined in Part III including constitutional and procedural law; equity; criminal, contract, family and property law; torts and taxation, labour, economic, education and international law. As one would expect in view of widespread secularization, while Christianity shaped the core laws in the past, its influence to-day remains distinctly patchy if not non-existent. But Christianity can still surprise, as in Liberation Theology’s challenge to property law or the re-emergence of the ethic of care with regard to taxation.
Part IV first deals with the challenges to and differences between Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant churches concerning canon law. This is followed by a discussion on natural law and natural rights and their relationship. Jennifer A. Herdt concludes that ‘Christians can make common cause here with secular thinkers in so far as overlapping convictions emerge’ (p.591). The rapid rise of human rights law after World War II is next examined and the input of Christianity in its formation. Again, practically, there is little difference between Christian and secular understanding of this law. After discussing the long path to the widespread recognition of religious freedom, Steven D. Smith states: ‘Whether this freedom can survive and prosper in a post-Christian environment is currently an open question’ (p.614). This leads on to a detailed consideration of the Asian situation. Finally, Gerhard Robbers reflects on church-state relations on which it is difficult to be precise due to their constant flux’ (p. 645).
It is, however, to Part V that I suspect readers of the Handbook will first turn as it deals with a series of contemporary issues of widespread current concern. The first essay tackles the seriousness of the ecological crisis. Christians have acknowledged human responsibility for this situation, most notably in Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato si’. He argues that ‘humanity must go through an “ecological conversion’’, beginning with an individual conversion and then proceeding to the level of a collective conversion’ (p. 655). St. Francis of Assisi provides an appropriate role model. Respect for nature, rather than domination and exploitation, is the key. Given all this, the authors of the essay argue that humanity needs to establish a legal framework to address these problems to protect the vulnerable in society. A transformation from an environmental law to an ecological law will be necessary. Religious groups already much engaged will need to step up their response.
Another challenging contemporary issue is migration. While Christianity sees migrants as God’s children, ‘states see immigration as a “matter of national sovereignty’’, not a right’ (p. 608). In an insightful essay drawing extensively on both Old and New Testaments, Donald M. Kerwin Jr spells out the laws concerning migration, the barriers that migrants face and concludes by setting out ‘themes that could be used to build a Christian theology of migration’ (p. 675-6). This essay deserves serious study. John Keown’s up to the minute essay on the comparatively recent intellectual discipline of medical care acknowledges the profound influence of Christianity. However, to-day this is widely sidelined by a utilitarian approach seen in both discussion and legislation on abortion and assisted dying. Ruth L. Okediji’s profound essay on Christianity and biotechnology centres on a Christian understanding of creation and humankind’s responsibility for its care. While Christianity has been engaged with issues of medical biotechnology that directly affect the sanctity of human life – assisted reproduction, euthanasia and abortion – agricultural and industrial biotechnology have, however, largely been ignored. Biotechnology is here to stay and will inevitably be one of the tools used by humans in responding to God’s invitation to take part in his creation. But Okediji concludes that at present Christians lack the ability to judge which technologies are consistent with upholding God’s creation and which undermine it.
Would be lawyers would be well advised to read the next essay on Christianity and Legal Ethics. It is not the easiest of professions for a Christian and is “potent in its influences and relations for good or evil in the community’’ (p. 713). In an essay focused on the situation in the United States, Vincent Lloyd points out that Christianity has been used to further both racial justice and injustice. Scripture is not entirely helpful. He approaches the concept of racial justice through various Christian concepts before arguing that ‘every theological concept misses the mark’ (p. 732). A better way is to focus on the Christian movement for racial justice across time – ‘the work of the Holy Spirit’ – reflected in the work of Martin Luther King Jr and even entangled in the Black Lives Matter movement. It is not a simple story and, in the end, must involve economic justice too.
Attainment of justice on a global level only became an issue following World War II. While some have confidence that injustice can be reduced, others are more sceptic due to ‘human propensity to prioritize self-interest over the common good’ (p.739). Lisa Sowle Cahill rightly holds that central to Jesus’ ministry was the inauguration of the kingdom of God marked by ‘love, sacrifice and forgiveness’ (p. 740). She contrasts Augustine and Aquinas, the emergence of the Anabaptists and their heirs, the peace churches and notes to-day’s diverse political theologies. In a succinct summing up, the author examines three theological subjects, Christ, cross and hope, before asserting that Christology does offer a realistic hope for global justice.
Part VI requires the reader to reflect on Christianity’s interaction with seven legal principles: the relation between law and justice, human dignity, equality, the rule of law, sovereignty, judgement and solidarity and law. All are complex issues. Even in this secular age, these utterly contemporary essays show that the dialogue between these principles and Christianity matters if that common good which is the purpose of all law is to be achieved.
Like the other Oxford Handbooks, this volume provides the opportunity to select any of the wide range of subjects examined and read an essay which acts as an introduction to the subject, which can then be followed up further through the extensive lists of recommended reading which follows each essay. While the editors have created the first global collection of works on Christianity and law, they recognize that their work builds on the global study of law and religion that has emerged in the last half century, as well as the many Oxford Handbooks already published. Further, they acknowledge that ‘this already hefty volume will eventually need an expanded edition or a weighty sequel’ (p. xi). For neither law nor Christianity’s understanding of itself remains static, nor their interaction dormant. As Russell Sandberg points out in the conclusion to his essay on Christianity and the Law in the Twentieth Century, ‘the present does not take the form of an ending’ (p. 217). Law is the means by which each generation confronts the specific issues of its times. It is an ongoing process. Although some seem reluctant to accept it, the same can be said of Christianity’s understanding of itself.
