In a wide-ranging study based on legal history, political theory, and philosophical ideas going all the way back to Plato and Roman law, Robert Clinton challenges current faith in an activist judiciary. Claiming that a human-centered Constitution leads to government by reductive moral theory and illegitimate judicial review, he advocates a return to traditional jurisprudence and a God-centered Constitution grounded in English common law and its precedents.
Christians often struggle to understand the role of God's law in their lives. They may distort the law, turning it into a checklist to try to earn God's favor, or they may live as though the law doesn't apply to them. In this booklet, Dr. R.C. Sproul explains the purpose of the moral law and how it applies to Christians today. As he walks through each of the Ten Commandments, we see that the law doesn't merely expose our sin; it also reveals the character of a holy and gracious God and shows us how to live lives that are pleasing to Him. The Crucial Questions booklet series by Dr. R.C. Sproul offers succinct answers to important questions often asked by Christians and thoughtful inquirers.
A study of Paul's theology in the Bible, focusing on his view of the old covenant God made with Israel and the new covenant Jesus announced at the Last Supper.
In today’s society, a positive relation between ‘God’ and ‘civilization’ is by no means self-evident. Religious believers who want to live their lives in accordance with ‘the law of God’ are often considered a threat to civilization. To many, monotheistic religion is inherently repressive and violent. The central aim of this volume is to think of both God and civilization in a more open, space-giving way. God is seen as the One who prevents man from making an absolute claim for a relative reality, including one's religion and culture. The multifaceted relations between God and civilization are explored from systematic-theological, missiological, philosophical and ethical perspectives.
How might we learn ethics from the Old Testament? Trusted guide John Goldingay urges us to let the Old Testament itself set the agenda. Topically organized with short, stand-alone chapters, this volume takes readers through the Old Testament's teaching about relationships, work, Sabbath, character, and more, featuring Goldingay's own translation and discussion questions for group use.
Brian S. Rosner seeks to build bridges between old and new perspectives on Paul with this biblical-theological account of the apostle's complex relationship with Jewish law. Rosner argues that Paul reevaluates the Law of Moses, including its repudiation as legal code, its replacement by other things, and its reappropriation as prophecy and wisdom.
Nationally recognized litigator, Daniel P. Dalton, shares expert insights on litigating three types of religious property disputes. This information will be valuable for religious organizations and their counsel.
An incisive look at how evangelical Christians shaped—and were shaped by—the American criminal justice system. America incarcerates on a massive scale. Despite recent reforms, the United States locks up large numbers of people—disproportionately poor and nonwhite—for long periods and offers little opportunity for restoration. Aaron Griffith reveals a key component in the origins of American mass incarceration: evangelical Christianity. Evangelicals in the postwar era made crime concern a major religious issue and found new platforms for shaping public life through punitive politics. Religious leaders like Billy Graham and David Wilkerson mobilized fears of lawbreaking and concern for offenders to sharpen appeals for Christian conversion, setting the stage for evangelicals who began advocating tough-on-crime politics in the 1960s. Building on religious campaigns for public safety earlier in the twentieth century, some preachers and politicians pushed for “law and order,” urging support for harsh sentences and expanded policing. Other evangelicals saw crime as a missionary opportunity, launching innovative ministries that reshaped the practice of religion in prisons. From the 1980s on, evangelicals were instrumental in popularizing criminal justice reform, making it a central cause in the compassionate conservative movement. At every stage in their work, evangelicals framed their efforts as colorblind, which only masked racial inequality in incarceration and delayed real change. Today evangelicals play an ambiguous role in reform, pressing for reduced imprisonment while backing law-and-order politicians. God’s Law and Order shows that we cannot understand the criminal justice system without accounting for evangelicalism’s impact on its historical development.
