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God's Joust, God's Justice

Law and Religion in Western Tradition
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As players in the drama of human society, we are only dimly aware of the whole sweep of the story. While savage excess occasionally prevails, we still struggle to reflect God's image and order in our societies. Using law and religion as a pair of lenses, John Witte expertly surveys the stormy yet lush landscape of the Western tradition. First presenting a concise history of rights in the West, Witte then focuses on a diverse yet coherent series of landmarks, from Luther's Freedom of a Christian to contemporary Russian religious freedom, from battles over the First Amendment to the ongoing importance of marriage. Throughout the book, Witte's reflections center on the constant tension between religion and law, between church and state. "God's Joust, God's Justice" provides a clear vista of the major debates over law and religion in the West, enabling readers to competently proceed toward a more integrated understanding of these foundational elements of Western democracy.
John Witte Jr is Jonas Robitscher Professor of Law and Ethics and director of the Centre for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University. A specialist in legal history, marriage and religious liberty, he has authored numerous books including Sex Marriage and Family Life in John Calvin's Geneva.
Max L. Stackhouse -- Princeton Theological Seminary "Traces the historic struggles that generated the constitutional separation of church and state and shows that they do not demand a wall between faith-based morality and public policy, a politics with no place for religious ethics, or the silence of theology when jurisprudence speaks. Witte is known for his careful studies of the mutual influence of religion and law in the formation of human rights, modern democracy, and family life. He is alert to the various threats in these areas posed today by bad theology or bad law. In this volume he draws such themes together to offer a spiritually and legally compelling view of those contemporary issues that vex public debates." Richard John Neuhaus -- editor in chief of First Things "John Witte displays a masterful grasp of the history and contemporary relevance of efforts to establish in law justice both human and divine." Christian Century "The future of our society depends on religious communities that can supply the narrative that will ground the work of human rights. Witte's welcome book is an important wake-up call."
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