Law and the Bible: Justice, Mercy and Legal Institutions

by Robert F. Cochran (Editor), David VanDrunen (Editor), John Witte (Foreword by)

Overview

The Bible is full of law.Yet too often, Christians either pick and choose verses out of context to bolster existing positions, or assume that any moral judgment the Bible expresses should become the law of the land. Law and the Bible asks: What inspired light does the Bible shed on Christians? participation in contemporary legal systems? It concludes that more often than not the Bible overturns our faulty assumptions and skewed commitments rather than bolsters them. In the process, God gives us greater insight into what all of life, including law, should be.Each chapter is cowritten by a legal professional and a theologian, and focuses on a key aspect of the biblical witness concerning civil or positive law--that is, law that human societies create to order their communities, implementing and enforcing it through civil government. A foundational text for legal professionals, law and prelaw students, and all who want to think in a faithfully Christian way about law and their relationship to it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780830895595
Publisher:	IVP Academic
Publication date:	09/13/2013
Sold by:	Bookwire
Format:	eBook
Pages:	269
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

David M. VanDrunen (Ph.D., Loyola University Chicago; J.D., Northwestern University) is Robert B. Strimple Professor of Systematic Theology and Christian Ethics at Westminster Seminary California. A minister of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and an attorney, his books include Natural Law and the Two Kingdoms: A Study in the Development of Reformed Social Thought (Eerdmans, 2010), and Bioethics and the Christian Life: A Guide to Making Difficult Decisions (Crossway, 2009).

Robert F. Cochran Jr. (J.D., University of Virginia) is Louis D. Brandeis Professor of Law at Pepperdine University; founder and director of the Herbert and Elinor Nootbaar Institute on Law, Religion, and Ethics; and founder of Pepperdine's Union Rescue Mission Legal Clinic. His numerous works include Faith and Law: How Religious Traditions from Calvinism to Islam View American Law (NYU Press, 2008); Law and Community (Rowman Littlefield, 2003, with Robert M. Ackerman; and Christian Perspectives on Legal Thought (Yale University Press, 2001), with Michael McConnell and Angela Carmella.

Robert F. Cochran Jr. is Louis D. Brandeis Professor of Law Emeritus at Pepperdine University and a senior fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia. He is the coauthor or coeditor of ten books, including Agape, Justice, and Law; Law and the Bible; Christian Perspectives on Legal Thought; and Lawyers, Clients, and Moral Responsibility.

David M. VanDrunen (Ph.D., Loyola University Chicago; J.D., Northwestern University) is Robert B. Strimple Professor of Systematic Theology and Christian Ethics at Westminster Seminary California. A minister of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and an attorney, his books include Natural Law and the Two Kingdoms: A Study in the Development of Reformed Social Thought (Eerdmans, 2010), and Bioethics and the Christian Life: A Guide to Making Difficult Decisions (Crossway, 2009).

Table of Contents

Foreword by John Witte Jr.
Introduction
1. The Biblical Foundations of Law: Creation, Fall and the Patriarchs - Randy Beck and David VanDrunen
2. Law and Political Order: Israel's Constitutional History - William S. Brewbaker III and V. Philips Long
3. Civil Law in the Torah: The Mosaic Law in Christian Perspective - David Skeel and Tremper Longman III
4. The Law of Life: Law in the Wisdom Literature - Roger P. Alford and Leslie M. Alford
5. Crying Out for Justice: Civil Law and the Prophets - Barbara Armacost and Peter Enns
6. The Kingdom of God, Law and the Heart: Jesus and the Civil Law - Robert F. Cochran Jr. and Dallas Willard
7. Civil Law and Civil Disobedience: The Early Church and the Law - Joel A. Nichols and James W. McCarty III
8. Living as Christians Under Civil Law: The New Testament Letters, Law and Politics - David M. Smolin and Kar Yong Lim
9. Expectation and Consummation: Law in Eschatological Perspective - John Copeland Nagle and Keith A. Mathison
Acknowledgments
List of Contributors
General Index
Scripture Index

Editorial Reviews

"This excellent resource addresses the interaction of law and Scripture in a manner that is both accessible and scholarly. The creative coauthored essay format makes it a great introduction for all Christians interested in biblical approaches to law, whether they are students, practitioners or scholars. Yet it goes deep as well. Law and the Bible will prompt faithful thinking on this crucial topic."

Mike Schutt

"Law and the Bible is very informative and well researched. Christians and students of Christianity will find it enlightening, legal professionals and law students will find it indispensable and Christian legal professionals will find many answers to difficult issues facing them in their day-to-day practices. I recommend it."

Justice Mike Chibita

"Here in East Asia, Christians sometimes have difficulty understanding why the law is so central in the biblical narrative. This collaborative work between a group of excellent theologians and legal scholars will surelybe a tremendous help.I hopethe interdisciplinaryapproachhere results in intercultural understanding in many more contexts."

Kok-Woon (Kuyper) Lee

"This volume is remarkable for the depth, breadth and accessibility of its analysis. The interdisciplinary collaborations that form the project also reflect the inescapable fact that neither law nor the Christian life neatly follow the boundaries of academic fields. Readers should accept the authors' invitation to join a sweeping conversation about the core issues of our shared humanity as they play out across our biblical and legal traditions."

Robert K. Vischer