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"Christian Traditions, Culture, And Law": An Update And A Few Reflections, Robert F. Cochran Jr.
"Christian Traditions, Culture, And Law": An Update And A Few Reflections, Robert F. Cochran Jr.
Pepperdine Law Review
Using Richard Niebuhr’s description of Christian approaches to culture, this Article examines the way Christians approach law, focusing on developments over the last 20 years. During that time, synthesists have continued to develop natural law, seeking an understanding of law based on shared human goods and reason, an approach that can generate a common approach among people of all faiths and no faith. Conversionists, including those on both the political left and right, argue for changes in law that will reflect Christian understandings of the good. Separatists (including many former conversionists) argue that American culture and law have become so …
One Step Enough, Steven D. Smith
One Step Enough, Steven D. Smith
Pepperdine Law Review
The growing divide between contemporary law and culture and Christianity forces Christians both in general and in the academy to confront difficult choices. The difficulty of those choices was manifest in the most recent presidential election. In this situation, some Christians take an aggressive or triumphalist stance; others are more inclined to a retreatist approach sometimes labeled “the Benedict Option.” What the right response is poses both prudential and theological questions about which Christians disagree, and about which confident answers are elusive. In this context, Professor Bob Cochran’s distinguished career exemplifies a path of humility in which the Christian citizen …
Jesus Came "Not To Abolish The Law But To Fulfill It": The Sermon On The Mount And Its Implications For Contemporary Law, David Vandrunen
Jesus Came "Not To Abolish The Law But To Fulfill It": The Sermon On The Mount And Its Implications For Contemporary Law, David Vandrunen
Pepperdine Law Review
This Article interprets Matthew 5:17–48 and argues that, because Jesus came not to abolish but to fulfill the law and the prophets, the Old Testament law takes on a new form for New Testament Christians. The law of God has been refracted through the ministry of Christ. While Matthew 5 does not address contemporary human law directly, its teaching does have radical implications for it. These implications flow particularly from the fact that Matthew 5 marks a decisive shift from the Mosaic theocracy to the worldwide new-covenant church that has no civil jurisdiction.
Divided By The Sermon On The Mount, David Skeel
Divided By The Sermon On The Mount, David Skeel
Pepperdine Law Review
This Essay, written for a festschrift for Bob Cochran, argues that the much-discussed friction between evangelical supporters of President Trump and evangelical critics is a symptom of a much deeper theological divide over the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus told his disciples to turn the other cheek when struck, love their neighbor as themselves, and pray that their debts will be forgiven as they forgive their debtors. Divergent interpretations of these teachings have given rise to competing evangelical visions of justice. One side of today’s divide—the religious right—can be traced directly back to the fundamentalist critics of the early …
The Dutch Effect: Kuyper And Neo-Calvinism In Professor Cochran's Scholarship, David S. Caudill
The Dutch Effect: Kuyper And Neo-Calvinism In Professor Cochran's Scholarship, David S. Caudill
Pepperdine Law Review
One of the obvious influences on Bob Cochran’s scholarship is the Dutch Calvinist tradition, especially as represented in the writings by or about Abraham Kuyper (1837–1920). Even though Cochran was neither Dutch nor a member of a Reformed church, Cochran found inspiration and compelling insights (with respect to legal processes and institutions) in the Dutch Calvinist tradition. This interest reflected Cochran’s generous ecumenism and his well-known respect for religious diversity. Three prominent conceptions—the trilogy of sphere sovereignty, antithesis, and common grace—provide a guide to Cochran’s recourse to Kuyper and Calvinism in his scholarly writing. Following a brief explanation of the …