Law Commons^™

Lawyers And Biblical Prophets, Thomas L. Shaffer

Journal Articles

This is part of a broader exploration of the suggestion that the biblical prophets-Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, Nathan, and the others-are sources of ethical reflection and moral example for modern American lawyers. The suggestion appears to be unusual; I am not sure why.

The Prophets were, more than anything else, lawyers-as their successors, the Rabbis of the Talmud, were. They were neither teachers nor bureaucrats, not elected officials or priests or preachers. And the comparison is not an ancient curiosity:

Much of what admirable lawyer-heroes have done in modern America has been prophetic in the biblical sense-that is, what they …

Canon Law And The Human Person, John J. Coughlin

Journal Articles

This article explores the unity of law and theology in the 1983 Code of Canon Law. The unity has remained critical since canon law emerged in the ancient Church. From the origins of the primitive Christian communities through the patristic era, the Church manifested a tension between charism and office, spirit and law? The medieval canonists achieved a great synthesis of the reason of law and faith of theology. The unified theory helped to form the basis of the Western legal tradition. The Reformation focus on sola fide (faith alone) tended to sever the unity. With the Enlightenment, reason was …