Law Commons^™

How Distinctive Should Catholic Law Schools Be?, Robert K. Vischer

Journal of Catholic Legal Studies

(Excerpt)

I was a teenager in the 1980s, and I was raised in evangelical Christian circles through which I was encouraged to listen to “Christian” rock music, not secular, which sometimes gave rise to some casuistic line drawing:

• Does U2 count as Christian? Yes, because of that line in Sunday Bloody Sunday about the victory Jesus won!

• How about Bob Dylan? Yes, but only during his three-album “born again” period!

• Amy Grant? Definitely, but even after she crossed over into the secular Top 40?

• Does the song need to mention Jesus? What if it mentions Jesus …

Teaching Jurisprudence In A Catholic Law School, Jeffrey A. Pojanowski

Journal of Catholic Legal Studies

(Excerpt)

Jurisprudence plays an important role in John Breen and Lee Strang’s history of Catholic legal education and in their prescription for its future. Legal philosophy in general, and the natural law tradition in particular, provide a central justification for the existence of distinctive Catholic law schools. They are right to argue so. As part of the broader Catholic intellectual tradition, which emphasizes the unity of knowledge and the eternal significance of mundane practice, natural law philosophy rejects mere vocationalism. It can provide the animating form and direction of a legal education that is more than one damn thing after …