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Full-Text Articles in Law
Would Jesus Kill Hitler? Bonhoeffer, Church, And State, Kenneth K. Ching
Would Jesus Kill Hitler? Bonhoeffer, Church, And State, Kenneth K. Ching
Kenneth K Ching
“Would Jesus kill Hitler?” is a symbolic question about the relationship between church and state. Jesus did not have occasion to answer. But Dietrich Bonhoeffer did. Bonhoeffer was a pastor, theologian, and philosopher who tried to “live the life of Jesus” while conspiring to assassinate Hitler.
This will be the first law journal article to take Bonhoeffer as its primary subject. The article summarizes a long tradition of Christian political theory, the natural law/two kingdoms (“NL2K”) theory, running through St. Augustine, William of Ockham, Martin Luther, John Calvin and many others. Some argue that Bonhoeffer rejected NL2K thought. This article’s …
Competing Conceptions Of Legal Objectivity: An Ignored Publicity Versus A Surprisingly Unhelpful Naturalism, Kenneth K. Ching
Competing Conceptions Of Legal Objectivity: An Ignored Publicity Versus A Surprisingly Unhelpful Naturalism, Kenneth K. Ching
Kenneth K Ching
Law’s legitimacy depends on law’s objectivity. But before we can ask whether law is objective, we need to define legal objectivity. This article argues for a reason-based conception of legal objectivity that is probative of law’s legitimacy.
Judge Richard Posner and Dr. Brian Leiter claim that legal objectivity cannot be reason-based. They say legal objectivity should be based on empirical science. They argue law should be naturalistic. This article argues that naturalism is the wrong approach to legal objectivity for at least four reasons: (1) the lack of good reason to privilege scientific epistemology over a reason-based epistemology, (2) naturalism’s …