Agape, Justice, and Law
How Might Christian Love Shape Law?

This book addresses key contemporary legal debates from the perspective of the central Christian ethical category of love, agape.

Robert F. Cochran, Jr (Edited by), Zachary R. Calo (Edited by)

9781107175280, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 25 May 2017

300 pages
23.7 x 16 x 2.7 cm, 0.67 kg

'Cochran and Calo should be commended for marshalling an impressive roster of authors and chapters. This volume stands on its own and will make a valuable contribution to the literature of the interdisciplinary interaction of Christianity and law. Its chapters must be dealt with by any scholar who seeks to further develop a comprehensive legal theory upon the rock of Christianity.' Jeffrey B. Hammond, Comparative Legal History

In a provocative essay, philosopher Jeffrie G. Murphy asks: 'what would law be like if we organized it around the value of Christian love, and if we thought about and criticized law in terms of that value?'. This book brings together leading scholars from a variety of disciplines to address that question. Scholars have given surprisingly little attention to assessing how the central Christian ethical category of love - agape - might impact the way we understand law. This book aims to fill that gap by investigating the relationship between agape and law in Scripture, theology, and jurisprudence, as well as applying these insights to contemporary debates in criminal law, tort law, elder law, immigration law, corporate law, intellectual property, and international relations. At a time when the discourse between Christian and other world views is more likely to be filled with hate than love, the implications of agape for law are crucial.

Foreword
Introduction Richard Mouw
Part I. Biblical Foundations: 1. Jesus, agape, and law Robert F. Cochran, Jr
2. Love calls us to the things of this world: the Pauline tradition and 'the law of Christ' Darryl Tippens
Part II. Modern Perspectives on Agape, Justice, and Law: 3. Agape, humility, and chaotic good: the challenge and risk of allowing agape a role in the law Linda Ross Meyer
4. Javert and Jihad: why law cannot survive without love and vice versa Timothy P. Jackson
5. Love, justice, and law Nicholas Wolterstorff
6. Justice tempered by forbearance: why Christian love is an improper category to apply to civil law David VanDrunen
Part III. What's Love Got to Do with It? Applications of Agape to Law: 7. Christian love and criminal punishment Jeffrie G. Murphy
8. Be instructed, all you who judge the earth: law, justice, and love during the world Charles Mathewes
9. Justice, love, and duties of care in tort law Michael P. Moreland
10. The when and the where of love: subsidiarity as a framework for care of the elderly Lucia Silecchia
11. Agape, grace, and immigration law: an Evangelical perspective Jennifer Lee Koh
12. Law, agape, and the corporation Lyman Johnson
13. Agape, gift, and intellectual property Thomas C. Berg
14. That vast external realm: the limits of love and law in international politics Alberto Coll
Afterword: agape and reframing James Boyd White.

Subject Areas: Jurisprudence & philosophy of law [LAB], Sociology: customs & traditions [JHBT]