Christianity and Human Rights
An Introduction

An authoritative treatment of how Christianity shaped human rights, and how Christianity and human rights challenge each other today.

John Witte, Jr (Edited by), Frank S. Alexander (Edited by)

9780521143745, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 23 December 2010

404 pages
22.6 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.64 kg

Combining Jewish, Greek, and Roman teachings with the radical new teachings of Christ and St. Paul, Christianity helped to cultivate the cardinal ideas of dignity, equality, liberty and democracy that ground the modern human rights paradigm. Christianity also helped shape the law of public, private, penal, and procedural rights that anchor modern legal systems in the West and beyond. This collection of essays explores these Christian contributions to human rights through the perspectives of jurisprudence, theology, philosophy and history, and Christian contributions to the special rights claims of women, children, nature and the environment. The authors also address the church's own problems and failings with maintaining human rights ideals. With contributions from leading scholars, including a foreword by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, this book provides an authoritative treatment of how Christianity shaped human rights in the past, and how Christianity and human rights continue to challenge each other in modern times.

Acknowledgements
List of contributors
The first word: to be human is to be free Desmond M. Tutu
Introduction John Witte, Jr
1. The Judaic foundations of rights David Novak
2. Ius in Roman law Charles Donahue
3. Human rights and early Christianity David Aune
4. Human rights in the canon law R. H. Helmholz
5. The modern Catholic church and human rights: the impact of the second Vatican Council J. Bryan Hehir
6. Rights and liberties in early modern Protestantism: the example of Calvinism John Witte, Jr
7. Modern Protestant developments in human rights Nicholas P. Wolterstorff
8. The issue of human rights in Byzantium and the Orthodox Christian tradition John A. McGuckin
9. The human rights system T. Jeremy Gunn
10. The image of God: rights, reason, and order Jeremy Waldron
11. Religion and equality Kent Greenawalt
12. Proselytism and human rights Silvio Ferrari
13. Religious liberty, church autonomy, and the structure of freedom Richard W. Garnett
14. Christianity and the rights of children: an integrative view Don Browning
15. Christianity and the rights of women M. Christian Green
16. Christianity, human rights, and a theology that touches the ground Robert A. Seiple
17. A right to clean water John Copeland Nagle
The final word: can Christianity contribute to a global civil religion? Robert N. Bellah.

Subject Areas: Human rights [JPVH], Christian life & practice [HRCV], Religious ethics [HRAM1]