Faith, freedom, and family: An introduction to the work of John Witte Jr.

Doe, Norman ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1464-3130 2022. Faith, freedom, and family: An introduction to the work of John Witte Jr. Ecclesiastical Law Journal 24 (2) , pp. 175-191. 10.1017/S0956618X22000035

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Abstract

John Witte Jr is a law and religion scholar of the first order. For decades, as the director of the Emory Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Atlanta, he has played a leading part in the development of the field of law and religion globally. He has written prolifically across a wide range of law and religion subjects. He has nurtured and guided a generation of vibrant scholars who will shape the field for decades to come. He has brought important new insights to law and religion that have animated critical and original law and religion thinking. This article introduces aspects of his work. It examines the personal interest of Witte in law and religion, and the influences on his approach to the field, particularly his Christian upbringing and convictions. It explores his rich and robust understanding of law and religion, around notions of the dialectical interaction between the two, the religiosity of secular law, and the juridical character of religion. It also studies Witte as a historian of law and religion – his quest to retrieve, reconstruct and re-engage historical aspects of law and religion so as to address challenges of today, interdisciplinary, international and inter-religious. In all this, Witte provides a work ethic for Christian scholars in this field in terms of stewardship, accessibility and engagement.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Cardiff Law & Politics Centre for Law and Religion (CLR)
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
ISSN:	0956-618X
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	16 June 2023
Date of Acceptance:	30 December 2021
Last Modified:	13 Nov 2024 18:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/160419

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