Christianity and law in the twentieth century

Sandberg, Russell ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4310-9677 2023. Christianity and law in the twentieth century. Witte, John and Domingo, Rafael, eds. Oxford Handbook of Christianity and Law, Oxford University Press, pp. 208-220. (10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197606759.013.16)

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Abstract

The twentieth century was a time of significant change. Perhaps because it is so recent and, therefore, so many materials survive, the complexity and diversity of the century is striking and frightening. Few authors have attempted to examine the century as a whole. This chapter looks at the century as a whole but simply seeks to propose and sketch four general trends that can be said to characterize the interaction between Christianity and the law over this period: (1) an emphasis upon autonomy, at first protecting religious groups but later focusing on the individual; (2) the regarding and framing of religious freedom as a human right as part of a general juridification of religion; (3) the rise of explicit equality norms that, in addition to furthering juridification, have entrenched changes regarding the role of women and the internal secularization of religious groups; and (4) a wider questioning of authority and a further decoupling of law and morality that may be seen in terms of demoralization, the death of deference, and societal secularization. The chapter recognizes and stresses that these four trends were by no means universal, complete, or linear, but it provides an interpretation of aspects of the interaction between law and Christianity in “the short twentieth century” in the hope that future authors will provide further examination of what is a relatively neglected topic, falling in the gap between the study of legal history, on one hand, and current law, on the other.

Item Type:	Book Section
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Law
Subjects:	K Law > KD England and Wales
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
ISBN:	9780197606759
Last Modified:	06 Feb 2024 10:37
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/146223

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