E-Book Overview
In Christianity and Freedom, Volume 1 , leading historians uncover the unappreciated role of Christianity in the development of basic human rights and freedoms from antiquity through today. These include radical notions of dignity and equality, religious freedom, liberty of conscience, limited government, consent of the governed, economic liberty, autonomous civil society, and church-state separation, as well as more recent advances in democracy, human rights, and human development. Acknowledging that the record is mixed, scholars document how the seeds of freedom in Christianity antedate and ultimately undermine later Christian justifi cations and practices of persecution. Drawing from history, political science, and sociology, this volume will become a standard reference work for historians, political scientists, theologians, students, journalists, business leaders, opinion shapers, and policy makers.
E-Book Content
Christianity and Freedom Volume 1: Historical Perspectives In Christianity and Freedom, Volume 1, leading historians uncover the unappreciated role of Christianity in the development of basic human rights and freedoms from antiquity through today. These include radical notions of dignity and equality, religious freedom, liberty of conscience, limited government, consent of the governed, economic liberty, autonomous civil society, and church-state separation, as well as more recent advances in democracy, human rights, and human development. Acknowledging that the record is mixed, scholars document how the seeds of freedom in Christianity antedate and ultimately undermine later Christian justifications and practices of persecution. Drawing from history, political science, and sociology, this volume will become a standard reference work for historians, political scientists, theologians, students, journalists, business leaders, opinion shapers, and policy makers. Timothy Samuel Shah is the Associate Director of the Religious Freedom Project at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs and Associate Professor of the Practice of Religion and Global Politics in the Government Department, Georgetown University. He is the author most recently of Religious Freedom: Why Now? Defending an Embattled Human Right and God’s Century: Resurgent Religion and Global Politics (with Monica Duffy Toft and Daniel Philpott). Allen D. Hertzke is an internationally recognized scholar of religion and politics. He is author of Freeing God’s Children: The Unlikely Alliance for Global Human Rights and editor of The Future of Religious Freedom. A past fellow for the Pew Research Center, he directed the study “Lobbying for the Faithful: Religious Advocacy Groups in Washington DC.” He is a member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.
LAW AND CHRISTIANITY
Cambridge Studies in Law and Christianity Series Editor: John Witte Jr., Emory University Editorial Board: Nigel Biggar, University of Oxford Marta Cartabia, Italian Constitutional Court / University of Milan Sarah Coakley, University of Cambridge Norman Doe, Cardiff University Brian Ferme, Marcianum, Venice Richard W. Garnett, University of Notre Dame Robert P. George, Princeton University Mary Ann Glendon, Harvard University Kent Greenawalt, Columbia University Robin Griffith-Jones, the Temple, the Inns of Court R. H. Helmholz, University of Chicago Mark Hill, the Inns of Court / Cardiff University Wolfgang Huber, Bishop Emeritus, United Protestant Church of Germany / Universities of Heidelberg, Berlin, and Stellenbosch Michael W. McConnell, Stanford University John McGuckin, Columbia University Mark A. Noll, University of Notre Dame Michael Welker, University of Heidelberg The Law and Christianity series publishes cutting-edge work on Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Christian contributions to public, private, penal, and procedural law and legal theory.