Secular power balances the harshness of Israel’s religious courts: In Israel, marriage and divorce among Jewish citizens is regulated by a religious body, the Orthodox Rabbinate, but secular justice can still occasionally intervene. This overview article can introduce students to various tensions in such dual systems (which also exist in the U.S. to some extent).
Princeton Seminary President Talks Tim Keller, Women’s Ordination, and How One Award Ignited Christian Twitter: This Sojourners coverage is one way to present a case study on how and how not to arrange presentations and awards among parties who may not hold like positions on issues in church and society. Students will find several matters […]
Dr. Daniel Siedell presentation, “Who’s Afraid of Modern Art”: In this 45 min. video Art Historian Dan Siedell presents both a perspective on the modern art scene and engaging its content by applying key Reformation themes such as justified-and-sinful, vocation, and the two kingdoms. The presentation may suggest some ways for other academic disciplines to locate […]
Death Penalties and the Divine: This two-part essay offers students some critique on the exegesis of the usual biblical texts and a biblical-but-not-necessary perspective on using the death penalty in today’s society. “While I don’t think there are strong practical reasons to keep the penalty around these days—except, perhaps, for exceptional cases—the Biblical evidence in […]
Breaking news from Indy Star: Christian schools tout, um, Christian beliefs and behavior — Students can use this review piece to consider how the popular press reports on matters about which the reporters and editors do not themselves understand, getting some elements right and other elements less than accurate, even while generally providing fair and […]
No 1st Amendment Bar To Deciding Catholic College’s Student Expulsion: The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court held that a Catholic college’s decision to expel a student is reviewable by the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. The college expelled an African American student a few weeks before his scheduled graduation, allegedly because the student retained some of the proceeds from […]
A Baby With 3 Genetic Parents Seems Healthy, But Questions Remain: A new report describes in further detail both the technique and the participants in the recent birth of a healthy boy with the blended DNA of the birth mother, father, and an unrelated female donor. This event has prompted numerous ethical and scientific questions. See also […]
Civil Procedure and the Ministerial Exception: Courts should approach the procedural questions left open by Hosanna-Tabor in light of the underlying justification for the ministerial exception. The exception reflects a longstanding constitutional limitation on the competence of courts to resolve “strictly and purely ecclesiastical” questions. To conclude that the exception operates as an affirmative defense […]
God and the Secular Legal System by Rafael Domingo (Cambridge University Press, 2016). This book offers a theistic approach to secular legal systems, systems that are neither agnostic nor atheist. It covers a range of liberal legal approaches to religious and moral issues and subjects them to critical scrutiny from a secular perspective. Essentially a defense […]
New ESPN guidelines recognize connection between sports, politics: An ESPN editor comments on new policy from ESPN on reporting and politics and social issues. Students will be challenged by unpacking the concerns, issues, and ensuing practices as well as by where religion fits into the guidelines.
