Journal of Church and State articles from September 2007

Journal of Church and State archives from September 2007

Leadership and recent controversies over religious liberty.
September 22, 2007... I In accepting the Mark Hatfield/Barbara Jordan Political Courage Award from the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (BJC)-in 1999, Congressman Chet Edwards paid homage to Baptist statesman George W. Truett and Baylor University...

Leaving the spiritual sphere: religious expression in the public workplace.
September 22, 2007... The role of religion in the workplace has long been a source of unease and frustration. The extent to which employees could express themselves religiously at work or be excused from certain employment duties or entire days for religious reasons...

Aseret had'varim in tension: the Ten Commandments and the bill of rights.
September 22, 2007... One does not usually have to wait long in an after-church or talk-radio discussion of natural law to hear the familiar shibboleth that "The Ten Commandments are the foundation of American Law." (1) This statement serves many functions: It ties...

Fundamentalism in crisis - the response of the Gush Emunim rabbinical authorities to the theological dilemmas raised by Israel's Disengagement plan.
September 22, 2007... In August 2005, Israel vacated the Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip--mainly in Gush Katif--as well as four settlements in northern Samaria. This action, known as the "Disengagement," constituted a profound crisis for a significant section...

Sectarian elements in public school Bible courses: lessons from the Lone Star State.
September 22, 2007... "You're just taking the historical facts, theories and philosophies, looking at people's lives. You're... imparting information just about the facts in the Bible."--the principal of a Texas public high school offering a Bible elective in the...

The two kingdoms doctrine and the relationship of church and state in the early Reformed tradition.(United Kingdom)
September 22, 2007... A transformationist paradigm largely dominates contemporary Reformed social thought. This version of transformationism, sometimes referred to as neo-Calvinism, posits a creation-fall-redemption motif, emphasizing that God created all things,...

Strange Revelations: Magic, Poison, and Sacrilege in Louis XIV's France.(Book review)
September 22, 2007... Strange Revelations. Magic, Poison, and Sacrilege in Louis XIV's France. By Lynn Wood Mollenauer. University Park, Pa.: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2007. np. The "affair of poisons" began in 1679, with the arrest of two...

The Constitutionalist Revolution: An Essay on the History of England.(Book review)
September 22, 2007... The Constitutionalist Revolution: An Essay on the History of England, 1450-1642. By Alan Cromartie. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. 309 pp. $90.00. The trend in recent years has been to downplay legal and constitutional issues...

International Ethics: Concepts, Theories, and Cases in Global Politics, 2d ed.(Book review)
September 22, 2007... International Ethics: Concepts, Theories, and Cases in Global Politics, 2nd ed. By Mark R. Amstutz. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005. 266 pp. $ 29.95. International ethics is concerned with constructively navigating between...

The Destructive Power of Religion: Violence in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.(Book review)
September 22, 2007... The Destructive Power of Religion: Violence in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (Condensed and Updated Edition). Edited by J. Harold Ellens. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers. 2007. np. J. Harold Ellens's recent book The Destructive Power...

Toward a Theory of Human Rights: Religion, Law, Courts.(Book review)
September 22, 2007... Toward a Theory of Human Rights: Religion, Law, Courts. By Michael J. Perry. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. 253 pp. np. Michael Perry, who has written extensively about religion and human rights, explores three clearly related...

Rediscovering the Natural Law in Reformed Theological Ethics.(Book review)
September 22, 2007... Rediscovering the Natural Law in Reformed Theological Ethics. By Stephen J. Grabill. Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006.310 pp. 838.00. Stephen J. Grabill advances the thesis that Protestants, properly...

Religion and Law: An Introduction.(Book review)
September 22, 2007... Religion and Law: An Introduction. By Peter W. Edge. Aldershot, UK and Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, 2006. 160pp. np. The passing of the Human Rights Act in 1998 ushered in a new era in religion-state relations in the United Kingdom....

Christianity and Liberal Society.(Book review)
September 22, 2007... Christianity and Liberal Society. By Robert Song. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. 264 pp. $28.00 paper. "'Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's'" (Mt. 22.21). In the ancient...

Through the Eye of a Needle: Theological Conversations over Political Economy.(Book review)
September 22, 2007... Through the Eye of a Needle: Theological Conversations Over Political Economy. Edited by John Atherton and Hannah Skinner. Peterborough, UK: Epworth, 2007. xiv+274pp. 19.99 [pounds sterling] paper. The Christian theological tradition has...

The Mighty and the Almighty: Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs.(Book review)
September 22, 2007... The Mighty and the Almighty. Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs. By Madeline Albright with Bill Woodward. Scranton, Pa.: Harper Collins Publishers, 2006. 357 pp. $25.95. Albright and Woodward present a well-written and...

United States Welfare Policy: A Catholic Response.(Book review)
September 22, 2007... United States Welfare Policy: A Catholic Response. By Thomas J. Massaro, S.J. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2007. 225 pp. $59.95 cloth; $26.95 paper. In the preface of the book, United States Welfare Policy: A Catholic...

Charitable Choice at Work: Evaluating Faith-Based Job Programs in the States.(Book review)
September 22, 2007... Charitable Choice at Work: Evaluating Faith-Based Job Programs in the States. By Sheila Suess Kennedy and Wolfgang Bielefeld. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2006. 234pp. $26.95. Charitable Choice at Work is a vital addition...

Church, State, and Public Justice: Five Views.(Book review)
September 22, 2007... Church, State, and Public Justice: Five Views. Edited by P.C. Kemeny. With contributions by Clarke E. Cochran, Derek H. Davis, Ronald J. Sider, Corwin Smidt, and J. Philip Wogaman. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2007. 268pp. $19.00....

Wrestling with God: The Courts' Tortuous Treatment of Religion.(Book review)
September 22, 2007... Wrestling with God: The Courts' Tortuous Treatment of Religion. By Patrick M. Garry. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University Press, 2006. 230 pp. $49.95 cloth; $22.95 paper. This is another angry book. Like Patrick Garry, many scholars of...

God on Trial: Dispatches from America's Religious Battlegrounds.(Book review)
September 22, 2007... God on Trial: Dispatches from America's Religious Battlegrounds. By Peter Irons. New York: Viking Press, 2007. 362 pp. $26.95. One doubts if Peter Irons ever has been accused of writing a ponderous book. Over the past several decades, the...

Christianity and the Soul of the University: Faith as a Foundation for Intellectual Community.(Book review)
September 22, 2007... Christianity and the Soul of the University: Faith as a Foundation for Intellectual Community. Edited by Douglas V. Henry and Michael D. Beaty. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2006. 208 pp. $24.99. In March 2004, Baylor University...

The Christian College: A History of Protestant Higher Education in America, 2d ed.(Book review)
September 22, 2007... The Christian College: A History of Protestant Higher Education in America, 2nd edition. By William C. Ringenberg. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2006. 316 pp. np. It is not widely known, other than by students of American...

The Future of Baptist Higher Education.(Book review)
September 22, 2007... The Future of Baptist Higher Education. Edited by Donald D. Schmeltekopf and Dianna M. Vitanza. Waco, Tex.: Baylor University Press, 2006. 231 pp. To define what it means to be Baptist can be a daunting task. This is due, in part, to the...