Because of your hardness of heart': Calvin and the limits of law
This article proposes that Calvin's hardness of heart' principle functions as a substantive limitation on political authority and the law, creating the legal space for meaningful moral pluralism. Calvin distinguished between the spiritual and civil uses of the law, as well as between the...
| Published in: | Scottish journal of theology |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Cambridge Univ. Press
[2016]
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| In: |
Scottish journal of theology
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Calvin, Jean 1509-1564
/ Legislation (Theology)
/ Civil law
/ Natural law
/ Pluralism
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| IxTheo Classification: | KAG Church history 1500-1648; Reformation; humanism; Renaissance KDD Protestant Church NBE Anthropology NCA Ethics XA Law |
| Further subjects: | B
Resistance
B uses of the law B John Calvin B Government B Civil law B moral pluralism |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | This article proposes that Calvin's hardness of heart' principle functions as a substantive limitation on political authority and the law, creating the legal space for meaningful moral pluralism. Calvin distinguished between the spiritual and civil uses of the law, as well as between the natural moral law and the civil law within the Mosaic law. He repeatedly used Jesus' concept of hardness of heart' to explain inadequacies within the Mosaic law and to articulate a general principle about the nature and limits of civil law. This approach has important implications for law and morality in contemporary contexts characterised by a degree of moral pluralism that Calvin scarcely could have anticipated. |
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| ISSN: | 1475-3065 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Scottish journal of theology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/S0036930616000296 |