RT Article
T1 Grotius, Theology, and International Law: Overcoming Textbook Bias
JF Journal of law and religion
VO 14
IS 2
SP 605
OP 631
A1 George, William P. 1952-
LA English
PB Cambridge Univ. Press
YR 2000
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1822979978
AB Over the past four hundred years, international law has increasingly distanced itself from the theological discourse that was once at its core. Today there is some evidence of a renewed conversation between international lawyers and those with theological expertise or concerns. But that conversation is far from advanced. With notable exceptions, theologians, within the Christian tradition at least, have implicitly heeded Albert Gentili's late 16th century warning—"Let the theologians keep silence about a matter which is outside of their province"—to the point of letting international law go its own way. At least the relationship of theology to international law is not a frequent topic at meetings of theologians, or of the books and articles which they write. As for the manner in which international law treats religion and the theological discourse that it spawns, the current vice president of the International Court of Justice remarks that, "in the twentieth century, international law has so far distanced itself from religion that the latter receives scarcely a mention in the standard treatises." Gone are the days when those who shaped modern international law, such as Suarez and Vitoria, were also highly trained theologians. Thus from the sides of both theology and international law, there is a long way to go if we are to get back to—and move beyond—the way things once were.
DO 10.2307/3556583