Religion, Law, and the Human Condition
The central aim of this exercise in historical sociology is to develop an explanatory theory to account for the emergence of the notion of god-given rights, a religio-political-legal construct of overriding significance for the formation of the American polity. Three traditions are examined for thei...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
1987
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| In: |
Sociological analysis
Year: 1987, Volume: 47, Pages: 1-34 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The central aim of this exercise in historical sociology is to develop an explanatory theory to account for the emergence of the notion of god-given rights, a religio-political-legal construct of overriding significance for the formation of the American polity. Three traditions are examined for their contribution to the framing of the notion of god-given human rights. The first was the Papal Revolution which resulted in the codification of Canon law and the subsequent transformation of the Church into a corporation. The second tradition encompasses the emergence of the secular natural law school from Gerson to Grotius, and then to its Enlightenment representatives in Rousseau and Locke. The final tradition which gave rise to the human rights position includes Roger Willliams, the Levellers, and finally Isaac Backus. The first two traditions are interpreted as preparatory, while the last school of thought is credited with the introduction of those novel religio-political ideas relative to human rights which subsequently achieved institutionalization in the American polity. |
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| ISSN: | 2325-7873 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Sociological analysis
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/3711649 |