Law Natural: Its Family of Metaphors and Its Theology
Thomas Shaffer once observed: "[I]t is better to bear the discomfort of trying to be a [believer] and a lawyer at the same time than it is to pretend that the symbols of faith have nothing to do with law offices, law schools, or courts."I am among the many who have been instructed and move...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Published: |
Cambridge Univ. Press
1985
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| In: |
Journal of law and religion
Year: 1985, Volume: 3, Issue: 1, Pages: 141-165 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Thomas Shaffer once observed: "[I]t is better to bear the discomfort of trying to be a [believer] and a lawyer at the same time than it is to pretend that the symbols of faith have nothing to do with law offices, law schools, or courts."I am among the many who have been instructed and moved by Professor Shaffer's example and am, therefore, among those who know something of the contagious discomfort of being a believer and a lawyer at the same time. It is a condition out of keeping with the times. But those whose vocation is faithfulness at the same time that their profession is law or politics have no choice. "Divine discontent" it is sometimes called.I make no claim for my remarks except that they arise out of this discomfort. Specifically, I am troubled by American law's systemic injustice—i.e., its capacity for victimization, its fallenness. My way of responding to the discomfort, of trying to do something about it, is the act of rethinking which Karl Barth described as "the ‘primary’ ethical action." The "transformation of thought," he said, "is the key to the problem of ethics, for it is the place where the turning about takes place by which men are directed to a new behavior." |
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| ISSN: | 2163-3088 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of law and religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/1051351 |