Christian Law: Contemporary Principles offers a detailed comparison of the laws of churches across ten distinct Christian traditions worldwide: Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, Reformed, Presbyterian, United, Congregational and Baptist. From this comparison, Professor Doe proposes that all denominations of the faith share common principles in spite of their doctrinal divisions; and that these principles reveal a concept of 'Christian law' and contribute to a theological understanding of global Christian identity. Adopting a unique interdisciplinary approach, the book provides comprehensive coverage on the sources and purposes of church law, the faithful (lay and ordained), the institutions of church governance, discipline and dispute resolution, doctrine and worship, the rites of passage, ecumenism, property and finance, as well as church, State and society. This is an invaluable resource for lawyers and theologians who are engaged in ecumenical and interfaith dialogue, showing how dogmas may divide but laws link Christians across traditions.
The development of the European Union (EU), in both composition and competence, has led to an expansion in the volume of its laws and other regulatory instruments dealing with religion. So much so that scholars are increasingly today talking about 'EU law on religion' as a distinct legal category. This study proposes that a juridical approach provides a concrete insight into the posture of the EU towards religion. The study examines a wide range of legal sources, including treaties (among which the Lisbon Treaty is significant), directives, decisions and case-law as they touch directly or indirectly on religion. From all these sources it is evident that key religious phenomena are now formally known to EU law -religious associations, beliefs, rules, teaching, rites and authorities. It is suggested that underlying its legal instruments seem to be eight key principles at work in the approach of the EU to religion: the value of religion; cooperation with religion; religious freedom; religious autonomy; religious equality; special protection for religion; and the concept of religious privilege. In turn, however, the study asks whether these accurately represent the general principles of law on religion common to member states of the EU.
The debate in January 2007, as presented by the mass media, concerning whether an exemption should be provided for Roman Catholic Adoption Agencies from new laws prohibiting discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation in the provision of goods and services, rested upon two erroneous assumptions. The first was an assumption that awarding exemptions on grounds of religion was novel; the second was that the debate concerned whether there ought to be a religious exemption at all. This article seeks to engage with the real debate concerning the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007, which is not whether there ought to be a religious exemption (since one has been given) but rather the scope of the exemption. It also aims to show that religious exemptions are common in English law, including discrimination law, and to elucidate the various exemptions, paying particular attention to their beneficiaries and the basis on which discrimination is permitted. In short, this article seeks to understand the state of the law as a whole contextualising the recent moral panic.
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