The course will explore the complicated and fascinating relationship between Christian theology and law. The religious dimension of western law for a long time was forgotten or overlooked. The change started with publication of Harold Berman's "Law and Revolution. The Formation of the Western Legal Tradition". The issue of law and religion has long been pushed to the margins of the main trends of jurisprudence, but in the past few years there is a growing number of publications on 'law and religion'. The aim of the course is to explore that stream of thinking about law and its connection with theology and show the religious sources of many Western legal concepts.
The course will focus on historical and contemporary issues, among them the impact of Christianity and its theology on the western legal tradition from Paul, Augustine of Hippo through to Thomas Aquinas and Luther, Calvin and others. Their impact on changes in the western concept of law will be explored. The reciprocal impact of law on Christianity and its theology will also be investigated. Contemporary scholarship on, and crossing, the borders between Christian theology and law will also be discussed.