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Christianity Today, August, 2008 |

Redeeming Law

In a cynical society suspicious of lawyers, Christian law schools are decidedly not.

Tim Stafford | posted 8/15/2008 08:44AM

Bob Cochran came to faith in the early 1970s as a first-year law student at the University of Virginia. His life transformed, the son of a Baptist preacher contemplated leaving law school to go to seminary. ...

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Bruce Strom

Posted: August 27, 2008 2:25 PM

I appreciated your article and agree that many Christian lawyers believe in: "the ennobling purpose of the law,and the servanthood of those who administer it." One of your commenters - Jerry - is obviously unaware of the Center for Law and Culture, www.lawandculture.org. I serve as the chairman of the board of this significant organization which is currently producing a leading treatise to be published by U Penn addressing his very commens. He is also unfamiliar with Adminster Jutice, www.administerjustice.org, a Christian legal aid organizaton I began because of my belief in the servanthood of those who administer justice. I left a very lucrative private law practice to redeem the law for thousands of low-income people in need. I don't know what Jerry is doing but I think he is the one being fooled. Many of us are actively pursuing the enobling purposes of the law and demonstrating servanthood in the administraton of it.

Graham Combs

Posted: August 23, 2008 8:29 PM

I graduated from CUNY Law School in 1994. Its hostility to Christianity intimidated Catholic and evangelical students alike. Not to mention Federalist Society members. Challenging the prevailing law on abortion made me a pariah. Constitutional , contracts, and property law were politicized beyond recognition. Domestic relations law prepared lawyers to challenge marriage. Anyone who underestimates the prevailing ambitions in the ABA and law schools is not paying attention. Witness the bloodsport we call federal and state judical appointments. CUNY is not exceptional in its approach to legal education. It isn't surprising that schools produce cafeteria lawyers and a legal buffet. Kelo v. New London is not an abberation. The Supreme Court is tempted by failed international norms even as the caprice of tribal paleocivics is made an equal to rule of law. Judeo-Christian roots and Ango-American common law are critical to training future lawyers and judges.

Isaiah Tor

Posted: August 21, 2008 1:55 AM

I highly respect the sentiment expressed by the writer of this article. Yet perhaps whilst we would seek to Christianize many people through the gospel, even as demonstrated through a spiritual perception and consideration of our Judaeo-Christian legal system, we must realize that however influential Christian jurisprudence may be in instructing and preserving the lives of many of the young from rampant moral degradation, we must recognize the world as a system controlled by the god of this age, Satan (as opposed to the sinners therein) can never change. Whilst a Christian lawyer can flourish in an equitable, just and compassionate interpretation of the law, we must be mindful, that no amount of legal instruction apart from the work of Christ through the Holy Spirit can fundamentally and irreversibly transform a person (Rom. 8:3). The dream propounded by this article of a legal paradise is commendable if it does not seek to replace the gospel of God's salvation in Christ by the Spirit.

steve wintermute

Posted: August 19, 2008 7:23 PM

This article insinauates that most lawyers and jurists are not Christians. I'm getting weary of this labeling by innuendo anyone who doesn't mouth the current poltically correct evangelical buzz words as not being a Christian. A Christian legal society or law professors christian fellowship are good examples. If you are a lawyer or law prof and don't belong then ergo you are not a Christian, or at least not a devout christian.

Gilbert Gerbrandt

Posted: August 17, 2008 6:29 PM


It would be wonderful to have our judges come from somewhere besides the 'snake-pit of lying lawyers'. I'm a retired businessman and would suggest that POLICEMEN as judges would be a 100 % improvement.

Anonymous Lawyer

Posted: August 15, 2008 7:13 PM

I have and have had a number of Christian ministry and business clients. I was also involved in one of the more well-publicized perjury cases in recent years. After watching Regent graduate Monica Goodling give false testimony to a Congressional committee on C-SPAN last year, I am concerned that there is some component of ethical training missing from the curriculum. Is there some explanation for this terrible witness to the secular world?

Robert

Posted: August 15, 2008 6:47 PM


Curious why Thomas Jefferson, who, while in Washington, faithfully attended church that was then held in the chamber of the House of Representatives, would be distressed with experiencing a prayer at the beginning of a meeting? I am sure he also witnessed the opening of any session of the Congress.

John	Posted: August 15, 2008 2:26 PM


As a lawyer, I found this article really remarkable. We often get lost in the billable hour and the demands that our clients put on us, it's nice to read a piece about how we can re-frame what we do and how we do it in a way that honors God!

Stephen Bloom

Posted: August 15, 2008 12:45 PM

This is an exciting time to be a Christian lawyer. We have a unique place of influence in the lives of our clients and in the broader culture. The opportunity for us to be peacemakers, to be witnesses for the love of Christ, even in the high stakes realm of the law, presents us with unparalleled responsibility as well. Will we help our clients find the reconciliation and joy that God intends for them? Or will we entice them down a typical secular legal path toward retribitution, revenge and destruction? The choice is ours. As a Christian attorney with 20-plus years of experience in private practice, I know firsthand that the former is far preferable to the latter! Note: Stephen Bloom is author of "The Believer's Guide to Legal Issues" (Living Ink Books, 2008)

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