Christian Perspectives on the Law: What makes them Distinctive?

Citation

Beaumont P (2001) Christian Perspectives on the Law: What makes them Distinctive?. In: O'Dair R & Lewis A (eds.) Law and Religion. First ed. Current Legal Issues, Volume 4. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 529-546.

Abstract
At least among Christians who hold an orthodox position, there is a shared belief that people need to have the opportunity to come to know Jesus Christ as the person who can bring meaning and purpose to life. So Christians will agree on the need to argue for laws that give people freedom to choose to follow Jesus Christ and to live lives according the teaching laid down in the Bible. Even though there is a clear world-view about the need for personal salvation, it is hard to discern what is the distinctive core of Christian perspectives on the law. This chapter discusses the distinctive features of Christian perspectives on the law. Among these are that Christianity does not offer a corpus of all which should be applied as the law of the State; that Christians will want to live their lives in accordance with the high moral standards exemplified in the Sermon on the Mount and more generally in the New Testament; and that Christians will take their duty to act as salt and light in the world seriously.

Keywords
Christian Perspectives on Law, Law and Religion, Law Reform