The Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics
Political & Legal Ethics
| Resources | Events | Research | Reading | Links |
Resources
Publications
- Parliamentary Brief, 'We don't do God?', Jonathan Chaplin.
- Theos report, Multiculturalism: A Christian Retrieval, Jonathan Chaplin.
- Cardus policy journal, 'Why a "Just Society" must also be a "Big Society"', Jonathan Chaplin.
- God and Government, eds. Nick Spencer and Jonathan Chaplin, (SPCK 2009)
- 'One Nation but Two Cities' - Christianity and the Conservative Party, Joshua Hordern.
- 'Building Jerusalem?' - Christianity and the Labour Party, Paul Bickley.
- 'Experiments in Living' - Christianity and the Liberal Democrat Party, Stephen Backhouse.
Audio/Video
- 'Is There a Future for Multiculturalism?', Jonathan Chaplin (Audio & Video)
- 'A Christian View of the Role of Government', Jonathan Chaplin (Audio)
- Interview on PM’s speech on ‘Christian Britain’, Jonathan Chaplin, (Video)
- UKIP and the Common Good - Christopher Orton
- Civil Partnerships, Religion, and the State - Andrew Goddard
- Christianity and the Political Parties - KLICE and the Bible Society
- How Should Christians Vote in 2010? - Jonathan Chaplin
- Political Forgiveness - Harry Bunting
- Talking God: The Legitimacy of Religious Public Reasoning - Jonathan Chaplin
- Has Multiculturalism had its day? Towards a Christian Assessment - Jonathan Chaplin & Jenny Taylor
- Understanding Liberal Regimes of Tolerance - Jonathan Chaplin
- Christian Justification for Democracy - Jonathan Chaplin
- The Abuse of Equality - Julian Rivers
- Jonathan Chaplin writes on multiculturalism.
Media
- Jonathan Chaplin writes on a setback for secularism.
- Jonathan Chaplin articles in the Guardian.
Events
Future
A Colloquium on ‘Biblical Law’ will take place on 19-20 March 2012 at the Divinity Faculty, University of Cambridge. The event is co-sponsored by KLICE and the Cambridge Inter-faith Programme. It is based around a new book by Jonathan Burnside entitled God, Justice and Society: Aspects of Law and Legality in the Bible (Oxford University Press, 2011). Dr. Burnside is Reader in Biblical Law at the University of Bristol and chair of the KLICE Advisory Council. The event is inter-disciplinary - of special interest to theologians and lawyers - and inter-faith. Confirmed plenary speakers include Professor Bernard Jackson (Liverpool Hope University, formerly University of Manchester), Professor Gordon McConville (University of Gloucester) and Sheikh Michael Mumisa (University of Cambridge). Jonathan Burnside and Professor Nicholas Aroney (Faculty of Law, University of Queensland) will respond to the plenary speakers. Six other experts will present panel papers. More information here.
KLICE Summer School for lawyers and legal professionals, September 14-16. More information here.
Past
'Beyond Individualism', November 2011
- KLICE was represented at a conference entitled ‘Beyond Individualism’ organised by the European Christian Political Movement (ECPM), held in London on 24-25 November. The event was attended by over 100 participants. Speakers included Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, Os Guinness, John Milbank, Phillip Blond, Luke Bretherton, Maurice Glasman, David Campanale and Alan Craig. KLICE, along with Theos, the Jubilee Centre and CARE, was a ‘partner’ in the event, which was co-sponsored by ECPM, Christian Concern and the Christian People’s Alliance. Jonathan Chaplin attended on 24 November and gave a brief response to John Milbank. KLICE Research Associate Christopher Orton represented KLICE on 25 November.
Seminar of the Centre for Theology and Public Issues (CTPI), November 2011
- Jonathan Chaplin presented a paper entitled ‘Governing Diversity: Public Judgment and Religious Plurality’ at a seminar of the Centre for Theology and Public Issues (CTPI), University of Edinburgh, 14 November. The paper engaged with an article written by Professor Oliver O’Donovan (Edinburgh) entitled ‘Reflections on Pluralism’. Professor O’Donovan gave a response.
'Is There a Future for Multiculturalism?', October 2011
- Organised by the public theology think-tank Theos and LSE Forum on Religion, at London School of Economics on October 20. The event marked the publication of Jonathan Chaplin's recent Theos report, 'Multiculturalism: A Christian Retrieval'.
Civil Society and Christian Social Thought, October 2011
- Jonathan Chaplin gave a lecture on 'Civil Society and Christian Social Thought' at a conference of Faith in Europe, held in Cropthorne, Worcestershire.
Law & Ethics Summer School, September 2011
- 15 lawyers and others involved in legal work gathered in partnership with The Lawyers Christian Fellowship, held in the peaceful surroundings of Tyndale House. The school helped Christian lawyers who wish to engage more effectively and more theologically in the challenging climate of contemporary law and ethics. We looked at topics such as natural law, biblical law, international law, justice, justice mission, human rights, equality and the role of government. The course leader and academic coordinator was Dr David McIlroy, barrister, theologian and author of 'A Biblical View of Law and Justice' and 'A Trinitarian Theology of Law'.
The Challenge of a Secular Age, July 2011
- Jonathan Chaplin spoke on 'Between Theocracy and Secularism: Religion and the State in Britain Today' at the IOCS 12th Summer School, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.
God and Government Conference, November 2010
- KLICE was active at a conference in London hosted by the think-tank Theos on the theme of the book God and Government (SPCK 2009), co-edited by Nick Spencer (Theos) and Jonathan Chaplin (KLICE). The book is the fruit of a joint Theos-KLICE project. 140 attended the event, which was co-sponsored by Conservative Christian Fellowship (CCF), Christian Socialist Movement (CSM) and Liberal Democrat Christian Forum. Jonathan Chaplin gave a plenary lecture (available in text and audio), and a presentation in a CSM session, and Joshua Hordern gave a presentation on his publication One Nation but Two Cities (one of the 'Partisan' series) in a CCF sesion.
Consulation on Equality and Religious Liberty, June 2010
- KLICE hosted an invited inter-denominational seminar on the growing tensions between equality laws and religious liberty, held at the London offices of the Evangelical Alliance. The event was motivated by the desire to develop credible, balanced and informed responses to the questions arising in this area, and which are attracting increasing media attention. The event was a working consultation designed to produce a document of direct use to practitioners facing questions on these issues on a regular basis. Sessions addressed the current state of the law, the issue of ‘discrimination’, and the positive contribution of religion to society. Over 20 experts participated, representing 15 different bodies engaged with the questions.
'Justice: Rights and Wrongs. A Colloquium', May 2009
- Held at Christ Church, Oxford, with Prof Nicholas Wolterstorff (Emeritus, Yale University) and sponsored by the McDonald Centre for Theology, Ethics and Public Life and KLICE. Joshua Hordern (Edinburgh) prepared a precis of the book for conference registrants. Prof Wolterstorff’s book was published by Princeton University Press in 2008. Richard Bernstein of the New School for Social Research describes it as "the most impressive book on justice since Rawls's A Theory of Justice". The conference papers, plus a response by Prof. Wolterstorff, appear in a special issue of Studies in Christian Ethics in Spring 2010, guest edited by Jonathan Chaplin. An extended version of Professor Wolterstorff's response to his commentators is available here.
'Responding to Secularism: Christian Witness in a Dogmatic Public Culture', April 2009
- 65 people attended a day conference on mission and contemporary culture co-sponsored with the 'Gospel and Our Culture' Network. Dr Dominic Erdozain (King’s College, London) spoke on the growth of secularity in modern British culture click here for text of lecture. ProfJohn Stackhouse (Regent College, Vancouver) spoke on public engagement in a secularised culture. Rev J Andrew Kirk (formerly University of Birmingham) spoke on Charles Taylor’s A Secular Age click here for text of lecture. Dr Elaine Storkey (TEAR Fund) spoke on responding to the secularist worldview.
Research
Projects: KLICE is currently engaged in two exciting projects in partnerships with Theos and the Bible Society, both aimed to disseminating the fruits of academic political theology to wide audience of practitioners. See the Projects page for further information.
Award 2010-2013: We are pleased to announce an award in Law and Ethics. For more details of the 'Professor Sir Norman Anderson award', please click on 'Leadership Programme'.
Recommended Reading
- Thinking Christianly about Politics - Andrew Goddard
- A Truly Serious Offence? Modern Law and the Problem of 'Seriousness' - Jonathan Burnside
- Towards a Biblical View on Politics - Andrew Basden
- Public Reason - Julian Rivers
- The Trinity, Politics and the Law - David McIlroy
- Keeping Faith In Prisons: Evaluating the policy and practice of faith-based prison units - Jonathan Burnside
- After Secularism: Inner-city Governance and the New Religious Discourse- Jenny Taylor
- Are We Any Use? Bonhoeffer and the Ruling Classes - Nigel Oakley
Books
- Nigel Biggar and Linda Hogan, eds., Religious Voices in Public Places(Oxford University Press, 2009).
- David McIlroy, A Trinitarian Theology of Law (Paternoster 2009)
Links
For articles:
- Political Theology
- Studies in Christian Ethics
- International Journal of Public Theology
- Journal of Religious Ethics
- Law and Justice: The Christian Law Review
- Evangelical Review of Society and Politics
Other:
1. Colloquium on Biblical Law will take place on 19-20 March. Click here for booking form.
2. Jonathan Chaplin writes on a setback for secularism.
3. Latest KLICE News published for January and Comment for February.
4. Video: Director interviewed on PM’s speech on ‘Christian Britain’.