Introduction: Law, Christianity and the University

Demand for exploration of the relations between Christianity and law comes both from theologians and from members of the legal profession--practicing lawyers, judges, legislators and scholars. Among theologians, the demand reflects the concern of the Church for man's work and the desire to relate Christian teaching to the problems of the various professions. Among lawyers the demand reflects dissatisfaction with purely secular analyses of the functions and problems of the law and hope for profounder understanding in the light of Christian doctrine. Within the university this effort is not merely the concern of the schools of law and theology.

One of the purposes of this introduction is to suggest the importance of these efforts for the university as a whole. The effort to relate law and Christianity touches problems dealt with in many departments of the university and may help to draw them together by contributing to a general understanding of the nature of man.