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Grotius, Theology, and International Law: Overcoming Textbook Bias
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 October 2015
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Over the past four hundred years, international law has increasingly distanced itself from the theological discourse that was once at its core. Today there is some evidence of a renewed conversation between international lawyers and those with theological expertise or concerns. But that conversation is far from advanced. With notable exceptions, theologians, within the Christian tradition at least, have implicitly heeded Albert Gentili's late 16th century warning—“Let the theologians keep silence about a matter which is outside of their province”—to the point of letting international law go its own way. At least the relationship of theology to international law is not a frequent topic at meetings of theologians, or of the books and articles which they write. As for the manner in which international law treats religion and the theological discourse that it spawns, the current vice president of the International Court of Justice remarks that, “in the twentieth century, international law has so far distanced itself from religion that the latter receives scarcely a mention in the standard treatises.” Gone are the days when those who shaped modern international law, such as Suarez and Vitoria, were also highly trained theologians. Thus from the sides of both theology and international law, there is a long way to go if we are to get back to—and move beyond—the way things once were.
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References
1. See, for example, Janis, Mark W. and Evans, Carolyn, eds, Religion and International Law (Martinus Nijhoff Pub, 1999)Google Scholar; Johnston, Douglas and Sampson, Cynthia, eds, Religion, the Missing Dimension of Statecraft (Oxford U Press, 1994)Google Scholar; Novak, David, Jewish Theology and International Society in Mapel, David R. and Nardin, Terry, eds, International Society: Diverse Ethical Perspectives 185–200 (Princeton, 1998)Google Scholar; Max L. Stackhouse, Christianity and the Prospects for a New Global Order in id at 201-14; and Sohail H. Hashnii, Islamic Ethics in International Society, in id at 215-36. With its attention to peace, economic justice, human rights, and international efforts to sustain these, Catholic social teaching (for example, numerous papal encyclicals) provides openings for dialogue with international law. One should also note an important interreligious effort, spearheaded especially by theologian Hans Küng, to articulate a “global ethic.” This effort, however, tends to parallel and overlap with, rather than actively engage, international law. See George, William P., Looking for a Global Ethic? Try International Law, in Janis, and Evans, , eds, Religion and International Law 483–504 (cited above)Google Scholar.
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4. This is not to say that theologians do not focus on substantive issues also taken up by international law, such as human rights, violent conflict, international economic justice, and concern for the environment. But one rarely finds today extensive engagement by theologians of the complex language, history, theories, and internal dynamics of international law.
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13. Though I have put these questions in the first person singular, the first person plural is also appropriate. Lonergan fully expects method to be a collaborative endeavor, and self-discovery and self-appropriation, while highly personal, are hardly private matters. On the collaborative nature of method see Lonergan, , Method at 125–45Google Scholar and passim (cited in note 6).
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38. Bk 1 ch 10 § 1.
39. Bk 1 ch 11 § 2.
40. Bk 1 ch 2§7.
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95. This is Lonergan's functional definition of theology. See Lonergan, , Method at XI (cited in note 6)Google Scholar.
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97. Whether various theologies promote or hinder progress is often a matter of debate in such areas as women's human rights. See Charlesworth, Hilary, The Challenges of Human Rights Law for Religious Traditions, in Janis, and Evans, , eds, Religion and International Law at 401–15 (cited in note 1)Google Scholar.
98. An extensive application of Lonergan's thought to international law would require careful attention to redemption as a third historical vector, along with progress and decline. See, for example, Lonergan, Bernard, Creating and Healing in History, in A Third Collection: Papers by Bernard J.F. Lonergan Crowe, Frederick E., ed, 100–09 (Geoffrey Chapman, 1985)Google Scholar; and Lonergan, , Insight at 710–51 (cited in note 28)Google Scholar.
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