1. See, e.g., the famous sermon of Governor Winthrop, John, “A Model of Christian Charity,” delivered aboard the Arabella shortly before the Pilgrims landed in 1630, in II Winthrop Papers 282–95 (1931)Google Scholar.

2. The Bible and Bibles in America (Frerichs, E. ed. 1982)Google Scholar; The Bible and Popular Culture in America (Phy, A. ed. 1982)Google Scholar; The Bible in Letters and the Arts (Gunn, G. ed. 1982)Google Scholar; The Bible in American Law, Politics, and Rhetoric (Johnson, J. ed. 1982)Google Scholar; The Bible in American Education (Barr, D. & Piediscalzi, N. eds. 1982)Google Scholar; and The Bible and Social Reform (Sandeen, E. ed. 1982)Google Scholar.

3. Neuhaus, R., The Naked Public Square: Religion and Democracy in America 86 (1984)Google Scholar.

4. See Stone v. Graham, 449 U.S. 39 (1980) (per curiam).

5. See, e.g, Horwitz, M., The Transformation of American Law, 1780-1860 (1976)Google Scholar.

6. See, e.g., Posner, R., Economic Analysis of Law (3d ed. 1986)Google Scholar.

7. See, e.g., Unger, R., Knowledge and Politics (1976)Google Scholar; and Unger, R., Law in Modern Society: Toward a Criticism of Social Theory (1977)Google Scholar.

8. Examples of such divergences among historians abound. See, e.g., the discussion of Justice Black's use of history in the incorporation debate in Fairman, , Does the Fourteenth Amendment Incorporate the Bill of Rights?, 2 Stan. L. Rev. 5 (1949)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Crosskey, , Charles Fairman, Legislative History and the Constitutional Limits on State Authority, 22 U. Chi. L. Rev. 1 (1954)CrossRefGoogle Scholar, as well as Justice Black's reply to Professor Fairman in Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U.S. 145, 165-67 (1968) (Black, J., concurring). The intent of the framers of the fourteenth amendment to prohibit racial discrimination was central to the argument in Brown v. Bd. of Educ., 347 U.S. 483 (1954). For the view that the framers did not intend to prohibit it, see Berger, R., Government by Judiciary: The Transformation of the Fourteenth Amendment, 117–33 (1977)Google Scholar; for the view that Berger is wrong on his facts, see Soifer, , Protecting Civil Rights: A Critique of Raoul Berger's History, 54 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 651 (1979)Google Scholar; for the view that Berger is right on his facts, but wrong on his moral reasoning, see Perry, M., The Constitution, the Courts, and Human Rights, 66–69 (1982)Google Scholar.

9. See, e.g., George Bernard Shaw's famous quip that if all the economists in the world were laid end to end, they would never reach a conclusion. Does a similar cynicism about economics underlay Justice Holmes famous dictum that “the Fourteenth Amendment did not enact Mr. Herbert Spencer's Social Statics.” Lochner v. New York, 198 U.S. 45, 75 (1905) (Holmes, J., dissenting)?

10. See, e.g., Kennedy, D., Legal Education and the Reproduction of Hierarchy: A Polemic Against the System (1983)Google Scholar; Unger, , The Critical Legal Studies Movement, 96 Harv. L. Rev. 561 (1983)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

11. See, e.g., Berman, H., Law and Revolution: The Development of the Western Legal Tradition (1983)Google Scholar; and Berman, H., The Interaction of Law and Religion (1974)Google Scholar.

12. See infra, text accompanying note 99.

13. For an excellent anthology of readings on this theme, see Schreiber, A., Jewish Law and Decision-Making: A Study Through Time (1980)Google Scholar.

14. See, e.g., G. Bornkamm, Paul (1971); Davies, W., Paul and Rabbinic Judaism (3d ed. 1970)Google Scholar; Drane, J., Paul: Libertine or Legalist?, (1975)Google Scholar; Goppelt, L., Jesus, Paul and Judaism (1964)Google Scholar; Schoeps, H., Paul: The Theology of the Apostle in the Light of Jewish Religious History (1961)Google Scholar; and Stendahl, K., Paul Among Jews and Gentiles (1976)Google Scholar.

15. See, e.g., Brandon, S., Jesus and the Zealots (1967)Google Scholar; Brown, R., Saying Yes and Saying No: On Rendering to God and to Caesar (1986)Google Scholar; Buzzard, L. & Campbell, P., Holy Disobedience: When Christians Must Resist the State (1984)Google Scholar; Cassidy, R., Jesus, Politics, and Society: A Study of Luke's Gospel (1978)Google Scholar; Cullmann, O., The State in the New Testament (1956)Google Scholar; Cullmann, O., Jesus and the Revolutionaries (1970)Google Scholar; Stringfellow, W., Conscience in Light of the Second Coming (1977)Google Scholar; and Yoder, J., The Politics of Jesus (1972)Google Scholar.

16. See infra text accompanying notes 78, 93 & 109.

17. Readers of this journal who are already familiar with these tools of interpretation may prefer to skip to Part II.

18. For an argument that disagreement among philosophers about the central questions of epistemology is akin to confusion among other scientists about basic premises concerning empirical method, see Lonergan, B., Insight: A Study of Human Understanding (1955)Google Scholar; Lonergan, B., Method in Theology (1979)Google Scholar. For a more nuanced consideration of the nature and limits of pluralism by a student of Lonergan, see Tracy, D., Blessed Rage for Order: The New Pluralism in Theology (1979)Google Scholar; and Tracy, D., Plurality and Ambiguity: Religion as a Test Case for Hermeneutics (1985)Google Scholar.

19. Perhaps the easiest way for a nonspecialist to become introduced to the swirl of critical theories now enthralling the academy is to sit back and enjoy David Lodge's latest novel, Small World (1985). For a more rigorous approach to these matters, see, e.g., Fish, S., Is There a Text in This Class? (1982)Google Scholar. Reader response theory is discussed (and corrected) by Professor Nasuti in his thoughtful article in this issue of the Journal of Law and Religion; see Nasuti, Identity, Identification, and Imitation: The Narrative Hermeneutics of Biblical Law.

20. See, e.g., Derrida, J., L'ecriture et la difference (1967)Google Scholar; and Derrida, J., Of Grammatology (1974)Google Scholar.

21. For a thoughtful discussion of this theme, see McKenzie, , The Social Character of Inspiration, 24 Cath. Bib. Q. 115 (1962)Google Scholar; and McCarthy, , Personality, Society and Inspiration, 24 Theol. Studies 553 (1963)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

22. See, e.g., Lev. 24:10-23.

23. See infra text accompanying note 99.

24. For a technical discussion of the history of Pentateuchal criticism, see Eissfeldt, O., The Old Testament: An Introduction 158–241 (1965)Google Scholar; and North, , Pentateuchal Criticism, in The Old Testament and Modern Study 48–83 (Rowley, H. ed. 1951)Google Scholar. For a popular presentation of the fruits of this scholarship, see Grollenberg, L., A New Look at an Old Book 5–31 (1969)Google Scholar.

25. Wellhausen, J., Prolegomena to the History of Ancient Israel (1957)Google Scholar.

26. See Ellis, P., The Yahwist: The Bible's First Theologian (1968)Google Scholar.

27. See the description of the Josian reform in 2 Kings 22:1-23:30.

28. See Rad, G. von, The Problem of the Hexateuch and Other Essays 1–78 (1966)Google Scholar.

29. Cross, F., Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic 293–325 (1973)Google Scholar; Eichrodt, W., 1 Theology of the Old Testament 96–97 (1961)Google Scholar; Klein, R., Israel in Exile: A Theological Interpretation (1979)Google Scholar; and Rad, G. von, 1 Old Testament Theology 232–79 (1962)Google Scholar.

30. For a creative approach to the process of formation not only of the Torah (Law), but also of the Nebi'im (Prophets) and the Ketubim (Writings), known collectively by the acronym tanak or as the canon, see Sanders, J., Torah and Canon (1972)Google Scholar, and Blenkinsopp, J., Prophecy and Canon: A Contribution to the Study of Jewish Origins (1977)Google Scholar.

31. A brief, classic text on this method is Gunkel's, Hermann essay, Fundamental Problems of Israelite History, in What Remains of the Old Testament 57–68 (1928)Google Scholar. For a careful overview of the form-critical method, see Koch, K., The Growth of the Biblical Tradition (1969)Google Scholar; and Old Testament Form Criticism (J. Hayes ed. 1974); for a briefer introduction to this tool, see Tucker, G., Form Criticism of the Old Testament (1971)Google Scholar.

32. Gunkel, H., Die Psalmen übersetzt und erklärt (1926)Google Scholar; see also Gunkel, H., The Psalms: A Form-Critical Introduction (1967)Google Scholar.

33. Alt, A., The Origins of Israelite Law, in Essays on Old Testament History and Religion 101–71 (1967)Google Scholar; see also the chapter, Law, by Clark, W. Malcolm in Old Testament Form Criticism 99–139 (Hayes, J. ed. 1974)Google Scholar.

34. McKenzie, J., The Two-Edged Sword: An Interpretation of the Old Testament 35 (1956)Google Scholar.

35. The classic statement of this view was Friedrich Delitzschs speech in 1902, “Bibel und Babel,” which purported to “prove” that ancient Babylon was a “better source than the Bible for a modern rational religion which could satisfy the intellect as well as the heart.” L. Grollenberg, supra note 24, at 45. As Grollenberg notes: “The norms which Delitzsch applied to his comparison were so much a part of his own time and milieu that his speech was quickly relegated to the shelves of the curiosity shops.” Id. Professor Blenkinsopp refers to Delitzsch as a “particularly flagrant example” of the nineteenth century biblical scholars who were “explicitly and openly anti-Jewish.” J. Blenkinsopp, supra note 30, at 21; see also supra note 30, at 158: “The virulent anti-Judaism of Hegel's earlier writings, never disavowed, entitles him to be considered one of the founders of modern intellectual anti-semitism.” And see Dawidowicz, L., The War Against the Jews, 1933-1945 23–47 (1975)Google Scholar.

36. I am indebted to my colleague, Rev. William Fulco, S.J., for this insight.

37. Alt, supra note 33, at 125.

38. Gerstenberger, E., Wesen und Herkunft des “Apodiktischen Rechts” (1965)Google Scholar; on the connection between the sapiential literature and the law, see Blenkinsopp, J., Wisdom and Law in the Old Testament (1985)Google Scholar.

39. For a redaction-critical approach to each of the Gospels, see Bornkamm, G., Barth, G., & Held, H., Tradition and Interpretation in Matthew (1963)Google Scholar; Marxsen, W., Mark the Evangelist (1969)Google Scholar; Conzelmann, H., The Theology of St. Luke (1960)Google Scholar; and Martyn, J., History and Theology in the Fourth Gospel (1968)Google Scholar. For a general introduction to this method of interpretation, see Perrin, N., What is Redaction Criticism? (1969)Google Scholar; and Rohde, J., Rediscovering the Teaching of the Evangelists (1968)Google Scholar.

40. As noted above, several scholars have refined and modified the position originally espoused by Wellhausen. See supra text accompanying note 24.

41. See Noth, M., Uberlieferungsgeschichliche Studien 12–16 (2d ed. 1957)Google Scholar, and J. Blenkinsopp, supra note 30, at 40.

42. See J. Blenkinsopp, supra note 30, at 81-95.

43. See Nasuti, supra note 19.

44. See, e.g., Knight, D., Rediscovering the Traditions of Israel: The Development of Traditio-Historical Research of the Old Testament, With Special Consideration of Scandinavian Contributions (1975)Google Scholar; Nielsen, E., Oral Tradition: A Modern Problem in Old Testament Introduction (1954)Google Scholar; and Rast, W., Tradition History and the Old Testament (1972)Google Scholar.

45. Patrick, D., Old Testament Law 25 (1985)Google Scholar.

46. I have explored the significance of this fact in Gaffney, , Of Covenants Ancient and New: The Influence of Secular Law on Biblical Religion, 2 J. Law & Relig. 117 (1984)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

47. A translation of these three royal codes is included in Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament (Pritchard, J. ed. 1969)Google Scholar.

48. The prophetic condemnation of King Jeroboam (1 Kings 13:33-34) for his “wicked ways” of assigning priests for the “high places” of pagan worship is characteristic of the viewpoint of the Deuteronomic historian.

49. See J. Blenkinsopp, supra note 30, at 85-95.

50. “Listen, Israel: Yahweh our God is the one Yahweh. You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Deut. 6:4-5.

51. 1 Stat. 1 (1776); see Wills, G., Inventing America 240–55 (1978)Google Scholar.

52. See Epstein, R., Takings (1986)Google Scholar.

53. See, e.g., Lynd, S., Class Conflict, Slavery and the United States Constitution (1967)Google Scholar.

54. See Stampp, K., The Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Ante-Bellum South (1956)Google Scholar; and Noonan, J., Persons and Masks of the Law 29–64 (1976)Google Scholar.

55. See, e.g., the opinion of Justice Chase in Calder v. Bull, 3 U.S. (3 Dall.) 386 (1798): [T]here are acts which the federal, or state, legislature cannot do, without exceeding their authority. There are certain vital principles in our free republican government, which will determine and overrule an apparent and flagrant abuse of legislative power; as to authorize manifest injustice by positive law; to take away that security for personal liberty, or private property, for the protection whereof the government was established. An act of the legislature (for I cannot call it a law), contrary to the great first principles of the social compact, cannot be considered a rightful exercise of legislative authority.

Among instances of laws that would be invalid on this view, Justice Chase mentioned “a law that takes property from A and gives it to B.” Id. at 388. See also Tribe, L., American Constitutional Law 428–30 (1978)Google Scholar; and see Corwin, , The “Higher Law” Background of American Constitutional Law, 42 Harv. L. Rev. 149, 365 (1928–1929)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

56. See L. Tribe, supra note 55, at 430-55.

57. See Paul, A., The Conservative Crisis and the Rule of Law (1969)Google Scholar; Twiss, B., Lawyers and the Constitution: How Laissez-Faire Came to the Supreme Court (1942)Google Scholar; and Beth, L., The Development of the American Constitution, 1877-1917 138–66 (1971)Google Scholar.

58. See, e.g., M. Horwitz, supra note 5, at 31-139.

59. For a more serious analysis of this theme, see Professor Bassett's thoughtful article, The Myth of the Nomad in Property Law, in this issue of the Journal of Law and Religion.

60. For a discussion of the eighth commandment, see D. Patrick, supra note 45, at 55-56. See also Eichrodt, W., 1 Theology of the Old Testament 70–97 (1961)Google Scholar; Harrelson, W., The Ten Commandments and Human Rights (1980)Google Scholar; Nielsen, E., The Ten Commandments in New Perspective: A Traditio-Historical Approach (1968)Google Scholar; Phillips, A., Ancient Israel's Criminal Law: A New Approach to the Decalogue (1970)Google Scholar; Stamm, J. & Andrew, M., The Ten Commandments in Recent Research (1967)Google Scholar; and Rad, G. von, 1 Old Testament Theology 187–219 (1962)Google Scholar; and see Jackson, B., Theft in Early Jewish Law (1972)Google Scholar.

61. See Nasuti, supra note 19.

62. See, e.g., the charming episode of clever Abraham using the customs of the Hittites to lay solid title to a piece of the land of promise (Gen. 23).

63. See, e.g., the story of the framing of Naboth by the two lying witnesses, with the result that he will be executed and his land confiscated (1 Kings 21).

64. Commenting on the Year of the Jubilee tradition in the Holiness Code, (Lev. 25) Professor Patrick writes:

The family holding was a share in Israel (a basis of citizenship) and an inheritance to be passed on from generation to generation in perpetuity. Unfortunately, holdings might have to be sold due to bankruptcy or other reasons. The purpose of the … Year of Jubilee was to return families to their divinely ordained holdings. Yahweh … is the real owner of the land, and each Israelite is a ‘temporary resident’ who cannot buy or sell the land in perpetuity. This theological principle means in fact that the family has been granted a right of usage in perpetuity (like a fief-holding according to feudal law) and can only alienate it temporarily …. Family inheritances revert to the grantee in the Year of the Jubilee.

D. Patrick, supra note 45, at 183.

65. For a discussion of the Ninth Commandment, see D. Patrick, supra note 45, at 56-57, and literature cited supra note 60.

66. See, e.g,, Boecker, H., Law and the Administration of Justice in the Old Testament and Ancient East (1980)Google Scholar.

67. See literature cited supra note 57.

68. See D. Patrick, supra note 45, at 256.

69. Id. See also Greenberg, , Crimes and Punishment, Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible 733 (1962)Google Scholar. For a different reading of both the biblical and extrabiblical materials on this point, see Jackson, B., Essays in Jewish and Comparative Legal History (1975)Google Scholar.

70. Finkelstein, J., The Ox That Gored 37 (1981)Google Scholar.

71. See literature cited supra note 57.

72. See U.S. Const., art. I, § 8, cl. 4 (congressional power to enact uniform laws on bankruptcies); but see, e.g., Sturges v. Crowinshield, 17 U.S. (4 Wheat.) 122 (1819) (invalidating under the contract clause a state insolvency law discharging debtors of their obligations upon surrender of their property), and Ogden v. Saunders, 25 U.S. (12 Wheat.) 213 (1827) (sustaining a state insolvency law applied only to debts incurred after the enactment of the statute).

73. See, e.g., Home Building and Loan Ass'n v. Blaisdell, 290 U.S. 398 (1934) (sustaining state mortgage moratorium act against contract clause challenge).

74. See Neufeld, , The Prohibitions Against Loans at Interest in Ancient Hebrew Laws, 26 Heb. Union College Ann. 355 (1955)Google Scholar; on the later developments on this theme, see Noonan, J., The Scholastic Analysis of Usury (1957)Google Scholar.

75. See discussion of the motive clause in Nasuti, supra note 19, at—; see also Gemser, , The Importance of the Motive Clause in Old Testament Law, 1 Supp. Vetus Testamentum 50–66 (1953)Google Scholar; and Sonsino, R., Motive Clauses in Hebrew Law: Biblical Forms and Near Eastern Parallels (1980)Google Scholar.

76. Gemser, supra note 75, at 63.

77. See supra note 64.

78. Acts 4:34-35; see also 2 Cor. 8:1-9:15 for an account of Hellenstic Christian compassion for the relief of the Jerusalem community; and Mt. 25:31-46, for a parable addressing to Jewish Christians the identification of the king with those in human need: the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, and those in prison.

79. See Uniform Commerical Code, § 2-302(1).

80. See Lochner v. New York, 198 U.S. 45 (1905) (invalidating state regulation of maximum hours of bakers as violative of “liberty of contract” protected as a substantive aspect of due process); see also L. Tribe, supra note 55, at 434-42.

81. See sources cited, supra note 74.

82. D. Patrick, supra note 45, at 139.

83. Id. at 165.

84. Neuhaus, R., Time Toward Home: The American Experiment as Revelation 128 (1975)Google Scholar.

85. McCarthy, D., Old Testament Covenant: A Survey of Current Opinions 14 (1972)Google Scholar.

86. See Gaffney, , Of Covenants Ancient and New, 2 J. Law & Relic 117 (1984)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

87. See Daube, , Lex Talionis, Studies in Biblical Law 102–53 (1969)Google Scholar; Jackson, , The Problem of Exod. XXI 22-25 (Ius Talionis), 23 Vetus Testamentum 273 (1973)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Loewenstamm, , Exodus XXI 22-25, 27 Vetus Testamentum 352 (1977)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

88. On the imprecision of the use of this designation, see J. Blenkinsopp, supra note 38, at 83-84.

89. J. Finkelstein, supra note 70.

90. Id.

91. Id.

92. See D. Patrick, supra note 45, at 89.

93. For a brief comment on the Good Samaritan story, see id. at 211-13.

94. See, e.g., Minn. Stat. 145.851 (1986); 176B.01(2)(h) (1986).

95. Greenberg, , Crimes and Punishment, in 1 Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible 733 (1962)Google Scholar; see also Greenberg, , Some Postulates of Biblical Criminal Law, in Yehezkel Kaufmann Jubilee Volume 5–28 (1960)Google Scholar.

96. Id.

97. See supra text accompanying notes 68-70.

98. See, e.g., Pulley v. Harris, 465 U.S. 37, 65 (1984) (Brennan, J., dissenting); and see Gross, & Mauro, , Patterns of Death, 37 Stan. L. Rev. 27 (1984)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Baldus, , Pulaski, & Woodworth, , Comparative Review of Death Sentences: An Empirical Study of the Georgia Experience, 74 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 661 (1983)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Bowers, & Pierce, , Arbitrariness and Discrimination under Post-Furman Capital Statutes, 7 Crim. Just. J. 16 (1982)Google Scholar; Paternoster, , Race of Victim and Location of Crime: The Decision to Seek the Death Penalty in South Carolina, 74 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 754 (1983)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Zeisel, , Race Bias in the Administration of the Death Penalty: The Florida Experience, 95 Harv. L. Rev. 456 (1981)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

99. See Cohn, , Capital Punishment, 5 Encyclopedia Judaica 142 (1972)Google Scholar; see also John 18:31.

100. D. Patrick, supra note 45, at 256-57.

101. See Cohn, supra note 99.

102. D. Patrick, supra note 45, at 57.

103. Id. at 90.

104. Pentateuch and Haftorahs 821 (Hertz, J. ed. 1968)Google Scholar.

105. noonan, J., Bribes 22 (1985)Google Scholar; the treatment of bribes in biblical law is at 14-30.

106. See Fletcher v. Peck, 10 U.S. (6 Cranch) 87 (1810) (sustaining validity of land grants by bribed legislators).

107. Noonan, supra note 105, at 22-24.

108. See McKay, , Exodus XXIII 1-3, 6-8: A Decalogue for the Administration of Justice in the City Gate, 21 Vetus Testamentum 311 (1971)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

109. See, e.g., Buzzard, L. & Eck, L., Tell It to the Church: Reconciling Out of Court (1982)Google Scholar; Buzzard, L. & Kraybill, R., Mediation: A Reader (1980)Google Scholar; Cassity, C., Resolution of Disputes Between Christians (1981)Google Scholar; Leas, S. & Kittlaus, P., Church Fights: Managing Conflict in the Local Church (1977)Google Scholar; Miller, J., The Contentious Community: Constructive Conflict in the Church (1978)Google Scholar; and Pahlen-Federoff, G. von, Biblical Conflict Resolution (1982)Google Scholar.

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