{"id":5270,"date":"2010-01-15T06:42:28","date_gmt":"2010-01-15T06:42:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2010\/01\/law-at-the-jesus-creed-david-o-5.html"},"modified":"2010-01-15T06:42:28","modified_gmt":"2010-01-15T06:42:28","slug":"law-at-the-jesus-creed-david-o-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/01\/law-at-the-jesus-creed-david-o-5.html","title":{"rendered":"Law at the Jesus Creed: David Opderbeck"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Lawbook.jpg\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Seven Theses on a Missional Approach to Law<\/p>\n

In response to some of my “Law” posts here at Jesus Creed, a few commenters have expressed consternation over my criticism of some “conservative” Christian perspectives on the law.  <\/span>As I’ve tried to express in response to some of those comments, my primary concerns have to do with how “law” is understood in relation to the mission of God.  <\/span>As I’ve said before, in my very humble opinion, the North American Church’s participation in the “culture wars” over the past thirty years or so has been, by and large, missionally unproductive at best.<\/p>\n

At times, I might agree with the “conservative” perspective on what the law ideally should say – as I do, for example, concerning the law of abortion.  <\/span>However, even in those cases I’m often troubled by the place legal advocacy seems to occupy in “conservative” political theology, by the methods and rhetoric used to advance that theological agenda, and by the effects these dynamics have on spiritual formation in the Church.  <\/span>And, it’s true that, in some cases, I think the “conservatives” are advancing political priorities that fail to reflect what I understand from scripture, tradition, reason and experience to represent a faithful reflection of God’s priorities. <\/span><\/p>\n

In short, I think the political theology that prevails in the North American Church is insufficiently “missional.”<\/p>\n

In this post, I’d like to advance some very preliminary theses about what a “missional theology of law” should look like.  <\/span>What do you think about these Seven Theses?  <\/span>How does “law” relate to the “mission of God?”  <\/span>What should a “missional theology of law” encompass? <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Seven Theses on a
\nMissional Approach to Law<\/span><\/p>\n

(Note: 
\n<\/span>“positive law” here means simply “law enacted by human beings pursuant
\nto human governmental authority”)<\/p>\n

1.    <\/span><\/span><\/span>Positive law plays only a limited role in God’s
\neconomy of salvation.  <\/span>Neither
\nindividual human beings nor human culture can be redeemed through positive law
\nin itself.  <\/span>A missional theology of
\nlaw therefore can never mistake law for mission.  <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2.   <\/span><\/span><\/span>Positive law can, however, help check the spread
\nof evil, serve as a reminder of the good, and facilitate God’s mission of
\nliberating human beings from the powers of sin and oppression.  <\/span> <\/span>A missional theology of law therefore will emphasize the
\nlaw’s liberating potential.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

3.    <\/span><\/span><\/span>Positive law is provisional and temporary.  <\/span>In the eschaton, when God will be all
\nin all, the nature and function of positive law itself will be taken up by God
\nand transformed.  <\/span>A missional
\ntheology of law therefore will not have law as its ultimate telos<\/i>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4.    <\/span><\/span><\/span>Positive law is contextual and incarnational.  <\/span>Although just laws always spring from
\nuniversal moral principles, positive law always represents the mediation of
\nmoral principles into a particular historical and cultural moment.  <\/span>A missional theology of law therefore
\nwill remain wary of absolutist claims about what the positive law should say in
\nany historical moment or context.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5.    <\/span><\/span><\/span>Positive law is bounded by human limitations and
\nby sin.  <\/span>The natural weaknesses of
\nhuman knowledge and perception limit the human ability to craft law that will
\ncomprehensively address all wrongs. 
\n<\/span>Moreover, the pervasiveness of sin means that an ideal legal regime can
\nnever be realized prior to the eschaton. 
\n<\/span>Legal policy decisions inevitably involve choices among competing ideals
\nand suboptimal alternatives.  <\/span>A
\nmissional theology of law therefore will always be both ever reforming and
\npragmatic.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

6.    <\/span><\/span><\/span>Positive law derives its legitimacy primarily
\nfrom its consistency with God’s character and secondarily from the consent of
\nthe governed.  <\/span>A law that is
\nconsistent with God’s character but that is not supported by a broad public
\nconsensus ultimately will undermine the rule of law.  <\/span>A missional theology of law therefore will avoid the
\nextremes of theonomic  <\/span>\/
\nreconstructionist and libertarian approaches to law.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

7.    <\/span><\/span><\/span>Positive law does not derive its legitimacy or
\nauthority from the Church or from any ecclesial body or structure.  <\/span>When the Church seeks the enactment of
\nlaws that do not enjoy a broad consensus of public support, this compromises
\nboth the rule of law and the missionary posture of the Church, even when such
\nlaws are otherwise consistent with God’s character.  <\/span> <\/span>A missional
\ntheology of law therefore will insist that legal and political advocacy embody
\nthe virtues of humility, patience, willingness to suffer, and regard for the
\nother.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seven Theses on a Missional Approach to Law In response to some of my “Law” posts here at Jesus Creed, a few commenters have expressed consternation over my criticism of some “conservative” Christian perspectives on the law.  As I’ve tried to express in response to some of those comments, my primary concerns have to do with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-law"],"yoast_head":"\nLaw at the Jesus Creed: David Opderbeck - Jesus Creed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/01\/law-at-the-jesus-creed-david-o-5.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Law at the Jesus Creed: David Opderbeck - Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Seven Theses on a Missional Approach to Law In response to some of my “Law” posts here at Jesus Creed, a few commenters have expressed consternation over my criticism of some “conservative” Christian perspectives on the law.  As I’ve tried to express in response to some of those comments, my primary concerns have to do with…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/01\/law-at-the-jesus-creed-david-o-5.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-01-15T06:42:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/01\/Lawbook-thumb-333x272-2978.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Law at the Jesus Creed: David Opderbeck - Jesus Creed","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/01\/law-at-the-jesus-creed-david-o-5.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Law at the Jesus Creed: David Opderbeck - Jesus Creed","og_description":"Seven Theses on a Missional Approach to Law In response to some of my “Law” posts here at Jesus Creed, a few commenters have expressed consternation over my criticism of some “conservative” Christian perspectives on the law.  As I’ve tried to express in response to some of those comments, my primary concerns have to do with…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/01\/law-at-the-jesus-creed-david-o-5.html","og_site_name":"Jesus Creed","article_published_time":"2010-01-15T06:42:28+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/01\/Lawbook-thumb-333x272-2978.jpg"}],"author":"Scot McKnight","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/01\/law-at-the-jesus-creed-david-o-5.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/01\/law-at-the-jesus-creed-david-o-5.html","name":"Law at the Jesus Creed: David Opderbeck - Jesus Creed","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/01\/law-at-the-jesus-creed-david-o-5.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/01\/law-at-the-jesus-creed-david-o-5.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/01\/Lawbook-thumb-333x272-2978.jpg","datePublished":"2010-01-15T06:42:28+00:00","dateModified":"2010-01-15T06:42:28+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/19879975236b70da80f4cbea933c59d0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/01\/law-at-the-jesus-creed-david-o-5.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/01\/law-at-the-jesus-creed-david-o-5.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/01\/law-at-the-jesus-creed-david-o-5.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/01\/Lawbook-thumb-333x272-2978.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/01\/Lawbook-thumb-333x272-2978.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/01\/law-at-the-jesus-creed-david-o-5.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Law at the Jesus Creed: David Opderbeck"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/","name":"Jesus Creed","description":"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith for today","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/19879975236b70da80f4cbea933c59d0","name":"Scot McKnight","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/c10\/c10b0226ed6cfd8319b2b8742ac4088ax96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/c10\/c10b0226ed6cfd8319b2b8742ac4088ax96.jpg","caption":"Scot McKnight"},"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/author\/smcknight"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/70"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5270\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}