Originalism in Theology and Law

Mark J. Boone is assistant professor in the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Hong Kong Baptist University.Mark D. Eckel is president of The Comenius Institute and associate faculty for various institutions, including Indiana University Indianapolis and Capital Seminary & Graduate School, Lancaster, PA.

I didn’t know how much I needed Originalism in Theology and Law until I read it. Even in biblical hermeneutics, I find from this book that my so-called expertise is built upon unexamined presuppositions in need of philosophical reengineering. Theology and constitutional law both need a book which forces us to think through definitions, follow logical progressions of thought, examine evidence, and creatively apply ideas to authoritative texts like the American Constitution and the divine Word of God. How I wish that people of all positions, both legal and theological, could read this book and learn to think through their views more carefully.

• Introduction: Two Originalisms, Mark J. BooneChapter 1: Originalism: First Theology, First Things, Mark EckelChapter 2: Reading Pictures: Comparing Aesthetic and Hermeneutic Discussions of Intention, Jonathan JohnsonChapter 3: The Torah Is Not in Heaven: Living Originalism and Political Integrity in the Oven of Akhnai, Daniel WeissglassChapter 4: Sacred Scripture, Sacred Constitution: Individual Religious Hermeneutics and Constitutional Interpretation, Nicholas Higgins and Micah AllredChapter 5: Originalism and Judicial Restraint: Lessons from the Lutheran Reformation, John EhrettChapter 6: The Originalist Hermeneutic in Biblical and Constitutional Context: Comparing and Contrasting the Notion of Originalism in Two Very Different Fields, Mark A. SnoebergerChapter 7: Originalism and the Sources of Authority, Mark J. BooneChapter 8: A Difference Between Biblical and Constitutional Originalism, Menashe C. RobertsChapter 9: First Theology and Last Things, Mark EckelAbout the Authors