Anton Sorkin (Director of Law Student Ministries, Christian Legal Society), Riding the Second Wave: Three Articles That Speak to the Mission & Purpose of Institute for Christian Legal Studies:
Throughout my work, I run across countless excellent articles that speak to the underlying richness of the law and religion tradition that feed into my work with students and attorneys alike. Articles that challenge the very foundation of our sense of self as a religious nation and the role of Christianity in shaping law and politics. Since last summer, many of these articles have made their way onto the Cross & Gavel Podcast as I sought to engage the authors in the quality of their ideas and bring to attention their work on a more popular level.
That is my aim here today, not only because of my recent assent to the directorship of the Institute for Christian Legal Studies (ICLS) at Christian Legal Society. But, more fundamentally, because this work has been captured well by three articles that strengthen the fibers of what ICLS strives to become in the years ahead. …
[M]y focus here is to highlight three recent articles that speak to the heart of what ICLS hopes to achieve in the coming years!
The first piece is from professor Marc O. De Girolami, published in the Oxford Journal of Law & Religion [The Death and New Life of Law and Religion]. In his erudite narrative of the life and death of law and religion, he takes us first into the first wave of this movement and its advent forces with those like Harold Berman and John Witte, Jr., who took on the critical mantle of reacting to “the deconstruction of the American Christian legal heritage proceeding apace in the courts and the academy.” …
The second article comes from professor Michael Conklin pending publication in the Florida Journal on Law & Public Policy [Religious Law Schools, Rankings, and Bias: Measuring the Rankings Penalty at Religious Law Schools], which explores the various dimensions of the law school ranking system and the penalties that peer ranking scores impose on religious law schools. [See also Are Faith-Based Law Schools Fairly Ranked By U.S. News?] …
The final piece is authored by professor Jennifer Koh, slated for publication for 2026 in the BYU Law Review [Christian Lawyers In The Public Interest And Outside The Political Right]. This piece is profoundly unique and speaks to the opportunity of those on the political left who have been unable to find community within the broader Christian legal community. Koh’s study is empirically based, involving not only an excellent summary of the Christian conservative legal movement, but also a testimony among those in public interest work largely hidden from the public eye. …
The reason why this article is also essential for my thinking in ICLS is because it touches on the fundaments of vocational stewardship and what a faithful presence should look like in the legal profession. While the first two articles deal with the academic side of law and religion and the pedagogical mission of devout law schools, Koh’s contribution covers the importance of service over politics and contributing one’s legal career to advancing the interest of justice for marginalized communities.
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