In these video presentations you will find David McIlroy exploring many of the big questions and issues regarding Christianity and the law with energy, humour and insight. From an introductory series on the Theology of Law, to issues concerning the role of public authority and how Christian lawyers can constructively contribute in the public square, these video presentations will help you think deeply about and embody generously what it means to serve in the areas of law and justice as a Christian.
This video provides the highest of high level overviews into how law and justice feature in the big picture of reality offered by the Bible. If you want to know more, look at the 10 Part Series on An Introduction to the Theology of Law below.
This video looks at the question of how Christians, and others, should think about unjust laws. Are we free to disobey them? What should we do if we are a Christian judge, civil servant, or police officer?
This video introduces the ideas of one of the greatest theologians of all time. Augustine is credited with making the claim that an unjust law is not a law, and for asking the famous question: what is the difference between a kingdom and a band of robbers? This video looks at the enduring relevance of his ideas today.
This video introduces one of the most important political philosophers of the twentieth century. John Rawls took a stand against utilitarianism with his theory of justice as fairness, reviving the idea of a social contract as a device to explain his thought. This video introduces you to his key ideas and highlights their limitations.
This video looks at the perennial tradition of natural law. Natural law claims that good laws should reflect, apply and respond to the moral order in creation. What does that claim mean for the connection between positive laws and justice? Can that connection ever be broken, and if so, how?
William Blackstone, the great defender of the common law, asserted that the common law aligns with the natural law. Blackstone’s claim gave the impression that the idea of natural law creates a presumption that positive laws should be respected. Is this in fact the case? This video explores the longer history of natural law theories and shows the potential for natural law to provide a critical standard against which positive laws are to be measured.
If you are looking to get to grips with the Bible’s big story about law and justice, you will find it here. In ten 15 minute videos, David McIlroy looks at the way in which law and justice feature throughout the Bible from the creation described in Genesis to the final judgment promised in Revelation.
Although the Reformation freed the Church from obsession with religious law, it is no accident that the rule of law has developed most strongly in countries whose culture has been affected by the gospel. This workshop looks at how the gospel has contributed to the promotion of the rule of law and how the rule of law creates freedoms, the possibility for widespread human flourishing, and opportunities for the proclamation of the gospel.
What is God’s view of government? What is its proper role and what are its limits? And what are the implications for us as lawyers engaged in the administration of justice? In this short video, David McIlroy explores the biblical mandate given to government and how it should affect the way we view our day-to-day work as lawyers.
In this talk, David McIlroy compares the secular accounts of human rights with the Christian understanding of the interests which human rights theories seek to protect.
In this talk, David McIlroy explores the ways in which Christianity has influenced the development of human rights, and argues that the idea of human rights for all would have been inconceivable were it not for the example of Jesus Christ and for arguments developed by Christians.
Debate between David McIlroy and Kevät Nousiainen
In this Veritas Forum video, David McIlroy discusses the idea of human rights, their extent, and their relationship to Christianity with Finnish professor Kevät Nousiainen.
Debate between David McIlroy, Jukka Viljanen and Paul Abbey
In this Veritas Forum video, David McIlroy discusses the idea of human rights with Professor Jukka Viljanen and politician Paul Abbey.
Crumbling Foundations is a research report that explores the nature and purpose of money, before comparing and contrasting our modern system with the biblical one. The way we create money now – involving a complex interplay between central and commercial banks, electronic and physical cash – is a far cry from the Bible’s use of silver and grain as currencies. Nevertheless, the Bible’s principles have ongoing application in creating monetary systems that are both just and fit for purpose. Money in the Bible was a relational tool: a kind of social glue designed to strengthen relationships and hold communities together. It is too important to be appropriated or monopolised by banks and governments, which essentially use it as a way of extracting value from citizens. There are advantages to centrally-created ‘fiat’ money, but also serious risks. Debt- and interest-based money and inflation entail conflicts of interest between issuers of money and those who use it, compromising the purpose of money from the biblical perspective.
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