About the Author: John Witte, Jr.

John Witte, Jr. is Jonas Robitscher Professor of Law, Alonzo L. McDonald Distinguished Service Professor, and Director of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion Center at Emory University.  A specialist in legal history, marriage law, and religious liberty, he has published 180 articles, 11 journal symposia, and 23 books – including recently Religion and the American Constitutional Experiment (2000, 2d. ed. 2005); Law and Protestantism: The Legal Teachings of the Lutheran Reformation (2002); Sex, Marriage and Family Life in John Calvin’s Geneva (2005); Modern Christian Teachings on Law, Politics, and Human Nature, 3 vols. (2006); God’s Joust, God’s Justice: Law and Religion in the Western Tradition (2006); The Reformation of Rights: Law, Religion, and Human Rights in Early Modern Calvinism (2007); Christianity and Law: An Introduction (2008); and Sins of the Fathers: The Law and Theology of Illegitimacy Reconsidered (2009).  He has five books under contract.

Witte’s writings have appeared in 10 languages, and he has lectured and convened conferences through North America, Western and Eastern Europe, Japan, Israel, and South Africa.  With major funding from the Pew, Ford, Lilly, Luce, and McDonald foundations, he has directed 12 major international projects on democracy, human rights, and religious liberty, and on marriage, family, and children. These projects have collectively yielded more than 160 new volumes and 250 public forums around the world.  He edits two major book series, “Studies in Law and Religion,” and “Religion, Marriage and Family.” He has been selected 10 times by the Emory law students as the Most Outstanding Professor and has won dozens of other awards and prizes for his teaching and research.  

Witte is married to Eliza Ellison, a theologian and trained mediator.  They have two daughters: Alison Marie Witte, an anthropology and religion major at Emory University, and Hope McCormick Jarkowski, an Emory College and Catholic Law School alumna who practices law in Washington, DC.  Hope is married to Justin Jarkowski, and they are the proud new parents of Baylor Jarkowski.  Alison is Baylor’s godmother; Eliza and John are overly doting new grandparents. 

Selected Publications by This Author

• A Christian Theory of Social Institutions, Paideia Press, 1986
• "A Dickensian Era of Religious Rights: An Update on Religious Human Rights in Global Perspective," William and Mary Law Review, Vol. 42, No. 3 (2001): 707-770
• "A Dickensian Era of Religious Rights: Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Contributions" in God's Joust, God's Justice: Law and Religion in the Western Tradition, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006 
• "A Most Mild and Equitable Establishment of Religion: John Adams and the Massachusetts Experiment," Journal of Church and State, Vol. 41 (1999): 213-252
• "A New Concordance of Discordant Canons: Harold J. Berman on Law and Religion," Emory Law Journal, Vol. 42 (1993): 523-560
• "A Page of History is Worth a Volume of Logic" in Religion, Politics, and the American Experience: Reflections on Religion and American Public Life
• "A Primer on the Rights and Wrongs of Proselytism," Cumberland Law Review, Vol. 31 (2001): 619-630
• "A Short History of Western Rights" in God's Joust, God's Justice: Law and Religion in the Western Tradition, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006 
• "Adams versus Jefferson: From Establishment to Freedom of Public Religion" in God's Joust, God's Justice: Law and Religion in the Western Tradition, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006 
• "American Religious Liberty in International Perspective" in Oxford Handbook on Church and State in the United States, 2009 
• "An Apt and Cheerful Conversation on Marriage," February 7, 2001
• "An Evangelical Commonwealth: Johannes Eisermann on Law and the Common Good" in Caritas Et Reformatio: Essays in Honor of Carter Lindberg
• "Anglican Marriage Law in the Making: Becon, Bullinger, and Bucer" in The Contentious Triangle: Church, State, and University -- A Festschrift in Honor of Professor George Huntston Williams
• "Between Sanctity and Depravity: Human Dignity in Protestant Perspective" in In Defense of Human Dignity: Essays for our Times
• "Between Sanctity and Depravity: Law and Human Nature in Martin Luther's Two Kingdoms," Villanova Law Review, Vol. 48, No. 3 (2003): 727-762
• "Blest Be The Ties That Bind: Covenant and Community in Puritan Thought," Emory Law Journal, Vol. 36 (1987): 579-601
• "Calvin the Lawyer," July 6, 2009
• "Canon Law in Lutheran Germany: A Surprising Case of Legal Transplantation" in Lex et Romanitas: Essays for Alan Watson
• Christian Marriage and Modern Marriage Law, Cambridge University Press 
• Christianity and Democracy in Global Context, Westview Press, 1993
• "Christianity and Democracy: Past Contributions and Future Challenges," Emory International Law Review, Vol. 6, No. 1 (1992): 55-69
• Christianity and Human Rights: An Introduction, Cambridge University Press, 2010 
• Christianity and Law: An Introduction, Cambridge University Press, 2008 
• "Conference Opening: Happily Ever After?," March 27, 2003
• "Covenant Liberty in Puritan New England" in Jurisprudenz, Politische Theorie und Politische Theologie
• Covenant Marriage in Comparative Perspective, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2005 
• "Facts and Fictions about the History of Separation of Church and State," Journal of Church and State, Vol. 48 (2006): 15-46
• Family Transformed: Religion, Values, and Society in American Life, Georgetown University Press, 2005 
• "First Amendment Religion Clauses and the Supreme Court" in The Praeger Handbook of Religion and Education in the United States 
• "Freedom of a Christian: Human Dignity, Liberty, and Equality in the Theology of Martin Luther" in God's Joust, God's Justice: Law and Religion in the Western Tradition, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006 
• "From Establishment to Freedom of Public Religion," Capital University Law Review, Vol. 32, No. 3 (2003): 499-518
• From Sacrament to Contract: Marriage, Religion and Law in the Western Tradition, Westminster John Knox Press, 1997
• God's Joust, God's Justice: Law and Religion in the Western Tradition, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006 
• "Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother? Child Marriage and Parental Consent in Calvin's Geneva," Journal of Religion, Vol. 86 (2006): 580-605 
• "How to Govern a City on a Hill: Puritan Contributions to American Constitutional Law and Liberty" in God's Joust, God's Justice: Law and Religion in the Western Tradition, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006 
• "How to Govern a City on the Hill: The Early Puritan Contribution to American Constitutionalism," Emory Law Journal, Vol. 39 (1990): 41-64
• Human Rights in Judaism: Cultural, Religious and Political Perspectives, Jason Aronson, 1998
• "In Praise of a Legal Polymath: A Special Issue Dedicated to the Memory of Harold J. Berman (1918-2007)," Emory Law Journal, Vol. 57, No. 6 (2008): 1393-1470 
• "Introduction" in Covenant Marriage in Comparative Perspective, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2005 
• "Introduction" in Christianity and Law: An Introduction, Cambridge University Press, 2008 
• "Introduction" in The Teachings of Modern Christianity on Law, Politics, and Human Nature, Volume I, Columbia University Press, 2005 
• "Introduction" in The Teachings of Modern Christianity on Law, Politics, and Human Nature, Volume I, , 2005 
• "Introduction" in Proselytism and Orthodoxy in Russia: The New War for Souls, Orbis Books, 1999
• "Introduction" in Christianity and Democracy in Global Context, Westview Press, 1993
• "Introduction" in Religion and the American Constitutional Experiment, 2nd Ed., Westview Press, 2005 
• "Introduction -- Soul Wars: The Problem and Promise of Proselytism in Russia," Emory International Law Review, Vol. 12 (1998): 1-42
• "Introduction: No Place Like Home" in Family Transformed: Religion, Values, and Society in American Life, Georgetown University Press, 2005 
• "Introduction: The Foundations and Frontiers of Religious Liberty," Emory International Law Review, Vol. 21 (2007): 1-11
• "Ishmael's Bane: The Sin and Crime of Illegitimacy Reconsidered" in The Morality of Adoption: Social-Psychological, Theological, and Legal Perspectives , William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2005 
• "Law and Legal Theory" in The Encyclopedia of Christianity, Volume 3
• Law and Protestantism II: The Legal Teachings of the Calvinist Tradition, Cambridge University Press 
• Law and Protestantism: The Legal Teachings of the Lutheran Reformation, Cambridge University Press, 2002
• "Law and Religion in Modern Legal Education: Legal Positivism and the Rise of Interdisciplinary Legal Study," September 30, 2004
• "Law and Religion: The Challenges of Christian Jurisprudence," University of St. Thomas Law Review, Vol. 2, No. 2 (2005): 439-452
• "Marriage Agreements from Twelfth-Century Southern France" in To Have and to Hold: Marrying and its Documentation in Western Christendom, 400-1600, Cambridge University Press, 2007 
• "Marriage and Diplomatics: Five Dower Charters from the Regions of Laon and Soissons, 1163-1181" in To Have and to Hold: Marrying and its Documentation in Western Christendom, 400-1600, Cambridge University Press, 2007 
• "Marriage Contracts and the Church Courts of Fourteenth-Century England" in To Have and to Hold: Marrying and its Documentation in Western Christendom, 400-1600, Cambridge University Press, 2007 
• "Marriage Contracts in Medieval England" in To Have and to Hold: Marrying and its Documentation in Western Christendom, 400-1600, Cambridge University Press, 2007 
• "Marriage Contracts in Medieval Iceland" in To Have and to Hold: Marrying and its Documentation in Western Christendom, 400-1600, Cambridge University Press, 2007 
• "Marriage Contracts, Liturgies, and Properties in Reformation Geneva" in To Have and to Hold: Marrying and its Documentation in Western Christendom, 400-1600, Cambridge University Press, 2007 
• "Marriage Property Law as Socio-Cultural Text: The Case of Late-Medieval Douai" in To Have and to Hold: Marrying and its Documentation in Western Christendom, 400-1600, Cambridge University Press, 2007 
• "Marrying and Its Documentation in Later Roman Law" in To Have and to Hold: Marrying and its Documentation in Western Christendom, 400-1600, Cambridge University Press, 2007 
• "Marrying and Its Documentation in Pre-Modern Europe: Consent, Celebration, and Property" in To Have and to Hold: Marrying and its Documentation in Western Christendom, 400-1600, Cambridge University Press, 2007 
• "Marrying and Marriage Litigation in Medieval Ireland" in To Have and to Hold: Marrying and its Documentation in Western Christendom, 400-1600, Cambridge University Press, 2007 
• "Marrying and the Tabulae Nuptiales in Roman North Africa from Tertullian to Augustine" in To Have and to Hold: Marrying and its Documentation in Western Christendom, 400-1600, Cambridge University Press, 2007 
• "Moderate Religious Liberty in the Theology of John Calvin" in Religious Liberty in Western Thought, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1996
• Modern Christian Teachings on Law, Politics, and Human Nature, Columbia University Press, 2005
• "More than a Mere Contract: Marriage as Contract and Covenant in Law and Theology," University of St. Thomas Law Review, Vol. 5, No. 2 (2008): 595-615 
• "Prophets, Priests, and Kings: John Milton and the Reformation of Rights and Liberties in England," Emory Law Journal, Vol. 57 (2008): 1527-1604 
• Proselytism and Orthodoxy in Russia: The New War for Souls, Orbis Books, 1999
• "Q & A with the Experts: John Witte, Jr."
• Religion and Human Rights: An Introduction, Oxford University Press 
• Religion and the American Constitutional Experiment, 2nd Ed., Westview Press, 2005 
• Religion and the American Constitutional Experiment, 3rd Ed. 
• Religion and the American Constitutional Experiment: Essential Rights and Liberties, Westview Press, 2000
• Religious Human Rights in Global Perspective: Legal Perspectives, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1996
• Religious Human Rights in Global Perspective: Religious Perspectives, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1996
• "Religious Liberty (Foundations)" in The Encyclopedia of Christianity, 2005 
• "Religious Rights in Eighteenth-Century America: The Original Understanding of the First Amendment" in God's Joust, God's Justice: Law and Religion in the Western Tradition, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006 
• "Retrieving and Reconstructing Law, Religion, and Marriage in the Western Tradition" in Family Transformed: Religion, Values, and Society in American Life, Georgetown University Press, 2005 
• "Rights, Resistance, and Revolution in the Western Tradition: Early Protestant Foundations," Law and History Review, Vol. 26, No. 3 (2008): 545-570 
• Same-Sex Marriage?
• Scopes II and Beyond
• "Separation of Church and State: There is No 'Wall'," March 2, 2005
• Sex May be Free, but Children Come with Cost
• Sex, Marriage, & Family in World Religions, Columbia University Press, 2005 
• Sex, Marriage, and Family in John Calvin's Geneva I: Courtship, Engagement, Marriage, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2005 
• Sex, Marriage, and Family in John Calvin's Geneva II: The Christian Household, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company 
• Sharing the Book: Religious Perspectives on the Rights and Wrongs of Proselytism, Orbis Books, 1999
• "Symposium, 'Pluralism, Proselytism and Nationalism in Eastern Europe'," Journal of Ecumenical Studies, Vol. 36, No. 1 (1999): 1-286
• "Symposium, 'Soul Wars: The Problem and Promise of Proselytism in Russia'," Emory International Law Review, Vol. 12, No. 1 (1998): 1-738
• "Symposium, 'The Foundations and Frontiers of Religious Liberty'," Emory International Law Review, Vol. 21, No. 1 (2007): 1-276
• "That Serpentine Wall of Separation Between Church and State" in God's Joust, God's Justice: Law and Religion in the Western Tradition, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006 
• "The Biology and Biography of Liberty: Abraham Kuyper and the American Experiment" in Religion, Pluralism, and Public Life: Abraham Kuyper's Legacy for the Twenty-First Century
• "The Challenges of Christian Jurisprudence," March 8-9, 2005
• "The Civic Seminary: Sources of Modern Public Education in the Lutheran Reformation of Germany," Hamline Journal of Law and Religion, Vol. 12, No. 1 (1995-96): 173-223
• "The Development of Herman Dooyeweerd's Concept of Rights," South African Law Journal, Vol. 110, No. 3 (1993): 543-562
• "The Duties of Love: The Vocation of the Child in the Household Manual Tradition" in The Vocation of the Child, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2008 
• The Equal-Regard Family and its Friendly Critics: Don Browning and the Practical Theological Ethics of the Family, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2007 
• "The Freedom of a Christian: Martin Luther's Reformation of Law & Liberty," March 8-9, 2005
• "The Future of Law, Religion, and the Family," Emory Law Journal, Vol. 58, No. 1 (2008): 1-102 
• The Future of Marriage
• "The Future of Marriage and Family Life," January 17, 2007
• "The Future of Religious Liberty in Russia: Report of the De Burght Conference on Pending Russian Legislation Restricting Religious Liberty," Emory International Law Review, Vol. 8 (1994): 1-66
• "The Goods and Goals of Marriage," Notre Dame Law Review, Vol. 76, No. 3 (2001): 1019-1071
• The New Freedom of Public Religion
• "The Perils of Celibacy: Clerical Celibacy and Marriage in the Protestant Reformation" in Sexuality and the U.S. Catholic Church: Crisis and Renewal 
• "The Perils of Celibacy: Clerical Marriage and the Protestant Reformation," October 22, 2002
• "The Plight of Canon Law in the Early Dutch Republic" in Canon Law in Protestant Lands
• The Reformation of Rights: Law, Religion, and Human Rights in Early Modern Calvinism, Cambridge University Press, 2007 
• "The Rights and Limits of Proselytism in the New Religious World Order" in Religious Pluralism, Globalization, and World Politics, 2008 
• The Sins of the Fathers: The Law and Theology of Illegitimacy Reconsidered, Cambridge University Press, 2009 
• "The Study of Law and Religion: An Apologia and Agenda," Ministry & Mission, Vol. 14, No. 1 (1988): 4-15
• The Teachings of Modern Christianity on Law, Politics, and Human Nature, Volume I, Columbia University Press, 2005 
• The Teachings of Modern Christianity on Law, Politics, and Human Nature, Volume II, Columbia University Press, 2005 
• The Teachings of Modern Orthodox Christianity, Columbia University Press, 2007 
• The Teachings of Modern Protestantism on Law, Politics, and Human Nature, Columbia University Press, 2007 
• The Teachings of Modern Roman Catholicism on Law, Politics, and Human Nature, Columbia University Press, 2007 
• "The Three Uses of the Law: A Protestant Source of the Purposes of Criminal Punishment?," Journal of Law and Religion, Vol. 10, No. 2 (1993-94): 433-465
• "The Tradition of Traditional Marriage" in Marriage and Same-Sex Unions: A Debate
• "The Transformation of Western Legal Philosophy in the Lutheran Reformation," Southern California Law Review, Vol. 62 (1989): 1573-1660
• The Vocation of the Child, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2008 
• The Weightier Matters of the Law: Essays on Law and Religion, Scholars Press, 1988
• To Have and to Hold: Marrying and its Documentation in Western Christendom, 400-1600, Cambridge University Press, 2007 
• Uncomfortable with Public Displays of Religion? Then Avoid Them!
• "What's Wrong with Rights for Children?: U.S. Ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child," Emory International Law Review, Vol. 20, No. 1 (2006): 1-239