Freedom of Religion in Communities of Legal Scholarship: A Christian Perspective

Legal scholarship (as with a range of other disciplines) inextricably relates to its author’s foundational beliefs (comprised of, for example, ontological and cosmological views, moral convictions, and the like). For the Christian legal scholar, therefore, the alignment of scholarship with a Christian world view is paramount. The relevance of this is bolstered by current challenges in liberal democracies regarding the marginalising of religion in many spaces within the public domain, not least at many of the public universities. To address such challenges, this article argues in support of Christian communities of legal scholarship against the background of substantively Christian theological approaches. Consequently, this article aims to advance not only the Christian legal scholar’s right to freedom of religion in the activity of legal scholarship, but also Christian legal scholarship in general. The relevance of this for Christian scholars in disciplines other than those pertaining to legal scholarship is not excluded.