In this episode, I talk about a new book that models the ten habits that any peacemaker should adopt. The author is Steven T. Collis and the book is Ten Habits of a Peacemaker.

For those wondering how this book compares to the work of Ken Sande’s The Peacemaker, the two are excellent companions. While Ken’s is more theological (LISTEN), Steven’s project looks at the process and psychological challenges of creating a space for constructive dialogue and common life. To that end, him and I spoke about the importance of habit formation, the challenges of navigating perception, the psychology underlying group-think, the various steps that an individual can take to develop the heart of a peacemaker, and much more.

Steven researches and teaches on religion law, productive discourse, and other First Amendment topics at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law. He is the founding faculty director of the Bech-Loughlin First Amendment Center and its Law & Religion Clinic. Before joining Texas Law, he was a Research Fellow in the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School. Faculty bio. My first conversation with Steven can be found here.

Cross & Gavel is a production of CHRISTIAN LEGAL SOCIETY. The episode was produced by Josh Deng, with music from Vexento.

This week, I discuss a recent piece (here) in Touchstone Magazine with Adam J. MacLeod entitled “How Law Lost Its Way: An Abandoned Ruling Principle & How to Get It Back.” In it, Adam discusses the role of practical reason in the development of law and the change that took place after the Enlightenment toward a positivistic conception of law rooted in power and force.

We discuss his move to Texas, the meaning of the rule of law and how it was developed throughout history, the role of deliberation in the legal process, how the law was lost through power jurisprudence, and much more.

Adam is Professor of Law at St. Mary’s University (profile) and a Senior Research Fellow of the Center for Religion, Culture and Democracy (for more).

Cross & Gavel is a production of CHRISTIAN LEGAL SOCIETY. The episode was produced by Josh Deng, with music from Vexento.

This week, we enter the world of labor law theory — more specifically, the question of faith as it relates to the rights of workers.

In this episode, I am joined by law professor Alvin Velazquez to talk about a paper (here) he presented at the St. Louis University School of Law Symposium focused on the question of workplace justice. We talk about his transition from serving with a major American trade union to becoming a law professor at IU-Maurer, the role of faith in advancing workplace justice, the restoration of dignity in the labor market, the application of “prophetic pragmatism” in his developing theory, and much more.

Cross & Gavel is a production of CHRISTIAN LEGAL SOCIETY. The episode was produced by Josh Deng, with music from Vexento.

This week, we talk about an all too familiar topic for law students: contracts.

In this episode, I am joined by law professor C. Scott Pryor to talk about his soon to be published paper in the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics, and Public Policy: Person-Centered Pluralism About Contract Law (download here). Scott and I talk about the fundamentals of contract law, the moral obligation of promise, the significance of binding obligations, and much more.

Scott holds a B.A. from Dordt College and an M.A. from Reformed Theological Seminary. He earned his J.D. from the University of Wisconsin College of Law. You can find many of his other thoughts in his blog here.

Cross & Gavel is a production of CHRISTIAN LEGAL SOCIETY. The episode was produced by Josh Deng, with music from Vexento.

Joining me this week to talk about his brand new autobiographical work on prison ministry is Joe Ingles, who spent over 40 years ministering to prisoners on death row. His powerful book is called Too Close to the Flame: With the Condemned inside the Southern Killing Machine.

RELATED CONTENT

1. God's Law & Order - Aaron Griffith (Episode # 164)
2. Second Chance Month - Heather Rice-Minus (Episode # 163)
3. Break Every Yoke - Vincent Lloyd and Joshua Dubler (Episode # 138)

A note to the audience: change is coming!! We will be back in a few weeks with a brand new logo and a new focus on bringining you the best conversations strcitly focused on the intersection of Christianity and law. Stay tuned and subscribe today!

Joining me today to talk about her new book on extermisn is a former homeland security official, Elizabeth Neumann. Her book is called Kingdom of Rage: The Rise of Christian Extremism and the Path Back to Peace, which looks at how we develop habits of extremism and how we can break the cycle.

RELATED CONTENT

1. Agents of Grace - Dan Darling (Episode # 168)
2. Learning to Disagree - John Inazu (Episode # 162)

Joining me this week to talk about reconciliation and civil discourse is the author of Agents of Grace: How to Bridge Divides and Love as Jesus Loved — Dan hosts the weekly podcast The Way Home, leads the Land Center for Cultural Engagement, and speaks at churches and conferences around the country.

RELATED CONTENT

1. Joy For The World - Greg Forster (Episode # 127)
2. Learning to Disagree - John Inazu (Episode # 162)

Cross & Gavel is a production of CHRISTIAN LEGAL SOCIETY. The episode was produced by Josh Deng, with music from Vexento.

Joining me this week to talk a little church history and political theology is the author of Cultural Santificaiton: Engaging the World like the Early Church — Stephen O. Presley. Stephen is a senior fellow for religion and public life at the Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy (CRCD) and associate professor of church history at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS). Profile page here.

RELATED CONTENT

1. The Contested Public Square - Greg Forster (Episode # 113)

Cross & Gavel is a production of CHRISTIAN LEGAL SOCIETY. The episode was produced by Josh Deng, with music from Vexento.

Joining me this week to talk about her new spiritual biography of J.R.R. Tolkien is Holly Ordway. She is the Cardinal Francis George Professor of Faith and Culture at the the Word on Fire Institute and Visiting Professor of Apologetics at Houston Christian University. Her other two books on Apologetics and Tolkien can be found here and here (respectively). For more, check out her website and Twitter account (@HollyOrdway).  

Listen to my earlier conversation with Holly here on her book, Tolkien's Modern Reading.

The Namárië Forum ("go towards goodness") is an opportunity for us to step back from the mandates (and madness) of law and practice, and into a space for contemplation and imagination regarding the outworking of God in our day and age. In the words of Makoto Fujimura, "[c]ultivating our imagination is essential to fully realizing our potential as God's creatures." For a brief background to this Forum, check out my article  here.

In honor of Second Chance Month, we continue our conversation on criminal justice by focusing on the history of law and order in America. My guest today is Aaron Griffith—assistant professor of modern American history at Whitworth University and the author of God's Law & Order: The Politics of Punishment in Evangelical America.

RELATED CONTENT

This is our third episode on criminal justice this spring. Watch the first episode with Matthew T. Martens here and the second with Heather Rice-Minus here.

Cross & Gavel is a production of CHRISTIAN LEGAL SOCIETY. The episode was produced by Josh Deng, with music from Vexento.

Joining me this week to talk a little jurisprudence is an Associate Professor at the Singapore Management University School of Law, Seow Hon Tan (faculty page). She is the author of the book Justice as Friendship: A Theory of Law (purchase), which looks at the idea of friendship and how it can help us formulate a more just legal system.

RELATED CONTENT

1. Bridging the Civil & Divine - Karen Taliaferro (Episode # 133)
2. Christianity & Constitutionalism: Higher Law - Li-ann Thio (Episodes # 148)
3. Mere Natural Law - Hadley Arkes (Episode # 159)

Cross & Gavel is a production of CHRISTIAN LEGAL SOCIETY. The episode was produced by Josh Deng, with music from Vexento.

Joining me this week in our first episode of the new year is a renowed thinker and writer on constitutional theory and natural law, Hadley Arkes. Hadley is the Edward N. Ney Professor of Jurisprudence and American Institutions emeritus at Amherst College and the founding director of the James Wilson Institute on Natural Rights and the American Founding. His new book and the focus of this episode is called Mere Natural Law: Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution.

RELATED CONTENT

1. Bridging the Civil & Divine - Karen Taliferro (Episode # 133)
2. Summer Series on "Christianity & Constitutionalism" (see Episodes # 141 to 151)

Cross & Gavel is a production of CHRISTIAN LEGAL SOCIETY. The episode was produced by Josh Deng, with music from Vexento.

Joining me this time to talk The Abolition of Man on its 80th Anniversary is Joe Kohm, the C.S. Lewis Institute Vice President for Development and City Director for Virginia Beach. Check out their study guide here. I wrote an introduction to our conversation on our Substack here.

The Namárië Forum ("go towards goodness") is an opportunity for us to step back from the mandates (and madness) of law and practice, and into a space for contemplation and imagination regarding the outworking of God in our day and age. In the words of Makoto Fujimura, "[c]ultivating our imagination is essential to fully realizing our potential as God's creatures." For a brief background to this Forum, check out my article  here.

Other Forum-specific episodes include: Jason Thacker (Following Jesus in a Digital Age |  Episode # 128), Crystal L. Downing (The Subversive Sayers | Episode # 112), and Holly Ordway (There Will Be Dragons | Episode # 108).

Enjoy!

Joining me this week to talk about the love of learning within the life of faith is Matthew Lee Anderson. Matt is an assistant professor in Baylor University’s Honors College and the Associate Director of Baylor in Washington. He founded Mere Orthodoxy and co-hosts Mere Fidelity, a podcast on faith, theology, and ethics. His new book is titled Called Into Questions. Follow him on Twitter: @mattleeanderson.

RELATED CONTENT

1) Conversations About Books - Byron Borger & Richard Leiter (Episode # 140)

2) What It Means To Be Human - Jeff Brauch (Episode # 81)

The episode was produced by Josh Deng, with music from Vexento. A special thanks to Nick and Ashley Barnett for their contribution in making this podcast possible.

Cross & Gavel is a production of CHRISTIAN LEGAL SOCIETY.

Joining me this week to talk about the role of religion in the history of America is Mark David Hall, professor at the Regent University School of Government and the author of the brand new book Proclaim Liberty Through All the Land: How Christianity Has Advanced Freedom and Equality for All Americans. Check out his faculty bio for more.

RELATED CONTENT

1) Reformation & Constitutionalism - John WItte, Jr. (Episode # 143)

2) 2000 years of Christian public philosophy - Greg Forster (Episode # 113)

The episode was produced by Josh Deng, with music from Vexento. A special thanks to Nick and Ashley Barnett for their contribution in making this podcast possible.

Cross & Gavel is a production of CHRISTIAN LEGAL SOCIETY.

Joining me this week to talk about the history and development of the Establishment Clause is Nathan Chapman, the Pope F. Brock Professor of Law at the University of Georgia School of Law. He is the co-author of the new book with Michael McConnell entitled Agreeing to Disagree: How the Establishment Clause Protects Religious Diversity and Freedom of Conscience. Nathan is a preeminent scholar in the areas of constitutional law, religious liberty and ethics. His faculty page here.

RELATED CONTENT

1) Religious Liberty in a Polarized Age - Tom Berg (Episode # 152)

2) Confident Pluralism - John Inazu (Episode # 55)

The episode was produced by Josh Deng, with music from Vexento. A special thanks to Nick and Ashley Barnett for their contribution in making this podcast possible.

Cross & Gavel is a production of CHRISTIAN LEGAL SOCIETY.

Joining me this week to talk about the AI revolution and its impact on the legal profession is the Intel Social Justice and Racial Equity Professor of Law at North Carolina Central University, Kevin Lee. Check out his bio here and some of his publications here.

RELATED CONTENT

1. Following Jesus in a Digital Age (Episode # 128).
2. The Religion of Techtopia (Episode # 120).

Cross & Gavel is a production of CHRISTIAN LEGAL SOCIETY.

The episode was produced by Josh Deng, with music from Vexento. A special thanks to Nick and Ashley Barnett for their contribution in making this podcast possible.

In this episode of the Leadership Roundtable, we are joined by Chaplain (MAJ) Mark Lee to discuss moral leadership in an institutional setting hostile to it. Chaplain Lee has an incredible bio, including a number of civilian and military degrees, several commendation medals, and a ministry background across the world, including serving as the CLS President at the University of Hawaii and pastoring the largest congregation in the U.S. Army.

For more on Chaplain Lee, check out the CLS YouTube page here.

On Wednesday, September 9, the Department of Education announced a new rule that will protect religious groups meeting on public university campuses. Kim Colby, the director of the Center for Law and Religious Freedom at Christian Legal Society, lays out why the regulation was necessary, and what it will mean for students. 

The Department's announcement is here. 

Pastor Mark Bertrand has turned to the Psalms for his sermon texts during the global pandemic, and he joins Mike Schutt to discuss insights and encouragement from this rich source. You'll be encouraged as Mark explores how the "Songbook of the Church" speaks to us about lessons in crisis, sources of hope in trial, and the joys inherent in the life of faith.

J. Mark Bertrand is the pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He is also a novelist and author, and he teaches on the Worldview Academy faculty. His crime noir works are Back on Murder, Pattern of Wounds,and Nothing to Hide. His book [Re]Thinking Worldview: Learning to Think, Live, and Speak in this World (Crossway 2007) is a great primer on Christian thought and action. He blogs at the world-renowned Bible Design Blog, sharing thoughts and photos on a multitude of design issues.

His real claim to fame is that he was interviewed by Ken Myers on Mars Hill Audio Journal, volume 90, which also features Mike Schutt discussing Redeeming Law. 

Mark was also a guest on Episode 46 of Cross & Gavel, one of the most popular episodes in the podcast's history. More recently, he joined Mike to discuss the "New Moralism" in Episode 70 and law and government on Episode 73. 

Cross and Gavel is a project of Trinity Law School and Christian Legal Society.

It may be commonplace to say that God has instituted various governments and has delegated His authority to them in various ways, but speaking, for example, about the "government" of a family seems strange today. And even a bit scary.

Mark Bertrand says that we in the Church are pretty good at targeting failures of government when it comes to the state, but we need to do a much better job of thinking about governing well in the church and the family. What might that look like? How to think well about it? And who says, anyway? At one point, Mark suggests that listeners might be shouting "Hey, these guys are advocating theocracy! Or a bunch of little theocracies within a theocracy!" Are they? 

Listen in and find out. Join Mark and C&G host Mike Schutt as they talk at length about the authority and roles of various governments in today's world and the resources available to help them govern well. Would the state be changed if other institutions-- family, church, state, corporations, universities-- were governed well? Are these governments dependent on one another?

Walk through the discussion with them as they suggest that what the Bible envisions is "a community of governments with overlapping authority . . . all backstopped by divine revelation."

We think you'll find this an encouraging and informative discussion. 

J. Mark Bertrand is a novelist and pastor living in South Dakota. His crime noir works are Back on Murder, Pattern of Wounds, and Nothing to Hide. His book [Re]Thinking Worldview:Learning to Think, Live, and Speak in this World (Crossway 2007) is a great primer on Christian thought and action, and he serves on the faculty of Worldview Academy. He blogs at the world-renowned Bible Design Blog, sharing thoughts and photos on a multitude of design issues. His initial claim to fame was that he was interviewed by Ken Myers on Mars Hill Audio Journal, volume 90, which also features Mike Schutt talking about Redeeming Law. 

Mark was also a guest on Episode 46 of Cross & Gavel, the most downloaded episode in the podcast's history. More recently, he joined Mike to discuss the "New Moralism" in Episode 70. 

Cross and Gavel is a project of Regent University School of Law and Christian Legal Society. We value your comments. And if you enjoy the show, please rate us on iTunes.  

There is a higher law than human law, one from which the authority and justice of man’s law flows into bountiful life. Accordingly, we often see Christian legal theories in terms of knowledge about law, so that what we know of the higher law informs what we should affirm or deny about human law. But Dean Eric Enlow says that another important kind of Christian knowledge about law is how to praise God in relation to it. This praise stirs up and responds to the joy which Christians experience in law, just as praise does when it recognizes and replies to God’s presence in other parts of creation.

Dean Enlow gave two addresses on this topic at the 2017 Christian Legal Society national conference in Newport Beach, encouraging those in attendance to learn to praise God in law. 

His first presentation was Joyful Jurisprudence: God's Presence in Law and Man's Praise of God, the keynote for the annual Christian Legal Scholars' Symposium, sponsored by CLS friend and partner Trinity Law School. It was an inspiring presentation and discussion, and the conversation spilled over into the conference bookstore afterwards. 

This episode of Cross & Gavel allows listeners to sit in on that conversation, with host Mike Schutt, Dean Eric Enlow, and our friend Byron Borger, owner of Hearts and Minds Bookstore. 

Enjoy the conversation!

Dean Enlow graduated from Yale University and Washington University School of Law. During law school, Professor Enlow served on the editorial boards of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy and the Washington University Law Quarterly.

He has clerked in the United States Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, and he was in private practice in intellectual-property, international, and appellate law. In addition to being dean of the Handong International Law School, Enlow teaches Christianity and Law, International Intellectual Property, Patents, Private International Law, and Torts. 

Byron Borger has been talking books almost his whole life, and doing it well and for the good of Christ's kingdom. Since the early 80's, he and his wife Beth have, through Hearts and Minds Books in Dallastown, PA, lived out a mission to see the body of Christ encouraged and the world around them flourish. They believe that ideas matter and that books are an important part of Christian discipleship-- "a disciple is learner, after all," says Byron. Whether you're in his store, on the phone with him, or at one of the many conferences at which he and Beth serve, it is always a treat to talk books with Byron. Subscribe to his amazing Booknotes here. (He mentions this podcast in the latest edition). 

Cross & Gavel Audio is a project of the Institute for Christian Legal Studies, a cooperative ministry of Regent University School of Law and Christian Legal Society.

Mike Schutt is associate professor at Regent and director of ICLS and Law Student Ministries for CLS. 

In our first fall episode of Cross & Gavel, Worldview at the Abbey Provost Jeff Baldwin discusses the duty of the Church and Christian families with respect to education.

The conversation ranges from the role of the family to the religious nature of education itself, and then on to some of the problems inherent in state-sponsored education. Jeff tells host Mike Schutt that he thinks this may be "the most inflammatory episode of C&G to date," and he then sets the tone by suggesting that Christian parents should not think of their children as "salt and light" in the public schools until they are at least sixteen.

Listen in as Mike and Jeff discuss education, worldview, and the Christian family. 

Jeff Baldwin is the author of The Deadliest Monster, founding faculty at Worldview Academy, and provost of the Worldview Academy bridge year program, Worldview at the Abbey in Canon City, CO. 

Cross & Gavel is a project of Regent University School of Law and the Christian Legal Society. Host Mike Schutt is Associate Professor at Regent Law and director of Law Student Ministries for CLS. 

In Part 2 of our discussion with Dr. Christopher McMillion, host Mike Schutt asks him to elaborate on the joys of federalism. Dr. McMillion begins by explaining why now-- the age of Trump-- might be an opportunity for those on both the left and the right to recognize its benefits and jump on board. He explains the 10th amendment, offers a brief definition of what we mean by "federalism," and then outlines some specific examples in which federalism would operate in a way that is appealing to the goals of those on both ends of the political spectrum. 

Topics range from "the Imperial Presidency" to marijuana laws, and the discussion closes with some practical suggestions for recovering this lost ideal. 

Dr. Christopher McMillion is a graduate of Baylor University. He did his master's and doctoral work at the University of Notre Dame, earning an M.A. in Political Science and his PhD in the field of Constitutional Studies and Political Theory. In his scholarship, he focuses on constitutional law, federalism, and American political thought. He is particularly interested in the connections between political theory and the American constitutional and political experience. He also serves as a manuscript referee for American Political Thought. Chris and his wife Heather have three children. 

Cross & Gavel Audio is a project of the Christian Legal Society and Regent University School of Law. Mike Schutt is host of Cross & Gavel. He is Associate Professor of Law at Regent University, and he directs both Attorney Ministries and Law Student Ministries for the Christian Legal Society. Email him at mschutt@clsnet.org.

Join host Mike Schutt as he talks with Natt Gantt, co-founder of the Center for Ethical Formation & Legal Education Reform (CEFLER) at Regent University School of Law, about producing law school graduates who have an understanding of the nature and purpose of the legal profession and who are committed to the ethical practice of law. Professor Gantt discusses the goals of legal education and how those goals shape students. Because the shaping influence of law school is never neutral, Professor Gantt suggests habits that counter some of the unwelcome consequences of that "shaping." 

CEFLER was founded by Regent University School of Law in 2012 to coordinate the programs and resources that the law school has committed to developing professional identity in students.  

L.O. Natt Gantt, II, is a professor, the associate dean of instructional & curricular affairs and co-director of the Center for Ethical Formation and Legal Education Reform at Regent University school of law. Before joining Regent in 2000, he served as a law clerk to the late Honorable Donald S. Russell of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit; as an associate at Wiley, Rein & Fielding in Washington, D.C.; and as a Proxy Analyst at Fidelity Investments in Boston, Massachusetts. Professor Gantt teaches Professional Responsibility.

Professor Benjamin Madison —along with Natt Gantt—led the formation of the Center for Ethical Formation and Legal Education Reform.  Professor Madison teaches Civil Procedure and Pretrial Practice and Procedure. His pretrial practice casebook, Civil Procedure for All States: A Context and Practice Casebook (2012), has drawn praise as one of the first casebooks designed according to the recommendations of the Carnegie Institute in its groundbreaking work Educating Lawyers (2007). 

Mike Schutt is the host of Cross & Gavel Audio, a project of the Institute for Christian Legal Studies, which is a cooperative ministry of Regent Law and the Christian Legal Society. Schutt is associate professor at Regent University School of Law and Director of Law Student Ministries and Attorney Ministries for CLS.