John Witte, Jr.
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Articles, Essays, Books Chapters and Book Reviews


Marriage and Family Law (Historical, Comparative, and Contemporary Themes)

“‘It Takes a Society to Raise a Family’; The Multidimensional Marital Family,” in John Witte, Jr., et al., eds., The Impact of the Family on Character Formation, Ethical Education, and the Communication of Values in Late Modern Pluralistic Societies (Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt GmbH, 2022),13-39

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“Preface,” in John Witte, Jr., et al., eds., The Impact of the Family on Character Formation, Ethical Education, and the Communication of Values in Late Modern Pluralistic Societies (Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt GmbH, 2022),1-7

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“Book Review of Sarah M. S. Pearsall, Polygamy: An Early American History,” (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2019), Journal of Law and Religion 35 (2020): 353-357

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“Response to Reviewers of John Witte, Jr., Church, State, and Family: Reconciling Traditional Teachings and Modern Liberties,” Journal of Law and Religion 34 (2019): 520-528

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“The Little Commonwealth: The Family as Matrix of Markets and Morality in Early Protestantism,” in Ted A. Smith and Robert P. Jones, eds., Markets and Morality: Spirit and Capital in an Age of Inequality (New York: Routledge, 2018), 3-23 (with Justin Latterell)

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“The Marital Covenant in John Calvin’s Geneva,” Political Theology 19 (2018): 282-299

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“Why No Polygamy,” in Robin Fretwell Wilson, ed., The Contested Place of Religion in Family Law (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018), 446-466

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“The Nature of Family in Seventeenth-Century Liberal Protestant Thought: Hugo Grotius and John Selden,” Illinois Law Review (2017): 1947-1970

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“Introduction,” to John Witte, Jr. and Gary S. Hauk, eds., Christianity and Family Law: An Introduction (Cambridge University Press, 2017), 1-15

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“Martin Luther,” in John Witte, Jr. and Gary S. Hauk, eds., Christianity and Family Law: An Introduction (Cambridge University Press, 2017), 195-210  (with Steven Ozment)

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“Emil Brunner,” in John Witte, Jr. and Gary S. Hauk, eds., Christianity and Family Law: An Introduction (Cambridge University Press, 2017),  307-322 (with Don S. Browning)

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“Response to Reviewers of The Western Case for Monogamy over Polygamy,” Journal of Politics, Religion and Ideology 17 (2016): 315-318

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“Why Two in One Flesh: The Western Case for Monogamy Over Polygamy,” Emory Law Journal 64 (2015): 1675-1746 
 
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“Hugo Grotius and the Natural Law of Marriage: A Case Study of Harmonizing Confessional Differences in Early Modern Europe,” in Troy L. Harris, ed., Studies in Canon Law and Common Law in Honor of R.H. Helmholz (Berkeley, CA: The Robbins Collection, 2015), 231-249

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​“The Family of Nature, The Nature of Family: The Surprising Liberal Defense of the Traditional Family in the Enlightenment,” Emory Law Journal 64 (2015): 591-676
 
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“Sex and Marriage in the Protestant Tradition: 1500-1900,” in Adrian Thatcher, ed., Oxford Handbook on Theology, Sexuality, and Gender (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015), 204-223

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“Who Governs the Family? Marriage as a New Test Case of Overlapping Jurisdictions,” Faulkner Law Review 4 (2013): 321-349 (with Joel A. Nichols)
 
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​“’The Mother of All Earthly Laws’: The Lutheran Reformation of Marriage,” Gettysburg Seminary Ridge Review 15:2 (2013): 26-43
 
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​“Why Monogamy is Natural,” Washington Post (October 3, 2012)

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​“The Covenant of Marriage: Its Biblical Roots, Historical Influence, and Modern Uses,” INTAMS Review on Marriage and Spirituality 18 (2012): 147-165

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“Church, State, and Marriage: Four Early Modern Protestant Models,” Oxford Journal of Law and Religion 1 (2012): 151-168

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​“Christianity’s Mixed Contributions to Children’s Rights: Traditional Teachings, Modern Doubts,” Emory Law Journal 61 (2012): 991-1014

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“Démocraties occidentales: un droit familial fondé sur la foi?,” Conscience et Liberté (2011): 111-130

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“The Future of Muslim Family Law in Western Democracies,” in Rex Ahdar and Nicholas Aroney, eds., Shari’a in the West (Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2010), 279-292 

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Review of Stacey Johnson, A Time To Embrace: Same Gender Relationships in Religion, Law, and Politics (2007), Scottish Journal of Theology 62 (2009): 53-60

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“The Legal Challenges of Religious Polygamy in the USA,” Ecclesiastical Law Journal 11 (2009): 72-75
 
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“Afterword: Exploring the Frontiers of Law, Religion, and Family Life,” Emory Law Journal 58 (2009): 87-102
 
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​“Marriage and Family Life,” in Herman J. Selderhuis, ed., The Calvin Handbook (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2009), 455-465
 
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“Sex May Be Free, But Children Come with a Cost,” Atlanta Journal Constitution (August 10, 2008): C1

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“The Duties of Love: The Vocation of the Child in the Household Manual Tradition,” in Patrick M. Brennan, ed., The Vocation of the Child (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2008), 266-294 (with Heather M. Good)

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“More than a Mere Contract: Marriage as Contract and Covenant in Law and Theology,” University of St. Thomas Law Journal 5 (2008): 595-615
 
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“Preface,” to John Witte, Jr., M. Christian Green, and Amy Wheeler, eds., The Equal Regard Family and its Friendly Critics: Don S. Browning and the Practical Theological Ethics of the Family (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2007), vii-x
 
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“Marriage Contracts, Liturgies, and Properties in Reformation Geneva,” in Philip L. Reynolds and John Witte, Jr., eds., To Have and to Hold: Marrying and its Documentation in Western Christendom, 400-1600 (Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007), 453-488
 
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“Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother? Child Marriage and Parental Consent in John Calvin’s Geneva,” Journal of Religion 86 (2006): 580-605
 
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“Introduction,” to Don S. Browning, M. Christian Green, and John Witte, Jr., eds., Sex, Marriage, and Family in the World Religions (New York/London: Columbia University Press, 2006), xvi-xxix
 
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“Foreword,” to “Symposium on What’s Wrong with Rights for Children?” Emory International Law Review 20 (2006): i-iv
 
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“The Perils of Celibacy: Clerical Celibacy and Marriage in Early Protestant Perspective,” in Lisa Cahill and John Garvey, eds., Sexuality in the Catholic Tradition (Lexington, KY: Crossroad Publishers, 2006), 107-119
 
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“Introduction,” to John Witte, Jr. and Eliza Ellison, eds., Covenant Marriage in Comparative Perspective (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2005), 1-25 (with Joel A. Nichols)

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“Male Headship: Reform of the Protestant Tradition,” in David Blankenhorn, Don S. Browning, and Mary Stewart van Leeuwen, eds., Does Christianity Teach Male Headship? The Equal Regard Family and its Critics (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004), 28-39
 
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“Ishmael’s Bane: The Sin and Crime of Illegitimacy Reconsidered,” Punishment and Society 5 (2003): 327-346

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“The Meanings of Marriage,” First Things 126 (October, 2002): 30-41
 
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“Family,” in Erwin Fahlbusch, ed., The Encyclopedia of Christianity (Grand Rapids/Cambridge/Leiden/Boston: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. and E.J. Brill, 2001), vol. 2, 285-289

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“The Goods and Goals of Marriage,” Notre Dame Law Review 76 (2001): 1019-1071
 
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“An Apt and Cheerful Conversation on Marriage,” in R. Bruce Douglass and Josh Mitchell, eds., A Nation Under God? Essays on the Fate of Religion in American Public Life (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Co., 2000), 91-110
 
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Review of Adrian Thatcher, Marriage after Modernity (1998), Theology Today 57 (October, 2000): 417-420
 
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“Anglican Marriage Law in the Making: Becon, Bullinger, and Bucer,” in Calvin Pater and Rodney Petersen, eds., The Contentious Triangle: Church, State, and University -- A Festschrift in Honor of Professor George Huntston Williams (Kirksville, MO: Thomas Jefferson University Press, 1999), 241-259
 
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"Zwischen Sakrament und Vertrag: Ehe als Bund im Genf Johannes Calvins," Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung (Kanonisches Abteilung) 115 (1998): 386-469

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“Between Sacrament and Contract: Marriage as Covenant in John Calvin's Geneva,” Calvin Theological Journal 32 (1998): 9-75
 
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“From Sacrament to Contract: The Legal Transformations of the Western Family,” Criterion 34 (Autumn, 1995): 1-11
 
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“The Reformation of Marriage Law in Martin Luther's Germany: Its Significance Then and Now,” Journal of Law and Religion 4 (1987): 293-351
 
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