Biography
John Witte Jr.
Jonas Robitscher Professor of Law, Alonzo L. McDonald Distinguished Professor and Director of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion
Areas of Expertise
Legal History, Religious Liberty, Marriage and Family Law, Human Rights
Biography
John Witte, Jr. is Jonas Robitscher Professor of Law, Alonzo L. McDonald Distinguished 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 200 articles, 13 journal symposia, and 26 books.
Recent book titles include: Sex, Marriage and Family Life in John Calvin’s Geneva, 2 vols. (2005, 2012); 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); Sins of the Fathers: The Law and Theology of Illegitimacy Reconsidered (2009); Christianity and Human Rights: An Introduction (2010); and Religion and the American Constitutional Experiment (3d ed. 2011).
Professor Witte’s writings have appeared in twelve languages, and he has lectured and convened conferences through North America, Western and Eastern Europe, Japan, Israel, Hong Kong, Australia, 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 ten 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.
Professor Witte is married to Eliza Ellison, a theologian and mediator. They have two daughters: Alison Witte Otwell, and Hope McCormick Jarkowski and two grandchildren, Baylor Matthew and Alina Mae.
Education: BA, Calvin College, 1982; JD, Harvard University, 1985.
Publications
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An Apt and Cheerful Conversation on Marriage THE FAMILY TRANSFORMED: RELIGION, VALUES AND THE FAMILY IN MODERN AMERICA 2006
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Marriage Contracts, Liturgies, and Properties in Reformation Geneva MARRYING IN THE MIDDLE AGES: EVIDENCES OF MARRIAGE IN WESTERN CHRISTENDOM, 500-1600 2006
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Honor Thy Father (and Thy Mother): Child Marriage and Parental Consent in Calvin's Geneva Journal of Religion 2005
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Introduction 54 Emory L.J. 1 2005
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One Public Religion, Many Private Religions: John Adams and the 1780 Massachusetts Constitution THE FOUNDERS ON GOD AND GOVERNMENT 2004
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Between Sanctity and Depravity: Human Dignity in Protestant Perspective IN DEFENSE OF HUMAN DIGNITY: ESSAYS FOR OUR TIMES 2004
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Covenant Liberty in Puritan New England JURISPRUDENCE, POLITICAL THEORY AND POLITICAL THEOLOGY 2004
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Moderate Religious Liberty: John Calvin and the Geneva Experiment THE REFORMATION OF RIGHTS: LAW, RELIGION, AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE CALVINIST TRADITION 2004
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From Establishment to Freedom of Public Religion Capital University Law Review 2004
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Law and Legal Theory in the Western Tradition The Encyclopedia of Christianity, vol. 3 2004
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That Serpentine Wall of Separation 101 Michigan Law Review 2003
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Between Sanctity and Depravity: Law and Human Nature in Martin Luther's Two Kingdoms Villanova Law Review, Vol. 48 2003
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Ishmael's Bane: The Sin and Crime of Illegitimacy Reconsidered Punishment and Society: The International Journal of Penology, Vol. 5, No. 3 2003
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From Establishment to Freedom of Public Religion 32 Cap. U. L. Rev. 499 2003
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Between Sanctity and Depravity: Law and Human Nature in Martin Luther's Two Kingdoms 48 Vill. L. Rev. 727 2003
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Dickensian Era of Religious Rights: An Update on Religious Human Rights in Global Perspective, A 42 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 707 2000
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Primer on the Rights and Wrongs of Proselytism, A 31 Cumb. L. Rev. 619 2000
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Goods and Goals of Marriage, The 76 Notre Dame L. Rev. 1019 2000
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In the Steps of Gratian: Writing the History of Canon Law in the 1990's 48 Emory L. J. 647 1999
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Most Mild and Equitable Establishment of Religion: John Adams and the Massachusetts Experiment, A 41 J. Church & St. 213 1999
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Soul Wars: The Problem and Promise of Proselytism in Russia 12 Emory Int'l L. Rev. 1 1998
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Law, Religion, and Human Rights 28 Colum. Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 1 1996
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Introductory Remarks 10 Emory Int'l L. Rev. 53 1996
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Essential Rights and Liberties of Religion in the American Constitutional Experiment 71 Notre Dame L. Rev. 371 1995
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Civic Seminary: Sources of Modern Public Education in the Lutheran Reformation of Germany, The 12 J. L. & Religion 173 1995
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Future of Religious Liberty in Russia: Report of the De Burght Conference on Pending Russian Legislation Restricting Religious Liberty, The 8 Emory Int'l L. Rev. 1 1994
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Development of Herman Dooyeweerd's Concept of Rights, The 110 S. African L.J. 543 1993
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New Concordance of Discordant Canons: Harold J. Berman on Law and Religion, A 42 Emory L. J. 523 1993
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Three Uses of the Law: A Protestant Source of the Purposes of Criminal Punishment, The 10 J. L. & Religion 433 1993
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Christianity and Democracy: Past Contributions and Future Challanges 6 Emory Int'L Rev. 55 1992
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Theology and Politics of the First Amendment Religion Clauses: A Bicentennial Essay, The 40 Emory L. J. 489 1991
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Tax Exemption of Church Property: Historical Anomaly or Valid Constitutional Practice 64 S. Cal. L. Rev. 363 1990
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How to Govern a City on a Hill: The Early Puritan Contribution to American Constitutionalism 39 Emory L. J. 41 1990
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Transformation of Western Legal Philosophy in Lutheran Germany, The 62 S. Cal. L. Rev. 1573 1988
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Blest be the Ties That Bind: Covenant and Community in Puritan Thought 36 Emory L. J. 579 1987
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Reformation of Marriage Law in Martin Luther's Germany: Its Significance Then and Now, The 4 J. L. & Religion 293 1986
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Rights in the Western Tradition THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHRISTIANITY, Vol. 4
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Religious Rights in the Founding Era Emory Public Law Research Paper No. 03-22
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The Perils of Celibacy: Clerical Celibacy and Marriage in Early Protestant Perspective THE CHURCH IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
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