John Witte Jr.


John Witte Jr. is a Canadian-American academic. He is a Robert W. Woodruff University Professor and a McDonald Distinguished Professor at Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia, and is director of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion there.
He is series editor of the Emory University Studies in Law and Religion by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, and general editor of the Law and Christianity Series published by Cambridge University Press. In 2022, he delivered the Gifford Lectures on A New Calvinist Reformation of Rights at the University of Aberdeen.

Education

Witte received a B.A. from Calvin College in 1982, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1985.

Books

As author:Law and Protestantism: The Legal Teachings of the Lutheran Reformation Sex, Marriage and Family in John Calvin’s Geneva I: Courtship, Engagement and Marriage God's Joust, God's Justice: Law and Religion in the Western Tradition
  • The Reformation of Rights: Law, Religion, and Human Rights in Early Modern Calvinism The Sins of the Fathers: The Law and Theology of Illegitimacy Reconsidered Christianity and Human Rights: An Introduction No Establishment of Religion: America’s Original Contribution to Religious Liberty Religion and Human Rights: An Introduction From Sacrament to Contract: Marriage, Religion, and Law in the Western Tradition, 2nd ed. The Western Case for Monogamy Over Polygamy
  • Church, State, and Family: Reconciling Traditional Teachings and Modern Liberties
  • Faith, Freedom, and Family: New Studies in Law and Religion
  • The Blessings of Liberty: Human Rights and Religious Freedom in the Western Legal Tradition Religion and the American Constitutional Experiment, 5th ed. In Defense of the Marital Family Raíces protestantes del Derecho Table Talk: Short Talks on the Weightier Matters of Law and Religion Le origini e il futuro della libertà religiosa in Europa e negli Stati Uniti What Might Make Life Better?
As editor:
As co-editor:The Weightier Matters of the Law: Essays on Law and Religion Religious Human Rights in Global Perspective: Legal Perspectives Religious Human Rights in Global Perspective: Religious Perspectives Human Rights in Judaism: Cultural, Religious and Political Perspectives Sharing the Book: Religious Perspectives on the Rights and Wrongs of Proselytism Covenant Marriage in Comparative Perspective Family Transformed: Religion, Values, and Family Life in Interdisciplinary Perspective Sex, Marriage, and Family in the World Religions The Teachings of Modern Protestantism on Law, Politics and Human Nature The Teachings of Modern Roman Catholicism on Law, Politics and Human Nature The Equal Regard Family and Its Friendly Critics To Have and to Hold: Marrying and its Documentation in Western Christendom, 400-1600 The Teachings of Modern Orthodox Christianity on Law, Politics and Human Nature Proselytism and Orthodoxy in Russia: The New War for Souls Christianity and Law: An Introduction Texts and Contexts in Legal History: Essays in Honour of Charles Donahue Christianity and Family Law: An Introduction The Protestant Reformation of the Church and the World Christianity and Global Law
  • Great Christian Jurists in German History
  • Christianity and Criminal Law
  • The Impact Series on Character Formation, Ethical Education, and the ''Communication of Values in Late Modern Pluralistic Societies, 10 volumes The Oxford Handbook of Christianity and Law''

Personal life

Witte is married to Eliza Ellison, a theologian and mediator. They have two daughters and five grandchildren.