Supreme Authority


Book Description

-- Power in the Church, power and world culture.-- Celibacy, the role of women, accountability and infallibility and where they fit into Church tradition.-- Concrete ways to move ahead within the Church through understanding and transforming power.The Catholic Church is a micro-lens (albeit a large one) for viewing power and the effects of power abuses in the larger world culture. In Supreme Authority, the authors of The Complete Idiot's Guide "RM" to Understanding Catholicism take the four marks of Catholic identity -- It is One; It is Catholic; It is Holy; It is Apostolic -- and move them forward to a new understanding of these pillars of the Church. Issues to be explored include the Pre-Vatican II Church, Vatican II, the relationship of power and sexual abuse, how decisions are made in the Church, celibacy, the all-male clergy, the church's hierarchy and more. The object is not to criticize the Church, but rather to empower the people with ways to understand its current dynamics and provide concrete ways of moving forward within it.




The Authority of the Court and the Peril of Politics


Book Description

A sitting justice reflects upon the authority of the Supreme CourtÑhow that authority was gained and how measures to restructure the Court could undermine both the Court and the constitutional system of checks and balances that depends on it. A growing chorus of officials and commentators argues that the Supreme Court has become too political. On this view the confirmation process is just an exercise in partisan agenda-setting, and the jurists are no more than Òpoliticians in robesÓÑtheir ostensibly neutral judicial philosophies mere camouflage for conservative or liberal convictions. Stephen Breyer, drawing upon his experience as a Supreme Court justice, sounds a cautionary note. Mindful of the CourtÕs history, he suggests that the judiciaryÕs hard-won authority could be marred by reforms premised on the assumption of ideological bias. Having, as Hamilton observed, Òno influence over either the sword or the purse,Ó the Court earned its authority by making decisions that have, over time, increased the publicÕs trust. If public trust is now in decline, one part of the solution is to promote better understandings of how the judiciary actually works: how judges adhere to their oaths and how they try to avoid considerations of politics and popularity. Breyer warns that political intervention could itself further erode public trust. Without the publicÕs trust, the Court would no longer be able to act as a check on the other branches of government or as a guarantor of the rule of law, risking serious harm to our constitutional system.




Supreme Authority


Book Description

Supreme Authority is a book whose author's Commentary on the Gospel of Luke has been called by many Bible scholars the best modern commentary on the third gospel. This present volume deals with the subject on which the beginning and development of Christianity rests, the authority of Jesus and of his apostles. However obvious the relation between these two may seem to the reader, the author points out that in contemporary theology little appreciation is shown of the fact of the Lord's supreme authority in the New Testament and in the Early Church, and that much confusion exists in many modern theories concerning the history of primitive Christianity and of the formation of the New Testament. Second only to this, Mr. Geldenhuys shows, is the importance of understanding the authority of the apostles. To bring out most sharply the authority of Jesus and his apostles, the author allows the two primary sources of his subject, the New Testament and other Early Church documents, to speak for themselves as far as possible, thus presenting a positive exposition of his subject. The theories of Harnack, Enslin, Bousset, Manson, and many others who try to escape full acceptance of the New Testament or Early Christian presentation of the authority of the Lord and of His apostles, come in for discussion and comment.




All Authority


Book Description

Everybody who follows Jesus will encounter a myriad of “authorities” that directly challenge the authority of Christ. These other “authorities” may be parents, teachers, bosses, presidents, institutions, religions, or ideologies. In order to stay firm in devotion to Jesus, we must believe that He has supreme authority over all. Not partial authority, not most authority—all authority. On the basis of his authority, he commissioned his people to go and make disciples among every people group on earth. This is an impossible commission if it were not for the promise that he is with them forever. The doctrine of the supreme authority of Christ not only upholds the work of the church, it is the central message that the church preaches. “Jesus is Lord” is good news! Joey Shaw is the International Field Office Director for the Austin Stone Community Church and a regular contributor at Verge. Joey and his family live outside the United States where they serve unreached peoples for the glory of Christ.




The US Supreme Court and the Centralization of Federal Authority


Book Description

This book explores the US Supreme Court's impact on the constitutional development of the federal government from the founding era forward. The author's research is based on an original database of several hundred landmark decisions compiled from constitutional law casebooks and treatises published between 1822 and 2010. By rigorously and systematically interpreting these decisions, he determines the extent to which the court advanced and consolidated national governing authority. The result is a portrait of how the high court, regardless of constitutional issue and ideology, persistently expanded the reach and scope of the federal government.




Model Rules of Professional Conduct


Book Description

The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.




The Authority of the State


Book Description

A study of the nature of authority and the character of the state. It draws on political philosophy, jurisprudence and public choice theory, to explain and evaluate the state's claim to authority over its citizens.




Crisis and Constitutionalism


Book Description

The crisis and fall of the Roman Republic spawned a tradition of political thought that sought to evade the Republic's fate--despotism. Thinkers from Cicero to Bodin, Montesquieu, and the American Founders saw constitutionalism, not virtue, as the remedy. This study traces Roman constitutional thought from antiquity to the Revolutionary Era.




The Specter of Dictatorship


Book Description

Reveals how the U.S. Supreme Court's presidentialism threatens our democracy and what to do about it. Donald Trump's presidency made many Americans wonder whether our system of checks and balances would prove robust enough to withstand an onslaught from a despotic chief executive. In The Specter of Dictatorship, David Driesen analyzes the chief executive's role in the democratic decline of Hungary, Poland, and Turkey and argues that an insufficiently constrained presidency is one of the most important systemic threats to democracy. Driesen urges the U.S. to learn from the mistakes of these failing democracies. Their experiences suggest, Driesen shows, that the Court must eschew its reliance on and expansion of the "unitary executive theory" recently endorsed by the Court and apply a less deferential approach to presidential authority, invoked to protect national security and combat emergencies, than it has in recent years. Ultimately, Driesen argues that concern about loss of democracy should play a major role in the Court's jurisprudence, because loss of democracy can prove irreversible. As autocracy spreads throughout the world, maintaining our democracy has become an urgent matter.




Political Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction


Book Description

This book introduces readers to the concepts of political philosophy. It starts by explaining why the subject is important and how it tackles basic ethical questions such as 'how should we live together in society?' It looks at political authority, the reasons why we need politics at all, the limitations of politics, and whether there are areas of life that shouldn't be governed by politics. It explores the connections between political authority and justice, a constant theme in political philosophy, and the ways in which social justice can be used to regulate rather than destroy a market economy. David Miller discusses why nations are the natural units of government and whether the rise of multiculturalism and transnational co-operation will change this: will we ever see the formation of a world government? ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.