John Witte Jr., JD (Harvard); Dr. Theol. h.c. (Heidelberg), is Robert W. Woodruff Professor of Law, McDonald Distinguished Professor of Religion, and Faculty Director of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University. A specialist in legal history, human rights, religious freedom, family law, and law & religion, he has published 325 articles, 19 journal symposia, and 45 books.
His major books include: Law and Protestantism (Cambridge, 2002); The Reformation of Rights (Cambridge, 2007); Christianity and Law (Cambridge, 2008); The Sins of the Fathers (Cambridge, 2009); Christianity and Human Rights (Cambridge, 2010); Religion and Human Rights (Oxford, 2012); From Sacrament to Contract, 2d ed. (Westminster John Knox, 2012); No Establishment of Religion (Oxford, 2012); The Western Case for Monogamy over Polygamy (Cambridge, 2015); Christianity and Family Law (Cambridge, 2017); Church, State, and Family (Cambridge, 2019); The Blessings of Liberty (Cambridge, 2021); Faith, Freedom, and Family (Mohr Siebeck, 2021); Religion and the American Constitutional Experiment, 5th ed. (Oxford, 2022); In Defense of the Marital Family (Brill, 2023); Table Talk (Brill, 2024); The Oxford Handbook of Christianity and Law (Oxford, 2024); and The Legal Foundations of Religious Freedom (Notre Dame, 2026). His next volumes include The Great Awakening of American Religious Freedom (Notre Dame) and A New Reformation of Rights (Cambridge).
Some of Witte's writings have appeared in sixteen languages, and he has delivered more than 450 public lectures throughout the world. Recent lectures include the Franke Lectures at Yale, the Pennington Lectures at Heidelberg, the Jefferson Lectures at Berkeley, the Beatty Lectures at McGill, the Cunningham Lectures at Edinburgh, the McDonald Lectures at Oxford, the True Lectures at Notre Dame, and the Gifford Lectures at Aberdeen.
With $27 million of funding raised from the Pew, Ford, Lilly, Luce, and McDonald foundations, and other benefactors, Witte has directed 20 major international projects on democracy, human rights, and religious liberty; on marriage, family, and children; and on law and Christianity – collectively yielding more than 400 new volumes and journal symposia. He is series editor of Emory Studies in Law and Religion (Eerdmans) and Cambridge Studies in Law and Christianity (Cambridge), and he coedits the Journal of Law and Religion,Cambridge Elements in Law and Religion, Brill Research Perspectives on Law and Religion, the Spanish Colección Raíces del Derecho (Aranzadi), and the Chinese Law, Religion, and Culture Series (Bouden House). Witte has won dozens of awards and prizes for his teaching and research including recent induction into the Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation in Spain and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Publications:
Books
Editor, Herman Dooyeweerd, A Christian Theory of Social Institutions, Magnus Verbrugge, trans. (Toronto: Paideia Press, 1986)
Co-Editor, The Weightier Matters of the Law: Essays on Law and Religion (Atlanta, GA: American Academy of Religion Studies in Religion Series, 1988) (with Frank S. Alexander)
Editor, Christianity and Democracy in Global Context (Boulder, CO/San Francisco: Westview Press, 1993)
- 3(a). Reprinted as Christianity and Democracy in Global Context (London: Routledge, 2018)
Co-Editor, Religious Human Rights in Global Perspective: Legal Perspectives (Dordrecht/London/Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1996) (with Johan D. van der Vyver)
Co-Editor, Religious Human Rights in Global Perspective: Religious Perspectives (Dordrecht/London/Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1996) (with Johan D. van der Vyver) (Abridged Chinese translation by Paul Liu, 2013)
From Sacrament to Contract: Marriage, Religion and Law in the Western Tradition (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1997) (Korean translation by Kevin Jung, 2006; German translation by Dagmar Kelle, 2008) 2
- From Sacrament to Contract: Marriage, Religion and Law in the Western Tradition, 2d ed. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012) (Chinese translation by Ruihua Zhong, 2015)
Co-Editor, Human Rights in Judaism: Cultural, Religious and Political Perspectives (New York: Jason Aronson Publishers, 1998) (with Michael J. Broyde)
Co-Editor, Proselytism and Orthodoxy in Russia: The New War for Souls (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1999) (with Michael Bourdeaux) (Chinese translation by Paul Lui, 2013)
- Reprinted as Proselytism and Orthodoxy in Russia: The New War for Souls (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2009) (Chinese translation by Paul Lui, 2015)
Co-Editor, Sharing the Book: Religious Perspectives on the Rights and Wrongs of Proselytism (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1999) (with Richard C. Martin)
Religion and the American Constitutional Experiment: Essential Rights and Liberties (Boulder/New York: Westview Press/Perseus Books Group, 2000)
- Religion and the American Constitutional Experiment, 2d ed. (Boulder/New York: Westview Press/Perseus Books Group, 2005) (Chinese translation by Paul Lui, 2011)
- Religion and the American Constitutional Experiment, 3d ed. (Boulder/New York: Westview Press/Perseus Books Group, 2011) (with Joel A. Nichols) (Chinese translation by Yuan Yucheng and Miao Qilong, 2012)
- Religion and the American Constitutional Experiment, 4th ed. (New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016) (with Joel A. Nichols (Spanish translation by Nicolás Zambrana-Tévar and Rafael Domingo, 2018; Ecuadorian edition, 2020; Peruvian edition, 2021; French translation forthcoming)
- Religion and the American Constitutional Experiment, 5th ed. (New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022) (with Joel Nichols and Richard W. Garnett)
Law and Protestantism: The Legal Teachings of the Lutheran Reformation (Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002) (Chinese translation by Ruihua Zhong, 2011; German translation by Dagmar Kelle, 2012; Italian translation by Andrea Pin, 2013)
Sex, Marriage and Family in John Calvin’s Geneva 1: Courtship, Engagement and Marriage (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2005) (with Robert M. Kingdon) 3
Co-Editor, Covenant Marriage in Comparative Perspective (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2005) (with Eliza Ellison)
Co-Editor, Family Transformed: Religion, Values, and Family Life in Interdisciplinary Perspective (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2005) (with Steven M. Tipton)
Co-Editor, Modern Christian Teachings on Law, Politics, and Human Nature (New York/London: Columbia University Press, 2005; 3 vols. pbk. ed. 2007) (with Frank S. Alexander)
- Partial translation of Orthodox materials in K.B. Sigov, ed., Chelovek. Istoriia. Vest’ (Kiev: Dukh i Litera, 2006)
Co-Editor, Modern Christian Teachings on Law, Politics, and Human Nature: Primary Sources (New York/London: Columbia University Press, 2005) (with Frank S. Alexander)
Co-Editor, Sex, Marriage, and Family in the World Religions (New York/London: Columbia University Press, 2006) (with Don S. Browning and M. Christian Green)
God’s Joust, God’s Justice: Law and Religion in the Western Tradition (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2006) (Chinese translation by Yuan Yucheng, 2016)
- Abridged and translated as The Foundations of Faith, Freedom, and the Family, trans. H. Ohki and Y. Takasaki (Tokyo: Seigakuin University Press, 2008) (Japanese edition)
Co-Editor, To Have and to Hold: Marrying and its Documentation in Western Christendom, 400-1600 (Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007) (with Philip L. Reynolds)
Co-Editor, The Equal Regard Family and its Friendly Critics (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2007) (with M. Christian Green and Amy Wheeler)
The Reformation of Rights: Law, Religion, and Human Rights in Early Modern Calvinism (Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007) (Chinese translation by Yuan Yucheng and Miao Qilong, 2011; German translation by Annette Glaw, 2015; Korean translation by David Jung, 2015; Polish translation by Maceij Dymbowkski, 2017)
- Abridged and translated as Diritti Umani e Protestantesimo, trans. Andrea Pin (Naples: Jovene Editori, 2011) (Italian edition)
Co-Editor, Christianity and Law: An Introduction (Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008) (with Frank S. Alexander) (Chinese translation by Paul Lui, 2015) 4
The Sins of the Fathers: The Law and Theology of Illegitimacy Reconsidered (Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009) (Chinese translation by Ruihua Zhong, 2011; Korean translation by David Jung, 2021)
Coeditor, Christianity and Human Rights: An Introduction (Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010) (with Frank S. Alexander) (Chinese translation forthcoming)
Coeditor, Religion and Human Rights: An Introduction (Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2012) (with M. Christian Green)
Coeditor, No Establishment of Religion: America’s Original Contribution to Religious Liberty (Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2012) (with T. Jeremy Gunn)
Editor, Harold J. Berman, Law and Language: Effective Symbols of Community (Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013) (Russian translation forthcoming)
The Western Case for Monogamy over Polygamy (Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press, 2015) (Italian translation by Giada Ragone and Andrea Pin, 2018; Chinese translation by Ruihua Zhong, 2022; Hungarian edition by Mathias Corvinus Collegium Foundation, 2022)
Coeditor, Texts and Contents in Legal History: Essays in Honor of Charles Donahue (Berkeley, CA: Robbins Collection, 2016) (with Sarah McDougall and Anna di Robilant)
Coeditor, Christianity and Family Law: An Introduction (Cambridge University Press, 2017) (with Gary S. Hauk)
Coeditor, The Protestant Reformation of the Church and the World (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2018) (with Amy Wheeler)
Church, State, and Family: Reconciling Traditional Teachings and Modern Liberties (Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press, 2019) (Chinese translation forthcoming)
- Abridged as In Defense of the Marital Family (Leiden: Brill, 2023)
Coeditor, Christianity and Global Law (London: Routledge, 2020) (with Rafael Domingo)
Coeditor, Great Christian Jurists in German History (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020) (with Mathias Schmoeckel)
Coeditor, Christianity and Criminal Law (London: Routledge, 2020) (with Mark Hill, Norman Doe, and R.H. Helmholz) 5
Coeditor, The Impact of The Market on Character Formation, Ethical Education and the Communication of Values in Late Modern Pluralistic Societies (Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt GmbH, 2020) (with Jürgen von Hagen and Michael Welker)
Coeditor, The Impact of Religion on Character Formation, Ethical Education and the Communication of Values in Late Modern Pluralistic Societies (Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt GmbH, 2020) (with Michael Welker and Stephen Pickard)
Coeditor, The Impact of The Law on Character Formation, Ethical Education and the Communication of Values in Late Modern Pluralistic Societies (Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt GmbH, 2021) (with Michael Welker)
Coeditor, The Impact of Academic Research on Character Formation, Ethical Education and the Communication of Values in Late Modern Pluralistic Societies (Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt GmbH, 2021) (with William Schweiker, Michael Welker, and Stephen Pickard)
Faith, Freedom, and Family: New Essays in Law and Religion, eds. Norman Doe and Gary S. Hauk (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2021)
The Blessings of Liberty: Human Rights and Religious Freedom in the Western Legal Tradition (Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press, 2021)
Coeditor, The Impact of Education on Character Formation, Ethical Education and the Communication of Values in Late Modern Pluralistic Societies (Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt GmbH, 2022) (with Michael Welker and Stephen Pickard)
Coeditor, 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) (with Michael Welker and Stephen Pickard, 2022)
Coeditor, The Impact of the Military on on Character Formation, Ethical Education and the Communication of Values in Late Modern Pluralistic Societies (Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt GmbH, 2022) (with Michael Welker and Stephen Pickard, 2023
Coeditor, The Impact of the Media on on Character Formation, Ethical Education and the Communication of Values in Late Modern Pluralistic Societies (Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt GmbH, 2022) (with Michael Welker, Jürgen von Hagen, and Stephen Pickard, 2023)
Raíces protestantes del derecho, trans. and ed. Rafael Domingo (Madrid: Aranzadi, 2023)
In Defense of the Marital Family (Brill, 2023)
Table Talk:Short Reflections on the Weightier Matters of Life and Law (Brill, 2023)
The Oxford Handbook of Christianity and Law (Oxford University Press, 2023) (with Rafael Domingo)
Coeditor, Character Formation, Ethical Education and the Communication of Values in Late Modern Pluralistic Societies, vols. 9-10 (Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt GmbH, 2024) (with Michael Welker et al.)
The Legal Foundations of Religious Freedom (University of Notre Dame Press, 2026)
Forthcoming Books
Le origini e il futuro della libertà religiosa in Europa e negli Stati Uniti (Milan/Bologna: Il Mulino) (with Andrea Pin)
Sex, Marriage & Family in John Calvin’s Geneva 2: The Christian Household (with Robert M. Kingdon) (William B. Eerdmans)
John Calvin the Lawyer
A New Reformation of Rights: Calvinist Contributions to Modern Human Rights
The Religious Vindication of Law: The Uses of Law in Modern Society
Articles and Book Chapters
300 plus articles, book chapters, and reviews in the fields of marriage and family law; religion, human rights, and religious freedom; law and religion; legal history; and legal and political theory in such journals as Calvin Theological Journal, Columbia Human Rights Law Review, Emory International Law Review, Emory Law Journal, Journal of Church & State, Journal of Law & Religion, Michigan Law Review, Notre Dame Law Review, Southern California Law Review, Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung, and other journals and anthologies in German, French, Italian, Dutch, Spanish, Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian, Chinese, Korean, Urdu, Hebrew, and Arabic translations.