Philip Johnson
Presbyterian Theological Centre
Lecturer in Cults, World Religions & Philosophy, Presbyterian Theological Centre, Sydney, Australia & CEO, Global Apologetics & Mission Ltd.
Sidney, Australia

Since the seventeenth century, over one hundred and twenty Christian apologists have composed juridically (i.e. legal) styled apologetic texts. Juridical or jural apologetics may be defined as a style that employs either general legal principles or technical legal criteria in presenting a reasoned case for Christian belief. Apologists in this school are those who have been educated in the law and held positions as solicitors, barristers, judges, and law school lecturers. A few non-lawyers belong in this school because they follow jural methods, but space limitations preclude listing most of them. Thus only ninety two apologists appear in this bibliography.

What distinguishes juridical apologetics, as a distinct school of thought, is the use of jural analogies or metaphors that are applied in the defence of Scripture. Major analogies entail the concept of evidence, degrees of proof, and techniques for assessing eyewitnesses. Others include the interpretation of documents, the admissibility of ancient documents in court, judicial notice of accepted facts, and legal logic. Often the metaphors of a legal brief or a moot (mock trial) have been employed as a genre for the apologist’s argument.

Most modern juridical apologists have operated in common-law based nations. Several have been scholars or practitioners of considerable renown who have exerted a lot of influence on subsequent popular apologetics. Remarkably, their contributions as a distinct school has gone unrecognised in the introductory textbooks on apologetics, even when such texts occasionally mention one or more legal apologists. It is therefore hardly surprising that John Warwick Montgomery laments that it remains a neglected style. See his ‘Neglected Apologetic Styles: The Juridical and the Literary,’ in M. Bauman, D. Hall & R. Newman (Eds) Evangelical Apologetics, Camp Hill: Christian Publications, 1996.

This bibliography represents a start towards filling up the lacuna. It is arranged chronologically either by the date of the author’s birth or where such data is lacking by the date of publication. Each author entry is numbered sequentially, and an alphabetical index of authors is supplied at the end. Bibliographical details have been checked againstReligious Books 1876-1982, and the on-line catalogues of The British Library, Library of Congress, and the National Library of Canada.

[Note: See alphabetical list at of scholars at end of article]

Legal apologists 1600-2000

[1] Hugo Grotius [Huig De Groot] (1583-1645) the Dutch jurist takes pride of place in modern juridical apologetics. He is honoured as the father of international law particularly for his treatise On The Law of War and Peace (1625). He studied law at the University of Orleans and practised in Holland. Grotius was the author of the first Protestant textbook in apologetics, De Veritate Religionis Christianae (1627). It was originally composed in 1622 as a poem in Dutch and then rewritten in Latin prose.

It was best known in English as The Truth of the Christian Religion in six books, corrected and illustrated with notes by Mr LeClerc, translated by John Clarke, London: J. Knapton, 1711. The most recent English edition was True Religion, Amsterdam: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum/New York: Da Capo, 1971. This was a photo reprint of the 1632 edition published by R. Royston of London. On Grotius’ life and influence see W. S. M. Knight, The Life and Works of Hugo Grotius, London: Sweet & Maxwell, 1925.

[2] Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) was a Lutheran theologian, philosopher and mathematician who studied jurisprudence at Leipzig University. He was a theistic rationalist who combined a mathematical approach to epistemology and metaphysics with empirical findings. He formulated arguments for God’s existence, and dealt with the problem of evil. See his Theodicy: Essays on the Goodness of God, the Freedom of Man, and the Origin of Evil, trans. E. M. Huggard, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1951. Monadology and Other Philosophical Essays, trans. H. Rose-Mont & D. J. Cook, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1977. On Leibniz see C. D. Broad,Leibniz: An Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1975.

[3] Thomas Sherlock (1678-1761) was not a lawyer, but an Anglican Bishop. Sherlock was master of the Inner Temple church in London, which brought him into pastoral contact with members of the legal profession. He employed the device of a legal moot in his book The Tryal of the Witnesses of the Resurrection of Jesus, London: J. Baynes, 1729. Garland Publishing of New York reprinted Sherlock’s Tryal, together with his Use and Intent of Prophecy in one volume in 1978.

Sherlock’s moot assessed the apostolic witness to Jesus’ resurrection and rendered a verdict in favour of the apostles. It was conceived as a rebuttal to the Cambridge Deist Thomas Woolston (1670-1731). Woolston had composed Discourse on the Miracles of our saviour, In View of the Present Contest between Infidels and Apostates(1727-29), wherein he found several gospel accounts of miracles to be fraudulent. Sherlock’s Tryal stimulated six sceptical treatises from Peter Annet (1693-1769). Sherlock replied to Annet in The Sequel of the Tryal of the Witnesses of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (1749). On Sherlock’s life and work see Edward Carpenter, Thomas Sherlock 1678-1761, London: SPCK, 1936.

[4] William Webster (1689-1758) was not a lawyer but an eccentric theologian and prolific author. Webster wrote two brief treatises that have a legal flavour to them: The Credibility of the Resurrection of Christ upon the Testimony of the Apostles (1735) and The Fitness of the Witnesses of the Resurrection of Christ (1781). Both works were reprinted in The Simon Greenleaf Law Review, Vol. 6 (1986-87).

[5] Joseph Butler (1692-1752) studied law and divinity at Oriel College, Oxford. In 1736 Butler wrote The Analogy of Religion Natural and Revealed to the Constitution and Course of Nature, London: George Bell, 1902. Butler used legal analogies with respect to the apostolic witnesses, and argued for a cumulative case based on both ‘direct and circumstantial evidence’ for the truth of Christianity, particularly with regard to miracle and fulfilled prophecy in Jesus’ ministry. See Part 2, chapter 7, pp. 285 & 292. Cf. Albert E. Baker, Bishop Butler, London: SPCK/New York & Toronto: Macmillan, 1923.

[6] William Warburton (1698-1779) was a lawyer and then served as a preacher to barristers at Lincoln’s Inn (1746). Warburton’s best known apologia was a six-volume work entitled The Divine Legation of Moses (1737-1741). In 1768 he established by a testamentary bequest The Warburton Lecture which is devoted to the defence of revealed religion, especially Christianity. See Arthur William Evans, Warburton and the Warburtonians, London & Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1932.

[7] Gilbert West (1703-1756) served as clerk to the Privy Council. His apologia was entitled Observations on the history and evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, London: R. Dodsley at Tully’s Head, Pall Mall, 1747 and reprinted in Boston: J. Loring, 1834. It was composed as a rebuttal to Annet’s The Resurrection of Jesus Consider’d (1744). West’s book earned him the Doctor of Laws degree from Oxford (1748). See the Dictionary of National Biography.

[8] William Paley (1743-1805) had a life long interest in the law and served as a justice of the peace. Paley’s A View of the Evidences of Christianity (1794) occasionally reflects a legal turn of phrase. On Paley see M. L. Clarke, Paley: Evidences for the Man, Toronto: University of Toronto Press/London: SPCK, 1974.

[9] John Hewson (c.1768-) was not a lawyer but a pastor. He wrote Christ rejected: or, The Trial of the eleven disciples of Christ, in a court of law and equity, as charged with stealing the crucified body of Christ out of the sepulchre. Humbly dedicated to the whole nation of the Jews, which are scattered abroad on the face of the earth: and to deists of modern times. Designed, also, as a help to wavering Christians. This was released under the pseudonym of Captain Onesimus. J. Bakestraw released the first edition in Philadelphia (1832), and R. E. Horner in Princeton reprinted it (1835).

The Library of Congress indexes it under the subject heading ‘Jesus Christ – resurrection’, which along with the lengthy title suggests it is apologetic in nature. However a description from an antiquarian dealer characterises it as a mystical work that includes devotional illustrations provoked by the 1830 exhibition of Benjamin West’s picture ‘Christ rejected’.

[10] Lord Lyndhurst [John Singleton Copley] (1772-1863) was Solicitor-General of England in 1819, Attorney-General in 1824, and thrice served as Lord Chancellor of England. Lyndhurst never published an apologia during his lifetime, but a written account of his Christian belief was discovered amongst his papers. He wrote, ‘I know pretty well what evidence is; and, I tell you, such evidence as that for the Resurrection has never broken down yet.’ Different apologists, such as Josh McDowell and Wilbur Smith, have cited these remarks. The original source is probably Sir Theodore Martin, A Life of Lord Lyndhurst from letters and papers in possession of his family, London: John Murray, 1883.

[11] Henry Lord Brougham (1778-1868) served as Lord Chancellor of England. He studied law at the University of Edinburgh and was admitted to the bar in Lincoln’s Inn (1803). He sat in the Supreme Court of Appeal and in the judicial committee of the Privy Council. Lord Brougham’s contribution to apologetics consisted of editing and annotating an edition of Paley’s works, as well as writing his own text A Discourse of Natural Theology showing the nature of the evidence and the advantages of the study, London: Charles Knight/New York: William Jackson, 1835. Brougham stated, ‘Upon testimony, then, all Revelation must rest. Every age but the one in which the miracles were wrought, and every country but the one that witnessed them – indeed, all people of that country itself save those actually present, – must receive the proofs which they afford of Divine interposition upon the testimony of eye-witnesses, and of those to whom eye-witnesses told it.’ (pp. 172-173). On Brougham see The Dictionary of National Biography.

[12] Thomas Hartwell Horne (1780-1862) is best remembered as a librarian and bible commentator, but he was also for a time a clerk to a barrister. He was ordained in the Church of England and later worked at the British Museum. Horne authored some forty books in apologetics and bibliography. The American legal apologists Simon Greenleaf and Francis Lamb relied on Horne’s Introduction to the Study of the Holy Scriptures, which uses the legal method of harmonization of Biblical narratives. On Horne see Douglas’ New International Dictionary of the Christian Church.

[13] Daniel Webster (1782-1852) was one of the most distinguished legal authorities in the early history of the United States of America. Apologists such as Howard Hyde Russell (see below) quote Webster on his Christian convictions, but invariably fail to supply any bibliographical references. Webster evidently gave an apologia for Christianity in the course of a case before the US Supreme Court in 1844. It was concerned with a bequest that established a school for white male orphans. The bequest stipulated that no clergy were permitted under any circumstances to enter the college grounds. Webster argued the Will’s bequest violated the public policy of Pennsylvania to foster religious sentiment. See Daniel Webster, A defence of the Christian religion and of the religious instruction of the young; delivered in the Supreme Court of the US, February 10, 1844 in the case of Stephen Girard’s Will, New York: M. H. Newman, 1844. On Webster see the Dictionary of American Biography.

[14] André Marie Jean Jacques Dupin (1783-1865) was a prolific French legal author. The Library of Congress lists thirty-one titles in French. Of interest to apologists is his work first published in French as Jésus devant Caïphe et Pilate, and translated as The Trial of Jesus before Caiaphas and Pilate. Being a refutation of Mr Salvador’s chapter entitled ‘The Trial and Condemnation of Jesus’, Boston: C. C. Little & Brown, 1839. American legal apologist Simon Greenleaf relied on Dupin in his own work.

[15] Simon Greenleaf (1783-1853) must be regarded as the pivotal figure in juridical apologetics. Greenleaf trained for the law in Maine, and in 1833 became Royall Professor of Law at Harvard. Greenleaf wrote A Treatise on the Law of Evidence, which became a standard authoritative text in nineteenth century American jurisprudence. Greenleaf’s apologetic work, which remains in print today, was published in 1846 as An Examination of the Testimony of the Four Evangelists by the Rules of Evidence Administered in Courts of Justice, with an Account of the Trial of Jesus. Now available as The Testimony of the Evangelists, Grand Rapids MI: Baker, 1984. This text has influenced many subsequent juridical apologists. See the Dictionary of American Biography. Cf. Ross Clifford, Leading Lawyers’ Case for the Resurrection, Edmonton: Canadian Institute for Law, Theology & Public Policy, 1996.

[16] Thomas Erskine (1788-1870) was a Scottish lawyer and lay theologian. He did not follow the traditional apologetic line of arguing from prophecy and miracles, but rather wrote an apologetic for the inner spiritual life entitled, Remarks on the Internal Evidence for the Truth of Revealed Religion, Edinburgh: Waugh & Innes, 1820. Dulles comments that ‘as a testimony to the inner life of a deeply convinced Christian, Erskine’s Internal Evidence is not unimpressive’ (A History of Apologetics, Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 1999, p. 171).

[17] Charles Grandison Finney (1792-1875) is best remembered both for his role as an evangelist and for his advocacy of the abolition of slavery. Before Finney became an evangelist he trained as a lawyer in New York. He later characterised his transfer from law to evangelism as the Lord putting him on a retainer to plead God’s cause. Although principally an evangelist and theologian, Finney did compose some apologetic material. See Charles G. Finney, Charles G. Finney: An Autobiography, London & New York: The Salvation Army Book Depot, 1903.

[18] Phineas Bacon Wilcox (1798-1863) was a Yale graduate in law who practised in Columbus Ohio from 1824. He served as a chancery lawyer, was prosecuting attorney reporter for the Supreme Court of Ohio, and was a United States commissioner. Wilcox was the author of seven legal texts and wrote a 48 page apologetic text entitled A Few Thoughts by a Member of the Bar, occasioned by a request from a brother in the same profession (Columbus OH: T. B. Cutler, 1836; republished New York: American Tract Society, 1860). A short profile on Wilcox is on-line at ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/oh/franklin/bios/wilcox.txt

[19] Mark Hopkins (1802-1887) was a popular theologian, philosopher and educator who had a life long interest in the law. Hopkins’ book Evidences of Christianity(1846) went through successive printed editions up to 1909. Hopkins relied on Paley and Horne and his discussion of eyewitness testimony has a legal flavour to it. As an apologist Hopkins’ contribution might be considered as a nineteenth century equivalent to Josh McDowell. See Mark Hopkins, Evidences of Christianity: Lectures before the Lowell Institute, January 1844, Rev. Ed. Boston: T. R. Marvin, 1876. On Hopkins see American Authors 1600-1900.

[20] Charles Robert Morrison (1819-1893) practised as a lawyer in New Hampshire and was the author of four legal textbooks. Morrison wrote The Proofs of Christ’s Resurrection; From a Lawyer’s Standpoint, Andover MA: Warren F. Draper, 1882. This monograph is based on a series of articles published in the New Hampshire Journal and in the Vermont Chronicle between March 5, 1881 and April 1, 1882. In the preface he stated that ‘to all questions of evidence which arise, the author applies legal principles and presumptions derived from experience and constantly acted upon in courts of justice’ (p. 4).

[21]Francis Wharton (1820-1889) graduated in law from Yale in 1839 and was admitted to the Philadelphia bar in 1843. Wharton wrote several legal textbooks some of which are still in print, including A Treatise on the Criminal Law of the United States (1846). He was ordained in the Episcopal Church in 1862, and served as Professor of Canon Law at the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Massachusetts (1871-1881). Wharton did not compose an apologia per se, but did write a very important essay linking jurisprudence to apologetics, see ‘Recent Changes in Jurisprudence and Apologetics,’ The Princeton Review, 2/1 (July-December 1878) pp. 149-168. This can be accessed on-line via www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/m/moajrnl. On Wharton see The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6^th Ed, and also John Bassett Moore, Brief Sketch of the Life of Francis Wharton, Philadelphia, n.p. 1891.

[22] Oliver Mowat (1820-1903) was a distinguished Canadian lawyer and politician. He was admitted to the bar in 1841, practised law in the towns of Kingston and Toronto, became a Queen’s Counsel in 1855, and later became a bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada. He served as premier of Ontario from 1872-1896 and in 1897 became Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. Mowat wrote two small apologetic texts: Christianity and Some of its Evidences: An Address, Toronto: Williamson & Co, 1890. Christianity and Its Influences, Toronto: Hunter Rose, 1898. On Mowat see The Dictionary of Christianity in America.

[23] Edmund H. Bennett (1824-1898) was born in Vermont and admitted to the bar in 1847. He was appointed a judge in 1858 and lectured at Harvard. He was a prolific author of over one hundred texts. He delivered an apologetic lecture, which was then published posthumously as The Four Gospels from a Lawyer’s Standpoint, Boston & New York: Houghton, Mifflin & Co, 1899. It was reprinted in The Simon Greenleaf Law Review Vol. 1 (1981-82), and the journal also includes two biographical profiles. Cf. Clifford, Leading Lawyers’ Case for the Resurrection, pp. 15-27.

[24] Francis Jones Lamb (c.1824-c.1914) began to practise law in 1857 in Dane County, Madison, Wisconsin. At ninety years of age he co-wrote with William P. Morris,Reminiscences of the Bench and Bar of Dane County, Madison WI: Dane County Bar Association, c. 1914, 42 pp. Lamb’s apologetic work was Miracle and Science: Bible Miracles Examined By The Methods, Rules and Tests of the Science of Jurisprudence as Administered To-day in Courts of Justice, Oberlin OH: Bibliotheca Sacra Co, 1909. Lamb dealt with the problem of miracles throughout the Bible and employed technical arguments concerning ancient documents and eyewitness testimony.

[25] Ethelbert Callahan (1829-) The Lawyers of the Bible. A Lecture delivered before the Indiana University School of Law, January 23, 1911, Indianapolis IN: Hollenbeck Press, 1912.

[26] Charles Carroll Morgan (1832-1918) was a lawyer in New Hampshire. His apologetic work was A Lawyer’s Brief on The Atonement, Boston: Fort Hill Press, 1910. Although primarily treating the biblical teaching on atonement, Morgan does set out an argument for God’s existence, the testimony for Jesus’ death and resurrection, and uses the legal principle of harmonisation when treating Scripture.

[27] Alexander Taylor Innes (1833-1912) was a Scottish advocate best known for his The Law of Creeds in Scotland. A Treatise on the Relation of Churches in Scotland Established and Not Established to the Civil Law, Edinburgh: W. Blackwood, 1867. Of interest to legal apologists is The Trial of Jesus Christ: a legal monograph, Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1899.

[28]Everett Pepperell Wheeler (1840-1925) wrote six legal textbooks. His apologetic work was A Lawyer’s Study of the Bible; its answers to the questions of today, New York: Fleming Revell, 1919.

[29] Robert Anderson (1841-1918) studied law at Trinity College, Dublin, and became a barrister in Dublin and London. Anderson dealt with bible prophecy, the creation-evolution controversy and higher criticism. Three relevant works include A Doubter’s Doubts about Science and Religion, 3^rd Ed. Glasgow & Edinburgh: Pickering & Inglis, 1924. The Coming Prince, 19^th Ed. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1975. The Bible and Modern Criticism, 5^th Ed. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1905. On Anderson’s life see A. P. Moore-Anderson, Sir Robert Anderson and Lady Agnes Anderson, London: Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1947. Cf. Clifford, Leading Lawyers’ Case for the Resurrection, pp. 56-69.

[30] Edward Wingate Hatch (1852-1924) composed around 1892 The Trial and Condemnation of Christ as a legal question, New York: Knickerbocker, 191? [Year of publication uncertain].

[31] Charles Edmund De Land (1854-1935) The Mis-Trials of Jesus, Boston: R. G. Badger, 1914.

[32] George Henry Pendarvis (1854-) The Living Witness: A Lawyer’s Brief for Christianity, St. Louis: B. Herder, 1912.

[33] John Ford Whitworth (1854-) wrote seven legal textbooks, and his apologia was Legal and Historical Proof of the Resurrection of the dead with an examination of the evidence in the New Testament, Harrisburg: Publishing House of the United Evangelical Church, 1912.

[34] Howard Hyde Russell (1855-1946) wrote A Lawyer’s Examination of the Bible, New York: Fleming Revell, 1893. This text went through seven editions, the last of which was published in 1935 by The Bible Bond in Westerville, Ohio.

[35] Thomas Welburn Hughes (1858-) Was Jesus guilty? Or, The legal aspects of the trial and condemnation of Jesus, Topeka: Voiland, 1927.

[36] Philip Mauro (1859-1952) was a New York lawyer who contributed some essays to The Fundamentals. His legal apologetic was Evolution at the Bar, Boston: Hamilton, 1922.

[37] William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925) was the outspoken apologist for creation at the John Scopes trial of 1925. See William Jennings Bryan, The Last Message of William Jennings Bryan, New York & Chicago: Fleming Revell, 1925.

[38] John Armstrong Chaloner (1862-1935) was an eccentric millionaire and New York lawyer. He composed A Brief for the defence of the unequivocal divinity of the founder of Christianity as the son of Jehovah, New York: Palmetto, 1924.

[39] Walter Nicholas Carroll (1863-) A lawyer’s story of the simple gospel, with an introduction by Dr Richard Burton, Minneapolis, n.p. 1927.

[40] George Washington Thompson (1864-) was Professor of Law at the University of Florida. He wrote The Trial of Jesus Christ: A Judicial Review of the law and facts of the world’s most tragic court room trial, Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1927.

[41] Walter Marion Chandler (1867-1935) was a New York lawyer who wrote The Trial of Jesus from a lawyer’s standpoint, 2 Vols. New York: Empire Publishing, 1908. Reprinted in New York by Federal Book, 1925. Reprinted in Atlanta by Harrison, 1956 & 1976. Reprinted in New York by W. S. Hein, 1983.

[42] Edwin Taliaferro Wellford (1870-) appears to have composed two apologias on Jesus’ trial: The lynching of Jesus; a review of the legal aspects of the trial of Christ, Newport News: Franklin Printing, 1905. Crime and Cure; a review of this lawless age and the mistrial of Christ, Boston: Stratford, 1930.

[43] Edward Deming Lucas (1878-) was a lawyer in Virginia. He wrote a slightly autobiographical work Virginia Justice: Its Cause and Cure (1945). His apologetic text was The Logic and Reason in Christianity. A Brief by a Lawyer, New York & London: Fleming Revell, 1945.

[44] An anonymous work by a Nova Scotian judge was published in London in 1878. The British Library’s on-line catalogue furnishes these details: [anon.] A Quaint old Nova Scotian judge’s view of the Roman governor’s question, ‘What is truth?’ London: W. Ridgway, 1878. [British Library’s shelf mark: Mic.F.232].

[45] Irwin Helffenstein Linton (1879-) was a lawyer who practised in Washington DC. He wrote two apologetic works: A Lawyer Examines the Bible, Boston: W. A. Wilde, 1943, 300pp. Reissued in 1977 by Baker. Originally released as 204pp text, A Lawyer and the Bible, New York & London: Harper, 1929, and as A Legal Man and the Bible, London & Edinburgh: Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1930. Linton’s other book was The Sanhedrin Verdict, New York: Loizeaux, 1943.

[46] Claude Watson Rowe (1883-) served as a lawyer in New York and North Carolina. He wrote a legal textbook How and Where Lawyers Get Practice (1950), and compiled a curious book of minor apologetic value entitled The Lawyers’ Proof of the Hereafter, Chicago, Philadelphia & Toronto: John C. Winston, 1938. Rowe’s text focuses on the question, ‘what is the best evidence as to whether there is a hereafter or not?’ Rowe submitted this question to over 600 colleagues: lawyers, law clerks, judges, law professors and so forth. The answers are sorted into 45 topics such as God, prayer, Bible, reincarnation, spiritualism, heaven, hell etc. The replies come from Christians, Jews, and agnostics. Rowe’s theological views appear to be Unitarian. He stated, ‘my chief reason for making this book a symposium of the opinions of lawyers is that the legal mind is peculiarly fitted to weigh and analyze evidence … I felt that proof based upon the judicial, unprejudiced, and critical survey of the evidence the legal minds would give it would be far more convincing than proof derived from opinions based on more personal grounds’ (p. vii).

[47] Walter Campbell Witcher (1887-) Legal Proof; being an answer to Thomas H. Huxley and other sceptics demands for legal proof of the resurrection of Christ from the dead, and containing Pilate’s official verification of the same, Forth Worth: Christian Forum, 1937.

[48] Frank John Powell (1891-) served as both a barrister and magistrate in England. Powell wrote The Trial of Jesus Christ, London: Paternoster, 1948/Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1949.

[49] Clarence Bartlett (1895-) practised law in Kentucky from 1921-1938, and then served as a Circuit Judge. He wrote As A Lawyer Sees Jesus: A Logical and Historical Analysis of the Scriptural and Historical Record, New York: Greenwich, 1960.

[50] J. C. Mabry, A legal view of the trial of Christ, Cincinnati: Standard, 1895.

[51] Britton H. Tabor, Skepticism Assailed; or, Foundations of faith; being a trained lawyer’s investigation of the truth of the Bible and Divinity of Jesus, St. Louis: Planet Publishing, 1896.

[52] Andrew Bevins, The Trial and Conviction of Jesus Christ from a legal standpoint, Omaha: Douglas Printing, 1898.

[53] Joseph Evans Sagebeer was a Philadelphia lawyer who edited a periodical called The Optimist (1903) and wrote A First Book in Christian Doctrines, Philadelphia: American Baptist Society, 1903. Sagebeer’s apologia was The Bible in Court: The Method of Legal Inquiry Applied to the Study of the Scriptures, Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1900. Reprinted in Littleton, Colorado by Fred B. Rothman, 1988.

[54] Thomas Frew Wilson, The Trial of Jesus of Nazareth from an historical and legal standpoint, New York: T. Whittaker, 1906.

[55] Lord Hailsham [Quintin McGarel Hogg] (1907-) served as Lord Chancellor of England. Hailsham’s spiritual autobiography has some apologetic chapters, The Door Wherein I Went, London: Collins, 1975. Hailsham also makes pertinent remarks at the conclusion of his A Sparrow’s Flight: Memoirs, London: Collins, 1990. Cf. Clifford,Leading Lawyers’ Case for the Resurrection, pp. 70-81.

[56] W. D. Webb was a judge who wrote The Trial of Jesus Christ. A Lecture in Two Parts, Atchison: Schauer & Burbank, 1907.

[57] Norman Anderson [James Norman Dalrymple Anderson] (1908-1994) studied law at Cambridge and became a leading expert on Islamic jurisprudence. He taught at the University of London and was Director of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies. His apologetic works include: The Evidence for the Resurrection, Leicester: InterVarsity Press, 1965. A Lawyer Among the Theologians, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1973. The Fact of Christ: Some of the Evidence, Leicester: InterVarsity Press, 1979. Christianity and World Religions, Leicester: InterVarsity Press, 1984. Jesus Christ: The Witness of History, Leicester: InterVarsity Press, 1985. Islam in the Modern World, Leicester: Apollos, 1990. His autobiography, An Adopted Son, Leicester: InterVarsity Press, 1985. Cf. Clifford, Leading Lawyers’ Case for the Resurrection, pp. 82-108.

[58] James M. Rollins, The arrest, trial and conviction of Jesus Christ from a Lawyer’s Standpoint, St. Louis: Hughes Printing, 191? [Year of publication uncertain.]

[59] Lionel Luckhoo (1914-1997) was a barrister in Guyana and England, and served as a judge of the Supreme Court of Guyana. Upon retirement he established Luckhoo Ministries in Texas. He co-wrote an apologetic novel with John R. Thompson, The Silent Witness, Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995. He also composed several pamphlets such as What is Your Verdict; Prophecy; The Quran is not the word of God; The Question Answered. These are on-line athttp://www.hawaiichristiansonline.com/sir_lionel.html. Cf. Clifford, Leading Lawyers’ Case for the Resurrection, pp. 109-119.

[60] Gleason L. Archer (1916-) was an Old Testament scholar, but who also earned an LLB. Archer uses the legal principle of harmonisation in his Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1982.

[61] Stephen D. Williams was a lawyer in Detroit and wrote The Enemies of Columbia (1896) and a work on economics (1897). His apologetic text was a moot trial published as The Bible in Court or Truth vs. error: A Brief for the Plaintiff, Dearborn: Dearborn Book Concern, 1925.

[62] Val Grieve (1926-1998) was a solicitor who practised in Manchester. He wrote Your Verdict on the Empty Tomb, Bromley: OM Publishing, 1988. The Trial of Jesus, Bromley: STL Books/Leicester: InterVarsity Press, 1990.

[63] Clarrie Briese (1930-) was a barrister and served as Chief Magistrate of New South Wales. He gave an address to the Lawyer’s Christian Fellowship entitled ‘Witnesses to the Resurrection—Credible or Not’, on March 11, 1987, portions of which are reproduced in Clifford, Leading Lawyers’ Case for the Resurrection, pp. 132-135. His articles include: ‘An Open Mind,’ Australian Presbyterian, July 1999, p. 28. ‘Monkeying About,’ Australian Presbyterian, September 1999, pp. 24-25. ‘Darwin’s unholy ghost,’ Australian Presbyterian, October 1999, pp. 19-21. ‘Doctrine of death,’ Australian Presbyterian, November 1999, pp. 18-19. ‘Is theistic evolution credible?’ Australian Presbyterian, December 1999, pp. 22-23. ‘The Verdict’, Australian Presbyterian, April 2000, pp. 5-6.

[64]John Warwick Montgomery, (1931-) is a versatile scholar and apologist, holding ten earned degrees including three in law. He taught jurisprudence at the Simon Greenleaf School of Law and the University of Luton. Relevant legal apologetic publications include: (Ed) Jurisprudence: A Book of Readings, Strasbourg: International Scholarly Publications, 1974. ‘Legal Reasoning and Christian Apologetics,’ Christianity Today, February 14, 1975, pp. 71-72. The Law Above The Law, Minneapolis: Bethany, 1975. Law & Gospel, Oak Park: Christian Legal Society, 1978. Reprinted in 1995 by the Canadian Institute for Law, Theology & Public Policy. ‘Testamentary Help in Interpreting the Old and New Testaments,’ Christianity Today, May 5, 1978, pp. 54-55. ‘Jesus Takes the Stand: An Argument to Support the Gospel Accounts,’Christianity Today, April 9, 1982, pp. 26-27. ‘The Marxist Approach to Human Rights: Analysis & Critique,’ Simon Greenleaf Law Review, Vol. 3 (1983-84) pp. 1-202.Human Rights & Human Dignity, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986. Reprinted in 1995 by Canadian Institute for Law, Theology & Public Policy. ‘Law and Justice,’ in Kenneth S. Kantzer (Ed) Applying the Scriptures, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1987, pp. 299-314. Reprinted in Michael Bauman & David Hall (Eds) God & Caesar, Camp Hill: Christian Publications, 1994, pp. 319-341. Giant in Chains: China Today and Tomorrow, Milton Keynes: Word, 1994. Law and Morality: Friends or Foes?London: University of Luton, 1994. ‘Legal Hermeneutics and the Interpretation of Scripture’, in Michael Bauman & David Hall (Eds) Evangelical Hermeneutics, Camp Hill: Christian Publications, 1995, pp. 15-29. Christians in the Public Square: Law, Gospel & Public Policy, Edmonton: Canadian Institute for Law, Theology & Public Policy, 1996. The Repression of Evangelism in Greece: European litigation vis-à-vis a closed religious establishment, Lanham: University Press of America, 2001. Montgomery’s legal apologia is treated in Clifford, Leading Lawyers’ Case for the Resurrection, pp. 28-40. Atheist lawyer Richard Packham presents ‘Critique of John Warwick Montgomery’s Arguments for the Legal Evidences for Christianity’ at www.infidels.org/library/modern/richard_packham/montgmry.html

[65] Phillip E. Johnson (1940-) teaches law at the University of California at Berkeley. His works include Darwin on Trial, Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1991.Reason in the Balance: The Case Against Naturalism in Science, Law and Education, Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1995. Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds, Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1997. Objections Sustained: Subversive Essays on Evolution, Law and Culture, Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1998.The Wedge of Truth: Splitting the Foundations of Naturalism, Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2000. Idem & Denis O. Lamoureux, Darwinism Defeated?Vancouver: Regent College, 1999.

[66] Pamela Binnings Ewen (1944-) is a Texas lawyer specialising in corporate finance. She has written Faith on Trial: An Attorney Analyzes the Evidence for the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1999.

[67] David K. Breed, The Trial of Christ from a Legal and Scriptural Standpoint, St. Louis: Thomas Law Book Co, 1948. Reprinted by Baker in 1982.

[68] Ross Richard Clifford (1951-) is a former Australian solicitor and barrister, and now Principal of Morling College, Sydney. Clifford’s 1987 MA thesis at the Simon Greenleaf School of Law was The Case of Eight Legal Apologists for the Defence of Scripture and the Christ Event. The thesis was adapted for publication in Russian and English. Originally released as Leading Lawyers Look at the Resurrection, Sutherland: Albatross, 1991. Reprinted by Albatross in 1993 as The Case for the Empty Tomb. Missionswerk Friedensstimme in Gummersbach, Germany released the Russian version in 1991. An Arabic edition was published in 1997 by the Logos Center in Texas. The current English edition is Leading Lawyers’ Case for the Resurrection, Edmonton: Canadian Institute for Law, Theology & Public Policy, 1996.

Clifford surveys the work of Bennett, Greenleaf, Montgomery, Robert Anderson, Norman Anderson, Lord Hailsham and Luckhoo in a cumulative case for the gospels and resurrection of Christ. He also documents that pop apologist Frank Morison [Albert Henry Ross] was not a lawyer. Clifford’s legal apologia has also been employed in two books co-written with Philip Johnson: Riding the Rollercoaster: How The Risen Christ Empowers Life, Sydney: Strand, 1998. Jesus & The Gods of the New Age: Communicating Christ in Today’s Spiritual Supermarket, Oxford: Lion, 2001.

[69] Frank William Hanft practised law in Minnesota and then became Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina. Hanft deals with scientific materialism in You Can Believe: A Lawyer’s Brief for Christianity, Indianapolis & New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1952.

[70]Lee Strobel (1952-) is a Harvard law graduate and author of The Case for Christ, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998.

[71] Earl L. Wingo, The Illegal Trial of Jesus: A Lawyer reviews the illegal trial of Jesus, Hattiesburg: n.p. 1954. Reprinted in 1962 by Bobbs-Merrill.

[72] Craig A. Parton (1955-) practises law in Santa Barbara. His MA thesis at the Simon Greenleaf School of Law has been published as Richard Whateley: A Man For All Seasons, Edmonton: Canadian Institute for Law, Theology & Public Policy, 1997.

[73] James C. McRuer was Chief Justice of the High Court of Ontario and wrote The Trial of Jesus: A noted trial judge analyzes the events that led to the Crucifixion, Toronto: Clarke Irwin, 1964. Reprinted by Clarke Irwin in 1978.

[74] Albert L. Roper practised law in Virginia and wrote Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? A Lawyer Looks at the Evidence, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1965.

[75] Don J. Gutteridge Jr, The Defense Rests Its Case, Nashville: Broadman, 1975.

[76] Kenneth Williams Linsley, Advocate for God: a lawyer’s experience in personal evangelism, Valley Forge: Judson, 1977.

[77] Roger Himes is a lawyer in Denver and wrote Counselor, state your case! Denver: Accent, 1978. Himes primarily uses legal metaphor and analogies to illustrate matters of doctrine, but does include a brief section on the trial, death and resurrection of Christ.

[78] John Gilchrist is a South African lawyer and Director of Jesus to the Muslims. Gilchrist co-wrote with Josh McDowell, The Islam Debate, San Bernadino: Here’s Life, 1983.

[79] Jean Imbert was Professor of Law at the University of Paris and wrote Le procès de Jésus, Paris: Presses Universitaries de France, 1980.

[80] Charles W. Colson was a lawyer until the Watergate scandal. He employs a legal apologia in his book Loving God, Basingstoke: Marshalls, 1983.

[81] Constance E. Cumbey is a Detroit lawyer who espouses a conspiratorial-eschatological interpretation of new age that most other apologists have rejected as untenable. Her twin works are The Hidden Dangers of The Rainbow: The New Age Movement and Our Coming Age of Barbarism, Shreveport: Huntington House, 1983. A Planned Deception: The Staging of a New Age Messiah, East Detroit: Pointe Publishers, 1985.

[82] Wendell R. Bird is a Yale law graduate and an apologist for the Institute for Creation Research. Bird has written The Origin of Species Revisited, 2 Vols. New York: Philosophical Library, 1987, 1989.

[83] John Thomas Moen was a Californian lawyer (died 1996) who wrote an essay ‘A Lawyer’s Logical and Syllogistic Look at the Facts of the Resurrection,’ Simon Greenleaf Law Review, Vol. 7 (1987-88) pp. 79-110.

[84] David Samuel Prescott was a Californian lawyer who wrote an essay ‘Antony Flew’s Presumption of Atheism Revisited: A Christian Lawyer’s Perspective,’ Simon Greenleaf Law Review, Vol. 7 (1987-88) pp. 137-162.

[85] Herbert C. Casteel served as a Missouri lawyer and then for 25 years as a judge. He wrote Beyond A Reasonable Doubt, Rev Ed. Joplin: College Press, 1992.

[86] Dale M. Foreman was a lawyer in Washington state and wrote Crucify Him: A Lawyer looks at the trial of Jesus, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1990.

[87] Nicky Gumbel was a barrister before he became an Anglican minister and the presenter of the Alpha programme. Some legal apologia is used in two texts: Why Jesus, Eastbourne: Kingsway, 1991. Questions of Life, Eastbourne: Kingsway, 1993.

[88] John Grisham is a former lawyer and the world’s most popular novelist in the legal fiction genre. One of his novels is an apologia for Christian belief, The Testament, London & Sydney: Random House, 1999.

[89] Gerard Chrispin is an English lawyer who has written The Resurrection: The Unopened Gift, Surrey: Day One, 1999.

[90] Ken R. Handley is a Justice of the NSW Court of Appeal who has written the essay ‘A lawyer looks at the resurrection,’ Kategoria, no. 15 (1999) pp. 11-21.

[91] Paul K. Hoffman, ‘A Jurisprudential Analysis of Hume’s “In Principle” Argument Against Miracles,’ Christian Apologetics Journal 2/1 1999 atwww.ses.edu/journal/issue2_1/2_1hoffman_mn.htm

[92] Jeffrey C. Martin, A Lawyer Briefs the Big Questions, Lexington: Bristol House, 2000.

**********

Alphabetical index

Author Entry No.

Anderson, Norman [57]

Anderson, Robert [29]

Anon. [Nova Scotian Judge] [44]

Archer, Gleason [60]

Bartlett, Clarence [49]

Bennett, Edmund H. [23]

Bevins, Andrew [52]

Bird, Wendell R. [82]

Breed, David K. [67]

Briese, Clarrie[63]

Brougham, Henry Lord [11]

Bryan, William Jennings [37]

Butler, Joseph [5]

Callahan, Ethelbert [25]

Carroll, Walter Nicholas [39]

Casteel, Herbert C. [85]

Chaloner, John Armstrong [ 38]

Chandler, Walter Marion [41]

Chrispin, Gerard [89]

Clifford, Ross Richard [68]

Colson, Charles W. [80]

Copley, John Singleton [see Lyndhurst]

Cumbey, Constance E. [81]

De Land, Charles Edmund [31]

Dupin, André Marie Jean Jacques [14]

Erskine, Thomas [16]

Ewen, Pamela Binnings [66]

Finney, Charles Grandison [17]

Foreman, Dale M. [86]

Gilchrist, John [78]

Greenleaf, Simon [15]

Grieve, Val [62]

Grisham, John [88]

Grotius, Hugo [Huig De Groot] [1]

Gumbel, Nicky [87]

Gutteridge, Don J. [75]

Hailsham, Lord [Q. M. Hogg] [55]

Handley, Ken R. [90]

Hanft, Frank William [69]

Hatch, Edward Wingate [30]

Hewson, John [9]

Himes, Roger [77]

Hogg, Quintin McGarel [see Hailsham]

Hoffman, Paul K. [91]

Hopkins, Mark [19]

Horne, Thomas Hartwell [12]

Hughes, Thomas Welburn [35]

Imbert, Jean [79]

Innes, Alexander Taylor [25]

Johnson, Phillip E. [65]

Lamb, Francis Jones [24]

Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm [2]

Linsley, Kenneth Williams [76]

Linton, Irwin Helffenstein [45]

Lucas, Edward Deming [43]

Luckhoo, Lionel [59]

Lyndhurst, Lord [John S. Copley] [10]

Mabry, J. C. [50]

Martin, Jeffrey C. [92]

Mauro, Philip [36]

McRuer, James R. [73]

Moen, John Thomas [83]

Montgomery, John Warwick [64]

Morgan, Charles Carroll[26]

Morrison, Charles Robert[20]

Mowat, Oliver [22]

Paley, William [8]

Parton, Craig A. [72]

Pendarvis, George Henry [32]

Powell, Frank John [48]

Prescott, David Samuel [84]

Rollins, James M. [58]

Roper, Albert L. [74]

Rowe, Claude Watson [46]

Russell, Howard Hyde[34]

Sagebeer, Joseph Evans [53]

Sherlock, Thomas [3]

Strobel, Lee [70]

Tabor, Britton H. [51]

Thompson, George Washington [40]

Warburton, William [6]

Webb, W. D. [56]

Webster, Daniel [13]

Webster, William [4]

Wellford, Edwin Taliaferro [42]

West, Gilbert [7]

Wharton, Francis [21]

Wheeler, Everett Pepperell [28]

Whitworth, John Ford [33]

Wilcox, Phineas Bacon [18]

Williams, Stephen D. [61]

Wilson, Thomas Frew [54]

Wingo, Earl L.[ 71]

Witcher, Walter Campbell [47]