Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book offers an evaluation of the Statement in terms of the extent to which the principles reflect the doctrinal or theological position of the tradition and the value of the Statement for the tradition and how it might be developed further. The regulatory instruments that are studied are styled variously as law, order, or polity, depending on the tradition in question. The ten traditions are Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, Reformed, Presbyterian, Baptist, Pentecostal, and United Churches. The study of religious law has traditionally focused on the examination of the norms and juridical traditions of single world faiths, notably Jewish law, Islamic law, and Hindu law; and Islamic law and Jewish law, for example, have themselves been compared.