RS 361E: Curran &Leininger Outline of Topics: Exam 1
Page 1 of 1
Curran: First Amendment and Public Policy
● Dual nature
● Sherbert Test
● Lemon Test
● Define public policy
● Be prepared to explain how First Amendment jurisprudence might be applied to hypothetical or real
First Amendment case.
Hammond
● Accommodationist vs. Separationist views; how each has played out in the overall historical trends
in church/state views in America (Hammond, chs. 1-2 and Curran lectures)
● Historical development of free exercise of religion toward free exercise of conscience (ch. 3)
● The relationship between the free exercise and anti-establishment clauses (ch. 4)
● The criteria for a) judging claims of conscience, b) limiting such claims, and c) limiting state
endorsement and/or enforcement of values and beliefs upon its citizens (ch. 5)
● “The religion behind the Constitution” (ch. 6)
● Free exercise of religion understood as free exercise of conscience (see especially ch. 3) and its
social implications and significance for churches, individualism, and the public square (ch. 6)
Zenzinger
● Perspectives on the proper role of religion in public reason and dialogue:
1. Common political texts (Rawls),
2. Virtue Test (Hollenbach/Perry),
3. Falsifiability Test (Huigens), and
4. Religious Claims Trump all other Claims (Smolin)
Declaration on Religious Liberty (Dignitatis Humanae “DH”)
● Major principles of religious liberty and how these principles changed the view of the laity
● J. C. Murray’s view of the First Amendment and relationship between being Catholic and American
● Criticisms of Murray
Cochran
● 4 Rules for Catholics in approaching politics (4-5)
● Relationship between politics and salvation (3-6)
● “Dignity and Social Nature of the Human Person” and “the Common Good” (6-11)
Yoder & Remple
● Compare and contrast the following approaches to relating statesmanship to the standards of the
gospel: a) Medieval b) Lutheran c) Calvinist and d) Mennonite