How do Christian legal principles help us navigate scandals?

I’m not a lawyer but, as a Christian, I am fascinated by the relationship between the principles enshrined in our legal system and ancient principles of justice and equality that can be traced back to Scripture.

There are four key principles that derive from our Judaeo-Christian tradition, viz. separation of powers, objective justice, eye-witness corroboration, and due process.

Separation of powers ensures that those holding decision-making authority (executive) cannot devise self-serving rules (legislative) or apply existing rules to their own advantage (judiciary).

In Scripture, this principle can be traced back to Deuteronomy 17, in which the judge’s function (judiciary) was distinguished from other positions of authority: ‘If cases come before your courts that are too difficult for you to judge – whether bloodshed, lawsuits or assaults – take them to the place the Lord your God will choose. Go to the Levitical priests and to the judge who is in office at that time. Inquire of them and they will give you the verdict.’ (Deut.17:8,9)

Notably, there was also a heavenly ‘court of appeal’ which those aggrieved could prayerfully petition for divine intervention when leaders acted with impunity. Despite God’s long-suffering, He chastised despotic rulers with repeated prophetic rebuke which, if ignored, would incur inexorable retribution.

I wonder how many churches might have averted recent scandals if they had established separation of powers to prevent wayward ministers from unduly hindering the disciplinary process.

In the UK, objective justice has developed over many centuries to replace earlier laws that advanced and privileged the ruling class.

Again, in Deuteronomy 17, God instructed the leaders of His people to uphold objective justice (a.k.a. the rule of law) without fear or favour: ‘When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.’ (Deut.17:18-20).

Eye-witness corroboration is another principle of our legal system that derives from Scripture. In fact, Scripture emphasises this principle by mentioning its corollary ‘by the testimony of two or three witnesses’ six times!

Finally, due process ensures impartiality in our law courts, preventing attempt to circumvent a fair trial.

In Scripture, due process was the basis of Nicodemus’s rightful demand for the Sanhedrin to give Jesus a fair hearing (John 7:51-52).

There is no New Testament precedent for abandoning due process. In fact, in Matthew 18, Jesus’ instructions for addressing personal grievances exemplify due process.

Nevertheless, we should distinguish this procedure from Paul’s instructions on due disciplinary process for church leaders (1 Tim. 5:19-20) in which he states that the goal of publicly rebuking disgraced leaders is to deter others from following their bad example.

Galatians 2:11-14 shows how bad example can propagate, unless overtly confronted. Until Paul challenged Peter, Barnabas and other Hebrew Christians readily imitated the latter’s hypocritical distancing from Antioch’s Greek Christians.

How many recent evangelical scandals might have been averted by churches diligently investigating all allegations and adhering to Paul’s instruction: ‘But those elders who are sinning you are to reprove before everyone, so that the others may take warning’?

All too often, independent reviews into such scandals reveal a privileged ‘inner circle’ that conceals their leader’s errors by engendering a culture of connivance and furtiveness in the face of mounting allegations of wrongdoing. This patent disregard for the above principles should make us question whether such inner circles are shoring up their popularity more than truth and equality.