ABSTRACT
The period in Christian history beginning with the pontificate of Gregory VII and ending with the Enlightenment was of the utmost importance in reshaping how Christians came to think about law and punitive judgment. This chapter discusses how law and the judgments imposed upon its ecclesiastical and secular subjects rose to a position of spiritual and political prominence among Christians. It surveys some of the principal figures and movements that expressed in varying ways this new legal culture, among them proponents of natural law, nominalism, and the Reformation. The chapter also speaks of those Christians who, in the midst of centralization of authority and preoccupation with security, continued to embody the still-vibrant strands of memory that urged Christians to judge no one and to see and love the image of God in every creature. It concludes with summary observations concerning the Christian understanding of law and judgment prior to the Enlightenment.
