Berg on the "Relevance and Irrelevance of the Reformation . . ."

" . . . to the Catholic Legal Project, that is."  (We know about its relevance to the history and state of England . . . .  Give us back York Minster, Tom!)  Berg opens with a hat-tip to Admiral Stockdale -- "who am I, and why am I here?" -- and lays some groundwork (drawing from Hunter, Noll, and others) on the interesting and increases places of convergence -- especially with respect to moral and ethical questions -- between Catholics and at least some Protestants.  And (drawing from Massa, et al.) he talks some about some worldview-and-framing differences, including those having to do with communities and institutions, and with dialectic and analogy.

Thesis:  Catholicism is characteristically analogical and Protestantism characteristically dialectical, but both are and should be present in both.  (See this paper of Tom's for an earlier elaboration of something like this thesis in the context of a discussion about Murray and Neibuhr.)  Discussing "the market economy," or "unions," or "democracy," Tom provides examples of how these two forms or kinds of arguments can complement each other.

Tom closes with a discussion of his own area of (great) expertise, namely, the law of religious freedom.  Both distinctively Catholic and distinctively Protestant arguments and emphases are needed, he says, to provide strong and sufficient protections for religious freedom.  Catholic arguments are essential to the religious freedom of institutions and communities, Tom contends.  On the other hand, Protestant arguments might be comparatively more important when it comes to justifying exemptions and accommodations (from anti-discrimination laws, for example).