Professor Emeritus Robert Cochran Quoted in "Why Haven't There Been Any Evangelicals on the Supreme Court?" -- Christianity Today

Professor Emeritus Robert F. Cochran is quoted in the Christianity Today article, "Why Haven't There Been Any Evangelicals on the Supreme Court?"  The article considers that of the 115 justices appointed to the Supreme Court since 1789, the majority have been Protestant, but none have identified as nondenominational or evangelical.

Excerpt from "Why Haven't There Been Any Evangelicals on the Supreme Court?" 

Catholic and evangelical legal thought overlap considerably, particularly in their understanding of natural law, which dates all the way back to Thomas Aquinas. But where Catholics have a body of legal thought that is systematized and steeped in logic and scholarship, evangelicals are more likely to appeal solely to Scripture for their natural law arguments, said Robert Cochran, Louis D. Brandeis professor of law emeritus at Pepperdine University School of Law.

“Natural law proponents draw insights from Scripture, but the primary source of natural law—reason—is available to all, creating the possibility of a common legal agenda for people of all faiths and of no faith,” Cochran said. “Evangelicals tend to express themselves and their moral convictions in biblical terms that have great insight, but are less likely to draw the broad support in an increasingly pluralistic society.”

Evangelicals also tend to see the church as the primary cultural institution, encouraging their sharpest minds to pursue pastoral ministry rather than more worldly pursuits.

“Many evangelicals still tend to think in separatist terms,” he said. “They see the church as the primary cultural institution, their brightest young people become pastors, and they focus their attention on what Christ is doing in their church, rather than what he might be doing in law or other aspects of culture.”

The complete article may be found at Christianity Today.