Inaugural Lecture: Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

'The relevance of the Bible for law and ethics in society today' Department of Theology and Religious Studies What was it about the Judeo-Christian ethic that led the West to develop market economics, democratic politics, human rights and the free society? The lecture looks at seven aspects of biblical ethics, each of which played a part in this development: human dignity, freedom and responsibility; an ethic of guilt rather than shame; the family as the matrix of virtue, love as the basis of ethics and covenant as the basis of society. It argues that all seven are currently under threat, and that the Bible remains an important voice in the public conversation about ethics and law.