EDITORIAL

Abstract

There seems to be an irreconcilable opposition between the spiritual message of religions and the external and socio-political organization of life "by law; between the Gospel and Faith, on the one hand and law, "tradition and beliefs, on the other, between the pneumatic community of believers and the juridical structure. When religions "create laws and impose rules, regulations and customs on their followers they seem to be imitating the temporal power of the State and arrogating to themselves its role and functions. Man, however, is not a pure spirit, and religion which expresses the ultimate concern and meaning of his life should include him wholly, body and soul, as an individual and member of a community. Worship, which is the most specific act of religion, when God encounters man and man encounters God" and his fellowmen is also the fountainhead of juridical organization. Even Revelation and Scripture, which represent the self-disclosure of the divine in human words, indicate a juridical structure, and salvation" itself has to be .conceived in the juridical perspective of man's openness to total . humanity and the ultimate meaning of his being.