Christianity, mens rea and the boundaries of criminal liability

Abstract

Christian theology’s concern for the individual whatever their station expanded the scope of criminal law from protection of the interests of the regime to the security of all in society. The concept of mens rea was first mentioned by Augustine of Hippo and became a key part of the Church’s canon law. From there, it was adopted by the secular legal systems of both civil law and common law. Such systems imposed criminal liability on those whose state of mind was adjudged to make them guilty for serious wrongs they did to others. Christian theology also offered the West’s legal systems a grammar for criminal law built around the idea of criminal responsibility for personal, voluntary, culpable acts. These requirements protected against scapegoating and stereotyping, led to the presumption of innocence and limited the range of actions for which one could be punished.