Responsa
Template:Short description Template:Italic title Responsa (plural of Latin Template:Lang, 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars in historic religious law.
In the Roman Empire
[edit]Roman law recognised Template:Lang, i.e., the responses and thoughts of jurists, as one of the sources of Template:Lang (written law), along with laws originating from magistrates, from the Senate, or from the emperor.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
A particularly well-known and highly influential example of such responsa was the Digesta (or Digests), in 90 books, the principal work of the prominent second century jurist Salvius Julianus. This was a systematic treatise on civil and praetorian law, consisting of responsa on real and hypothetical cases, cited by many later Roman legal writers.<ref>"Salvius Iulianus" in Adolf Berger, Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law, American Philosophical Society, 1953, p. 552</ref>
In the Catholic Church
[edit]In the Catholic Church, responsa are answers of the competent executive authority to specific questions (in Latin, dubia, literally "doubts") sent by Catholic bishops to the Holy See. Responsa given by the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts which are promulgated as authentic interpretation have the force of law as per canon 16 §2 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law. Other responsa cannot have this binding force, but nevertheless possess a high authority.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>
Some responsa are given in Notitiae,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the official journal of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (CDW). The responsa given in Notitiae are, according to the CDW, to be considered only as private responses unless they are published in official legal records of the Holy See.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
In Judaism
[edit]Template:Main Template:Further In rabbinic literature, the responsa are known as She'elot u-Teshuvot (Template:Langx "questions and answers"), and comprise the body of written decisions and rulings given by poskim ("deciders of Jewish law"). A modern term, used mainly for questions on the internet, is "Ask the rabbi".
In Islam
[edit]A similar use of responsa (here called fatwā) is found in Islam.<ref name=":1" />
See also
[edit]References
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Further readings
[edit]External links
[edit]- The Responsa Project
- Orthodox Responsa Index Template:In lang. Accessed October 22, 2012
- Masorti and Conservative Jewish responsa Template:In lang. Accessed October 22, 2012
- Topical index of non-binding Reform Jewish responsa