Liberty, Chapter IV, 1

THAT THE LAW OF NATURE IS A DIVINE LAW

1 The natural and moral law is divine. 2. This is confirmed in Scripture generally. 3. In particular, concerning the fundamental law of nature, to seek peace. 4. Also concerning the first law of nature, to abolish the common possession of all things. 5. Also concerning the second law of nature, to keep faith. 6. Also concerning the third law, gratitude. 7. Also concerning the fourth law, to make ourselves useful. 8. Also concerning the fifth law, mercy. 9. Also concerning the sixth law, that punishment looks only to the future. 10. Also concerning the seventh law, slander. 11. Also concerning the eighth law, against pride. 12. Also concerning the ninth law, equity. 13. Also concerning the tenth law, against favoritism. 14. Also concerning the eleventh law, to hold in common things that cannot be divided. 15. Also concerning the twelfth law, to divide things by lot. 16. Also concerning the appointment of a judge. 17. Also concerning the seventeenth law, that arbitrators must receive no reward for their judgment. 18. Also concerning the eighteenth law, witnesses. 19. Also concerning the twentieth law, against drunkenness. 20. Also concerning what has been said of the eternity of the law of nature. 21. Also concerning the bearing of the laws of nature on conscience. 22. Also concerning the ease of observing the laws of nature. 23. Finally, concerning the rule by which a person may know at once whether an intended act violates the law of nature. 24. The law of Christ is the law of nature.

The natural and moral law is divine.

1 The law called natural and moral is also commonly called divine, and with good reason: both because reason, the law of nature, is given by God to every person as a rule for action, and because the precepts for living derived from it are the same as those delivered from the divine Majesty as the laws of his heavenly kingdom, through our Lord Jesus Christ and his holy prophets and apostles. What we have learned by reasoning about the law of nature above, therefore, we shall endeavor in this chapter to confirm from Holy Scripture.

This is confirmed in Scripture generally.

2 First, however, we shall show the passages declaring that divine law resides in right reason. Psalm xxxvii. 30, 31: “The mouth of the righteous will speak wisdom, and his tongue will speak of judgment: the law of God is in his heart.” Jeremiah xxx. 33: “I will put my law within them, and write it in their hearts.” Psalm xix. 7: “The law of the Lord is an undefiled law, converting the soul.” Verse 8: “The commandment of the Lord is pure, and gives light to the eyes.” Deuteron. xxx. 11: “This commandment, which I command you this day, is not hidden from you, nor is it far off,” etc. Verse 14: “But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may do it.” Psalm cxix. 34: “Give me understanding, and I shall keep your law.” Verse 105: “Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my paths.” Prov. ix. 10: “Knowledge of the holy is understanding.” Christ the lawgiver is himself called “the Word” (John i. 1). The same Christ is called “the true light that enlightens every person coming into the world” (verse 9). All these are descriptions of right reason, whose dictates, as we have shown, are the laws of nature.

In particular, concerning the fundamental law of nature, to seek peace.

3 That the rule we set down as the fundamental law of nature—namely, that peace must be sought—is also the sum of divine law will be evident from these passages. Rom. iii. 17: Righteousness, the sum of the law, is called “the way of peace.” Psalm lxxxv. 10: “Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” Matth. v. 9: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” And after St. Paul, in the sixth chapter of Hebrews, in the last verse, calls Christ, the lawgiver whose law we discuss, “a high priest forever after the order of Melchisedec,” he adds in the first verse of the following chapter: “This Melchisedec was king of Salem, priest of the most high God,” etc. Verse 2: “First, by interpretation, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, that is, king of peace.” Thus it is clear that Christ the King places righteousness and peace together in his kingdom. Psalm xxxiv. 14: “Avoid evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” Isaiah ix. 6, 7: “To us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall rest on his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” Isaiah lii. 7: “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings, who publishes peace, who brings good tidings of good, who publishes salvation, who says to Sion, Your God reigns!” Luke ii. 14: At Christ’s birth the voices of those praising God said, “Glory to God on high, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.” And in Isaiah liii. 5 the gospel is called “the chastisement of our peace.” In Isaiah lix. 8 righteousness is called the way of peace: “The way of peace they do not know, and there is no judgment in their paths.” Micah v. 4, 5, speaking of the Messiah, says: “He shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, and they shall remain; for now shall he be great to the ends of the earth; and this man shall be your peace,” etc. Prov. iii. 1, 2: “My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commandments; for length of days, and long life, and peace, they shall add to you.”

Also concerning the first law of nature, to abolish the common possession of all things.

4 As for the first law, which abolishes common ownership of all things and introduces mine and yours, we see first how great an enemy this common ownership is to peace in Abraham’s words to Lot (Gen. xiii. 8, 9): “Let there be no strife, I ask you, between you and me, and between your herdsmen and mine; for we are brothers. Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me, I ask you.” And every passage of Scripture forbidding us to trespass against our neighbors—as in “You shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal,” etc.—confirms the law distinguishing mine from yours, since these commands presuppose the abolition of every person’s right to everything.

Also concerning the second law of nature, to keep faith.

5 The same commandments establish the second law of nature, to keep faith. For what does “You shall not invade another’s right” mean, if not this: “You shall not take possession of what has ceased to be yours by your contract”? But the command is also stated expressly. In Psalm xv. 1, the question is asked, “Lord, who shall dwell in your tabernacle?” and answered in verse 4: “He who swears to his neighbor and does not disappoint him.” And Prov. vi. 12: “My son, if you stand surety for your friend, if you have pledged your hand to a stranger, you are snared by the words of your mouth.”

Also concerning the third law, gratitude.

6 The third law, concerning gratitude, is proved by these passages. Deut. xxv. 4: “You shall not muzzle the ox when it treads out the grain,” which St. Paul (1 Cor. ix. 9) interprets as applying to people and not only to oxen. Prov. xvii. 13: “Whoever repays evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house.” And Deut. xx. 10, 11: “When you approach a city to fight against it, offer it peace. And if it answers you with peace and opens to you, then all the people found in it shall pay tribute to you and serve you.” Prov. iii. 29: “Do not devise evil against your neighbor when he lives securely beside you.”

Also concerning the fourth law, to make ourselves useful.

7 These precepts accord with the fourth law, of accommodating ourselves to others. Exod. xxiii. 4, 5: “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey straying, you shall surely bring it back to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying beneath its load, and would hold back from helping him, you shall surely help him.” Also verse 9: “You shall not oppress a stranger.” Prov. iii. 30: “Do not quarrel with a man without cause if he has done you no harm.” Prov. xv. 18: “An angry man stirs up strife, but one slow to anger appeases strife.” Prov. xviii. 24: “There is a friend who clings closer than a brother.” The same law is confirmed in Luke x by the parable of the Samaritan, who had compassion on the Jew wounded by thieves, and by Christ’s precept (Matth. v. 39): “But I say to you, do not resist evil; whoever strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other to him as well.”

Also concerning the fifth law, mercy.

8 Among countless passages proving the fifth law are these. Matth. vi. 14, 15: “If you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yours.” Matth. xviii. 21, 22: “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus says to him, “I do not say up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven times”; that is, as often as it happens.

Also concerning the sixth law, that punishment looks only to the future.

9 All the passages commanding mercy bear on confirmation of the sixth law, among them Matth. v. 7: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” Levit. xix. 18: “You shall not take revenge or bear a grudge against the children of your people.” But some think that Scripture, far from proving this law, plainly disproves it: an eternal punishment is reserved for the wicked after death, when there can be neither amendment nor example. Some answer this objection by saying that God, whom no law restrains, refers everything to his glory, but man must not do so—as though God sought his glory, that is, took pleasure in a sinner’s death. A better answer is that eternal punishment was instituted before sin, and looked solely to deterring people from committing sin in the future.

Also concerning the seventh law, slander.

10 These words of Christ prove the seventh law (Matth. v. 22): “But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be liable to judgment; and whoever says to his brother, Racha, shall be liable to the council; but whoever says, You fool, shall be liable to hellfire.” Prov. x. 18: “He who utters slander is a fool.” Prov. xiv. 21: “He who despises his neighbor sins.” Prov. xv. 1: “Harsh words stir up anger.” Prov. xxii. 10: “Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out, and reproach shall cease.”

THE LAW OF NATURE IS A DIVINE LAW

1 Natural and moral law is divine. 2. Scripture confirms this in general. 3. It confirms the basic law of nature: seek peace. 4. It confirms the first law of nature: end common ownership of everything. 5. It confirms the second law: keep your word. 6. It confirms the third law: be grateful. 7. It confirms the fourth law: make yourself useful. 8. It confirms the fifth law: show mercy. 9. It confirms the sixth law: punishment looks only to the future. 10. It confirms the seventh law: do not slander. 11. It confirms the eighth law: do not be proud. 12. It confirms the ninth law: treat others fairly. 13. It confirms the tenth law: show no favoritism. 14. It confirms the eleventh law: share things that cannot be divided. 15. It confirms the twelfth law: divide things by lot. 16. It confirms the appointment of a judge. 17. It confirms the seventeenth law: arbitrators must take no payment for their decisions. 18. It confirms the eighteenth law: use witnesses. 19. It confirms the twentieth law: do not get drunk. 20. It also confirms that the law of nature is eternal. 21. It confirms that the laws of nature concern the conscience. 22. It confirms that the laws of nature are easy to follow. 23. Finally, it confirms the rule by which a person can immediately tell whether an intended action violates the law of nature. 24. The law of Christ is the law of nature.

Natural and moral law is divine.

1 The same law that is natural and moral is also called divine, with good reason. God has given every person reason, the law of nature, to guide their actions. And the rules for living that come from reason are the same rules delivered as the laws of God's heavenly kingdom by our Lord Jesus Christ and his holy prophets and apostles. So in this chapter we will try to confirm from Scripture what we established above through reasoning about the law of nature.

Scripture confirms this in general.

2 First, let us show passages saying that divine law resides in right reason. Psalm xxxvii. 30, 31: "The righteous person's mouth speaks wisdom, and their tongue speaks judgment. God's law is in their heart." Jeremiah xxx. 33: "I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts." Psalm xix. 7: "The Lord's law is pure and restores the soul." Verse 8: "The Lord's command is clear and gives light to the eyes." Deuteron. xxx. 11: "This command that I give you today is not hidden from you or far away," and so on. Verse. 14: "The word is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, so you can carry it out." Psalm cxix. 34: "Give me understanding, and I will keep your law." Verse 105: "Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path." Prov. ix. 10: "Knowledge of the holy is understanding." Christ, the lawgiver, is himself called "the Word" (John i. 1). The same Christ is called "the true light that enlightens everyone coming into the world" (verse 9). All these descriptions fit right reason, whose instructions, as we showed earlier, are the laws of nature.

The basic law of nature, seeking peace, is confirmed in particular.

3 These passages show that the rule we gave as the basic law of nature, that we must seek peace, is also the heart of divine law. Rom. iii. 17 calls righteousness, which sums up the law, "the way of peace." Psalm lxxxv. 10: "Righteousness and peace have kissed." Matth. v. 9: "Blessed are those who make peace, for they will be called God's children." St. Paul, in the last verse of his sixth chapter to the Hebrews, calls Christ, the legislator of the law we are discussing, "a high priest forever in the order of Melchisedec." He adds in the first verse of the next chapter: "This Melchisedec was king of Salem, priest of the most high God," and so on. Verse 2 says: "His name first means king of righteousness, and then king of Salem, meaning king of peace." Clearly, Christ the King places righteousness and peace together in his kingdom. Psalm xxxiv. 14: "Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it." Isaiah ix. 6, 7: "A child is born to us, a son is given to us; government will rest on his shoulder. He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah lii. 7: "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the one who brings good news, announces peace, brings good news of good, announces salvation, and says to Sion, 'Your God reigns!'" Luke ii. 14 records the voices praising God at Christ's birth: "Glory to God on high, and on earth peace and goodwill toward people." Isaiah liii. 5 calls the Gospel "the chastisement that brought us peace." Isaiah lix. 8 calls righteousness "the way of peace": "They do not know the way of peace, and there is no justice in their paths." Micah v. 4, 5 says of the Messiah: "He will stand and tend his flock in the Lord's strength, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. They will remain, for then he will be great to the ends of the earth; and this man will be your peace," and so on. Prov. iii. 1, 2: "My son, do not forget my law; keep my commands in your heart. They will add long life, many days, and peace to your life."

The first law of nature, ending common ownership of everything, is also confirmed.

4 The first law concerns ending common ownership of everything and establishing what is mine and what is yours. We can see how hostile common ownership is to peace from Abraham's words to Lot (Gen. xiii. 8, 9): "Please let there be no dispute between you and me, or between your herders and mine, for we are brothers. Isn't the whole land open to you? Please separate from me." Every passage of Scripture that forbids us to violate our neighbors' rights supports the law distinguishing mine from yours. For example: "You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal," and so on. These commands assume that everyone's right to everything has ended.

The second law of nature, keeping your word, is also confirmed.

5 The same commands establish the second law of nature, to keep faith. What does "You shall not violate another person's right" mean, if not "You shall not take something that your contract has made no longer yours"? This is also stated outright in Psalm xv. 1. When someone asks, "Lord, who will live in your dwelling?", the answer is given in verse 4: "The one who makes a promise to a neighbor and does not break it." Prov. vi. 12: "My son, if you have guaranteed a friend's debt or given your hand in pledge to a stranger, the words of your mouth have caught you in a trap."

The third law, gratitude, is also confirmed.

6 These passages prove the third law, concerning gratitude. Deut. xxv. 4: "Do not muzzle an ox as it treads out grain." St. Paul (1 Cor. ix. 9) interprets this as concerning people as well as oxen. Prov. xvii. 13: "If someone repays good with evil, evil will never leave that person's house." Deut. xx. 10, 11: "When you approach a city to attack it, offer it peace. If it answers with peace and opens its gates to you, everyone in it shall pay tribute and serve you." Prov. iii. 29: "Do not plan evil against your neighbor when that person lives near you in trust."

The fourth law, making ourselves useful, is also confirmed.

7 These instructions agree with the fourth law, that we should adapt ourselves to others. Exod. xxiii. 4, 5: "If you find your enemy's ox or donkey wandering away, you must bring it back. If you see the donkey of someone who hates you collapsed under its load, even if you would rather not help, you must help that person." Verse 9 says: "Do not oppress a stranger." Prov. iii. 30: "Do not quarrel with someone without cause, if that person has done you no harm." Prov. xv. 18: "An angry person starts a fight, but a patient person calms one." Prov. xviii. 24: "There is a friend who stays closer than a brother." Luke x confirms this with the parable of the Samaritan who had compassion for the Jew wounded by thieves. Christ also commands (Matth. v. 39): "I tell you not to resist evil. If someone strikes your right cheek, turn the other one toward that person too."

The fifth law, mercy, is also confirmed.

8 Countless passages prove the fifth law. Here are some. Matth. vi. 14, 15: "If you forgive people for their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive people, your Father will not forgive your offenses." Matth. xviii. 21, 22: "Lord, how often must I forgive my brother when he sins against me? As many as seven times?" Jesus answers: "I do not say seven times, but seventy times seven times." That means as often as it happens.

The sixth law, that punishment considers only the future, is also confirmed.

9 Every passage that commands mercy supports the sixth law. Matth. v. 7 says: "Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy." Levit. xix. 18: "Do not take revenge or hold a grudge against your people." But some think that Scripture, far from proving this law, plainly disproves it. After death, the wicked face eternal punishment, when they can no longer improve and cannot serve as an example. Some answer that no law restrains God, who directs everything to his own glory, though a person must not do the same. This makes it sound as though seeking glory meant that God took pleasure in a sinner's death. A better answer is that eternal punishment was instituted before sin occurred, solely to make people afraid to sin in the future.

The seventh law, against slander, is also confirmed.

10 Christ's words prove the seventh law (Matth. v. 22): "I tell you that anyone angry with a brother without cause risks judgment. Anyone who says 'Racha' to a brother risks being brought before the council. Anyone who says 'You fool' risks the fire of hell." Prov. x. 18: "Whoever spreads slander is a fool." Prov. xiv. 21: "Whoever despises a neighbor sins." Prov. xv. 1: "Harsh words provoke anger." Prov. xxii. 10: "Send away the mocker, and fighting will end, along with insults."