On the Origin, Essence and
Purpose of Law
The grammar of existence is bound up in the Law and it is and
always has been for us to read reality rightly, to hear rightly, to
speak rightly, and with human reason to discover the law by which
we are to live if we are to live out our intended purpose.
There is no conversation more necessary in the present age than
the dialogue on the meaning of law. It is in man’s nature to bind
himself to principles in the form of rules that guide human action.
These rules are the laws by which men choose to live by election
and political imposition.
Contrary to man’s nature, the modern age is witness to generations
of men battling fiercely for a kind of freedom seeking a liberation
from law, a law of lawlessness. Men bind themselves to the idea
that being bound to nothing is true freedom when it is really a
slavery to a false notion of freedom. In trying to liberate himself
from the law, man has become a law unto himself and the proper
end of that choice is the descent into the twilight of civilization.
Before the descent becomes irreversible, we ought to attempt to
recover a sense of the nature and order of law.
Language and Law are gifts from the Creator and they both have
their origins in what lies beyond time and space. Words are
intended to name things, real things, which are intended to point us
to the created order of real things and therefore to the Creator who
made them. Law is a vitally important concept that has its roots
bound up in the eternal mercy and justice of the Creator Himself.
At its deepest roots, the Law is unfathomable. Yet we must still
ask, what is law? We can find some of its etymological roots in the
Old English “lagu,” meaning ordinance, rule or regulation. In the
Old Norse, “lag” denoted law, layer, measure, stroke, literally
something laid down or fixed. These definitions make perfect
temporal sense as we consider the necessary rules and regulations
for society, but perhaps a deeper look at the Latin and Greek
origins of the word law will take us closer to its roots in the
transcendent.
There is an etymological relationship between the Latin “lex” and
the Greek “lex” which combines the notions of law with the
necessity of literacy. Our word “legal” comes from Latin through
the French and is related to words having to do with gathering and
in Latin is related to “legere,” to read and the Greek “legein”
which means to speak to someone else. The word law in Italian is
“legge” and “leggere” is to read and “leggenda” is, amongst other
things, the legend on a map signifying that necessary relationship
between rules that bind us to a proper reading of a map. There is
implicit in the deepest meanings of the word law a distinct element
of literacy, that literacy denoted by the Greek word “grammiticos”
as true literacy bound up in the rules of reading things rightly. The
grammar of existence is bound up in the Law and it is and always
has been for us to read reality rightly, to hear rightly, to speak
rightly, and with human reason to discover the law by which we
are to live if we are to live out our intended purpose.
It is worth considering that the concept of the law is deeply
complex even beyond its etymological roots and holds out for us
serious implications concerning our divine ends. In a discussion
grounded in reason intended to resuscitate the notion of law, it will
be helpful to turn to the Angelic Doctor. With unparalleled
common sense, St. Thomas Aquinas helps us to identify the
different types of law that govern the heavens and the earth, and
thereby, we will be armed with understanding that may help us
choose wisely to bind ourselves to the light of truth and eternity
instead of the falsity of this age.
God, not Man, is the Lawgiver
In Question 90 of the Summa Theologiæ, Aquinas explains that a
“law is a rule and measure of acts, whereby man is induced to act
or is restrained from acting.” That we live by rules and the concept
of law seems a basic fact easy to comprehend. Aquinas goes on to
explain that according to Aristotle, the concept of law “belongs to
reason to direct to the end, which is the first principle in all matters
of action.” He concludes that “law is something pertaining to
reason.” And since we are rational beings, it follows that upon the
discovery of certain governing principles we bind ourselves to
certain actions in accord with the reasonable ends those principles
predict. Our question then becomes, what is the source of the rules
we discover and to which we choose to bind ourselves?
Unfortunately, too often man sees himself as the arbiter of truth
and therefore the lawgiver. St. Thomas Aquinas would advise us to
identify God as the true source of all laws as he explains the nature
of the four laws.
The Four Laws
In Question 91 of the Summa, St. Thomas elucidates the Eternal
Law, Divine Law, Natural Law and human law. The overarching
and all-encompassing law is the Eternal Law. To discover the
Eternal Law requires an investigation into the very nature of God
Himself. It stands to reason that the creator of a thing has the
authority to promulgate the rules which govern it. God is the
Creator and it is rational to understand that from His very essence
and existence flow the governing principles of all that exists and
all we can know. Aquinas explains that it is evident that the world
is ruled by Divine Providence and that the whole community of the
universe is governed by Divine Reason. Therefore, God’s ruling of
the universe has the nature of law and by His Divine Reason, His
conceptions of things are outside of time and space and therefore
eternal. Being outside of time and space, the Eternal Law is the
Divine Source of all laws.
The Divine Law is the Eternal Law revealed to us, of which the
most complete revelation is by the incarnation of the Eternal Law
in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Eternal Law is also
revealed by the Old and New Testaments, the Magisterium and
Church Tradition. Divine Law is the divinely bestowed exposition
of the perfect Eternal Law and as Psalm 118 reminds us, “It is
better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in man.”
The Divine law is further praised in Psalm 19 when the psalmist
proclaims that “the law of the LORD is perfect, converting the
soul: the testimony of the Lord is faithful, giving wisdom to little
ones” The Divine Law allows “no foulness of sin because it directs
not only exterior acts, but also interior acts.” The Divine Law
directs man “to an end supernatural and Divine” by both internal
and external principles.
Aquinas explains that the Divine Law is necessary to direct human
conduct for four reasons.
• It is by law that man is directed in his actions properly in light of
his final end in eternal beatitude.
• Because of the uncertainty of human judgment evidenced by the
variances of human law, Divine Law is necessary so man
may know without a doubt what to do, while human law errs,
Divine Law does not.
• Man can judge in certain matters, but he is not competent to
judge the hearts of other men, and therefore cannot see all the
ends to particular human actions. Human law cannot
sufficiently direct interior acts.
• Human law cannot forbid or punish all evil deeds, and by trying
to do so it would have to eliminate many goods while trying
to get rid of evil, thus hindering the common good.
The Natural Law is man’s participation in the Eternal Law and
Aquinas explains that a person can participate in this Law in two
ways. Man can abide the law from without and follow the rule and
measure by external practice and a man can follow the Law from
within by moral discipline. “All things are subject to Divine
providence” and as such they are all measured by and subjected to
the rule of the Eternal Law. All things participate in some form
with the Eternal Law by virtue of the fact that the Creator has
imprinted His law in them. All things “derive their respective
inclination to their proper acts and ends” by His imprint. The
Psalmist says “the light of Thy countenance, O Lord, is signed
upon us,” and St. Thomas points out that this implies that “the light
of natural reason, whereby we discern what is good and what is
evil, which is the function of the natural law, is nothing else than
an imprint on us of the Divine light.” The Common Doctor
concludes that “the natural law is nothing else than the rational
creature’s participation of the eternal law.”
Finally, Aquinas describes the Human Law as “a dictate of
practical reason.” Human laws proceed from principles to
conclusions which we draw from “naturally known indemonstrable
principles.” We draw particular conclusions which are not gifted to
us by nature, but are acquired by the exercise of reason. What men
draw from general and indemonstrable principles by natural and
divine law, then becomes more specific determinations on certain
particular matters. Where Natural and Divine Law are embodied
by general principled truths, the human law is made up of explicit
determinations, devised by human reason.” Cicero said in his
Rhetoric that “justice has its source in nature; thence certain things
came into custom by reason of their utility; afterwards these things
which emanated from nature and were approved by custom, were
sanctioned by fear and reverence for the law.”
Eternal law is unchanging Truth, Divine law is its exposition by
revelation, Natural Law is man’s participation in the Eternal Law
written on our hearts and human law is particularly what we draw
out of the laws as “an ordinance of reason promulgated by the
proper authority for the common good” made and enforced by a
ruler or government. Aquinas leaves us with the warning that we
are not bound to obey laws made by humans which conflict with
natural law.
We have forgotten that literacy rightly understood is truly about
hearing with the human heart what is written upon it. The Eternal
Law inscribed on our hearts by God is the natural imprint we are
called to read and know if we are to live as we were divinely
intended.
In a proper examination of the law, we must return to the ancient
understanding that language has its roots in the Eternal Law and
therefore we must never fancy ourselves capable of plumbing its
depths to its exhaustive end. The final depths of the word law itself
spring from the ineffable and unfathomable Eternal God and its
branches and shoots extend from the imperceptible roots of eternal
truth to the guides, rules, measures and scales meant to be passed
on in good faith by the generations. This reading of the law is
meant to be read aloud in an echo of the voice of authority carried
by the breath of the Holy Spirit across the chasm of what divides
all human souls from one another. The law is expressed that it may
be heard by those with the “ears to hear.” We have forgotten that
literacy rightly understood is truly about hearing with the human
heart what is written upon it. The Eternal Law inscribed on our
hearts by God is the natural imprint we are called to read and know
if we are to live as we were divinely intended. May God grant us
all the humility to rightly read the Law and pass it on to our
children and neighbors that we might end face to face with God in
eternal beatitude which is the very end of the Eternal Law.
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About the Author
Steven Jonathan Rummelsburg is a Catholic convert, a catechist, a
school teacher, a Catholic writer and speaker on matters of Faith,
culture, and education. He holds a degree in History from the
University of California, Santa Barbara.
Steven is a Senior Contributor at The Imaginative Conservative, a
member of the Teacher Advisory Board and writer of curriculum at
the Sophia Institute for Teachers, a contributor to Crisis Magazine,
The Civilized Reader, The Standard Bearers, Catholic Exchange
and a founding member of the Brinklings Literary Club.