The Problem of the Divine Law in Christian Ethics

2019 ◽  
pp. 11-33
Author(s):  
Gifford A. Grobien
Keyword(s):  
Christian Ethics ◽  
Good Will ◽  
The Law ◽  
God's Call ◽  
Divine Law ◽  
Will Of God

This chapter begins with an overview of the meaning of the term “law,” in order to give background to Lutheran disputes over the term. Starting with the work of J. C. K. von Hofmann, scholars have disagreed over Luther and later Lutherans view of the law. Many suggest that Luther understood the law as God’s call to repentance, existentially experienced, so that it could not be used to teach the good will of God, but only to accuse people of sin, excluding the law from ethics. In spite of the efforts of other scholars such as Werner Elert, who argued that Luther and the Lutheran Confessions are in agreement, resolving the underlying tension over whether the law may be used for instruction requires clarification of the meaning of Christian righteousness, and how the law relates to righteousness.

scholarly journals Ethical Turn in Legal Analogy

2022 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 159-182
Author(s):  
Felicitas Opwis
Keyword(s):  
Human Existence ◽  
Ethical Content ◽  
The Law ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Lasting Influence ◽  
The Way ◽  
Divine Law

Al-Ghazālī’s articulation that the purposes of the divine Law (maqāṣid al-sharīʿa) are to attain maṣlaḥa for the five necessary elements of human existence was not only novel but had long-lasting influence on the way Muslim jurists understood the procedure of analogy (qiyās). The correctness of the ratio legis was determinable by its consequences in bringing about maṣlaḥa. This shift was possible only by intellectual shifts in understanding the relationship between ethics and law. This paper traces the development in conceptions of ethics and its impact on the procedure of analogy in three 5th/11th century predecessors of al-Ghazālī, namely al-Baṣrī, al-Dabbūsī, and al-Juwaynī. It shows that al-Ghazālī’s definition of the purposes of the Law was developed based on previous conceptual shifts in the ratio legis from being a sign for the ruling to reflecting the ethical content of the divine injunction.

scholarly journals Ezekiel 18 and Human rights

2000 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
H.F. Van Rooy
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Holiness Code ◽  
Book Of The Covenant ◽  
The Will ◽  
Divine Punishment ◽  
Divine Law ◽  
Will Of God

In South Africa the debate on Human Rights gained new impetus after the implementation of the interim constitution in 1994, followed by the new constitution in 1996, containing a charter of fundamental Human Rights. The question to be answered by this paper is whether Ezekiel 18 can contribute to this debate. This paper firstly discusses the question whether the Old Testament can be used in the debate on Human Rights. This is followed by a discussion of Ezekiel 18, with emphasis on the transgressions listed in this chapter in their Israelite context. Many of these injunctions are related to the laws of Deuteronomy, the Book of the Covenant and the Holiness Code. These injunctions are studied against the background of Israelite law in general and the three codes mentioned above in particular. Finally, the implications of Ezekiel 18 for the issue of Human Rights are discussed. The violation of rights of people guaranteed by divine law is seen as one of the major causes of divine punishment. God's law was meant to create a society found on justice. An unjust society is in contradiction to the will of God, according to Ezekiel 18. The implications of this view for the debate on Human Rights in South Africa need to be taken into consideration.

The Flexibility of Torah

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Hayes
Keyword(s):  
Human Beings ◽  
Natural Evolution ◽  
The Law ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Divine Law

This chapter examines sources that shed light on a variety of issues bearing on the question of the flexibility of the divine law of Israel according to the talmudic rabbis. In many of these sources, the Law is seen to be susceptible to change through rational adjustments by humans. The rhetoric surrounding human adjustment of the Law varies. In some passages these adjustments are represented as a kind of natural evolution justified by values and commitments internal to the system. In some passages, however, they are represented as interventions based on values and commitments external to the system, raising important questions about the agency and authority of human beings in a system of divine law. On what grounds do humans modify the Law? How is it that rational modification of the Law and the implied fallibility of the divine lawgiver do not impinge upon the Law's divinity in the eyes of the rabbis?

The Law and the Prophets

2019 ◽  
pp. 274-288
Author(s):  
Stephen L. Cook
Keyword(s):  
Max Weber ◽  
Eighth Century ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Law ◽  
Divine Law

Recent research is overturning the view of modernist scholarship since Wellhausen that written, priestly legislation arose subsequent to pre-exilic prophecy. It now appears that the tradition of revealed law in Israel antedates even eighth-century prophets like Hosea. Not only oral traditions of divine law but also bodies of written priestly law are pre-exilic in origin. These corpuses, including codes within Deuteronomy and H (the texts of the Holiness School), informed prophets such as Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Ideal distinctions, such as those of Max Weber, between priestly lawgivers and charismatic prophets are unhelpful in understanding these priestly prophets and they obstruct progress in investigating the legislative dimensions of Prophecy and the prophetic dimensions of the Torah. The key hermeneutical question of the core theological place of law and prophecy within Scripture is still debated, but a picture is emerging of the pair as conversation partners set in dialogic equilibrium by canonical shaping.

scholarly journals The Islamic State: The Real Islam?

2019 ◽  
pp. 20-30
Author(s):  
Antonio Alonso Marcos ◽  
Samir Khalil Samir
Keyword(s):  
Islamic State ◽  
The Real ◽  
Spiritual Leader ◽  
Political Project ◽  
The Law ◽  
Divine Law

From the origins of the Muslim religion, Muhammad was both military and spiritual leader. His political project was materialized in the form of an Islamic state, where the law was the divine law. Throughout the centuries, this caliphate has been established in different places and in different ways. In June 2014, it was proclaimed in the Sham, in Iraq and Syria. It should be asked if this model of Islamic State is the real one and whether the violence is consubstantial to Islam or it can get away with it.

Biblical Discourses of Law

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Hayes
Keyword(s):  
Natural Law ◽  
Positive Law ◽  
Divine Wisdom ◽  
Divine Will ◽  
The Law ◽  
Biblical Texts ◽  
Divine Law

This chapter describes biblical discourses of divine law. It begins by examining those biblical texts that emphasize the emergence of divine law from the divine will. These texts stand as resources for later readers who seek to construe biblical divine law as positive law. It then turns to texts that emphasize elements of divine wisdom in the Law. These texts stand as resources for later readers who seek to construe biblical divine law in terms of natural law. Finally, it examines texts that narrate the historical circumstances under which this multifaceted law came into being and its role in the divine plan for Israel and humankind.

Natural & Divine Law: Reclaiming the Tradition for Christian Ethics

2001 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 603-607
Author(s):  
R. Scott Smith ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Christian Ethics ◽  
Divine Law
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