St. Thomas’ Analysis of the Nature and Kinds of Law

St. Thomas’ Analysis of the Nature and Kinds of Law

I.          Essence and Nature of Law

    A. Definition: law is an ordinance of reason for the common good and promulgated by the person who has care for the community

    B. Elements:

        1. Ordinance of reason (formal cause): this means the law must be based on the insight of reason into the value. It must be reasonable.

        2. For the common good (final cause): It must have as its goal the value lying in the good of the community upon which it is imposed.

        3. By the person who has the care of the community (efficient cause): only those ordinances have the force of law which are imposed by competent or legitimate authority

        4. Promulgated: that is, the law must be known or promulgated

II.        Division of Law

1.      In respect to the author, law is either divine or human depending whether it is instituted by God or by man. Divine law if further divided into eternal, natural and positive.

2.      In respect to the object, law is either affirmative or negative, in so far as it is either enjoins or forbids some actions.

III.       Divine Law

1.      Eternal Law: The existence of eternal law is deduced from the fact that the world is ruled by divine providence. The plan of providence rest upon eternal, universal principles existing eternally in God for the direction of all actions and movements to their proper end. This comprises the eternal. This law is eternal because it exist in the mind of God. This plan, therefore, is truly law.

2.      Definition: According to St. Thomas. Eternal law is the plan flowing from God’s wisdom directing all actions and movements. According to St. Augustine, eternal law is the divine reason and /or will of God Himself commanding the preservation of the natural law and forbidding its disturbance.

3.      The eternal has all the elements of a true law:

a.      It is eternal and unchangeable as the author Himself, God. As part of the divine plan, eternal law existing from all eternity in the mind of God even before the creation of the universe.

b.     It is absolutely universal for its rules all things and actions, either free, contingent or necessary.

IV.       Natural Law

1.      Existence:

a.      As biblical proof, Rom. 2:14-16 clearly enunciates:

                                i.     That the pagans who had no Mosaic law knew and observed certain precepts of the natural law;

                              ii.     That this law is written in the heart of each and every man;

                             iii.     That on the Day of Judgment God will judge according to this law.

b.     According to the church Magisterium, Leo XIII in his encyclical Praestantissimum (Jun 20, 1888) states that such is the supreme law of all, the natural law which is imprinted and engraved on the heart of all men.”

2.      Definition: St. Thomas – natural law is nothing else than the rational creatures’ participation in the eternal law. This definition of natural law includes all the elements pertaining to the definition of law in general. This participation as produced by God is natural objectively considered; as known by man it is natural law subjectively received. It is termed natural law because:

a.      Man is subject to it from the moment of his birth;

b.     It contains only those precepts which are derived from the very nature of man;

c.      It can be grasped by the natural light of man’s reason without the aid of divine or human authority.

3.      Concept of Natural Law

a.      Natural law is that moral order which is knowable by sound human reason without the aid of supernatural revelation.

4.      Subjects of Natural Law

a.      All men are subjects of natural law, no matter when or where they live. Therefore even the children and insane are subjects of natural law and in consequence it is wrong entice them t trespass it.

5.      Object of Natural law

a.      The object of natural; law is the moral order as known by human reason and which has to be observed by man.

6.      The Precepts of Natural law

There are three types of precepts in the natural law

a.      Primary precepts: are those which promote the principle ends of nature either by imposing acts which attain them, e.g. since bodily health is a primary goal of nature, the excess both of gluttony or starvation is prohibited by a primary precept of the natural law; they obstruct the primary goal of nature. They are the most universal precepts.

b.     Secondary precepts: either promote the subordinate goals of nature or facilitate the attainment of its primary goals. Thus, gluttony and starvation with a man’s capacity to work properly which is a subordinate goal of natural. They are easily recognized by all men.

c.      Remote conclusion: deduced by man’s reason with varying degree of difficulty from the primary and the secondary precepts, e.g. direct abortion is always forbidden. The basic precept of the natural law, “Do good and avoid evil”, is the root which is definite precepts and prohibition grow as a person advances in awareness of things and recognizes their goal or their end. The natural law embraces all these directives. The natural indicates and directs man’s inclination to act in accordance with reason. Hence, since all virtues are in accord with reason, we may say that all virtues are prescribed by the natural law.

7.      Properties of Natural Law

a.      It is Universal: The natural law is one and the same to all men of all times and places.

b.     It is obligatory: fro it imposes upon man the moral obligation to follow it as a necessary condition to attain the last end or happiness.

c.      It is recognizable: for it cannot fail to be known and it cannot be forgotten by man, for it is impressed in his reason.

d.     It is immutable or unchangeable: for it shares in the immutability of the eternal law. The natural law cannot be abrogated, dispensed or given a mandatory interpretation. But there cases of physical or moral impossibility in which non-observance of the law excuses from guilt.

8.      Ignorance of the law

a.      In respect to the primary precepts, ignorance is impossible in an man who in complete use of reason, since these principles are abundantly clear.

b.     In respect to the remote conclusions, ignorance is impossible not only in uneducated person but also in the learned, so it is possible to be ignorant that natural law forbids the dissolution of all through marriages

V.        Effects of law

1.      Moral goodness – the proper effect of law is to lead it subjects to their proper virtue; and since virtue is that which makes its subject good, it follows that the proper effect of law is to make those to whom it is given good.

2.      Moral Obligation – the precepts of law are concerned with human acts in which the law directs. These acts are either good generally, as for example, acts of virtue, and in respect of the acts of the law is a precept of command, for the law commands all acts of virtue. Some are evil generically, as for example, acts of vice and in respect of these, the law forbids. All acts that are either distinctively good or not distinctively bad may be called indifferent. And it is in the fear of punishment that law makes use of in order to ensure obedience in which respect punishment is an effect of law.

VI.       Positive law in moral Perspective

1.      Law in sacred scriptures

a.      Law in the Old Testament

                                i.          In general: law is closely connected with O.T. themes (main): covenant/alliance with God. The framework of the Jewish law are concretized in:

1.      Decalogue

2.      Code of Covenant

3.      Ritual of dialogue

4.      Deuteronomic code

5.      Code of holiness

                              ii.        Content – Three kinds of law:

1.      Moral law: they essentially constitute the revelation of natural law. They are moral laws summed up in the new Decalogue. Its binding force rest in the nature of man who has reason and can grasp these laws

2.      Ritual or ceremonial laws: They regulated the cult and worship of the people of Israel. These were abolished when Christ came.

3.      Juridical: regulated the interpersonal social relations which are ordered to the realization of justice. These were also replaced by the law of Christ.

                             iii.          Obligations: O.T. laws did not oblige because they were just preparatory for the coming of Christ. They did not have unconditional validity as in the toleration of the Sabbath. He gave little importance in the external purity. Ritual and juridical laws lost its obligation in Christ coming. Man now becomes an absolute value in the Christian community. The center of morality lies in the hearts of man and not on the law.

b.     Law in the New Testament

                                i.          Jesus and law: simplified into three propositions:

1.      Jesus rejects the precepts of man and the tradition of man.

2.      He did not abolish the law taken as a whole, but brings it into perfection

3.      He supplants the law through his mediatorship

                              ii.          St. Paul and the New Law

1.      St. Paul declares null and void the Old Law with regard to salvation. Salvation comes only through Christ.

2.      He admits that the old law is good in itself but it could not save man by itself.

3.      It can be a teacher or guide. It is a help to go to Christ-pedagogy.

4.      The frameworks of Paul’s teachings is the cross of Christ. The cross of Christ is the authentic fulfillment of the law.

5.      It must be observed because to refuse obedience to the law is to be hostile to God.

c.      The New Law: The law of Christ – the law of the Spirit of Christ.

                           i.     Ontologically: grace making us children of God.

                         ii.     Ethically: indwelling of the Holy Spirit to any soul baptized.

                        iii.     The new law entails the imitation in the concrete and central aspect of charity. Love is the nucleus of the new law. It does not annul the validity of all other virtues.

2.      Theological Reflection of the New Law

a.      Nature of the law:

                                i.          It is primarily a valid law of grace. Promulgated by Christ, contained radically in the New Testament and in tradition, and it demands a radical obligation as a consequence of baptism.

                              ii.          It is grace of the Holy Spirit given to us through Christ. As a grace, it justifies man but as written, it does not justify, although it helps. The gospel itself does not give grace, it is grace as a gift.

b.     Contents of the new law

                                i.          The main content is that some human acts are commanded

                              ii.          Some are forbidden

                             iii.          The interior life is regulated by the gospel

                             iv.          The life of grace manifest the work of love.

c.      Counsel and precepts: the former is left to the choice of the one to whom it is given. The latter implies the command. Old Laws-these there are counsel. The precepts of the law are those things necessary to attain the end. They are required while counsels are not obligatory. They are just for the better ways whereby man can attain his end. We need the laws to guide, direct us to the law of the spirit.

3.      Sense and Characteristics

a.      The new law is the law of grace of the Spirit, hence, it is an internal

obligation. Therefore, the significance of external laws and their meaning are always evaluated according to internal law. If they lead to the law of the Spirit, they are good. We are sinners therefore, we need laws.

Pedagogy of the Spirit: The law leads us to freedom of the spirit. It is a teacher, an explicitation of the law of the Spirit.

Required to guarantee the new law of the community. It helps to live according to the new Laws.

b.     Characteristics of the New Law as external Law:

                                i.          These laws has secondary characteristic ( primary grace and Spirit of Christ)

                              ii.          They must be expressions of moral norms and values

                             iii.          There should be a tendency not to prescribe many things

                             iv.          These laws has to be practiced from the interior of the person

VII. Natural law in Moral Theology

      St. Thomas holds that natural law is an internal law. It is within us not as something external.

1.      The natural law is part of the vision of Christian realism which is opposed to legalism’s subjectivism. It involves the capacity to listen and to learn in dialogue with others, with a vivid sense of the continuity of life. This attitude fits easily into the great dimensions of the history of salvation and revelation.

2.      The situation of the person does not change the thing nor the external law but judge as wrong or right because it is attuned to our personal or historical experiences

3.      We must be extremely careful about our own identity as Christians. Not thought, no word, and no theory must disown our faith that God has reveled Himself fuller in Jesus Christ. Everything God has created is created in that Word who in the fullness of time has taken our human nature. And there is something specific in the history of Israel by which God has prepared humanity for this fullness of revelation that comes in Jesus Christ alone.

4.      What is most needed today is a distinctively Christian vision of the natural law-one that is seen within the law of Christ. This Christian vision is needed also in view of the Church’s dialogue with the modern world, where the first necessity is our Christian identity.

Reference: UST-STB Comprehensive Examination Reviewer