Returning to the Biblical Foundations of Law
The literally uncountable number of secular laws have become a crime in and of itself
When the U.S. House Judiciary Committee asked in 2013 for a current count for the number of criminal offenses (last tallied in 2008), the Congressional Research Service declined, stating they did not have the manpower and resources to do it. Todd Ruger, Way Too Many Criminal Laws, Lawyers Tell Congress, Legal Times (June 14, 2013).
Another attempt was made in 2020, failed, then again in 2021, “H.R. 5597 — 117th Congress: Count the Crimes to Cut Act of 2021” (last visited Feb. 19, 2023). Same result.
With the assistance of technology, Heritage Foundation estimated
There are about 4,500 federal crimes in the United States Code, and more than 300,000 federal crimes dispersed throughout federal regulations.
GianCarlo Canaparo and Zach Smith, Count the Crimes on the Federal Law Books. Then Cut Them (June 24, 2020)
Is an ever-changing society both the cause and a need for so many new laws? It is no longer popular to subscribe to the notion that the United States’ foundation stemmed from the founding fathers’ belief in God’s ultimate, unchanging authority. History is in the process of being re-written; some go so far as denying the Holocaust ever happened. David Williams, Rewriting History: Holocaust revisionism today, (2012).
It would behoove one to explore the work by Mark Belies and Douglas Anderson. They are the authors of Contending for the Constitution, which “present[s] their case that the Constitution is based on biblical principles and Christian influence.” Mark Belies and Douglas Anderson, Contending for the Constitution, (Providence Foundation eds. 2005). The authors identify several internal principles as a basis for America’s Constitution. Three of them are:
Man is of Divine Origin;
Man has individual value;
The source of individual rights is God, not government.
In the secular worldview, there is no God. However,
If there is no God, there is no intrinsic value of man for he comes from a random act of nature. In the secular worldview, man’s worth is defined by what value he can provide for the betterment of society.
If there is no God, then by what authority does man have to determine what is morally right or wrong?
Belies and Anderson, supra at 109 – 110.
Some consider the Constitution as a living document and believe in judicial activism:
“. . .when judges decline to apply the Constitution or laws according to their original public meaning or ignore binding precedent and instead decide cases based on personal preference” not God’s authority.
Elizabeth Slattery, How to Spot Judicial Activism: Three Recent Examples, The Heritage Foundation Legal Memorandum #96 on Legal Issues (June 13, 2013)
The Biblical worldview knows that God is love, and desires man know His law and order so that man may “obey and reap the blessings that flow from such obedience.” Roger Bern, A Biblical Model for Analysis of Issues of Law and Public Policy, 7 Regent U.L. Rev. 103 (1995). The Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, informs man that if God’s commandments are kept, and the ordained institutions of Family and Civil Government rule by those commandments, forever and always, then the fruits and blessings of God will be provided; survival is without question. id
From George Washington:
. . . [V]irtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, extends with more or less force to every species of free government . . .. Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct; and can it be, that good policy does not equally enjoin it - It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and at no distant period, a great nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence.
George Washington, Farewell Address (1796)
Expounding on the sensibility of the Biblical Model, Bern explains how God’s Law and law of man can and should work in tandem. This illustrates those of with a Biblical worldview entering into the area of law need to keep their faith separate.
The foundation . . . has been built is the belief that God the Creator is the source of all law, and that He has revealed His law order to mankind through the created word and through His written word, the Bible. . . [therefore] no human laws are of any validity if contrary to God's law, and that no human laws have any authority except as derived from that higher law… God has established other human institutions- the Family, Church, and Civil Government- that also have respective duties to God. It then sets forth basic relationships between the Individual and those institutions, noting the principle of limited jurisdiction for all created institutions. . . Each person is subject to the governing authorities when such authorities are acting within the jurisdiction granted to them by God.
id at 108, 118.
Rather than depend on man and the untold number of laws man has created, a return to Biblical basics of law can better serve the betterment of ourselves and fellowman. A model of positive and negative statutes can come from Christian Ethics, a work written by G. Coleman Luck:
Positive statutes
Love all, especially our brethren (John 15:17; Rom 12:10; 1 Cor 16:14; 1 Pet
1:22; 1 John 3:23; 4:7 {1 John 4:7}).
Be sympathetic and compassionate (Eph 4:32; Phil 2:4; Col 3:12).
Forgive and forbear (Rom 12:19; Eph 4:32; Col 3:13).
Deal honestly and fairly (Rom 12:17b; 13:7 {Rom 13:7}; 13:13 {Rom 13:13}; 1 Thess 4:12; Jas 2:1).
Do good to all and help all (Rom 12:13; Gal 6:2, 10; 1 Thess 5:15; Titus 3:1; Heb
13:16; Jas 4:17; 3 John 11).
Tell the truth (Eph 4:25).
Be courteous and live peaceably with all (Rom 12:18; 1 Pet 2:17; 3:8 {1 Pet
3:8}).
Treat others as we would like for them to treat us (Luke 6:31; Rom 12:17a).
Provide a good example for others (1 Cor 8:9, 13; Phil 2:15).
Urge brethren to good works and seek to restore backsliders (Gal 6:1; Heb 10:24).
Negative statutes
Do not lie or bear false witness (Eph 4:25; Col 3:9; Titus 2:3).
Do not steal (Eph 4:28; 1 Pet 4:15).
Do not murder (1 Pet 4:15).
Do not commit adultery or fornication (1 Cor 6:18; 1 Thess 4:13).
Do not judge others or speak evil of them (Rom 14:13; Titus 3:2; Jas 4:11; cf. John 7:24).
Do not be unequally yoked with an unbeliever (2 Cor 6:14).
Do not have fellowship with professing Christians who live in scandalous sin (1 Cor 5:11; 2 Thess 3:14).
Do not go to law with other believers (1 Cor 6:1).
Do not glory in men (1 Cor 3:21).
Avoid troublemakers and useless disputes (Rom 16:17; 2 Tim 2:23; Titus 3:12).
G. Coleman Luck, Christian Ethics, Bibliotheca Sacra 118:471 (July, 1961, Theological Electronic Library).
Ethical Reflections of Law
Romans 13:1-7 (NIV)
1 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. God has established the authorities that exist. 2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority?
Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4 For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. 6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
Deuteronomy 4:1-2 (KJV)
Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 2 Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you.
Proverbs 30:5-6 (KJV)
Every word of God is pure…. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
Daniel 5:17 (NLV)
For this has been decreed by the messengers; it is commanded by the holy ones, so that everyone may know that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world. He gives them to anyone he chooses--even to the lowliest of people.
Authors Note: This was a condensed version of my “Ethical Considerations of Law” for a Criminal Law Course at Liberty University in 2015.