I
MORAL
LAW
A What
is LAW? Law is a rule of action
that is established by authority.
Law applies to every kind of action, whether it belongs to matter or to
the mind, whether it is intelligent or unintelligent, whether it is free or
necessary.
1 Physical law is law
that naturally and automatically operates, whether it involves matter or
mind. Physical law does not involve
actions of our free will. Physical
law is the law of the material universe.
It is also the law of our mind as long as or mind is involuntary. (Involuntary: not done of one’s own free
will; an individual act that was not consciously chosen) All mental states or acts, which are not
free and sovereign acts of our will, must occur under, and be subject to,
physical law.
2 Moral law is a rule
that governs all our moral actions.
Anything that is moral deals with or relates to right and wrong. Moral law is capable of making the
distinction between right and wrong actions of conduct. Moral pertains to the discernment of
good and evil. Moral law is a
universal unchanging rule that proceeds from God’s divine intelligence to which
moral beings should conform that will protest the basic rights of all and bring
happiness to all. Moral law has
rewards and punishments. It is that
rule that all of us must willingly obey, and it is enforced by punishments equal
to the importance of the command.
Moral law is used for governing free and intelligent actions, not
automatic and unintelligent actions.
It is the law of freedom. It
directs the actions of our free will.
Moral law is also the rule for regulating everything that we choose or
will to do. Thus, moral law
controls everything that results from willful choices and conforms the actions
of our free will to its precept.
B The
most important attributes of moral law are: (Attribute: an inherent characteristic,
a quality associated with or belonging to a specific person, thing or,
duty.
1 Subjective. Moral law must be an idea of reason that
develops in our mind. It is an idea
of the course of action that we must take because we are moral agents. Moral law is the law developed or
revealed within us; and thus we become “a law to our self.” Our own reason tells us that we must
conform to God’s moral law. (Moral
agent: a creature capable of right and wrong action, or a being endowed with the
ability to perceive what is right and proper conduct in its various
relationships with the power of free choice and thus the moral agent is able to
be governed by truth addressed to his intelligence.)
2 Objective. Moral law may be regarded as a rule of
duty prescribed by God, and thus it is external to self (it originates outside
of us). When we look at moral law
this way, it is objective.
3 Free. Moral law must lie developed in our
reason, as a rule of duty that we should choose, will, or intend. However, it must not interfere with our
free will. Moral law cannot possess
so much force that it would make obedience to that law unavoidable. This would confuse moral law with
physical law.
4 Fit. Moral law must be the law of our human
nature, in other words, moral law must prescribe and require only those actions
of our will which are suitable to our nature and our relationships with one
another, and nothing more or less.
When the ground of moral law is the importance of the good of God and of
the universe, and the condition of our obligation is our nature and
relationships, then our reason affirms that choosing this good is important and
proper, and we should consecrate ourselves to promoting it.
5 Universal. If the conditions and circumstances are
the same, moral law must require the same things of every moral agent no matter
what world they are in.
6 Impartial. (Unprejudiced; no favoritism; just;
unbiased) Moral law is no respecter
of persons. It knows no privileged
classes. It demands the same thing
from everybody. Now, the same
course of outward conduct is not required from everybody; but everyone is
required to possess the same state of heart. Everyone shall have one ultimate purpose
in life, which is this: they shall consecrate themselves to the same end or
goal. (This end is our final
intention of purpose)
7 Practical. Anything that the law demands must be
possible. Anything that demands
something that is naturally impossible is not, and cannot be, moral law. The true definition of moral law
excludes the idea that it can, under any circumstances, demand something that
can’t be done. Such a demand could
not be according to our nature and relationships. It would be impossible for us to
obey. Therefore, moral law must
always be practical. To say that we
are unable to obey moral law is to talk nonsense.
8 Independent. True moral law must be independent of
any will. It does not, and cannot
originate in God’s will. It
eternally existed in His Divine reason.
God must willfully choose to obey moral law according to His nature. Moral law is just as independent of His
will as His own existence is. Every
moral agent, entirely independent of the will of God, must obey the moral
law. Nobody has the option to do
otherwise. All moral agents must
pursue a course of conduct that is suited to their nature and relationships
independently of the will of any other being. (Being: A moral agent. Existence. The complex of physical and
spiritual qualities that constitute an individual.)
9 Immutable. Moral law can never change or be
changed. Moral law always requires
a state of heart and course of conduct that is precisely suited to the nature
and relationships of the moral agent.
Whatever our nature, our capacity, and our relationships are, moral law
must completely conform to them.
The requirements of the moral law is tempered by how much we are able to
understand our nature, our capacity, and our relationships. This is what is required, and nothing
more or less than this is required.
Increasing our capacity to obey does not make us able to do more than the
law demands; for the law still, as always, requires the full consecration of our
whole being to loving God and our neighbor. If by any means whatever, our ability
decreases, moral law, because it is always consistent with itself, only requires
what is left. We cannot consecrate
anything more or less to the same end.
Whatever demands more or less then entire, universal, and constant
conformity of our heart and life (based on our nature, capacity and
relationships), cannot be moral law.
Therefore, if our capacity decreases, we don’t become incapable of
rendering full obedience. The law
still demands and urges, that our heart and life shall be fully conformed to our
present existing nature, capacity, and relationships. Moral law never changes its
requirement. “You shall love”
(Deut. 6:5) is its only demand.
This demand never varies, and never can vary. It is as unchanging as God is. To talk of changing moral law, is to
talk foolishly. No being has the
right or the power to change moral law because moral law is not a statute that
originates in the will of any being.
Moral law is the law of human nature. Moral law is the law that the nature or
constitution of every moral agent imposes on himself and which God imposes on us
because it is entirely suited to our nature and relationships, and therefore we
must obey it. It is the unchanging
demand of our reason, that our whole being, whatever there is of it at any time,
shall be consecrated to the highest good of the universe, and for this reason
God requires this of us, with all the weight of His authority. (Constitution: the structure,
composition, physical make-up or nature of something; the physical make-up of
the individual comprising inherited qualities.
10 One. Moral law proposes only one ultimate end
for us to pursue. This applies to
God, and to all moral agents. All
the requirements of moral law, in spirit, are summed up and expressed in one
word, love. Moral law is a pure and
simple idea of our reason. It is
the idea of perfect, universal, and constant consecration of our whole being to
the highest good of God and our neighbor.
11 Useful. Something that is most wise is
useful. Moral law demands something
that is useful or appropriate. True
usefulness is the spirit of moral law.
Usefulness may be inconsistent with the letter of the law, but it is
never inconsistent with the spirit of moral law. Law in the form of a commandment is a
revelation or declaration of that course of action which is appropriate. The Sermon on the Mount is an excellent
example of the usefulness of the law that is revealed to us. This is also true for every command in
the Bible; it reveals to us what is appropriate or useful. A revealed law or commandment is never
to be set aside by what we think is appropriate. What the law requires is useful. The command is the expressed judgment of
God in a situation, and reveals with unerring certainty the true path of
usefulness. When Paul says, “All
things are lawful to me, but all things are not expedient” (1 Cor. 6:12), he
meant that many things were not useful that the letter of the law does not
prohibit, while the spirit of the law allows many things that the letter of the
law clearly forbids. Never forget
that those things, which the highest good of the universe clearly demands, are
law. They are useful. They are wise. The true spirit of the moral law demands
them. Therefore, whatever is
clearly inconsistent with the highest good of the universe is illegal, unwise,
useless, and must be prohibited by the spirit of moral law. Since the commandments of the Bible
always reveal to us something that is truly useful, we are not free to set aside
the spirit of any commandment because we assume that it may not appear
useful.
Some have denounced
the doctrine of usefulness altogether, saying that it is inconsistent with
the law of right. These
philosophers proceed on the assumption that the law of right and the law of
unselfish willful love are inconsistent with each other. This is a common but fundamental
error, which leads me to say that: Law proposes the highest good of God, our
neighbor, and the universe as its end, and requires all moral agents to
consecrate themselves to promote this end.
As a result, moral law must be useful. Moral law must demand something that is,
in the highest degree, most useful in this world. Moral law must, from its own nature,
require that path of willing and doing that is, overall, the most useful. Some have strangely and absurdly
maintained that we must do what is right even if it results in universal and
perfect misery. Nonsense! That is saying that the law of right and
the law of good will are not only separate, but they may be opposed to each
other. It also assumes that
something can be law that is not suited to our nature and relationships. Certainly any course of willing and
doing that results in universal misery cannot be consistent with the nature and
relationships of moral agents.
Nothing is or can be suited to our nature and relationships, which does
not, overall, promote our highest good.
Usefulness and right are always one. They are always consistent. Something that is most useful is right,
and something that is right is useful.
12 Exclusive. Moral law is the only possible rule of
moral obligation. A distinction is
often conveniently made between moral, ceremonial, civil, and positive
laws. (Civil: of or relating to the
state of its citizens.) This can be
misleading. This can create an
impression that something can be law that does not have the attributes of moral
law. Nothing can be law that would
not be universally required of all moral agents under the same
circumstances. It is law only
because the course prescribed is fit, proper, and suitable to our natures,
relationships, and circumstances.
There can be no other rule of action for moral agents but moral law, or
the law of unselfish love. Every
other rule is excluded by the very nature of moral law. Surely the only law that we must obey is
one that is suited to, and based on our nature, relationships, and
circumstances. This is and must be
the law of unselfish love. This is
the law of right, and nothing else is or can be. Everything else that claims to be law,
and imposes an obligation on moral agents, must be wrong and “a thing of naught”
(Isaiah 29:21)