But law in the Biblical sense is none of those. It is not primarily enforced, and also it is not constraining nor is it harsh, and it does not dominate. Neither keeping nor escaping from the law are noble. Law expresses the ways in which Creation was and is designed to operate to bring Good for all so that it works well together. Paul understood this well.
In Matthew 5, Jesus said that not the slightest part of the law would disappear, and that he came to fulfil it. Then he went on to give half a dozen examples of that fulfilment. From this 'New View', we see God's intention being that all Creation will work well together (("Reality Rejoicing"). Law, then is that which enables that rejoicing, that working well together.
The reason why the Law was given (expressed in language) to Moses was so that God's people would know how to live as working well together with all Creation - and in a way that could provide structures of society. This working-well-together, however, involves not just rule-keeping but attitude. It is the attitudes behind each of the laws that Jesus brings out in Matthew 5.
See Brian McLaren's We Make the Road By Walking for an excellent exposition of Matthew 5 that says something akin to that.
Law as principle. The law is not concerned to constrain in detail, but it offers general principle to guide us towards what is healthy and good. "What is healthy and good" is what the Hebrew word shalom, the Arabic word salaam and the Greek word eudaimonia all signify, for which there is not single good English word. It is goodness in all its aspects,
whether biological health, responsiveness, clarity, skill and creativity, truthfulness, friendship and collaboration, frugality, harmony and enjoyment, justice, generosity, with courage and faithfulness. [1]
Law offers principles by which, freely, we can move towards this.
Law as authority. This is not the authority of the tyrant, but that of a loving God, who designs reality for rejoicing; or the shalom mentioned above. This rejoicing is no mere passive bliss, but an something active, dynamic, refreshing, satisfying to our full being, something that stretches us and challenges us but never treads us down. Part of this rejoicing is that we humans have the dignity of discovering how reality works well, including what its law-principles are. Part of the dignity is the possibility of evil rather than good -
disease rather than health, unresponsiveness, confusion rather than clarity, laziness and destruction rather than skill and creativity, deceit rather than truthfulness, enmity and isolation rather than friendship and collaboration, waste rather than frugality, discord and tedium rather than harmony and enjoyment, injustice, selfishness rather than generosity, cowardice and disloyalty rather than courage and faithfulness. [1]
We have to work out how these goods and evils manifested in each situation in which we find ourselves. However, we humans do not decide for ourselves what are the ultimate kinds of good and evil, and we do not have the authority to ignore one aspect or another, nor to elevate one aspect over others. When we do, other parts of Creation suffer. That is why law is authority. It gives us the dignity of responsibility.
Law as Enabling Power. Law does not just govern us and all Creation; it enables. We may see this in the law of gravity, which enables the planets to retain useful relationships with sources of light, heat and energy. But is also applies in the social spheres. It is the laws of sociality that enable sociality at all. It is in this sense that law is power: power that enables rather than dominates. Law is like meaningfulness, an ocean in which all reality "dwells" [].
Law as Promise. Law is not demand ("Thou shalt X! Thou shalt not Y!") but more like promise that if we function or act in a certain way in each aspect then that aspect's good is likely to occur. In abstract terms, we might understand law as:
WHEN Fa THEN Ga.
where Fa is functioning in an aspect, a, and Ga is a repercussion that is good according to that same aspect, a. Or, conversely,
WHEN Da THEN Ha.
where Da is dysfunction in an aspect, a, and a, and Ha is a harmful repercussion in that aspect.
Good and harm are different in each aspect, as indicated in the earlier list.
This enables considerable the multi-aspectual dignity of freedom and responsiveness in all creation.
Law is what enables dignity rather than robotics, and potential rather than determination.
Note 2. On Dwelling. The idea that we "dwell" in meaningfulness is mentioned in Michael Polanyi's lectures (Polanyi M, Prosch H, 1975; Meaning, Chicago University Press) and Herman Dooyeweerd's philosophy (Dooyeweerd H, 1955, A New Critique of Theoretical Thought, Paideia Press), and Basden's discussion of how they relate (Basden A, 2019, Dooyeweerd's understanding of meaning (1) Some main themes, Philosophia Reformata, 84(1), 102-25), where meaningfulness is seen metaphorically as an ocean in which all 'swims' and its link with law is discussed.
This page, URL= "http://abxn.org/nv/ .html",
is part of the on-going work in developing a 'New View' in theology and practice that is appropriate to the days that are coming upon us. Comments, queries welcome by emailing
Compiled by Andrew Basden as part of his reflections from a Christian perspective. Copyright (c) Andrew Basden to latest date below, but you may use this material for almost any purpose, but subject to certain conditions.
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