God & Divine Law

Natural law has its foundation in the will of God.

Jus naturale, sive lex naturalis, fundamentum habet in voluntate Dei.

Source: Blackstone, 1 Bl. Comm. 39; Kent, 1 Comm. 2; Weisman, 74f

The authority of natural law rests not on human enactment but on the will of the Creator — it precedes and supersedes all positive law.

The highest reason is that which acts in favor of religion.

Summa ratio est quae pro religione facit.

Source: Co. Litt. 341; Jackson 998

Where competing interpretations of law exist, the one that best accords with divine principle and the moral law is to be preferred.

To swear is to call God as witness, and is an act of divine worship.

Jurare est Deum in testem vocare, et est actus divini cultus.

Source: 3 Inst. 165; Jackson, No. 459; Weisman, 84j

The oath invokes the highest authority — the Almighty — as surety of truth, making perjury not only a civil offense but a transgression against the divine order.

Human things never prosper where divine things are neglected.

Nunquam prosperae res humanae ubi negliguntur divinae.

Source: Co. Litt. 15; Wing. Max. 2; Weisman, 49b

The common law rests on the premise that temporal order depends on reverence for the divine — a society that abandons its moral foundations invites its own destruction.

The Christian religion is a part of the common law of England.

Religio Christiana est pars juris communis Angliae.

Source: Lofft 327; Taylor's Case, 1 Vent. 293; 3 Keb. 607; Weisman, 49i

The common law historically recognized Christianity as part of its moral foundation — not as an established church, but as the source of the moral principles upon which the law was built.

No man warring for God should be troubled by secular business.

Nemo militans Deo implicetur negotiis secularibus.

Source: Co. Litt. 70; 2 Tim. 2:4; Weisman, 49j

Those devoted to religious ministry are, by ancient custom, exempt from certain temporal obligations — the law honors the separation between the sacred calling and worldly affairs.