Politics in Minutes (2016)

The laws of God and the laws of Man

One of the roles of religion in society is to provide a moral code and a set of rules for behaviour, such as the Ten Commandments. These, for believers, are the laws that God has revealed to us and, as such, have divine authority. In contrast, the laws decided by governments are man-made and, for the believer, lack the same authority. Reconciling conflicting earthly and divine laws became more of a problem as societies developed political systems separate from their religions.

This was particularly true in the medieval Christian world, where the Catholic church was intricately involved in political power. Christian philosophers suggested that man-made laws do have authority over earthly affairs, but that divine laws presented the overarching spiritual code; man’s law is a part of God’s creation, and so supplements, rather than contradicts God’s immutable law. This solution gave governments some authority, while the Church - as the moral arbiter that shaped its laws - was not excluded from political affairs.