{{Short description|Law perceived as deriving from a transcendent source}} {{Catholic Church sidebar |background}} '''Divine law''' is any body of law that is perceived as deriving from a transcendent source, such as the will of God or gods{{snd}}in contrast to man-made law or to secular law. According to Angelos Chaniotis and Rudolph F. Peters, divine laws are typically perceived as superior to man-made laws,{{sfn|Chaniotis|1996|p= 85}}{{sfn|Peters|1988|p= 244}} sometimes due to an assumption that their source has resources beyond human knowledge and human reason.{{sfn|Chaniotis|1996|p= 86}} Believers in divine laws might accord them greater authority than other laws,{{sfn|Anghie|1996|p= 323}}{{sfn|Molano|2009|p= 212}}{{sfn|Peters|1988|p= 244}} for example by assuming that divine law cannot be changed by human authorities.{{sfn|Peters|1988|p= 244}} An example are the Ten Commandments.
According to Chaniotis, divine laws are noted for their apparent inflexibility.{{sfn|Chaniotis|1996|p= 67}} The introduction of interpretation into divine law is a controversial issue, since believers place high significance on adhering to the law precisely.{{sfn|Chaniotis|1996|p=75}} Opponents to the application of divine law typically deny that it is purely divine and point out human influences in the law. These opponents characterize such laws as belonging to a particular cultural tradition. Conversely, adherents of divine law are sometimes reluctant to adapt inflexible divine laws to cultural contexts.{{sfn|Peters|1988|p=244f}}
Medieval Christianity assumed the existence of three kinds of laws: divine law, natural law, and man-made law.{{sfn|Anghie|1996|p= 323}} Theologians have substantially debated the scope of natural law, with the Enlightenment encouraging greater use of reason and expanding the scope of natural law and marginalizing divine law in a process of secularization.{{sfn|Anghie|1996|p= 323f}} Since the authority of divine law is rooted in its source, the origins and transmission-history of divine law are important.{{sfn | Weiss | 2010 |loc= Part II. The Indicators of God's Law}}{{efn|See, for example, in Judaism Biblical Mount Sinai, Shavuot#Giving of the Torah, Yitro (parsha), and the Letter of Aristeas. And note disputes over Biblical canonicity.}}
Conflicts frequently arise between secular understandings of justice or morality and divine law.{{sfn|Chaniotis|1996|pp=65–66|ps=: In Euripides' ''Ion'' [...] [t]he distinction between the secular ''nomos'' which condemns the assailant and the divine ''themis'' which protects the suppliant, regardless of the crime he has committed, is clear; equally clear is Ion's condamnation [sic] of this indifference of the divine law towards the suppliants, righteous and unrighteous alike.}}{{sfn|Chaniotis|1996|p= 69}}
Religious law, such as canon law, includes both divine law and additional interpretations, logical extensions, and traditions.{{sfn|Molano|2009|p= 212}}
==See also== * Biblical law in Christianity * Dharma * Halakha * {{section link|Glossary of ancient Roman religion|ius divinum}} * Law and religion * Mitzvah * Morality and religion * Regulative principle of worship, debate over the scope of divine law in 17th-century English Christian practices * Rule according to higher law * Sharia, Islamic law * Ten Commandments * Theocracy
== Notes == {{notelist}}
== Citations == {{Reflist|20em}}
== References == {{refbegin}}
* {{cite journal |last=Anghie |first=Antony |year=1996 |title=Francisco de Vitoria and the colonial origins of international law |journal=Social & Legal Studies |publisher=SAGE |volume=5 |issue=3 |issn=0964-6639 |doi=10.1177/096466399600500303 |pages=321–336 |s2cid=143123584 |url=http://dergipark.org.tr/iumhmohb/issue/23903/254745 }} * {{cite journal |last=Peters |first=Rudolph F. |author-link=Rudolph F. Peters |year=1988 |title=Divine Law or Man-Made Law-Egypt and the Application of the Shari'a |journal=Arab Law Quarterly |volume=3 |pages=231–253 |number=3 |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/arablq3&i=254 |doi=10.1163/157302588X00281 |url-access=subscription }} * {{cite journal |last=Chaniotis |first=Angelos |author-link=Angelos Chaniotis |year=1996 |title=Conflicting authorities: Greek asylia between secular and divine law in the Classical and Hellenistic poleis |journal=Kernos |volume=9 |pages=65–86 |doi=10.4000/kernos.1157 |url=http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/propylaeumdok/322/1/Chaniotis_conflicting_authorities_1996.pdf }} * {{cite journal |last=Molano |first=E. |year=2009 |title=Divine Law and Constitutional Canonical Law |journal=Ius Canonicum |volume=49 |pages=195–212 |doi=10.15581/016.49.14159 |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/iuscan49&i=211 |hdl=10171/34562 |hdl-access=free }} * {{cite book | last=Weiss | first=Bernard | title=The search for God's law : Islamic jurisprudence in the writings of Sayf al-Dīn al-Āmidi | publisher=University Of Utah Press International Institute of Islamic Thought | location=Salt Lake City Herndon, Va | year=2010 | isbn=978-0-87480-938-1 | oclc=758391490 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/book/41475}} {{refend}}
== Further reading == {{refbegin}} * Canosa, J. (2009). The Efficacy of the Divine Law in the Administrative Justice in the Church. Ius Canonicum, 49, 549. https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/iuscan49&i=555 * {{cite journal |last=Martinez |first=F. |year=2005 |title=La Superioridad Del Derecho Divino En El Pensamiento Pregracianeo: Una Vision De Las Colecciones Canonicas Medievales |trans-title=The Superiority of the Divine Law in Pre-Gratian Thought: A Perspective of the Medieval Canonical Collection |journal=Ius Canonicum |volume=45 |page=183ff |language=es |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/iuscan45&i=182}} * McCall, B. M. (2011). Consulting the Architect When Problems Arise-The Divine Law. Geo. JL & Pub. Pol'y, 9, 103. * Rubin, A. P. (1992). International Law in the age of Columbus. Netherlands International Law Review, 39(1), 5-35. * Rumble, W. E. (1979). Divine Law, Utilitarian Ethics, and Positivist Jurisprudence: A Study of the Legal Philosophy of John Austin. Am. J. Juris., 24, 139. {{refend}}
==External links== {{Wikiquote}} * [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09071a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: Moral Aspect of Divine Law]
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Category:Christian terminology Category:Philosophy of law Category:Religious ethics Category:Religious law Category:Theories of law Category:Concepts in political philosophy