Friday, February 20, 2009

LAW DEFINES BELIEF; BELIEF REVEALS RELATIONSHIP

"Breaking the law" is a breach of relationship. One who does not acknowledge the law of another is in enmity with the other. Enemies do not usually recognize one another's laws except if they have made some agreement with one another in order to limit the potential of conflict. Such agreement recognizes the need for law to guide living with one another. "Breaking the law" is what happens when one resists acknowledging the priority of the other.

Given that God is prior to all others, God, as the Creator of all things, is the ultimate Lawmaker/Lawgiver. All Creation is bound to keep God's law because of God's priority. Any Creature who does not acknowledge the Creator is in enmity with God; unbelief does not exempt one from the consequences of breaking the law.

Belief may be considered to be the revelation of relationship; one who does not believe in God reveals oneself as an enemy of God. Ignorance of God's law is no excuse, for belief is prior to knowledge. One of the functions of law is to help define belief. Law may be considered to be the language of belief.

A plurality of beliefs becomes problematic for any community to function. Persons who desire to live with one another must abide by some common basic belief; laws follow from this. Law codifies what persons in community commonly believe. When relationship between those persons is good, there is no call to codify the laws governing that relationship. Laws follow from a breach in relationship or concern for the potential of a breach (as in the case of God's command to Adam not to eat of the Tree of Good and Evil).

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