Natural and Revealed Law: American Political Philosophy

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The idea of natural law is one of the oldest law systems that exist in the world. While its roots go back to Ancient Greece and Rome, natural law has remained a part of modern history. [1] In particular, the rise of Christianity contributed to the evolution of natural and revealed law and their influence on civil society. [2] Some scholars argue that, under the influence of Christian philosophers, natural law at least partially shaped the major pillars of American political philosophy, which can be seen in such documents as the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.

To analyze the role of natural and revealed law in American political thought, one must understand these law systems’ main concepts. Natural law postures that people possess a set of intrinsic values that form according to human nature. [3] Therefore, by interacting with one another, people eventually determine particular human rights that they wish to uphold. Christian philosophers expand on this idea and argue that people are unable to form such natural laws perfectly due to the consequences of the Fall. [4] Revealed law, guidance from God delivered through scripture, complements people’s nature and strengthens their understanding of the law. [5]

The Ten Commandments is an example of revealed law; they have such statements as “You shall not murder,” “You shall not commit adultery,” and “You shall not steal.”[6] Thomas Aquinas, a Christian philosopher, wrote that “more than all other animals man is a political and social being.”[7] Thus, civil society is a natural progression of one’s inclination given by nature, and natural and revealed law are what allow one to exist with other humans in peace and prosperity.

At the same time, civil law is a type of human-made law that is not intrinsic but can be changed and revoked. It is a contract that ensures that the person lives for the good of the city, while the city supplies that person with resources that one human cannot obtain on their own. [8] While civil laws are not explicitly based on natural laws, many official documents make assumptions about what is inherent to human nature, thus finding connections to natural (or revealed) law.

In the Declaration of Independence of the United States, one may read, “[all men] are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”[9] The natural right to live and let live is undisputed by civil law, which upholds the idea that God has guided people not to infringe on others’ fundamental rights. At the same time, the Amendments to the US Constitution give people rights to “free speech,” and ensure that one will not “be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”[10] Here, one can see the same idea that people’s lives, property, and certain freedoms are sacred – a belief that mirrors the original Ten Commandments. [11]

One can see that civil law is intertwined with the idea that people, regardless of what the legal process may be, are entitled to some indisputable rights that have roots in natural and revealed law. In the case of the Declaration of Independence, the link to the revealed law is transparent. Although other documents do not mention natural law or Christian philosophy, they value the same principles that were explored by Aquinas and other Christian philosophers. Thus, American Political Philosophy heavily relies on the ideas of natural and revealed law, assuming that people have certain rights that cannot be challenged but must be enforced by civil law.

Benjamin Fletcher Wright, Jr., American Interpretations of Natural Law: A Study in the History of Political Thought (New York: Routledge, 2017), 157.
Justin Buckley Dyer, “Reason, Revelation, and the Law of Nature in James Wilson’s Lectures on Law,” American Political Thought 9, no. 2 (2020): 265.
Thomas G. West, The Political Theory of the American Founding: Natural Rights, Public Policy, and the Moral Conditions of Freedom (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017), 37.
Dyer, 278.
Russell Kirk, “Natural Law and the Constitution of the United States,” Notre Dame Law Review 69, no. 5 (1993): 1036.
Ex. 20:13-15, NIV.
Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey, eds. History of Political Philosophy, 3rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987), chap. 10, Kindle.
Strauss and Cropsey, chap. 10.
“Declaration of Independence: A Transcription,” National Archives, 2020.
“The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription,” National Archives, 2020.
Philip A. Hamburger, “Natural Rights, Natural Law, and American Constitutions,” Yale Law Journal 102 (1993): 910.

Bibliography

“Declaration of Independence: A Transcription.”National Archives. 2020.

Dyer, Justin Buckley. “Reason, Revelation, and the Law of Nature in James Wilson’s Lectures on Law.” American Political Thought 9, no. 2 (2020): 264-284.

Hamburger, Philip A. “Natural Rights, Natural Law, and American Constitutions.” Yale Law Journal 102 (1993): 907-960.

Kirk, Russell. “Natural Law and the Constitution of the United States.” Notre Dame Law Review 69, no. 5 (1993): 1035-1048.

Strauss, Leo, and Joseph Cropsey, eds. History of Political Philosophy. 3^rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987. Kindle.

“The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription.”National Archives. 2020.

West, Thomas G. The Political Theory of the American Founding: Natural Rights, Public Policy, and the Moral Conditions of Freedom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017.

Wright, Benjamin Fletcher, Jr. American Interpretations of Natural Law: A Study in the History of Political Thought. New York: Routledge, 2017.

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Natural and Revealed Law: American Political Philosophy

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