Historically, laws & adjudication of law in the US has
been (at least ideally) based in what is called the Judaeo-Christian ethic. This
means that the Old & New Testaments have provided the basis on which
legislators & courts have functioned.
Some have argued that the Bible is not a good basis for law.
Among other things, they have used passages like Exodus 22:18 (“You shall not
allow a sorceress to live”) to show that the Bible shouldn’t be used.
I believe that such an idea is faulty. One reason is that
there are at least 3 aspects of Old Testament law – civil, ceremonial, & moral.
We have to think about these aspects & see how they relate to each other if
we are serious about understanding how the Bible has influenced law in the US.
Briefly, civil law in the Old Testament was intended to be
the legal code in ancient Israel. Ceremonial law prescribed how God was to be
worshiped. Moral law described the ethical foundation that was the basis for everyday
behavior. This moral law in many ways reflects how the New Testament teaches Christians
to conduct themselves.
Exodus chapter 22 gives several examples of how we have based our legal
system on the biblical model: the principle of appropriate restitution (vs 1); the
right to defend personal property (vs 2); judicial discretion to determine what
is best in a particular case (vs 7-8); the necessity of honest testimony (vs
10-13); equality of all before the law without regard to economic status (vs
21-22).
I’m thankful for the magnificent, firm foundation that has
been left to us in Scripture. God has truly blessed us. Let’s pray that righteousness will continue to
be established in our land!
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