Christianity and the Common Law

Many people are unaware, or else it is fading fast from memory, that our American system of government, laws, and jurisprudence, are rooted in Christianity. Our concepts of justice, equality, liberty, honesty, sanctity of life, protection of property, etc., are based upon foundational Christian principles. In fact our system of laws and government are derived from the old English common law, which developed out of principles of natural law and the application of Christian beliefs. Without understanding these foundations and this history, the law can become distorted and used to promote vices instead of virtues.

The common law has its origins dating back to the Norman Conquest of England and William the Conqueror. Prior to this, some variation of Roman Civil Law was applied in much of Europe. As the Roman Empire collapsed, so did reliance on its laws, spurring new thoughts and developments on what exactly was the nature of law. At the same time, Christian beliefs were also spreading throughout Europe out of what remained of Roman Civilization, and in England, a new system of laws began to develop that incorporated natural law principles originating from Christian theology.

Natural laws are those standards derived from nature and reason. They are objective moral truths revealed through rational thought and observation of the natural world and of human nature. Natural law includes such principles as the Ten Commandments, and the inalienable rights to life, liberty and property, as well as the right to defend oneself and one's property from harm by others. Indeed the origins of the idea of natural law are based upon early Christian theology. For example, Romans 1:20 states: "From the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse." The Apostle Paul goes on to explain in Romans 2:13-15 that one is righteous not by hearing the law, but by obeying it, and that people who do not know the law, but by nature do what the law requires, show that the law is written on their hearts and consciences.

As Thomas Aquinas explained, God alone knows the eternal law by which he created and governs the universe, and as he created human beings in His image, as moral and rational beings, we are capable of recognizing self-evident natural law, the reflection of God's eternal law. Aquinas believed that because all people are creations of God, and have the law written on our hearts, as the Apostle Paul noted, we are able to observe nature and employ reason to deduce laws and principles that apply universally to all.
Even Martin Luther King, Jr. affirmed that there are just and unjust laws, and that we are all subject to natural law.

It was through this process of observation and reasoning and the development of natural law that early tyranny was placed in check, establishing a key principle that no one is above the law except God, including the king. This occurred after King John was made to recognize the rights of the people and the nobles under the Magna Carta in 1215. The significance of the Magna Carta's influence on our legal system today is seldom thought of, yet its concepts are incorporated into the very core of our jurisprudence - no man is above the law, that all citizens are entitled to equal protection under the law. These ideas are an integral part of our Constitution, and originated with the Magna Carta and the belief that only God and the law are supreme over all human beings. In demonstrating the far reaching effects of this idea, Lord Mansfield noted in the famous Sommersett's Case in 1772, that anyone who came to England would be entitled to the protection of English law regardless of skin color. This showed that the ideas exemplified by the Magna Carta were still viewed as true, and that all were equal under the law, and no person, at east in England at the time, was above any other in relation to the law.

After the Magna Carta, Henry de Bracton published his treatise, De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae ("The Laws and Customs of England") in 1235 that would begin an ingenious organization of the laws that would later earn him the title of Father of the Common Law. Bracton studied Roman Civil Law as well as Canon Law to organize and synthesize the various rules and decrees into legal "statements" or categories. He introduced the use of cases in presenting the law which eventually developed into the doctrine we still use today known as stare decisis, the idea that the law should apply by analogy so that cases with similar facts should lead to similar decisions.

After this, during the late 1500's - early 1600's, Lord Coke followed what Lord Bracton began and established that the law of nature is part of the law of England and is immutable, no doubt drawing from Romans 1:20. He reasoned that nature's law was was just as applicable to England as any judicial or municipal law because it existed before even Moses wrote it down, Moses being the first reporter of the law. This set the stage for the development of the idea of judicial review. Lord Coke determined that if Parliament, or any municipality, enacted any law contrary to Nature's law, the judiciary has an obligation to declare such law void. This concept of judicial review took root strongly in America through Chief Justice John Marshall in the famous Marbury v. Madison case.

Even Justice Joseph Story reaffirmed that these concepts of equality under the law, stare decisis, and judicial review, arising from Natural law and incorporated into the common law, were rooted in Christianity, and served as the basis for our American jurisprudence. Revolutionaries, such as Thomas Paine, made passionate arguments based upon the Bible and its principles as authority for seeking independence, carefully pointing out through Scripture, and quoting it heavily, that God did not  create kings, but that all people were created equal at the beginning of creation. Biblical principles were also reflected in the very words of the Declaration of Independence.

Understanding this long and rich history of Christianity's influence on our laws is important for numerous reasons. Our concept of justice ultimately arises from these Biblical principles. We should recognize that God ordained government to preserve order and to do justice. This means that our government, made up of our laws, should conform to natural immutable law so that justice may be done. We are called to be good citizens, "rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar's," praying for those in authority, and engaging in service and the political process so that we can call those in authority into account. Our engagement and understanding of our Biblical foundations allow us to ensure that justice continues to be done. When we cease to apply Biblical principles, or to even acknowledge their influence on our legal foundations, we lose the ability to apply objective truth to our society and justice ceases to be done. That is the importance of understanding our history and roots.