On the surface, this western view of religious law is of little significance to the construction of a legal society in China, because there is no real state or ethnic religion in China. However, according to Pahlman's viewpoint: "Law is ultimately based on morality, and morality is ultimately based on religion", China law also has its belief basis, that is, Confucian moral and ethical dogma. In other words, in China, the sanctified morality itself has the function of religion. Today, we advocate that the whole people devote themselves to the construction of a harmonious society. Governing the country by law and by virtue should play an equally important role. Therefore, it is of great significance to understand the relationship between western Christianity and law and the Christian view of law for finding back the sanctity and religion of law and building a society ruled by law.
First, the relationship between law and religion.
Throughout the world, whether in the East or the West, law and religion are more or less related, and they are all born out of religion to some extent, such as Islamic countries and ancient Greece and Rome.
In western culture, the close contact or interaction between law and religion has always been a striking phenomenon, and their absorption or exclusion has shown different characteristics in different historical periods. In ancient and medieval times, the distance between them was very close, and sometimes they even merged into one and were inseparable. Since modern times, western capitalist countries have established the principle of separation of church and state. Law and religion are relatively independent and self-contained, but they are by no means irrelevant, but each has its own emphasis and tacit cooperation, which has great influence and shaping power on social life.
From a historical perspective, the long-term and close relationship between law and religion can be traced back to the source of western civilization-Hebrew culture. Hebrew law is inseparable from religion. It came into being from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century BC. It was initiated by Moses and revised and expanded by emperors and priests. "In the process of its formation and development, Hebrew law has been greatly influenced by the more ancient code of hammurabi, and at the same time it has absorbed many nutrients from the laws of ancient civilizations such as Egypt, Assyria and Persia. But what has the greatest influence on it is the Hebrew religious thought. " What is recorded in the Five Books of Moses is not only the commandments of God, but also the laws of the world. This is the law. Hebrew law has the nature of both religious precepts and moral norms, which leads to the integration of law, religion and morality.
The religions and laws believed by the Hebrews have been continued and sublimated through Christianity founded by Jesus. In the first century AD, Christianity began to spread in Asia Minor and Palestine, and Christianity took the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) as a part of its Bible. With the establishment of Christianity, the church law based on the Bible has become an important part of European law. Many principles and systems in Hebrew law, such as tithe system, prohibition of interest, prohibition of witchcraft and witchcraft, divine judgment and oath, have become important contents of church law. Hebrew legal culture has a far-reaching influence on the legal system of modern western nation-states through the Bible. If Roman law has influenced human history and developed the private law system with its profound jurisprudence, then Hebrew law has also influenced the development of the world legal system in the field of value form with its universal religious morality.
Although Christian thought is not the only source of western legal tradition, church law has had an extremely important influence on the formation of western concept of rule of law and specific system. The reason why the West produces their legal tradition is mainly because of their religious background, which is also a major source of western humanistic tradition. Christian culture has the most far-reaching influence on the rule of law in the west, and this influence still exists today. If we pay a little attention, we will find that whether it is the British Bill of Rights, the French Declaration of Human Rights or the American Declaration of Independence, it is stated that human rights come from God.
Second, the concept of law in the Bible.
Today, no matter in the west or in the east, influenced by liberalism and humanism, people hold a negative attitude towards law and regard it as a kind of restriction and obstacle. When personal conscience and personal freedom are respected and regarded as valuable things, the law is not respected. In ethical life, many people today have such feelings and ideas, and even tend to act contrary to the law. So what does Christianity think of law? We need to go back to the basic Bible of Christianity and see how the Bible teaches people to look at the law.
Law is a gift from God (Deuteronomy 4:5-9).
Hebrews attach importance to the law and strictly abide by it, because they regard the law as a gift from God.
Save them. Although the law was transmitted to them through an intermediary (Moses), it was ultimately God's own command, "the command of the Lord your God" (Deuteronomy 4: 2). All laws, whether related to morality itself, social justice or sacred sacrifice, do not represent a constraint or harm to the Hebrews, but a sacred gift, which makes them more intelligent and powerful. The grace of the law is to share God's own wisdom. The purpose of this law is to enable the Hebrew community to maintain its original appearance. The law is the voice and the word of the Lord (Deuteronomy 28:1; 30:10,20) "Israel! Now, listen to the laws and regulations I taught you and do your best to abide by them; That you may live and enter the place that the Lord, the God of your fathers, gave you "(Deuteronomy 4:1; 28: 1-69)
2. The law is a covenant between God and the Hebrews (Deuteronomy 4: 13).
The Hebrews' positive concept of law stems from their contract with God. God made a Covenant with the Hebrews: "I will be your God, and you will be my chosen nation." If the Hebrews seek God's protection and blessing, they must keep the covenant. This Covenant is expressed, established and consolidated by law. Law is an important part of the convention. Only within this framework can the law obtain its true meaning and function. In this respect, the Ten Commandments of Moses, as the core of the law, directly constitute the evidence basis of the Covenant (Exodus 20). Laws can be said to be the essence of the Covenant itself, and they can become synonyms. "He announced his covenant, that is, the Ten Commandments, that you should keep, and wrote these commandments on two stone tablets" (Deuteronomy 4: 13).
3. The law is sacred, perfect and sacred. (Chant 1 19)
There are many verses praising the law in the Hebrew Bible, the most famous of which is the hymn 1 19. This hymn is the longest in the hymn collection, with 22 songs in eight sections each. In every song, many synonyms are used to represent the law, such as law, covenant, commandment, constitution, statutes, statutes and so on. This poem reflects how the Hebrews loved God's laws and commandments. "The law of the Lord is complete, which can refresh people's spirits; The Covenant of the Lord can be opened. " I will seek you with all my heart; please don't make me violate your statutes. "Lord, please show me your constitutional path, and I will keep it until I die."
Thirdly, the law brought the Hebrews national unity and prosperity.
The laws in the Five Classics of Moses can be divided into three types: one is the moral law, that is, the provisions between man and god. The second is the religious law, that is, the provisions on religious affairs such as sacrifices and festivals, whose purpose is to train the Hebrews to become a sacred nation. Third, the social governance law, which is the fundamental law to restrain people's behavior and purify people's thoughts. Religious law is to "respect God" and to regulate people's religious life at that time. The law of social governance is to "love others", which the Hebrews believe is the criterion for people to live in peace and love others as themselves.
The laws in the Five Classics of Moses not only have the characteristics of legalizing religious doctrines and contracts, but also have typical humanitarian characteristics: the law provides necessary protection for debtors, poor people, widows, orphans, sojourners and slaves; Every seven years, the debts of the poor should be cancelled; Wheat bags forgotten in the fields and fruits not picked in the orchards should be left to the poor. These all embody the legal principle of protecting the weak. The law also stipulates that human life is more important than property, so infringement of property should not be sentenced to death, which reflects the respect for human rights in legislation at that time.
The religious beliefs of the Hebrews have built a unique legal culture and brought them strong cohesion and vitality. They went through hardships and came from Egypt to a land flowing with milk and honey. Their geographical position is open, and they may be attacked and invaded by foreigners at any time, while the Hebrew people at that time were relatively weak. To a great extent, this special historical and geographical condition makes the Hebrews put the Catholic faith that has always protected them in an overwhelming position, and through this sacred national belief, unite the whole nation to resist foreign aggression. Judging from the legal particularity in the Five Classics of Moses, once they give up their religious beliefs, they will be in a state of disintegration psychologically and socially. Once they give up the principle of humanity, the civil war among the people will make them unable to resist foreign aggression. For them, obeying God's laws will bring them national unity and prosperity. In fact, this is God's blessing to them-let them live in the harmonious world they have built. The beneficiaries of legal contracts are themselves, not God; It is God's law that makes them learn how to love others (respect, accept, unite and forgive), establish mutual friendship and national unity, and build a harmonious world on this basis.
The law must be believed, otherwise it is useless. This sentence by Pahlman has become a proverb with high quotation rate in China today. Maybe we will say that this is a western idea. What does China, a secular society, tell us? On the surface, religion has little influence on China's laws, but in fact there is a deep entanglement between religion and traditional laws. In its original form, law and religion are indistinguishable. Han dynasty put forward legislation based on heaven. Religion has become a reasonable source of legal authority and sanctity in the political discourse of past dynasties, and the influence of gods has always been lingering in the operation of law. The religious belief of retribution for good and evil has become one of the indispensable contents of traditional legal culture. At the same time, the Chinese nation attaches great importance to ethics, and Confucian culture has given birth to Chinese children. Therefore, "believing in the law" has the same significance for us in China: to build a society ruled by law, we must establish the supreme authority of the law, make the law become people's belief, dissolve into the blood and put it into action. To build a society ruled by law, it is far from enough to rely on people to learn, know, understand and abide by the law. We should also teach people to "believe in the law" and make people worship and abide by the law as their creed. The discussion on the relationship between law and western Christianity and the Christian view of law has really brought us a lot of reflection and caused a lot of feelings. Let us also have the wisdom of Hebrews, distinguish the beauty and sacredness of law, safeguard the dignity of law, and devote ourselves to the sacred mission of legal system construction.