The Bible and the Constitution
17 Trinity L. Rev. 1 (2011)
57 Pages Posted: 5 Feb 2015 Last revised: 28 Aug 2022
Date Written: February 3, 2011
Abstract
Is the United States Constitution consistent with the Holy Bible? For many people today, and especially for most lawyers, legal scholars and judges, the question is both irrelevant and silly. Their answer would be a simple, “Who cares?” Legal thought is dominated today, as it has been for much of the last century, by Legal Realism and its progeny, including Law and Economics, Critical Legal Studies, and Critical Race Theory. All of these are man-centered theories and worldviews; they assume that the positive law is whatever we humans make it to be, and that there is no external, divine standard by which to evaluate human law. Yet, there are still some of us for whom the question matters very much. If you believe that God is not only the creator of everything that exists but also the supreme lord and master of the universe; and if you are a lawyer or a citizen concerned about matters of law and government, then the question of whether our human laws – including particularly the United States Constitution, the fundamental basis of all American positive law – are consistent with God’s perfect will is neither irrelevant nor silly. It is, in fact, an enormously important question.
Keywords: Constitution, liberty, freedom, Bible
JEL Classification: K10
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation