Discussion Thread: Early Christian Natural Law
Readings: The City of God; The Philosophy of Law of St. Augustine
What Christian versions of Natural Law concepts are present in the religious and political ideas
of Augustine?% Be sure to include a discussion of statesmanship and the Christian ideas of
covenant and dual citizenship, temporal and spiritual.
The Christian aspects of Natural Law concepts that are present in St. Augustine’s works are that
he thinks the universal and external law that governs comes from the divine wisdom (Chroust
1994). Similarly, to the early Greek Philosophers, St. Augustine holds that the will of God is the
ultimate reason which mean that God’s will is the eternal order of things and what is orderly is
good, and the most orderly constitutes as the highest good. Chroust expands on stating, “Nothing
exists above and beyond God. And only through God can anything created be called good,”
(Chroust 1994, 197). In other words, God’s way is the norm of good and the absolute justice. St.
Augustine also contends that the natural law is “imprinted in our soul,” (Chroust 1994, 198). And
since this is the case, this is how human beings find the guiding principles of right and justice.
Meaning justice and good is not something man creates or man’s personal opinion, but the idea
and knowledge of what is natural is implanted within all human beings by a higher power. As
Chroust puts it, “The soul is intuitively aware or conscious of this idea of “natural justice,”
(Chroust 1994, 198). In accordance with how Budziszewski (2009) stated that human beings
know what is naturally good and just even if they claim they do not have it inherently within
them, St. Augustine also states, “For no man’s sin is so unnatural as to wipe out all traces
whatsoever of human nature,” (Augustine 1954, 215). He does acknowledge the laws created by
humans, but states that unless they are created by those who derive their ideas of good and just
from God,
“No wisdom is true wisdom unless all that it decides with prudence, does with fortitude,
disciplines with temperance, and distributes with justice is directed to that goal in which
God is to be all in all in secure everlastingness and flawless peace,” (Augustine 1954,
232).
There is also a discussion of temporal and spiritual. Saying that true peace only comes from God
and the following of God’s will and the good he put within each person; however, there is a
peace a nonbeliever may believe they have but their peace comes from earthly objects and
therefore is not true peace (Augustine 1954). This is because the nonbeliever is not following
God and seeking to adhere to the natural laws. The nonbeliever in the earthly city only seeks
early peace and this limits their ability to live harmoniously in a society and their ability to attain
what is necessary for mortal existence. Though he does mention how a believer also will do
things to obtain temporal peace for while living on earth, but only as long as those means do not
go against the law of God (Augustine 1954). He then discusses a person of faith living in an
earthly city which does not have God as their focus. It is discussed how living in this type of
community can be a burden and a hardship because one would disagree with legislation and
would feel the people’s anger, hatred, and violence (Augustine 1954). And that so long as living
in such a society and joining in the earthly peace and having a relationship with the people does
not interfere with one’s faith and worship then there should be no reason a person of faith cannot
live among nonbelievers. What cannot be tolerated is for a person to not love truth and to not do
what charity demands (Augustine 1954).
On the other hand, it is stated that where true justice is lacking then there cannot be a mutual
recognition of rights which contends that there cannot be a commonwealth of the people and that
there is no justice in a person who is not subject to God (Augustine 1954). Since this is the case,
“if there is no justice in a man of this kind, then there is certainly no justice, either, in an
assembly made up of such men,” (Augustine 1954, 234), in other words, an “unjust law is no law
at all,” (Rashid 2020). This seems contradictory of saying one can live in an earthly city where
those who lead and make laws do not see themselves as subject to God. Unless Augustine is just
