Institutes of Divine Jurisprudence, with Selections from Foundations of the Law of Nature and Nations. Christian Thomasius
according to the common interpretation means that the pagans also knew the law of nature after the fall, without the aid
[print edition page 43]
of revelation, and that therefore natural law at this time is nothing other than that which can today be known by humans from the light of reason, be it through certain ideas present from birth or through acquired ideas. Nor will the fact that the law of nature is unchanging and does not admit dispensation remove the distinction between the law of nature of the state of innocence and that after the fall, as long as you make the following distinction: the variation of the law itself, in which there is a proposition representing the intention of the legislator, is one thing, and another is the variation of the degree of knowledge of the same law, inculcating the same proposition in the state of innocence and in the state of corruption.
§48. I think the matter is clear, but to make sure you do not believe that I, who am not a theologian, have improperly tried to judge a dispute among theologians, I cannot but cite Osiander. Though he is a little long-winded, he will not only confirm my argument, but will absolve me from the accusation of introducing theological innovations. This eminent man says in his Typum legis naturae, pages 167ff., §§44 and 45:
The law of nature considered in the state of innocence and that of corruption after original sin are quite different from each other by their nature, condition, and effects… . For the law of nature in the primeval state requires the rectitude of all faculties, which tolerates no crookedness; it looked toward the divine image and was founded on justice, sanctity, and truth. For God created man morally good, not with infantile imperfection, as Josephus claims,76 and not just simple and free from evil, as the Photinians77 believed, but positively morally good in terms of the intellect, the will, and the passions… . See the passage in Deuteronomy 9, verse 5. Thus Augustine in his sermon on the truth of the Apostle, chapters 2 and 14,78 says that man is made just and that nature has been created good by God. But the law of nature in the state of corruption is but a shadow of the primeval rectitude and a vestige of the divine image,
[print edition page 44]
faded letters from a clear type, because it exists with the completely corrupt condition of all faculties, the blindness of the intellect, the perversity of the will, the depravity of the passions, on which see Ephesians 2, verses 1, 2, 3. Second, the primordial law of nature forbade all concupiscence; it showed that all discord between the faculties was bad, and not only obliged a person to an active justice, as Molinaeus79 believes, but even nature itself to intrinsic rectitude, as creation itself teaches us. See the passage in Genesis 1, verse 31, and compare Genesis 2, verse 25, and Genesis 3, verses 6 and 7. Augustine said correctly that the first man was created without guilt or vice in his nature (sermon 11 on the Apostolic Truth, chapter 2).80 The law of nature after the fall, however, does not eradicate concupiscence, nor does it draw attention to this profound evil in the innermost fibers of the mind, so that the Apostle himself says in Romans 7, verse 7, that he had not recognized sin without the help of the law—that is, the Mosaic law—which prohibits concupiscence. For although he acknowledged, as a Pharisee, that concupiscence which leads to evil external actions is a sin, he believed that the inner stirrings were not to be given this despicable name. Although he was able by the light of reason and natural law to come to realize that the inner stirrings, produced with the concurrence of the will, were reprobate fruits, he still could not penetrate to the evil root and recognize the evil of habitual concupiscence without divine law. Thus he says further in verse 14: “We know that the divine law is spiritual; but I am carnal, beholden to sin.” The Decalogue therefore or the divine law is spiritual, but man, as he is, remains carnal even with the law of nature: for if a regenerate person calls himself carnal, regardless of the fact that the spirit of renewal is dominant within himself, how much more carnal is an unregenerate person, even though there is a little of this spirit in him. Third, the law of nature in the first man included the love of God and of our neighbor and was a pure and perfect faculty, with which he could produce truly good works, which pleased God. And when this law was observed, it culminated in eternal beatitude. For he who acts thus will, according to Moses, live in them (Leviticus 18, verse 5). This is why Augustine also declared that Adam had been created as a blessed being, endowed with a good will. For the joy, he said, which is born from the acquisition of this good, is called the blessed life since it elevates the mind peacefully, quietly, and
[print edition page 45]
constantly—unless you believe that to live blessedly is something other than to enjoy what is truly and certainly good. See book 1 of the work On Free Will, chapters 12, 13, and 14, On the City of God, chapter 20.81 But the law of nature in corrupt man does not know what this love of the true Deity—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost—is, nor does it know this sincere and perfect love of our neighbor; it does not give birth to truly good works, but—if you consider the evil within the soul—only to the appearance of virtue, nor does it lead to eternal beatitude. Otherwise pagans could, by constantly observing the rules of external honesty, aspire to the goal, the ultimate end, which exceeds all of nature after the fall of Adam and all the natural powers [i.e., eternal life]. That would also be contrary to the explicit words of Christ in Mark 16, verse 16. It is the case, therefore, that the law of nature in the state of innocence is not the same as the law of nature in the state of corruption, since the former draws attention to a more sublime dominion and binds humans to it; the latter, however, exists in an inferior sphere: it does, of course, take care that humans do not degenerate into beasts, but does not in any way stimulate the search for and the veneration of God. It is also the case that the law of nature which had informed the mind of Adam was repeated in the Decalogue which corresponded to it exactly; it required that perfection which shone forth in Adam and demanded the highest and most extensive love of God and one’s neighbor, as interpreted by Christ, Matthew 22, verse 37.
§49. In §§125ff. of chapter 282 I stated that the divine positive laws, which direct the duty of man concerning the worship of God, have eternal beatitude as their immediate purpose, and I immediately related ceremonial law to this. Yet I sensed later that there were some theological arguments which could be put forward against me on that matter. One is that the ceremonial law did not have eternal beatitude as its aim in the sense of being a means to acquiring it, so that whoever rigorously observed the Decalogue would achieve salvation. The ceremonial law was also imposed after man had become corrupt and incapable of being saved through a law, and
[print edition page 46]
divine wisdom would never have imposed a law for a purpose that could never be achieved. The purpose of this law was rather that the Israelite people and the church, from which the Messiah was to be born, should be distinguished from other nations and that the law should be a guide to this end for those people who were subject to it and had that particular promise. The ceremonial law as law therefore did not save anyone, even if it was adhered to rigorously, but it did contribute to salvation, insofar as it furthered belief in the Messiah. For it cannot be denied that the sacrifices and the other sanctions of the law relate to the faith in Christ, but that the law and its sanctions are one thing, the faith they encourage is another. God, therefore, did not have either temporal well-being or eternal salvation in mind when he framed the ceremonial law, in the sense that it would be obtained through this law. But he prescribed a form of worship which on the whole led humans toward faith and the Messiah and directed them toward him, so that they might achieve salvation through him and by these means. If God intended something with a law, this would be obtained by adhering to the law. In that case God would have done better if he had not given corrupt human nature any law at all and had tried to bring about their salvation without a law, because the honor of saving humans, according to his own order, is due to his grace and to faith alone, etc. What do we reply? To put it briefly: We agree completely that, by observing the ceremonial law, humans cannot acquire eternal beatitude, but we deny that therefore it cannot be said that God intended the eternal beatitude of man in this law. We argue, rather, that because God in imposing this law wanted to provide guidance toward faith in Christ, he thereby intended to save humans. We believe it also has to be said that in the very imposition of this ceremonial law God intended the salvation of man, not immediately, but eventually, insofar as it contributed toward faith. Therefore we note that this phrase that “God had