“For it is not right to determine or plan anything beyond the laws. For it is a light expense to hold that whatever is divine has power, [895] and that which has been law for a long time is eternal and has its origin in nature.”
“οὐ γὰρ κρεῖσσόν ποτε τῶν νόμων
γιγνώσκειν χρὴ καὶ μελετᾶν.
κούφα γὰρ δαπάνα νομί-
ζειν ἰσχὺν τόδʼ ἔχειν,
ὅ τι ποτʼ ἄρα τὸ δαιμόνιον,
[895] τό τʼ ἐν χρόνῳ μακρῷ νόμιμον
ἀεὶ φύσει τε πεφυκός.”
Euripides, Euripidis Fabulae, Ed. Gilbert Murray, Vol. 3, ed. Gilbert Murray (Medford, MA: Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1913).
Euripides, The Tragedies of Euripides, Translated by T. A. Buckley. Bacchae, ed. T. A. Buckley (Medford, MA: Henry G. Bohn, 1850).
Did Euripides advocate “natural law”? Did he perceive that nature inherently possesses an intelligence, and this intelligence may inform us of moral laws? As per the chorus in Euripides’ “Bacchae,” “the laws” are natural. What did Euripides mean when he described “laws” are inherently, as per their content and origination, “natural”?
The Greek term “φύσει” appears often in Classical Greek literature. Aristotle in his Metaphysics (1014b16) used the term as an originating power: “φ. λέγεται .. ὅθεν ἡ κίνησις ἡ πρώτη ἐν ἑκάστῳ τῶν φύσει ὄντων.” Aristotle viewed nature as a creative force with intelligence. We are able, as per Aristotle, to discern/divine nature, and create laws consonant with nature. If nature has a “rightness,” then so will law that is consonant with nature.
The signatories of the U.S. Declaration of Independence shared a similar philosophy of law, penning “the laws of nature and nature’s God.” To them, a singular monotheistic Intelligence/Force made all that is seen. This same Intelligence/Force, therefore, is qualified to make law.
Aristotle is not alone in his view that nature may be a common, creating force, even of law. Το Cleanthes, the Stoic, φυσις κοινή, is the common principle of growth in the universe (Cleanth.Stoic.1.126). Cleanthes (circa 330-230 B.C.), who was second to Zeno, specializing in physics and ethics, in the Stoic school at Athens, used the term κοινή, meaning common, as pervasive of the entire universe. This term κοινή was used to describe the “common” “universal” Greek spoken throughout the empire of Alexander the Great. The term also describes the Greek New Testament, which is more accurately the “Common, Universal (κοινή) Covenant (διαθηκη).” Cleanthes drew out connections between physics and ethics. From these connections, he formulated at the Stoic school in Athens a theory of law.
The Greek philosopher Epicurus viewed nature as so unitary, singular, and inherently intelligent that he personified nature. Epicurus (Epicur.Fr.469) viewed nature as “gracious” (χάρις). He also viewed nature as “blessed” (τῇ μακαρία Φ.). The term μακαρία is the term used by Christ in the beatitudes to describe the state of well-being if one has proper attitudes.
All told, the theory that law should derive from nature is not new. Paul, in his discourse on the state of the Gentile nations in addressing the Romans (1:18-3:23), is that the nations via their legal systems show their proper response to nature. “.. οἵτινες ἐνδείκνυνται τὸ ἔργον τοῦ νόμου γραπτὸν ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις αὐτῶν, συμμαρτυρούσης αὐτῶν τῆς συνειδήσεως καὶ μεταξὺ ἀλλήλων τῶν λογισμῶν κατηγορούντων ἢ καὶ ἀπολογουμένων.” To Paul, the nations have the “work of the law,” which he believed derived from God, written upon their hearts (“γραπτὸν ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις αὐτῶν”).
Executive summary: The theory that law should derive from nature because nature is wise and good, has pervaded both Classical and even some Christian literature. Because nature is good and wise, law should be both good and wise also.
Questions to ponder: Do you believe nature is “wise,” or is it a product of random happenstance? Do you find nature to be good, that is, fair? Do you think it fair that your dog may get eaten by an alligator? Do you think nature is fair when one of your loved ones dies a miserable, slow death of cancer long before life expectancy? Is nature really that smart? Don’t stars collide, meteors kill dinosaurs, and tsunamis wipe away whole groups of species?
Even if nature shows the delicate balance of equilibrium, can humans replicate in their self-created laws that fairness of equilibrium?
Henry George Liddell et al., A Greek-English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996), 1965.
Kurt Aland et al., The Greek New Testament, Fourth Revised Edition (Interlinear with Morphology) (Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1993), Ro 2:15–16.