Christians and the Legal System Christian Relationship

Christians and the Legal System

Christian Relationship to the Legal System

As many individuals understand, despite any religious affiliation, the legal system is set in place in order to foster the creation and continuation of a good society. This good society can then be achieved by promoting the good and eliminating the bad. It is in this elimination of the bad, that societies and their legal systems begin to differ. While certain legal systems enforce the law through right and just ways, other legal systems are deemed cruel and unnecessary. In viewing the American legal system and its relationship to Christianity, one can better understand which portions of the legal system are represented within Christianity within the Bible and its religious teachings. Further, one can understand the beliefs of the Christian legal system, which exists to focus on human equality before God along with a Christian duty to serve God by serving each other. In understanding the basis of Christian teachings and beliefs, one can form their own personal opinions as to what the relationship should be between Christians and the legal system.

Christian View of the Legal System

Author Thomas Samuelian (2008) notes that Christian view of the legal system has stemmed largely from the most pivotal event in Christianity -- the crucifixion, an event that "underlies most of our law to this day" (Samuelian, 1). The crucifixion is understood by Christians as one of the most significant societal and legal injustices of all time, in which an innocent man was publically and cruelly punished for crimes he did not commit. Samuelian notes, "Honest people who understood Christ's innocence were probably a minority, although had they even been a majority, they would have been helpless to prevent it" (Samuelian, 1).

It is largely because of this event within history and Christianity that Christians have developed a long-standing disgust in any legal system that advocates the use of abuses in power. However, in a country that clearly divides church and state, a Christian view is rarely found, and even more rarely publicized within the context of the American legal system. What, then, should the relationship be between Christians and the legal system?

Applicable Bible Verses

The Bible provides "specific instructions for establishing earthly legal systems, and he requires such systems to be orderly and equitable" (Worldview, 1). The teachings of God portrayed in the Bible set forth an expectation of legal systems to hold individuals responsible for their actions and to aid in the rehabilitation of these individuals in a manner that restores God's order in any circumstance possible. The most widely-accepted view of God and the legal system is that he does not expect earthly legal systems to have the capacity to declare every earthbound sin to be illegal, but earthly legal systems do have the ability to "maintain order and liberty by promoting justice" (Worldview, 1).

Micah 6:8 tells us, "to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God," with our motivation to "do justly" coming from the knowledge that "the Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked" as depicted in Nahum 1:3. In understanding these verses for their applicable contemporary world use, one can see that as God commanded humanity to act justly and mercifully, so shall our laws abide by this standard.

This by no means suggests that worldly laws and standards should not be set forth, as seen in Romans 7:7, which reads, "What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had said, 'You shall not covet.'" Just as Christians believe that the laws of God are not burdensome, so should Christians living today understand that laws under our own country's contemporary legal system are not burdensome so much as they are to establish law and order within a nation for the good of its people as a whole.

In this sense, one may consider then Christian views on laws that are not God-like, such as the death penalty. While contemporary Christians understand God's commandment, "Thou shalt not kill," to stand for death in any sense, one can then counter-argue with sections of the Old Testament that enforced the death penalty in ancient times. For instance, the Old Testament Law commanded the death penalty for various acts such as murder (Exodus 21:12), kidnapping (Exodus 21:16), bestiality (Exodus 22:19), adultery (Leviticus 20:10), homosexuality (Leviticus 20:13), being a false prophet (Deuteronomy 13:5), prostitution and rape (Deuteronomy 22:24), and several other crimes (Got Questions, 1). However, while the Bible suggests the death penalty in these circumstances, God often showed mercy in the Bible in situations when the death penalty was due. It is in this sense that today's Christians find uncertainty in understanding God's will in contemporary legal situations.

Acceptable Relationship and Conclusion

While the Bible gives contemporary Christians some guidance as to the role that Christianity and Christians should have in the legal system, today, many Christians assume that the only true Christian role in the law is to act in an ethical and moral manner in accordance with the Bible within their daily lives. Even attorneys, judges, and members of law enforcement who are must keep a separation between state/legal matters and their own Christian backgrounds, the moral and ethical practices and teachings of God and the Bible do not overstep this boundary, but set up a standard for Christian action in both everyday life and in legal situations.