Religion, Law and Legalism

At First Things, "Law and Unlaw," a fine short essay on the various permutations of law reflected in religious discourse. Ceremonial law, moral law, and civil law all come into play. Americans seem to have a natural aversion to anything that can be characterized as cermonial or ritual ... or maybe that's a Protestant attitude rather than a truly American one. Christians naturally want to reject what they label as ceremonial law in the Old Testament, yet continue to affirm a body of revealed moral law found therein. But this convenient distinction bewteen ceremonial and moral law gets difficult for Bible-based Christians as that is a "distinction ... not made in the Bible itself." Torah is neither civil, ceremonial, or moral, it is all three, and more.

As for the civil component, religion tends to draw on civil law more than is generally admitted in fashioning its view of moral law. As to the relation between the two, Mormon scripture contains the following commentary in the Doctrine and Covenants, chapter 58, verses 21-23:

     Let no man break the laws of the land, for he that keepeth the laws of God hath no need to break the laws of the land.
     Wherefore, be subject to the powers that be, until he reigns whose right it is to reign, and subdues all enemies under his feet.
     Behold, the laws which ye have received from my hand are the laws of the church, and in this light ye shall hold them forth.