Article August 9, 1952 Issue

DIVINE EQUITY VERSUS HUMAN LAW

ISAAC S. GROSSMAN

DIVINE equity is the will of God made manifest in answer to righteous prayer, while human law is a rule or mode of conduct made obligatory by common consent and enforced through sanctions and penalties. Civil laws, which belong in the category of human law, must be enforced and obeyed, or else anarchy would prevail. Jesus cautioned us (Mark 12:17), "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's." We must abide by the law of the land, for by its discipline we are protected collectively and individually.

The will of God is a divine decree or law, just and benevolent. Human law, unless it patterns the divine, may be malevolent. God's law establishes liberty and deliverance, while human law may shackle men to sin, sickness, and death. Jesus, warning us of those who enforce material laws, said (Matt. 23:4), "They bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders."

Physical law, false, speculative, and conjectural, the objective state of mortal mind, is subject to repeal. Jesus set us the example: he annulled this fabulous law and demonstrated its powerlessness by walking on the waves, raising the dead, feeding the multitudes, and establishing the harmony of health and well-being. His disregard of this so-called law was based on his knowledge that God was not its author. He always upheld spiritual law and said, speaking of the results of understanding it (Mark 16:17, 18), "These signs shall follow them that believe; ... they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."

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