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Document: E.L.H. Taylor, The New Legality: In Light of the Christian Philosophy of Law (Philadelphia, PA.: P&R Publishing Co., 1967).
Excerpt: The dictionary definition of law is, basically, that law is “1. A rule of action established by recognized authority to enforce justice and prescribe duty or obligation; a legislative enactment. 2. A system of rules or regulations recognized by men or nations or applied in courts of law.” According to Kant, “Every formula which expresses the necessity of an action is called a law.” These are ostensibly definitions. They are actually evasions. A definition explains, cites the limits of something, or shows what the contexts of a conception are. But law cannot be explained, it cannot be defined, without reference to religion. Law is concerned with matters of justice, authority, duty, and obligation, all matters of religious concern and inescapably involved with matters of “ultimate concern.” Ostensibly, in our secular culture, religion has been separated from law, and law is now purely a matter of sociological concerns, oriented to social needs and progressively scientific criteria rather than to religious dogma. Actually, however, our law is thoroughly religious and is directly a product of religion.
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The New Legality – E.L.H. Taylor.pdf