The Catholic Contribution to Western Law

Catholic Education ^ | Michael P. Foley

[CondoleezzaProtege]

A common accusation against Roman Catholicism is that it is legalistic, slavishly beholden to an elaborate set of rules and precepts and thereby resistant to the movements of the Holy Spirit or the mercy of God. The charge may not be entirely without its merits, especially at certain times in the Church's history, in certain places, and with certain figures, but for it to be evaluated fairly an important distinction must be drawn between the prominent use of or focus on law on the one hand and legalism on the other. Legalism is the practice of law emptied of the virtue of prudence, and so it is not the presence of legal frameworks or legal thought but the absence of a cardinal virtue that determines the extent of legalism per se. My goal this afternoon is not to answer whether the Catholic Church is or has been legalistic but to agree that it has had an abiding interest in the law and that Western civilization is much the better for it.

For the Catholic impact on Western law can hardly be overestimated. It was the development of canon law in the Middle Ages that retrieved, transformed, and then re-presented the long-forgotten Justinian code of the ancient Roman Empire to emerging European polities in dire need of good juridical models. Specifically, it was the emergence of ecclesiastical courts after Pope Gregory VII that prompted civil courts to imitate and eventually supersede them.

This imitation can be seen in several different ways, beginning with the very idea of the rule of law. Although this principle may be found in several ancient civilizations, its reintroduction to the West is the result of the medieval Church...

[Jacquerie]

“Common law presupposed that the same God who governs the “laws of nature” (such as gravity and generation) also governs the “natural law,” those universally binding moral precepts that are knowable to all men and women because they are written on the tablets of their heart (Romans 2:15).”

Great post. The FR protos don’t want to hear of it.

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Thank you. We are entering an era, in which the Western world especially must take great care to understand our foundations and how we got to where we are. Acknowledging the historic role of Roman Catholicism has played in the life of man and in the advancement of Christian civilization is tantamount. It’s not about being Catholic, it’s just understanding basic history! And historical illiteracy is a scandal among both Protestants and Catholics. It’s not doing anyone any favors. Our culture suffers for it.

[Albion Wilde]

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