Introduction
Early Christians blended the natural law concepts of the Greeks and Roman philosophers with their religious philosophy and employed these teachings into their political and Church organizations to frame an innovative new doctrine. The Church evolved out of a small Jewish community, who believe that Jesus was their prophesied Messiah, into the Roman Empire’s dominant religion, which is a mystery in antiquity for many secular historians. Although the Romans believed that they had successfully removed their Jewish problem with their destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE, they only replaced one problem with another problem, which were early Christians. During this era, non-Jews were flowing into the early Church rapidly and the Roman leadership took notice (Chupp 2020). The Romans failed to understand why a combination of Jews, non-Jews, women, slaves, and vagabonds displayed discipline when resisting apparently insignificant requirements such as paying homage and worshiping the Roman Emperor. In addition, the more the Romans tortured and murdered believers the faster the Christian community grew. By 313 CE, there were many believers living in the Roman Empire, and Roman leaders made official recognition when the Edict of Milan granted official toleration to the Christian faith. By the time of Theodosius in 380 CE, the Christian religion became the only legal “cult” in the Roman Empire (Chupp 2020). The early Christian natural law teaching, the Christian concept of dual citizenship and statesmanship, and St. Augustine’s natural law philosophy created and shape the Western Christian philosophical tradition after the 4th century CE.
Early Christian Natural Law Philosophy
The New Testament Christian Scriptures transmits an explanation of the natural law when St. Paul writes, “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them” (Romans 2:14-15, ESV). “There can be little doubt that St Paul’s words imply some conception analogous to the ‘natural law’ in Cicero, a law written in men’s hearts, recognized by man’s reason, a law distinct from the positive law of any State, or from what St Paul recognized as the revealed law of God. It is in this sense that St Paul’s words are taken by the Fathers of the fourth and fifth centuries like St Hilary of Poitiers, St Ambrose, and St Augustine, and there seems no reason to doubt the correctness of their interpretation,” according to historian A.J. Carlyle (Carlyle 1903, 83).
Because of the natural law revelation in the Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures, some early Christian philosophers believe that natural law was associated with Christianity’s natural origins. For early Christians, natural law sketches humankind’s manifestation of God’s divine image in a person’s life. The reflection of God’s image is unattainable without the power of grace. The most celebrated natural law philosopher within the early Christian era appears to have been St. Augustine of Hippo, who supported St. Paul’s teaching on natural law (Gronewoller 2019). For early Christians, the natural law was teleological, but not deontological. Natural law theory appears to be teleological because it focuses on human nature and its purpose is to reach an end. Human nature has an inbuilt inclination for correct operation; therefore, the theory is goal oriented (Levering 2008, 17-18). Therefore, while deontological practices necessitate the execution of definitive responsibilities and works, Christianity clearly asserts that people require God’s grace to reflect God’s divine image. For early Christian philosophers, natural law does not originate from religious directives, but from God’s divine image within humanity, and God’s grace empowering people. The natural law reveals how humankind demonstrates God’s grace in life. Results are in the hands of God, and they are not always within humankind’s power; therefore, in natural law, people should evaluate human behavior through several areas, which include the intention of the person, the conditions contributing to their actions, and their disposition during the actions. The good or evil outcomes from moral actions are not always significant to the situation. Christian philosophers decide the content of the natural law through how every person’s actions reflect God’s internal and spiritual image. What the natural law philosophy gave to early Christianity reflects elements of the teachings derived from Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures, which include reproducing (Genesis 1:28, ESV) and valuing human life (Genesis 9:5-6, ESV). Because God made humanity in His divine image, people should understand that God’s law is more than just life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness. It is the love of God, and the love others (Matthew 22:37-40, ESV), which offers humankind the opportunity for participation in God’s heavenly city, while living here in the earthly city. When believers do this correctly, they become dual citizens and true statesmen.
Christian idea of dual citizenship, spirituality, and statesmanship
In Books 11 to 22, Augustine reveals his philosophy of history. He discloses his concept of two dissimilar cities, God’s Heavenly City and Humankind’s Earthly City. The Heavenly City includes human and spiritual beings that love and worship God. The Earthly City includes people who only love themselves, power, and money. Augustine’s work is a practice in religious contemplation on the progression of history, particularly human history in Rome and the divine history of believers. Therefore, it is an explanation of history decorated with theological and scriptural imagery (Gronewoller 2019). In The City of God, Augustine’s communication is scriptural when presenting the conflict involving secular and spiritual dimensions. For the people living in God’s Heavenly City, their destiny includes salvation from eternal damnation because of God’s grace. For the people in the Earthly City, their destiny includes God’s assessment of their lives and punishment. Augustine’s description of these two fates are revealed in God’s Holy Scriptures (Daniel 12:2; Matthew 7:13–14; ESV). Therefore, Augustine’s Christian idea of dual citizenship appears to describe believers who are living in the earthly city, but primarily pursues the things of God’s heavenly city.
Today, many believers experience advantages or the disadvantages of dual citizenship while living in two cities no matter where they reside. Whether Christians are living under democracy or totalitarianism, they are living in a temporary environment, while exemplifying God’s Heavenly City in humanity’s Earthly City (Culpepper 2017). According to Christ Jesus, “If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:19, ESV). The Lord also stated that believers should “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God” (Mark 12:17, ESV). Furthermore, the Christian statesman is similar to an ambassador representing another government while working in another country. Believers are God’s diplomats because they work in a foreign country while retaining their Heavenly citizenship, which is their true home country.
St. Augustine Natural Law ideas
For St. Augustine, The natural law is associated with the eternal law of God. He believed that what exists in human beings is not the eternal law itself, but a certain impression or notion of the eternal law. St. Augustine employs the term natural law to describe something that is innate in every person (Gronewoller 2019). When Augustine declared that God wrote the natural law in the hearts of every person, He was likely referring to St. Paul’s teaching where Paul refers to a law “written in their hearts” (Romans 2:14-15, ESV), which reveals itself as human conscience. St. Augustine believed the natural law belongs to God’s image. Because God is the eternal law, and because human beings are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26–27, ESV), then every person has the image of eternal law. St. Augustine believes that there were four kinds of law. The first law is the eternal law, which is God. The second law is natural law, which is a “notion” of the eternal law an impression upon human hearts, which is an aspect of the God’s spiritual image. The third law is the temporal law, where certain laws change through time because of different occurrences. Finally, the fourth law is divine law, which refers to either Mosaic Law or laws passed down by God (Gronewoller 2019).
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