UTT - Blog Post 14

Sarah thinks that laws are created only by societies. Read this article
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-different-sources-of-law.htm
 as well as referring to your textbook pages 285 and 286.  

 Are governments the ultimate authority for creating laws?
Due 2/27 by midnight.

       The straightforward and simple answer is “no,” according to the article, the UTT textbook, and even Sarah herself.

       I’d like to point out that societies—as Sarah attests—can include custom-regulated laws, which do not involve the government because a custom is an unwritten rule formed by popular consent, not a governmental authority. So, therefore, the answer is “no” from Sarah’s perspective, because the government is not the ultimate source for law—it stems from popular opinion.

       As well, according to the UTT textbook, the ultimate source of law is a higher power than any earthly government—it comes from our Lord and Christ. If the government creates a law that is in contrast to that which is expressed in the Bible, then it must be broken to keep in code with the Scripture that is our moral basis. Therefore, from the textbook’s perspective (to compound with Sarah’s), the government doesn’t ultimately create laws—Scripture, the Bible as generated by a God-Over-All, does that.

       Furthermore, even the article itself says that government isn’t the ultimate authority for creating laws. It states that law stems from popular culture, then goes through a process of maturation (cultural traditions to cultural norms to leaders expressed to governmental enforcement) to become endorsed by the government. So, therefore here too the government doesn’t make the laws—culture does.

       Overall, all three sources point to the fact that the government isn’t the ultimate source of law. Now, what that really is, they can’t agree on, but that is beside the point—they all show that the government isn’t the final authority for creating laws.