The Law of God

The Philosophical History of an Idea

Rémi Brague, Lydia G. Cochrane

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780226070797, 9780226070780
• eBook ISBN: 9780226808055
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: World History

The law of God: these words conjure an image of Moses breaking the tablets at Mount Sinai, but the history of the alliance between law and divinity is so much longer, and its scope so much broader, than a single Judeo-Christian scene can possibly suggest. In his stunningly ambitious new history, Rémi Brague goes back three thousand years to trace this idea of divine law in the West from prehistoric religions to modern times—giving new depth to today's discussions about the role of God in worldly affairs.
          

Brague masterfully describes the differing conceptions of divine law in Judaic, Islamic, and Christian traditions and illuminates these ideas with a wide range of philosophical, political, and religious sources. In conclusion, he addresses the recent break in the alliance between law and divinity—when modern societies, far from connecting the two, started to think of law simply as the rule human community gives itself. Exploring what this disconnection means for the contemporary world, Brague—powerfully expanding on the project he began with The Wisdom of the World—re-engages readers in a millennia-long intellectual tradition, ultimately arriving at a better comprehension of our own modernity.

 

"Brague's sense of intellectual adventure is what makes his work genuinely exciting to read. The Law of God offers a challenge that anyone concerned with today's religious struggles ought to take up."—Adam Kirsch, New York Sun

 

"Scholars and students of contemporary world events, to the extent that these may be viewed as a clash of rival fundamentalisms, will have much to gain from Brague's study. Ideally, in that case, the book seems to be both an obvious primer and launching pad for further scholarship."—Times Higher Education Supplement 

Table of contents

• Cover
• Copyright
• Title Page
• Contents
• Preface
• Translator’s Note
• Introduction
• Part I: Origins
• Part II: The Divine Law
• Part III: Succession Through Time
• Part IV: Law and Cities in the Middle Ages
• Part V: Divine Law in Medieval Thought
• Part VI: Sans Foi Ni Loi: Neither Faith Nor Law?
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Selected Bibliography
• Index