Notes on the Law
Intro Our lessons this evening bid us to consider the nature of the Law. When the Bible speaks about “the Law” what kind of thing is it referring to? When Jesus goes atop the Mountain to interpret the Law of Moses, what is that thing that he is interpreting and what is the status of the interpretation that he gives? Bridge - Problematic The 17th century theologian, Richard Hooker identifies the Law of Moses with “the divine law” itself, given by God near the dawn of the world to holy men, written at God’s instruction by Moses himself (Book I, XIII). For Hooker, this divine status of the Law laid down in Holy Scripture is the primary rule and authority which is sufficient for the making known of all “duties supernatural,” that is, those things pertaining to salvation. This authority and sufficiency of the divine Law contained within the Scriptures is, for Hooker, a check against any excessive demands that may be made upon believers by the canons of the Church, and of course, here he h