The Law in General (Aquinas 101)

For Aquinas, law is not simply about commandments and obligations, but rather the principle of order by which things are directed to their fulfillment.

The Law in General (Aquinas 101) - Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P.

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[iqgustavo]

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:

00:00 📚 Aquinas' Treatise on Law expands our understanding beyond conventional legal concepts.
00:40 🌟 Law is about rational order, teaching, guiding actions, and measuring them against the common good.
02:03 🧠 Law is an ordination of reason, a reasoned plan for the common good, not mere commands.
03:01 🌐 The common good is a higher, sharable end unlike private goods; it's an aim for societies, teams, and more.
05:18 🌌 Four main types of law in hierarchy: Eternal Law, Natural Law, Divine Positive Law, and Human Law.
06:12 🌅 Eternal Law is God's divine plan for creation, an ordered reflection of His glory.
07:06 🌿 Natural Law imprinted in creatures inclines them towards proper acts and ends, humans participate through reason.
07:55 📖 Divine Positive Law comes from divine revelation, guiding humans to supernatural good.
08:25 ⚖️ Human Law is specific, aimed at the common good of communities, and exists on various levels.

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[Littlemermaid]

These vids are brilliant and needs more views. Please keep producing them, God bless 💚

[kristindreko]

Thank you for this video!
May our Lord Jesus Christ bless you!

[kateyutterback]

Thank-you. We enjoy these short teachings & always look forward to the next installment. 🙏🏼✝️💙

[BeanieQuestOfficial]

One of the more intellectually stimulating exercises I did was making an outline of this section of the Summa. Thanks for this helpful video.

[iqgustavo]

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:

00:00 📚 Aquinas' Treatise on Law expands our understanding beyond conventional legal concepts.
00:40 🌟 Law is about rational order, teaching, guiding actions, and measuring them against the common good.
01:33 📏 Law serves as a rule, measure, and guide for human acts, ensuring they align with the standard of the common good.
03:01 🍕 The common good is a sharable, noble end unlike private goods; it's shared and pursued in various activities.
05:18 🌌 Four main types of law are arranged hierarchically: Eternal Law, Natural Law, Divine Positive Law, and Human Law.
06:41 🤔 Eternal Law is not just in God's mind but imprinted in creation, directing beings to their proper ends.
07:30 🤝 Human participation in Eternal Law involves reason, guiding actions toward ultimate ends, even in communities.
07:55 ⚓ Divine Positive Law comes from divine revelation, guiding humans toward supernatural good.
08:49 ⚖️ Human Law is specific, applies within jurisdictions, and directs communities towards their proper common good.

Made with HARPA AI

[kathycongrove]

Excellent teaching. You make it so much easier to understand.

[mattisonhale]

Theology teacher using this in 2023. Fantastic work.

[f.furthest]

This is the best explanation of Aquinas's law!! Thank you!!

[thepriorylibrarian]

Wonderful teaching back in life. Great lecture, fully loaded with facts as only a Dominican can :)

[drew]

Have you made a video covering Aquinas distinguishing between the moral, ceremonial, and judicial law; and why the latter two do not form part of the new covenant?

[bobpolo]

Lately, I've been reflecting on John 15:14, where Jesus says, "You are my friends if you do what I command."

What is friendship? What is the fundamental basis? I would argue that the basis of friendship is mutual recognition. Two people reciprocally seeing themselves in one another. Think about your closest friend, the one you relate to the most. Is he/she not an extension of yourself - manifested likeness? God's law expresses the very essence of the Creator, His relational nature with moral qualification. To obey God's law is to reflect God's image. Disobedience of God's law is a distortion of that image, a violation of the friendship. This explains why God was at odds with His covenantal people: when He saw them, He didn't recognize them.

Importing this logic to John 15:14, Jesus is essentially saying, "You are my friends if you participate in this relationship by imaging me." Participation is essential to our union with Christ through the Holy Spirit. This is why the Father smiles when He sees the redeemed. Because when He sees us, He sees His Son. And who is His Son? The very image of God. Therefore, when God sees us, He sees Himself; and when we see God, we see ourselves. Mutual recognition. The basis of friendship.

[Bwahahaha]

Fr Dominic could you please teach us the about the intellect, will and passions.

[hsha]

So funny… I’m in Canada and got lost for a second when Fr. talked about passing a ball. I expected him to say “pass the puck”. Haha, not that we don’t play football and other sports, just that I personally associate teams with hockey.

[SoyElta]

Even Michael Jordan who was undoubtedly the greatest basketball player of all time; realized he had to pass the ball for the common good of the team.

[davekushner]

I've had so much confusion on what the common good is; I gained so much clarity from this. Thank you once again! One question though, if the Divine Law is something we would not have been able to figure out on our own, through nature and reason that is, wouldn't at least some of the Ten Commandments not be part of that? It could be my presupposition based on what I already know, but I think, through natural law, we can come to know that murder and maybe even theft are known by nature under justice.

[suzannofal]

thank you for the wonderful explanation, do you mind also sharing where your hoodie is from?

[jackhat]

Speaking as a lawyer myself, I never view law as merely a series of commands.

I tend to view law through Hegelian philosophical terms and I see it as the actualization of concepts that develop dialectically within society. Law is the embodiment of social, political, philosophical and historical development.

A concrete example that I can think of is the legal concept of limited liability of incorporated companies is a legal concept that has developed out of the social and historical needs of capitalism. As capitalism and the way we organize ourselves economically begins to evolve this legal concept will be re-interpreted and revised to cope with changing social and economic viewpoints.

[colinriches]

Assertion after assertion. Aquinas made a lot of assertions, backed up by nothing more than a viewpoint. It's very simple, many humans desire power. One way to gain that sort of power is through fear. If you convince people that are used to being blindly led that there's an invisible, omnipotent being who wants you to do x, y, z, etc. (a list of things the priest wants) you put yourself in a position with all the command of God, but none of the responsibility.

You don't have to be smart to see through this. Just honest with yourself.

For those worried "What if it IS true?" ask that same question to the multitudes of gods that have risen and fallen before you arrived on this planet. Nobody owns you. You can be free from religion and the suffering the clergy like to put children through. Your children can be safe from those pedophiles.

[stahu_mishima]

well, yeah he's technically right but also that whole point is based on assertion that the one ruling is good, and has a common good of their subjects in mind.

you can just gain power and order by fear and brutality. you can gain power to make others do things for you by deceit and intrigue. or by conquering and killing. or (as Thomas Aquinas thinks it's by default) by legal and just rule.

but that's really just one of the various options and you can see it in history as well as today.