Chapter 1: An Idea for This Book

Men are governed by different kinds of laws, by natural law; by divine law, which is that of religion; by ecclesiastical law, otherwise called canonical, which is that of the regime of religion, by the law of nations, which one may consider as the civil law of the universe in the sense that each people is one of its citizens; by general political law, which aims at that human wisdom which has founded all societies; by the law of conquest, based on the fact that one people has wished, has been able, or has been obliged to do violence to another; by the civil law of each society, through which one citizen is able to defend his goods and his life against every other citizen, and finally by the domestic law, which derives from the fact that a society is divided into different families, which need particular governing.

Therefore, there are different arrangements of laws, and the sublimits of human reason consists in knowing well to which of these arrangements the matters over which one must legislate mainly relate, and not to introduce confusion in the principles that ought to govern men.

Chapter 2: About Divine Laws and About Human Laws

One ought not to legislate by divine laws what ought to be by human laws, nor regulate by human laws what ought to be by divine laws.

Those two kinds of laws differ by their origin, by their aim, and by their nature.

Everyone well agrees that human laws are of a nature other than the laws of religion, and that is a great principle. But this principle is itself subject to others that it is necessary to search for.

• 1. The nature of human laws is to be subject to all the accidents that occur, and to vary to the degree the wills of men change. To the contrary, the nature of the laws of religion is never to vary. The human laws legislate about the good; religion about the best. The good may have another aim, since there are several goods. But the best is only one; therefore it cannot change. One can indeed change the laws, because they are not regarded as being good. But the institutions of religion are always assumed to be the best.