Departmental Papers (Religious Studies)
Document Type
Book Chapter
Date of this Version
2016
Publication Source
The Routledge Encyclopedia of Ancient Mediterranean Religions
Start Page
527
Last Page
532
Abstract
"All laws of men are nourished by one law, the divine law." So wrote the fifth-century Greek philosopher Heraklitos. The concept of "sacred law" on the other hand is likely the remnant of a category first used in 1906 CE to define a particular corpus of Greek inscriptions pertaining to cult practice. It constitutes a subcategory of the vast category-- "all laws of men" -- that includes the intersection of the normative and the divine. Sacred law is not the abstract, pervasive, and diffuse notion of divine sponsorship--however conceived--of state power, or the vast realm captured between the terms "religion and law," but rather covers a subcategory of explicit norms that govern religious cult practice.
Recommended Citation
Dohrmann, N.B. (2016). Sacred Law. In E. Orlin, L.S. Fried, J. Knust, M. Satlow & M.E. Pregill (Eds.), The Routledge Encyclopedia of Ancient Mediterranean Religions (pp. 527-532). New York: Routledge.
Included in
Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons, History of Religion Commons, Jewish Studies Commons, Legal Commons, Religion Commons, Religion Law Commons
Date Posted: 08 September 2017