Law

The Hebrew word most often rendered “law” in the Old Testament is torah, a noun formed from a verb meaning to aim, to point out, or to teach. Its root sense is instruction, the kind a priest gives those who come to the temple. The Greek nomos of the New Testament derives from a verb meaning to allot or distribute, and names an order that assigns each thing its place. Both words describe law as something that orients a person within an arranged world.

Latter-day Saint scripture uses the word in at least four senses: the regularities of the physical world, the necessities of logic, the commandments and covenants that define relationship with God, and the statutes by which communities govern themselves.

The Rejection of Arbitrary Fiat

Doctrine and Covenants 88:36⁠–38 asserts that “unto every kingdom is given a law; and unto every law there are certain bounds also and conditions.” This formulation represents a radical departure from classical Christian voluntarism, which posits that God creates both the physical universe and its governing moral rules ex nihilo. In the cosmology of the Doctrine and Covenants, law is not an arbitrary invention of divine preference; it is the fundamental infrastructure of existence. A law is the organizing principle that allows any localized system⁠—a “kingdom”⁠—to hold together and function.

The Co-eternality of Physical and Moral Reality

Classical natural law theory posits an objective moral order inherent in the universe, discoverable by human reason. Latter-day Saint theology intensifies this premise by erasing the boundary between physical and moral laws. Because matter and intelligence are co-eternal with God, the fundamental laws governing their interaction are similarly eternal. In this framework, gravity, thermodynamics, justice, and relational equity are all manifestations of natural law.

God’s own divinity and power do not derive from an omnipotent capacity to violate or suspend these laws, but from a perfect comprehension of and alignment with them. The subsequent verses in Section 88 specify that God “hath given a law unto all things, by which they move in their times and their seasons” (D&C 88:42). To organize matter into a functioning kingdom is to perfectly apply the natural laws that govern that specific grade of matter.

Ontological Capacity and the Boundaries of Glory

The text specifies that to every law there are “bounds and conditions.” A “kingdom”⁠—whether a terrestrial ecosystem, a planetary orbit, or a degree of heavenly glory⁠—is not merely a spatial jurisdiction. It is an ontological state defined entirely by the specific laws its inhabitants can abide. Doctrine and Covenants 88:22⁠–24 explains that individuals inherit a celestial, terrestrial, or telestial glory based precisely on their capacity to abide the law of that respective kingdom.

Consequently, salvation and damnation are not matters of divine jurisprudence or judicial pardon. They are matters of natural law. To inherit a celestial kingdom is to have become a being capable of bearing the physical and moral conditions of celestial law. Attempting to place a being into a kingdom whose natural laws they cannot abide would not be an act of mercy; it would result in their dissolution, as they would immediately violate the “bounds and conditions” that sustain that reality.

Law as the Mechanism of Agency

Far from restricting freedom, this inviolable architecture of natural law is the absolute prerequisite for agency. If laws were subject to arbitrary divine suspension, cause and effect would decouple. Consequences would become unpredictable, rendering genuine, calculated agency impossible. Because every kingdom operates within fixed “bounds and conditions,” intelligences can act with reliable outcomes. God organizes the cosmos by assigning intelligences and matter to kingdoms corresponding exactly to the natural laws they demonstrate a willingness to obey. In this cosmology, natural law is not a restriction upon progression, but the very mechanism that makes progression possible.

Civil Law and Code

Near the end of his reign, King Mosiah gave up the kingship and placed governance with judges answerable to the voice of the people. His reason was plain: “how much iniquity doth one wicked king cause to be committed” (Mosiah 29:17). His concern was the concentration of power in one person. The remedy Mosiah proposed was to distribute authority and to ground it in consent.

That concern now extends to software. Contracts execute automatically, eligibility for public benefits is decided by algorithm, and platform rules govern the conduct of more people than many national statutes. Lawrence Lessig described this as code functioning as law. Automated enforcement removes discretion, which limits favoritism and also limits mercy. As technological capability advances, generating and verifying these systems will become nearly frictionless. The enduring moral crisis, however, begs the following questions: who authors the rule, who consents to its imposition, and whether the governed possess the capacity to understand, contest, or exit the system.

We are currently engineering rule systems for artificial intelligences that may eventually eclipse human cognition. Consequently, the cosmological principle established in Doctrine and Covenants 88 applies to our immediate technological horizon with unprecedented force. If unto every kingdom is given a law, the defining test of our civilization is twofold: what laws are we ontologically capable of abiding, and what laws are we prepared to give to the entities we create?

See also: Justice, Moral Influence Theory, Neohuman, Non-Intervention, Ordinance, Persuasion, Power, Responsibility, Soul, Transhuman, Transhumanism, Translate, Uploading