But his main arguments reliably showed: (1) that great legal traditions with enlightened leadership have independently developed comparable laws of sex, marriage, and family on the strength of universal natural law principles, and (2) that the Jewish legal tradition offered a number of ingenious and humane interpretations of God’s natural law commands for this vital sphere of life. Selden vacillated between description of these ancient legal systems and prescription of some of their teachings for the modern Christian West, especially for his own beloved English common law. He wrote: “[w]ith the birth of Christianity, which is like a reformed Judaism from which Christianity originated, there is no doubt but that one may see [continuity of]
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For example, prevailing English law, echoing medieval canon law, allowed for clandestine (licensed) marriages without the involvement of parents, peers, or priests, and without any public or church ceremony. Jewish and other ancient laws, by contrast, had made marital formation a broader family and community event, with parental consent, peer witness, civil registration, and religious consecration and elaborate wedding rituals. Selden seemed to imply that English law should perhaps do the same—thus anticipating the reforms of Lord Harwicke’s Act a century later. English law in 1604 made polygamy a capital offense punishable by the royal courts. Ancient Jewish law, however, allowed for limited polygamy in cases of real necessity, while providing vetoes or compensation to the first wife or wives. Perhaps English courts should be more lenient in cases of real necessity or unintentional double marriages, Selden intimated. English law left properly married couples to their own devices and desires thereafter, intruding only in the event of chronic abuse or upon the death of one spouse. Ancient Jewish law, building on the Bible, went much further, relieving newly wedded males from all civil and military provisions for a year to start building their new home and family, and ordering husbands to provide their wives with clothing, protection, support, sex, medical help, ransom, and dower. Perhaps a biblical commonwealth like England could do more to support married couples, especially wives, was the evident point. English law prohibited divorce and remarriage even for adultery, except by passage of a rare private bill in Parliament. Ancient Jewish and Roman law had allowed divorce for various serious faults, and entitled both parties to remarry. Morever, Jesus had allowed for divorce
For example, prevailing English law, echoing medieval canon law, allowed for clandestine (licensed) marriages without the involvement of parents, peers, or priests, and without any public or church ceremony. Jewish and other ancient laws, by contrast, had made marital formation a broader family and community event, with parental consent, peer witness, civil registration, and religious consecration and elaborate wedding rituals. Selden seemed to imply that English law should perhaps do the same—thus anticipating the reforms of Lord Harwicke’s Act a century later. English law in 1604 made polygamy a capital offense punishable by the royal courts. Ancient Jewish law, however, allowed for limited polygamy in cases of real necessity, while providing vetoes or compensation to the first wife or wives. Perhaps English courts should be more lenient in cases of real necessity or unintentional double marriages, Selden intimated. English law left properly married couples to their own devices and desires thereafter, intruding only in the event of chronic abuse or upon the death of one spouse. Ancient Jewish law, building on the Bible, went much further, relieving newly wedded males from all civil and military provisions for a year to start building their new home and family, and ordering husbands to provide their wives with clothing, protection, support, sex, medical help, ransom, and dower. Perhaps a biblical commonwealth like England could do more to support married couples, especially wives, was the evident point. English law prohibited divorce and remarriage even for adultery, except by passage of a rare private bill in Parliament. Ancient Jewish and Roman law had allowed divorce for various serious faults, and entitled both parties to remarry. Morever, Jesus had allowed for divorce