more on this theme     |     more from this thinker

Single Idea 7339

[filed under theme 24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 10. Theocracy ]

Full Idea

Where other codes provided the death penalty for offences against property, in Mosaic law no property offence is capital; human life is too sacred, where the rights of property alone are violated.

Gist of Idea

Because human life is what is sacred, Mosaic law has no death penalty for property violations

Source

Paul Johnson (The History of the Jews [1987], Pt I)

Book Ref

Johnson,Paul: 'A History of the Jews' [Phoenix 1993], p.34

A Reaction

We still preserve this idea in our law, and also in our culture, where we are keen to insist that catastrophes like earthquakes or major fires are measured almost entirely by the loss of life, not the loss of property. I approve.

The 16 ideas from 'The History of the Jews'

7337 In Mosaic legal theory, crimes are sins and sins are crimes [Johnson,P]
7339 Because human life is what is sacred, Mosaic law has no death penalty for property violations [Johnson,P]
7340 Mosaic law was the first to embody the rule of law, and equality before the law [Johnson,P]
7338 Man's life is sacred, because it is made in God's image [Johnson,P]
7336 A key moment is the idea of a single moral God, who imposes his morality on humanity [Johnson,P]
7341 Sampson illustrates the idea that religious heroes often begin as outlaws and semi-criminals [Johnson,P]
7342 Isaiah moved Israelite religion away from the local, onto a more universal plane [Johnson,P]
7348 The Jews sharply distinguish human and divine, but the Greeks pull them closer together [Johnson,P]
7353 The Pharisees undermined slavery, by giving slaves responsibility and status in law courts [Johnson,P]
7344 Judaism involves circumcision, Sabbath, Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles, New Year, and Atonement [Johnson,P]
7345 In exile the Jews became a nomocracy [Johnson,P]
7347 Zoroastrians believed in one eternal beneficent being, Creator through the holy spirit [Johnson,P]
7349 Immortality based on judgement of merit was developed by the Egyptians (not the Jews) [Johnson,P]
7354 The main doctrine of the Pharisees was belief in resurrection and the afterlife [Johnson,P]
7356 Pious Jews saw heaven as a vast library [Johnson,P]
7355 The Torah pre-existed creation, and was its blueprint [Johnson,P]