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The Possibility of Religious Freedom: Natural Law in Ancient Greek, Medieval Muslim, and Early Christian Sources

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The Possibility of Religious Freedom: Natural Law in Ancient Greek, Medieval Muslim, and Early Christian Sources THE POSSIBILITY OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: NATURAL LAW IN ANCIENT GREEK, MEDIEVAL MUSLIM, AND EARLY CHRISTIAN SOURCES A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Government By Karen Elizabeth Taliaferro, M.A. Washington, DC 13 May 2015 Copyright 2015 by Karen Elizabeth Taliaferro All Rights Reserved ii THE POSSIBILITY OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: NATURAL LAW IN PAGAN, MUSLIM AND CHRISTIAN SOURCES Karen Elizabeth Taliaferro, M.A. Dissertation Advisors: Timothy. S. Shah, Ph.D. and Joshua Mitchell, Ph.D. ABSTRACT This dissertation examines whether and how theories of unwritten and natural law can provide a better basis for religious freedom than prevailing concepts. I argue first that the fundamental problem of religious freedom is the perennial conflict of human and divine law. I then present theories of unwritten and natural law, including those present in Sophocles’ Antigone, Ibn Rushd’s Middle Commentary on Aristotle’s Rhetoric, and Tertullian’s various writings, arguing that expanding our notion of law to incorporate such theories can mediate the human and divine law and provide a rich foundation for religious liberty, even in modernity’s pluralism. iii ACKNOLWEDGEMENTS I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to all those who have contributed to the research and writing of this manuscript, directly or indirectly. Professor Timothy Shah of Georgetown provided unwavering support and encouragement at every step of the way. His friendship, moral support and confidence propelled me through the more difficult stages of the journey. Professor Joshua Mitchell of Georgetown University, whose mentorship extended from the day I arrived on campus and opened Plato’s Republic to struggling with the same text alongside his class in Doha five years later, has challenged and inspired my intellectual development throughout my training. It has been a privilege to study under him and I am indebted to him for my academic formation. I was also inexpressibly privileged to know Professor Emeritus Charles Butterworth of the University of Maryland. His cheerful support and collegial but firm commitment to intellectual engagement with thinkers past and present, in addition to his foremost expertise in Islamic thought, were indispensable supports to my project and my development. I am honored to have known and learned from all three scholars, and I will remain ever grateful for their mentorship. My husband deserves volumes of thanks. His unwavering love and his faith in me, in addition to the very real sacrifices he continues to make for my intellectual and professional path, deserve more pages than the dissertation itself. Testing my ideas on a mining engineer and amateur theologian, furthermore, greatly improved the focus and clarity, not to mention the ideas themselves. Numerous friends and colleagues have contributed in various ways to the development of this dissertation, from conversations to edits to inspiration. Nadia Oweidat’s untold generosity in providing Arabic instruction in person and from across the world cannot go unacknowledged, but her devotion to the field of Islamic Studies was also an inspiration and springboard for thought throughout this work. Julia Schwarz’s willingness to read earlier drafts was a labor of love, and I could have asked for no better editor, nor comrade-in-arms, along the way. Professor Bruce Douglass’ guidance in earlier stages of the dissertation was helpful in organizing my thoughts and my argument, and Rachel Blum provided constructive feedback on an earlier version of the theoretical framework that also helped me to clarify the direction. Dr. Greg Forster of the Kern Family Foundation has generously loaned his time and mind for well over five years, and I remain always grateful for his ongoing mentorship. Dr. Paul Marshall and Nina Shea, in taking on a young intern at the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute, provided the spark that would become an idea for a dissertation later on. Father Alan Crippen of the John Jay Institute for Faith, Society and Law inspired me to pursue graduate studies in the first place, and I am thankful for his outstanding friendship, shining example of Christian love and civility, and tireless mentorship. Kathryn Krall deserves special mention for her friendship, support, and tolerance of a roommate who left books everywhere including in the kitchen sink. My years at Georgetown were doubly joyful because of her. Finally, the ideas in this dissertation began in the iv Atlas Mountains of Morocco, distant in space and in character from any academic setting that would follow. I owe a very real debt of thanks to my dear friends and colleagues there, who will almost certainly never even know the fruits of our conversations and life together. The role of these friends and benefactors notwithstanding, of course, all errors in this dissertation are mine and mine alone. I am grateful for the support of the Bradley Foundation, a grant from which provided a very fruitful year of uninterrupted research and writing without teaching duties. The Institute for Humane Studies of George Mason University as well as the Acton Institute and the Intercollegiate Studies Institute have also provided financial and professional support, and I am indebted to the staff and donors of these organizations. Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in Doha, Qatar provided another year with excellent support in every way for completing this project. Words cannot describe my husband’s and my gratitude to the community at SFS-Q for their support during what proved a very difficult time. It is to our daughter, Freya Louise Taliaferro, however, that this dissertation is dedicated. She was my companion as I researched and wrote it in a dusty town in the Mojave Desert, and the lessons she taught me are worth more than the wisdom of the ages. I did not anticipate that a dissertation that begins with a lawsuit over cemetery regulations would be personal in any tangible regard, but she is my most beautiful and difficult reminder that indeed, the lived experience of faith is inseparable from daily life, both mundane and extraordinary. Soli Deo Gloria. Doha, Qatar, February 2015 v TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 1: The Possibility of Religious Freedom: Where Are We Today? ............. 26 Secular Religious Freedom: Three Approaches ............................................................ 26 Problems with Secular Religious Freedom .................................................................... 35 Religious Religious Freedom .......................................................................................... 48 Natural Law and Religious Freedom: Three Traditions ................................................. 49 Natural Law and Religious Freedom: A Way Forward .................................................. 57 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 65 CHAPTER 2: Antigone: The Tragedy of Human and Divine Law ............................... 67 Introduction: Why Antigone? .......................................................................................... 67 Antigone: A Clash of Two Laws………………………………………………………..72 Antigone’s Readers……………………………………………………………………...86 Law in Antigone: Agonist, Thomist, or Augustinian......................................................100 Natural Justice in Aristotle’s Interpretation of Antigone……………..………………..102 Conclusion: Antigone, Natural Law, and Religious Freedom…...……………....….....113 CHAPTER 3: Ibn Rushd and the Unwritten Law of Justice………………………......115 Introduction: Unwritten Law and Revealed Religion…………………………………115 Beyond Religious Law: The Ontology of Ibn Rushd’s Unwritten Law……………….125 Epistemology of Ibn Rushd’s Natural Law……………………………...………….....129 Ibn Rushd’s Natural Law and Islam……………………………………………...........145 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………......…158 vi CHAPTER 4: Arguing Natural Law: Tertullian and Religious Freedom in the Roman Empire………………………………………………………………………………....161 Introduction to Tertullian .............................................................................................. 161 Tertullian’s Epistemology: Reason without Philosophy ............................................... 166 The Father of Western Religious Freedom ................................................................... 176 Tertullian in Contemporary Perspective: Habermas and the Problem with Translation ....................................................................................................................................... 189 Conclusion: Paradox and Possibilities for Religious Freedom ..................................... 195 Appendix to Chapter 4: Abbreviations of Tertullian’s Works ...................................... 200 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................. 201 Epilogue: Religious Freedom in Qatar ......................................................................... 221 Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 225 vii Introduction This dissertation makes two claims: first, that religious freedom is a uniquely
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