Liberty University Law Review Volume 2 Issue 3 Article 14 March 2008 Natural Law, the Lex Talionis, and the Power of the Sword David VanDrunen Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/lu_law_review Recommended Citation VanDrunen, David (2008) "Natural Law, the Lex Talionis, and the Power of the Sword," Liberty University Law Review: Vol. 2 : Iss. 3 , Article 14. Available at: https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/lu_law_review/vol2/iss3/14 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Liberty University School of Law at Scholars Crossing. It has been accepted for inclusion in Liberty University Law Review by an authorized editor of Scholars Crossing. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. NATURAL LAW, THE LEX TALIONIS, AND THE POWER OF THE SWORD t David VanDrunen I. INTRODUCTION The idea of the lex talionis-aneye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth-seems to take us back to the murky origins of legal history, to the raw, primitive, and violent impulses of not-yet-fully civilized humanity. The idea evokes the specter of villages filled with one-eyed men consumed by the violent demands of honor cultures and tribal feuds. The lex talionis is easily dismissed as unworthy of humane civilization and especially of a legal order historically influenced by Christianity. Jesus himself revoked the lex talionis in his Sermon on the Mount and no longer would we imagine that maiming is a fitting way to resolve torts cases. Yet such a facile dismissal of the so-called law of retribution is both legally and theologically hasty.