154 Political Theory: The Relationship of Man and the Statesocieties. It should be consistent with natural and divine law in
those societies which have been exposed to divine revelation.
Any human law which violates the natural law need not be
obeyed in conscience, unless the non-observance would create
a greater evil. Any human law which violates divine law must
never be obeyed. Any law which is enacted against the common
good would be a violation of natural or divine law, and therefore
would be a bad law. This is similar to Aristotle’s contention that
a good government is one that governs for the common good, and
a bad government is one that governs for selfish or personal ends.
This view of human law and divine law allows Aquinas to
accept states as natural institutions which were moral prior to
Christ because their laws conformed to the natural law. States
which have not heard Christ’s word, can also be moral through
reason, by promulgating human law which is consistent with the
natural law. Since there is no contradiction between natural and
divine law, modem states can and should develop laws premised
on the natural law. But rulers and citizens alike should now
realize that the good life lived in adherence to natural law is
incomplete, because it serves only the purposes of this life. The
good life lived in adherence to natural and divine law serves the
purposes of this life and the next.
Aquinas’ political philosophy is part of a total, systematic
theological/philosophical system. It begins with God and ends
with God. The state is a natural institution, a part of a divine plan.
The natural law teaches us the why and how of the state, and
guides us in the making of judgments about human law. The ruler
has great powers and serious responsibilities, as do the citizens
of any state.
Both are obliged to work for the common good in accordance
with natural and divine law through their reason. While the state
is legitimate in the truest sense, man has a final end, a supernatu
ral end, to which he must be true. In a good state, there will be
no conflict with the natural and supernatural end. If however, the
state requires, in violation of the natural law, that an individual
jeopardize that final end, the individual is justified in refusing to
obey. Violence on the part of citizens against the state is almost
never justified, in that violence itself violates the natural law. In
that rarest of moments when violence against the state may be
justified, it must be justified on the basis of the common good—