ABSTRACT
Curiously, though, popular assumptions about those things designated as religion often assumes that these two domains are separate, even mutually exclusive, since religion is often presumed to name things of transcendental origin and thus ahistorical consequence. Based on an old English (and prior to that Old Norse) word that once signified something layered or set in place or a fixed position, an early sense of our modern term “law” seems to have been extended from this to denote a shared basis, even partnership or agreement between parties. If religion is presumed to be a pre-social and inner feeling or sentiment that is only secondarily expressed in the public domain then scholars will likely phrase the question as being one of “religion and law,” that is, seen as two distinct domains that interact in ways that require negotiation.
