All over the world secular rationalist governments and judicial authorities have been challenged by increasingly forceful claims made on behalf of divine law. For those who believe that reason―not faith―should be the basis of politics and the law, proponents of divine law raise theoretical and practical concerns that must be addressed seriously and respectfully. As Mark J. Lutz makes plain in this illuminating book, they have an important ally in Plato, whose long neglected Laws provides an eye-opening analysis of the relation between political philosophy and religion and a powerful defense of political rationalism. Plato mounts his case, Lutz reveals, through a productive dialogue between his Athenian Stranger and various devout citizens that begins by exploring the common ground between them, but ultimately establishes the authority of rational political philosophy to guide the law. The result will fascinate not only political theorists but also scholars at all levels with an interest in the intersection of religion and politics or in the questions that surround ethics and civic education. "This remarkable book is a brilliant and original work of Platonic scholarship and an exemplar of how political science may investigate the issue of religion and politics with balance, respect, and humanity. ..[T]he best book length study of Plato's understanding of divine law I know of." Peter Ahrensdorf, Davidson College. "Lutz's book is well worth reading for serious students of the Laws and Plato in general, not least for its attention on the dramatis personae of the dialogue." The Review of Metaphysics. "What distinguishes Lutz's analysis...is that he follows Alfarabi and Avicenna forthrightly in interpreting The Laws first and foremost as a study of the relationship between reason and prophecy.... In consequence of its character as a commentary, Lutz's book requires considerable patience on the part of the reader. In my judgment, however, it repays with interest the price it demands--for it makes intelligible much that is strange in the dialogue." Paul A. Rahe, Hillsdale College and Hoover Institution. Mark J. Lutz is associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas and author of Socrates' Education to Virtue: Learning the Love of the Noble .