The author describes law in the Bible as a list of the normal requirements of the relationships we have with each other and with God.  "We live in a vast web of relationships—with our neighbors, with our nation, with our church, with all peoples of the world," Nowell writes.  "We have an amazingly intimate relationship with the rest of the universe and we live by our relationship with God.  All these relationships make demands on us.  Righteousness is fidelity to all these demands and sometimes requires an intricate balancing act!  The law is simply a description of what these demands usually look like."