What Does Divine Right Mean?

Divine right means the right ordained unto an individual as a believer. The divine rights include the right to co exist peacefully with other humans and the right to security in terms of their property, their loved ones and their freedoms. One human being can not be subservient to another human being and no human being can claim superiority. The only superiority in religion can be distinguished but by God who judges them on the basis of their piety and God consciousness. God is supposed to be the most just and it is not up to a human to strip another human of their rights and basic prerogatives.

Divine Right was a political and religious doctrine. This doctrine believed that the kings or the rulers of the land had a mandate from god and that he is supposed to rule it by the will of god and not his subjects. It is term that dates back to the ancient and medieval regimes. According to this doctrine it was a sin to rebel or go against the king and was equal to disobedience towards god. This doctrine was popularised by the Stuarts in Britain during the 16th century. There are evidences of belief in the coronation ceremony of the British monarchs where they are ordained to rule by anointing them with holy oils by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The root of this belief can be traced back to King David in the Old Testament of the Bible. The kings and queens of UK still undergo such a ceremony though it has been discontinued everywhere else. The motto of the British Royal family is an indication of this belief. It is Dieu Et Mon Droit (God and my [birth] Right - i.e. I rule with God's blessing).

It's from divus or divinus in latin meaning from god or of god.