Natural Law: Five Views

The story of "natural law" - the idea that God has written a law on the human heart so that ethical norms derive from human nature - in twentieth-century Protestant ethics is one of rejection and resurgence. For half a century, luminaries like Karl Barth, Carl F. H. Henry, and Cornelius Van Til cast a shadow over natural law moral reflection because of its putative link to natural theology, autonomous reason, associations with Catholic theology, and ethical witness devoid of special revelation. However, over the past twenty years, Protestant theologians have renewed their interest in the subject, often animated by debates on Christian involvement in the public arena and on matters of life, death, and gender and sexuality. Much of this engagement has happened within Reformed circles and has largely been conducted without reference to Roman Catholic construals of the natural law. Conversely, Catholic developments in natural-law thinking have paid little attention to the surge of interest on the Protestant side. As a result, Protestant and Catholic natural proponents - and even those skeptical of the natural law - are not in conversation with one another.

The lack of dialog between the various schools of natural law has left a historic tradition within Christian moral thought underdeveloped in contemporary Protestant theology. By bringing together a variety of perspectives in much-needed conversation, this book helps readers to understand the various construals of natural law within the broader strands of Christian and classical traditions and clarifies its unique importance for Christian moral witness in a secular culture. The contributors address the following questions:

• What is natural law?
• Can moral norms be derived from immanent, creaturely ends? If so, how specific or action-guiding can those norms be? How extensive might these moral norms be?
• How does natural law endure despite Christian insistence on the noetic, epistemological effects of sin?
• What is the relationship between Christian reflection on natural law and the broader classical tradition's understanding of natural law?
• How do Catholic and Protestant construals of natural law differ?
• What is the relationship between faith and reason?
• What's the relationship between human nature and natural law?
• Does "natural law" mean: "secular moral reasons"? Or is "natural law" merely religious belief disguised as public reason?
• How does natural law relate to public reason?
• Does the affirmation of a "natural law" lead to a natural theology? Or are these distinct?
• What is the relationship between natural law and the laws of nature?

Five views:

• Classical Natural Law - Michael Pakaluk
• New Natural Law - Melissa Moschella
• Reformed Natural Law - W. Bradford Littlejohn
• Lutheran Natural Law - Joel D. Bierman
• Anti-Natural Law - Peter J. Leithart

Dr. Joel D. Biermann is the Waldemar A. and June Schuette Professor of Systematic Theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. A faculty member since 2002, Biermann teaches doctrinal theology with a special interest and emphasis centered on ethics and the correct role of the law in the life of the believer. He is the author of Wholly Citizens: God’s Two Realms and Christian Engagement with the World and A Case for Character: Towards a Lutheran Virtue Ethics.

Brad Littlejohn (Ph.D., University of Edinburgh) is the founder and president of the Davenant Institute. He also works as a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and has taught for several institutions, including Moody Bible Institute–Spokane, Bethlehem College and Seminary, and Patrick Henry College. He is also the author of The Two Kingdoms: A Guide for the Perplexed and co-editor of Beyond Calvin: Essays on the Diversity of the Reformed Tradition, and he has lectured extensively in the fields of Reformation history, Christian ethics, and political theology.

Melissa Moschella is Associate Professor of Philosophy at The Catholic University of America and author of?To Whom Do Children Belong? Parental Rights, Civic Education and Children’s Autonomy. She is also a McDonald Distinguished Fellow in the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University School of Law.

Peter J. Leithart (PhD, University of Cambridge) is President of Theopolis Institute and serves as Teacher at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Birmingham. He is the author of several books, including?The Kingdom and the Power, Creator: A Theological Interpretation of Genesis 1,?Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom, and?Baptism: A Guide from Life to Death.

Michael Pakaluk (PhD, Harvard University) is a professor of ethics and social philosophy in the Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and a member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas. He is the author several books, including?Mary’s Voice in the Gospel According to John?and?The Memoirs of St. Peter.