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What's at stake in natural law?

McIlroy, David H.

Authors

David H. McIlroy



Abstract

Something like natural law is required if Christians are to say that Jesus Christ is as relevant to human beings of every age and in every place that we have ever existed as a race. There must be something stable about the human condition which means that we are all alike in need of a Saviour. That something is the fact that we are created to love God and to love our neighbour. This much is revealed to all humankind. For the Apostle Paul and Thomas Aquinas the natural law was not given as an alternative method of salvation but rather to explain the justice of God’s judgment and the utter gratuity of divine grace. Similarly, natural theology is not an assertion that faith in Christ is optional but rather that all human beings are culpable if they do not recognise that there is a god who created them and rewards those who seek God. Natural theology is the minimum content of faith where Christ has not been proclaimed; it is no substitute for explicit faith in Christ when He has been revealed.

Citation

McIlroy, D. H. (2008). What's at stake in natural law?. New Blackfriars, 89(1023), 508-521. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-2005.2007.00206.x

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Jan 1, 2008
Deposit Date Sep 29, 2008
Journal New Blackfriars
Print ISSN 0028-4289
Electronic ISSN 1741-2005
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 89
Issue 1023
Pages 508-521
DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-2005.2007.00206.x
Keywords Natural Law Natural Theology Soteriology


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