From the Friars: The Law in Our Hearts
In the first reading today, Moses exhorts the Israelites to obey God’s Law. He adds that this law “is not too mysterious and remote for you … No, it is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out.” (Dt 30: 11-14) This is probably the most ancient explicit statement of what is now known as the Natural Law. Because we are made in the image and likeness of our Creator, His law is written into our very nature and we are able to know it through reason.
Moses and the tables of the Law, by Guido Reni – Public Domain, Link
The so-called Enlightenment brought an intentional rejection of knowledge based on faith and therefore also of Natural Law. Reason alone, or rationalism, is actually irrational because God’s existence and His Law can both be discovered by reason apart from Revelation. The negative consequences have been enormous. I will give two examples.
First, the Nazis on trial for war crimes at Nuremburg in 1945 based their defense on a claim that they were only following orders of their legitimately elected government. Unfortunately, the prosecutors based their case mainly on a very weak reference to the superiority of international law. Because of this many guilty Nazi leaders were set free or got light sentences. By contrast, the prosecution of Adolph Eichmann in Israel in 1961 did use Natural Law principles, affirming that mass murder is a crime universally known by human reason and Hitler’s orders to kill all Jews and many others had no legal authority.
The second example involves God’s Law for marriage. The Anglican church first approved artificial contraception at the Lambeth Conference in 1930. Almost all Christians followed them except the Catholic Church. St. Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae used mainly Natural Law arguments to show that the unitive and the procreative meanings of the marriage act must both be respected. The Pope prophesied the harm that would come by rejecting God’s design. It has been far worse than he anticipated. Skyrocketing divorce, pornography addiction, human trafficking, abortion and the breakdown of families are some fruits of this bad tree.
God’s Law is written on our hearts. Let us be grateful and obedient for His glory and our good.
Pax.
Fr. Peter