Natural Law

Dr. J. Budziszewski's book, The Line through the Heart Natural Law as Fact, Theory and Sign of Contradiction, states that there are 4 Evidences for/Witnesses to Natural Law:

1. Conscience - written on our heart
2. Design - Psalms: stars proclaim creator, therefore, there is meaning
• Details of design - anthropic, complimentary balance (such as male/female)
3. Natural Consequences - design kicks back when going against natural law (law of the harvest, as a man sows, so will he reap) This is where the distorted idea of karma comes from. Some examples are:
1. sex and procreation
2. betray friends, have none
3. live by the sword, die by the sword
4. abandon family, die alone and kids grow up without a dad.

Budziszewski continues by stating that the Law of nature must be the law of nature's creator (God). Going the other direction, assuming natural law, apologetics often uses it as evidence for God.

Here are some links to blog posts about the pros, cons, of Christians using natural law.  The main argument against it is that divine revelation is necessary for any kind of moral clarity. While this is true, it is important to understand that natural law acts in the first use of the law, that is as a curb for society. Edward Koehler, in his book A Summary of Christian Doctrine states: "Although people have little respect for the law itself, they are afraid of the punishment it threatens. In this way  the natural law functions in the conscience of people who often stop from what they are doing wrong because of fear of punishment."

Instead of saying we should not use natural law, we should talk about what it can and what it cannot do based on scripture. It is never a good idea to use philosophical arguments for why it is the be all end all, or completely terrible. The cons really come from the fact that we, as humans, don't like the idea of natural law, because of our sinfulness. We don't want someone else to tell us what to do. We want to have self-sovereignty, which is to be our own God. In fact, natural law leads to an orderly society, by providing a framework for authority. As professors Robert Kolb and Charles Arand explain on pp. 62-63 of their book The Genius of Luther’s theology: “Luther believed that the Decalogue applied to Christians not because it appeared in the Bible but because it expressed the law of creation." They continue by stating that God has organized the created structures of life” around four groups of “fathers”

1. Biological parents
2. Employers
3. Fathers of the nation (public service),
4. Spiritual fathers: the religious life that deals with “external religious communities”, that is “congregations consisting of pastors and parishioners”

“Luther argued that we would consider religious life within the context of creation for two reasons. First, as creatures we were designed to trust God for his gifts.  Second, God gave Adam his Word that he was to proclaim to Eve and formed a community within creaturely life dedicated to hearing the Word and praising God together. In the New Testament the church was called into existence in order to preach the Word, administer the sacraments, and exercise Christian discipline.... The Church needs rules and guidelines for its practice of life together” – as it “takes form in the world”, it needs “structures and governance”