8. Divine Law
Man, called to beatitude, was wounded by sin; thus he is in need of God’s salvation. God’s help comes to man in Christ by means of the law, which directs man, and grace, which sustains man. While this process is effected, man is living within a community, and is saved as part of it.
The Human Community
The vocation of every human being is to show forth the image of God and to be transformed into the image of the Father’s only Son. This vocation takes a personal form, since each of us is called to enter into eternal happiness—the divine beatitude. It also concerns the human community as a whole.
All humans are called to the same end: God himself. There is a certain resemblance between the union of the divine persons and the fraternity that men are to establish among themselves in truth and love. Love of neighbor is inseparable from love for God.
The human person needs to live in society. Society is not for him an extraneous addition but a requirement of his nature. Through interaction, mutual service, and dialogue with his brethren, man develops his potentials and responds to his vocation.1
Authority and Obedience
Every organized society needs a principle of authority to achieve its end. The existence of authority, geared toward the common good, is a demand of nature.
The word authority has two different meanings:
i) The competence to make judgments that reasonable persons of lesser competence accept as true. This is the authority of an expert in some field like physics, astronomy, or good wine vintage. It is known as auctoritas.
ii) The competence to give directions, which those who are directed have a duty to obey. We obey a policeman not because he is an expert in traffic but because he has the “authority” of the law. It is known as potestas.
God’s laws and norms are not arbitrary decrees, but elements of God’s wise plan in whose observance lies our full and authentic well-being and development. We should obey divine precepts because God possesses both of the above-mentioned kinds of authority. As a result of divine revelation, we need not spend time in an interminable quest to learn God’s plan. God discloses the truth, and the wise person sees it.
God’s Covenant with Man
Man is not alone in choosing to obey God’s will and norms. God reveals himself to us as a person who invites us into community. Once God so reveals himself, man can accomplish the human good of religion by a covenant relationship with God that is analogous to a human friendship. One who accepts this friendship by an act of faith enters into a mutual commitment with God, very much like a person entering into a marriage.
In this covenant, God is uniquely situated to make certain decisions for the shaping and development of the relationship. We are surely in no position to say how the covenant should be set up and, in general, carried out. Since our relationship with God is one of friendship, and since we are not qualified to make solid decisions, we have an obligation, grounded in our commitment, to obey his decisions. To refuse would mean that, although we desired the relationship, we supposed ourselves more knowledgeable than God about how to conduct it.
For example, God prescribes that there be a visible human community that is “the Church” and that it be organized hierarchically rather than democratically or in some other way; God prescribes that efficacious signs that we call “the sacraments” be his channels for bestowing grace on human beings. God might do differently, but this is what he chooses to do, and we must accept his will and cooperate in his redemptive work by carrying out his directions.2
Law: Definition and Classification
St. Thomas Aquinas defines law as “an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him who has care of the community, and promulgated.”3
Some aspects of this definition deserve further study:
· The law is an ordinance of reason, not of the will. Knowing the means that are required to attain an end properly belongs to the intellect. But after reason has formulated the norm, the legislator must make it obligatory by an act of his will. This binding character is part of the essence of the law, and distinguishes it from mere advice.
· It is made for the common good. Thus, a law that causes evil rather than the common good is not a real law. Laws can cause the common good in a direct or an indirect way. The former are those that directly benefit the community and indirectly the individual. Thus, tax laws supply the means for public works, which indirectly benefit the individuals. The latter are those that directly benefit some individuals, and as a consequence benefit the community. For instance, laws that benefit mailmen or journalists by helping them fulfill their respective tasks in a more efficient way indirectly benefit the whole of society. These laws were called privileges in the ancient legal terminology, without the present negative connotations.
· It is made by him who has care of the community. The author of the law, the legislator, must be the legitimate authority.
· It is promulgated. The legislator must publicly announce the law to the subjects.
According to their author, laws can be classified as follows:
· Divine law:
o Eternal law
o Natural law
o Divine positive law
· Human law:
o Civil law (promulgated by the civil authority)
o Ecclesiastical law (promulgated by the ecclesiastical authority)
Aquinas’s well-known definition of law applies primarily to human laws. This definition of law can also be applied to the divine laws but only in an analogical way. Its applicability decreases as we get further from human laws. Thus, the definition can still be applied to eternal law—which is the most remote from human law—but it fails to convey its most essential aspect.
Obviously, our first point of reference is human law. We tend to see all laws by analogy with it. This is true, however, only at the level of knowledge. In the order of reality, the first point of reference is eternal law. If we do not keep this in mind, we may unconsciously apply to natural law our notions of human law. To a great extent, this accounts for common misconceptions: that natural law can be reformed, or that it admits exceptions or dispensations.
Eternal Law
God follows a certain order in the work of creation. Each creature’s being has an internal harmony, and its operation corresponds to that being. There is also harmony among the different creatures: Inferior beings are ordained to superior ones. All beings are ultimately ordained to God, but according to that internal order in and among them.
God’s work of conservation—which is like the continuation of creation—is also carried out in agreement with the same divine plan. According to St. Thomas, that plan (ratio in Latin, “type,” “plan,” “model”) of divine wisdom, as directing all actions and movements, is called eternal law.4 It is called eternal because it is prior to creation, and law because it is a normative ordination made by the divine wisdom for the proper being and operation of all creatures. The actual implementation of this plan in each creature is called providence or government.5
The Scope and Application of Eternal Law
Unlike human laws, which apply extrinsically and sometimes with error, eternal law applies intrinsically and with absolute perfection to every act of the creatures.
Eternal law is an intrinsic and radical measure of our being. Only by observing it can our actions be in agreement with our being and lead us to perfection.6 If we disregard this measure, it is impossible to find happiness.
Eternal law is not just an intrinsic norm. Together with it, God gives us the strength to fulfill it. Eternal law is the deepest inclination of the creatures’ being.7 Whatever order there may be in our acts is contained in eternal law and comes from it. For the same reason, all laws are derived from eternal law. Eternal law is the model of all laws; no law is just if it does not conform to eternal law.8 It is also their efficient cause; the human power of giving laws proceeds from God, who has given it to man.
Eternal law applies to each and every action of all creatures. It is an error to think that God does not ordain singular actions and beings. God’s law extends as far as his power, and he is the first cause of all things, both in their most universal and in their most singular and particular traits.
Human laws may fail to foresee some particular case, or respond to someone’s specific needs, but this is never the case with eternal law. Its fulfillment always makes every person happy, even when circumstances are or seem difficult, because God always gives the strength that is needed to fulfill his precepts.
Eternal Law and Creatures
Beings may be subject to eternal law in two ways: through an internal moving principle, or through knowledge. Irrational creatures follow the eternal law in the first way. They passively and necessarily obey eternal law through a blind and unavoidable inclination toward their acts.
Rational creatures follow eternal law in both ways. As the animals, they also have a natural inclination (natural law) toward what is in agreement with eternal law. They can also know eternal law, thus actively and willingly obeying it, and participating in the divine government.9
Man can know what is good or bad, but cannot decide what should be good or bad. Revelation teaches that the power to decide what is good and what is evil does not belong to man, but to God alone.10
The Existence of Eternal Law and Natural Law
Eternal law and natural law are consequences of the created nature of man and the rest of the universe, which have been created by God according to specific plans.
The existence of natural law is clearly attested by St. Paul. He states that the Gentiles, being ignorant of the revelation that God made to Moses, knew and practiced some precepts of natural law, and that God would judge them on the last day according to these precepts (cf. Rom 2:14–16).
Obviously, those who explicitly or implicitly deny the existence of God, or have a sufficiently mistaken idea of him, also deny the existence of both eternal and natural law.
Errors
In our times, the most common error is denying the real existence of natural law. It is wrongly considered an illusion, or an attempt to give formal recognition to a mere collection of precepts that are imposed by custom. These precepts, some argue, originate in circumstances or beliefs of the past, often difficult or impossible to ascertain. Ultimately, these people reduce natural law to social customs or conventions, which can, of course, be modified.
In that context, the expression “Adapting laws to social reality”—perfectly valid in itself—is understood as meaning that whatever people want is moral, and the legislator must adapt the laws to the popular will. Some theories hold that moral norms are not truths:
· Emotivism maintains that moral norms are expressions of feelings. To say, “That is wrong” amounts to saying, “I don’t like that.”
· Divine command theory argues that moral norms are arbitrary rules of behavior set by God. God could have laid down different rules.
· Prescriptivism holds that moral norms come into force for people only if they choose to adopt them.
Some other theories recognize moral norms as truths, but nevertheless are inadequate:
· Inspirationism claims that moral norms do not proceed from principles, but are isolated truths, intuitive insights, or messages from God.
· Cultural relativism asserts that moral norms are nothing more than attempts by members of each particular society to prescribe what behavior is necessary if their society is to survive and flourish.
The Notion of Natural Law
All creatures participate in eternal law, because the inclinations leading them to their own acts and ends stem from it. But the participation of rational creatures is greater, because, by knowing the plan of God—embodied in eternal law—they intellectually participate in that ordination as well. Thus, the participation of eternal law in irrational creatures is called law only improperly and by analogy, as in the case of the laws of physics or biology. The participation of eternal law in man, on the other hand, is properly called law.11 Thus, we say that natural moral law (or simply natural law) is the part of eternal law that makes reference to human behavior.
Therefore, natural law is the participation of eternal law in the rational creature.12 It is called law because it is a binding norm that is obeyed after being known. It is called natural because it prescribes the specific way of acting that corresponds to human nature. It is sometimes called divine natural law in order to stress that it comes from God.
Natural law is a norm that is extrinsic to man, because its ultimate foundation lies not in man, but in God as Creator. “It has the force of law because it is the voice and the interpreter of some higher reason [God’s] to which our spirit and our freedom must be subject.”13
Natural law, however, is intrinsic to man in two aspects. First, it consists in the right ordering of human behavior so that it may be in agreement with man’s nature and lead him to his objective last end—which coincides with his real happiness. In this sense, natural law is impressed on human nature just as iron’s physical and chemical properties are inseparable from its nature. The divine natural law shows man the way to follow so as to practice the good and attain his end. Nevertheless, natural law is free in its dynamic observance; i.e., man can choose not to look at its guidance. Yet by not observing it, man accomplishes his self-destruction. This explains why natural law is intensified and blossoms in virtuous conduct but is dimmed in a sinful person.
Second, it is intrinsic to man because the intellect, which naturally tends to discover the truth in everything, also tends to discover the truth in the field of human behavior, which is precisely natural law. Likewise, the will is naturally inclined to the practice of what is in agreement with, and befits, one’s own nature. This is no other than the good proposed by the intellect. As St. Thomas says, natural law is but the imprint of divine light in us.14 This should not be understood as referring to an explicit revelation, or an infusion of ideas, whether innate or received later on. What it really means is that man’s knowledge, intellect, and inclination to the truth are a natural participation in the divine knowledge.
The rightful autonomy of human intellect or reason means that man possesses in himself his own law, received from the Creator. Nevertheless, this autonomy does not mean that reason itself can create its own values and moral norms.15
Properties of Natural Law
The properties of natural law are universality and immutability. Both are a consequence of what natural law is. Because natural law flows from human nature, it applies to all who share that nature (universality) for as long as their nature continues to be human (immutability).
The universality of natural law implies that the rights and duties that it establishes apply to all humans by the mere fact of being human.16 Its obligation is independent of culture, beliefs, environment, or circumstances. It stems from human nature, which all people possess equally because they are people.
A consequence of this is that those who, through no fault of their own, are not Christians can be saved only if they strive to know and follow the natural law.17
Thus, properly speaking, natural law does not admit any dispensation (suspension of the law in a particular case) or epikeia (softened interpretation of the law in the assumption that the legislator did not mean it to apply in cases where, due to specific circumstances, the enforcement would result in an injustice). Any of these exceptions would imply an imperfection of the divine intellect in planning human nature, or of divine power in implementing it.
The immutability of natural law flows from the immutability of human nature, which remains substantially the same at all times.18
Obviously, the passage of time has led to new forms of human organization, changes in human relations, and, in general, different cultural orientations. However, these changes never touch what is essential—natural law does not admit dispensation from its first principles.19 Thus, the respect for human life is always necessary, but the death penalty for some crimes may have been licit in some historical period, and illicit in others. The right to private property is a requirement of human nature, even if its concrete regulation may change with time. Modesty in dress is a requirement of human nature, although what is considered as modest may have changed with time.
The way of fulfilling a specific precept may change with time, but, in every period, it has to be fulfilled in the way that is required at that time.
Logically, those who challenge the immutability of human nature also reject the immutability of natural law. This, aside from being a serious philosophical error, is also in opposition to the findings of the positive sciences that study the history and prehistory of man. Certainly, some precepts of natural law may be ignored in a specific society, but then that society will be defective in the areas where the ignored precepts apply. Both the society and its members will drift away from happiness and endanger their salvation.
The Contents and Knowledge of Natural Law
The obligation to love God above all creatures—together with the character that is proper to each creature—determines the right way to love all other goods, that is, the content of natural law. Any use of created goods that leads man to know and love God is naturally right; any use that impedes that knowledge and love is bad.
The “divine and natural” law shows man the way to follow so as to practice the good and attain his end. The natural law states the first and essential precepts which govern the moral life. It hinges upon the desire for God and submission to him, who is the source and judge of all that is good, as well as upon the sense that the other is one’s equal. Its principal precepts are expressed in the Decalogue.20
Natural law includes all the norms of conduct, and only those that necessarily derive from human nature. It is specified in rights and duties, which together constitute the contents of natural law.21 St. Thomas, among others, distinguishes three levels or groups of propositions:
i) First principles, or primary precepts
ii) Secondary principles or immediate conclusions
iii) Specific moral norms or remote conclusions
Our manner of knowing is based on human intelligence, which is inclined to truth by itself. That inclination enables the intelligence to immediately grasp, as evident, some first truths, which we call first principles. With the light of this evident knowledge, man discovers particular precepts of moral law. These are goods that perfect man.
Man discerns which are the human goods that lead to integral human perfection by experience and reflection on the inclinations that are proper to human nature. This is done not only through personal reflection, but accumulated consideration on history, and through information that he receives from education, environment, etc. We should keep in mind that first principles are not general truths from which particular norms are derived, but rather a light that illumines our experience and reflection on the goods that perfect man.22
First Principles
St. Thomas includes two kinds of precepts among these first principles or primary precepts, which are non-demonstrable and do not require divine revelation. We may call them: (a) the first principles of practical reasoning and (b) the first principles of moral choice.
The First Principles of Practical Reasoning
In morals, before thinking of what we should do, we should think of what we could do. In other words, we should ask ourselves, “What are the options?” We therefore need guidance from principles of practical reasoning before we can even take up the moral question. The very first principle or starting point of practical reasoning is that good is to be done and pursued, and evil is to be avoided. This principle directs human persons to the goods that fulfill them.
To be good is for something to be fully, to be all it should be—no lacks, no privations. A good thing has everything it needs to be, all it is meant to be. There is more to goodness than conforming to nature. Thus, the good also has to do with unfolding a thing’s possibilities.
Badness, on the other hand, is real, not illusory. It is the real absence in things of what ought to be there. This deficiency is an objective condition, something real, but precisely as a lack, it is not a positive reality that is contrary to the good. Death, for instance, is real, yet it is not another way of being, alongside living. It is the absence of life in something that once was alive.
The Basic Human Goods
The specifications of the first principle of practical reasoning are called “basic human goods.” They give content to this first principle by identifying the goods that are to be done, pursued, protected, and promoted. Each serves as a starting point to find what is to be done. Practical reason “naturally” apprehends them as good in a direct, non-discursive experience. These human goods do not have a moral value as such; one can choose to establish them in immoral ways. They are incommensurable, not homogenous, not comparable with one another, and thus impossible to arrange by rank or importance. None of these goods is the highest good. God alone is the absolute good. They are alike in that each is a good of persons, not a good for persons.
St. Thomas distinguishes various sorts of basic human goods, corresponding to “natural inclinations” of the human person without being exhaustive but rather illustrative. He classifies them into three groups corresponding to basic inclinations:
i) Self-preservation, which is common to all beings
ii) What he calls animal inclinations, such as mating and raising offspring
iii) Goods according to the nature of reason, which are specifically human inclinations, such as knowing the truth about God and living in society23
Contemporary authors have tried to identify all the basic goods of human persons and explain them in an orderly way.24 They establish three categories:
i) The reflexive or existential human goods fulfill persons insofar as they are able to make choices and are thus capable of moral good and evil. There are four of these goods; all have harmony as their common theme:
a. Self-integration or inner peace, which consists in harmony among one’s judgments, feelings, and choices
b. Authenticity, which is sincerity or harmony and consistency between one’s judgments, feelings and choices and one’s behavior
c. Interpersonal harmony, which is fraternity, friendship, justice and so on
d. Harmony with God, which is religion
ii) There are three substantive human goods in whose definition choice is not included:
a. Bodily well-being, including health, bodily integrity, a good that fulfills human persons as physical beings
b. Knowledge of the truth and appreciation of beauty, goods that fulfill human persons as intelligent beings
c. Work, or skillful performance and activity; the person expands in the world, interacts with it, transforms it, and finds fulfillment in so doing
iii) The marriage and family life human good is a complex human good that is both substantive and reflexive.
The First Principles of Moral Choice
In a specific instance, several of these basic human goods may appear overlapped as objects of one’s choice. Which good should one choose to prevail over the others? What should one’s priorities be?
To solve this quandary, there is an analogous first principle of moral choice (or first principle of morality), which concerns our way of pursuing the basic human goods. It provides a way of distinguishing between alternatives that are morally good and others that are bad.25
Sacred Scripture marks the first principle of morality in these terms: Love God above all things, and love one’s neighbor as oneself (cf. Mk 12:29–31). A choice in accord with love of God and neighbor is morally good; a choice contrary to love of God and neighbor is morally bad. Love means fulfilling one’s responsibilities toward God and neighbor. Thus, moral norms and truths should guide us to act in ways that fulfill us both as individuals and as persons living together in community.
The precept to love God above all things encompasses all the others—including the Decalogue—and helps us to know and fulfill them. The purpose of eternal law is to direct every creature to God in its proper way. For man, the proper way to be united to God is through knowledge and love. This precept determines the contents of natural law; whatever leads man to know and love God above all things is naturally right; whatever prevents it is naturally wrong. Therefore, to the extent that man strives to fulfill the first precept of natural law, the knowledge and fulfillment of the rest becomes easier.
The Second Vatican Council gives us another version of the same first principle of morality:
Here then is the norm for human activity—to harmonize with the authentic interests of the human race, in accordance with God’s will and design, and to enable men as individuals and as members of society to pursue and fulfil their total vocation.26
In this way, human beings fulfill the command of love, for, by doing so, they manifest their love of God—who is the author of the “goods of human race”—and their love of neighbor, in whom these God-given gifts are meant to flourish.27
Contemporary authors claim that the twofold command to love can be more precisely formulated for philosophical and theological purposes as follows: In voluntarily acting for human goods and avoiding what is opposed to them, one ought to choose only those possibilities that are compatible with integral human fulfillment.28 The will of a person who is committed to choosing and acting in accord with the requirements of integral human fulfillment is the will of a person who is inwardly disposed to choose well, to choose in accord with unfettered or “right” reason. Morally good human acts not only affect the individual, but also are consistent with the real good of the human family.
Moral truths are related to this human good and human flourishing. We must understand human flourishing and fulfillment not simply as consistent conformity to what we already are, but as self-constitution, a form of cooperation with God in carrying out his plan—a plan that calls on us to imitate and cooperate with his creative wisdom by free acts of love.
We see in this principle that the fundamental reality of moral action is self-determination, making oneself to be a certain sort of person by the choices one makes.29
The Immediate Conclusions
The secondary principles or immediate conclusions of natural law are those normative precepts that are easily deduced from the first principles. Their purpose is to further specify the first moral principles by excluding as immoral those actions that are incompatible with a true integral human fulfillment.
St. Thomas includes the Ten Commandments among these immediate conclusions (cf. Ex 20:1–17; Dt 5:6–21). The primary precepts are “contained” in the Decalogue, but only as principles; the remote conclusions are “contained” in the Decalogue only as conclusions. He also referred to the Golden Rule (“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”) and the principle that we are to do injury to no one as specifications of the first moral principle. (These are also included among the “modes of responsibility.”)
The Modes of Responsibility
Some contemporary moralists tried to identify with more precision the immediate conclusions of the first principle of morality. They call them the modes of responsibility, which specify further the first moral principles and enable us to move from the first principles of morality to specific moral norms, such as the Decalogue.30 The modes of responsibility are attitudes that are consistent with basic virtues.
The Modes of Christian Response
Transformed by faith and charity, these modes of responsibility become “modes of Christian response” (the virtues that we contemplate in Jesus), which fulfill and specify the requirements of the law of Christian love that was promulgated in the Gospel. In their originality and profundity, the Beatitudes are, to a great extent, a self-portrait of Christ, and, for this reason, are invitations to discipleship and to communion of life with Christ. A Christian is aware that integral human fulfillment can indeed be accomplished in union with Jesus. Moreover, reflection on the Beatitudes directs one to think that they are, in fact, the modes of Christian response, that is, internal Christian dispositions or virtues, linked traditionally—as in the thought of St. Augustine and St. Thomas—to the gifts of the Holy Spirit. From the Beatitudes, there also indirectly flow normative indications for the moral life.31
Specific Moral Norms
The third set of natural law propositions is made up of more specific moral norms, which identify specific human action that ought to be done or not done. These are remote conclusions of natural law that can be reached only through a diligent effort of the intellect. Such are the indissolubility of marriage and the unlawfulness of polygamy.
This classification of the precepts of natural law is based on their degree of evidence for human knowledge.
Knowledge of the Precepts of Natural Law
Man can know the precepts of natural law with his natural intellect. Just as he can discover the structure of the cell or of its nucleus, he can discover the structure of human behavior. And just as he can study what is beneficial and what is harmful for the cell, he can study what is beneficial and what is harmful in human behavior.
There are some differences, though. Morality deals with realities that are more immediate and important, and it imposes demands on one’s behavior. Thus, the precepts of natural law are much easier to know than other natural subjects. But it is also true that this knowledge is more easily affected by the good will, or rectitude of intention, of the person seeking it.
We should not forget that these precepts are discovered by human intellect; the intellect is the only faculty that man possesses for intellectual knowledge. We do not know natural law through a sort of sixth sense. Neither should we understand the expression “Natural law is impressed in our hearts” as referring to some kind of innate ideas.
Given a basic willingness to obey the precepts of natural law, the ease with which man can discover them is directly proportional to how radically they affect human behavior.32 We can, therefore, make the following statements:
· The first and most universal principles are necessarily and immediately known to all. This is so not because the intellect has been conditioned to think that way, but because it is radically open to reality and it cannot ignore what is evident.33
· The secondary principles or immediate conclusions are extremely easy to know for any person who uses his intellect. Their main demands cannot possibly be ignored by adults with the use of reason. In special circumstances, however, some people may be inculpably ignorant of them, at least for some time.
· The remote conclusions are more difficult to know, and a person may remain invincibly ignorant of them.
The Usual Way of Knowing Natural Law
Until now, we have discussed the discovery of the precepts of natural law by human intellect. But, as with other natural knowledge, there is obviously no need for every person to discover them anew. Their knowledge is normally transmitted from person to person and to posterity through teaching.
God has also revealed natural law to ensure that it is known and to increase its binding force. Natural law is most perfectly revealed in Jesus Christ. Jesus was the “perfect man” not only in relation to the essential human calling to discern, embrace, and live out one’s vocation as a child of God, but also in fidelity to the will of the Father, and in communion with other human persons. In his words, in his attitudes, and deeds, we learn what natural law is and how a Christian should live.
God also revealed the basic precepts of natural law with the Ten Commandments, just as he has also revealed other important natural truths.34
The revelation of natural law leads to further considerations. We know that God has entrusted the deposit of revelation to the Church. Therefore, the authentic interpretation of natural law has also been entrusted to the Church. This gives Catholics a great assurance in all that refers to the error-free knowledge of the precepts of natural law, which is certainly a privileged position.
Furthermore, the declarations of the Church on the precepts of natural law apply to all people, because all people are subject to natural law. Knowing and observing these precepts is good for all, but ignoring or disobeying them is harmful for all. Catholics, therefore, must try—by all legitimate means—to make these precepts known and foster their observance. The happiness of society and its members, believers or not, is at stake.
But our assurance should not lead us to prove the precepts of natural law with dogmatic arguments. Despite the solid reasons upon which the Magisterium of the Church is founded, quoting its pronouncements about natural law will convince few non-Catholics, because they will probably not accept or understand its authority. Even worse, it may give the impression that the precept in question is not natural but religious in nature, since we use religious reasons to prove it instead of natural ones.
Thus, faith tells us that marriage is indissoluble in itself. We know it with certainty because of the teaching of the Church. The Church also teaches that this is a natural truth; it is therefore demonstrable through natural reasoning. Being a remote conclusion, the arguments will not be as evident as in other cases, but, taken together, the arguments in favor of the indissolubility of marriage will always be stronger than those against it. The only way to show the great natural benefits of the indissolubility of marriage is to seek these arguments and present them in an attractive manner. We know, of course, that our certainty ultimately comes from another source, but there are also valid human reasons. On the other hand, if we were to close our reasoning with an “after all, this is true because the Church says so,” we would defeat our purpose: It is an indirect endorsement of those who claim that the indissolubility of marriage is not a natural truth.
Divine Positive Law
Divine positive law is the law expressly revealed by God. It includes:
· Precepts from natural law, which thus become clearer and indisputable for all. This is the case of the Ten Commandments. These are found both in the Old and the New Testament.
· Supernatural precepts, since man is destined for a supernatural end. These are also found in both the Old and New Testaments.
The Old Testament Law is holy (cf. Rom 7:12), spiritual (cf. Rom 7:14) and good (cf. Rom 7:16), but still imperfect. The Law was given to us to lead us to Christ (cf. Gal 3:24). It shows what we must do, but it does not give the power—the grace of the Holy Spirit—to fulfill it. According to St. Paul, the Old Law served to denounce and manifest sin (cf. Rom 7) as a preparation for the Gospel.35 Some precepts of the Old Testament are usually classified into ceremonial and judicial precepts. The former refer to the worship of God, the latter to the social organization of the Jews: marriage and family laws, or administration of justice. Both were abolished after the death of Christ and lost their binding force. However, they were not formally forbidden until much later, perhaps after the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem in a.d. 70. The ceremonial precepts were abolished, because their role was to announce and prepare the Christian worship. The judicial precepts were abolished because the people of Israel was to give way to the “New Israel,” the Church.
The supernatural precepts of the New Testament refer to the reception of faith and the other supernatural virtues, their practice, and the worship due to God, especially the holy sacrifice of the Mass and the sacraments.
The New Law
A baptized person is “a new creature,” because baptism gives man a divine resemblance, a participation in divine nature (cf. 2 Pt 1:4). A Christian is called to accommodate his conduct to the life of Jesus Christ with the help of God’s grace.
The New Law primarily consists in grace itself, which is infused by the Holy Spirit. This grace regenerates man and re-ordains him to his supernatural end. Hence the superiority of the New Law over the Old Law and human laws.36
The New Law leads to the fullness of God’s commandments; it is summarized in the “new commandment” of Jesus (Jn 13:34): to love one another as he loved us (cf. Jn 15:12). It is expressed primarily by the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount, to which may be added the moral teachings of the apostles, such as Romans 12–15, 1 Corinthians 12–13, Colossians 3–4, and Ephesians 4–5. The New Law communicates God’s grace to us through the sacraments. It practices the acts of religion: almsgiving, prayer, and fasting; its prayer is the Lord’s Prayer (cf. Mt 6:9–13).
Law is always a guide to our freedom. The New Law, however, unlike the Old Law and human laws, is an intrinsic guide of freedom. It does not perfect freedom from the outside, but from the inside of our own being, since, “poured out in our soul by God, charity transforms from within our mind and will.”37 With the New Law, God does not only indicate what we must do and encourage us to do it, but he also gives us the strength and the inclination to do it.
The Law of Charity
The New Law is the law of charity, which is the bond of perfection. There is an exact correspondence between the New Law’s perfect way of moving through charity and the perfection of the goal intended. It is not just a matter of loving God above all things; this was already required by natural law and the Old Testament law. What is now required is to love God in his intimate life, which is possible only through the supernatural strength of charity.
Thus the New Law, by perfecting the first principle of natural law—the root of all other precepts—gives a new dimension to all human acts. It compels us to be daring in our love, since “a selfish or partial love is not enough—we have to love others with the love of God.”38 Thus, by the law of grace, Christians possess the inner strength and light that is needed to be an effective leaven in all human activities.
The Law of Perfect Freedom
Since the New Law is the law of charity, it is also the law of perfect freedom (cf. Jas 1:25; 2:12); it moves by means of love and demands only what love requires.
Freedom is a tendency toward the good. But, because of sin, the will and intellect are now enslaved to false goods that distract them away from the true good. In a certain way, they also remain enslaved when they do good things only out of servile fear. The grace of God delivers us from both servitudes, uniting us to him and moving us to fulfill his law out of love. The New Law inclines us to deal with Christ, not as slaves, but as friends, and even as sons of God and heirs of his glory (cf. Gal 4:1–7, 21–31; Rom 8:15).
On the other hand, this maximum freedom of the New Law does not mean a lesser demand or absence of difficulties; it is rather a perfection of the strength that the law itself gives for the fulfillment of its commands. Charity is not the abolition of the law, but its fulfillment.
Grace, Justification, and Sanctity
The grace of the Holy Spirit has the power to justify us, that is, to cleanse us from our sins and to communicate to us “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ,” through baptism (Rom 3:22; cf. Rom 6:3–4).
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we take part in Christ’s Passion by dying to sin, and in his Resurrection by being born to a new life. We are members of his body, which is the Church, and branches grafted onto the vine, which is Jesus Christ.
From then on, Christian life is a continuous conversion, also called “sanctification.” “Christian sanctity does not consist in being impeccable, but in fighting against and not yielding to temptation, in getting up again after a fall. It does not result so much from man’s will power, but rather from the effort of not setting obstacles to the action of grace in one’s soul. It consists in being humble cooperators of God’s grace.”39 This process of gradual growth in holiness culminates in everlasting life.
Someone may ask what these words of St. Paul mean: “For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved” (Rom 10:10). Do the good works that are required of us come down to no more than confessing with the mouth? Just say, “Jesus is my Lord and my Savior,” and one is saved? That is to misunderstand what St. Paul has in mind. To be sincere, confession with the lips must be carried out consistently; it must be lived. “Let us not grow weary in well-doing,” Paul urges, “for in due season we shall reap” (Gal 6:9). Confession with the lips means bearing witness, which leads to salvation because it involves a complete Christian life.40
Charity is, thus, the completion of faith. It should grow through living one’s personal vocation and through deeds to share God’s love with others.
Footnotes:
1. Cf. CCC, 1877–1948.
2. Cf. G. Grisez and R. Shaw, Fulfillment in Christ.
3. ST, I-II, q. 90, a. 4.
4. Cf. Ibid., q. 93, a. 1; CCC, 1949–1986.
5. Cf. ST, I, q. 22, a. 3; CCC, 1949–1953.
6. Cf. ST, I-II, q. 93, a. 6.
7. Cf. Ibid.
8. Cf. Ibid., a. 3.
9. Cf. Ibid., a. 6.
10. Cf. John Paul II, Enc. Veritatis Splendor, 35.
11. Cf. ST, I-II, q. 91, a. 2; CCC, 1954–1960.
12. Cf. ST, I-II, q. 91, a. 2.
13. Leo XIII, Enc. Libertas Praestantissimum, 8; cf. John Paul II, Enc. Veritatis Splendor, 44.
14. Cf. ST, I-II, q. 91, a. 2.
15. John Paul II, Enc. Veritatis Splendor, 40; cf. R. García de Haro, La Vita Cristiana, p. 5.
16. Cf. CCC, 1956.
17. Cf. LG, 16.
18. Cf. CCC, 1958–1960.
19. Cf. DH, 3; Paul VI, Enc. Humanae Vitae, 4.
20. CCC, 1955.
21. Cf. Ibid., 1959.
22. Cf. R. García de Haro, La Vita Cristiana, p. 5.
23. Cf. ST, I-II, q. 94, a. 2.
24. Germain Grisez, John Finnis, and Joseph Boyle among others.
25. Cf. ST, I-II, q. 100, a. 3 ad 1.; a. 11.
26. GS, 35.
27. Cf. W. E. May, An Introduction to Moral Theology, p. 57.
28. Cf. G. Grisez and R. Shaw, Fulfillment in Christ; W. E. May, An Introduction to Moral Theology, p. 63ff.
29. Cf. G. Grisez and R. Shaw, Fulfillment in Christ, pp. 48–51.
30. Cf. Ibid., p. 81ff.
31. Cf. John Paul II, Enc. Veritatis Splendor, 16; CCC, 1716–1724. The beatitudes have their corresponding “modes of Christian response” and related virtues:
· Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Christian energy and ambition must be rooted in humility and trust in God. Expect and accept all good, including the good fruits of your own work, as God’s gift. Do not be lazy about doing good. The related virtue is humility to cooperate with God.
· Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Accept God’s will; be a team player on God’s team. Accept your limited role in the body of Christ and fulfill it. Do not be moved merely by enthusiasm or impatience. The related virtue is meekness to accept and embrace one’s mission in life or vocation.
· Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Put aside or avoid whatever is not necessary or useful in the fulfillment of your vocation. One who puts aside “mourns.” Do not choose merely to satisfy an emotional desire except as part of the pursuit of an intelligible good. The related virtue is detachment.
· Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Endure fearlessly whatever is necessary or useful in the fulfillment of your vocation. Do not act in accord with an emotional aversion, except when this is done to avoid some intelligible evil. Do not let fear of suffering rule your life. The related virtues are endurance in the struggle, faithfulness, and courage.
· Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Be merciful according to the perfect measure of mercy, which God has revealed in Jesus. Do not judge persons according to your feelings. The related virtues are fairness and forgiveness.
· Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Strive to conform your whole self to a living faith, and recognize and purge anything that does not meet this standard. The related virtue is purity of heart.
· Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Respond to evil with good, not with resistance, much less with destructive action. The related virtue is that of the peacemakers and rebuilders of damaged relationships.
· Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Do no evil that good might come of it, but suffer evil together with Jesus in cooperation with God’s redeeming love. The related virtue is doing good even though it may produce hatred and accepting the suffering that results (cf. G. Grisez and R. Shaw, Fulfillment in Christ, 305ff).
32. Cf. ST, I-II, q. 94, a. 6; CCC, 1960.
33. Cf. ST, I, q. 79, a. 12.
34. Cf. Ibid., q. 1, a. 1.
35. Cf. CCC, 1961–1964.
36. Cf. Ibid., 1965–1974.
37. St. Josemaría Escrivá, Christ is Passing By, 71.
38. Ibid., 97.
39. John Paul II, Alloc., March 23, 1983.
40. Cf. G. Grisez and R. Shaw, Fulfillment in Christ, p. 329.
The Human Community
The vocation of every human being is to show forth the image of God and to be transformed into the image of the Father’s only Son. This vocation takes a personal form, since each of us is called to enter into eternal happiness—the divine beatitude. It also concerns the human community as a whole.
All humans are called to the same end: God himself. There is a certain resemblance between the union of the divine persons and the fraternity that men are to establish among themselves in truth and love. Love of neighbor is inseparable from love for God.
The human person needs to live in society. Society is not for him an extraneous addition but a requirement of his nature. Through interaction, mutual service, and dialogue with his brethren, man develops his potentials and responds to his vocation.1
Authority and Obedience
Every organized society needs a principle of authority to achieve its end. The existence of authority, geared toward the common good, is a demand of nature.
The word authority has two different meanings:
i) The competence to make judgments that reasonable persons of lesser competence accept as true. This is the authority of an expert in some field like physics, astronomy, or good wine vintage. It is known as auctoritas.
ii) The competence to give directions, which those who are directed have a duty to obey. We obey a policeman not because he is an expert in traffic but because he has the “authority” of the law. It is known as potestas.
God’s laws and norms are not arbitrary decrees, but elements of God’s wise plan in whose observance lies our full and authentic well-being and development. We should obey divine precepts because God possesses both of the above-mentioned kinds of authority. As a result of divine revelation, we need not spend time in an interminable quest to learn God’s plan. God discloses the truth, and the wise person sees it.
God’s Covenant with Man
Man is not alone in choosing to obey God’s will and norms. God reveals himself to us as a person who invites us into community. Once God so reveals himself, man can accomplish the human good of religion by a covenant relationship with God that is analogous to a human friendship. One who accepts this friendship by an act of faith enters into a mutual commitment with God, very much like a person entering into a marriage.
In this covenant, God is uniquely situated to make certain decisions for the shaping and development of the relationship. We are surely in no position to say how the covenant should be set up and, in general, carried out. Since our relationship with God is one of friendship, and since we are not qualified to make solid decisions, we have an obligation, grounded in our commitment, to obey his decisions. To refuse would mean that, although we desired the relationship, we supposed ourselves more knowledgeable than God about how to conduct it.
For example, God prescribes that there be a visible human community that is “the Church” and that it be organized hierarchically rather than democratically or in some other way; God prescribes that efficacious signs that we call “the sacraments” be his channels for bestowing grace on human beings. God might do differently, but this is what he chooses to do, and we must accept his will and cooperate in his redemptive work by carrying out his directions.2
Law: Definition and Classification
St. Thomas Aquinas defines law as “an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him who has care of the community, and promulgated.”3
Some aspects of this definition deserve further study:
· The law is an ordinance of reason, not of the will. Knowing the means that are required to attain an end properly belongs to the intellect. But after reason has formulated the norm, the legislator must make it obligatory by an act of his will. This binding character is part of the essence of the law, and distinguishes it from mere advice.
· It is made for the common good. Thus, a law that causes evil rather than the common good is not a real law. Laws can cause the common good in a direct or an indirect way. The former are those that directly benefit the community and indirectly the individual. Thus, tax laws supply the means for public works, which indirectly benefit the individuals. The latter are those that directly benefit some individuals, and as a consequence benefit the community. For instance, laws that benefit mailmen or journalists by helping them fulfill their respective tasks in a more efficient way indirectly benefit the whole of society. These laws were called privileges in the ancient legal terminology, without the present negative connotations.
· It is made by him who has care of the community. The author of the law, the legislator, must be the legitimate authority.
· It is promulgated. The legislator must publicly announce the law to the subjects.
According to their author, laws can be classified as follows:
· Divine law:
o Eternal law
o Natural law
o Divine positive law
· Human law:
o Civil law (promulgated by the civil authority)
o Ecclesiastical law (promulgated by the ecclesiastical authority)
Aquinas’s well-known definition of law applies primarily to human laws. This definition of law can also be applied to the divine laws but only in an analogical way. Its applicability decreases as we get further from human laws. Thus, the definition can still be applied to eternal law—which is the most remote from human law—but it fails to convey its most essential aspect.
Obviously, our first point of reference is human law. We tend to see all laws by analogy with it. This is true, however, only at the level of knowledge. In the order of reality, the first point of reference is eternal law. If we do not keep this in mind, we may unconsciously apply to natural law our notions of human law. To a great extent, this accounts for common misconceptions: that natural law can be reformed, or that it admits exceptions or dispensations.
Eternal Law
God follows a certain order in the work of creation. Each creature’s being has an internal harmony, and its operation corresponds to that being. There is also harmony among the different creatures: Inferior beings are ordained to superior ones. All beings are ultimately ordained to God, but according to that internal order in and among them.
God’s work of conservation—which is like the continuation of creation—is also carried out in agreement with the same divine plan. According to St. Thomas, that plan (ratio in Latin, “type,” “plan,” “model”) of divine wisdom, as directing all actions and movements, is called eternal law.4 It is called eternal because it is prior to creation, and law because it is a normative ordination made by the divine wisdom for the proper being and operation of all creatures. The actual implementation of this plan in each creature is called providence or government.5
The Scope and Application of Eternal Law
Unlike human laws, which apply extrinsically and sometimes with error, eternal law applies intrinsically and with absolute perfection to every act of the creatures.
Eternal law is an intrinsic and radical measure of our being. Only by observing it can our actions be in agreement with our being and lead us to perfection.6 If we disregard this measure, it is impossible to find happiness.
Eternal law is not just an intrinsic norm. Together with it, God gives us the strength to fulfill it. Eternal law is the deepest inclination of the creatures’ being.7 Whatever order there may be in our acts is contained in eternal law and comes from it. For the same reason, all laws are derived from eternal law. Eternal law is the model of all laws; no law is just if it does not conform to eternal law.8 It is also their efficient cause; the human power of giving laws proceeds from God, who has given it to man.
Eternal law applies to each and every action of all creatures. It is an error to think that God does not ordain singular actions and beings. God’s law extends as far as his power, and he is the first cause of all things, both in their most universal and in their most singular and particular traits.
Human laws may fail to foresee some particular case, or respond to someone’s specific needs, but this is never the case with eternal law. Its fulfillment always makes every person happy, even when circumstances are or seem difficult, because God always gives the strength that is needed to fulfill his precepts.
Eternal Law and Creatures
Beings may be subject to eternal law in two ways: through an internal moving principle, or through knowledge. Irrational creatures follow the eternal law in the first way. They passively and necessarily obey eternal law through a blind and unavoidable inclination toward their acts.
Rational creatures follow eternal law in both ways. As the animals, they also have a natural inclination (natural law) toward what is in agreement with eternal law. They can also know eternal law, thus actively and willingly obeying it, and participating in the divine government.9
Man can know what is good or bad, but cannot decide what should be good or bad. Revelation teaches that the power to decide what is good and what is evil does not belong to man, but to God alone.10
The Existence of Eternal Law and Natural Law
Eternal law and natural law are consequences of the created nature of man and the rest of the universe, which have been created by God according to specific plans.
The existence of natural law is clearly attested by St. Paul. He states that the Gentiles, being ignorant of the revelation that God made to Moses, knew and practiced some precepts of natural law, and that God would judge them on the last day according to these precepts (cf. Rom 2:14–16).
Obviously, those who explicitly or implicitly deny the existence of God, or have a sufficiently mistaken idea of him, also deny the existence of both eternal and natural law.
Errors
In our times, the most common error is denying the real existence of natural law. It is wrongly considered an illusion, or an attempt to give formal recognition to a mere collection of precepts that are imposed by custom. These precepts, some argue, originate in circumstances or beliefs of the past, often difficult or impossible to ascertain. Ultimately, these people reduce natural law to social customs or conventions, which can, of course, be modified.
In that context, the expression “Adapting laws to social reality”—perfectly valid in itself—is understood as meaning that whatever people want is moral, and the legislator must adapt the laws to the popular will. Some theories hold that moral norms are not truths:
· Emotivism maintains that moral norms are expressions of feelings. To say, “That is wrong” amounts to saying, “I don’t like that.”
· Divine command theory argues that moral norms are arbitrary rules of behavior set by God. God could have laid down different rules.
· Prescriptivism holds that moral norms come into force for people only if they choose to adopt them.
Some other theories recognize moral norms as truths, but nevertheless are inadequate:
· Inspirationism claims that moral norms do not proceed from principles, but are isolated truths, intuitive insights, or messages from God.
· Cultural relativism asserts that moral norms are nothing more than attempts by members of each particular society to prescribe what behavior is necessary if their society is to survive and flourish.
The Notion of Natural Law
All creatures participate in eternal law, because the inclinations leading them to their own acts and ends stem from it. But the participation of rational creatures is greater, because, by knowing the plan of God—embodied in eternal law—they intellectually participate in that ordination as well. Thus, the participation of eternal law in irrational creatures is called law only improperly and by analogy, as in the case of the laws of physics or biology. The participation of eternal law in man, on the other hand, is properly called law.11 Thus, we say that natural moral law (or simply natural law) is the part of eternal law that makes reference to human behavior.
Therefore, natural law is the participation of eternal law in the rational creature.12 It is called law because it is a binding norm that is obeyed after being known. It is called natural because it prescribes the specific way of acting that corresponds to human nature. It is sometimes called divine natural law in order to stress that it comes from God.
Natural law is a norm that is extrinsic to man, because its ultimate foundation lies not in man, but in God as Creator. “It has the force of law because it is the voice and the interpreter of some higher reason [God’s] to which our spirit and our freedom must be subject.”13
Natural law, however, is intrinsic to man in two aspects. First, it consists in the right ordering of human behavior so that it may be in agreement with man’s nature and lead him to his objective last end—which coincides with his real happiness. In this sense, natural law is impressed on human nature just as iron’s physical and chemical properties are inseparable from its nature. The divine natural law shows man the way to follow so as to practice the good and attain his end. Nevertheless, natural law is free in its dynamic observance; i.e., man can choose not to look at its guidance. Yet by not observing it, man accomplishes his self-destruction. This explains why natural law is intensified and blossoms in virtuous conduct but is dimmed in a sinful person.
Second, it is intrinsic to man because the intellect, which naturally tends to discover the truth in everything, also tends to discover the truth in the field of human behavior, which is precisely natural law. Likewise, the will is naturally inclined to the practice of what is in agreement with, and befits, one’s own nature. This is no other than the good proposed by the intellect. As St. Thomas says, natural law is but the imprint of divine light in us.14 This should not be understood as referring to an explicit revelation, or an infusion of ideas, whether innate or received later on. What it really means is that man’s knowledge, intellect, and inclination to the truth are a natural participation in the divine knowledge.
The rightful autonomy of human intellect or reason means that man possesses in himself his own law, received from the Creator. Nevertheless, this autonomy does not mean that reason itself can create its own values and moral norms.15
Properties of Natural Law
The properties of natural law are universality and immutability. Both are a consequence of what natural law is. Because natural law flows from human nature, it applies to all who share that nature (universality) for as long as their nature continues to be human (immutability).
The universality of natural law implies that the rights and duties that it establishes apply to all humans by the mere fact of being human.16 Its obligation is independent of culture, beliefs, environment, or circumstances. It stems from human nature, which all people possess equally because they are people.
A consequence of this is that those who, through no fault of their own, are not Christians can be saved only if they strive to know and follow the natural law.17
Thus, properly speaking, natural law does not admit any dispensation (suspension of the law in a particular case) or epikeia (softened interpretation of the law in the assumption that the legislator did not mean it to apply in cases where, due to specific circumstances, the enforcement would result in an injustice). Any of these exceptions would imply an imperfection of the divine intellect in planning human nature, or of divine power in implementing it.
The immutability of natural law flows from the immutability of human nature, which remains substantially the same at all times.18
Obviously, the passage of time has led to new forms of human organization, changes in human relations, and, in general, different cultural orientations. However, these changes never touch what is essential—natural law does not admit dispensation from its first principles.19 Thus, the respect for human life is always necessary, but the death penalty for some crimes may have been licit in some historical period, and illicit in others. The right to private property is a requirement of human nature, even if its concrete regulation may change with time. Modesty in dress is a requirement of human nature, although what is considered as modest may have changed with time.
The way of fulfilling a specific precept may change with time, but, in every period, it has to be fulfilled in the way that is required at that time.
Logically, those who challenge the immutability of human nature also reject the immutability of natural law. This, aside from being a serious philosophical error, is also in opposition to the findings of the positive sciences that study the history and prehistory of man. Certainly, some precepts of natural law may be ignored in a specific society, but then that society will be defective in the areas where the ignored precepts apply. Both the society and its members will drift away from happiness and endanger their salvation.
The Contents and Knowledge of Natural Law
The obligation to love God above all creatures—together with the character that is proper to each creature—determines the right way to love all other goods, that is, the content of natural law. Any use of created goods that leads man to know and love God is naturally right; any use that impedes that knowledge and love is bad.
The “divine and natural” law shows man the way to follow so as to practice the good and attain his end. The natural law states the first and essential precepts which govern the moral life. It hinges upon the desire for God and submission to him, who is the source and judge of all that is good, as well as upon the sense that the other is one’s equal. Its principal precepts are expressed in the Decalogue.20
Natural law includes all the norms of conduct, and only those that necessarily derive from human nature. It is specified in rights and duties, which together constitute the contents of natural law.21 St. Thomas, among others, distinguishes three levels or groups of propositions:
i) First principles, or primary precepts
ii) Secondary principles or immediate conclusions
iii) Specific moral norms or remote conclusions
Our manner of knowing is based on human intelligence, which is inclined to truth by itself. That inclination enables the intelligence to immediately grasp, as evident, some first truths, which we call first principles. With the light of this evident knowledge, man discovers particular precepts of moral law. These are goods that perfect man.
Man discerns which are the human goods that lead to integral human perfection by experience and reflection on the inclinations that are proper to human nature. This is done not only through personal reflection, but accumulated consideration on history, and through information that he receives from education, environment, etc. We should keep in mind that first principles are not general truths from which particular norms are derived, but rather a light that illumines our experience and reflection on the goods that perfect man.22
First Principles
St. Thomas includes two kinds of precepts among these first principles or primary precepts, which are non-demonstrable and do not require divine revelation. We may call them: (a) the first principles of practical reasoning and (b) the first principles of moral choice.
The First Principles of Practical Reasoning
In morals, before thinking of what we should do, we should think of what we could do. In other words, we should ask ourselves, “What are the options?” We therefore need guidance from principles of practical reasoning before we can even take up the moral question. The very first principle or starting point of practical reasoning is that good is to be done and pursued, and evil is to be avoided. This principle directs human persons to the goods that fulfill them.
To be good is for something to be fully, to be all it should be—no lacks, no privations. A good thing has everything it needs to be, all it is meant to be. There is more to goodness than conforming to nature. Thus, the good also has to do with unfolding a thing’s possibilities.
Badness, on the other hand, is real, not illusory. It is the real absence in things of what ought to be there. This deficiency is an objective condition, something real, but precisely as a lack, it is not a positive reality that is contrary to the good. Death, for instance, is real, yet it is not another way of being, alongside living. It is the absence of life in something that once was alive.
The Basic Human Goods
The specifications of the first principle of practical reasoning are called “basic human goods.” They give content to this first principle by identifying the goods that are to be done, pursued, protected, and promoted. Each serves as a starting point to find what is to be done. Practical reason “naturally” apprehends them as good in a direct, non-discursive experience. These human goods do not have a moral value as such; one can choose to establish them in immoral ways. They are incommensurable, not homogenous, not comparable with one another, and thus impossible to arrange by rank or importance. None of these goods is the highest good. God alone is the absolute good. They are alike in that each is a good of persons, not a good for persons.
St. Thomas distinguishes various sorts of basic human goods, corresponding to “natural inclinations” of the human person without being exhaustive but rather illustrative. He classifies them into three groups corresponding to basic inclinations:
i) Self-preservation, which is common to all beings
ii) What he calls animal inclinations, such as mating and raising offspring
iii) Goods according to the nature of reason, which are specifically human inclinations, such as knowing the truth about God and living in society23
Contemporary authors have tried to identify all the basic goods of human persons and explain them in an orderly way.24 They establish three categories:
i) The reflexive or existential human goods fulfill persons insofar as they are able to make choices and are thus capable of moral good and evil. There are four of these goods; all have harmony as their common theme:
a. Self-integration or inner peace, which consists in harmony among one’s judgments, feelings, and choices
b. Authenticity, which is sincerity or harmony and consistency between one’s judgments, feelings and choices and one’s behavior
c. Interpersonal harmony, which is fraternity, friendship, justice and so on
d. Harmony with God, which is religion
ii) There are three substantive human goods in whose definition choice is not included:
a. Bodily well-being, including health, bodily integrity, a good that fulfills human persons as physical beings
b. Knowledge of the truth and appreciation of beauty, goods that fulfill human persons as intelligent beings
c. Work, or skillful performance and activity; the person expands in the world, interacts with it, transforms it, and finds fulfillment in so doing
iii) The marriage and family life human good is a complex human good that is both substantive and reflexive.
The First Principles of Moral Choice
In a specific instance, several of these basic human goods may appear overlapped as objects of one’s choice. Which good should one choose to prevail over the others? What should one’s priorities be?
To solve this quandary, there is an analogous first principle of moral choice (or first principle of morality), which concerns our way of pursuing the basic human goods. It provides a way of distinguishing between alternatives that are morally good and others that are bad.25
Sacred Scripture marks the first principle of morality in these terms: Love God above all things, and love one’s neighbor as oneself (cf. Mk 12:29–31). A choice in accord with love of God and neighbor is morally good; a choice contrary to love of God and neighbor is morally bad. Love means fulfilling one’s responsibilities toward God and neighbor. Thus, moral norms and truths should guide us to act in ways that fulfill us both as individuals and as persons living together in community.
The precept to love God above all things encompasses all the others—including the Decalogue—and helps us to know and fulfill them. The purpose of eternal law is to direct every creature to God in its proper way. For man, the proper way to be united to God is through knowledge and love. This precept determines the contents of natural law; whatever leads man to know and love God above all things is naturally right; whatever prevents it is naturally wrong. Therefore, to the extent that man strives to fulfill the first precept of natural law, the knowledge and fulfillment of the rest becomes easier.
The Second Vatican Council gives us another version of the same first principle of morality:
Here then is the norm for human activity—to harmonize with the authentic interests of the human race, in accordance with God’s will and design, and to enable men as individuals and as members of society to pursue and fulfil their total vocation.26
In this way, human beings fulfill the command of love, for, by doing so, they manifest their love of God—who is the author of the “goods of human race”—and their love of neighbor, in whom these God-given gifts are meant to flourish.27
Contemporary authors claim that the twofold command to love can be more precisely formulated for philosophical and theological purposes as follows: In voluntarily acting for human goods and avoiding what is opposed to them, one ought to choose only those possibilities that are compatible with integral human fulfillment.28 The will of a person who is committed to choosing and acting in accord with the requirements of integral human fulfillment is the will of a person who is inwardly disposed to choose well, to choose in accord with unfettered or “right” reason. Morally good human acts not only affect the individual, but also are consistent with the real good of the human family.
Moral truths are related to this human good and human flourishing. We must understand human flourishing and fulfillment not simply as consistent conformity to what we already are, but as self-constitution, a form of cooperation with God in carrying out his plan—a plan that calls on us to imitate and cooperate with his creative wisdom by free acts of love.
We see in this principle that the fundamental reality of moral action is self-determination, making oneself to be a certain sort of person by the choices one makes.29
The Immediate Conclusions
The secondary principles or immediate conclusions of natural law are those normative precepts that are easily deduced from the first principles. Their purpose is to further specify the first moral principles by excluding as immoral those actions that are incompatible with a true integral human fulfillment.
St. Thomas includes the Ten Commandments among these immediate conclusions (cf. Ex 20:1–17; Dt 5:6–21). The primary precepts are “contained” in the Decalogue, but only as principles; the remote conclusions are “contained” in the Decalogue only as conclusions. He also referred to the Golden Rule (“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”) and the principle that we are to do injury to no one as specifications of the first moral principle. (These are also included among the “modes of responsibility.”)
The Modes of Responsibility
Some contemporary moralists tried to identify with more precision the immediate conclusions of the first principle of morality. They call them the modes of responsibility, which specify further the first moral principles and enable us to move from the first principles of morality to specific moral norms, such as the Decalogue.30 The modes of responsibility are attitudes that are consistent with basic virtues.
The Modes of Christian Response
Transformed by faith and charity, these modes of responsibility become “modes of Christian response” (the virtues that we contemplate in Jesus), which fulfill and specify the requirements of the law of Christian love that was promulgated in the Gospel. In their originality and profundity, the Beatitudes are, to a great extent, a self-portrait of Christ, and, for this reason, are invitations to discipleship and to communion of life with Christ. A Christian is aware that integral human fulfillment can indeed be accomplished in union with Jesus. Moreover, reflection on the Beatitudes directs one to think that they are, in fact, the modes of Christian response, that is, internal Christian dispositions or virtues, linked traditionally—as in the thought of St. Augustine and St. Thomas—to the gifts of the Holy Spirit. From the Beatitudes, there also indirectly flow normative indications for the moral life.31
Specific Moral Norms
The third set of natural law propositions is made up of more specific moral norms, which identify specific human action that ought to be done or not done. These are remote conclusions of natural law that can be reached only through a diligent effort of the intellect. Such are the indissolubility of marriage and the unlawfulness of polygamy.
This classification of the precepts of natural law is based on their degree of evidence for human knowledge.
Knowledge of the Precepts of Natural Law
Man can know the precepts of natural law with his natural intellect. Just as he can discover the structure of the cell or of its nucleus, he can discover the structure of human behavior. And just as he can study what is beneficial and what is harmful for the cell, he can study what is beneficial and what is harmful in human behavior.
There are some differences, though. Morality deals with realities that are more immediate and important, and it imposes demands on one’s behavior. Thus, the precepts of natural law are much easier to know than other natural subjects. But it is also true that this knowledge is more easily affected by the good will, or rectitude of intention, of the person seeking it.
We should not forget that these precepts are discovered by human intellect; the intellect is the only faculty that man possesses for intellectual knowledge. We do not know natural law through a sort of sixth sense. Neither should we understand the expression “Natural law is impressed in our hearts” as referring to some kind of innate ideas.
Given a basic willingness to obey the precepts of natural law, the ease with which man can discover them is directly proportional to how radically they affect human behavior.32 We can, therefore, make the following statements:
· The first and most universal principles are necessarily and immediately known to all. This is so not because the intellect has been conditioned to think that way, but because it is radically open to reality and it cannot ignore what is evident.33
· The secondary principles or immediate conclusions are extremely easy to know for any person who uses his intellect. Their main demands cannot possibly be ignored by adults with the use of reason. In special circumstances, however, some people may be inculpably ignorant of them, at least for some time.
· The remote conclusions are more difficult to know, and a person may remain invincibly ignorant of them.
The Usual Way of Knowing Natural Law
Until now, we have discussed the discovery of the precepts of natural law by human intellect. But, as with other natural knowledge, there is obviously no need for every person to discover them anew. Their knowledge is normally transmitted from person to person and to posterity through teaching.
God has also revealed natural law to ensure that it is known and to increase its binding force. Natural law is most perfectly revealed in Jesus Christ. Jesus was the “perfect man” not only in relation to the essential human calling to discern, embrace, and live out one’s vocation as a child of God, but also in fidelity to the will of the Father, and in communion with other human persons. In his words, in his attitudes, and deeds, we learn what natural law is and how a Christian should live.
God also revealed the basic precepts of natural law with the Ten Commandments, just as he has also revealed other important natural truths.34
The revelation of natural law leads to further considerations. We know that God has entrusted the deposit of revelation to the Church. Therefore, the authentic interpretation of natural law has also been entrusted to the Church. This gives Catholics a great assurance in all that refers to the error-free knowledge of the precepts of natural law, which is certainly a privileged position.
Furthermore, the declarations of the Church on the precepts of natural law apply to all people, because all people are subject to natural law. Knowing and observing these precepts is good for all, but ignoring or disobeying them is harmful for all. Catholics, therefore, must try—by all legitimate means—to make these precepts known and foster their observance. The happiness of society and its members, believers or not, is at stake.
But our assurance should not lead us to prove the precepts of natural law with dogmatic arguments. Despite the solid reasons upon which the Magisterium of the Church is founded, quoting its pronouncements about natural law will convince few non-Catholics, because they will probably not accept or understand its authority. Even worse, it may give the impression that the precept in question is not natural but religious in nature, since we use religious reasons to prove it instead of natural ones.
Thus, faith tells us that marriage is indissoluble in itself. We know it with certainty because of the teaching of the Church. The Church also teaches that this is a natural truth; it is therefore demonstrable through natural reasoning. Being a remote conclusion, the arguments will not be as evident as in other cases, but, taken together, the arguments in favor of the indissolubility of marriage will always be stronger than those against it. The only way to show the great natural benefits of the indissolubility of marriage is to seek these arguments and present them in an attractive manner. We know, of course, that our certainty ultimately comes from another source, but there are also valid human reasons. On the other hand, if we were to close our reasoning with an “after all, this is true because the Church says so,” we would defeat our purpose: It is an indirect endorsement of those who claim that the indissolubility of marriage is not a natural truth.
Divine Positive Law
Divine positive law is the law expressly revealed by God. It includes:
· Precepts from natural law, which thus become clearer and indisputable for all. This is the case of the Ten Commandments. These are found both in the Old and the New Testament.
· Supernatural precepts, since man is destined for a supernatural end. These are also found in both the Old and New Testaments.
The Old Testament Law is holy (cf. Rom 7:12), spiritual (cf. Rom 7:14) and good (cf. Rom 7:16), but still imperfect. The Law was given to us to lead us to Christ (cf. Gal 3:24). It shows what we must do, but it does not give the power—the grace of the Holy Spirit—to fulfill it. According to St. Paul, the Old Law served to denounce and manifest sin (cf. Rom 7) as a preparation for the Gospel.35 Some precepts of the Old Testament are usually classified into ceremonial and judicial precepts. The former refer to the worship of God, the latter to the social organization of the Jews: marriage and family laws, or administration of justice. Both were abolished after the death of Christ and lost their binding force. However, they were not formally forbidden until much later, perhaps after the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem in a.d. 70. The ceremonial precepts were abolished, because their role was to announce and prepare the Christian worship. The judicial precepts were abolished because the people of Israel was to give way to the “New Israel,” the Church.
The supernatural precepts of the New Testament refer to the reception of faith and the other supernatural virtues, their practice, and the worship due to God, especially the holy sacrifice of the Mass and the sacraments.
The New Law
A baptized person is “a new creature,” because baptism gives man a divine resemblance, a participation in divine nature (cf. 2 Pt 1:4). A Christian is called to accommodate his conduct to the life of Jesus Christ with the help of God’s grace.
The New Law primarily consists in grace itself, which is infused by the Holy Spirit. This grace regenerates man and re-ordains him to his supernatural end. Hence the superiority of the New Law over the Old Law and human laws.36
The New Law leads to the fullness of God’s commandments; it is summarized in the “new commandment” of Jesus (Jn 13:34): to love one another as he loved us (cf. Jn 15:12). It is expressed primarily by the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount, to which may be added the moral teachings of the apostles, such as Romans 12–15, 1 Corinthians 12–13, Colossians 3–4, and Ephesians 4–5. The New Law communicates God’s grace to us through the sacraments. It practices the acts of religion: almsgiving, prayer, and fasting; its prayer is the Lord’s Prayer (cf. Mt 6:9–13).
Law is always a guide to our freedom. The New Law, however, unlike the Old Law and human laws, is an intrinsic guide of freedom. It does not perfect freedom from the outside, but from the inside of our own being, since, “poured out in our soul by God, charity transforms from within our mind and will.”37 With the New Law, God does not only indicate what we must do and encourage us to do it, but he also gives us the strength and the inclination to do it.
The Law of Charity
The New Law is the law of charity, which is the bond of perfection. There is an exact correspondence between the New Law’s perfect way of moving through charity and the perfection of the goal intended. It is not just a matter of loving God above all things; this was already required by natural law and the Old Testament law. What is now required is to love God in his intimate life, which is possible only through the supernatural strength of charity.
Thus the New Law, by perfecting the first principle of natural law—the root of all other precepts—gives a new dimension to all human acts. It compels us to be daring in our love, since “a selfish or partial love is not enough—we have to love others with the love of God.”38 Thus, by the law of grace, Christians possess the inner strength and light that is needed to be an effective leaven in all human activities.
The Law of Perfect Freedom
Since the New Law is the law of charity, it is also the law of perfect freedom (cf. Jas 1:25; 2:12); it moves by means of love and demands only what love requires.
Freedom is a tendency toward the good. But, because of sin, the will and intellect are now enslaved to false goods that distract them away from the true good. In a certain way, they also remain enslaved when they do good things only out of servile fear. The grace of God delivers us from both servitudes, uniting us to him and moving us to fulfill his law out of love. The New Law inclines us to deal with Christ, not as slaves, but as friends, and even as sons of God and heirs of his glory (cf. Gal 4:1–7, 21–31; Rom 8:15).
On the other hand, this maximum freedom of the New Law does not mean a lesser demand or absence of difficulties; it is rather a perfection of the strength that the law itself gives for the fulfillment of its commands. Charity is not the abolition of the law, but its fulfillment.
Grace, Justification, and Sanctity
The grace of the Holy Spirit has the power to justify us, that is, to cleanse us from our sins and to communicate to us “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ,” through baptism (Rom 3:22; cf. Rom 6:3–4).
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we take part in Christ’s Passion by dying to sin, and in his Resurrection by being born to a new life. We are members of his body, which is the Church, and branches grafted onto the vine, which is Jesus Christ.
From then on, Christian life is a continuous conversion, also called “sanctification.” “Christian sanctity does not consist in being impeccable, but in fighting against and not yielding to temptation, in getting up again after a fall. It does not result so much from man’s will power, but rather from the effort of not setting obstacles to the action of grace in one’s soul. It consists in being humble cooperators of God’s grace.”39 This process of gradual growth in holiness culminates in everlasting life.
Someone may ask what these words of St. Paul mean: “For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved” (Rom 10:10). Do the good works that are required of us come down to no more than confessing with the mouth? Just say, “Jesus is my Lord and my Savior,” and one is saved? That is to misunderstand what St. Paul has in mind. To be sincere, confession with the lips must be carried out consistently; it must be lived. “Let us not grow weary in well-doing,” Paul urges, “for in due season we shall reap” (Gal 6:9). Confession with the lips means bearing witness, which leads to salvation because it involves a complete Christian life.40
Charity is, thus, the completion of faith. It should grow through living one’s personal vocation and through deeds to share God’s love with others.
Footnotes:
1. Cf. CCC, 1877–1948.
2. Cf. G. Grisez and R. Shaw, Fulfillment in Christ.
3. ST, I-II, q. 90, a. 4.
4. Cf. Ibid., q. 93, a. 1; CCC, 1949–1986.
5. Cf. ST, I, q. 22, a. 3; CCC, 1949–1953.
6. Cf. ST, I-II, q. 93, a. 6.
7. Cf. Ibid.
8. Cf. Ibid., a. 3.
9. Cf. Ibid., a. 6.
10. Cf. John Paul II, Enc. Veritatis Splendor, 35.
11. Cf. ST, I-II, q. 91, a. 2; CCC, 1954–1960.
12. Cf. ST, I-II, q. 91, a. 2.
13. Leo XIII, Enc. Libertas Praestantissimum, 8; cf. John Paul II, Enc. Veritatis Splendor, 44.
14. Cf. ST, I-II, q. 91, a. 2.
15. John Paul II, Enc. Veritatis Splendor, 40; cf. R. García de Haro, La Vita Cristiana, p. 5.
16. Cf. CCC, 1956.
17. Cf. LG, 16.
18. Cf. CCC, 1958–1960.
19. Cf. DH, 3; Paul VI, Enc. Humanae Vitae, 4.
20. CCC, 1955.
21. Cf. Ibid., 1959.
22. Cf. R. García de Haro, La Vita Cristiana, p. 5.
23. Cf. ST, I-II, q. 94, a. 2.
24. Germain Grisez, John Finnis, and Joseph Boyle among others.
25. Cf. ST, I-II, q. 100, a. 3 ad 1.; a. 11.
26. GS, 35.
27. Cf. W. E. May, An Introduction to Moral Theology, p. 57.
28. Cf. G. Grisez and R. Shaw, Fulfillment in Christ; W. E. May, An Introduction to Moral Theology, p. 63ff.
29. Cf. G. Grisez and R. Shaw, Fulfillment in Christ, pp. 48–51.
30. Cf. Ibid., p. 81ff.
31. Cf. John Paul II, Enc. Veritatis Splendor, 16; CCC, 1716–1724. The beatitudes have their corresponding “modes of Christian response” and related virtues:
· Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Christian energy and ambition must be rooted in humility and trust in God. Expect and accept all good, including the good fruits of your own work, as God’s gift. Do not be lazy about doing good. The related virtue is humility to cooperate with God.
· Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Accept God’s will; be a team player on God’s team. Accept your limited role in the body of Christ and fulfill it. Do not be moved merely by enthusiasm or impatience. The related virtue is meekness to accept and embrace one’s mission in life or vocation.
· Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Put aside or avoid whatever is not necessary or useful in the fulfillment of your vocation. One who puts aside “mourns.” Do not choose merely to satisfy an emotional desire except as part of the pursuit of an intelligible good. The related virtue is detachment.
· Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Endure fearlessly whatever is necessary or useful in the fulfillment of your vocation. Do not act in accord with an emotional aversion, except when this is done to avoid some intelligible evil. Do not let fear of suffering rule your life. The related virtues are endurance in the struggle, faithfulness, and courage.
· Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Be merciful according to the perfect measure of mercy, which God has revealed in Jesus. Do not judge persons according to your feelings. The related virtues are fairness and forgiveness.
· Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Strive to conform your whole self to a living faith, and recognize and purge anything that does not meet this standard. The related virtue is purity of heart.
· Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Respond to evil with good, not with resistance, much less with destructive action. The related virtue is that of the peacemakers and rebuilders of damaged relationships.
· Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Do no evil that good might come of it, but suffer evil together with Jesus in cooperation with God’s redeeming love. The related virtue is doing good even though it may produce hatred and accepting the suffering that results (cf. G. Grisez and R. Shaw, Fulfillment in Christ, 305ff).
32. Cf. ST, I-II, q. 94, a. 6; CCC, 1960.
33. Cf. ST, I, q. 79, a. 12.
34. Cf. Ibid., q. 1, a. 1.
35. Cf. CCC, 1961–1964.
36. Cf. Ibid., 1965–1974.
37. St. Josemaría Escrivá, Christ is Passing By, 71.
38. Ibid., 97.
39. John Paul II, Alloc., March 23, 1983.
40. Cf. G. Grisez and R. Shaw, Fulfillment in Christ, p. 329.