Why Natural Law?
This answer may surprise many readers, so before discussing a couple of specific controversial issues, abortion and cloning, a few general remarks about natural law are in order. Natural law is the moral revelation that God gives in creation itself. Romans 1:18-32 speaks of things that may be known of God from creation, including a great deal of moral knowledge. Romans 2:14-15 speaks of the law of God being written on people’s hearts, such that even those without access to the law revealed in Scripture are held accountable to God through their consciences. Many prominent Christian theologians have identified natural law as the standard for civil law and government, including not only medieval theologians such as Thomas Aquinas but also reformers such as John Calvin. Thus, acknowledging the importance of natural law is neither unbiblical nor foreign to historic Christian theology. The topic of natural law, however, is very large, and I can only touch on a few of the relevant issues. In
