That is not the meaning of “natural law” in Catholic teaching.No I understand natural law to be various sexual sins and deviant desires. Man marrying man like they want to do. Why not go all the way and man marry his dog if he is into bestiality. Anything weird anyway we know by natural law that two men cannot produce offspring. That’s an example of natural law. Now I understand divine law to be higher. What are some examples of divine law?
The CCC refers to the higher law as “revealed law and grace,” or elsewhere, “grace and revelation.” Revelation includes the law of the Old Testament, the teachings of Jesus, and more. The higher law also enters our minds and hearts by grace, given to us through the Sacraments, by the work of Christ, and by the work of the Holy Spirit.… I understand divine law to be higher. What are some examples of divine law?
Then there must be an too many of us that are unreasonable then. Some people don’t seem to be able to think correctly. They think immoral things are moral. And that whatever “feels” good or right is right. Like Hedonists. Homosexuality I keep bringing up because everyone seems to be able to relate to it. There must be confusion mentally for people to be attracted to the same sex or to animals for example. But people do not care if it’s illogical. They’re sex is almost if not totally out of control by craving. Instead of a purpose, we have a past time. I think common sense might need to be a “divine revelation” to some people.Readers may find Fr Hardon’s Dictionary very useful.
Modern Catholic Dictionary by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.
NATURAL LAW. As distinct from revealed law, it is “nothing else than the rational creature’s participation in the eternal law” (Summa Theologica, 1a, 2ae, quest. 91, art. 2). As coming from God, the natural law is what God has produced in the world of creation; as coming to human beings, it is what they know (or can know) of what God has created.
It is therefore called natural law because everyone is subject to it from birth (natio), because it contains only those duties which are derivable from human nature itself, and because, absolutely speaking, its essentials can be grasped by the unaided light of human reason.
St. Paul recognizes the existence of a natural law when he describes the moral responsibility of those ancients who did not have the benefit of Mosaic revelation. “Pagans,” he says, “ who never heard of the Law but are led by reason to do what the Law commands, may not actually ‘possess’ the Law, but they can be said to ‘be’ the Law. They can point to the substance of the Law engraved on their hearts – they can call a witness, that is, their own conscience – they have accusation and defense, that is, their own inner mental dialogue” (Romans 2:14-15).
therealpresence.org/cgi-bin/getdefinition.pl
Rational? Are people rational? I’ve never really considered people to be “rational” at-large. If they were they would’ve known better than to follow persons like Hitler ec cetra over the centuries. It seems like people fall for the same thing over and over again. In as far as morals especially in these days they seem to be “up in the air”. Irrationality again. Morally and in other ways. I think that man on his own is lost and without God’s intervention doesn’t know right and wrong. Maybe I’m only seeing things from a certain point of view.See also the CCC 1954-1960. Some excerpts follow:
… The natural law expresses the original moral sense which enables man to discern by reason the good and the evil, the truth and the lie…
… This law is called “natural,” not in reference to the nature of irrational beings, but because reason which decrees it properly belongs to human nature…
You are correct. As you think so do you act.billcu1 #8
Then there must be an too many of us that are unreasonable then. Some people don’t seem to be able to think correctly. They think immoral things are moral. And that whatever “feels” good or right is right. Like Hedonists. Homosexuality I keep bringing up because everyone seems to be able to relate to it. There must be confusion mentally for people to be attracted to the same sex or to animals for example. But people do not care if it’s illogical. They’re sex is almost if not totally out of control by craving. Instead of a purpose, we have a past time. I think common sense might need to be a “divine revelation” to some people.
How can they be “rational” at-large, especially after the Protestant Revolt, the so-called Enlightenment and that “penetration of Modern Philosophy into the seminaries which produced a phenomenon which comes soon to receive the name of modernism.” Writing in 1978, Msgr Eugene Kevane referred to the phenomenon of Religious Modernism “in which priests and professors on the level, of Catholic higher education have been engaged for approximately 200 years.” The Faith and Theologies, in The Teaching Church in Our Time, Daughters of St Paul, 1978, p 34].#9
I’ve never really considered people to be “rational” at-large.
Well I can say this from experience. After absolution and if you keep taking the Eucharist it strengthens and you get that direct connection from God again. Of course I need to get back to confession. But I’m getting ready to move soon and I will be able to faithfully go to Mass. The buses don’t run on Sundays though.You are correct. As you think so do you act.
But homomania is but one of a range of “inclinations” which are “objectively disordered”. Obviously, the disordered human condition is due to Original Sin and the remedy is Christ and His Church.
Msgr John F McCarthy explains:
“From Scholastic philosophy, and, in particular, from Thomistic philosophy, we know that there is a hierarchy of sciences, of which empirical science is just one. If “science” is defined merely to coincide with empirical science, there results a false concept of science and an impoverished idea of reality. Technical science, as distinguished from common sense, is “certified knowledge,” and Bultmann, in his demythologizing, assumes that only the knowledge gained from empirical science is really certified, into which he might throw historical knowledge in a broader sense. But there are other areas and levels of technical science that also give certified knowledge. Not only is there true historical science, but, in the midst of the widespread confusion and misunderstanding in the field known today as “modern philosophy,” there is still an area of true philosophical science, if one can manage to find it, and it resides in Scholastic philosophy. Again, there is still an area of theological science, and it resides today especially in Scholastic theology, and the knowledge presented in these latter two sciences is also objectively true and real. Hence, Catholic intellectuals who want to escape the dangers of Bultmannian demythologizing will do well to turn to Scholastic philosophy and theology and update it in their own minds to the best of their ability.” See: rtforum.org/lt/lt123.html
How can they be “rational” at-large, especially after the Protestant Revolt, the so-called Enlightenment and that “penetration of Modern Philosophy into the seminaries which produced a phenomenon which comes soon to receive the name of modernism.” Writing in 1978, Msgr Eugene Kevane referred to the phenomenon of Religious Modernism “in which priests and professors on the level, of Catholic higher education have been engaged for approximately 200 years.” The Faith and Theologies, in The Teaching Church in Our Time, Daughters of St Paul, 1978, p 34].
Bl John Paul II noted in Fides et Ratio, 1998:
“54. In our own century too the Magisterium has revisited the theme on a number of occasions, warning against the lure of rationalism. Here the pronouncements of Pope Saint Pius X are pertinent, stressing as they did that at the basis of Modernism were philosophical claims which were phenomenist, agnostic and immanentist.(66) Nor can the importance of the Catholic rejection of Marxist philosophy and atheistic Communism be forgotten.(67)
Bl John Paul II in Centesimus Annus, 13, 1991:
“The atheism of which we are speaking is also closely connected with the rationalism of the Enlightenment, which views human and social reality in a mechanistic way. Thus there is a denial of the supreme insight concerning man’s true greatness, his transcendence in respect to earthly realities, the contradiction in his heart between the desire for the fullness of what is good and his own inability to attain it and, above all, the need for salvation which results from this situation.”
If you look at human behavior as a mass phenomenon, then it may seem irrational. However, if you were able to examine each individual, I think you would find that most persons are rational, in a fallible sort of way.Rational? Are people rational? I’ve never really considered people to be “rational” at-large. If they were they would’ve known better than to follow persons like Hitler ec cetra over the centuries. It seems like people fall for the same thing over and over again. In as far as morals especially in these days they seem to be “up in the air”. Irrationality again. Morally and in other ways. I think that man on his own is lost and without God’s intervention doesn’t know right and wrong. Maybe I’m only seeing things from a certain point of view.
Also a good formulation:See also the CCC 1954-1960. Some excerpts follow:
… The natural law expresses the original moral sense which enables man to discern by reason the good and the evil, the truth and the lie…
… This law is called “natural,” not in reference to the nature of irrational beings, but because reason which decrees it properly belongs to human nature…
… in the diversity of cultures, the natural law remains as a rule that binds men among themselves and imposes on them, beyond the inevitable differences, common principles…
… The natural law, the Creator’s very good work, provides the solid foundation on which man can build the structure of moral rules to guide his choices…
… The precepts of natural law are not perceived by everyone clearly and immediately…
, 1993, §72] bold addedAlso a good formulation:
The morality of acts is defined by the relationship of man’s freedom with the authentic good. This good is established, as the eternal law, by Divine Wisdom which orders every being towards its end: this eternal law is known both by man’s natural reason (hence it is “natural law”), and–in an integral and perfect way–by God’s supernatural Revelation (hence it is called “divine law”).
[John Paul II, *Veritatis Splendor
Yes.What now exactly is eternal law? And divine wisdom. Would that be divine providence in a way? I know God’s way is better than ours.