How much importance does the church assign to natural law?

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fireproofpoodle

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An anglican priest at my school said, and regularly teaches in our RS lessons, that Catholics give natural law priority over the Bible when making ethical decisions. Is this true?

Robert.
 
I don’t think so. The church gives importance to Tradition, the bible, and natural law. One problem is that the bible and Tradition don’t specifically address all situations. In vitro fertilization or artificial methods of birth control are examples.

A Christian who believes only in the bible might believe that if something isn’t expressly commanded or prohibited in the bible, it’s up to the individual’s understanding of morality. That such situations are morally neutral.

So it isn’t so much that the Church gives natural law priority over the bible, but that considering natural law is helpful to put Christianity into action.

I’d be interested if the Anglican priest would give examples of instances in which he feels the Church gives priority of natural law over the bible instead of just helping us to translate biblical principles into daily life. Could you ask him?

Do you attend an Anglican school?
 
Claire_from_DE said:
I don’t think so. The church gives importance to Tradition, the bible, and natural law. One problem is that the bible and Tradition don’t specifically address all situations. In vitro fertilization or artificial methods of birth control are examples.

A Christian who believes only in the bible might believe that if something isn’t expressly commanded or prohibited in the bible, it’s up to the individual’s understanding of morality. That such situations are morally neutral.

So it isn’t so much that the Church gives natural law priority over the bible, but that considering natural law is helpful to put Christianity into action.

I’d be interested if the Anglican priest would give examples of instances in which he feels the Church gives priority of natural law over the bible instead of just helping us to translate biblical principles into daily life. Could you ask him?

Do you attend an Anglican school?
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While the school is not Anglican it does have a close affiliation with the local Anglican cathedral, which it is very near to. We have been told in class (twice) to draw up tables of responces of various denominations to certain ethical situations, such as abortion. The three denominations were: conservative protestants (“Biblical ethics”) Liberal protestants (“situation ethics”) and Catholics (“natural law”). We had to give our answeres based on these factors alone. I said during the class that Catholics also use the Bible but he replied by saying something along the lines of “natural law takes priority” which rung alarm bells.

Mind you, in assembly this guy did say “History has vindicated Martin Luther” which made me cringe.
 
fireproofpoodle said:
While the school is not Anglican it does have a close affiliation with the local Anglican cathedral, which it is very near to. We have been told in class (twice) to draw up tables of responces of various denominations to certain ethical situations, such as abortion. The three denominations were: conservative protestants (“Biblical ethics”) Liberal protestants (“situation ethics”) and Catholics (“natural law”). We had to give our answeres based on these factors alone. I said during the class that Catholics also use the Bible but he replied by saying something along the lines of “natural law takes priority” which rung alarm bells.

Mind you, in assembly this guy did say “History has vindicated Martin Luther” which made me cringe.
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Since the Catholic church doesn’t rely on natural law alone that would be impossible and an unfair assignment. Although one could make a response to abortion based purely on the natural law, that wouldn’t be the Catholic response. Does the Anglican priest put his denomination in the Liberal Protestant or Catholic category?

I still think you should ask him of clear cut instances where Catholics put natural law over the bible. I can’t think of any. Or maybe this is something your parents could ask. They should go in very irate and indignant and ask him what the heck he means giving outright false information about what their church teaches!!! Actually they should request a meeting with both him and the principal of the school. Actually, they should take a really well informed Catholic priest with them. I love it!😃

Good luck in the new school year.
 
You might ask him: Can the Word of God contradict Natural Law? Obviously not, so why he is pitting the Bible against Natural Law, as if one supersedes the other? In the Bible, God strikes dead Onan for contracepting (Gen. 38:9). But notice that it was nowhere condemned before. That’s because God didn’t need to condemn it, contracepting is a violation of Natural Law - as everyone knows, regardless of what they may say. And keep in mind, the OT was primarily about temporal blessings and curses, while the NT is primarily about eternal blessings and curses. And so, just as God ended Onan’s earthly life for contracepting, He will end anyone’s eternal salvation if they don’t repent for it, which is why the Church teaches that contracepting is a mortal sin. God bless.
 
Claire_from_DE said:
Since the Catholic church doesn’t rely on natural law alone that would be impossible and an unfair assignment. Although one could make a response to abortion based purely on the natural law, that wouldn’t be the Catholic response. Does the Anglican priest put his denomination in the Liberal Protestant or Catholic category?

I still think you should ask him of clear cut instances where Catholics put natural law over the bible. I can’t think of any. Or maybe this is something your parents could ask. They should go in very irate and indignant and ask him what the heck he means giving outright false information about what their church teaches!!! Actually they should request a meeting with both him and the principal of the school. Actually, they should take a really well informed Catholic priest with them. I love it!😃

Good luck in the new school year.
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You see, here it gets complicated. My parents are not catholic, in fact my mother is somewhat anti-catholic and, with all due respect, know very little about what the church teaches. Also, to add more awkwardness, this priest arranged my confirmation into the Anglican church (which I have since abandonned) and he does not know I am catholic, as I fear this would hurt his feelings. I don’t want to do that, since he is a brother who sincerely seeks God and whom I love as such. I believe he just thinks I am a well informed protestant. Mind you, our debate about masturbation and sola scriptura, plus the fact i told him I pray the rosary may give the game away.

He would put himself in the conservative protestant category which, according to him, adopts bible-based ethics (even though they accept women priests).
 
I thought non-religious schools were supposed to be secular. Hmm…
 
thunderballs75 said:
I thought non-religious schools were supposed to be secular. Hmm…
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The school does not advocate itself as anglican but we do have twice-weekly services in the cathedral. There is a secular service offerred instead.
 
I think Claire has put it very well. Natural law elaborates on what is in the Bible and sacred tradition; it doesn’t override those authorities.

It sounds like this priest interprets Catholicism as placing natural law above the Bible. I think a lot of Protestants feel that way regarding things that, in their opinion, Catholics have “added to” Christianity. (When I was a teenager, I was stunned when one of my Episcopalian friends claimed that Catholics “worship the Pope”!) But that view of natural law is really a caricature of Catholic doctrine.

.
 
I think this view is a caricature of the position of the CC, in all fairness to the Anglican priest. This is unfortunate since natural law theory has some famous Anglican supporters as well (i.e. Richard Hooker). In my understanding, natural law is a set of basic rational principles which govern all human moral behaviour and are discoverable by reason (but the perception of the natural law and its percepts can be lost by sin). The moral teachings discernable from scripture (such as the commandments from the OT and the laws of the ‘new covenant’) are not replaced or undermined by law but rather a revealed summary of what the law is and requires. The natural law tradition seems highly important to the church’s moral theology and ethical teaching in particular, and many Catholic moral doctrines (i.e. the ban on artificial contraception or abortion or sex outside of marriage, etc) make little sense unless you read the writings of Catholic thinkers who apply natural law theory to these situations, as many of these things (save a few) are not explicitly dealt with in the Bible.

Natural law is still important and it is taught in jurisprudence courses at law schools, though as a source of legal principle outside of the Catholic Church itself and very strongly Catholic countries (i.e. Ireland), it seems to have little influence on law-making or in being a guidepost judges use when deciding cases. It is certainly not as important to law in a general sense as it was in the medieval period and the early modern period. It has largely been supplanted by positivism and other schools of legal thought that emphasize law as having its origin from humans (in the form of legislation by the competent political authority or judge-made law).
 
fireproofpoodle said:
You see, here it gets complicated. My parents are not catholic, in fact my mother is somewhat anti-catholic and, with all due respect, know very little about what the church teaches. Also, to add more awkwardness, this priest arranged my confirmation into the Anglican church (which I have since abandonned) and he does not know I am catholic, as I fear this would hurt his feelings. I don’t want to do that, since he is a brother who sincerely seeks God and whom I love as such. I believe he just thinks I am a well informed protestant. Mind you, our debate about masturbation and sola scriptura, plus the fact i told him I pray the rosary may give the game away.

He would put himself in the conservative protestant category which, according to him, adopts bible-based ethics (even though they accept women priests).
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Even if he is disappointed at first, finding out you are Catholic might make the Anglican priest re-evaluate his own position. And you would be able to be more open and effective in your discussions.
 
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