NATURAL LAW AND SOCIETY

A Christian Perspective

Authors

  • Chiedu Onyiloha University of Port Harcourt

Keywords:

Catholic Church, Created Beings, Supreme Being, Law, Order

Abstract

Abstract

This study argues that natural law is a body of laws imbedded in the order of creation, which provides rationale for the created order including human person both in a state of rationality or spirituality. Natural law lays the key frame for the understanding of the self and other non-human beings in creation. Aristotle developed the concept, but Thomas Aquinas put a garb of ethical theory on it, chiefly from a Christian outlook. Thus, the phenomenon is considered from its nature, meaning, functions and significance including extant controversies. The Catholic Church’s pedagogy and ethics also form the study’s scope. From methodology, the work is phenomenological, historical, and analytical as well as logically compliant with syllogism in collection and analysis of data. The research infers that natural law is useful to societal wellbeing.

Author Biography

Chiedu Onyiloha, University of Port Harcourt

Dr Chiedu A. Onyiloha, an Ethicist and a Catholic priest, is a Lecturer in the Department of Religious and Cultural Studies, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. His research interests include ethical themes in development and praxis, civics and biodiversity, culture of life and culture of death, and, information and communication.

References

Aquinas, Thomas. The Complete Works of Saint Thomas Aquinas. New York: Orbis Books, 2000.

Boyle, J. “The Natural Law and the Magisterium.” Readings in Moral Theology, No. 3. Eds. C. E. Curran & R. A. McCormick. New York, USA: Paulist Press, 1982.

Catechism of the Catholic Church. London: Catholic Truth Society, 2005.

Demmer, K. “Kirchliches Lehramt und Naturrecht.” TGI 59. 1969. 191-213.

Fagothey, A. Right and Reason: Ethics in Theory and Practice Based on the Teachings of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas (Second Edition). USA: Tan Books, 2010.

Onyiloha, C. A. “Freedom of Conscience and Its Limitations: A Christian Perspective.” Asian Horizons: Dharmaram Journal of Theology, Vol. 10, No. 4. (2016): 782-794.

Peschke, K. H. Christian Ethics: Moral Theology in the Light of Vatican II. India: Paulines, 1997.

Pope Leo XIII. Libertas Praestantissimum. Acta Apostolis Sedes. June 30, 1888 AAS 20 (1887/88) as cited in The Catechism of the Catholic Church, Revised Edition, 2002: 1951.

Schüller, B. “La theologie morale peut-elle se passer du droit naturel?” NRT. (1966). 1966. 475.

Simonds, R. T. “Natural Law Controversy: Three Basic Logical Issues.” Notre: 1960. Accessed: July 24, 2020 (http://scholarship.law.nd.edu).

Vatican II Documents, New York: Paulist Books, 1976.

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Published

2020-12-30

How to Cite

Onyiloha, C. (2020). NATURAL LAW AND SOCIETY: A Christian Perspective. Journal of Dharma, 45(4), 499–512. Retrieved from https://dvkjournals.in/index.php/jd/article/view/1025