This book serves as an introduction to natural law theory. The Introduction proposes that natural law theory makes most sense in light of an understanding of a loving Creator. The first chapter then argues the Bible sketches both such an understanding of a loving Creator and an account of natural law that offers an expansive portrait of the moral life. The second chapter surveys the development of natural law doctrine from Descartes to Nietzsche, and shows how these thinkers reverse the biblical portrait by placing human beings at the center of the moral universe. Whereas the biblical portrait ... More

This book serves as an introduction to natural law theory. The Introduction proposes that natural law theory makes most sense in light of an understanding of a loving Creator. The first chapter then argues the Bible sketches both such an understanding of a loving Creator and an account of natural law that offers an expansive portrait of the moral life. The second chapter surveys the development of natural law doctrine from Descartes to Nietzsche, and shows how these thinkers reverse the biblical portrait by placing human beings at the center of the moral universe. Whereas the biblical portrait of natural law is other-directed, ordered to self-giving love, the modern accounts turn inward upon the self, with reductive consequences. The final two chapters employ theological and philosophical investigation to achieve a contemporary doctrine of natural law that accords with the biblical witness to a loving Creator. These two chapters interact creatively with the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas. The book revives discussion of natural law among biblical scholars while also challenging philosophers and theologians to re-think their accounts of natural law.