Biblical Natural law: A Theocentric and Teleological Approach

269 Pages·2008·2.64 MB·English

by  Matthew Levering

BIBLICAL NATURAL LAW
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Biblical Natural Law
A Theocentric and Teleological Approach
MATTHEW LEVERING
1
3
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Biblicalnaturallaw:atheocentricandteleologicalapproach/MatthewLevering.
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ISBN978–0–19–953529–3(alk.paper)
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3. Christianityandlaw. 4. Naturallaw. I. Title.
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Acknowledgements
This book began under the tutelage of my colleagues Marc Guerra
and Steven Long in the summer of 2005. Marc met with me on a
weekly basis to discuss key books and articles in the field of natural
law doctrine, and Steve patiently answered my questions at a theol-
ogy faculty retreat. Much of what is good in this book is owed to
them.
Joseph Good, a librarian at Ave Maria University, and Andrew
Mullally helped me to obtain important secondary literature on the
topicofnaturallaw;manythankstothem.Otherfriendsgenerously
assistedthedevelopmentofthemanuscript.JörgenVijgen,towhom
Iamonceagainindebted,readandcritiquedanearlydraft.Andrew
Hofer,OP,andGuyMansini,OSB,offeredhighlyvaluablecriticisms
on later drafts. Graham McAleer helped me with the chapter that
engageshiswork,andCyrilO’RegankindlyreadthesectiononHegel.
Steve Long greatly improved the Introduction and the final chap-
ter. Romanus Cessario, OP, generously read the penultimate draft.
ThanksalsofortheexcellentsuggestionsmadebyChristopherKaczor
andananonymousreviewerforOxfordUniversityPress.
I completed the book under the auspices of the Myser Fellow-
ship at the Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre
Dame. For encouraging me to pursue the Fellowship, I am grateful
to my dean, Michael Dauphinais, and my department chair, Father
MatthewLamb.David SolomongavemetheFellowshipathisCen-
ter, and his larger-than-life personality, intelligence, and wit are a
joy to behold. I have also had the privilege of getting to know his
collaborators, among them Dan McInerny, Ralph McInerny, Alas-
dairMacIntyre,JohnO’Callaghan,andElizabethKirk,aswellasthe
Center’s Senior Fellow for 2006–2007, Kevin Flannery, SJ. Special
thanksareowedtoThomasHibbs,MichaelSherwin,OP,andRussell
Hittinger for recommending me for the Fellowship. Thanks also to
Joseph Torchia, OP, and Gregory LaNave for publishing an earlier
version of Chapter 3 in The Thomist. Tom Perridge skilfully guided
vi Acknowledgements
themanuscriptthroughOxfordUniversityPress,andLouiseMitchell
graciouslypreparedthebibliography.
Iwishtothankalltheotherfriendswhocontinuetodosomuchto
encouragemeinthetheologicalvocation,aswellasmyparents,in-
laws, and brother for their love. My children David, Andrew, Irene,
John, and Daniel are a delight: may God bless them! This book is
dedicated to my greatest friend, my wife Joy: I ‘give thanks to God
alwaysforyou’(2Thess.1:3).
Contents
Introduction 1
1. TheBibleandNaturalLaw 22
2. AnthropocentricNaturalLaw 69
3. NaturalLawandNaturalInclinations 140
4. NaturalLawandtheOrderofCharity 189
Conclusion 224
WorksCited 235
Index 255
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Introduction
This study proposes that the full scope of natural law doctrine is
learnedbestbymeansofadialoguebetweenbiblicalexegesis,theol-
ogy,andphilosophy,whereeachenrichestheother.WhereasEnlight-
enmentthinkersgenerallyassumedthatthe‘bookofScripture’would
only mystify and distort the reading of the ‘book of nature’, more
recently both ‘books’, separated from each other, have been deemed
unreliable. On this view, the appeal in ethics either to natural law
or to Scripture is no longer viable. As the biblical scholar John J.
Collins, a Catholic, approvingly remarks, ‘The Bible can no more
provide us with objective, transcendent moral certainties than can
naturallaw’.1
Pacethisview,thisstudyseekstouncoveronceagainthefruitful-
ness for moral theology of reuniting the two ‘books’. Most biblical
scholars today who treat the topic of ethics in the Bible, especially
as regards the New Testament, do so without reference to ‘natural
law’.Naturallawseemsforsuchscholarstobeaforeignphilosophical
concept that can be ignored in ethics rooted in the Bible, and that
indeed may pose a threat to such ethics, since ‘natural law’ often
has been used in Protestant and Catholic liberalism to advance a
public ethics grounded solely in the exercise of reason apart from
any relation to God. Chapter 1 therefore explores contemporary
ethics and exegesis, specifically through the work of the Protestant
1 JohnJ.Collins,‘TheBiblicalVisionoftheCommonGood’,inhisEncounterswith
BiblicalTheology(Minneapolis,MN:FortressPress,2005),78.Onthisviewneither
the‘bookofnature’northe‘bookofScripture’isintelligibleinaunifiedfashion.
CollinsaffirmsnonethelessthattheBibleremainsrelevanttocontemporaryethics,
bothbecauseofitsinfluenceuponWesternculture,andbecauseitisthe‘foundational
document’oftheChristiantradition.