natural law
notion that there is an order for personal and social life ‘grained into’ human beings. In New Testament expression, this resonates with both Jewish and Stoic thinking, though it is the latter, which is most frequently acknowledged. It is challenged by philosophers and social scientists, who draw attention to cultural diversity and to the unreliability of jumping from what ‘is’ to what ‘ought to be’. Similarly, some Christians stress instead the independent Revelation from God in Christ as the only source of any true law. That said, trust in ‘common’ sense resonates across different cultures and across the centuries. So too does, the hunch or judgement that there’s a universal wrongness about murder or incest. Accordingly, it is no surprise to find that other Christians point out the readiness of both Jesus and his prophetic forbears to appeal to both natural and historical experience for God-given insights.
See also:
revelation