Natural Law in the Teaching of Christian Ethics

Abstract

This article looks at the ways that Thomas Aquinas’ classic and highly influential understanding of natural law ethics has been criticised by students coming from a number of different faith traditions. It suggests that the way that natural law ethics was deployed in Pope Paul vi’s encyclical Humanae Vitae has not typically been found to be persuasive even among Roman Catholic students. It then looks at the way that Lisa Sowle Cahill takes on board these criticisms and offers a more persuasive account of modified natural law ethics. This article looks at the ways that Thomas Aquinas’ classic and highly influential understanding of natural law ethics has been criticised by students coming from a number of different faith traditions. It suggests that the way that natural law ethics was deployed in Pope Paul vi’s encyclical Humanae Vitae has not typically been found to be persuasive even among Roman Catholic students. It then looks at the way that Lisa Sowle Cahill takes on board these criticisms and offers a more persuasive account of modified natural law ethics.