I believe the Christian doctrine, or at least a Christian doctrine, is that the moral law is both natural and supernatural, these attributes being united, not separate.
According to this view, we can all discern what is good. We all know that killing people and taking their stuff is wrong, that torture is wrong, and so forth. These things are written on our hearts and we cannot not know them, although we may twist our minds into knots trying to not know them. On lesser issues or more complex situations we can legitimately be unsure or mistaken, despite our best attempts to discern with the help of reason what is written on our hearts. But we are also assisted by divine revelation, especially through the person of Jesus, and by the expositions of the learned.
The Good is not subject to God’s will, neither is God’s will subject to the Good. God’s will is one with the Good, and the natural law is one with the supernatural.
I believe the Christian doctrine, or at least a Christian doctrine, is that the moral law is both natural and supernatural, these attributes being united, not separate.
According to this view, we can all discern what is good. We all know that killing people and taking their stuff is wrong, that torture is wrong, and so forth. These things are written on our hearts and we cannot not know them, although we may twist our minds into knots trying to not know them. On lesser issues or more complex situations we can legitimately be unsure or mistaken, despite our best attempts to discern with the help of reason what is written on our hearts. But we are also assisted by divine revelation, especially through the person of Jesus, and by the expositions of the learned.
The Good is not subject to God’s will, neither is God’s will subject to the Good. God’s will is one with the Good, and the natural law is one with the supernatural.