Paper #2 - The Law of Nature

Professors comments are italicized

Do you agree with Lewis in his observation of the existence of a Universal “Law of Human Nature,” an innate sense of right and wrong? Do you agree with Lewis when he says that none of us are keeping the Law of Nature? How do you think Lewis would respond to contemporary proponents of moral relativism?

Concerning Lewis’ statement of the “Law of Human Nature”. I would have to agree with him. You can see evidence of this just about everywhere you go. The vast expanses that separate humanity here on earth cannot seem to separate us in this one truth. The Law of Nature is written on our hearts. Genesis 1:26 says this, “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them role over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground” (NIV). 1 Samuel 16:7, also says, “But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart" (NIV). This does not mean that we look like God in the physical sense; rather our moral compass is designed to reflect that of God’s.

In other words, if God is unconcerned with what we as humanity look like on the outside, and is more concerned with what is at the core of us, what we believe to be true in our hearts. It makes sense then to say that God instilled in us the moral capacity to know between right and wrong and to reflect what his moral values are. Good argument


I would also agree with Lewis that no one is keeping the Law of Nature. As much as we would like to believe that we are decent people, we all break the moral law, and I believe it is due to a vast amount of reasons, but chiefly among them is sin. The Law of Human Nature; a certain way in which we believe we are to behave, is another way of quoting Philippians 2:4, “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” (NIV). From the beginning, God has placed this instinct into our hearts, yet on a daily basis we are most often more concerned about ourselves than with others.

Moral relativism simply means that morality is relative to an individual or a specific culture, and that there is no over-arching moral standard for humanity. I think Lewis would take issue with this viewpoint. I also believe he would approach it by asking them to explore, “the moral teachings of, say the, ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, Hindus, Chinese, Greeks and Romans. What will really strike him will be how very like they are to each other and to our own” (Lewis, 1952. p.6).


Reference
Lewis, C. S. (1952). Mere Christianity. New York: HarperCollins

Good use of Scripture to validate your points.
William McGuffey, author of the McGuffey's Readers, which were the mainstay of America's public school system from 1836 till the 1920's, wrote: "Erase all thought and fear of God from a community, and selfishness and sensuality would absorb the whole man."

Apart from a God consciousness, I wonder, can anyone really ever know what is moral or not…that is, if all we have within us is selfishness and sensuality, can moral thought even exist ???