Question

How, according to the natural law ethics of Thomas Aquinad can humans discover what God commands?

Answer 1

If natural law is born of the Greeks, it comes of age with the Roman Catholic Church. Perhaps the most famous of natural law theorists is St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274). According to Aquinas’s theology, natural law is integral to divine providence. “Eternal law” is the overarching law, established by God, which gives order to the chaos of creation. The portion of eternal law pertaining to human beings is, to Aquinas, natural law. Unlike other natural bodies (earth and animals for instance), humans are not determined by natural law. Instead, God has instilled in us our sense of rationality. With this reason we apprehend and participate in His eternal law if we so choose. Like the Stoics, then, Aquinas thinks that lucid reasoning is the means by which to discern universal moral truth and, by acting in accordance with it, fulfill our destinies