The 60-Second Aquinas
Lesson
The Process of Adding to the Natural Law
November 3, 1998
Before you knew how to walk, you likely did not have any knowledge of why shoes are necessary.
Before you knew how to drive a car, you did not fully understand the use and necessity of turn signals.
Once you understood how to walk and drive, you began to understand the things that go along with them – the need for shoes, turn signals, etc.
The same can be said for natural law. Natural law is defined by Aquinas as "the rational creature's participation of the eternal law" (ST I-II, Q. 91, Art. 2). Eternal law is the unchanging law established by God.
Now, we know certain things are wrong and always have been wrong because of our inherent knowledge of natural law, but we do not know these things are wrong until we first know the things themselves.
When someone first thought of the concept of cheating, for instance, natural law was changed by addition in that cheating was deemed to be wrong. This occurred because man’s reason recognized the connection between cheating and stealing. Stealing already being wrong according to the natural law, cheating was now understood to be wrong as well. In this way, more elements of the eternal law are revealed to men and "imprinted" on our hearts.
Explanation of The 60-Second Aquinas Lesson
