Colossians Three Sixteen » Rediscovering The Natural Law In Reformed Theological Ethics (Book Review)

Rediscovering The Natural Law In Reformed Theological Ethics
Stephen J. Grabill
Published by Eerdmans, 2006
310 pages, paperback

Stephen J. Grabill is a research scholar in theology for the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty and the inaugural editor of the Journal of Markets and Morality who blogs at Common Notions. Grabill holds degrees from Liberty University and Calvin Theological seminary, including a Ph.D. According to his bio on the Acton Institute’s site, “Grabill’s research interests include Protestant social thought, the thought of Abraham Kuyper, and Christian social ethics.”

While one might expect a book on natural law and reformed ethics written by a “research scholar” to be dry and academic, Grabill’s book exceeds expectations. His style is clear, concise and informative. He clearly informs and interacting with a broad range and depth of material. So what exactly are the issues Grabill is interacting with?

Over the course of history, the doctrine of the natural law (which is closely associated with “natural theology“) has come under the disfavor of many reformed theologians. At root is the issue of just how much the Fall affected the imago Dei (the image of God) in man. Many reformed theologians have come to reject the notion of natural law because they believe that it begins to underemphasize the true severity of the Fall. Yet, Grabill insists that his book’s

“aim is to assist contemporary Protestant pastors, denominational officials, theologians, ethicists, public intellectuals, seminarians, graduate students, and general readers to rediscover and rehabilitate natural law and related doctrinal concepts (2).”

Grabill argues that the theologians of the Reformation actually “carried over, though with some critical modifications, certain theological, philosophical, and legal ideas common to the western Christian church” (2). In other words, the Reformers were actually more ecumenical in their thought than their followers. Grabill establishes this point by tracing the broad historical flow, demonstrating that John Calvin, Peter Martyr Vermigli, Johannes Althusius and Francis Turretin (chapters 3, 4, 5 and 6 respectively) all held to (albet it somewhat modified versions) some form of natural law.

Grabill also briefly interacts with modern theologians such as Richard Mouw, demonstrating that the doctrine of natural law is not isolated, but in fact has ramifications for not only our view of common grace, but practically, things such as the arts. Though these insights are scattered throughout the book, they are important, reminding us that all of our doctrines impact one another. Though the book is specifically about natural law, Grabill reminds us that our doctrines cannot be separated from one another and he does a good job incorporating some of the larger theological spectrum into the conversation at hand.

Grabill argues extensively (chapter 1) that it was Karl Barth more than any other theologian who displaced natural law in contemporary Protestant theology. Grabill goes to great lengths detailing Barth’s opposition to natural law and its subsequent influence. Grabill does a good job distilling the essence Barth’s 1934 debate with Emil Brunner into understandable yet challenging concepts, no small task indeed.

This is perhaps one of the high points of the book itself. Grabill is not dealing with “lite” subject matter and in fact interacts at length with some fairly technical philosophical arguments. He does, however, succeed in writing in such a way that both the initiated and the uninitiated will benefit and glean new insights.

Grabill demonstrates that it was Barth’s influence that greatly diminished the acceptance of natural law in reformed ethics. But he also does a fine job demonstrating that traditional reformed theology has actually held a place for natural law while still affirming the severity of the Fall; the two do not necessarily have to be in contradiction to one another. Grabill concludes:

“Calvin, Vermigli, and the Reformed scholastics all share the conviction that Scripture is the cognitive foundation (principium cognoscendi) of theology and that moral arguments can be based on axioms derived from that principium” (191).

Grabill continues:

“Consequently, they recognize the existence of a natural knowledge of God that is present in the natural order and discernible either in conjunction with or apart from Scripture. This knowledge, however, has no saving efficacy and merely serves to render all people to be “without excuse” for their moral infractions, as Romans 1:20 attests” (191).

Grabill concludes that, “contrary to current scholarly opinion,” “some of the most formative voices in the Reformed tradition thought the diminished human faculties still function sufficiently to reveal the general precepts of the natural moral law” (191). This is the central thesis of the book and Grabill succeeds in historically proving that holding a positive view of natural law is in fact within the bounds of confessional reformed thought.