Natural Law and the Two Kingdoms: A Study in the Development of Reformed Social Thought
Overview
Conventional scholarship holds that the theology and social ethics of the Reformed tradition stand at odds with concepts of natural law and the two kingdoms. But David VanDrunen here challenges that status quo through his careful, thoroughgoing exploration of the development of Reformed social thought from the Reformation to the present.
Top Highlights
“The magistrate is obligated in the administration of the commonwealth to the proper law of Moses so far as moral equity or common [natural] law are expressed therein.” (Page 170)
“the Reformed orthodox often treated equity and natural law as virtual synonyms. Althusius” (Page 170)
“The knowledge of God, the sense of Deity, that exists in the human mind, by natural instinct, is ‘indelibly engraven’ (insculptum) on the heart, ‘naturally engendered (ingenitam) in all,’ and ‘fixed (infixam) as it were in our bones.’ Universal reason and intelligence are ‘naturally implanted’ (inditam) and the righteousness of the law is ‘naturally engraven’ (insculptam) on the mind. The internal law, consisting of the commands of the Decalogue, are ‘written and stamped (inscriptam & quasi impressam) on every heart.’” (Page 100)
“The basic approach of Reformed orthodoxy, like that of the Reformation and medieval traditions, was to proclaim the civil law generally abrogated following the coming of Christ, but also to acknowledge a relevance of the Mosaic civil law for contemporary civil law insofar as the former reflected the law of nature.” (Page 167)
“This kingdom, encompassing all human activities and institutions, was originally created by God in perfect righteousness (with potentialities that were to be actuated in history), was corrupted through the fall into sin, and is now being redeemed from corruption and advanced toward its eschatological goal.” (Page 4)
- Title: Natural Law and the Two Kingdoms: A Study in the Development of Reformed Social Thought
- Author: David VanDrunen
- Series: Emory University Studies in Law and Religion
- Publisher: Eerdmans
- Print Publication Date: 2010
- Logos Release Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Natural law › Religious aspects--Reformed Church--History of doctrines; Church and state › Reformed Church--History of doctrines; Christian sociology › Reformed Church--History of doctrines; Reformed Church › Doctrines--History
- ISBNs: 9780802864437, 0802864430
- Resource ID: LLS:NTRLLWTSCLTHGHT
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T01:58:19Z