Brief Intro to the Natural Law

By: Alexander Greco

Pope Innocent VI speaking of the extraordinary theological and philosophical insight of St. Thomas Aquinas, stated:

His teaching above that of others, the canons alone excepted, enjoys such an elegance of phraseology, a method of statement, a truth of proposition, that those who hold to it are never found swerving from the path of truth, and he who dare assail it will always be suspected of error.

Among the many teachings of St. Thomas which have been almost completely perverted in modern times is his understanding and defense of the natural law. It is the case today that not only is there a large variety of natural law theories, but there also appears to be many claimants who insist upon the label of Thomist when their particular expression of natural law theory is anything but Thomistic.