Biblical Natural Law

A Theocentric and Teleological Approach
Erscheinungsjahr 2008
ISBN: 978-0-19-953529-3
Verlag: OUP Oxford

Buch, Englisch, 270 Seiten, Format (B × H): 145 mm x 222 mm, Gewicht: 516 g

Natural law theory is controversial today because it presumes that there is a stable 'human nature' that is subject to a 'law.' How do we know that 'human nature' is stable and not ever-evolving? How can we expect 'law' not to constrict human freedom and potential? Furthermore if there is a 'law,' there must be a lawgiver. Matthew Levering argues that natural law theory makes sense only within a broader worldview, and that the Bible sketches both such a persuasive
worldview and an account of natural law that offers an exciting portrait of the moral life.

To establish the relevance of biblical readings to the wider philosophical debate on natural law, this study offers an overview of modern natural law theories from Cicero to Nietzsche, which reverse the biblical portrait by placing human beings at the center of the moral universe. Whereas the biblical portrait of natural law is other-directed, ordered to self-giving love, the modern accounts turn inward upon the self. Drawing on the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, Levering employs theological
and philosophical investigation to achieve a contemporary doctrine of natural law that accords with the biblical witness to a loving Creator who draws human beings to share in the divine life.

This book provides both an introduction to natural law theory and a compelling challenge to re-think current biblical scholarship on the topic.

Zielgruppe

Scholars and students of philosophy and natural law theory, of biblical ethics, of Thomas Aquinas

Autoren/Hrsg.

Levering, Matthew

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionsphilosophie, Philosophische Theologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Bibelwissenschaften
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Systematische Theologie Ethik, Moraltheologie, Sozialethik
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Religionsphilosophie, Philosophische Theologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Ethik, Moralphilosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Rechtsphilosophie, Rechtsethik
• Rechtswissenschaften Recht, Rechtswissenschaft Allgemein Rechtsphilosophie, Rechtsethik

Über Autor(innen)

Matthew Levering is Associate Professor of Theology at Ave Maria University, and he has also held the Myser Fellowship at the Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame. He is co-editor of the theological quarterly Nova et Vetera. He co-edited Vatican II: Renewal within Tradition (Oxford, forthcoming), and he has authored books treating a wide variety of systematic theological topics, including Christ's Fulfillment of Torah and Temple, Scripture
and Metaphysics: Aquinas and the Renewal of Trinitarian Theology, Sacrifice and Community, Participatory Biblical Exegesis (forthcoming), and Hierarchy and Holiness (forthcoming).