Section I. The Natural Law

CERTAIN actions are in themselves conformable to right reason, while others are opposed to it. On account of the relation between parent and child, right reason tells us that it becomes a child to show love and reverence toward his parents; on the other hand, hatred and ill-treatment of one’s parents are opposed to right reason. Conscience tells us, moreover, that it is our “ duty’ to love and reverence our parents, that we “‘ ought ” to do so, that we are “‘ bound ” to do so; thereby making known to us the will and precept of a superior, the will and command of God, the Author of nature, and our Lord and Master. He cannot be indifferent as to whether we follow the dictates of right reason or not; he necessarily, as he is good and holy, wills that right order should be observed by us.

The rules of conduct which right reason manifests to us, and conscience, the voice of God, commands us to follow, constitute the natural law, which is a participation in human reason of the eternal law of God, willing that right order should be observed, forbidding it to be disturbed.

The objects, then, of the natural law are all those actions which in themselves are conformable or not conformable to rational human nature. They are actions which are necessarily prescribed, because they are demanded by human nature, or, on the contrary, they are necessarily forbidden, because they are contrary to the demands of human nature. They are good or evil, not merely because they are commanded or forbidden by lawful authority, but because in themselves they are becoming or unbecoming for man to perform because human nature is what it is, This is the ground of the well-known distinction between mala in se and mala quia prohibita.

As rational human nature remains substantially the same, and its essential relations do not change, it follows that the duties which the natural law imposes on man do not change substantially ¹ objectively times. either. The natural law, then, in itself and is universal and unchanging; it binds all men at all However, it does not follow that the natural law is always and everywhere equally well known. In its broad general principles, indeed, it has been known and taught at all times; it would be impossible for human society to continue unless the general principles of the natural law were known and acted on. Any serious departure from the law of nature soon brings with it its own remedy and correction by the stern elimination of the delinquent. Still there may be, and there is, ignorance of particular details and applications of the law of nature, even in matters of importance and of frequent occurrence. This is true not only of savage and untutored races, not only of primitive races, but even of civilized and Christian peoples. Theologians readily admit this. Many theologians of note allow that among such peoples there may exist ignorance of the malice of fornication; they warn us that other acts against the natural law are sometimes done in good faith, without any knowledge of their malice. The presumption, then, is that among Christians the general principles of the law of nature are known, but the confessor must be prepared to meet with cases of ignorance of the particular details and applications of it.

¹ Matt. v 17.