Liberty and the Law of Nature

William Blackstone wrote about the Law of Nature in his Commentaries on the Laws of England, stating that, just as God created principles for mobility and certain rules for perpetual direction, "...when He created man, and endued him with free will to conduct himself in all parts of life, He laid down certain immutable laws of human nature, whereby that free will is in some degree regulated and restrained, and gave him also the faculty of reason to discover the purport of those laws." Later, he states that "...He has so intimately connected, so inseparably interwoven the laws of eternal justice with the happiness of each individual, that the latter cannot be attained but by observing the former..."

Blackstone comments that within this Law of Nature are seen "immutable laws of good and evil," leading us again to the idea of liberty of conscience in the judging of the lawfulness or unlawfulness of an action or inaction. Blackstone, and others of his time, assert that these are seen, naturally, if only we will observe and then reason through that which we have observed.

Further, beyond the Law of Nature, God has given us His Revealed Law, in the Scriptures, to guide us in making reasonable judgments of our actions, as well as our internal intentions, motives, desires, etc.

The Scripture tells us that men are without excuse, since they have the Law of Nature to lead them to conscientious actions. God's very nature is revealed in what He created. Blackstone reasons that God reveals certain principles to us in the Law of Nature, such as "...that we should live honestly, should hurt nobody, and should render to everyone his due..." These things are reasonable and our consciences bear witness that they are good. As Christians, we understand that they are good because they come from God, who is Goodness defined.

So, in Liberty of conscience, we have a reasonable understanding of our own conduct, how we ought to act, to speak, to respond to others. And we also have a reasonable understanding of how to treat others in order to allow them the same liberty, which is equal to all men. How, then, do we evaluate the very real situations in our world that deny these things? It is clear that tyrants lord it over the people of their nations. It is clear that the slave trade reflects the view that not all men are created equal, a wrong view that smells like smoke.

I would like to conclude this post with a note about William Wilberforce. Mr. Wilberforce saw, by the Law of Nature and the Scriptures that the slave trade represented a wrong view and that it must be stopped. Almost single-handedly, he, driven by conscience, worked to convince others of the truth of his position. Such tenacity proved effective.

In our society, we see many ills. The Law of Nature and the Scriptures declare truth, like Proverbs tells us, that Wisdom calls in the street. Reflecting on the actions and effect of William Wilberforce, I wonder what would happen if God's people demonstrated such conviction? If one man could bring about such a drastic change, what could a whole passel of us do?

Next discussion will be on 'how to correct a wrong'.