Natural law and Protestantism : a historical reassessment, and its contemporary significance

For much of the 20th century, natural law discourse has centred upon the primacy of human reason. Consequently, there has been scepticism towards natural law in much modern Protestant thought because of its critique of reason in post Lapsarian, sinful humanity. This reluctance to engage with natural law, however, is increasingly incongruous in the contemporary global world, in which thinkers from various cultures are attempting to develop universal understandings of ethical principles. Taking this situation as its starting point, this article reassesses the historical relationship between natural law and Protestantism. We argue that historically, there was a tradition of Protestant thought that managed to reconcile its belief in the corruption of human reason, with natural law. Drawing upon this tradition, the article suggests some ways that scholars might tackle the problem of unaided human reason and, in doing so, make fruitful contributions to the contemporary debate. We then argue more broadly for the importance of the relationship between law and religion, and suggest that natural law can facilitate this relationship by serving as a means of articulating the legitimacy and moral force of the law in a global world.