Christianity Explored: Insights and Reflections for New Believers

Universal moral law

Several Christian scholars and theologians argue that the existence of a universal moral law implies the existence of God. Here are a few prominent ones:

1. **C.S. Lewis**
- **Argument:** Lewis famously argued for the existence of a universal moral law in his book "Mere Christianity." He claimed that the presence of a universal sense of right and wrong, which he called the "Moral Law" or "Law of Human Nature," points to a divine lawgiver. Lewis maintained that our inherent understanding of moral duties cannot be explained by naturalistic means alone and is best understood as originating from God.
- **Key Quote:** "The Moral Law tells us the tune we have to play: our instincts are merely the keys."

2. **Thomas Aquinas**
- **Argument:** Aquinas' natural law theory posits that moral principles are part of the natural order and can be discerned through reason. He argued that these laws reflect God's eternal law, meaning that the natural law is a participation in the divine wisdom. Aquinas believed that human beings have an inherent ability to understand basic moral principles, which ultimately derive from God's nature.
- **Key Works:** "Summa Theologica"
- **Key Quote:** "The natural law is nothing else than the rational creature's participation in the eternal law."

3. **John Henry Newman**
- **Argument:** Newman argued that the conscience is a powerful indicator of the divine origin of moral law. He believed that our sense of moral obligation and the feelings of guilt when we violate our conscience point to the existence of a higher moral authority, which is God.
- **Key Works:** "An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent"
- **Key Quote:** "Conscience is the aboriginal Vicar of Christ."

4. **William Lane Craig**
- **Argument:** Craig often uses the moral argument for the existence of God in his apologetics. He contends that objective moral values and duties exist, and they are best explained by the existence of a moral lawgiver, which is God. Without God, Craig argues, morality would be subjective and culturally relative.
- **Key Works:** "Reasonable Faith," various debates and lectures
- **Key Quote:** "If God does not exist, objective moral values do not exist."

5. **Alvin Plantinga**
- **Argument:** Plantinga has argued that naturalism cannot adequately explain moral realism-the belief that there are objective moral truths. He posits that the existence of objective moral values is more plausible in a theistic framework, where moral laws are grounded in the nature of a good and loving God.
- **Key Works:** "Warranted Christian Belief"
- **Key Quote:** "Moral properties, like moral obligations and rights, require an order that naturalism does not provide."

6. **G.K. Chesterton**
- **Argument:** Chesterton, like Lewis, argued that the existence of a moral order in the universe suggests a moral creator. He believed that the universal recognition of certain moral truths across cultures points to their divine origin.
- **Key Works:** "Orthodoxy," "The Everlasting Man"
- **Key Quote:** "You can only find truth with logic if you have already found truth without it."

7. **Francis Schaeffer**
- **Argument:** Schaeffer argued that modern secular philosophies lead to moral relativism and despair because they reject the basis for absolute moral values found in the Christian worldview. He posited that belief in God is essential for grounding moral absolutes.
- **Key Works:** "The God Who Is There," "How Should We Then Live?"
- **Key Quote:** "If God is dead, then man is dead too, because he is left with no basis for morals, no meaning for his life."

These scholars collectively argue that the presence of objective, universal moral laws points to a divine source, grounding these laws in the nature and existence of God. They assert that without God, morality loses its objective foundation, becoming subjective and relative.