HOW DO HUMAN BEINGS KNOW THE MORAL
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RIGHT AND WRONG?
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RIGHT AND WRONG?
An Excerpt from a course on Natural Law, the Noahide, and the Torah
So How do human beings know the moral difference between right and wrong even if they have no knowledge of a written Word (remembering that for the first two and a half millennium of human history there was no codified written Word - Torah)? The answer to that question takes us back to the Imago Dei (the image of God).
The very idea of law whether natural, Noahic or Mosaic presupposes something of a sense of what is moral, and if such an idea is universal then an innate mechanism is required to comprehend such a sense. That mechanism must be the image of God.
If that image is innate it must also be self-revealing. That is, the moal image of God in us must express itself in choice - moral choice. Every time we make a moral choice the image of God it reveals itself.
If that image is innate it must also be self-revealing. That is, the moal image of God in us must express itself in choice - moral choice. Every time we make a moral choice the image of God it reveals itself.
That is why in all cultures of all times certain moral requisites have
been universally and ubiquitously recognized and accepted. Stealing is wrong, murder is wrong, and so is
lying, cheating, adultery, and other innately recognized moral fundamentals or
what might be understood as things which are either righteous or unrighteous.
This observable fact is often termed
"Natural Law." Natural law is
a noun, and usually defined as:
"a body of unchanging moral principles regarded as a basis for all human conduct." 1
The first (most ancient reliable) codification of natural law is
regarded to be what is known as "The Seven Laws of the Noahide," a
term (and foundation for universal morality) hardly known by most Christians,
rarely mentioned in ministerial courses of study at the Bible College or
Seminary level, and yet is a body of knowledge that is the foundation for Torah
(Mosaic Law) as we have it.
The Noahide is the ancient standard for morality. It has been said that:
In the next study we will take up the subject of Natural Law in a more comprehensive way.
The Noahide is the ancient standard for morality. It has been said that:
"The Seven Noahide Laws" are a sacred inheritance of all the children of Noah, one that every person on the face of the earth can use as the basis of his or her spiritual, moral and pragmatic life." 2Fundamentally Natural Law is a body of rules that govern moral conduct. But that definition must be fleshed out, that is, expanded into actual human life and practice. If it is natural, then it is not something externally acquired, but innately rises from within. It is in fact, a reflection if the image of a righteous God.
In the next study we will take up the subject of Natural Law in a more comprehensive way.
For a deeper study, you are encouraged to consider enrolling in our 3 credit-hour academic course "THE LAW OF UNIVERSAL RIGHTEOUSNESS: Natural Law, the Noahide, and the Torah." You can check out all of our regular academic programs by clicking this link: PROGRAMS.
Thank you for sharing time with me. I hope this brief post will encourage you to want to learn more about the laws of universal righteousness, and the manner in which God has implanted the awareness of right and wrong within your own heart and mind.
Dennis D. Frey, Th.D.,
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