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33 Bond L. Rev. 1 (2021)

handle is hein.journals/bondlr33 and id is 1 raw text is: Is Natural Law Timeless? JONATHAN CROWE* Natural law theories hold that human action is oriented towards certain intrinsic goods and governed by practical principles accessible to us by virtue of our nature. These goods and principles make up the content ofnatural law This essay argues that both the content ofnatural law and our understanding ofits requirements evolve throughout human history. This represents a diachronic, rather than synchronic, understanding of natural law. This perspective is contrasted with the 'new natural law theory' of Germain Grisez and John Finnis, which depicts natural law as timeless and unchanging. Finnis seems to think that natural law does not change because it exists in the mind of God; however, a belief in God as the source of natural law is equally consistent with a diachronic perspective. I defend this view through reference to the writings of Thomas Aquinas and the structure of the biblical narrative. Natural law theories hold that human life is directed towards certain intrinsic goods suited to our nature. Our engagement with these goods is governed by our human capacity for reflection and, as such, by what the 'new natural law theorists', such as Germain Grisez and John Finnis, call 'principles of practical reasonableness'.1 It is these goods and principles that make up the 'natural law' that gives such theories their title. A central question confronting natural law theories is therefore where these goods and principles come from. It often appears, on a casual reading of both classical and contemporary natural law theorists, as if they come out of nowhere. Natural law is presented as if it were (in the words of Oliver Wendell Holmes) a 'brooding omnipresence in the sky' 2-a set of timeless, unchanging principles received fully- formed from above. The work of Grisez and Finnis does little to dispel this perception. Finnis's account of natural law, in particular, is based on a set of basic goods-such as life, knowledge, friendship, play and religion-that he * Professor of Law, Bond University. This essay was originally presented as a Warfield Seminar at Westminster Seminary California in November 2019. Thanks are due to David VanDrunen for his gracious hospitality and insightful comments, as well as to everyone who participated in the discussion. 1 See, for example, Germain Grisez, The Way of the Lord Jesus: Christian Moral Principles (Franciscan Press, 1983) 121-2; John Finnis, Natural Law and Natural Rights (Oxford University Press, 2nd ed, 2011) ch 5. 2 Southern Pacific Company vJensen, 244 US 205, 222 (1917).

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