The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1674 page)

 
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(Lat.,
lex naturae
,
ius naturale
). The view that there is an intelligible and consistent order which exists independently of human opinion or construction, and that this order is a source of moral constraint and command for human beings. It is particularly prominent in E. religions, as, for example, in the understanding of the
Tao
, or in the Indian understanding of
ta
and
dharma
. In the W., the Stoics conceived of a universal reason ordering and providing law for the cosmos and for human beings (and this was expressed in Roman law as a distinction between
ius gentium
and
ius naturale
); and, for the Christian tradition, there is an allusion to the natural discernment of right and wrong in Paul's Letter to the Romans. But the first major elaboration occurs in
Aquinas
. The eternal law of God is conveyed to humans, partly through revelation (especially the Decalogue (see
TEN COMMANDMENTS
) of the
lex vetus
and the
gospel
ordinances of the
lex nova
) and partly through what is open to human discernment in natural law. By obedience to natural law, humans put into effect their responsibility to be secondary causes in the action of God in relation to the universe.

 
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Natural theology
.

Knowledge of God obtainable by human reason alone without the aid of
revelation
. Exponents of such theology claim that God's existence and at least some of his attributes can be known through reason (e.g. by philosophical argument). The traditional arguments for God's existence are a central part of such theology (see
COSMOLOGICAL
;
MORAL
;
ONTOLOGICAL
;
PHYSICO-THEOLOGICAL
; and
TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENTS
).
Natural theology continues to be an important part of the philosophy of religion; and the traditional theistic arguments are still vigorously debated.

 
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see
IBN RUSHD
.

 
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