Monday, November 30, 2009

Manhattan Declaration

It’s always exciting when Christians stand up for the fundamental truths. So often we are either confused, complacent, or unwilling to speak out on justice and the common good of our communities. But a recent new declaratory statement signed by a large number of Evangelicals, Roman Catholics and East Orthodox Christians has recently appeared on the internet. This is the Manhattan Declaration, a statement taking a detailed position in favor of the sanctity of human life, the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union between one man and one woman, and the importance of the rights of conscience and religious liberty. These are three of the great issues of our time and it is really wonderful to see a comprehensive declaration dealing with these three areas at once. To see the Manhattan Declaration and add your signature in support, go to the following link: http://manhattandeclaration.org/.

Liberty University Law Review Article on Natural Law

In February of 2008 I attended a symposium on Natural Law at Liberty University. I gave a talk on “The Nature in Natural Law”. That talk is now published as a complete law review article in the Liberty University Law Review, Volume 2, Number 3, Spring 2008 issue. Copies should be available through Hein & Co., New York. Their contact information is as follows:

William S. Hein & Co., Inc. 1285 Main Street Buffalo, NY 14209-1987 Phone: 1-800-828-7571

The symposium issue contains a number of very interesting articles on natural law by authors like J. Daryl Charles, Gilbert Meilaender and David VanDrunen. My own natural law article deals with the question of why natural law is called “natural”. The article performs a historical survey of different definitions of natural law from ancient times up to the present. It provides some analysis and commentary on each of the views, and put them in an overall perspective that I believe points to the true nature behind natural law.