As my moniker would indicate I am a Christian that, along with the Roman Catholic Church, that holds the view of natural law set forth by Thomas Aquinas, particularly in his Summa Theologica, and often as filtered through the School of Salamanca. I believe human beings to consist of body and mind, the physical (body)and the non-physical (soul), and that the two are inextricably linked. Humans are capable of discerning the difference between good and evil because they have a conscience. To know what is right, one must use one's reason and apply it to Aquinas' precepts. This reason is believed to be embodied, in its most abstract form, in the concept of a primary precept: "Good is to be sought, evil avoided." St. Thomas explains that:<> "there belongs to the natural law, first, certain most general precepts, that are known to all; and secondly, certain secondary and more detailed precepts, which are, as it were, conclusions following closely from first principles. As to those general principles, the natural law, in the abstract, can nowise be blotted out from men's hearts."
In short I believe that the "Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge" is the ability to differentiate between good and evil. That presupposes that there exists a universal good, embodied in Christ, that is as much a part of the human soul as original sin. The ability to recognize and pursue the universal good exists without the need for an elite priest class or complex theological arguments.
My professor and counselor had been a Hitler Youth (forest camp kid....lebens-something) who embraced Catholicism later.
Natural Law makes me think of Locke though I value Hobbes most probably in that gang.
I’m Southern baptist but have Catholics in the family and I like to attend Charismatic on occasion....I like their politics too.