Divine Covenants and Moral Order: A Biblical Theology of Natural Law

by David VanDrunen

Overview

This book addresses the old question of natural law in its contemporary context. David VanDrunen draws on both his Reformed theological heritage and the broader Christian natural law tradition to develop a constructive theology of natural law through a thorough study of Scripture.

The biblical covenants organize VanDrunen's study. Part 1 addresses the covenant of creation and the covenant with Noah, exploring how these covenants provide a foundation for understanding God's governance of the whole world under the natural law. Part 2 treats the redemptive covenants that God established with Abraham, Israel, and the New Testament church and explores the obligations of God's people to natural law within these covenant relationships.

In the concluding chapter of Divine Covenants and Moral Order VanDrunen reflects on the need for a solid theology of natural law and the importance of natural law for the Christian's life in the public square.]>

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781467440639
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	05/14/2014
Series:	Emory University Studies in Law and Religion (EUSLR)
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	594
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

David VanDrunen is the Robert B. Strimple Professor ofSystematic Theology and Christian Ethics at WestminsterSeminary California, an ordained minister, and an attorney.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Introduction 1

Part 1

1 Natural Law under the Covenant of Creation 39

2 Natural Law under the Noahic Covenant 95

3 Judgment on Sodom, Justice in Gerar: Natural Law in Genesis 19-20 133

4 Crimes against Humanity: Natural Law in the Prophetic Judgments against the Nations 164

5 Universal Accountability before the Impartial Judgment of God: Natural Law in Romans 1:18-2:16 209

Part 2

6 Natural Law for Sojourners: The Abrahamic Covenant 263

7 Natural Law and Mosaic Law: The Sinai Covenant 282

8 By Me Kings Reign, and Rulers Decree What Is Just: Natural Law in the Wisdom Literature 367

9 The Natural Moral Order Penultimized: Natural Law for a New Covenant People 415

10 Conclusion 480

Appendix 1 Natural Law in Contemporary Literature 517

Appendix 2 Neo-Calvinism and Natural Law 525

Appendix 3 David Kelsey's Anthropology and the Image of God 534

Appendix 4 The Heavenly Court View of Genesis 1:26 538

Appendix 5 Noahic Natural Law and the Noahide Laws in Jewish Ethics 543

Bibliography 546

Index of Names and Subjects 576

Selective Index of Biblical Texts Discussed 581

Editorial Reviews

Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology
"A major intellectual and spiritual achievement. Here we have a Christian thinker who can combine biblical studies, classical and Reformed theology with the history of political thought, and do it with some style."

David Novak
--University of Toronto
"Divine Covenants and Moral Order is definitely the most comprehensive and the most original work on natural law by a Reformed Christian theologian to date. . . . A major contribution to a truly substantive Jewish-Christian dialogue on natural law."

William Brown
--Columbia Theological Seminary
"David VanDrunen has successfully carved out a central place within the Reformed tradition for natural law and revelation. What makes his study so important is his facility in marshaling the rich variety of Scripture -- from Genesis to Romans -- to prove his case. Theologically profound and exegetically nuanced, VanDrunen's study is essentially a biblical theology of covenant, and any subsequent study will have to reckon with this major work."

Russell Hittinger
--University of Tulsa
"VanDrunen's scriptural and exegetical survey of natural law is especially intriguing because of his attention to the Noahide laws as well as their echo in the New Testament. His exposition gives us a more ample theological narrative of the 'states' or 'conditions' of the human reception of natural law."

Jonathan Burnside
--University of Bristol Law School
"By grounding the mystery of human obligation in the grand narrative of biblical covenants, VanDrunen's keenly ambitious and mind-expanding account provides a provocative challenge not only to the church and the public square but also to the complex tradition of natural law itself."

Paul Helm
--Regent College
"David VanDrunen here continues his sterling work of recovering and re-presenting the Reformed doctrine of the two kingdoms. That there is a biblical-theological account of natural law may be a surprise to those who have habitually thought of natural law in secularized terms. But such law is a divine gift, playing its part in every era. VanDrunen shows that it is a revealed truth, confirmed in experience, and that it undergirds 'the kingdoms of this world.' "

Jesse Covington
--Westmont College
"VanDrunen speaks clearly, carefully, and incisively into contemporary debates about natural law. He fills an important interdisciplinary niche that warrants the attention of political theorists and philosophers in addition to theologians and biblical scholars. . . . For anyone who wants to think more biblically about natural law, this book is essential reading."

Calvin Spark
"This book addresses the old question of natural law in its contemporary context. VanDrunen draws on both his Reformed theological heritage and the broader Christian natural law tradition to develop a constructive theology of natural law through a thorough study of scripture."

Journal of Markets & Morality
"VanDrunen's book ought to be widely read and discussed. . . . The volume is a significant contribution to the field of Christian ethics and natural law and, therefore, deserves consideration and scholarly engagement far beyond the conservative Presbyterian enclave."

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