The Westminster divines and natural law

[Reformed Covenanter]

This observation is relevant to some discussions that we have had of late, especially to a recent one about whether or not the American Revolution was "biblical":

[T]he Westminster divines did appeal to the natural law as possessing moral authority. ... The law of nature, then, is thought to possess moral authority to which appeal can be made without reference to Scripture.

Matthew Winzer, 'The Westminster Assembly & the Judicial Law. Part Two: Analysis', The Confessional Presbyterian Journal, 5 (2009), p. 61.

 

[Reformed Covenanter]

The [Westminster] divines' utilisation of natural law is in perfect harmony with the Westminster formularly, which does not refer to holy Scripture as providing the first revelation of God's will to man. Rather, it notes that man himself, created in the image of God, reflects a moral nature analogous to his Life-giver. ... Sin has so defaced the image of God in man as to take away the power and inclination to obey God's law, but it has not removed the ability to apprehend good and evil ...

Matthew Winzer, 'The Westminster Assembly & the Judicial Law. Part Two: Analysis', The Confessional Presbyterian Journal, 5 (2009), p. 60.