Natural Law: A Short Companion

David VanDrunen

Reviewed by: Ken B. Montgomery

Natural Law: A Short Companion, by David VanDrunen. B&H Academic, 2023. Paperback, 160 pages, $19.99. Reviewed by OP pastor Ken B. Montgomery.

Plastic serves as an apt “material metaphor” for our age. How so? Plastic can conveniently be shaped to conform to one’s desires and will. But unlike plastic, wood has inherent grooves and grains. Woodworkers know the importance of cutting with the grain and respecting the contours and density of the lumber that is on the table saw.

Professor David VanDrunen maintains that there is a pre-existing grain—an essential moral order called “natural law” (hereafter NL)—that is revealed to all people on earth by God the Creator. VanDrunen defines NL as “the law of God made known in the created order, which all human beings know through their physical senses, intellect, and conscience, although they sinfully resist this knowledge to various degrees” (1).

This book helpfully distinguishes between NL as a theological category and various NL theories. Someone who makes a poor argument based on NL does not thereby render NL an illegitimate revelatory reality, just as the misapplication of a biblical text does not negate the authority of Scripture (2 Pet. 3:16). Put another way, perverse perception on the part of sinful human beings does not undo or silence God’s faithful speech (including moral norms) in the created order (Ps. 19:1–3).

VanDrunen shows from Romans 2 that the Gentiles have a fundamental awareness of God’s righteous requirements, so that having a sense of inner accusation for wrongdoing and the instinct to defend oneself for doing the right shows the conscience as a kind of “miniature courtroom.” The internal and universal testimony of NL is evidence of God’s ruling over all image-bearers as their presiding judge. If there is an updated edition of this book, I would suggest that the author expand on this dynamic in connection with Romans 13 and the role of the civil magistrate, as the apostle teaches that the earthly sword-bearer (even as an unbeliever) is able to approve the one who “does good” and serves as an instrument of “God’s wrath on the wrongdoer” (Rom. 13:3–4).

One of the highlights of this work is relating NL to the reasoning found in the book of Proverbs: “Proverbs communicates that meaning, purpose, and order remain in our fallen world and that sinful humans are able to discern these things” (30). VanDrunen shows how the author of Proverbs is concerned for his pupil not only to grasp the content of the precepts of the Lord but also (as I like to say) to “spy the why.” Wisdom grasps that doing what is right and good harmonizes with God’s design and blueprint for his creation. Under the sage’s tutelage, we are taught to avoid not only the guilt that comes with sinning, but also sin’s stupidity and madness (86–87). The sapiential portraits of the adulterer, the sluggard, and the drunkard are nicely framed with respect to NL in chapter 5, “Natural Law and the Christian Life.”

In the final chapter, “Learning the Natural Law and Engaging the Public Square,” VanDrunen encourages the reader to make strong and persuasive cases from NL in matters pertaining to the civic good, even if they fail to convince those who “revel in destructive moral paths” (108). He sets an example in showing the immorality of abortion from the evil of infanticide, “working backward in time” (116). In this section, it would have been beneficial to see more on the role of custom in NL reasoning.

If you’re on the lookout for a cogent and pellucid analysis of NL from a Reformed perspective, this book would serve as an excellent starting place for your study!