Natural Law & Catholic Attitudes Towards Science (AQA GCSE Religious Studies B): Revision Note

Catholic understanding of natural law

• Catholics believe that all humans have an inbuilt or “natural” understanding of what is morally right and wrong, and this is known as natural law

• This is part of human nature because:

  • God created everything in the universe

  • Everything God created was good (Genesis 1:31)

  • It includes humans who are made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27)

  • Humans share some of God’s qualities, including his goodness

• The most basic rule of natural law is to do good and avoid evil

• There are other principles associated with natural law, for example, the principle of the sanctity of life

  • This is the belief that because all life comes from God, all life is sacred and holy

  • Natural law leads humans to respect the sanctity of all human life and to do all they can to protect and preserve life

    • This means that Catholic teaching opposes everything that does not respect the sanctity of life, such as abortion or euthanasia

• Catholics believe that following natural law is important because:

  • It is part of God’s will for humans

  • It was given by God, so all humans should obey it

  • Humans should not need rules to know how to behave — they should know instinctively

• The Youth Catechism teaches the idea that natural law is “inbuilt” and can be known by reason

The Catholic Church and science

• The Catholic Church has always been involved in and supportive of the development of scientific theories

• For example:

  • St Albert the Great, who was a mentor of St Thomas Aquinas, had a vast knowledge of natural science and became the patron saint of scientists

  • Friar Gregor Mendel, who developed the idea of genetics

  • Georges Lemaitre, a Catholic priest who thought up a form of the big bang theory

  • Jean Baptiste Lamarck, who proposed evolutionary theory before Darwin

• From 1962 to 1965, the Catholic Church held the Second Vatican Council

  • This was a meeting of the Pope and the Bishops (the Magisterium), which updated the Church’s teachings on several topics

• The Second Vatican Council produced a document called ‘Gaudium et Spes’ that encouraged the link between religion and science

• The Council said that science can help people to understand more about God’s creation

  • Through scientific research and discoveries, people are using their God-given talents to find out more about the nature and purpose of God’s creation, and this should be supported

• Science covers “how”things happen, while religion tries to explain “why”they happ