Introduction
For over hundreds of years, philosophers have been presenting their ideas of the
definition of natural law in accord to justice, citizenship, statesmanship, covenant, Christian
kingship, democracy, and public policy formation. There are so many different clarifications,
explanations, and opinions of natural law. Natural law can be thought of as one thing to one
person, and another to a different person. The fascinating thing is that there is no right or wrong
explanation. The most known definition of natural law is, “a belief that there exists the nature of
human existence, some standard of ethical conduct that can be known by all human beings
endowed with reason without any special revelation from a supernatural source” (Cheek, 2021).
This explanation of natural law was typically used to explain and comprehend the actions
of humans. Most of the philosophers believed that every person was born with values and morals
and those are what control how they act. Others offer a theological understanding that states,
God created everything, including these natural morals that govern all human behavior.
Throughout this research paper, I will outline the many theorists perspectives of natural law. By
doing this, I will be able to decide whether or not the Christian conception of Natural Law is
indispensable to a coherent moral theory of the State.
Now that the natural law theory has been familiarized, it is important to explain what
the moral theory of states are. I will also go on to lay out the perspectives of natural law in the
views of Locke, Rousseau, Rawls, and Hobbes.
Moral Theory of States
It is important to comprehend what the moral theory of a state is in order to recognize
what a coherent theory of the state is, and whether or not Christian Natural Law is indispensable.
A moral theory is meant to explain why a specific action is wrong -- or why we should be acting
in certain ways. In short, it is a philosophy of how we decide right and wrong conduct (Gert,
2020). In regard to a state, we can see the moral theory of a state through the laws that are
created and how they are supported. It is extensively held that “the state has a moral duty to
protect its citizens from external threats and (more contentiously) it is claimed that it ought to
positively promote the welfare of its members” (Lammer-Heindel, 2021). This means that the
state does have a moral duty or theory and shows that the state has the authority to choose what
is considered right or wrong and how to apply those views. This would require a government
