Chapter 1 15 Chapter 1 The Traditional View and Its Rejection Both the ethics of the believing community and the ethics of domina- tion stand in contrast with traditional natural law ethics. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) is generally regarded as the classical Christian spokesman and theorist on the topic of natural law. He summarized much of the previous Christian thought regarding natural law in his scheme of four types of law, eternal, natural, human and divine. This framework avoids both horns of the dilemma, acknowledging the par- ticularity of Christian ethics affirmed by the ethics of the believing community, and acknowledging the need for a moral basis for public life affirmed by the ethics of domination, while avoiding the need for an explicitly religiously grounded public life. This merits explanation. Aspects of the Traditional View Aquinas’ scheme of four types of law systematized ideas developed over the preceding centuries of discussion in Christian ethics. 16 His framework was more or less assumed by the main Protestant Reform- ers, 17 but one seldom sees it mentioned in twentieth century discus- sions of Protestant ethics. 16. Jean Porter, Natural & Divine Law: Reclaiming the Tradition for Christian Ethics (Cambridge and Grand Rapids: Eerdmans; Ottawa: Novalis, 1999). Foreword by Nicholas Wolterstorff. An excellent general introduction to Aquinas’ theory of natural law is found in J. Budziszewski, Written on The Heart: The Case for Natural Law (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1997), pp. 51–94. 17. See the good articles by John T. McNeill, “Natural Law in the Thought of Luther,” Church History: X (1941): 211–227; and “Natural Law in the Teaching of the Reform- ers,” The Journal of Religion: XXVI (1946): 168–182. See also Paul Althaus, The Eth- ics of Martin Luther , translation and forward by Robert C. Schultz (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1972), and I. John Hesselink, Calvin’s Concept of the Law (Princeton Theological Monograph Series, Kikran Y. Hadidian, General Editor; Allison Park: Pickwick Publications, 1992).