An argument often heard today is that if something is natural, it must be right. Essentially, this makes nature the standard for morality. But what is nature, and what does it mean for something to be right? Nature is the way something is without outside influence, its uninhibited characteristics. What is right is that which is morally good. These terms are often conflated. For example, when debating homosexual or transgender issues, the argument is usually made that "that's just how they are, and it's wrong to try to change that." This argument asserts first that these are natural phenomena, which will be discussed later, and second that all natural phenomena are inherently morally right. This second assertion is very problematic. Nature is essentially the way things are. If the way things are is inherently right, then the idea of right and wrong loses its meaning. A thing cannot be different than how it is, so everything must be right. When nature is right, everything is right. Clearly nature and "right" are not the same thing, but are they related, and if so, how?
An object's natural state is its uninfluenced state. It is how it is when nothing interferes with it. This definition is perfectly fine when it comes to almost everything in the world except humanity. Our natural state is difficult to pinpoint because the way we are has changed. "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." Gen. 1:27 "And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good." Gen. 1:31
At Creation, humanity was good. We had no tendency to sin. Then came the Fall. Adam disobeyed God's command and brought rebellion into humanity.
In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis describes human nature as "what human beings ought to do, and do not." (Lewis, 28) In other words, human nature is our inherent knowledge of what is right and our tendency to ignore that knowledge. This is a very accurate and succinct way to sum up what we call human nature, but is it truly natural? Humanity was created for a purpose. God's purpose for mankind, as stated by the Westminster shorter catechism, is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. The rebellion that is human nature cannot be called truly natural when it goes so against the purpose for which humanity was created. Since it is in direct opposition to our purpose, it is perhaps the least natural thing about us. Humanity is an unusual case. Our natural state is how we should be, and our "human nature" is how we are. They are both natural in at least some sense of the word, though they remain in direct opposition.
Does any of this relate at all to what is right or wrong? Right was defined at the beginning as that which is morally good, but there is disagreement even on what this means. Many would say that what you want to do is what is right for you. Your desires determine what is right. In other words, human nature is right. As stated at the beginning, this destroys the concept of "rightness.” If whatever a person wants to do is right, then everything can be right. Not only is this idea nonsensical, it is exactly the opposite of the truth. Human nature, our tendency to rebel, is wrong. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" Jer. 17:9 There must be a standard for what is right. It must be absolute in order to have any meaning. Many standards have been proposed, but the only true standard is the Bible.
What is right and what is natural are both absolutes. Things are how they are, and should be how they should be. Human nature is peculiar. It is neither right nor truly natural. It is the way things are and shouldn't be, or as C.S. Lewis put it, ”what human beings ought to do, and do not."
Works Cited
Lewis, C.S. (1943) Mere Christianity. New York, NY: The Macmillan Company
Grudem, W. (2011) The ESV Student Study Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway
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