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Since I will be speaking on the subject of natural law and law, really, in general,

I thought it would be helpful to begin with a quotation from

Benjamin Disraeli, the great 19th century British parliamentarian who said of his colleague

Gladstone, my friend and colleague has said a great many things today, both new and true.

The problem is, though, the things that he said that were true weren't new.

And the things that he said that were new, well, they weren't new. And the things that he said that were new, well, they were true.

So I hope to say some things that are true today or today, but I don't know if I'll be

able to cover both new and true.

I'll settle just for true.

How about that? So my,

my subject is Thomas Aquinas and legal, or Thomas Aquinas, his natural law theory and legal

positivism. So it is, it is well known that Thomas Aquinas is, if not the original, at least

one of the most important defenders

of the natural law tradition. That tradition, in spite of its medieval roots, is very much alive

in contemporary jurisprudence and political thought. Probably the most obvious example of

natural law's influence is in the thought and actions of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

As a Christian, Dr. King was well aware that of St. Paul's teaching in Romans chapter 13, that Christians must respect the rightful political authorities, not merely for prudential or pragmatic reasons,

but because those authorities, presumably whether they rule justly or unjustly,

derive their authority from God. It was not a frivolous question, therefore, for his fellow

pastors to ask Dr. King to provide a reason for his flagrant disobedience

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