Does Eternal Law Admit of Subjectivity?

Is Eternal Law exposed to the whims of change? And, does one’s encounter with Eternal Law, open it to subjectivity?

Eternal Law is defined in the Catholic Dictionary as follows:

The plan of divine wisdom, insofar as it directs all the actions and events of the universe. It is, therefore, the unchangeable effective decree of God binding the whole of creation to the fulfillment of its purpose, and to the use of such means for attaining this purpose as are adapted to each nature. [1]

Thus, Eternal Law is both everlasting and unchangeable:

In its full sense, duration of being without beginning, succession, or ending. Only God possesses the fullness of eternity, since only he always existed (no beginning), has no succession (no change), and will never end (no cessation). It is defined Catholic doctrine that God possesses the divine Being in a constant undivided now. His eternity is the perfect and simultaneous total possession of interminable life.[2]

God has always existed, remains unchanging, and will never end. Eternal Law is the unchangeable effective decree of God, which binds the whole of creation to the fulfillment of its purpose.

And, according to St. Thomas Aquinas,

A law is nothing else but a dictate of practical reason emanating from the ruler who governs a perfect community” (P. 1, Q. 91). Since God is eternal, his rule over the universe and his dictates for how it ought to be are eternal as well. The eternal law is not something God made but is identical with God’s unchanging reason and desires for creation.[3]

God did not create Eternal Law, rather, it is His unchanging reason and desires for creation. It is not an abstract set of sterile precepts and laws.

Divine Wisdom, is a Divine Person sent from God, taking on flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and yet, was with God from the beginning:

In this context divine Wisdom appears as God’s mysterious design which is at the origin of creation and salvation. It is the light which illumines all, the word which reveals, the power of love which joins God with creation and with his people. Divine Wisdom is not an abstract doctrine but rather a person who comes from God and who was with God from the beginning (cf. Pro 8:22-31). He is his delight in the moment of creation of the world and of humanity, rejoicing always before him (cf. Pro 8:22-31).[4]

The Power of Love, the Light which Illumines All – the Word Jesus Christ – invites and fosters unity between the Godhead and His Creation, between Himself and His people.

Therefore, Mankind’s participation with the unchanging effective decree known as Eternal Law, which binds the whole of creation to the fulfillment of its purpose, is called – Natural Law:

Wherefore, since all things subject to Divine providence are ruled and measured by the eternal law, as was stated above (A. 1); it is evident that all things partake somewhat of the eternal law, in so far as, namely, from its being imprinted on them, they derive their respective inclinations to their proper acts and ends. Now among all others, the rational creature is subject to Divine providence in the most excellent way, in so far as it partakes of a share of providence, by being provident both for itself and for others. Wherefore it has a share of the Eternal Reason, whereby it has a natural inclination to its proper act and end: and this participation of the eternal law in the rational creature is called the natural law.[5]

The entirety of what God created, the universe, every living thing in it, and all that was created inanimate, are subject to Eternal Law. And, everything created by God, has been imprinted with respective inclinations to their proper acts and ends:

Man participates in the wisdom and goodness of the Creator who gives him mastery over his acts and the ability to govern himself with a view to the true and the good. The natural law expresses the original moral sense which enables man to discern by reason the good and the evil, the truth and the lie:

The natural law is written and engraved in the soul of each and every man, because it is human reason ordaining him to do good and forbidding him to sin . . . But this command of human reason would not have the force of law if it were not the voice and interpreter of a higher reason to which our spirit and our freedom must be submitted (cf. Leo XIII, Libertas præstantissimum, 597).[6]

God bestows the gift of a rational nature (the light of understanding) on all human beings, an original moral sense which affords him mastery over his acts and the ability to govern himself with a view to the true and the good, ordaining him to do the good and forbidding him to sin.

Accordingly:

The natural law, present in the heart of each man and established by reason, is universal in its precepts and its authority extends to all men. It expresses the dignity of the person and determines the basis for his fundamental rights and duties:

For there is a true law: right reason. It is in conformity with nature, is diffused among all men, and is immutable and eternal; its orders summon to duty; its prohibitions turn away from offense…. To replace it with a contrary law is a sacrilege; failure to apply even one of its provisions is forbidden; no one can abrogate it entirely (cf. Cicero, Rep. III, 22, 33).[7]

Natural law is immutable and eternal, ever present in the heart of each man and established by reason. No one can abrogate it entirely. However, through personal sin, the human intellect can become darkened, obscured, and unreliable, in discerning the moral law with clarity.

As a result, man has need not only of Divine Law, but of a Sacrament that restores one’s communion with God, illuminating with integrity one’s grasp of moral truth:

Besides the natural and the human law, it was necessary for the directing of human conduct to have a Divine law…. First, because it is by law that man is directed how to perform his proper acts in view of his last end. And indeed, if man were ordained to no other end than that which is proportionate to his natural faculty, there would be no need for man to have any further direction on the part of his reason, besides the natural law and human law which is derived from it. But since man is ordained to an end of eternal happiness which is inproportionate to man’s natural faculty, as stated above (Q. 5 A. 5), therefore it was necessary that, besides the natural and the human law, man should be directed to his end by a law given by God.

…on account of the uncertainty of human judgment, especially on contingent and particular matters, different people form different judgments on human acts; whence also different and contrary laws result. In order, therefore, that man may know without any doubt what he ought to do and what he ought to avoid, it was necessary for man to be directed in his proper acts by a law given by God, for it is certain that such a law cannot err.[8]

Thus, Divine Law is: “that which is enacted by God and made known to man through revelation. We distinguish between the Old Law, contained in the Pentateuch, and the New Law, which was revealed by Jesus Christ and is contained in the New Testament”.[9] Divine Law is revealed by God, because man is ordained to an end of eternal happiness (Eternal Life), and it is clear, man does not possess the capacity to attain Eternal Life without the help of God.

In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son” (cf. Heb 1:1-2). Christ, the Son of God made man, is the Father’s one, perfect, and unsurpassable Word. In him he has said everything; there will be no other word than this one. St. John of the Cross, among others, commented strikingly on Hebrews 1:1-2:

In giving us his Son, his only Word (for he possesses no other), he spoke everything to us at once in this sole Word—and he has no more to say. . . because what he spoke before to the prophets in parts, he has now spoken all at once by giving us the All Who is His Son. Any person questioning God or desiring some vision or revelation would be guilty not only of foolish behavior but also of offending him, by not fixing his eyes entirely upon Christ and by living with the desire for some other novelty (cf. St. John of the Cross, The Ascent of Mount Carmel, 2, 22, 3-5, in The Collected Works, tr. K. Kavanaugh, OCD, and O. Rodriguez, OCD (Washington DC: Institute of Carmelite Studies, 1979), 179-180: LH, OR Advent, wk 2, Mon).[10]

Thus, the Father sent the Word to take on flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, he spoke everything to us at once in this sole Word—and he has no more to say. . . because what he spoke before to the prophets in parts, he has now spoken all at once by giving us the All Who is His Son.

And, it is Christ Himself who instituted the Sacrament of Reconciliation through the ministry of the Church: “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”[11]

Sin is before all else an offense against God, a rupture of communion with him. At the same time, it damages communion with the Church. For this reason, conversion entails both God’s forgiveness and reconciliation with the Church, which are expressed and accomplished liturgically by the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation (cf. LG 11).[12]

If sin ruptures the relationship between God and men, vice, or repetitious sin – unrepented – must bring about spiritual blindness. How can anyone perceive clearly spiritual truth, when one has chosen to sever himself (a branch from the vine). One has severed himself from the grace of the Holy Spirit, that which enables men to understand spiritual truth.

Christ is fully God and fully man, He is the only foundation:

[F]or no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, the work of each will come to light, for the Day will disclose it. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire [itself] will test the quality of each one’s work.[13]

Anyone who is so “progressive” that he does not remain rooted in the teaching of Christ does not possess God, while anyone who remains rooted in the teaching possesses both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you who does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house; do not even greet him, for whoever greets him shares in the evil he does.[14]

[1] Hardon, John A. 1985. Pocket Catholic Dictionary. Garden City, N.Y.: Image Books., pg. 131.

[2] Ibid., pg. 131-132.

[3] Catholic Answers. Is the eternal law God himself or did God create the eternal law? P1. accessed May 31, 2026. https://www.catholic.com/qa/god-and-the-eternal-law

[4] EWTN. John Paul II. General Audience: 22 April 1987. Jesus Christ, Messiah and Divine Wisdom. Personalized Symbol. P1. accessed May 31, 2026. https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/jesus-christ-messiah-and-divine-wisdom-23944

[5] Thomas, and Dominican Province. 1947. Summa Theologica: first complete american edition in three volumes. New York: Benziger., vol. I, ST I-II, Q. 91, a. 2, (hereafter cited as Thomas).

[6] Catholic Church. Catechism of the Catholic Church : Revised in Accordance with the Official Latin Text Promulgated by Pope John Paul II. 2nd ed. Vatican City

Washington, DC: Libreria Editrice Vaticana ;

United States Catholic Conference, 1997., 1954., (Hereafter cited as CCC).

[7] Ibid., 1956.

[8] Thomas, vol. I, ST I-II, Q. 91, a. 4.

[9] Catholic Answers. Divine Law: Enacted by God and made known to man through revelation. P1. accessed May 31, 2026. https://www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/divine-law

[10] CCC, 65.

[11] Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Catholic Church, Saint Joseph Edition of the New American Bible (Washington, D.C. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Totowa, NJ: Catholic Book Publishing Co. 2011)., Joh 20:23., (Hereafter cited as NAB).

[12] CCC, 1440.

[13] NAB, 1Cor 3:11-13.

[14] Catholic Church and Franciscans. 1975 1976. The Divine Office : The Liturgy of the Hours According to the Roman Rite : As Renewed by Decree of the Second Vatican Council and Promulgated by the Authority of Pope Paul. Volume II. New York: Catholic Book Pub., 2 Joh 1:9-11., pg.997.