BLOG
Movie Reminds Christians To Abide By Natural Law
MOVIE REMINDS CHRISTIANS TO
ABIDE BY NATURAL LAW
#37 [11/15/2019]
Living Epistles Ministries is a Christian teaching organization headquartered in Port Jefferson Station, New York. Recently, Living Epistles Ministries’ Pastor Sheila R. Vitale published a review of the film Tess of the D'Urbervilles. In her review, Pastor Vitale speaks about how the movie reinforces the importance of natural law.
In the film, Tess is a girl in her teens from a poor family. Her parents discover that they have wealthy relatives, so they send Tess to ask for help.
At the mansion of the rich family, Tess meets her cousin, Alec. The young man is smitten and tries to court Tess, but she is not interested. However, Alec is persistent, and Tess’ parents keep sending her back to the mansion for assistance.
Eventually, Tess yields to Alec’s advances and becomes pregnant. Because she does not want to marry Alec, Tess runs away and gives birth, but the baby dies.
Tess returns home and falls in love with Angel, a young man from an honorable family. Tess does not tell him about her past until their wedding night. When he hears the news, Angel is shocked and abandons Tess. She returns to her poor home.
After a while, Alec finds Tess, takes her as his wife, and gives her family a better life. Years later, Angel returns and wants Tess back. She kills Alec to end their marriage and runs away with Angel. Ultimately, Tess is caught, tried, and hanged.
Natural law holds that Alec was Tess’ true husband. If she had stayed with him, she would have lived a good life. But because Tess chose happiness over natural law, she lost her life.
Following natural law requires sacrifice. Pastor Vitale believes that people should prioritize God’s law over their own desires.
