Josh/Rich - yeah, I see it that way too. I posed it in the form of a question in order to give me some wiggle room.
Don't like being cornered.
I used the word 'transcend' epistimologically, not in reference to a timeline. Yes, the moral law predated the Torah. That is not in contention. But the very fact that the law of God is written on the heart of men eliminates ignorance. It is one of the reasons why the tribal person out in the bush who has never heard the gospel still stands guilty of his sin.