§. XIII.
Hear then what this great Prophet saith, whom every Soul is commanded to hear, under the Pain of being cut off, Matt. v. from Verse 38. to the End of the Chapter. Revenge forbidden by Christ.For thus he saith: Ye have heard that it hath been said, An Eye for an Eye, and a Tooth for a Tooth: But I say unto you, that ye resist not Evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right Cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any Man will sue thee at the Law, and take away thy Coat, let him have thy Cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a Mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee; and from him that would borrow of thee, turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it has been said, Thou shalt love thy Neighbour, and hate thine Enemy: But I say unto you, Love your Enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you, that ye may be the Children of your Father which is in Heaven. For he maketh his Sun to rise on the Evil and on the Good, and sendeth Rain on the Just and on the Unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what Reward have ye? Do not even the Publicans the same? And if ye salute your Brethren only, what do you more than others? Do not even the Publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect.
The Law of Christ more perfect than that of Moses.These Words, with Respect to Revenge, as the former in the Case of Swearing, do forbid some Things, which in Time past were lawful to the Jews, considering their Condition and Dispensation; and command unto such as will be the Disciples of Christ, a more perfect, eminent, and full Signification of Charity, as also Patience and Suffering, than was required of them in that Time, State, and Dispensation by the Law of Moses. This is not only the Judgment of most, if not all, the ancient Fathers, so called, of the first three hundred Years after Christ, but also of many others, and in general of all those who have rightly understood and propagated the Law of Christ concerning Swearing, as appears from Justin Martyr in Dialog. cum Tryph. ejusdemque Apolog. 2. Item ad Zenam. Tertul. de Corona Militis. Testimonies of the Fathers against Fighting.It. Apolog. Cap. 21. and 37. It. Lib. de Idolol. Cap. 17, 18, 19. It. ad Scapulam. Cap. 1. It. adversus Jud. Cap. 7. and 9. It. adv. Gnost. Cap. 13. It. ad. Marc. Cap. 4. It. Lib. de Patientia C. 6. 10. Orig. cont. Celsum, Lib. 3. 5. 8. It. in Josuam Hom. 12. Cap. 9. It. in Mat. Cap. 26. Tract. 35. Cyp. Epist. 56. It. ad Cornel. Lactan. de Just. Lib. 5. C. 18. Lib. 6. C. 20. Ambr. in Luc. xxii. Chrysost. in Mat. v. Horn. 18. It. in Mat. xxvi. Hom. 85. It. Lib. 2. de Sacerdotio. It. in 1 Cor. xiii. Chromat. in. Mat. v. Jerome ad Ocean. It. Lib. Epist. P. 3. Tom. 1. Ep. 2. Athan. de Inc. Verb. Dei. Cyrill. Alex. Lib. 11. in Johan. Cap. xxv. 26. Yea, Augustine, although he vary much in this Matter, notwithstanding in these Places he did condemn Fighting, Epist. 158, 159, 160. It. ad Judices, Epist. 203. It. ad Darium, &. Lib. 21. It. ad Faustum. Cap. 76. Lib. 22. de Civit. ad Marc. Cap. 6. as Sylburgius relates. Euthym. in Mat. xxvi. and many others of this Age. Erasmus in Luc. Cap. 3. & 22. Ludov. Vives in Introduc. ad Sap. J. Ferus, Lib. 4. Comment. in Mat. vii. & Luc. xxii.
The Laws of Christ in the New Testament are irreconcileable to Persecution, Wars, and Fighting.From hence it appears, that there is so great a Connexion betwixt these two Precepts of Christ, that as they were uttered and commanded by him at one and the same Time, so the same Way they were received by Men of all Ages, not only in the first Promulgation by the little Number of the Disciples, but also after the Christians increased in the first three hundred Years. Even so in the Apostasy, the one was not left and rejected without the other; and now again in the Restitution, and renewed Preaching of the Eternal Gospel, they are acknowledged as eternal and unchangeable Laws, properly belonging to the Evangelical State and Perfection thereof; from which if any withdraw, he falls short of the Perfection of a Christian Man.
And truly the Words are so clear in themselves, that, in my Judgment, they need no Illustration to explain their Sense: For it is as easy to reconcile the greatest Contradictions, as these Laws of our Lord Jesus Christ with the wicked Practices of Wars; for they are plainly inconsistent. Whoever can reconcile this, Resist not Evil, with resist Violence by Force: again, Give also thy other Cheek, with strike again; also Love thine Enemies, with spoil them, make a Prey of them, pursue them with Fire and Sword; or, Pray for those that persecute you, and those that calumniate you, with persecute them by Fines, Imprisonments, and Death itself; and not only such as do not persecute you, but who heartily seek and desire your eternal and temporal Welfare: Whoever, I say, can find a Means to reconcile these Things, may be supposed also to have found a Way to reconcile God with the Devil, Christ with Antichrist, Light with Darkness, and Good with Evil. But if this be impossible, as indeed it is, so will also the other be impossible; and Men do but deceive themselves and others, while they boldly adventure to establish such absurd and impossible Things.