11. Moreover, because our Saviour hath not showed subjects any other laws for the government of a city, beside those of nature, that is to say, beside the command of obedience; no subject can privately determine who is a public friend, who an enemy, when war, when peace, when truce is to be made, nor yet what subjects, what authority and of what men, are commodious or prejudicial to the safety of the commonweal. These and all like matters therefore are to be learned, if need be, from the city, that is to say, from the sovereign powers.
It belongs to the civil authority, to judge, when need requires, what definitions and what inferences are true.
12. Furthermore, all these things, to build castles, houses, temples; to move, carry, take away mighty weights; to send securely over seas; to contrive engines, serving for all manner of uses; to be well acquainted with the face of the whole world, the courses of the stars, the seasons of the year, the accounts of the times, and the nature of all things; to understand perfectly all natural and civil rights; and all manner of sciences, which, comprehended under the title of philosophy, are necessary partly to live, partly to live well; I say, the understanding of these (because Christ hath not delivered it) is to be learnt from reasoning; that is to say, by making necessary consequences, having first taken the beginning from experience. But men’s reasonings are sometimes right, sometimes wrong; and consequently, that which is concluded and held for a truth, is sometimes truth, sometimes error. Now errors, even about these philosophical points, do sometimes public hurt, and give occasions of great seditions and injuries. It is needful therefore, as oft as any controversy ariseth in these matters contrary to public good and common peace, that there be somebody to judge of the reasoning, that is to say, whether that which is inferred, be rightly inferred or not; that so the controversy may be ended. But there are no rules given by Christ to this purpose, neither came he into the world to teach logic. It remains therefore that the judges of such controversies, be the same with those whom God by nature had instituted before, namely, those who in each city are constituted by the sovereign. Moreover, if a controversy be raised of the accurate and proper signification, that is, the definition of those names or appellations which are commonly used; insomuch as it is needful for the peace of the city, or the distribution of right, to be determined; the determination will belong to the city. For men, by reasoning, do search out such kind of definitions in their observation of diverse conceptions, for the signification whereof those appellations were used at diverse times and for diverse causes. But the decision of the question, whether a man do reason rightly, belongs to the city. For example, if a woman bring forth a child of an unwonted shape, and the law forbid to kill a man; the question is, whether the child be a man. It is demanded therefore, what a man is. No man doubts but the city shall judge it, and that without taking an account of Aristotle’s definition, that man is a rational creature. And these things, namely, right, policy, and natural sciences, are subjects concerning which Christ denies that it belongs to his office to give any precepts, or teach any thing beside this only; that in all controversies about them, every single subject should obey the laws and determinations of his city. Yet must we remember this, that the same Christ, as God, could not only have taught, but also commanded what he would.
It belongs to the office of Christ, to teach morality, not as a speculation, but as a law; to forgive sins, and to teach all things whereof there is no science properly so called.
13. The sum of our Saviour’s office was, to teach the way and all the means of salvation and eternal life. But justice and civil obedience, and observation of all the natural laws, is one of the means to salvation. Now these may be taught two ways; one, as theorems, by the way of natural reason, by drawing right and the natural laws from human principles and contracts; and this doctrine thus delivered, is subject to the censure of civil powers. The other, as laws, by divine authority, in showing the will of God to be such; and thus to teach, belongs only to him to whom the will of God is supernaturally known, that is to say, to Christ. Secondly, it belonged to the office of Christ to forgive sins to the penitent; for that was necessary for the salvation of men who had already sinned. Neither could it be done by any other. For remission of sins follows not repentance naturally, as a debt; but it depends, as a free gift, on the will of God supernaturally to be revealed. Thirdly, it belongs to the office of Christ to teach all those commandments of God, whether concerning his worship, or those points of faith which cannot be understood by natural reason, but only by revelation; of which nature are those, that he was the Christ; that his kingdom was not terrestrial, but celestial; that there are rewards and punishments after this life; that the soul is immortal; that there should be such, and so many sacraments; and the like.
A distinction of things temporal from spiritual.
14. From what hath been said in the foregoing chapter, it is not hard to distinguish between things spiritual and temporal. For since by spiritual, those things are understood, which have their foundation on the authority and office of Christ, and, unless Christ had taught them, could not have been known; and all other things are temporal; it follows, that the definition and determination of what is just and unjust, the cognizance of all controversies about the means of peace and public defence, and the examination of doctrines and books in all manner of rational science, depends upon the temporal right; but those which are mysteries of faith, depending on Christ’s word and authority only, their judgments belong to spiritual right. But it is reason’s inquisition, and pertains to temporal right to define what is spiritual, and what temporal; because our Saviour hath not made that distinction. For although St. Paul in many places distinguish between spiritual things and carnal things; and call (Rom. viii. 5: 1 Cor. xii. 8-10) those things spiritual, which are of the spirit, to wit, the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, the gift of healing, the working of miracles, prophecy, divers kind of tongues, interpretation of tongues; all supernaturally inspired by the Holy Ghost, and such as the carnal man understands not, but he only who hath known the mind of Christ (2 Cor. ii. 14-16); and those things carnal, which belong to worldly wealth (Rom. xv. 27); and the men carnal men (1 Cor. iii. 1-3): yet hath he not defined, nor given us any rules whereby we may know what proceeds from natural reason, what from supernatural inspiration.
The word of God many ways taken.
15. Seeing therefore it is plain that our Saviour hath committed to, or rather not taken away from princes, and those who in each city have obtained the sovereignty, the supreme authority of judging and determining all manner of controversies about temporal matters; we must see henceforth to whom he hath left the same authority in matters spiritual. Which because it cannot be known, except it be out of the word of God and the tradition of the Church, we must enquire in the next place what the word of God is, what to interpret it, what a Church is, and what the will and command of the Church. To omit that the word of God is in Scripture taken sometimes for the Son of God, it is used three manner of ways. First, most properly for that which God hath spoken. Thus, whatsoever God spake unto Abraham, the patriarchs, Moses, and the prophets, our Saviour to his disciples, or any others; is the word of God. Secondly, whatsoever hath been uttered by men on the motion or by command of the Holy Ghost; in which sense we acknowledge the Scriptures to be the word of God. Thirdly, in the New Testament indeed, the word of God most frequently signifies the doctrine of the gospel, or the word concerning God, or the word of the kingdom of God by Christ. As where it is said (Matth. iv. 23) that Christ preached the gospel of the kingdom: where the apostles are said to preach the word of God (Acts xiii. 46): where the word of God is called the word of life (Acts v. 20): of the word of the gospel (Acts xv. 7): the word of[word of] faith (Rom. x. 8): the word of truth, that is to say, (adding an interpretation) the gospel of salvation, (Eph. i. 13): and where it is called the word of the apostles; for St. Paul says (2 Thess. iii. 14): If any man obey not our word, &c. Which places cannot be otherwise meant than of the doctrine evangelical. In like manner, where the word of God is said to be sown, to increase, and to be multiplied (Acts xii. 24: and xiii. 49): it is very hard to conceive this to be spoken of the voice of God or of his apostles; but of their doctrine, easy. And in this third acception is all that doctrine of the Christian faith, which at this day is preached in pulpits and contained in the books of divines, the word of God.
All things contained in the Scripture, belong not to the canon of Christian faith.