CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Of Civil Government (part 2 of 2)

The proper use of them is as follows. First, with regard to the plaintiff: if he has been unjustly injured and oppressed, whether in his person or his possessions, he may place himself under the protection of the magistrate, present his complaint, and make his just and equitable request—but without any desire for revenge or injury, without hatred or bitterness, and without contentious passion. On the contrary, he should be more ready to surrender what belongs to him and endure every injury than to conceive anger and hatred against his adversary.

Second, with regard to the defendant: when summoned, he may appear before the court and defend his cause with the best explanations and arguments available to him, without any bitterness, but simply from a desire to preserve in justice what belongs to him.

On the other hand, if their hearts are infected with malice, corrupted by envy, inflamed with indignation, driven by vengeance, or in any way so embittered that love is diminished, then even proceedings in the most just causes in the world cannot be anything but unjust and wicked. For this principle must be firmly settled among all Christians: no one may conduct a lawsuit, however good and equitable his cause may be, unless he bears toward his adversary the same goodwill and love that he would bear if the matter disputed between them had already been amicably settled and brought to peace.

Someone may perhaps object that such moderation and self-restraint are so rarely seen in court that, if they ever appeared, they would be regarded as something extraordinary. I readily confess that, given the perversity of men today, few examples of just litigation can be found. Nevertheless, the thing itself remains good and pure, provided it is not defiled by corrupt additions.

Furthermore, when we hear that the assistance of the magistrate is a holy gift of God, we must take all the greater care not to pollute it by our sin. But those who absolutely and entirely condemn all legal disputes must understand that they reject a holy ordinance of God and one of those gifts that may be pure to those who are pure—unless they wish to accuse Saint Paul of wrongdoing. For he refuted the lies and false accusations of his accusers, even exposing their deceit and malice. In court he claimed the privilege owed to him as a Roman citizen, and when necessary he appealed from the unjust judgment of the governor to the imperial tribunal of Caesar.

Nor does this conflict with the prohibition laid upon all Christians against harboring any desire for vengeance—a desire which we likewise insist must be excluded from all lawsuits conducted by believers.

For in a civil case, no one proceeds rightly unless he simply commits his cause into the hands of the judge as a public protector, with innocent sincerity, thinking of nothing less than returning evil for evil, which is the desire for vengeance.

Likewise, when a criminal charge is pursued, I approve no accuser except one who comes before the court without being moved in any degree by a passion for revenge or provoked by some private injury, but solely from a desire to restrain the wickedness of the accused and break his power so that he may not harm the public. Once the desire for vengeance is removed, nothing is done contrary to the commandment which forbids Christians to take revenge.

If it is objected that Christians are not only forbidden to seek vengeance, but are also commanded to wait for the hand of the Lord, who promises to assist the afflicted and oppressed, and therefore that those who seek the magistrate’s assistance for themselves or others anticipate God’s vengeance, I answer that they do not. For we must understand that the magistrate’s vengeance is not man’s but God’s and that, as Saint Paul says, it is administered by God through the ministry of men.

Nor do we oppose the words of Christ by which he forbids us to resist evil and commands us to turn the right cheek to the person who has struck the left, and to surrender our cloak to the person who has taken our coat. By these words he requires the hearts of his servants to renounce the desire for vengeance so completely that they would rather suffer the injury to be doubled than consider how they might repay it in kind. Nor do we turn them away from such patience.

Christians must indeed be a people born and formed to endure injuries and insults and to be exposed to the malice, deceit, and mockery of the wicked. Nor is that all: they must also bear all these evils patiently. That is, they must so order their hearts that, after suffering one affliction, they prepare themselves to receive another and expect nothing throughout their entire lives but the continual bearing of the cross.

Meanwhile, they must do good to those who wrong them, pray for those who speak evil of them, and strive to overcome evil with good, which is their only victory. When their wills are thus disposed, they will not demand an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth, as the Pharisees taught their disciples to desire vengeance. Rather, as Christ instructs his followers, they will bear injuries to their bodies and possessions in such a manner that they are immediately ready to forgive them.

Nevertheless, this gentleness and moderation of spirit will not prevent them, while preserving sincere goodwill toward their enemies, from seeking the magistrate’s assistance for the protection of their property or, out of concern for the public good, from requesting the punishment of wicked and destructive persons who cannot otherwise be corrected except by being punished.

Finally, the objection commonly made that Saint Paul condemns all lawsuits is entirely false. It is easy to understand from his words that there existed in the Corinthian church a violent and unrestrained passion for litigation, even to the point of giving unbelievers occasion to speak evil of the gospel and of the whole Christian religion.

This is the first thing Saint Paul reproves in them: by the intemperance of their disputes they brought the gospel into disrepute among unbelievers. Moreover, he also condemns the fact that they quarreled among themselves, brother against brother, and were so far from enduring injury that they even coveted one another’s possessions, attacked one another, and inflicted harm upon one another.

It is therefore against this furious passion for litigation that he contends, not against all legal disputes without distinction. Yet he declares that it is altogether wrong not to suffer injury and the loss of one’s possessions rather than labor to preserve them through contentious disputes.

Christians ought always to seek to surrender their rights rather than begin lawsuits from which they will find it difficult to emerge without an indignant spirit inflamed with hatred against their brother. But when someone sees that he can defend his property without violating or harming love, he does nothing contrary to Saint Paul’s teaching by doing so, especially when the matter is of great importance and the loss would be grievous for him to bear.

In short, as we said at the beginning, love will give everyone the best counsel. It is so necessary in every lawsuit that all proceedings by which it is violated or wounded are unjust and accursed.

The first duty of subjects toward their rulers is to hold their office in high esteem, recognizing it as a commission given by God, and for that reason to render them honor and reverence as God’s lieutenants and representatives.

For there are some who render sufficient obedience to their magistrates and would not wish to be without a ruler to whom they must submit, because they recognize that such authority is beneficial to the public good. Nevertheless, they regard the magistrate as nothing more than a necessary evil for mankind.

But Saint Peter requires more of us when he commands us to honor the king, as does Solomon when he commands us to fear God and the king. For under the word honor, Saint Peter includes the favorable judgment and esteem which he intends us to have for kings. And Solomon, by joining the king with God, ascribes to him great dignity and reverence.

Saint Paul also gives rulers a most honorable title when he says that we must be subject to them, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’s sake. By this he means that subjects must not be moved to remain under the authority of their rulers merely by fear and dread of being punished by them—as the weaker yields to the strength of his enemy when he sees vengeance prepared against him if he should resist. Rather, they must maintain this obedience out of the fear of God, as though they were serving God himself, since the authority of their ruler comes from him.

From this follows another duty: having thus honored and reverenced their rulers, subjects must submit to them in all obedience—whether by complying with their ordinances, paying taxes, bearing some public responsibility pertaining to the common defense, or obeying their commands.

“Let every soul,” says Saint Paul, “be subject to the authorities that hold preeminence, for whoever resists the authority resists the order established by God.”

He also writes to Titus in this manner: “Exhort them to remain in subjection to their princes and rulers, to obey their magistrates, and to be ready for every good work.”

Likewise, Saint Peter says, “Be subject to every human ordinance for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors sent by him to punish evildoers and praise those who do good.”

Furthermore, so that subjects may demonstrate that they obey not hypocritically but willingly, Saint Paul adds that in their prayers they must commend to God the preservation and prosperity of those under whose authority they live. “I exhort,” he says, “that prayers, supplications, petitions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings, and for all who are placed in authority, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.”

And let no one deceive himself here. For since magistrates cannot be resisted without resisting God, even though it may seem possible to despise a weak and powerless magistrate without punishment, God is strong and powerful to avenge contempt shown toward his ordinance.

Moreover, under this obedience I include the restraint that all private individuals must exercise concerning public affairs. They must not involve themselves in them on their own initiative, rashly assume the office of the magistrate, or undertake anything at all in public matters.

If there is some defect in the common government that needs correction, they must not therefore stir up a disturbance, undertake to set it right themselves, or put their hands to the work, since their hands are bound in this respect. Rather, they must bring the matter to the attention of the ruler, whose hand alone is free to administer public affairs.

I mean that they must do none of these things without authorization. For when the ruler’s command has been given to them, they are invested with public authority. Just as a prince’s counselors are commonly called his eyes and ears because he has appointed them to observe on his behalf, so we may call those whom he appoints to execute what must be done his hands.

Thus far we have described the magistrate as he ought to be, truly answering to his title: a father of the country he governs, a shepherd of the people, a guardian of peace, a protector of justice, and a defender of innocence. Anyone who wished to condemn such government would rightly be judged out of his mind.

But since it most often happens that the greater part of rulers depart from the right path—some, having no concern to perform their duty, sleep amid their pleasures and indulgences; others, whose hearts are set upon covetousness, put all laws, privileges, rights, and judgments up for sale; others plunder the poor common people to support their disorderly extravagance; and still others practice outright robbery by sacking houses, violating virgins and married women, and murdering the innocent—it is not easy to persuade many people that such men ought to be acknowledged as rulers and obeyed as far as possible.

For amid vices so enormous and so foreign not only to the office of a magistrate but even to all humanity, subjects see in their rulers no trace of the image of God that ought to shine in a magistrate. Nor do they perceive any appearance of a minister of God appointed to praise the good and punish the wicked. Consequently, they do not recognize in him the ruler whose dignity and authority Scripture commends to us.

Indeed, the inclination has always been rooted in human hearts to hate and detest tyrants no less than to love and reverence just kings. Nevertheless, if we direct our attention to the Word of God, it will lead us further. For it will make us obedient not only to the rule of princes who justly perform their office and faithfully discharge their duty, but also to all who possess any position of authority, even though they do nothing less than what belongs to their office.

For although our Lord testifies that the magistrate is a singular gift of his generosity, given for the preservation and welfare of mankind, and although he prescribes to magistrates what they ought to do, he likewise declares that, whatever kind of men they may be, they possess their authority from him alone. Thus, those who govern with regard only for the public good are true mirrors and, as it were, representations of his generosity and goodness. On the other hand, those who conduct themselves unjustly and violently are raised up by him to punish the wickedness of the people. Yet both alike possess the dignity and majesty which he has conferred upon lawful rulers.

I shall proceed no further until I have cited some testimonies that firmly prove what I have said. There is no need to labor to show that a wicked king is an expression of God’s wrath upon the earth, for I consider this universally acknowledged without dispute. In saying this, we would attribute nothing more to a king than to a thief who steals our possessions, an adulterer who violates our marriage, or a murderer who seeks to kill us, since all such calamities are numbered in the law among the curses of God.

Rather, we must insist upon proving and demonstrating what does not so easily enter the human mind: that in a wicked man, unworthy of all honor, who nevertheless possesses public authority, there remains the same dignity and power which our Lord by his Word has given to the ministers of his justice; and that, with respect to the obedience owed to his authority, subjects must render him the same reverence they would render to a good king, if they had one.

First, I admonish readers diligently to consider and observe the providence of God and the special operation by which he distributes kingdoms and establishes whatever kings he sees fit, of which Scripture frequently makes mention.

Thus it is written in Daniel: “The Lord changes times and seasons; he establishes kings and brings them down.” Again: “So that the living may know that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of men, he gives them to whomever he wills.” Although such statements occur frequently throughout Scripture, they are repeated with particular frequency in the prophecy of Daniel.

It is well known what kind of king Nebuchadnezzar was, who captured Jerusalem: namely, a great robber and plunderer. Nevertheless, our Lord affirms through the prophet Ezekiel that he gave him the land of Egypt as the reward for the work he had performed in his service by laying waste and plundering it.

And Daniel said to him, “You, O king, are a king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given a kingdom powerful, strong, and glorious. To you, I say, he has given all the lands where the sons of men dwell, together with the wild beasts and the birds of heaven. He has placed them in your hand and made you ruler over them.”

Again, Daniel himself said to Nebuchadnezzar’s son Belshazzar, “The Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father a kingdom, majesty, honor, and glory. And because of the majesty he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages feared and trembled before him.”

When we hear that he was appointed king by God, we must likewise recall the heavenly ordinance commanding us to fear and honor the king. We shall then not hesitate to render to a wicked tyrant the honor of which our Lord has made him worthy.

When Samuel warned the people of Israel what they would suffer under their kings, he said: “This will be the power of the king who reigns over you. He will take your sons and assign them to his chariots, make them his horsemen, compel them to cultivate his lands and reap his harvest, and employ them to forge weapons. He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. He will take your fields, vineyards, and best gardens and give them to his servants. He will take a tenth of your grain and vineyards and give it to his servants and chamberlains.”

“He will take your male servants, female servants, and donkeys and put them to his work. He will even take a tenth of your livestock, and you shall be his servants.”

Certainly, kings could not justly do these things, for the law instructed them to observe temperance and moderation in everything. But Samuel called it the king’s power over the people because the people would be required to submit to it and would not be permitted to resist. It was as though he had said: “The desires of kings will extend to the commission of all these outrages. It will not be your place to restrain them; all that will remain for you is to heed their commands and obey them.”

There is, however, one passage in Jeremiah more notable than all the others. Although it is somewhat lengthy, it will be useful to cite it here, since it determines this whole question very clearly:

“I,” says the Lord, “have made the earth, mankind, and the beasts that are upon the face of the earth. I made them by my great power and outstretched arm, and I give the earth to whomever I please. I have now placed all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar my servant, and all nations, powers, and kings shall serve him until the time of his land comes. And it shall happen that any nation or kingdom that will not serve him or bow its neck beneath his yoke I will visit with sword, famine, and pestilence. Therefore, serve the king of Babylon and live.”

From these words we perceive with how great an obedience our Lord required that this wicked and cruel tyrant should be honored, for no other reason than that he possessed the kingdom. That possession alone showed that he had been placed upon the throne by the ordinance of God and that by this ordinance he had been raised to royal majesty, which it was not lawful to violate.

If this principle is once firmly settled and fixed in our hearts—that by the same ordinance of God through which the authority of all kings is established, wicked kings also come to possess power—then these foolish and seditious thoughts will never enter our minds: that a king ought to be treated according to what he deserves, and that it is unreasonable for us to regard ourselves as subjects of one who does not, on his part, conduct himself toward us as a king.

It would be useless to object that this commandment was given specifically to the people of Israel, for we must observe the reason upon which it is founded. “I have given the kingdom to Nebuchadnezzar,” says the Lord; “therefore, be subject to him, and you shall live.” There is no doubt, then, that to whomever authority is given, subjection is also owed.

Now, whenever the Lord raises someone to sovereign authority, he thereby declares to us that the person reigns by his appointment. Scripture bears general testimony to this, as in the twenty-eighth chapter of Job.

“Because of the iniquity of a land, its rulers are frequently changed.” Again, “He removes the bonds imposed by kings and once more exalts them in power.” Once this is acknowledged, nothing remains but that we serve them if we desire to live.

There is also in the same prophet another commandment of God, by which he orders his people to seek the prosperity of Babylon, where they were being held captive, and to pray for it, because in its peace they would find their own peace.

Consider what is commanded here of the Israelites. They were to pray for the prosperity of the ruler by whom they had been conquered, even though he had stripped them of all their possessions, driven them from their homes, carried them into exile, and cast them into miserable servitude. Nor were they merely commanded, as we all are, to pray for their persecutors. They were to pray that his kingdom might be preserved in a flourishing and peaceful condition, so that they might live peaceably under his rule.

For the same reason David, although already chosen as king by God’s ordinance and anointed with his holy oil, nevertheless regarded Saul’s person as holy and sacred, even though Saul unjustly persecuted him without any fault on his part. He did so because the Lord had consecrated Saul by honoring him with royal majesty.

“Far be it from me,” David said, “that I should commit such an act against my lord, the Lord’s anointed, or put out my hand to harm him, for he is the Christ—that is, the anointed—of the Lord.” Again: “My soul spared you, and I said, ‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.’” And again: “Who can put out his hand against the Lord’s anointed and remain innocent? As the Lord lives, unless the Lord strikes him, or his day comes and he dies, or he is killed in battle, far be it from me that I should put out my hand against the Lord’s anointed.”

We owe this same disposition of reverence toward all our rulers for as long as they exercise authority over us, whatever kind of men they may be. I repeat this many times so that we may learn not to scrutinize the character of those whom we are required to obey, but to be satisfied with knowing that by the Lord’s will they have been placed in an office upon which he has conferred an inviolable majesty.

But someone will say that rulers also owe a corresponding duty to their subjects. I have already acknowledged this point. Nevertheless, if anyone were to infer from it that obedience is owed only to a just ruler, he would reason perversely.

Husbands and fathers are also bound by certain duties toward their wives and children. But suppose they should perform their duties badly: fathers treating their children harshly and behaving abusively toward them, contrary to the command not to provoke them, and husbands despising and tormenting their wives, whom God commands them to love and protect as weaker vessels. Should their children therefore be less obedient to their fathers, or wives to their husbands?

But by the law of God they remain subject to them, even when they are wicked and unjust toward them.

Therefore, since none of us ought to consider how another person performs his duty toward us, but should remember and keep before our eyes only what we ourselves are required to do, this principle must apply especially to those who are under the authority of others.

Thus, if we are cruelly oppressed by an inhuman prince, plundered and robbed by one who is covetous or extravagant, neglected and poorly protected by one who is careless, or even afflicted for the name of God by a sacrilegious and unbelieving ruler, let us first recall the offenses we have committed against God, which are undoubtedly corrected by such scourges.

Second, let us set this thought before us: it does not lie within our power to remedy such evils, and nothing remains for us but to implore the assistance of God, in whose hand are the hearts of kings and the changing of kingdoms.

He is the God who sits in the assembly of the gods and exercises judgment over them. At his presence all the kings and judges of the earth who have not kissed his Anointed will stumble and be confounded: those who have enacted unjust laws to oppress the poor in judgment and overthrow the rights of the weak, making widows their prey and plundering orphans.

In this his wonderful goodness, power, and providence are clearly displayed. Sometimes he openly raises up certain servants of his and arms them with his command to punish an unjust government and deliver from calamity a people wickedly oppressed. At other times he turns and directs to this work the fury of those who have different intentions and are devising something else.

In the first manner he delivered the people of Israel through Moses from the tyranny of Pharaoh. Through Othniel he rescued them from the power of Chushan, king of Syria; and through other kings and judges he set them free from various forms of subjection and servitude.

In the second manner he restrained the insolence of the Egyptians by the Assyrians, the pride of Tyre by the Egyptians, the arrogance of the Egyptians by the Assyrians, the insolence of the Assyrians by the Chaldeans, the presumption of Babylon by the Medes and Persians, and the ingratitude of the kings of Judah and Israel by both the Assyrians and the Babylonians.

All alike were ministers and executors of his justice, yet there was a great difference between them. The former, because they had been called by God through a lawful calling to undertake such actions, did not violate the royal majesty bestowed by God when they rebelled against kings. Rather, they corrected an inferior power by a superior one, just as a king may lawfully punish his lieutenants and officers.

The latter, although directed by the hand of God wherever he pleased and unknowingly accomplishing his work, nevertheless had no intention in their hearts but to do evil.

Thus, although these actions differed greatly with respect to those who performed them—the former acting with the assurance that they were doing right, and the latter being driven by a very different zeal, as we have said—our Lord nevertheless accomplished his work equally through both, breaking the scepters of wicked kings and overthrowing oppressive governments.

Let princes hear these things and tremble. Meanwhile, above all else, we must take care not to despise or violate the authority of rulers.

That authority ought to be full of majesty in our sight, since it is confirmed by so many declarations of God, even when it is possessed by persons utterly unworthy of it, who by their wickedness pollute it as far as lies within their power.

For although the correction of a disorderly government is an act of God’s vengeance, it does not follow that it has been entrusted to us, who have received no other command than to obey and endure. I am speaking throughout of private individuals.

For if in our time there were magistrates appointed to defend the people by restraining the excessive desires and license of kings—as the Spartans formerly had those whom they called ephors, the Romans their tribunes of the people, and the Athenians their demarchs, and as perhaps today the three estates possess such authority in each kingdom when they are assembled—I would be so far from forbidding such officers to oppose and resist the intemperance or cruelty of kings according to the duty of their office that, if they remained silent when they saw kings oppressing the poor common people without restraint, I would consider such silence worthy of being charged as perjury. For by it they would wickedly betray the liberty of the people, of which they ought to recognize that they have been appointed guardians by the will of God.

But in the obedience which we have taught is owed to rulers, there must always be one exception—or rather, one rule to be observed above all else: such obedience must never turn us away from obedience to him under whose will it is right that all the desires of kings should be restrained, all their commands should yield to his ordinance, and all their loftiness should be humbled and brought low beneath his majesty.

Indeed, what perversity would it be, in order to please men, to incur the indignation of him for whose sake we obey men? The Lord, therefore, is the King of kings. As soon as he opens his sacred mouth, he must be heard above all, by all, and before all.

Only after him must we submit to the men who possess authority over us—and then only in him. If they command anything contrary to him, it must be of no account to us. Nor should we have any regard in such a case for the dignity of their office, to which no injury is done when it is subjected and brought into submission beneath the power of God, which alone is true power in comparison with all others.

I know well what danger may arise from the steadfastness I require here, since kings cannot endure being brought low, and their indignation, as Solomon says, is a messenger of death. But since this decree has been pronounced by Saint Peter, the heavenly herald, that we must obey God rather than men, we must console ourselves with this thought: we truly render to God the obedience he requires when we endure anything rather than depart from his holy Word.

And lest our courage fail us, Saint Paul urges us forward with another spur: we were purchased by Christ at so great a price—our redemption cost him so dearly—that we must not give ourselves over as slaves to the wicked desires of men, much less to impiety.