Obedience Not Always to Be Rendered to the Church or Its Prelates
Again, that the doctors in their double statement may be better understood, since they say that “the Roman church and the prelates are to be obeyed in all things by their inferiors,” etc.,1 and again, “Therefore ought they to be obeyed and submitted to,” I take it as true from the rules of grammar that this complex statement “are to be obeyed” means as much as the complex expression, “ought to obey,” and further, that this word “ought” expresses a debt of obligation to obey under pain of mortal sin. This supposition appears from the affirmation of the doctors derived from the words of the Saviour: “All things whatsoever they bid you, these do and observe,” Matt. 23 : 3. For this word of the Lord is a commandment. Secondly, this supposition appears from the words of the doctors, when they say: “Certain of the clergy in the kingdom of Bohemia who do not agree, striving, so far as in their power lies, to lead the faithful people to disobedience in respect to their prelates and to irreverence for the papal, episcopal, priestly and clerical dignities.” It is only noted that there would be mortal sin in disobedience, and irreverence would be mortal sin. Thirdly, this supposition appears from the assertion of St. Augustine, when he says: “If thou art not obedient to thy father (understand not thy bodily father but thy spiritual father) thou hast lost all the virtues.” In this way it is plain that a virtuous man is not able to lose all the virtues except by
1 In his de sex Erroribus, Huss has a chapter on obedience, Mon., 1 : 238 sq., in which he denies that it is to be rendered in all cases to ecclesiastical supenors. The terms “inferiors” and “subjects” refer to ecclesiastical rank and orders.
committing mortal sin, and so disobedience to authority involves a serious offence. Therefore this statement, taken from the proposition of the doctors, “the Roman church and prelates are to be obeyed by inferiors in all things,” etc, means this much: “that we ought to obey under pain of mortal sin.”
Therefore, following this sense, they now cry out that I am disobedient to the Roman church, and for this they excommunicate me. And it is clear from God’s law and from the canons that no one is to be excommunicated except for mortal sin. as I have stated in another place.
Letting this proposition stand, I lay down this conclusion, that to no apostolic seat of the Roman church, that is, to no pope with the cardinals (as these are understood by the doctors), and to no prelates do inferiors owe obedience in all things which are neither purely good nor purely evil.
It is proved that king, marquis, duke, baron, soldier, citizen or rustic is bound to obey under pain of mortal sin no Roman church and no prelates so as to be prevented from holding worldly possessions or from entering marriage. These two things, the possession of goods and the entrance upon marriage, belong, in the case of the persons mentioned, neither to the class of purely good things nor things purely evil. Hence the conclusion. The consequence has been noted and the minor premise is presented in St. Bernard’s letter to the monk Adam [Migne, 182 : 96], when he says: “Truly it must be known that things intermediate often cease to be so. For marriage may be lawfully contracted or not, but when once contracted it cannot be dissolved. Therefore, what before marriage is permitted to be a thing intermediate obtains, when the parties are married, the force of a thing absolutely good. Likewise, the possession of private property is for a secular man a thing intermediate for he may or may not have property, but for a monk, because he is not permitted to hold property, it is a thing absolutely evil.” So much Bernard.
Obedience to the Church 231
The major premise is proved in this way. No Roman church is permitted to command, under pain of mortal sin, that king, marquis, duke, baron, soldier, citizen or rustic enter upon matrimony or that he may not hold private property, therefore none of the persons mentioned are bound to obey under pain of mortal sin. The consequence has been noted and the antecedent is clear, because the Roman church has no right to exalt its commandment above a counsel of Christ. In commanding, however, that a king, marquis, duke, baron or soldier may not hold property, the Roman church would exalt its commandment above Christ’s counsel, for this is the first among the twelve chief evangelical counsels, namely, voluntary poverty, which consists in the renunciation of private property and is related to need. Christ counselled, he did not command, when he says to a certain young ruler: “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell all that thou hast and give to the poor and follow me,” Matt. 19 : 21. Similarly, if the Roman church commands king, marquis, duke or other secular person to enter upon marriage it would be commanding contrary to a counsel of Christ and would it, therefore, not be acting contrary to Christ? The observance of virginal chastity until death is Christ’s third evangelical counsel, and of this he says: “There are eunuchs that made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake,” Matt. 19 : 12 — because Christ does not command but counsels that what is fitting for a person, that he ought with good will to hold, and he says: “He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.”