Circumstances Under Which Obedience Is to Be Rendered to Prelates
Now as to the authorities which the doctors have adduced to emphasize the necessity of human obedience, the following is briefly to be said. For, in the first place, they say: “The Roman church and prelates are to be obeyed by inferiors in all things, according to the Saviour’s statement, ‘All things whatsoever they bid you, these do and observe,’” Matt. 23 : 2.1 Here I wonder why the doctors openly cut off the Saviour’s previous words, for they do not quote: “The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.” Nor did they add the later words, “Do not ye according to their works,” but they only quote the intervening words: “All things whatsoever they bid you, these do and observe.” Here it seems to me that they have so done because the pope and other prelates of the church do not wish to be compared with scribes and Pharisees, and if anything is said of their evil works they are indignant; and because also the doctors and masters are flattered by such things, and so the former heap up to themselves masters having itching ears who turn away from the truth and the masters are flattered. Therefore, the apostle’s prophecy is fulfilled in both particulars, for he adjures Timothy saying: “I charge thee in the sight of God and Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be urgent in season, out of season;
1 The exegesis of this passage, upon which so much stress is laid, Huss takes up again at length, ad oclo Doctores, Mon., 1 : 408.
reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come, when they will not endure sound doctrine, but having itching ears they will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts and will turn away their ears from the truth and turn aside unto fables,” II Tim. 4 : 1-4. It is not, therefore, to be wondered at that prelates gratefully accept the statements of the aforesaid doctors, for they anoint all those statements with the oil of flattery and do not lay down a single word of correction with intent to suppress their wickedness. But a Master, a Bishop, and most just Judge will come, who will think most righteously of the flattering speaking of the doctors and the wickedness of the prelates, even he who said: “The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat, all things, therefore, whatsoever they bid you, these do and observe, but do not according to their works, for they say and do not.”
Truly this Master never spoke fair of the wickedness of prelates and doctors. He spoke the truth, taught his own faithful ones and confuted the scribes, sitting in Moses’ seat, because of their evil works. He spoke truth and taught truth, for he sat in Moses’ seat, that is, the authority of judging and teaching God’s law, as has been shown above, Chapter XVIII.
By that authority Moses said: “They come unto me, that I may judge between them and show them the statutes of God and his law,” Ex. 18 : 16. “All things, therefore, whatsoever they bid you,” that is, pertaining to the seat of judgment, “do,” namely, from the heart, “and observe, ” namely, in deed. “But do not according to their works,” that is, keep their doctrine, do not follow their life: “for they say and do not.” Chrysostom says: “They preach the faith and act in unbelief, give to others peace and do not have it themselves, cry out the truth and love a lie, denounce avarice and love covetousness.” Augustine, as above, on Ex. 18, says: “Sitting in Moses’ seat, they teach God’s law;
OBEDIENCE TO PRELATES thereforc, God teaches through them, but, if they wish to teach their own things, do not hear them, do not do them.”
Therefore, most true is Christ’s saying and command, by which it is clear that he does not command the keeping and doing of all the precepts of those who sit in Moses’ seat, for otherwise he would not have said: “They lay heavy burdens and grievous to be borne,” and consequently burdens which ought not to be borne. And in the next chapter it is seen how he excused his disciples in respect to eating with unwashen hands and fasting.
Then, as for the authority of Augustine (which the doctors immediately append), the chapter preceding this, near the end, gives his statement. As for the statement of St. Jerome, on the explanation of faith, see Chapter XVI, where is set forth what he had spoken to Pope Damasus. But, after having looked at many old books, we have found that he wrote to St. Augustine, whom in his letters he often calls pope — which Augustine was a true pope — giving one significance to Peter’s seat and Peter’s faith, as appears near the beginning of Chapter XIII. As to St. Bernard, when he speaks of the absolutely good and the absolutely evil, and things intermediate, Chapter XIX treats of that. And it is added : “In these things which are intermediate the law of obedience is placed as — tanquam — in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which was in the midst of Paradise.” Certainly, in these things to prescribe our view to the judgment of the Masters is not right; and in these things neither the command nor the prohibition of prelates is in all cases to be despised. Here it is to be observed that the adverb of similitude, “as” [as it were] — tanquam — expresses a certain amount of likeness, not full likeness. For in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil the law was placed by God, who can neither deceive nor be deceived. This law was given under pain of mortal sin. For God said unto Adam: “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and, evil, thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day thou eatest of it, thou shalt surely die,” Gen. 2 : 18. Here, then, three things are to be thought of — he who gives the word of command, the command and the condition of the person called upon to obey. He who commanded is God, who cannot err; the command is exceedingly useful; and man it is who heard God himself commanding. To eat, therefore, of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil after the prohibitive command was given, was an absolute evil. In accordance with this, let us suppose that the prelate Peter command John, his inferior, to collect strawberries and let it be thought that it is not possible for him who commands to err in this, and let it be thought of how much value such a work is for the person called upon to obey, and also that the man called upon to obey is disposed to do such a work, as was Adam to do God’s command, and it is evident that in all these three, the comparison is not the same. For a prelate may err and the work commanded is not so useful, and the man called upon to obey is not so disposed to do that work, as was Adam to do the command of God.