A Study of Peter Chelčický's Life and a Translation from Czech of Part I of His Net of Faith (1947)/Part 2/Section 11
CHAPTER LVI
INTERPRETATION OF ROMANS 13:3–4
Saint Paul goes on to say:
Here we are always caught between the fences, as it were, when we look to the interpretations of the Church of Rome (derived from the Emperor), The Church's False
Interpretation of
Authority and it is difficult to get to the true intention of Saint Paul's meaning. (:The Church applies these words to any authority and any prince. This interpretation caused the enslavament of the people. But Paul always spoke of the rulers who lived before the time of Jesus Christ, who were not Christian, and when as yet nobody ever heard of the Christians. The Church giver her interpretation in order to please the rulers and thus to induce them to join her. But in Paul's days the pagan rulers persecuted the Christians. Having those cruel princes in mind, Paul says to the Christians: "Obey your authorities, do good, and do not antagonize the authorities against yourselves.":)
And concerning the sentence, "rulers are not a terror to Good conduct but to bad," we must remember that the rulers were Pagans. How then could they be able to distinguish between good and bad deeds? (:The Roman rulers and princes knew legal goodness only. That is, they were concerned with checking crass injustices, violence, theft, disputes, murders, robber bands, bandits, adulteries. They checked these evils by their authority of compulsion. If they did not do so, their kingdom would perish.:)
For even among pagans peacefulness is a great virtue.. . . The gospel praises the saintly people Zechariah ani Elizabeth that they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.2 They lived virtuously, for no one sued them am they in turn did not dispute with anyone. Therefore, nobody could bring complaint against them, unless it were done by false witness and jealousy. That is what Saint Paul means when he says, "the rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad."
CHAPTER LVII
INTERPRETATION OF ROMANS 13: 3–4 (CONTINUED)
(:The justice and righteousness according to Christ is an altogether different matter. The Pagans do not understand it and persecute therefore its adherents.:)Secular Righteousness–Christian Righteousness Paul could not have said, "do good, and you shall be praised for it." Both Christ and his apostles did good, yet they did not ingratiate themselves to the authorities: they were put to death because of their good works. Saint Paul did nothing but good, professing in Rome the name of Christ; he did not ingratiate himself to Nero nor did he win his praises, but on the contrary lost his life by his order. (:Do good, says Paul, and you shall receive the approval not of the authorities but of God. The apostle well makes a distinction between the Justice of faith and that of the rulers when he says,:)
(:They crucified him even though he brought people back to life. They hated his message and the Christians of Rome had to separate on that account from the pagan rulers. This gave them freedom to resist authorities by virtue of the same principle which made the Jews of the old days resist the compulsion of Nebuchadnezzar, Ahasuerus and Antiochus.2 They were morally obligated to obey the authority of God, even though that meant their death at the hands of the secular authority.:)
CHAPTER LVIII
INTERPRETATION OF ROMANS 13: 3–4 (CONTINUED)
(:Faith in Jesus Christ was the real cause of persecutions of the Christian community in Rome. They were a small minority in the midst of a pagan majority.:) However, God ruled over both the Christians and the pagans and their mighty emperors. For the pagans could not pluck even a hair from the heads of the faithful without His will.1 Therefore, if they were killed, it was in accordance with His will; He wanted to test His servants and to magnify their glory through their martyrdom;Surfering Is
a Test of
Faith He did not tempt ties beyond their strength, but provided, along with the temptation, also a way a of escape, that they might be able to endure it.2 (:In this way the pagans were an instrument of the faith of Christ hidden in the hands of God. But the true faith is always unknown and hidden to the rulers and pagans as well as the unfaithful Christians.:) The knowledge and the wisdom of the faith of Christ is hidden from them who seek God in a painted wall, and no one can discover this hidden secret unless it be given from above, by God.Chelc̄icky̍
the Puritan Being hidden and secret it is contrary to the world and the world despises it. A world faithfully praying to painted walls cannot know God. This world which seeks God on the surface is like a goat gnawing the outer bark of a Willow; the power and aliveness of faith is hidden from it.
Therefore, speaking of faith, it is wrong to say, "Do what is good, and you will be praised for it,"3 unless the life of faith had preserved the Christians. They may have received praise from other (faithful), but none from Emperor Nero.
CHAPTER LIX
INTERPRETATION OF ROMANS 13:3–4 (CONTINUED)
To this Paul adds: "The servant of God is for your good." On this word hangs all the assurance of the Church, and the Church Doctors deduce from it all ecclesiastical authority to the great comfort of the powerful priesthood."Here Peter Makes Fun of the Church of Rome" They say that with these words St.Paul confirmed the position of Christ's servant with the sword, namely, the supreme lord the Emperor, for the benefit and protection of the great and holy mother – the Church of Rome – and of all the sons born of her, in order that she am her sons might not suffer the untowardness of the cross, that she be not bothered by contrary winds, that he Might bear her temptations with his sword, to enable her to recite unmolested her matins, and to sing and direct her litanies and praises to God.
Therefore, let no one rebuke the servant of God and of the sword, for the servant of God is a very great blessing to the Church. The sword of the servant of God is the peace of the Church.Sovereignty
is Above
SovereigntyLaw Let no one blame the hosts of knights for they exist for the good of the Church; let no one criticize the burgomasters, councillors, the bailiffs, the executioners, the townhalls, the jails, the bilboes, the racks, for all these are the instruments of the servant of God. With them he does the will of God and a service to the Church. The Power of governing and of executing is the foundation of the wealth and selfsufficiency of the Church.
The apostles of the original Church of Christ were all bearing the weapons of executive and punitive authority on their necks, on their sides, and on their bodies,2For the Hope
of Israel I
Am Bound With
This Chain they were bathed in blood and condemned to death by the instruments of the executioner for the name of Christ; and now these same instruments are for the protection of the Church, used for the shedding of the blood of those who resist the Church and who criticize her arariciousness and simony through the truth of the gospel of Christ!
CHAPTER LX
INTERPRETATION OF ROMANS 13: 3–4 (CONTINUED)
(:Let us go to the Scripture to see what 1s meant by the expression "Servant of God."Meaning of
Servant of
Meaning ofGod It cannot be given the sole meaning which the Church of Rome attaches to it. In the Scripture we find the words,:)
All things serve God which do His will... God wills it that birds should exist till the end of the world; and so a bird builds a nest, lays eggs ami brings up little birds; in doing this it fulfills the will of God, and the bird is a "servant of God." It is God's will that men multiply by birth; therefore, when a woman bears the children of men, she does the will of God and is His servant.. . . Good men and bad men do the will of God, some better, some worse.. . . But how could that Pagan, the Emperor or Rome, the unfaithful idolater, the murderer and persecutor of the apostles and many faithful Christians, be called a servant of God? (:They who live by faith are the true servants of God. He is the sovereign of the world, ruling over peoples and kings:) The Scripture says:
Listen, therefore, kings, ani understand;
Pay attention, rulers of the people,
Who boast of multitudes of nations;
For your dominion was given you from the Lord,
And your sovereignty from the Most High.
He will examine your works and inquire into your plans,
For though you are servants of his kingdom,
You have not judged rightly,
Or kept the Law,
Or followed the will of God.2
Many a king does not know the King of Heaven, but he still is like a plough in the hands of the ploughman; the plough does not know what the ploughman intends. (:The people of the earth are evil and would devour each other, did not the kings maintain some sort of order.:)
God uses (the rulers) as a plaster on an abscess, so that the evils will not spread. If this medicine does not help, He sends other kings in their stead, as He had done with the stiff-necked Jews. . .
2 Wisdom of Solomon, 6: 2–5, AT.
CHAPTER LXI
INTERPRETATION OF ROMANS 13:3–4 (CONTINUED)
(With all their evils, are kings servants of God? The Bible gives the answer.:) Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon,the Secular Rulers Are an Instrument of God's Wrath was a great king and a very evil tyrant. And yet, God ordered all the earth to submit to the power of the King of Babylon.. . . Therefore, when the Jews hardened and refused to obey the will of God, He ordered the prophet Jeremiah to say to the Jews:
. . . Nebuchadnezzar was a servant of God in that he . . . becama an instrument of His wrath. (:That is why Paul calls the evil and cruel kings "servants of God." But this does not mean that the priests of the Church should praise these Caesars and emulate their deeds and techniques, incorporating them as an article of faith into a system for the defense of the Church.:)
CHAPTER LXII
INTERPRETATION OF ROMANS 13: 3–2 (CONTINUED)
(:However, the arguments of the Church ani of her wise doctors in defense of authority are not Christian.:)
Caesar
vs. GodTherefore no Christian should deviate from the path of faith in order. to follow the fmperor ani his sword, for indeed, the way of Christ has not been repealed just because the Emperor is "Christian." In the beginning, the Christians were obligated to follow Christ in patience and humility, and they are expected to persevere in this even unier the Emperors. If they have rejected patience for the purpose of defemiing the Emperor, they have been seduced from faith by the Emperor; they no longer are of the faith of Christ dut of the faith of the Emperor. He introduced the religion of the sword to the Christians. These were formerly beaten for the sake of Christ and were rewarded by him; now they stand guard with a sword, and expect to be rewarded by the Emperor. Where Caesar is, there they are too. Man shall be rewarded fittingly in accordance with what he believes.
CHAPTER LXIII
INTERPRETATION OF ROMANS 13: 3–4 (CONTINUED)
Impossible
to Serve
Two Masters(:We cannot be true servants of God unless we follow the precepts of Christ. Secular authority is too much confused with evil and violence. Christ said:)
Therefore, to serve God according to Christ's faith means to follow his example in patience, in humility, in poverty, and in saving work. It is an extraordinary thing that the world cannot recognize this service; neither can an evil man recognize it, but only he whom He chooses; for it depends on the true love of God – a love which the world has not, knows not, and cannot comprehend, since it is filled with evil graces contrary to the Divine love. A dirty barrel . . . cannot be a fitting container for new wine; similarly, the service of God cannot be confused with the ways of this world.. . . (:Serve God, or serve Nero and the pope, you cannot serve both.:)
CHAPTER LXIV
INTERPRETATION OF ROMANS 13: 3–4 (CONTINUED)
Says Saint Paul about the servants:
(:The pagan ruler, says Paul, is the rod of God's anger, and therefore His servant.:) It would be little virtue, akin to pagan virtue, if the Christians were doing good only because of fearing the sword. Before thia (passage) Paul wrote them about fear saying:
He who does good because of the fear of the sword May Save his physical life, (from the threat of the sword). Therefore I have said that Saint Paul, considering the inclination of this people to do good works by the grace of God, spoke about the sword on account of an especial carefulness and goodwill toward the lords to whom they were subordinated. But had this people been living in the Promised Lami, like the sons of Israels in their days of freedom, when they head no secular lord with authority over them, Saint Paul would never have written that they ought to do good and to eschew evil in the fear of the sword. ror they had too good a rule given them by the apostles, amd had no need to be prodded to goodness by the authority of the sword.. . . (:Paul certainly did not act contrary to the feelings of Samuel who regretted that the Jews preferred a king to freedom under God.3 He simply urged them to show Christian submission to their rulers, and to suffer their injustice with CHristlike patience.:) The non-Christians, fearing the retribution ot the sword, do not transgress the laws of their king. :(In this way the kings are serving God:) for they preserve from annihilation the fallen generation (:keeping it for God's own time.:) God alone knows why he wants to have this generation saved and maintained by paganism.
CHAPTER LXV
INTERPRETATION OF ROMANS 13: 3–4 (CONTINUED)
(:The pagans do good only because they are driven by fear of punishment.:) That is why Saint Paul warns the Christians: "Be good and beware lest you fall Into the hands of the pagans." . . . No great harm is done when pagans sue pagans; they know no better way. . . (:But when Chrlsi;lans commit some wrong and are tried In pagan courts, they appeal to pagan authority and confess that their faith Is Impotent to solve disputes. They are in fact renouncing the authority of Christ and expect a verdict from the authority of the sword; and this is to be avoided.:)
CHAPTER LXVI
INTERPRETATION OF ROMANS 13: 3–4 (CONTINUED)
Our own authorities are pagan.. . . Our secularized priesthood loves authority as it guarantees an easy life of comfort. (:And, since the Church has allied itself with the secular authority, the injunction which St. Paul made to the faithful in Rome is no more valid. For the Church herself has become a secular power. She defends herself in the same way as any state does.:) The admonition, "do good if you do not want to fear the authority," has become pointless because . . . both the state ami church authority has lost the moral right to punish evil . . . when they themselves are steeped in all evils.. . . All they care about . . . is that (the Christians) attend masses, vigils, am other formal ceremonies. The Church authority stakes the salvation of all on masses, . . . eternal prayers; she sings intermittently pealms for the dead; in the em she always sings them out or hell.. . . Now this authority has nothing left with which to threaten, because she can redeem the dead souls from hell by her ceremonious acts.
CHAPTER LXVII
INTERPRETATION OF ROMANS 13: 3–4 (CONCLUSION)
(:The Church has completely lost her moral right of judgment. She has become a fortress otf authority and her strong ammunition is provided by her learned Doctors and Fathers who – with the cunning use of Biblical texts – sanction her revenges, wars and murders.:) As if we could not see that she does not follow the law when she busies herself with reprisals and wars; whenever she has some hosts available she fights and murders.