Book: A Theologico Political Treatise [Part I]

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(33) As the love of God is man's highest happiness and blessedness, and the
ultimate end and aim of all human actions, it follows that he alone lives by
the Divine law who loves God not from fear of punishment, or from love of
any other object, such as sensual pleasure, fame, or the like; but solely
because he has knowledge of God, or is convinced that the knowledge and love
of God is the highest good. (34) The sum and chief precept, then, of the
Divine law is to love God as the highest good, namely, as we have said, not
from fear of any pains and penalties, or from the love of any other object
in which we desire to take pleasure. (35) The idea of God lays down
the rule that God is our highest good - in other words, that the knowledge
and love of God is the ultimate aim to which all our actions should be
directed. (36) The worldling cannot understand these things, they appear
foolishness to him. because he has too meager a knowledge of God, and also
because in this highest good he can discover nothing which he can handle or
eat, or which affects the fleshly appetites wherein he chiefly delights, for
it consists solely in thought and the pure reason. (37) They, on the other
hand, who know that they possess no greater gift than intellect and sound
reason, will doubtless accept what I have said without question.

(38) We have now explained that wherein the Divine law chiefly consists, and
what are human laws, namely, all those which have a different aim
unless they have been ratified by revelation, for in this respect also
things are referred to God (as we have shown above) and in this sense the
law of Moses, although it was not universal, but entirely adapted to the
disposition and particular preservation of a single people, may yet be
called a law of God or Divine law, inasmuch as we believe that it was
ratified by prophetic insight. (39) If we consider the nature of natural
Divine law as we have just explained it, we shall see:

(40) I.- That it is universal or common to all men, for we have deduced it from universal human
nature.

(41) II. That it does not depend on the truth of any historical narrative
whatsoever, for inasmuch as this natural Divine law is comprehended solely
by the consideration of human nature, it is plain that we can conceive it as
existing as well in Adam as in any other man, as well in a man living among
his fellows, as in a man who lives by himself.

(42) The truth of a historical narrative, however assured, cannot give us
the knowledge nor consequently the love of God, for love of God springs from
knowledge of Him, and knowledge of Him should be derived from general ideas,
in themselves certain and known, so that the truth of a historical narrative
is very far from being a necessary requisite for our attaining our highest
good.

(43) Still, though the truth of histories cannot give us the knowledge and
love of God, I do not deny that reading them is very useful with a view to
life in the world, for the more we have observed and known of men's customs
and circumstances, which are best revealed by their actions, the more warily
we shall be able to order our lives among them, and so far as reason
dictates to adapt our actions to their dispositions.

(44) III. We see that this natural Divine law does not demand the
performance of ceremonies - that is, actions in themselves indifferent,
which are called good from the fact of their institution, or actions
symbolizing something profitable for salvation, or (if one prefers this
definition) actions of which the meaning surpasses human understanding. (45)
The natural light of reason does not demand anything which it is itself
unable to supply, but only such as it can very clearly show to be good, or a
means to our blessedness. (46) Such things as are good simply because they
have been commanded or instituted, or as being symbols of something good,
are mere shadows which cannot be reckoned among actions that are the
offsprings as it were, or fruit of a sound mind and of intellect. (47) There
is no need for me to go into this now in more detail.

(48) IV. Lastly, we see that the highest reward of the Divine law is the law
itself, namely, to know God and to love Him of our free choice, and with an
undivided and fruitful spirit; while its penalty is the absence of these
things, and being in bondage to the flesh - that is, having an inconstant
and wavering spirit.

(49) These points being noted, I must now inquire:
(50) I. Whether by the natural light of reason we can conceive of
God as a law-giver or potentate ordaining laws for men?
(51) II. What is the teaching of Holy Writ concerning this
natural light of reason and natural law?
(52) III. With what objects were ceremonies formerly instituted?
(53) IV. Lastly, what is the good gained by knowing the
sacred histories and believing them?

(54) Of the first two I will treat in this chapter, of the remaining two in the following one.

(55) Our conclusion about the first is easily deduced from the nature of
God's will, which is only distinguished from His understanding in relation
to our intellect - that is, the will and the understanding of God are in
reality one and the same, and are only distinguished in relation to
our thoughts which we form concerning God's understanding. (56) For
instance, if we are only looking to the fact that the nature of a triangle
is from eternity contained in the Divine nature as an eternal verity, we say
that God possesses the idea of a triangle, or that He understands the
nature of a triangle; but if afterwards we look to the fact that the nature
of a triangle is thus contained in the Divine nature, solely by the
necessity of the Divine nature, and not by the necessity of the nature and
essence of a triangle - in fact, that the necessity of a triangle's essence
and nature, in so far as they are conceived of as eternal verities, depends
solely on the necessity of the Divine nature and intellect, we then style
God's will or decree, that which before we styled His intellect. (57)
Wherefore we make one and the same affirmation concerning God when we say
that He has from eternity decreed that three angles of a triangle are equal
to two right angles, as when we say that He has understood it.

(58) Hence the affirmations and the negations of God always involve
necessity or truth; so that, for example, if God said to Adam that He did
not wish him to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, it would have
involved a contradiction that Adam should have been able to eat of it, and
would therefore have been impossible that he should have so eaten, for the
Divine command would have involved an eternal necessity and truth. (59) But
since Scripture nevertheless narrates that God did give this command to
Adam, and yet that none the less Adam ate of the tree, we must perforce say
that God revealed to Adam the evil which would surely follow if he should
eat of the tree, but did not disclose that such evil would of necessity
come to pass. (60) Thus it was that Adam took the revelation to be not an
eternal and necessary truth, but a law - that is, an ordinance followed by
gain or loss, not depending necessarily on the nature of the act performed,
but solely on the will and absolute power of some potentate, so that the
revelation in question was solely in relation to Adam, and solely through
his lack of knowledge a law, and God was, as it were, a lawgiver and
potentate. (61) From the same cause, namely, from lack of knowledge, the
Decalogue in relation to the Hebrews was a law, for since they knew not the
existence of God as an eternal truth, they must have taken as a law that
which was revealed to them in the Decalogue, namely, that God exists, and
that God only should be worshipped. (62) But if God had spoken to them
without the intervention of any bodily means, immediately they would have
perceived it not as a law, but as an eternal truth.

(63) What we have said about the Israelites and Adam, applies also to all
the prophets who wrote laws in God's name - they did not adequately conceive
God's decrees as eternal truths. (64) For instance, we must say of Moses
that from revelation, from the basis of what was revealed to him, he
perceived the method by which the Israelitish nation could best be united in
a particular territory, and could form a body politic or state, and further
that he perceived the method by which that nation could best be constrained
to obedience; but he did not perceive, nor was it revealed to him, that this
method was absolutely the best, nor that the obedience of the people in a
certain strip of territory would necessarily imply the end he had in view.
(65) Wherefore he perceived these things not as eternal truths, but as
precepts and ordinances, and he ordained them as laws of God, and thus it
came to be that he conceived God as a ruler, a legislator, a king, as
merciful, just, &c., whereas such qualities are simply attributes of human
nature, and utterly alien from the nature of the Deity. (66)Thus much we may
affirm of the prophets who wrote laws in the name of God; but we must not
affirm it of Christ, for Christ, although He too seems to have written laws
in the name of God, must be taken to have had a clear and adequate
perception, for Christ was not so much a prophet as the mouthpiece of God.
(67) For God made revelations to mankind through Christ as He had before
done through angels - that is, a created voice, visions, &c. (68) It would
be as unreasonable to say that God had accommodated his revelations to the
opinions of Christ as that He had before accommodated them to the opinions
of angels (that is, of a created voice or visions) as matters to be revealed
to the prophets, a wholly absurd hypothesis. (69) Moreover, Christ was sent
to teach not only the Jews but the whole human race, and therefore it was
not enough that His mind should be accommodated to the opinions the Jews
alone, but also to the opinion and fundamental teaching common to the whole
human race - in other words, to ideas universal and true. (70) Inasmuch as
God revealed Himself to Christ, or to Christ's mind immediately, and not as
to the prophets through words and symbols, we must needs suppose that Christ
perceived truly what was revealed, in other words, He understood it, for a,
matter is understood when it is perceived simply by the mind without words
or symbols.

(71) Christ, then, perceived (truly and adequately) what was revealed, and
if He ever proclaimed such revelations as laws, He did so because of the
ignorance and obstinacy of the people, acting in this respect the part of
God; inasmuch as He accommodated Himself to the comprehension of the
people, and though He spoke somewhat more clearly than the other prophets,
yet He taught what was revealed obscurely, and generally through parables,
especially when He was speaking to those to whom it was not yet given to
understand the kingdom of heaven. (See Matt. xiii:10, &c.) (72) To those to
whom it was given to understand the mysteries of heaven, He doubtless taught
His doctrines as eternal truths, and did not lay them down as laws, thus
freeing the minds of His hearers from the bondage of that law which He
further confirmed and established. (73) Paul apparently points to this more
than once (e.g. Rom. vii:6, and iii:28), though he never himself seems to
wish to speak openly, but, to quote his own words (Rom. iii:6, and vi:19),
"merely humanly." (74) This he expressly states when he calls God just, and
it was doubtless in concession to human weakness that he attributes mercy,
grace, anger, and similar qualities to God, adapting his language to the
popular mind, or, as he puts it (1 Cor. iii:1, 2), to carnal men. (75) In
Rom. ix:18, he teaches undisguisedly that God's auger and mercy depend not
on the actions of men, but on God's own nature or will; further, that no
one is justified by the works of the law, but only by faith, which he seems
to identify with the full assent of the soul; lastly, that no one is blessed
unless he have in him the mind of Christ (Rom. viii:9), whereby he perceives
the laws of God as eternal truths. (76) We conclude, therefore, that God is
described as a lawgiver or prince, and styled just, merciful, &c., merely in
concession to popular understanding, and the imperfection of popular
knowledge; that in reality God acts and directs all things simply by the
necessity of His nature and perfection, and that His decrees and volitions
are eternal truths, and always involve necessity. (77) So much for the first
point which I wished to explain and demonstrate.

(78) Passing on to the second point, let us search the sacred pages for
their teaching concerning the light of nature and this Divine law. (79) The
first doctrine we find in the history of the first man, where it is narrated
that God commanded Adam not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil; this seems to mean that God commanded Adam to do
and to seek after righteousness because it was good, not because the
contrary was evil: that is, to seek the good for its own sake, not from fear
of evil. (80) We have seen that he who acts rightly from the true knowledge
and love of right, acts with freedom and constancy, whereas he who acts from
fear of evil, is under the constraint of evil, and acts in bondage under
external control. (81) So that this commandment of God to Adam comprehends
the whole Divine natural law, and absolutely agrees with the dictates of the
light of nature; nay, it would be easy to explain on this basis the whole
history or allegory of the first man. (82) But I prefer to pass over the
subject in silence, because, in the first place, I cannot be absolutely
certain that my explanation would be in accordance with the intention of the
sacred writer; and, secondly, because many do not admit that this history is
an allegory, maintaining it to be a simple narrative of facts. (83) It will
be better, therefore, to adduce other passages of Scripture, especially such
as were written by him, who speaks with all the strength of his natural
understanding, in which he surpassed all his contemporaries, and whose
sayings are accepted by the people as of equal weight with
those of the prophets. (84) I mean Solomon, whose prudence and wisdom are
commended in Scripture rather than his piety and gift of prophecy. (85) Life
being taken to mean the true life (as is evident from Deut. xxx:19), the
fruit of the understanding consists only in the true life, and its
absence constitutes punishment. (86) All this absolutely agrees with what
was set out in our fourth point concerning natural law. (87) Moreover our
position that it is the well-spring of life, and that the intellect alone
lays down laws for the wise, is plainly taught by, the sage, for he says
(Prov. xiii14): "The law of the wise is a fountain of life " - that is, as
we gather from the preceding text, the understanding. (88) In chap. iii:13,
he expressly teaches that the understanding renders man blessed and happy,
and gives him true peace of mind. "Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and
the man that getteth understanding," for "Wisdom gives length of days, and
riches and honour; her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths
peace" (xiiii6, 17). (89) According to Solomon, therefore, it is only,
the wise who live in peace and equanimity, not like the wicked whose minds
drift hither and thither, and (as Isaiah says, chap. Ivii:20) "are like the
troubled sea, for them there is no peace."

(90) Lastly, we should especially note the passage in chap. ii. of Solomon's
proverbs which most clearly confirms our contention: "If thou criest after
knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding . . . then shalt thou
understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God; for the Lord
giveth wisdom; out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding."
(91) These words clearly enunciate (1), that wisdom or intellect alone
teaches us to fear God wisely - that is, to worship Him truly; (2), that
wisdom and knowledge flow from God's mouth, and that God bestows on us this
gift; this we have already shown in proving that our understanding and our
knowledge depend on, spring from, and are perfected by the idea or
knowledge of God, and nothing else. (92) Solomon goes on to say in so many
words that this knowledge contains and involves the true principles of
ethics and politics: "When wisdom entereth into thy heart, and knowledge is
pleasant to thy soul, discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall
keep thee, then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and
equity, yea every good path." (93) All of which is in obvious agreement with
natural knowledge: for after we have come to the understanding of things,
and have tasted the excellence of knowledge, she teaches us ethics and true
virtue.

(94) Thus the happiness and the peace of him who cultivates his natural
understanding lies, according to Solomon also, not so much under the
dominion of fortune (or God's external aid) as in inward personal virtue (or
God's internal aid), for the latter can to a great extent be preserved by
vigilance, right action, and thought.

(95) Lastly, we must by no means pass over the passage in Paul's Epistle to
the Romans, i:20, in which he says: "For the invisible things of God from
the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things
that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without
excuse, because, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither
were they thankful." (96) These words clearly show that everyone can by the
light of nature clearly understand the goodness and the eternal divinity of
God, and can thence know and deduce what they should seek for and what
avoid; wherefore the Apostle says that they are without excuse and cannot
plead ignorance, as they certainly might if it were a question of
supernatural light and the incarnation, passion, and resurrection of Christ.
(97) "Wherefore," he goes on to say (ib. 24), "God gave them up to
uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts;" and so on, through the
rest of the chapter, he describes the vices of ignorance, and sets them
forth as the punishment of ignorance. (98) This obviously agrees with the
verse of Solomon, already quoted, "The instruction of fools is folly," so
that it is easy to understand why Paul says that the wicked are without
excuse. (99) As every man sows so shall he reap: out of evil, evils
necessarily spring, unless they be wisely counteracted.

(100) Thus we see that Scripture literally approves of the light of natural
reason and the natural Divine law, and I have fulfilled the promises made at
the beginning of this chapter.





CHAPTER V. - OF THE CEREMONIAL LAW.
(1) In the foregoing chapter we have shown that the Divine law, which
renders men truly blessed, and teaches them the true life, is universal to
all men; nay, we have so intimately deduced it from human nature that it
must be esteemed innate, and, as it were, ingrained in the human mind.

(2) But with regard to the ceremonial observances which were ordained in the
Old Testament for the Hebrews only, and were so adapted to their state that
they could for the most part only be observed by the society as a whole and
not by each individual, it is evident that they formed no part of the Divine
law, and had nothing to do with blessedness and virtue, but had reference
only to the election of the Hebrews, that is (as I have shown in Chap. II.),
to their temporal bodily happiness and the tranquillity of their kingdom,
and that therefore they were only valid while that kingdom lasted. (3) If in
the Old Testament they are spoken of as the law of God, it is only because
they were founded on revelation, or a basis of revelation. (4) Still as
reason, however sound, has little weight with ordinary theologians, I will
adduce the authority of Scripture for what I here assert, and will further
show, for the sake of greater clearness, why and how these ceremonials
served to establish and preserve the Jewish kingdom. (5) Isaiah teaches most
plainly that the Divine law in its strict sense signifies that universal law
which consists in a true manner of life, and does not signify ceremonial
observances. (6) In chapter i:10, the prophet calls on his countrymen to
hearken to the Divine law as he delivers it, and first excluding all kinds
of sacrifices and all feasts, he at length sums up the law in these few
words, "Cease to do evil, learn to do well: seek judgment, relieve the
oppressed." (7) Not less striking testimony is given in Psalm xl:7- 9, where
the Psalmist addresses God: "Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not desire;
mine ears hast Thou opened; burnt offering and sin-offering hast Thou not
required; I delight to do Thy will, 0 my God; yea, Thy law is within my
heart." (8) Here the Psalmist reckons as the law of God only that which is
inscribed in his heart, and excludes ceremonies therefrom, for the latter
are good and inscribed on the heart only from the fact of their institution,
and not because of their intrinsic value.

(9) Other passages of Scripture testify to the same truth, but these two
will suffice. (10) We may also learn from the Bible that ceremonies are no
aid to blessedness, but only have reference to the temporal prosperity of
the kingdom; for the rewards promised for their observance are
merely temporal advantages and delights, blessedness being reserved for the
universal Divine law. (11) In all the five books commonly attributed to
Moses nothing is promised, as I have said, beyond temporal benefits, such as
honours, fame, victories, riches, enjoyments, and health. (12) Though many
moral precepts besides ceremonies are contained in these five books, they
appear not as moral doctrines universal to all men, but as commands
especially adapted to the understanding and character of the Hebrew people,
and as having reference only to the welfare of the kingdom. (13) For
instance, Moses does not teach the Jews as a prophet not to kill or to
steal, but gives these commandments solely as a lawgiver and judge; he does
not reason out the doctrine, but affixes for its non-observance a penalty
which may and very properly does vary in different nations. (14) So, too,
the command not to commit adultery is given merely with reference to the
welfare of the state; for if the moral doctrine had been intended, with
reference not only to the welfare of the state, but also to the tranquillity
and blessedness of the individual, Moses would have condemned not merely the
outward act, but also the mental acquiescence, as is done by Christ, Who
taught only universal moral precepts, and for this cause promises a
spiritual instead of a temporal reward. (15) Christ, as I have said, was
sent into the world, not to preserve the state nor to lay down laws, but
solely to teach the universal moral law, so we can easily understand that He
wished in nowise to do away with the law of Moses, inasmuch as He introduced
no new laws of His own - His sole care was to teach moral doctrines, and
distinguish them from the laws of the state; for the Pharisees, in their
ignorance, thought that the observance of the state law and the Mosaic law
was the sum total of morality; whereas such laws merely had reference to the
public welfare, and aimed not so much at instructing the Jews as at keeping
them under constraint. (16) But let us return to our subject, and cite other
passages of Scripture which set forth temporal benefits as rewards for
observing the ceremonial law, and blessedness as reward for the universal
law.

(17) None of the prophets puts the point more clearly than Isaiah. (18.)
After condemning hypocrisy he commends liberty and charity towards one's
self and one's neighbours, and promises as a reward: "Then shall thy light
break forth as the morning, and thy health shall spring forth speedily, thy
righteousness shall go before thee, and the glory of the Lord shall be thy
reward" (chap. lviii:8). (19) Shortly afterwards he commends the Sabbath,
and for a due observance of it, promises: "Then shalt thou delight thyself
in the Lord, and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the
earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of
the Lord has spoken it." (20) Thus the prophet for liberty bestowed, and
charitable works, promises a healthy mind in a healthy body, and the glory
of the Lord even after death; whereas, for ceremonial exactitude, he only
promises security of rule, prosperity, and temporal happiness.

(21) In Psalms xv. and xxiv. no mention is made of ceremonies, but only of
moral doctrines, inasmuch as there is no question of anything but
blessedness, and blessedness is symbolically promised: it is quite certain
that the expressions, "the hill of God," and "His tents and the dwellers
therein," refer to blessedness and security of soul, not to the actual mount
of Jerusalem and the tabernacle of Moses, for these latter were not dwelt in
by anyone, and only the sons of Levi ministered there. (22) Further, all
those sentences of Solomon to which I referred in the last chapter, for the
cultivation of the intellect and wisdom, promise true blessedness, for by
wisdom is the fear of God at length understood, and the knowledge of God
found.

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