Page:The Church, by John Huss.pdf/329

Rh ministers suspends by the natural order of things any offending prelate from his office and ministry when he is actually in criminal offence. For he sins by the very fact that he falls into mortal sin, whatever it be that he may do, and consequently he is forbidden of God to sin in that way, and consequently he is suspended by God from that office. Hence, the prophet says: "God said unto the sinner, What hast thou to do, to declare my statutes, and that thou hast taken my covenant in thy mouth? seeing thou hatest instruction and castest my words behind thee. When thou sawest a thief thou rannest with him, and hast been a partaker with adulterers. Thy mouth abounds in evil and thy tongue blabbeth deceit. Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother and thou settest up slander against thy mother's son," Psalm 50:16–20. Here God enumerates the sins for which He suspends the sinner from the publication of His covenant which is the law of truth. The first sin is disobedience to God, the second, rejection of His words; the third, theft; the fourth, adultery; the fifth, wickedness of mouth, which divides itself into lies, blasphemy, false testimony, deceit, slander, vain speaking, malediction, base speaking, and such like; the sixth, the sin of taking offence at Christ.

From this we gather how rare are judges, preachers and others who publish God's covenant to the people who should not be suspended of God from the publication of that covenant. Therefore, let the faithful note in the matter of suspension just spoken of from the office of publishing God's covenant and for the threefold example spoken of above whether or not our prelates and clerics are suspended of God. First, if they thrust from themselves the knowledge of Scriptures and the task of evangelization, then are they suspended by God, as in the lesser case [that is, preaching under the O. T.] we read in Hosea 4, for our prelates have, on the one hand and the other, greater material for preaching and a better model and also certain reasons for preach-