Page:The Net of Faith.pdf/597



Also some of the Doctors of the Church taught the people saying, "Let the humble be admonished that they be obedient not more than is proper, that they be not compelled to honor compulsory sins; for there will be some who will desire the people to be submissive more than is proper; let it be known that evil must never be exercised by way of obedience."

(:Obey in good things, disobey in evil things.:)

Even if he who is above all other apostles should preach something contrary to the will of God, he should not be obeyed:

(:That means, if secular authority exercises its power in accordance with the sovereignty of God, it is not contrary to His will. If it exercises power in a direction contrary to His supreme authority, it sins. And to obey such sinful governing authorities means to be partakers of their sin.:)

And to obey the princes or the prelates in these compulsory sinful acts is tantamount to honoring their sins and thus also the devil. If we remembered the Church Doctors who said that the subjects should not obey their authorities in matters forbidden by  Gal. 1:8,.

194*