Page:The Net of Faith.pdf/671

231* The old saints, in their concern for the wellbeing of the communities, provided them with legality concerning harlots, so that a town, suffering from lustfulness, might be relieved of it by communal prostitutes. This the Master Aegidius confirms with the help of the Church Doctors. (:There is one type of law for honorable burghers, says Aegidius, and another type of law for harlots; the human law is so perfect that it has a provision for all mortal sins.:)

(:As long as things are done in accordance with the accepted laws, they are not wrong and not punishable. But Aegidius and the doctors are terribly wrong.:) Did not our Lord Jesus Christ say,

Thus, the human law is contrary to the law of Christ, because the end of the human law is the satisfaction of the community, to which satisfaction belong all virtues and mores. The prosecution of public prostitution would only lead to secret vices, causing much discomfort in the community, and all these would offend God more than harlotry.

"Aegidius posuit suam positionem, in qua inclusit, meretrices esse fovendas non in civitatibus, sed extra, secundum suum videre. Item non in ornatu auri et argenti, crinium aut vestium, sed in habitu ab aliis mulieribus honestis distincto. Item non in loco occulto propter alia peccata majora, sed publico, sed immundo. Pro confirmatione allegavit Augustinum qui dicit: 'Tolle meretrices de civitatibus, et omnia turbabis libidine'; et Hieronymum, qui dicit: 'Venter mero aestuans, cito spumat in libidinem. Item Judaeos asseruit in civitatibus esse permittendos, quia sunt testimonium figurarum, quarum nos tenemus veritatem." (Petri Zatecensis Liber diurnus, notes for the 13th of Feb. 1433, ., p.309.)

At the time of the Council there were in Basel over 700 prostitutes. The Hussites refused to go to Basel until these were confined to a certain district beyond the city walls. The Roman clergy was opposed to this seclusion.

Matt. 5:27f.

At the time of the Council there were in Basel over 700 prostitutes. The Hussites refused to go to Basel until these were confined to a certain district beyond the city walls. The Roman clergy was opposed to this seclusion.

Matt. 5:27f.