Page:The Net of Faith.pdf/673



(All these arguments were presented at the Council of Basel in the disputation between Aegidius and the priest Nicholas of Pisek.:) The Bishop defended the law of God saying that all human affairs among Christians should be done in accordance with the law of God while Aegidius defended learnedly the human laws.

He divided the people into two groups: one, in which there are the perfect people, and the other composed of imperfect people. The law of God is given only to the perfect ones, but the law of men applies to the imperfect men. That law decides who should be the ruler, and takes into consideration the people's character, the customs, and the region. These human laws are for no other purpose but to serve the common good of all. Their end is the supreme good of the community. (:It is the task of the human law to punish robbery, murder, adultery, but also to suffer certain things which would not be acceptable in the law of God, if these things contribute to the common good of all; for instance: controlled harlotry, warfare, ribaldry, usury.:)

Aegidius, the learned advocate of the Church of Rome, knows nothing about a Christian life lived in perfection and in 233*