A Compendium of the Chief Doctrines of the True Christian Religion/Chapter 47
XLVII. Ecclesiastic and Civil Government.
AS order cannot be preserved in the world either in things relating to the Church, or in things relating to the State, without rulers and magistrates, it is therefore necessary that some persons should be appointed, as governors, to superintend and regulate the affairs of human society; and that they should be such, as are skilled in the knowledge of the laws, full of wisdom and the fear of God. It is also necessary, that order should be maintained amongst the governors themselves, lest any one, through lust or inadvertence, should allow offences against order: and this may be best effected by an appointment of superior and inferior governors, who shall be subject to the laws of subordination.
Governors in matters ecclesiastic, or such as relate to men's concerns with heaven, are called Priests, Ministers, or Preachers; and their office is called the Priesthood or Ministry. But governors in civil matters, or such as relate to men's concerns with the world, are called Magistrates; and their chief, where such a form of government prevails, is called a King, or an Emperor.
With respect to the office of priests, they are to teach men the way to heaven, and likewise to lead them therein: they are to teach them according to the doctrine of their church from the Word, and to lead them to live according to such doctrine. Such priests as inculcate truths, and thereby lead their flocks to the good of life, and so to the Lord, are the good shepherds: but such priests, as only teach, but do not lead to the good of life, and so to the Lord, are the evil shepherds.
Priests ought not to claim to themselves any power over the souls of men, because they know not the state of man's interiors: much less ought they to claim the power of opening and shutting heaven, as that power belongs to the Lord alone.
Dignity and honour are due to priests, on account of the sanctity of their office: but a wise priest ascribes all such honour to the Lord, from whom all sanctity proceeds, and not to himself: whereas an unwise priest applies it to himself, and thus takes it away from the Lord. They who ascribe honour to themselves, on account of the sanctity of their office, prefer honour and wealth to the salvation of souls; but they who give honour to the Lord, and not to themselves, prefer the salvation of souls to honour and wealth. The honour of any employment is not in the person of him, who officiates therein; but is only adjoined to him on account of the dignity of the office, in which he is employed: and what is thus adjoined, does not properly belong to the person, but to the employment itself, being separated from the person, as soon as he is separated from his office. All personal honour is the honour of wisdom, and of the fear of the Lord.
Priests ought to instruct the people, and to lead them by truths to the good of life: but they must not on any account attempt compulsion in matters of faith, because no one can be compelled to believe contrary to what he thinks in his heart to be true. Every person ought to be allowed the peaceable enjoyment of his religious opinions, howsoever they may differ from those of the priest, on this condition, that he maintains them quietly and peaceably. But if he makes a disturbance, he ought then to be separated from the community: for this is according to the laws of order, on which the priesthood is established.
As priests are appointed for the administration of those things, which relate to the divine law and worship; so kings and magistrates are appointed for the administration of those things, which relate to civil law and judgment. But since the king cannot extend his single administration to all persons and cases, therefore governors and magistrates are appointed under him, who are each invested with the power of administration, where that of the king cannot reach. These governors or magistrates, collectively taken, constitute the royalty; but the king himself is the chief or head.
Royalty itself is not in the person of the king, but is only adjoined to the person. The king, who imagines that royalty is in his own person, and the magistrate, who imagines that the dignity of magistracy is in his own person, are alike unwise.
Royalty consists in governing according to the laws of the realm, and in executing judgment according to them from a principle of justice. The king, who regards the laws as above himself, is wise; but he, who regards himself as above the laws, is unwise. The former places royalty in the law, and suffers the law to rule over him, knowing that the law is justice, and that all justice, as such, is divine: but the latter places royalty in himself, and believes either that his own will is the law, or that the law, which is justice, is derived from himself; and hence he arrogates to himself what is divine, when yet he ought to be in subjection to it.
The law, which is justice, ought to be enacted by persons skilled therein, who are at the same time full of wisdom and the fear of God: and the king and his subjects ought afterwards to live in obedience to it. The king, who lives according to such law, and sets an example to his subjects in this respect, is truly a king. But an absolute monarch, who fancies that his subjects are mere slaves, and that he has a right to their property and lives, if he exercises such power, is not a King, but a Tyrant.
The king ought to be obeyed according to the laws of the realm, and not in any wise to be injured either by deeds or by words; for hereon depends the public security.
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Such are the general principles adopted by the New Church, in relation to ecclesiastic and civil government: from which it may be seen, that the order and well-being of society are the great objects, which it has in view to promote, whatever may be the established forms of government in different nations or bodies of men. It's other doctrines also being of universal application, and breathing nothing but a spirit of love and true christian philanthropy, may be received and embraced by all, who are desirous of entering into that new spiritual life, which can alone qualify the mind for the enjoyment of peace here, and eternal felicity hereafter.
