Religion, Chapter XV, 1

OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD BY NATURE

1 The proposition of what follows. 2. Over whom God is said to reign by nature. 3. The threefold word of God: reason, revelation, prophecy. 4. The twofold kingdom of God: natural and prophetic. 5. God's right to reign rests in his omnipotence. 6. The same proved from Scripture. 7. The obligation to obey God arises from human weakness. 8. God's laws in his natural kingdom are those set out above in chapters II. III. 9. What honor and worship are. 10. Worship consists either in attributes or in actions. 11. One kind is natural, another arbitrary. 12. One is commanded, another voluntary. 13. The end or aim of worship. 14. The natural laws concerning God's attributes. 15. The actions by which we naturally offer worship. 16. In God's natural kingdom, the commonwealth may prescribe whatever worship of God it pleases. 17. When God rules by nature alone, the commonwealth—that is, the man or council holding sovereign authority under God—is the interpreter of all laws. 18. Certain doubts resolved. 19. What sin is in the natural kingdom of God, and what constitutes treason against the Divine Majesty.

The proposition of what follows.

1 In the preceding chapters we have already proved, both by reason and by the testimony of holy Scripture, that the state of nature—that is, absolute liberty, as enjoyed by those who neither govern nor are governed—is anarchy or a state of hostility; that the precepts for escaping this state are the laws of nature; that there can be no civil government without a sovereign; and that those who have acquired sovereign command must be obeyed without reservation, that is, in everything that does not conflict with God's commandments. Only one thing remains before civil duty can be fully understood: we must know what God's laws and commandments are. Otherwise we cannot tell whether what the civil power commands us is contrary to God's laws. The necessary result is that, through excessive obedience to civil authority, we either grow rebellious against the Divine Majesty or, from fear of sinning against God, fall into disobedience toward the civil power. To avoid both these hazards, we must know the divine laws. And since knowledge of the laws depends on knowledge of the kingdom, we must now speak somewhat of God's kingdom.

Over whom God is said to reign:

2 “The Lord is king, let the earth rejoice,” says the psalmist, (Psalm xcvii. 1). And again, the same psalmist says, (Psalm xcix. 1): “The Lord is king, however restless the people; he sits between the cherubim, however the earth trembles.” In other words, whether men wish it or not, God is king over all the earth; nor is he displaced from his throne if some deny his existence or his providence. Though God governs all men by his power, so that no one can do anything he does not will to be done, this, properly and precisely speaking, is not to reign. For someone is said to reign when he governs not by action but by speech—that is, by precepts and threats. We therefore do not count inanimate or irrational bodies among the subjects of God's kingdom, although they are subject to divine power, since they cannot understand God's commands and threats. Nor do we count atheists, who do not believe there is a God; nor those who believe in God but do not believe that he governs things here below. Though they too are governed by God's power, they acknowledge none of his commands and have no fear of his threats. Only those, therefore, are considered members of God's kingdom who acknowledge that he governs all things, has given commands to men, and has established punishments for transgressors. The others must be called not God's subjects but his enemies.

The threefold word of God: reason, revelation, prophecy.

3 No one is said to govern by commands unless he openly declares those commands to the people governed by them. The ruler's commands are the laws of those he governs; but they are not laws unless they have been made so clear and public that ignorance is no excuse. Men publish their laws by speech, whether written or spoken, and they have no other means of making their will universally known. God's laws, however, are declared in three ways: first, through the silent dictates of right reason; next, through immediate revelation, which is understood to occur through a supernatural voice, a vision or dream, or divine inspiration; and third, through the voice of a man whom God commends to others as worthy of belief by the working of true miracles. A man whose voice God thus employs to communicate his will to others is called a prophet. These three ways may be called the threefold word of God: the rational word, the sensible word, and the word of prophecy. Corresponding to them are the three ways in which we are said to hear God: right reasoning, sense, and faith. God's sensible word has come to only a few; he has spoken to men by revelation only individually, and to different people in different ways. Nor have any laws of his kingdom been published to any people in this manner.

The twofold kingdom of God: natural and prophetic.

4 Corresponding to the difference between the rational word and the word of prophecy, we attribute to God a twofold kingdom. The natural kingdom is that in which he reigns by the dictates of right reason; it extends universally over all who acknowledge divine power, by virtue of the rational nature common to all. In the prophetic kingdom he also rules by the word of prophecy. This kingdom is particular, since he has given positive laws not to all mankind, but to his own particular people and to certain men chosen by him.

God's right to govern rests in his omnipotence.

5 In his natural kingdom, God's right to rule and to punish those who break his laws derives solely from his irresistible power. Every right over others arises either from nature or from contract. We have already shown in chap. VI. how the right to govern arises from contract. The same right derives from nature in this respect: nature does not take it away. For when all men by nature had a right to all things, every man had a right to rule everyone else, a right as old as nature itself. The only reason this right was abolished among men was mutual fear, as explained above in chap. II. art. 3. Reason dictated that they surrender it for the preservation of mankind, because the equality of men in strength and natural powers necessarily brought war with it, and war brought the destruction of mankind. But if one man had so far exceeded all the others in power that even their united strength could not resist him, he would have had no reason to surrender the right nature gave him. His right of dominion over the others would have remained, by virtue of the superior power with which he could preserve both himself and them. Those whose power cannot be resisted—and consequently Almighty God—derive their right of sovereignty from power itself. Whenever God punishes or kills a sinner, therefore, though he punishes him because he has sinned, we must not say that God could not justly have punished or killed him had he not sinned. And even if God's will in punishing happens to take account of a preceding sin, it does not follow that his right to afflict and kill depends on men's sins rather than on divine power.

The same proved from Scripture.

6 The question made famous by the disputes of the ancients—why evil befalls the good and good befalls the evil—is the same as our question: by what right does God distribute good and evil to men? Its difficulty unsettles not only ordinary people's faith in divine providence but philosophers' faith as well, and even that of holy men. Psalm lxxiii. 1, 2, 3: “Truly God is good to Israel, to those whose hearts are pure; but as for me, my feet had nearly slipped, my steps had almost failed. Why? I was grieved at the wicked; I see the ungodly prospering.” And how bitterly Job protested to God that, though righteous, he was afflicted with so many calamities! God himself, speaking openly, resolved this difficulty in Job's case and affirmed his right with arguments drawn not from Job's sin but from his own power. Job and his friends had argued among themselves in this way: they insisted that his punishment proved his guilt, while he answered their accusation with arguments drawn from his innocence. But when God had heard them all, he refuted Job's protest not by convicting him of injustice or any sin but by proclaiming his own power, (Job xxxviii. 4): “Where were you,” he asks, “when I laid the foundations of the earth,” etc. As for Job's friends, God declared himself angry with them (Job. xlii. 7) “because they have not spoken rightly of me, as my servant Job has.” Our Savior's words about the man born blind agree with this. When his disciples asked whether the man or his parents had sinned, causing him to be born blind, he answered, (John ix. 3): “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but the works of God were to be made manifest in him.” For although it is said, (Rom. v. 12), that death entered the world through sin, it does not follow that God could not by his own right have made men subject to sickness and death even if they had never sinned—just as he has made other animals mortal and liable to sickness, though they cannot sin.

The obligation to obey God arises from human weakness.

7 If God's right of sovereignty derives from his power, clearly men's obligation to obey him derives from their weakness.¹⁸ The obligation arising from contract, discussed in chap. II., has no place here, where the right to rule arises from nature alone, without any covenant. But there are two kinds of natural obligation. In the first, liberty is removed by physical impediments; in this sense we say that heaven and earth and all creatures obey the common laws of their creation. In the second, liberty is removed by hope or fear; in this sense the weaker, despairing of his power to resist, cannot help yielding to the stronger. From this latter kind of obligation—from fear, or consciousness of our own weakness beside divine power—comes our obligation to obey God in his natural kingdom. For reason tells everyone who acknowledges divine power and providence that it is useless to kick against the goads.

God's laws in his natural kingdom are those set out above in chaps. II. III.

8 Because the word of God when he rules by nature alone is understood to be nothing other than right reason, and because kings' laws can be known only through their word, it is evident that God's laws when he rules by nature alone are only the natural laws: those we set out in chaps. II. and III. and deduced from the dictates of reason—humility, equity, justice, mercy, and the other moral virtues that foster peace and govern men's duties toward one another—and whatever else right reason dictates concerning the honor and worship of the Divine Majesty. We need not repeat those natural laws or moral virtues. But we must consider what forms of honor and divine worship—in other words, what sacred laws—the same natural reason dictates.

What honor and worship are.

9 Strictly speaking, honor is simply an opinion of another's power joined with goodness; to honor a man is to esteem him highly. Honor therefore resides not in the person honored but in the person honoring. Three passions necessarily follow honor understood as an opinion: love, which responds to goodness; and hope and fear, which respond to power. From these arise all the outward acts by which the powerful are appeased and won over—acts that are effects of honor and therefore its natural signs. But the word “honor” is also applied to those outward effects themselves. In that sense we are said to honor someone when, by word or deed, we show profound respect for his power; honor thus becomes the same as worship. Worship is an outward act that signifies inward honor; and we are said to worship those whom we seek by our homage to appease when angry, or otherwise to make favorable to us.

Worship consists either in attributes or in actions.

OF GOD’S KINGDOM BY NATURE

1 What the following sections will cover. 2. Who God is said to rule by nature. 3. Three forms of God’s word: reason, revelation, and prophecy. 4. Two forms of God’s kingdom: natural and prophetic. 5. God’s right to reign rests on his unlimited power. 6. Scripture proves the same point. 7. Our duty to obey God comes from human weakness. 8. God’s laws in his natural kingdom are the laws listed above in chapters II. III. 9. What honor and worship mean. 10. Worship consists of either descriptions or actions. 11. Some worship is natural and some is determined by convention. 12. Some is commanded and some voluntary. 13. The purpose of worship. 14. The natural laws concerning the ways we describe God. 15. The actions by which we naturally worship him. 16. In God’s natural kingdom, the city may decide what form of worship it wants. 17. When God rules by nature alone, the city—that is, the person or council holding sovereign authority under God—interprets all the laws. 18. Answers to certain objections. 19. What counts as sin in God’s natural kingdom, and what counts as treason against the divine majesty.

What the following sections will cover.

1 In the preceding chapters, we have used reason and Scripture to prove several things. The state of nature, or complete freedom for people who neither rule nor are ruled, is a state of anarchy and hostility. The rules for avoiding it are the laws of nature. Civil government cannot exist without a sovereign. And those who hold sovereign power must be obeyed without qualification in everything that does not conflict with God’s commands. To understand all our civil duties, only one thing remains: we must know God’s laws and commands. Otherwise we cannot tell whether a command from the civil authority conflicts with God’s laws. We will then either obey the civil authority too much and defy the divine majesty, or fear sinning against God and disobey the civil authority. We need to know the divine laws to avoid both dangers. Since knowing the laws depends on knowing the kingdom, I will next say something about God’s kingdom.

Who God is said to rule.

2 The psalmist says, “The Lord is king; let the earth rejoice” (Psalm xcvii. 1). The same psalmist says again (Psalm xcix. 1), “The Lord is king, however restless the people may be; he sits between the cherubim, however troubled the earth may be.” Whether people want it or not, God is king over all the earth. His throne is not shaken by anyone who denies his existence or his providence. By his power, God governs everyone so that nobody can do anything he does not want done. Strictly speaking, however, this is not reigning. Someone reigns when he rules not merely by what he does but by what he says: by commands and threats. We therefore do not count lifeless things or irrational creatures as subjects of God’s kingdom, though they are subject to divine power. They cannot understand his commands and threats. We do not count atheists either, because they do not believe God exists. Nor do we count people who believe in God but do not believe he governs things here below. Though God governs them by his power, they recognize none of his commands and fear none of his threats. Only those who acknowledge that God governs everything, gives people commands, and sets punishments for those who break them are counted as members of his kingdom. The others should be called God’s enemies, not his subjects.

Three forms of God’s word: reason, revelation, and prophecy.

3 We say that people govern by commands only when they make those commands known openly to those they govern. A ruler’s commands are laws for the people ruled, but they are not laws unless they are published clearly enough to leave no excuse of ignorance. People publish laws through speech or writing, since they cannot make their will known to everyone in another way. God’s laws, however, are made known in three ways. First come the unspoken instructions of sound reason. Second comes direct revelation, whether through a supernatural voice, a vision, a dream, or divine inspiration. Third comes the voice of a person whom God recommends to others as trustworthy by performing genuine miracles. The person whose voice God uses in this way to communicate his will is called a prophet. These three ways may be called God’s threefold word: the word of reason, the word received by the senses, and the word of prophecy. They correspond to three ways of hearing God: sound reasoning, the senses, and faith. Few people have received God’s word directly through the senses. God has spoken by revelation only to particular people, and in different ways to different people. He has not published the laws of his kingdom to any people in this manner.

Two forms of God’s kingdom: natural and prophetic.

4 The difference between the word of reason and the word of prophecy gives us two kinds of kingdom belonging to God. His natural kingdom is where he reigns through sound reason. It extends to everyone who recognizes divine power, because rational nature is common to everyone. His prophetic kingdom is where he also rules through the word of prophecy. This kingdom is particular, because he has given positive laws not to everyone but to his own people and to certain people he has chosen.

God’s right to rule rests on his unlimited power.

5 In his natural kingdom, God has the right to rule and punish lawbreakers simply because his power cannot be resisted. Every right over others comes either from nature or from contract. We showed in chap. VI. how the right to govern arises from a contract. That same right comes from nature insofar as nature has not taken it away. In the state of nature, everyone had a right to everything. Each person’s right to rule everyone else was therefore as old as nature itself. This right ended among people only because they feared one another, as explained above in chap. II. art. 3. Reason told them they must give up the right to preserve humankind. Their rough equality in strength and natural ability necessarily led to war, and war brings the destruction of humankind. But suppose one person had so much more power than everyone else that even together they could not resist him. He would have no reason to give up the right nature gave him. His greater power would let him preserve both himself and the others, so he would retain the right to rule them all. Thus anyone whose power cannot be resisted—and, above all, almighty God—gets the right of sovereignty from that power itself. Whenever God punishes or kills a sinner, he does so because of the sin. Yet we cannot say he would have acted unjustly by punishing or killing that person without a prior sin. Even if God’s decision to punish sometimes takes account of an earlier sin, it does not follow that his right to harm or kill comes from human sins rather than divine power.

Scripture proves the same point.

6 The ancients often debated why bad things happen to good people and good things to bad people. That is the same as our question: by what right does God give people good and bad things? The difficulty has unsettled ordinary people’s faith in divine providence, as well as philosophers and even holy people. Psalm lxxiii. 1, 2, 3 says: “God is truly good to Israel, to those whose hearts are pure. But I almost lost my footing; my steps nearly slipped. Why? I was distressed by the wicked, when I saw how prosperous the ungodly were.” And how bitterly Job complained to God about suffering so many disasters despite being righteous! God himself answered this difficulty aloud in Job’s case. He defended his right by pointing not to Job’s sin but to his own power. Job and his friends had argued among themselves. The friends insisted that Job must be guilty because he was being punished, while Job answered their accusation by appealing to his innocence. After hearing them all, God answered Job’s complaint not by finding him guilty of wrongdoing or sin but by declaring his own power (Job xxxviii. 4): “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?” And so on. God tells Job’s friends that he is angry with them (Job. xlii. 7), “because you have not spoken correctly about me as my servant Job has.” Our Savior makes a similar point about the man born blind. His disciples asked whether the man or his parents had sinned and caused his blindness. He replied (John ix. 3), “Neither this man nor his parents sinned. This happened so that God’s works could be revealed in him.” Although it is said (Rom. v. 12) that death entered the world through sin, that does not mean God lacked the right to make people subject to sickness and death even if they had never sinned. He has made other animals mortal and liable to illness, though they cannot sin.

Our duty to obey God comes from human weakness.

7 If God’s right of sovereignty comes from his power, then our obligation to obey him plainly comes from our weakness. An obligation arising from a contract, as discussed in chap. II., has no place here. God’s right to rule arises from nature alone, without a covenant. There are two kinds of natural obligation. In the first, physical barriers remove our freedom. In this sense we say that heaven and earth and all creatures obey the general laws governing their creation. In the second, hope or fear removes our freedom. A weaker person who sees no hope of resisting has to yield to a stronger one. It is this second kind of obligation—the fear or awareness of our weakness compared with divine power—that obliges us to obey God in his natural kingdom. Reason tells everyone who recognizes divine power and providence that resisting them is pointless.

God’s laws in his natural kingdom are those stated above in chaps. II. III.

8 When God rules only by nature, his word is simply sound reason, and a king’s laws can be known only through his word. It follows that God’s laws in that kingdom are only the natural laws: those set out in chaps. II. and III. and derived from reason. These include humility, fairness, justice, mercy, and the other moral virtues that support peace and guide our duties to one another. They also include whatever sound reason teaches about honoring and worshipping the divine majesty. We do not need to repeat the natural laws or moral virtues. Instead we must examine what kinds of honor and divine worship—that is, what sacred laws—the same natural reason teaches us.

What honor and worship mean.

9 Strictly speaking, honor is the belief that another person has power combined with goodness. To honor someone is to think very highly of that person. Honor therefore exists in the person who honors, not the person honored. Three feelings necessarily follow from honor understood as a belief: love toward goodness, and hope and fear toward power. From these feelings come the outward acts by which we try to appease powerful people and gain their favor. These acts are effects of honor and thus its natural signs. The word “honor” is also used for these outward effects. In that sense, we honor someone when our words or actions show great respect for that person’s power. Honor then means the same as worship. Worship is an outward act that shows inward honor. We are said to worship people when we pay them homage to appease their anger or otherwise win their favor.

Worship consists of either descriptions or actions.