Johannes Althusius: Politica - Hubertlerch.com - HubertLerch.com

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and cultivating a pious life in the provincial association and symbiosis. [§ 5] A pious life requires a correct understanding of God
and a sincere worship of him. [§ 6] A correct understanding of God is obtained from sacred scripture and from articles of faith.
“This is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.”
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A correct worship of God is
derived from those rules and examples of the divine word that declare and illustrate love toward God and charity toward men.
[§ 7] True and correct worship of God is either private or public. Private and internal worship consists of the expression of
confidence, adoration, and thankfulness, the first precept of the Decalogue. Private and external worship consists of rites and
actions that revere God, the second precept, or of words that do the same, the third precept. Public worship of God consists of
holy observance of the Sabbath by corporate public celebration, the fourth precept.
[§ 8] Civil functions are those that maintain a just life in the provincial association and symbiosis. Whence they include
everything that pertains to the exercise of social life. The symbiote is expected to perform those duties of love by which he
renders to each his due, and does not do to his fellow symbiote what he does not wish done to himself.
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Rather he loves him as
himself, and abstains from evil.
[§ 9] The duties of justice to the neighbor are either special or general. Special duties are those that bind superiors and inferiors
together, so that the symbiote truly attributes honor and eminence by word and deed to whomever they are due, and abstains
from all mean opinion of such persons, the fifth precept of the Decalogue. [§ 10] General duties are those every symbiote is
obligated to perform toward every other symbiote. They consist of defending and preserving from all injury the lives of one’s
neighbor and oneself, the sixth precept; of guarding by thought, word, and deed one’s own chastity and that of the fellow
symbiote, without any lewdness or fornication, the seventh precept; of defending and preserving the resources and goods of the
fellow symbiote, and of not stealing, injuring, or reducing them, the eighth precept; of defending and preserving one’s own
reputation and that of one’s neighbor, and of not neglecting them in any manner, the ninth precept; and of avoiding a
concupiscent disposition toward those things that belong to our neighbor, and of seeking instead satisfaction and pleasure in those
things that are ours and tend to the glory of God, the tenth precept.
[§ 11] The practice of provincial political justice is twofold. First, individual symbiotes manifest and communicate the duties of
love reciprocally among themselves, according to special means, person, place, and other circumstances. Second, the provincials
as a group and as individual inhabitants of the province uphold and communicate the duties of both tables of the Decalogue for
the sake of the welfare of the provincial association. The former are the private and special practice among the provincials, and
the latter are the public and general practice.
[§ 12] These latter general duties are performed by the common consent of the provincial symbiotes. They are (1) the
executive functions and occupations necessary and useful to the provincial association; (2) the distribution of punishments and
rewards by which discipline is preserved in the province; (3) the provision for provincial security; (4) the mutual defense of the
provincials against force and violence, the avoidance of inconveniences, and the provision for support, help, and counsel; (5) the
collection and distribution of monies for public needs and uses of the province; (6) the support of commercial activity; (7) the
use of the same language and money; and (8) the care of public goods of the province. …
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VIII
[§ 1] The administration of provincial right is the process by which the employment and practice of provincial right, both
general and special, is appropriately directed to the welfare of the province. Whence this right relates entirely to good ordering
and arranging, and has in mind a structure of proper practice and discipline. The administration of this right involves two parts.
One part pertains to the members of the province, and the other to its head or president.
[§ 2] The members of the province are its orders and estates, as they are called, or larger collegia.
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The provincials have been
distributed in these orders and estates according to the class and diversity of life they have organized in keeping with their
profession, vocation, and activity. Therefore, when ecclesiastical and civil functions of the province are under consideration, each
estate or order can center its attention upon the operation of the provincial right and business among men of its own class,
provided it does not usurp and exercise the ordinary jurisdiction. In Germany they are called die Stende der Landschaft .
[§ 3] The reason for these estates is that they are necessary and useful to the province, as Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses,
declares.
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For no one can be sufficient and equal to the task of administering such various, diverse, and extensive public business
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