Hobbes - Leviathan.pdf

laws. But this also maketh only for the legislative power of civil
sovereigns: for the Scribes and Pharisees sat in Moses' chair, but
Moses next under God was sovereign of the people of Israel: and
therefore our Saviour commanded them to do all that they should say,
but not all that they should do; that is, to obey their laws, but
not follow their example.
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* Matthew, 23. 4
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The third place is John, 21. 16, "Feed my sheep"; which is not a
power to make laws, but a command to teach. Making laws belongs to the
lord of the family, who by his own discretion chooseth his chaplain,
as also a schoolmaster to teach his children.
The fourth place, John, 20. 21, is against him. The words are, "As
my Father sent me, so send I you." But our Saviour was sent to
redeem by his death such as should believe; and by his own and his
Apostles' preaching to prepare them for their entrance into his
kingdom; which he himself saith is not of this world, and hath
taught us to pray for the coming of it hereafter, though he refused to
tell his Apostles when it should come;* and in which, when it comes,
the twelve Apostles shall sit on twelve thrones (every one perhaps
as high as that of St. Peter), to judge the twelve tribes of Israel.
Seeing then God the Father sent not our Saviour to make laws in this
present world, we may conclude from the text that neither did our
Saviour send St. Peter to make laws here, but to persuade men to
expect his second coming with a steadfast faith; and in the
meantime, if subjects, to obey their princes; and if princes, both
to believe it themselves and to do their best to make their subjects
do the same, which is the office of a bishop. Therefore this place
maketh most strongly for the joining of the ecclesiastical supremacy
to the civil sovereignty, contrary to that which Cardinal Bellarmine
allegeth it for.
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* Acts, 1. 6, 7
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The fifth is Acts, 15. 28, "It hath seemed good to the Holy
Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these
necessary things, that ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and
from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication." Here
he notes the word "laying of burdens" for the legislative power. But
who is there that, reading this text, can say this style of the
Apostles may not as properly be used in giving counsel as in making
laws The style of a law is, "we command": but, "we think good," is
the ordinary style of them that but give advice; and they lay a burden
that give advice, though it be conditional, that is, if they to whom
they give it will attain their ends: and such is the burden of
abstaining from things strangled, and from blood, not absolute, but in
case they will not err. I have shown before (Chapter twenty-five) that
law is distinguished from counsel in this, that the reason of a law is
taken from the design and benefit of him that prescribeth it; but
the reason of a counsel, from the design and benefit of him to whom
the counsel is given. But here, the Apostles aim only at the benefit
of the converted Gentiles, namely, their salvation; not at their own
benefit; for having done their endeavour, they shall have their
reward, whether they be obeyed or not. And therefore the acts of
this council were not laws, but counsels.
The sixth place is that of Romans, 13, "Let every soul be subject to