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UNITARIAN CHRONICLE . 275
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voice of God ; divine right for us is the voice of the people . M ^ e believe that all power ema nates from the people , so that every government , which is not the expression of the national will , is a usurping government .
O "P-S PIRFFUAL—P O-W-E-R ~ , -A ~ N-D-ITS-C qjl | ---PLETE SEPARATION FROM TEMPORAL POWER , IN EVERYTHING WHICH CONCERNS RELIGION .
We admit a distinction so complete between temporal power and spiritual , that we consider the one wholly independent of the other . Jesus Christ never having wished to mix himself up , either directly or indirectly , with the government of Caesar . To unite religion with civil government , is evidently either to
deny or to be ignorant of the Gospel . Thus , we are convinced that the temporal power which the Pope arrogates to himself over the pretended patrimony of St . Peter , is a . manifest violation of that law of the Divine Master , John xviii . 36 ; Matt . xxvi . 52 ; Matt . xx . 25 . With much more reason we consider , as impious ,
the power of dethroning kings , and of releasing subjects from their oath of fidelity , which Rome would still usurp , if civilization had not traced limits to its usurping disposition . As priests , and in the exercise of our ministry , we are always obedient to the powers that be , according to the precept of the Apostles , Rom ,
xiii . 1 ; Tit . iii . 1 ; Pet . Hi ^ lS , 14 . Whilst as citizens , and not in the exercise of our ministry , we resist power when it violates the laws by virtue of which it exists , laws which we always suppose to be the expression of the national will , vVKich is , in our opinion , divine right . In
this respect we differ from the Roman clergy , who believe they cannot conscientiously submit to the laws of their country , until they have received the authority of the Bishop of Rome ,
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Citizens , as well as priests , we submit to all the charges of the State , conformably to the words of Jesus Christ to his Apostles , Matt , xxii . 21 .
Obedience to the laws being the first and mosy-saered of duties , we think that aypriest ought never to ^ olDey ™ any rul ' eY ^ f ^ c ^ resmslic ^ rdis ^ " cipline which are in opposition to the laws of his country .
OF THE RELATIONS BETWEEN SPIRITUAL AND TEMPORAL POWER . The only relations which we admit between these two powers are the two following : —1 st . Protection granted by the temporal power to the spiritual , which , never being-able , in any case , to employ force even in
self-defencerequires to be protected by the civil magistrates . 2 ndly . Submission on the part of the spiritual powet in everything which relates to the duties of a citizen ; but complete independence-in all . which refers merely to spiritual concerns . ^
CONSEQUENCES OF THESE RELATIONS . 1 st . Temporal authority has no right to require a profession of faith of any religious sect , religion being wholly beyond its control . The civil magistrate can only interfere in the case in which a religious
sect should publish or teach principles destructive of social order : in this case . divine right would not . only authorize , but require the interference of the civil power . Tt is in this sense that the Prince is the minister of God for good .
Making an application of this first consequence to all countries where Bishops and Roman Catholics are fou n di we ~ arlmiif that tHe" Governments have a right to require infor- - mation , whether the bulls , the briefs , and other documents addressed by the Court of Rome to the Bishops , contain anything contrary to the laws . The present French Government ,
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 1, 1832, page 175, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1819/page/31/
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