The old saints, in their concern for the well-being of the communities, provided them with legality concerning harlots, so that a town, suffering from lustfulness, might be relieved of it by communal prostitutes. The Master Aegidius confirms this with the help of the Church Doctors.[491] [ There is one type of law for honorable burghers, says Aegidius, and another type of law for harlots; the human law is so perfect that it has a provision for all mortal sins. ]
[ As long as things are done in accordance with the accepted laws, they are not wrong and not punishable. But Aegidius and the doctors are terribly wrong. ] Did not our Lord Jesus Christ say,
You have heard it was said of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.[492]
Thus, the human law is contrary to the law of Christ, because the goal of the human law is the satisfaction of the community, to which satisfaction belong all virtues and mores… The prosecution of public prostitution would only lead to secret vices, causing much discomfort in the community, and all these would offend God more than harlotry.
CHAPTER 78
ARGUMENTS OF AEGIDIUS CARLERII (CONTINUED)
[ All these arguments were presented at the Council of Basel in the disputation between Aegidius and the priest Nicholas of Písek. ] The Bishop defended the law of God saying that all human affairs among Christians should be carried out in accordance with the law of God … while Aegidius learnedly defended the human laws…
He divided the people into two groups: one in which there are the perfect people, and the other composed of imperfect people… The law of God is given only to the perfect ones, but the law of men applies to the imperfect men. That law decides who should be the ruler, and takes into consideration the people’s character, the customs, and the region. These human laws are for no other purpose but to serve the common good of all. Their end is the supreme good of the community. [ It is the task of the human law to punish rubbery, murder, and adultery, but also to permit certain things which would not be acceptable in the law of God, if these things contribute to the common good of all – for instance: controlled harlotry, warfare, ribaldry, and usury. ]
Aegidius, the learned advocate of the Church of Rome, … knows nothing about a Christian life lived in perfection and in accordance with the law of God. [ All he cares about is a smooth-running civil administration, even if it means to condone certain evils with which to insure the good favors and peaceableness
