do that which is good, execute the will of the emperor; should he require you to do ill, answer, ‘It is better to obey God than men.’”
St Augustin also says, in his Sermon on the Words of the Lord:—“If my earthly presence commands that which you ought not to do, despise this power, and fear a higher one. Consider the different degrees of human power. Do you obey the under officer, if the proconsul orders you the contrary? And if the proconsul orders you to do one thing, and the emperor another, would you attempt to disobey the latter for the former? If the emperor commands you to do that which is prohibited by God, despise the emperor and obey God. We ought, then, to resist the power of the devil or of men, when they suggest any thing against God ; and in doing so, we resist not, but obey even God’s commands.” Such are the sentiments of St Augustin.
Gregory also says, in his last Treatise on Morality:—“Know, therefore, that evil should never be done from mere obedience.” St Bernard writes in one of his letters:—“To do evil after the orders of any one, is not to obey, but to disobey.” And St Isidore maintains, that if he who is in authority does and orders a thing which is not according to the Lord, or violates the written law, and orders it to be overstepped, to him ought to be applied these words of St Paul: “If an angel should descend from heaven, and preach to you a gospel differ-
