(note: This node is 23rd in a series of 33 nodes. for the entire series, please see the metanode
Westminster Confession of Faith.)
CHAPTER 23 - Of the Civil Magistrate
I.
God, the
Supreme Lord and
King of all the world, hath ordained civil magistrates to be under him over the people, for his own
glory and the public good; and to this end, hath armed them with the power of the sword, for the defense and
encouragement of them that are good, and for the
punishment of evil-doers.
II. It is lawful for
Christians to accept and execute the office of a magistrate when called thereunto; in the managing whereof, as they ought especially to maintain
piety,
justice, and
peace, according to the wholesome laws of each commonwealth, so, for that end, they may lawfully, now under the
New Testament, wage
war upon just and necessary occasions.
III. Civil magistrates may not assume to themselves the administration of the
Word and
Sacraments; or the power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven; or, in the least, interfere in matters of faith. Yet, as nursing fathers, it is the duty of
civil magistrates to protect the Church of our common Lord, without giving the preference to any
denomination of Christians above the rest, in such a manner that all
ecclesiastical persons whatever shall enjoy the full, free, and unquestioned liberty of discharging every aprt of their sacred functions, without violence or danger. And, as
Jesus Christ hath appointed a regular government and discipline in his Church, no law of any commonwealth should interfere with, let, or hinder, the due exercise thereof, among the voluntary members of any denomination of
Christians, according to their own profession of belief. It is the duty of civil magistrates to protect the person and good name of all their people, in such an effectual manner as that no person be suffered, either upon pretense of
religion or
infidelity, to offer any
indignity,
violence,
abuse, or
injury to any other person whatsoever: and to take order, that all
religious and
ecclesiastical assemblies be held without
molestation or
disturbance.
IV. It is the duty of the people to
pray for magistrates, to honor their persons, to pay them tribute and other dues, to obey their
lawful commands, and to be subject to their authority, for conscience' sake.
Infidelity, or difference in
religion, doth not make boid the magistrate's just and legal authority, nor free the people from their
obedience to him: from which ecclesiastical persons are not exempted; much less hath the Pope any power or
jurisdiction over them in their
dominions, or over any of their people; and least of all to deprive them of their dominions or lives, if he shall judge them to be heretics, or upon any other
pretense whatsoever.
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Westminster Confession of Faith - Chapter 22 | on to
Westminster Confession of Faith - Chapter 24