Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On the Members of the Church · On the Laity or Secular Persons (Book III)
Chapter 21: That Heretics Condemned by the Church May Be Punished with Temporal Penalties, and Even with Death
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. III, De Laicis sive Saecularibus (De Membris Ecclesiae, Book III), On the Laity or Secular Persons (On the Members of the Church, Book III). The Latin source text is public domain; this English rendering is released with the site. Scripture quotations follow Bellarmine's Vulgate citations, rendered in Douay-Rheims wording where he quotes exactly. Click “Show the Latin” for the original (raw OCR of the scan; scanning errors remain — the scan itself is the authority).
John Hus (in article 14, recited in the Council of Constance, session 15) asserted that it is not lawful to hand an incorrigible heretic over to the secular power and permit him to be burned. The same Luther (in article 33, and in the assertion of it). Nor is the error new; for the Donatists too of old taught the same — as Parmenian, Petilian, and Gaudentius — as Augustine testifies (Book I against the letter of Parmenian, chapter 7; Book II against the letters of Petilian, chapter 10; Book II against the letter of Gaudentius, chapters 17 and 26; and letter 50 to Boniface).
The contrary all Catholics teach, and some even of the heretics. For Calvin, after he had publicly punished Michael Servetus with the extreme penalty as a heretic, and was blamed by other sectaries, published a booklet in which he demonstrates that it is lawful to punish heretics with the sword. Benedict Aretius too, in his history of the punishment of Valentinus Gentilis, contends that the same Gentilis was rightly beheaded for heresy by the magistrate of Bern. And more fully Theodore Beza teaches the same in his book On Heretics to Be Punished by the Magistrate.
We, then, will briefly show that incorrigible heretics, and especially the relapsed, can and ought to be rejected by the Church and punished by the secular powers with temporal penalties, and even with death itself.
It is proved, first, by the Scriptures. The Scripture of the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 13) most severely commands that false prophets, who persuade to worship strange gods, be killed without any mercy; and in chapter 17, after it had said that in doubtful matters the high priest should be consulted, it at once adds: “But he that will be proud, refusing to obey the command of the priest, let him die by the sentence of the judge.” And again (chapter 18) a false prophet is ordered to be killed. And this law in fact Elijah, Josiah, Jehu, and others kept, who killed very many false prophets, as is plain (3 Kings 18, and 4 Kings 10 and 23). Now there is almost no difference between our heretics and the false prophets of that time. Nor did only holy kings and prophets punish blasphemers with death, but even Nebuchadnezzar (as is said, Daniel 3) established an edict that whoever blasphemed the God of Daniel — that is, the true God — should be killed and his house laid waste; in which edict he did a most just service to the true God, as Blessed Augustine says (in letter 50, and elsewhere). In the New Testament we have first (Matthew 18) that the Church can reject from herself those who will not obey, and hold them as heathen and publicans, and accordingly hand them over to the secular power, as no longer sons of the Church. We have then (Romans 13) that the secular power can punish wicked men with the sword: “For he beareth not the sword in vain, for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath,” and so on. From which two passages it is openly gathered that it is lawful for heretics, who by the judgment of all are rebels against the Church and disturbers of the public peace, to be cut off from the Church and punished with death by the secular judge.
Besides, Christ and His Apostle compared heretics to those things which without controversy are repelled with iron and fire. For (Matthew 7) the Lord says: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly are ravening wolves.” Acts 20: “I know that after my departure ravening wolves will enter in.” That by the name of wolves heretics must be understood is certain, as Saint Ambrose beautifully explains (in the commentary on the beginning of the tenth chapter of Blessed Luke). But ravening wolves are with the best right killed, if they cannot otherwise be driven off; for the life of the sheep is to be esteemed more than the death of the wolves. Likewise (John 10): “He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up another way, is a thief and a robber” — where by the name of thief and robber are understood heretics and all seducers and inventors of sects, as Chrysostom and Augustine expound; and how thieves and robbers are punished is well known. Likewise (2 Timothy 2) heresy is compared to a canker, which is not cured by medicines, but must be cut out with iron, otherwise it creeps perpetually and corrupts the whole body. Finally, Christ (John 2) with a scourge compelled the traders to go out of the temple. Peter (Acts 5) killed Ananias and Sapphira because they had dared to lie to the Holy Spirit; and Paul (Acts 13) struck with blindness the false prophet who tried to hinder the proconsul from the faith.
It is proved, secondly, by the sentences and laws of the emperors, which the Church always approved. The Emperor Constantine I, at the petition of the Synod of Nicaea, banished Arius with some companions into exile, as Sozomen relates (Book I, chapter 20, of the history); likewise he punished the Donatists, as Augustine relates (Book I against the letter of Parmenian, chapter 7, and in letter 166 to the Donatists), where he enumerates many excellent emperors who passed most severe laws against heretics, and only one, Julian the Apostate, who favored heretics.
Then Theodosius, Valentinian, Marcian, and other most religious emperors passed laws against heretics, by which they willed them to be punished sometimes with several pounds of gold, sometimes with all their goods, sometimes with exile and stripes, sometimes with the extreme penalty, as is plain in the Code, On Heretics (laws Manichaeos, Ariani, Quicumque); by which last law, which is of Valentinian and Marcian, all are ordered to be killed who attempt to teach perverse things, and those who hear them teaching to be fined several pounds of gold. Justinian, in Paul the Deacon (Book XVI), by a published law cast all heretics out of the bounds of the whole Empire, three months’ respite being granted for conversion; then the Emperor Michael, in the same Paul the Deacon (Book XXIV), appointed capital punishment against heretics.
It is proved, thirdly, by the laws of the Church. In the chapters Ad abolendam and Excommunicamus (in the title On Heretics), and in the Sext (On Heretics, chapter Super eo), the Church defines that incorrigible heretics are to be handed over to the secular power, that they may be punished by them in the due manner. Likewise the Council of Constance (session 15) condemned the opinion of John Hus, and handed over John himself and Jerome of Prague to the secular power, by which both were burned. Finally Leo X condemned the articles of Luther.
It is proved, fourthly, by the testimonies of the Fathers. Cyprian (in the book On the Exhortation to Martyrdom, chapter 5), after he had related from Deuteronomy 13 that false prophets must be killed, adds: “If this was done in the Old Testament, much more is it to be done now.” Jerome (on that of Galatians 5, “A little leaven corrupteth the whole lump”): “Therefore a spark, as soon as it appears, must be extinguished, and the leaven removed from the neighborhood of the lump; the putrid flesh must be cut away, and the scabby animal driven from the folds of the sheep, lest the whole house, lump, body, and flock burn, be corrupted, rot, perish. Arius was one spark, but because it was not at once suppressed, its flame laid waste the whole world.”
Augustine (Book II Retractations, chapter 5, and in letters 48 and 50) retracts what he had once held, that heretics are not to be compelled by force to the faith, and at length proves that this is most useful; yet he always excepts the punishment of death — not that he thought they did not deserve it, but both because he judged that this ill-befitted the meekness of the Church, and also because there did not yet exist any law of the emperors by which heretics were ordered to be killed; for that law Quicumque (in the Code, On Heretics) was passed a little after the death of Augustine.
But that Augustine held it to be just if heretics were killed is plain; for (Book I against the letter of Parmenian, chapter 7) he shows that if the Donatists were punished with death, they would be justly punished. And (tract 11 on John): “They kill souls, they are afflicted in the body; they cause everlasting deaths, and complain that they suffer temporal ones,” and so on — where he says that they falsely complained that they were killed by the emperors; yet even if it were true, they would still complain unjustly. Finally, in letter 50 to Boniface he says that the Church indeed does not wish any heretic to be killed; yet as the house of David could not have peace unless Absalom were slain, and David consoled the grief of his son’s death with the peace of the kingdom, so, when from the laws of the emperors against heretics the death of some follows, the Church soothes and heals the grief of her maternal heart by the deliverance of so many peoples.
Saint Leo (in letter 91 to Turibius, chapter 1): “Rightly did our Fathers, in whose times this nefarious heresy broke out, act instantly throughout the whole world, that the impious madness be driven from the whole Church; when even the princes of the world so detested this sacrilegious insanity that they laid low its author and very many disciples with the sword of the public laws. And this strictness long profited the ecclesiastical lenity, which, though content with the priestly judgment it shuns bloody vengeances, is nevertheless aided by the severe constitutions of Christian princes, while those who fear bodily punishment sometimes have recourse to the spiritual remedy.” Optatus of Milevis (Book III), answering the calumny of the heretics, who most bitterly bore that two of theirs had been killed by the prefect Macarius: “You see that by Moses, and Phinehas, and Elijah, and Macarius like things were done, because from all of them the vengeance of the one God proceeded.”
Saint Gregory (Book I, letter 72, to Gennadius the Exarch of Africa) praises him for persecuting heretics with arms with great zeal, and exhorts him to continue. Saint Bernard (sermon 66 on the Canticle): “Better without doubt would they be coerced by the sword — namely of him who beareth not the sword without cause — than that they be permitted to draw many into their error; for he is the minister of God, an avenger to execute wrath on him that doth evil. Some marveled that they were led to death not only patiently, but even, as it seemed, gladly; but they who less observe how great is the power of the devil, not only over the bodies of men but also over their hearts, which once permitted he had possessed — is it not more to lay hands on oneself than to endure this willingly from another?”
It is proved, lastly, by natural reason. First, heretics can lawfully be excommunicated, as all admit; therefore also killed. The consequence is proved, because excommunication is a greater penalty than temporal death. Augustine (Book I against the Adversary of the Law and the Prophets, chapter 17) says that it is more horrible to be handed to Satan by excommunication than to be struck with the sword, consumed by flames, or exposed to be devoured by beasts.
Secondly, experience teaches that there is no other remedy; for the Church has advanced gradually and tried all remedies. At first she only excommunicated; then she added a money-fine, then exile; last, she was forced to come to death. For heretics contemn excommunication, and say it is a cold thunderbolt; if you threaten a money-fine, they neither fear God nor reverence men, knowing that there will not be lacking fools who believe them and by whom they are fed; if you shut them in prison or send them into exile, they corrupt their neighbors by words, and those far off by books. Therefore the only remedy is to send them betimes to their own place.
Thirdly, forgers by the judgment of all deserve death; but heretics are forgers of the word of God.
Fourthly, from the reasoning of Augustine (letter 50): it is graver for a man not to keep faith with God than for a woman not to keep it with her husband; but this is punished with death; why not that?
Fifthly, there are three causes for which reason teaches that men are to be killed, which Galen beautifully writes (in the book whose title is That the Manners of the Soul Follow the Temperament of the Body, toward the end of the book). The first cause is lest the bad harm the good, and lest the innocent be oppressed by the harmful; and hence most justly, by the judgment of all, are killed murderers, adulterers, robbers. The second is that by the punishment of a few many may be corrected; and that those who would not profit the commonwealth by living may profit it by dying. And hence we see that, most justly by the judgment of all, certain horrible crimes are punished with death, though they harm the neighbor only by example, as necromancy, and certain nefarious things against nature; these are therefore most gravely punished, that the rest may understand them to be monstrous crimes and not dare to perpetrate the like. The third is that it is often useful to the very men who are killed to be killed, namely when they always become worse, and it is not probable that they will ever return to soundness of mind.
Now all these reasons persuade that heretics are to be killed. For, first, they harm the neighbor more than any pirate or robber, since they kill souls — nay, they take away the foundation of all good, and fill the commonwealth with the tumults which necessarily follow a diversity of religions. Then, their punishment profits very many; for many, whom impunity made torpid, the punishments set before them rouse to consider what kind of heresy it is that they follow, and to see whether perhaps they may miserably end the present life and not attain to future blessedness. And so Blessed Augustine too (in letter 48) testifies that very many were converted after the laws of the emperors did not suffer heretics to go unpunished; and we daily see the same done in places where the Inquisition flourishes. Finally, to obstinate heretics it is a benefit that they be taken from this life; for the longer they live, the more errors they devise, the more they pervert, and the greater damnation they acquire for themselves.
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CAPUT XXI. Posse haereticos ab Ecclesia damnatos, tempo¬ ralibus poenis, et etiam morte mulctari. Joannes Huss art. 14. in Concilio Cons- tantiensi, sess. 15. recitato, asseruit, non li¬ cere haereticum incorrigibilem tradere sae¬ culari potestati, et permittere comburendum. Idem Lutherus in art. 33. et in assertione ejusdem. Nec novus est error, nam etiam Donatistae olim idem docuerunt, ut Parme- nianus, Petilianus, et Gaudentius, ut Au¬ gustinus testatur lib. I. contra epistolam Parmeniani cap. 7. lib. II. contra litteras Petiliani cap. 10. Lib. II. contra epist. Gau- dentii cap. 17. et 26. et epist. 50. ad Boni- facium. Contrarium docent omnes Catholici, et aliqui etiam ex haereticis. Nam Calvinus posteaquam Michaelem Servetum tamquam haereticum publice supplicio extremo affe¬ cisset, et ab aliis sectariis argueretur, li¬ bellum» edidit, in quo demonstrat,' licitum esse in haereticos gladio animadvertere. Be¬ nedictus quoque Aretius in historia de sup¬ plicio Valentini Gentilis, eumdem Gentilem ob haeresim jure caesum a Bernensi Magis¬ tratu, contendit. Fusius vero id ipsum do¬ cet Theodorus Beza in lib. de haereticis a magistratu puniendis. Nos igitur breviter ostendSmus, haereti¬ cos incorrigibiles. ac praesertim relapsos, posse ac debere ab Ecclesia rejifei, et a sae¬ cularibus potestatibus, temporalibus poenis, atque ipsa etiam morte mulctari. Probatur Primo Scripturis. Scriptura ve¬ teris Testamenti Deut. XIII. severissime ju¬ bet falsos Prophetas, qui suadent colere Deos alienos, sine ulla misericordia occidi, et cap. XVII. postquam dixerat, ut in rebus dubiis consuleretur summus Sacerdos, mox subdit : « Qui autem super bierit, nolens obe- dire Sacerdotis imperio, ex sententia judicis moriatur (1). Et rursum cap. XVIII. Prophe¬ ta falsus interfici jubetur. Et re ipsa legem hanc servarunt Elias, Josias, Jehu, et alii, qui falsos Prophetas plurimos occiderunt, ut patet III. Reg. XVIII. et IV. Reg. X. et XXIII. nullum est autem fere discrimen in¬ ter nostros haereticos et falsos Prophetas il¬ lius temporis. Nec solum sancti Reges et Prophetae blasphemos morte mulctarunt,sed etiam Nabuchodonosor (ut dicitur Daniel. III.) edictum constituit, ut quicumque blas¬ phemaret Deum Danielis , id est, verum Deum, interficeretur, et domus ejus vasta¬ retur ; in quo edicto, Deo vero obsequium ju¬ stissimum fecit, ut B. Aug. dicit in epist.50. et alibi. In novo Testamento habemus in primis Matth. XVIII. posse Ecclesiam eos, qui obedire nolunt, a se rejicere, et habere ut Ethnicos et Publicanos, ac proinde per¬ mittere eos potestati saeculari, tamquam non amplius Ecclesiae filios. Habemusdeinde Roman. XIII. saecularem potestatem, posse scelestos homines gladio punire : Non enim , inquit, sine causa gladium portat , minister enim Dei est, vindex in iram etc. (2) Ex qui¬ bus duobus locis aperte colligitur, licitum esse haereticos, qui omnium judicio sunt re¬ belles Ecclesiae et publicae pacis perturba¬ tores, ab Ecclesia abscindi, et a saeculari judice morte mulctari. Praeterea Christus et Apostolus ejus hae¬ reticos iis rebus comparaverunt, quae sine controversia ferro et igne repelluntur ; nam Matth. VII : Dominus ait: Attendite a falsis Prophetis, qui veniunt ad vos in vestimentis ovium, intrinsecus autem sunt lupi rapaces. Actor. XX. Ego scio, quoniam intrabunt post discessum meum lupi rapaces (3). Nomine lu¬ porum certum est haereticos intelligi debe¬ re, ut pulchre explicat S.' Ambrosius in commentario ad initium capitis decimi B. Lucae. At lupi rapaces optimo jure occidun¬ tur, si aliter abigi non possunt; pluris enim facienda est vita ovium, quam mors lupo¬ rum. Item Joan. X: Qui non intrat per ostium in ovile, sed ascendit aliunde ille fur est et la¬ tro (4) : ubi nomine furis et latronis intelli- guntur haeretici, et omnes seductores, ac sectarum inventores, ut Chrysostomus et Augustinus exponunt ; fures autem et la¬ trones, quomodo puniantur notum est. Item II. Timoth. II. haeresis comparatur cancro, qui non curatur medicamentis, sed ferro exscindi debet, alioqui perpetuo ser¬ pit, et totum corpus corrumpit. Denique Christus Joan. II. flagello coegit negotiato¬ res egredi de templo. Petrus Actor. V. Ananiam, et Sapbiram, quia mentiri ausi (1) Deut. XVII, 12. — (2) Rom. XIII, 4. — (3) Matth. VII, 15; Act. XX, 29. — (4) Joan.. X, 1. 42 LIBER III. fuerant Spiritui Sancto, occidit: et Paulus Act. XIII. falsum Prophetam, qui procon¬ sulem a fide impedire conabatur, caecitate percussit. Probatur Secundo sententiis; et legibus Imperatorum, quas Ecclesia semper proba¬ vit. Constantinus I. Imperator ad petitionem Nicaenae Synodi Arium cum aliquot sociis in exilium relegav.it, ut auctor est Sozomenus lib. I. cap. 20. historiae; item Donatistas supplicio affecit, ut Aug. refert lib. I. con¬ tra epist. Parmeniani cap. 7. et in epist. 166. ad Donatistas, ubi enumerat multos Imperatores optimos, qui severissimas leges tulerunt contra haereticos, et unum solum Julianum Apostatam haereticis favisse. Deinde Theodosius Valentinianus, Martia- nus, et alii religiosissimi Imperatores, le¬ ges tulerunt in haereticos, quibus eos inter¬ dum aliquot libris auri, interdum omnibus bonis, interdum exilio et verberibus, inter¬ dum ultimo supplicio mulctari volu'erunt, ut patet C. de haereticis L. Manichaeos. L. Ariani. L. Quicumque , qua ultima lege, quae est Valentiniani, et Martiani jubentur occidi omnes, qui prava docere tentantjqui vero eos docentes audiunt, aliquot libris auri mulctari. Justinianus apud Paulum Diaconum lib. XVI. lege edita omnes haere¬ ticos de finibus totius Imperii ejecit, conces¬ sis trium mensium ad conversionem indu¬ ciis ; deinde Michael Imperator apud eum- dem Paulum Diaconum lib XXIV. capita¬ lem poenam in haereticos constituit. Probatur Tertio legibus Ecclesiae cap. Ad abolendam, et cap. Excommunicamus, extra de haereticis, et in Sexto de haereticis cap. super eo, definit Ecclesia, haereticos incor- rigibiles saeculari potestati tradendos, ut ab eis debito modo puniantur. Item Constan- tiense Concilium sess. XV. damnavit sen¬ tentiam Joannis Iluss; et ipsum Joannem et Hieronymum de Praga tradidit saeculari po¬ testati, a qua .ambo exusti fuerunt ; denique Leo X. articulos Lulheri damnavit. Probatur Quarto testimoniis Patrum. Cy¬ prianus lib. de exhortatione martyrii cap. 5. postquam retulerat ex Deuter. XIII. necan¬ dos esse Pseudoprophetas, subdit : « Si hoc in Testamento veteri flebat, nunc magis faciendum esse. » Hieronymus in illud Galat. V. Modicum fermentum totam massam corrumpit : « Igi¬ tur, inquit, scintilla statim ut apparuerit extinguenda est, et termentum a massae vicina semovendum ; secandae putrida» car¬ nes, et scabiosum animal a caulis ovium repellendum, ne tota domus, massa, corpus, et pecora, ardeat, corrumpatur, putrescat, intereat. Arius una scintilla fuit, sed quia non statim oppressa est, totum orbem ejus flamma populata est. » Augustinus lib. II. retract. cap. 5. et in epistol. 48 et 50. retractat, quod aliquando senserat, non esse vi cogendos haereticos ad fidem, et prolixe probat id utilissimum ; semper tamen excipit supplicium mortis, non quod illos hoc non mereri putaret, sed tum quia hoc dedecere Ecclesiae mansuetu¬ dinem existimabat, tum etiam quia nondum ulla exstabat lex Imperatorum, qua haeretici juberentur occidi ; illa enim Lex, Quicum¬ que, C. de haereticis, paulo post mortem Augustini lata est. Quod autem Augustinus existimaverit, justum esse, si haeretici occiderentur, per¬ spicuum est; nam lib. I. contra epistolam Parmeniani cap. 7. ostendit, quod si puni¬ rentur morte Donatistae, juste punirentur. Et tract. 11. in Joan : «Occidunt, inquit, ani¬ mas, affliguntur in corpore, sempiternas mortes faciunt, et temporales se perpeti conqueruntur etc. » ubi dicit falso iUos con¬ queri, quod occiderentur ab Imperatoribus: tamen si etiam verum esset, adhuc injuste conquererentur. Denique in epist. 50. ad Bo- nifacium dicit; Ecclesiam quidem nolle ul¬ lum haereticum occidi, tamen sicut domus David non potuit habere pacem nisi Absalon extingueretur, et David pace regni moero¬ rem mortis filii consolatus est : sic cum ex legibus Imperatorum contra • haereticos se¬ quitur aliquorum mors, Ecclesiam dolorem materni cordis lenire ac sanare tantorum liberatione populorum. S. Leo in epist. 91. ad Turbium cap, 1 : <( Merito, inquit, Patres nostri, sub quorum temporibus haeresis haec nefanda prorupit, per totum mundum instanter agere, ut im¬ pius furor ab universa Ecclesia pelleretur ; quando etiam Principes mundi hanc sacri¬ legam amentiam ita detestati sunt, ut auc¬ torem ejus, ac plerosque discipulos legum publicarum ense prosternerent; et profuit diu ista districtio Ecclesiasticae lenitati, quae etsi sacerdotali contenta judicio cruentas refugit ultiones, severis tamen Christiano¬ rum Principum constitutionibus adjuvatur, dum ad spirituale nonnumquam recurrunt remedium , qui timent corporale suppli- CAPUT XXI. 43 cium. » Optatus Milevitanus lib. III. res¬ pondens calumniae haereticorum, qui aeger¬ rime ferebant duos ex suis a Machario praefecto interfectos : « Videtis, inquit, a Mose, et Phinee, et Elia, et Machario simi¬ lia esse facta, quia ab omnibus unius Dei vindicta processit » S. Gregorius lib. I. epist. 72. ad Genna- dium Exarchum Africae, laudat eum, quod magno zelo haereticos armis persequeretur, et hortatur ut pergat. S. Bernardus serm. 66. in Cantica : « Me¬ lius, inquit, procul dubio gladio coerceren¬ tur, illius videlicet, qui non sine causa gla¬ dium portat, quam in suum errorem multos trajicere permittantur; Dei enim minister ille est, vindex in iram ei, qui male agit. Mirabantur aliqui, qui non modo patienter, sed etiam laeti, ut videbantur, ducerenturad mortem ; sed qui minus advertunt, quanta sit potestas Diaboli, non solum in corpora hominum, sed etiam in corda, quae semel permissus possederat : Nonne plus est sibi- met hominem injicere manus , quam id libenter ab alio sustinere. » Probatur Ultimo ratione naturali. Primo, haeretici excommunicari jure possunt, ut omnes fatentur, ergo et occidi. Probatur consequentia, quia excommunicatio est ma¬ jor poena, quam mors temporalis. Augusti¬ nus lib. I. contra advers. Legis et Propheta¬ rum cap. 17. dicit, horribilius esse tradi Satanae per excommunicationem, quam gla¬ dio feriri, flammis absumi, ferisve subjici ad devorandum. Secundo, experientia docet, non esse aliud remedium ; nam Ecclesia paulatim pro¬ gressa est, et omnia remedia experta; primo solum excommunicabat; deinde addidit mul- ctam pecuniariam, tum exilium ; ultimo, coacta est ad mortem venire ; Nam excom¬ municationem contemnunt haeretici, ac di¬ cunt esse fulmina frigida ; si mineris mul- ctam pecuniariam, nec Deum timent, nec homines reverentur, scientes non defuturos stultos, qui illis credant, et a quibus alantur. Si in carcere concludas, vel in exilium mit¬ tas, corrumpunt vicinos verbis, et longe positos libris. Ergo solum remedium est, mittere illos mature in locum suum. Tertio, falsarii omnium judicio merentur mortem ; at haeretici falsarii sunt verbi Dei. Quarto, ex ratione Augustini epist. 50. gravius est non servare fidem hominem Deo, quam foeminam viro, sed hoc morte punitur, cur non illud? Quinto, tres causae sunt propter quas ratio docet homines occidendos esse, quas pul¬ chre scribit Galenus in libro, cujus titulus est, quod mores animi corporis tempera¬ mentum sequantur, circa finem libri. Prima causa est, ne mali bonis noceant, neve innocentes a nocentibus opprimantur ; atque hinc justissime omnium judicio occi¬ duntur homicidae, adulteri, latrones. Secun¬ da est, ut paucorum supplicio multi corri¬ gantur : et qui noluerunt prodesse Reipub. vivendo, prosint moriendo. Atque hinc vide¬ mus etiam justissime omnium judicio quae¬ dam horrenda flagitia morte puniri, licet proximis non noceant, nisi exemplo, ut Ne- cromantiam, quaedam nefanda et contra naturam, ista ideo gravissime puniuntur, ut caeteri intelligant, immania esse scelera, et non audeant similia perpetrare. Tertia est, quia ipsis hominibus, qui occiduntur, saepe utile est occidi, quando videlicet semper fiunt pejores, et non est probabile unquam eos ad sanitatem mentis reversuros. Hae autem rationes omnes suadent haere¬ ticos occidendos; nam primum nocent proxi¬ mis magis, quam ullus pirata vel latro, quandoquidem animas occidunt, imo tollunt fundamentum omnis boni, et Rempub. tu¬ multibus replent, qui necessario religionum diversitatem sequuntur. Deinde, plurimis prodest eorum suppli¬ cium ; multi enim, quos impunitas faciebat torpentes, supplicia proposita excitant, ut cogitent qualis sit haeresis, quam sequuntur, et videant ne forte vitam praesentem misere finiant, et ad futuram beatitudinem non perveniant. Itaque et B. Aug. in epist. 48. testatur, plurimos conversos esse, postquam leges Imperatorum non sinebant haereticos impunitos, et nos quotidie idem videmus fieri in locis, ubi viget inquisitio. Denique, haereticis obstinatis beneficium est, quod de hac vita tollantur; nam quo diutius vivunt, eo plures errores excogitant, plures pervertunt, et majorem sibi damna¬ tionem acquirunt. 44 LIBER III.