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← De eruditione filiorum nobilium (On the Education of Noble Children)/Book 1 · De eruditione filiorum nobilium
Chapter 29Erud.1.29

Quibus obediencia debeat exiberi.

The Primacy of Obedience to God

Obedience is first owed to God, and no human command contrary to God's will can claim true obedience.

First, then, and above all, obedience is owed to God, just as Peter says in Acts 5: 'It is necessary,' he says, 'to obey God rather than men.'✦ Hence, if any person should command what is contrary to God, that person must not be obeyed in any way, according to that saying of Ecclesiasticus 4: 'Do not subject yourself to any man for the sake of sin.'1 Otherwise, obedience is shown not to be what it is defined as: 'Obedience is the deliberate effect of a rightly commanded act of the mind.' Hence also Gregory, where he writes above: 'Through obedience,' he says, 'evil must never be done, but sometimes through obedience even a good that is being done ought to be set aside.' These are Gregory's words. Now evil or sin is rightly called whatever is opposed to the divine will. Whence Augustine, in book 2 against Faustus: 'Sin,' he says, 'is something said or done or desired against the eternal law; the eternal law, however, is the divine reason or the will of God, commanding that the natural order be preserved and forbidding that it be disturbed.' And as Jerome says to Celantia: 'God does not need our service, but we need his command.'

The Excellence of God's Commands

God's commands surpass all earthly treasures, and obedience is owed especially to the Decalogue and always in reference to God.

His commands are more to be desired than gold and precious stone.✦ . . For there is great reward in keeping them.✦ Therefore obedience is owed to him especially in the precepts and prohibitions of the Decalogue, which, understood spiritually — as was shown above elsewhere — forbids every evil and commands every good. Moreover, obedience is owed to no prelate, no earthly father, or any other person except in reference to God and for the sake of God, who is the beginning and end of all things. Hence obedience is also defined by Hugh as follows: 'True obedience,' he says, 'is to keep a commandment for the love of God.' And so the Apostle says to the Ephesians: 'Children, obey your parents in the Lord,' that is, according to the Lord.✦

Obedience to Spiritual Fathers

Obedience is owed to spiritual fathers and prelates in both spiritual and temporal matters, following apostolic teaching.

Jerome, too, explains this when he says the following to both kinds of parents — that is, spiritual and fleshly: 'Both are to be obeyed in the Lord, in those things that are not contrary to the Lord's will or good pleasure.'✦ Therefore, concerning the obedience to be shown to spiritual fathers — that is, to prelates — the apostle says in Hebrews 13: 'Obey your leaders and submit to them.'✦ For they keep watch as though they are about to give an account for your souls, so that they may do this with joy and not with groaning — for that would not be good for you.'✦ Hence the apostle himself also commanded with confidence those whose apostle he was — for instance, in 1 Corinthians 11: 'This, however,' he says, 'I command.'✦ And to Philemon he says: 'Having great confidence in Christ Jesus to command you what is proper, I appeal to you instead for love's sake.'✦ For as the same apostle says in 1 Timothy 5: 'The elders who rule well are worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in word and teaching.'✦ Double honor, I mean — namely… …spiritual and temporal.'

Obedience to Bad Prelates

Obedience is owed to prelates in their official capacity regardless of personal holiness, as Christ is obeyed through their office.

Spiritual authority, so that obedience may be shown to them, and temporal authority, so that their material needs may be provided for. Those who preside over their subjects do well when they attend diligently to their instruction and guidance, and intercede for them before God. The apostle does not say this to the exclusion of bad prelates — that is, those who live badly — to whom obedience is also owed. For this is what the Lord commanded in Matthew 23: 'The scribes and Pharisees have sat,' he says, 'on the chair of Moses.'✦ Therefore, whatever they tell you, observe and do — but do not follow their works.✦ For they say and do not.✦ And there the gloss says that obedience is owed to them on account of the office, not on account of their life.2 In matters, therefore, that pertain to the office, obedience is owed to them without distinction — that is to say, regardless of whether they are good or bad.3

Christ Present in the Prelate's Office

In obeying prelates one obeys Christ Himself, yet obedience has limits when commands are unreasonable or contrary to God.

…to both good and bad prelates, as to Christ's representatives. For in this respect Christ is obeyed in them, and by the disobedient Christ is rejected in them — just as he himself says in Luke 10: 'Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me.'✦4 And although clergy are bound to obey the commands of their prelates more strictly — since they fall entirely under the prelate's jurisdiction, both as persons and in their ecclesiastical possessions — lay people too are bound to obey them in all that pertains, as was said, to their office, which they ought to exercise principally and first of all for the correction and salvation of souls, and secondarily for the wise and beneficial stewardship of ecclesiastical goods. And if a prelate should command something to a cleric or lay person that is unreasonable, that person would not be bound to such obedience.5 Hence even the pope, when he is accustomed to issue a command, assigns a reason for the precept — either in the same place or elsewhere. Furthermore, concerning the obedience to be shown to one's fleshly parents, the apostle says in Colossians 3: 'Children, obey your parents in all things' — that is to say…✦6 …in which obedience is owed to them. For parents, in turn, are bound to their children in two duties — namely… …in providing the necessities of the body and in the discipline of the religious life.7

Obedience to Fleshly Parents

Children owe parents a twofold obedience: material support and religious upbringing, grounded in Sirach and Ephesians.

On the first point, the apostle says to the Ephesians: 'No one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it.'✦8 On the second point, it is said in the same place: 'Bring them up in the discipline and correction of the Lord.'✦9 And so sons owe their parents a twofold obedience: one, namely— —in those things that belong to the parents themselves, and another in those things that pertain to God. The first consists in three things, according to the word of Ecclesiasticus: 'Whoever fears God will honor his parents, and will serve as their lords those who gave him life.'10 And the ways in which one ought to serve them are spelled out when it adds: 'In work and in speech and in all patience.'11 In work, that is— —by providing them with what they need; in speech, by showing through words their consent to the parents' instructions; and in all patience, that is—

The Twofold Obedience Children Owe

Children must obey parents in matters of faith and righteousness, or else sin gravely against both parents and God.

by patiently enduring their corrections and punishments. The second consists in three things, namely: in what is to be believed, what is to be done, and what is to be guarded against. For this is how the gloss explains what the apostle says to the Ephesians: 'Children, obey your parents in the Lord,' that is, according to the faith and righteousness of the Lord, which,✦1213 righteousness 'has two parts: to turn away from evil and to do good.'✦14 Parents, then, are straightforwardly to teach their children faith and righteousness — that is, what they should believe, what they should do, and what they should guard against. And the children are bound to receive these things from their parents and to obey them; otherwise they will not be free from guilt. For in this matter they are disobedient not only to their parents but also to God, and they sin gravely, since they have reached the age of discernment.

Augustine's Lesson on Disobedience

Augustine's youthful contempt for his mother's warnings illustrates the gravity of disobedience, once punished by death under the law.

Augustine says in Book II of his Confessions, recalling his adolescence: "My mother," he says, "warned me with great anxiety not to commit fornication, and above all not to commit adultery." . . These warnings seemed womanish to me, and I would have been ashamed to obey them. But those were Yours, my God, because through her You were not silent toward me, and in her I was being despised by her own son. This kind of disobedience was once punished by death under the law, as commanded in Deuteronomy 21: "If a man has a stubborn and insolent son who does not obey his father or mother, and who, even after being corrected, refuses to listen, let them seize him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate of judgment, and let them say to the elders: 'This son of ours is insolent and stubborn; he scorns our warnings, he gives himself over to feasting and luxury and banquets'; let the people of the city overwhelm him with stones, and he shall die." On that word of the Apostle to the Ephesians too — "Children, obey your parents in the Lord" — the gloss says that this is a precept of the law, namely in Exodus 20. in Exodus 20.

Honoring Father and Mother

The command to honor father and mother brings blessing, while disobedience is numbered among grave sins, as shown by the sons of Rechab.

'Honor,' he says, 'your father and your mother, so that you may live long upon the land.'✦ Obedience, then, is owed to parents by command, and disobedience is a transgression. And so the Apostle himself also counts it among crimes, saying to the Romans (chapter 1): 'disobedient to parents, etc.'✦ And afterward, 'those who do such things,' he says, 'are worthy of death.'✦ And there the Gloss also says that those who do not obey their parents are more untameable than wild beasts. On the other hand, the sons of Rechab are greatly commended by the Lord, because they obeyed Jonadab their father, who commanded them — namely, that they would never drink wine, nor build houses, nor plant vineyards, nor sow seed, but would dwell in tents.✦ Whence it was said to them by the Lord through Jeremiah (chapter 35): 'Because you obeyed the command of Jonadab your father and kept all his commandments, there will never fail from his lineage someone standing in my presence all their days.'✦

Fatherhood Named from God

All fatherhood derives its name from God, and parents must exercise moderated authority, not provoking children to anger.

And truly, one ought gladly to obey a father whose sweet name is derived or transferred from the heavenly Father, according to that saying of the Apostle to the Ephesians 3: 'I bend my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and on earth is named.'✦ Now the good that comes from honoring parents and showing obedience has already been discussed above. But just as children ought to obey their parents, so also parents ought to command their children with moderation. This is why, after the Apostle tells the Ephesians, 'Children, obey your parents,' and so on—✦ he adds: 'And you fathers, do not provoke your children to anger.'✦ Explaining this, Jerome says: 'The sin of children is not to obey their parents; but the sin of parents is to provoke their little children to anger, or certainly now to command adolescents and those of more mature age things that are burdensome.' So just as obedience is required of children, a measured authority is enjoined upon parents — so that they understand themselves to be over them not as masters over slaves, but as fathers over sons.' These are Jerome's words.

Mutual Obligations of Family and State

Family members owe one another material support, and all must obey lawful authorities according to Romans 13.

There is one area, however, in which parents and children are bound to each other by mutual obligation: the provision of the assistance the body requires. So the apostle writes to Timothy, chapter 5: 'If any widow,' he says, 'has children or grandchildren, let her first learn to manage her own household well and to repay her parents.'✦ But if anyone doesn't take care of his own, and especially of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.✦ Beyond this, obedience is also owed to rulers and judges, both ecclesiastical and secular, each by those within that person's jurisdiction, as the apostle says to the Romans, chapter 13: 'Let every soul be subject to the higher authorities.'✦ For whoever resists authority resists God's ordinance.✦ And those who resist bring condemnation on themselves.✦ Rulers are not to be feared for good conduct, but for evil.✦ So their laws, institutions, and customs must be observed.

Obedience to Law and Authority

Justice is obedience to law, and all—subjects, equals, and even superiors—must submit one another to God's order.

Cicero, in Book I of his Laws, says: 'Justice is obedience to the written laws and to the institutions of the people.' And similarly Virgil in the fourth book of the Georgics: The faith owed to the laws is the highest will: what it commands and orders to be done, obedience is required. And so Gregory of Nazianzus, in a sermon delivered before the emperor: "Let us be subject," he says, "to God and to one another, and to earthly powers." To God, indeed, on account of everything; to one another on account of love; but to rulers, on account of peace and discipline.15 See that it is fitting for us to obey not only those to whom we are bound by precept—16 to superiors, but also to equals, and even to inferiors, just as Peter says in his first [letter], second [chapter]: "Be subject to every human creature for the sake of God."✦17 For as blessed Bernard says in his book On Precept and Dispensation, "That is not perfect obedience which is contained within—or limited to—the bounds of the precept." Finally, servants are bound to obey their earthly masters, just as the apostle commands in [his letter to] the Ephesians, [chapter] six, and similarly Peter in his first [letter], second [chapter]: "Servants," he says, "be subject in all fear to your masters, not only to the good and moderate, but also to the difficult."✦✦18

Read the original Latin

Primo igitur et super omnes obediendum est deo, sicut dicit petrus in actibus v: ‘Obedire,’ inquit, ‘oportet deo magis quam hominibus.’ unde si precipiat homo quicumque contrarium deo, nullatenus obediendum est ei, secundum illud ecclesiastici iiii: ‘Non te subicias homini pro peccato.’ Alioquin iam obediencia non esse probatur, que sic diffinitur: ‘Obediencia est animi deliberati iuste iussionis effectus.’ hinc et gregorius, ubi supra, ‘Nunquam,’ inquit, ‘per obedienciam debet malum fieri, sed aliquando debet per obedienciam bonum eciam, quod agitur, intermitti.’ hec gregorius. Malum autem uel peccatum recte dicitur, quicquid uoluntati diuine aduersatur. unde augustinus contra faustum libro ii: ‘peccatum,’ inquit, ‘est dictum uel factum uel concupitum contra legem eternam; lex autem eterna est racio diuina siue uoluntas dei ordinem naturalem obseruari iubens, perturbari uetans.’ Et ut dicit ieronimus ad celanciam, ‘non indiget deus nostro obsequio, sed nos indigemus illius imperio.

Mandata siquidem eius super aurum et lapidem preciosum sunt desiderabilia, . . . quoniam in custodiendis illis retribucio multa.’ Obediendum igitur est ei precipue in preceptis ac prohibitionibus decalogi, in quibus spiritualiter intellectis, ut alibi superius ostensum est, prohibetur omne malum et precipitur omne bonum. Porro nec prelato nec patri carnali nec ulli eciam homini est obediendum nisi secundum deum et propter deum, qui est principium et finis omnium. unde eciam sic diffinitur obediencia secundum hugonem: ‘Obediencia,’ inquit, ‘vera est pro amore dei seruare mandatum.’ Hinc et apostolus ad ephesios vi ‘Filij,’ inquit, ‘obedite parentibus vestris in domino,’ id est secundum dominum.

Quod eciam exponens ieronimus ita dicit: ‘utrisque parentibus, id est spiritualibus et carnalibus, obediendum est in domino, in hiis que non sunt contraria domini uoluntati siue beneplacito.’ Itaque de obediencia spiritualibus patribus, id est prelatis, exhibenda dicit apostolus ad hebreos xiii: ‘Obedite prepositis uestris et subiacete eis. ipsi enim peruigilant quasi racionem pro animabus uestris reddituri, ut cum gaudio hoc faciant, et non gementes; hoc enim non expedit uobis.’ Hinc et ipse apostolus secure precipiebat hiis, quorum erat apostolus, verbi gracia Ia corintheos xi: ‘hoc autem,’ inquit, ‘precipio.’ Et ad philomenem, ‘Multam,’ inquit, ‘habens fiduciam in christo iesu imperandi tibi, quod pertinet ad rem, magis obsecro propter caritatem.’ Nam ut idem apostolus dicit in prima ad thimotheum v: ‘qui bene presunt presbiteri, duplici honore digni sunt, maxime qui laborant in uerbo et doctrina.’ Honore, inquam, duplici, videl. spirituali et temporali.

Spirituali quidem, ut eis obediatur, et temporali, ut eis necessaria ministrentur. Bene autem presunt subditis, eorum instructioni ac regimi solicite intendendo et pro eis apud deum intercedendo. Nec hoc ideo apostolus dicit, quin et malis prelatis, id est male viuentibus, obediendum sit. Sic enim precipitur a domino in Matheo xxiii: ‘Super cathedram,’ inquit, ‘moysi sederunt scribe et pharisei. Omnia ergo, quecumque dixerint, uobis seruate et facite, secundum opera vero eorum nolite facere. Dicunt enim et non faciunt.’ Ibique dicit glosa, quod obediendum est eis propter cathedram, non propter vitam. In hiis ergo, que pertinent ad cathedram, obediendum est eis indifferenter, sc.

bonis et malis, tanquam christi vicariis. In hac enim parte christo in eis obeditur et ab inobedientibus christus in eis spernitur, sicut dicitur ab ipso in luca x: ‘Qui uos audit, me audit et qui uos spernit, me spernit.’ Et licet clerici teneantur arctius obedire mandatis prelatorum, ut pote qui penitus et quantum ad personas et quantum ad possessiones ecclesiasticas sunt de foro ipsius, tamen eciam laici tenentur eis obedire in omnibus, que pertinent, ut dictum est, ad officium suum, quod principaliter ac primo debent exercere circa correctionem atque salutem animarum, secundario autem circa discretam et utilem dispensationem rerum ecclesiasticarum, ac si preciperet aliquid prelatus clerico uel laico contra racionem, non teneretur ei ad huiusmodi obedienciam. unde et papa, cum aliquid solet precipere, racionem assignat precepti uel ibidem uel alibi. Porro de obediencia parentibus carnalibus exhibenda dicit apostolus ad colocenses iii: ‘Filij, obedite parentibus per omnia,’ sc. in quibus debetur eis obediencia. Nam et parentes filiis tenentur in duobus beneficijs, sc. in prouidendis necessariis corporis et in disciplina religionis.

de primo dicit apostolus ad ephesios: ‘Nemo umquam carnem suam odio habuit, sed nutrit et fouet eam.’ De secundo dicitur ibidem v: ‘Educate illos in disciplina et correctione domini.’ Sic et filij debent parentibus duplicem obedienciam, unam sc. in hiis que sunt ipsorum parentum, aliam vero in hiis que pertinent ad deum. Prima consistit in tribus, secundum illud ecclesiastici iiio: ‘Qui timet deum, honorat parentes et quasi dominis seruiet his qui se genuerunt.’ Et in quibus eis seruire debeat, exprimitur, cum subiungitur: ‘In opere ac sermone et omni paciencia.’ In opere, sc. necessaria illis administrando; in sermone, preceptis eorum mentis consensum adhibitum verbis exprimendo; et in omni paciencia, sc.

eorum correpciones atque flagella pacienter sustinendo. Secunda consistit in tribus, sc. in credendis et agendis et cauendis. Sic enim exponitur in glosa illud, quod dicit apostolus ad ephesios: ‘Filij, obedite parentibus in domino, id est secundum fidem et iusticiam domini, que,’ sc. iusticia, ‘habet duas partes, declinare a malo et facere bonum.’ Debent itaque parentes simpliciter docere filios fidem et iusticiam, id est quid credant, quid faciant et a quibus caueant. Et illi tenentur hec ab eis suscipere et obedire, alioquin non erunt immunes a crimine. In hoc enim non solum parentibus, sed eciam deo inobedientes sunt et peccant criminaliter, ex quo ad annos discrecionis peruenerunt.

unde dicit augustinus in libro confessionum iio, recolens statum adolescencie sue: ‘Monebat,’ inquit, ‘me mater mea cum ingenti sollicitudine, ne fornicarer et maxime, ne adulterarer . . . qui michi monitus muliebres videbantur, quibus obtemperare erubescerem. Illi autem tui erant, deus meus, quia per eam tu michi non tacebas et in illa contempnebaris a me filio eius.’ Hinc eciam inobediencia huiusmodi quondam in lege puniebatur morte, sicut precipitur in deuteronomio xxi: ‘Si genuerit homo filium contumacem et proteruum, qui non audiat patris et matris imperium et cohercitus obedire contempserit, apprehendant eum et ducent ad seniores ciuitatis illius ad portam iudicii, dicentque ad eos: “Filius noster iste proteruus et contumax est, monita nostra audire contempnit, conmessationibus uacat et luxurie atque conuiuiis,” lapidibus eum obruet populus ciuitatis et morietur.’ Super illo quoque uerbo apostoli ad ephesios: filii, obedite parentibus in domino, dicit glosa, quod hoc est preceptum legis, sc. in exodo xx.

‘Honora,’ inquit, ‘patrem tuum et matrem tuam, ut sis longeuus super terram.’ Obediencia ergo debetur parentibus ex precepto et inobediencia est transgressio. Hinc et apostolus ipse numerat etiam eam inter crimina, dicens ad romanos io: ‘parentibus non obedientes etc.’ Et postea, ‘qui talia,’ inquit, ‘agunt, digni sunt morte.’ Ibique dicit eciam glosa, quod parentibus non obedientes feris sunt indomiciores. Econtra uero filij rechab multum conmendantur a domino, quia obedierunt ionadab patri suo, precipienti sc. , ut vinum in perpetuum non biberent, nec edificarent, nec plantarent, nec seminarent, sed in tabernaculis habitarent. unde dictum est eis a domino per ieremiam xxxv: ‘Pro eo quod obedistis precepto ionadab patris vestri et custodistis omnia mandata eius, non deficiet de stirpe ipsius stans in conspectu meo cunctis diebus.’

et reuera libenter obediendum est patri, cuius nomen dulce diriuatum siue translatum est a patre celesti, secundum illud apostoli ad ephesios iii: ‘Flecto genua mea ad patrem domini nostri iesu christi, ex quo omnis paternitas in celis et in terra nominatur.’ Que autem bona proueniant ex honore parentum et obediencia, iam alias ostensum est supra. Sicut autem filii debent parentibus obedire, sic et illi debent filiis cum modestia precipere. unde postquam dixit apostolus ad ephesios: ‘filii, obedite parentibus etc. , ’ subiungit: ‘Et uos patres nolite ad iracondiam prouocare filios uestros.’ Quod exponens ieronimus dicit: ‘Peccatum filiorum est parentibus non obedire, peccatum uero parentum filios lactantes ad iracondiam prouocare aut certe iam adolescentibus et maturioris etatis ea, que grauia sunt, imperare. Itaque, sicut in filiis obsequium, sic et in parentibus moderatum iubetur imperium, ut se nouerint illis preesse non quasi seruis sed quasi filiis.’ Hec ieronimus.

unum est autem, in quo sibi mutuo tenentur ex debito parentes et filij, in exhibicione subsidiorum, que sunt necessaria corpori. unde apostolus Ia ad thimotheum v: ‘Si qua,’ inquit, ‘vidua filios aut nepotes habet, discat primum domum suam bene regere et mutuam vicem parentibus reddere. Si quis autem suorum et maxime domesticorum curam non habet, fidem negauit et est infideli deterior.’ Preter hec eciam obediendum est principibus ac iudicibus, tam ecclesiasticis quam secularibus, unicuique ab illis, qui sunt de foro ipsius, secundum illud apostoli ad romanos xiii: ‘Omnis anima potestatibus sublimioribus subdita sit. Nam qui resistit potestati, dei ordinacioni resistit. Qui autem resistunt, ipsi sibi dampnacionem acquirunt. Nam principes non sunt timori boni operis sed mali.’ Itaque seruande sunt eorum leges et instituta et consuetudines.

unde tullius in libro io de legibus, ‘Justicia,’ inquit, ‘est obtemperatio legibus scriptis et populorum institutis.’ Hinc et virgilius in georgicis libro iiiio:

Est legum seruanda fides suprema voluntas, quod mandat fierique iubet, parere necesse est.

Hinc et gregorius nazarenus in quodam sermone habito coram imperatore: ‘Subiecti simus,’ inquit, ‘deo et inuicem nobis ac potestatibus terrenis. Deo quidem propter omnia, nobis inuicem propter caritatem, principibus autem propter quietem et disciplinam.’ Ecce quod decet nos obedire non solum illis, quibus tenemur ex precepto, sc. superioribus, sed eciam paribus uel eciam inferioribus, iuxta quod dicit petrus in prima iio: ‘Subiecti estote omni creature humane propter deum.’ ut enim dicit beatus bernardus in libro de precepto et dispensacione, ‘illa non est obediencia perfecta, que precepti finibus est contenta siue limitata.’ Denique serui tenentur obedire dominis carnalibus, sicut precipit apostolus ad ephesios vi et similiter petrus in Ia iio: ‘Serui,’ inquit, ‘subiecti estote in omni timore dominis, non tantum bonis et modestis sed eciam discolis.’

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Acts.5.29 — But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men."
  2. ↩Ps.18.11 — He rode on a cherub and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind.
  3. ↩Ps.18.12 — He made darkness His covering around Him—His canopy, the darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
  4. ↩Eph.6.1 — Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
  5. ↩Eph.6.1 — Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
  6. ↩Heb.13.17 — Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account—so that they may do this with joy and not with groaning; for that would be of no benefit to you.
  7. ↩Heb.13.17 — Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account—so that they may do this with joy and not with groaning; for that would be of no benefit to you.
  8. ↩1Cor.11.14 — Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair, it is a disgrace to him?
  9. ↩Phlm.1.8-Phlm.1.9 — Therefore, though I have great boldness in Christ to command you to do what is proper, Phlm.1.9 — yet for love’s sake I would rather appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man, and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus.
  10. ↩1Tim.5.17 — Let the elders who lead well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in word and teaching.
  11. ↩Matt.23.2 — saying, "The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves on Moses' seat."
  12. ↩Matt.23.3 — Therefore, whatever they tell you, do and observe; but do not do according to their works, for they say and do not do.
  13. ↩Matt.23.3 — Therefore, whatever they tell you, do and observe; but do not do according to their works, for they say and do not do.
  14. ↩Luke.10.16 — The one who listens to you listens to me, and the one who rejects you rejects me; but the one who rejects me rejects the one who sent me.
  15. ↩Col.3.20 — Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing in the Lord.
  16. ↩Eph.5.29 — For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church.
  17. ↩Eph.6.4 — And fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
  18. ↩Eph.6.1 — Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
  19. ↩Ps.33.15 — He forms the hearts of them all; he understands all their deeds.
  20. ↩Exod.20.12 — Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
  21. ↩Rom.1.30 — slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
  22. ↩Rom.1.32 — Although they know God's righteous decree, that those who practice such things deserve death, they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them.
  23. ↩Jer.35.6-Jer.35.7 — But they said, "We will not drink wine, for Jonadab son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, 'You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons, forever.'" Jer.35.7 — You shall not build a house, you shall not sow seed, you shall not plant a vineyard, and none of these shall be yours; but in tents you shall dwell all your days, so that you may live many days on the face of the land where you are sojourners.
  24. ↩Jer.35.18-Jer.35.19 — And to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, "Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father and kept all his commandments and done all that he commanded you, Jer.35.19 — Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: A man belonging to Jonadab son of Rechab shall not be cut off from standing before me forever.
  25. ↩Eph.3.14-Eph.3.15 — For this reason I bow my knees to the Father, Eph.3.15 — from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
  26. ↩Eph.6.1 — Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
  27. ↩Eph.6.4 — And fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
  28. ↩1Tim.5.4 — But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety toward their own household and to repay their parents; for this is acceptable before God.
  29. ↩1Tim.5.8 — But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
  30. ↩Rom.13.1 — Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God, and the authorities that exist have been appointed by God.
  31. ↩Rom.13.2 — Therefore the one who resists the authority has opposed the ordinance of God, and those who have opposed will receive judgment on themselves.
  32. ↩Rom.13.2 — Therefore the one who resists the authority has opposed the ordinance of God, and those who have opposed will receive judgment on themselves.
  33. ↩Rom.13.3 — For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to evil. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from it.
  34. ↩1Pet.2.13 — Be subject to every human institution for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme,
  35. ↩Eph.6.5 — Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ—
  36. ↩1Pet.2.18 — Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear—not only to the good and gentle, but also to the overbearing.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Ecclesiasticus 4 is deuterocanonical; the exact verse reference is a candidate pending Moses resolution.
  2. 2 ↩cathedra rendered as 'office' to convey the authority of the teaching chair rather than a physical seat; the distinction between office and personal conduct is theologically significant.
  3. 3 ↩indifferenter expanded to 'without distinction — that is to say, regardless of whether they are good or bad' to make the scholastic force of the term clear in modern English.
  4. 4 ↩Luke 10:16 quotation — candidate scripture allusion pending Moses resolution.
  5. 5 ↩The passage distinguishes primary (correction/salvation of souls) from secondary (stewardship of goods) duties of prelates, and sets a reasonableness limit on the obligation to obey.
  6. 6 ↩Colossians 3:20 quotation — candidate scripture allusion pending Moses resolution.
  7. 7 ↩religionis rendered as 'the religious life' per lexeme policy for religio in the sense of ordered devotional/monastic practice.
  8. 8 ↩Quotation from Ephesians 5:29 (Vulgate). Candidate allusion; final resolution deferred to Moses stage.
  9. 9 ↩Quotation from Ephesians 6:4 (Vulgate). Candidate allusion; final resolution deferred to Moses stage.
  10. 10 ↩Quotation from Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 3:7–8 (Vulgate). Candidate allusion; final resolution deferred to Moses stage. Deuterocanonical text preserved without quotation-mark styling per deuterocanonical policy.
  11. 11 ↩Continuation of the Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) passage. Candidate allusion; final resolution deferred to Moses stage.
  12. 12 ↩The quoted span 'Children, obey your parents in the Lord' is a candidate allusion to Ephesians 6:1 (Vulgate). Final resolution deferred to tx-08 Moses stage.
  13. 13 ↩The sentence appears to break off mid-quotation with 'que,' followed by 'sc.' — the text may be incomplete or corrupt at this point. Translation follows the normalized reading as given.
  14. 14 ↩The definition of righteousness as having two parts (turning from evil and doing good) echoes Psalm 33:15 (Vulgate) / Psalm 34:14. Candidate allusion deferred to tx-08.
  15. 15 ↩caritas rendered as 'love' here in the sense of theological virtue (charity); the context of mutual subjection among believers supports the virtue sense.
  16. 16 ↩The abbreviation 'sc' (scilicet) in the source is left unexpanded in the normalized text. It functions as a parenthetical marker indicating the sentence continues or clarifies; rendered here with a dash to preserve the open, expectant syntax.
  17. 17 ↩Candidate allusion to 1 Peter 2:13 ('Subiecti estote omni creature humanae propter Deum'). The Vulgate reading matches closely. Final resolution deferred to tx-08 Moses resolution.
  18. 18 ↩Candidate allusion to Ephesians 6:5 and 1 Peter 2:18. The Vulgate reads 'Servi, subditi estote in omni timore dominis' at 1 Peter 2:18. Final resolution deferred to tx-08 Moses resolution.

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