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God calls men to serve Him in spirit and in truth, hence they
are bound in conscience but they stand under no compulsion. God has
regard for the dignity of the human person whom He Himself created and
man is to be guided by his own judgment and he is to enjoy freedom.
This truth appears at its height in Christ Jesus, in whom God
manifested Himself and His ways with men. Christ is at once our
Master and our Lord[11] and also meek and humble of
heart.[12] In attracting and inviting His disciples He used
patience.[13] He wrought miracles to illuminate His teaching and
to establish its truth, but His intention was to rouse faith in His
hearers and to confirm them in faith, not to exert coercion upon
them.[14] He did indeed denounce the unbelief of some who listened
to Him, but He left vengeance to God in expectation of the day of
judgment.[15] When He sent His Apostles into the world, He
said to them: "He who believes and is baptized will be saved. He
who does not believe will be condemned" (Mark 16:16). But He
Himself, noting that the cockle had been sown amid the wheat, gave
orders that both should be allowed to grow until the harvest time,
which will come at the end of the world.[16] He refused to be a
political messiah, ruling by force:[17] He preferred to call
Himself the Son of Man, who came "to serve and to give his life as
a ransom for the many" (Mark 10:45). He showed Himself the
perfect servant of God,[18] who "does not break the bruised reed
nor extinguish the smoking flax" (Matt. 12:20).
He acknowledged the power of government and its rights, when He
commanded that tribute be given to Caesar: but He gave clear warning
that the higher rights of God are to be kept inviolate: "Render to
Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are
God's" (Matt. 22:21). In the end, when He completed on
the cross the work of redemption whereby He achieved salvation and true
freedom for men, He brought His revelation to completion. For He
bore witness to the truth,[19] but He refused to impose the truth
by force on those who spoke against it. Not by force of blows does
His rule assert its claims.[20] It is established by witnessing
to the truth and by hearing the truth, and it extends its dominion by
the love whereby Christ, lifted up on the cross, draws all men to
Himself.[21]
Taught by the word and example of Christ, the Apostles followed the
same way. From the very origins of the Church the disciples of
Christ strove to convert men to faith in Christ as the Lord; not,
however, by the use of coercion or of devices unworthy of the Gospel,
but by the power, above all, of the word of God.[22]
Steadfastly they proclaimed to all the plan of God our Savior, "who
wills that all men should be saved and come to the acknowledgment of the
truth" (1 Tim. 2:4). At the same time, however, they showed
respect for those of weaker stuff, even though they were in error, and
thus they made it plain that "each one of us is to render to God an
account of himself" (Romans 14:12),[23] and for that
reason is bound to obey his conscience. Like Christ Himself, the
Apostles were unceasingly bent upon bearing witness to the truth of
God, and they showed the fullest measure of boldness in "speaking the
word with confidence" (Acts 4:31) [24] before the people and
their rulers. With a firm faith they held that the Gospel is indeed
the power of God unto salvation for all who believe.[25]
Therefore they rejected all "carnal weapons:[26] they followed
the example of the gentleness and respectfulness of Christ and they
preached the word of God in the full confidence that there was resident
in this word itself a divine power able to destroy all the forces
arrayed against God[27] and bring men to faith in Christ and to
His service.[28] As the Master, so too the Apostles recognized
legitimate civil authority. "For there is no power except from
God," the Apostle teaches, and thereafter commands: "Let
everyone be subject to higher authorities.... He who resists
authority resists God's ordinance" (Romans 13:1-5).[29]
At the same time, however, they did not hesitate to speak out against
governing powers which set themselves in opposition to the holy will of
God: "It is necessary to obey God rather than men" (Acts
5:29).[30] This is the way along which the martyrs and other
faithful have walked through all ages and over all the earth.
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