Common Places, Part 2 · Chapter 9 · Section 4
VVhether Helias did well, in killing of the Baalits.
In 1. Kin. 18 verſe, 40.7 While the people was hot and feruent in confeſſion of the true faith, Helias vſed an occaſion, & preuented the kings commandement, & prouided that the prophets of Baal ſhould be taken and ſlaine. They muſt not (ſaith he) be better inſtructed and prouoked to repentance, but he would hauehave them foorthwith to be ſlaine. Why the Baalits were ſlaine.For he was aſſured by the ſpirit of GOD, that they would not conuert or be changed. And ſéeing they had now led awaie manie from the true God, and would ſtill hauehave deceiued manie, if they had remained aliue; he accounted it a iuſt thing, that their vngodlineſſe ſhould be ended with their life. God vndoubtedlie might by an other occaſion, means, and waie, hauehave confounded and deſtroied the Baalits: Whether Helias did well in killing of the Baalits.yet ſéeing he thought beſt to deale after that ſort, we ought to thinke that this was the beſt waie. But ſome man will ſaie, that Helias in the meane time ſéemeth to be guiltie of murther: for he ſlue, and cauſed to be ſlaine, foure hundred and fourtie men. Chryſoſtome treateth of this matter vponupon the epiſtle to the Galathians, when he expoundeth that place, Gal. 1, 17.wherein he ſaid; I went not vntounto them, which were apoſtles before me: At the firſt ſight (ſaith he) he ſéemeth to diminiſh the authoritie of the other apoſtles, and to extoll his owne ſelfe: which thing could not be without fault.
But vntounto this he anſwereth, that the ſaiengs and déeds of the ſaints muſt not be barelie and ſimplie weighed. For otherwiſe, Samuel might hauehave ſéemed to be a murtherer; who killed Agag the king. In like manner might Phinees and alſo Helias. Looke In 1. Sam. 15, 31. Num. 25, 7. 1. Kin. 18, 40It behooueth (ſaith he) to looke vponupon the cauſes, and to conſider whie, and to what end thoſe things ſhalbe either ſaid or doone. Paule (ſaith he) was not ſo arrogant, as he would contemne other apoſtles, in compariſon of himſelfe; onelie he would win authoritie vntounto the Goſpell, which was preached by him. For he had to doo with falſe prophets, who ſaid; that vntounto Paule, which forbad the ceremonies of Moſes, credit ſhould not be giuen; but to the greater apoſtles, who ſuffered them. Bréefelie, he would prooue, that as touching things manifeſtlie reuealed vntounto vsus by God, nothing ſhould be withdrawne, or changed, by the authoritie of men.
Moreouer, he ſéemeth to affirme, An ill work cannot be made good by an intent.that the intent or end is chéeflie to be regarded; as though a worke (which ſéemeth abſurd) can be made good and holie, by an intent (as they call it.) This (vnderunder correction of ſo excellent a man) doo not I eaſilie allow; bicauſe there be manie works ſo wicked and corrupt, that how good an intent ſo euer come vntounto them, yet are they not therby ſo amended as they be made good. Let no man, (vnderunder this pretence) ſaie, that we muſt ſteale, to the intent that almes may be giuen to the poore. Neither let anie man be abſolued, if he hauehave committed adulterie, by ſaieng that he did it with an vpright mind, or to a good end. For (as ſaith the apoſtle) We muſt not commit euill, Rom. 3, 8.that good may come thereof. Further, in things that be indifferent, which may ſometime be doon well, and ſometime ill, an intent may be of ſome force. In which kind of things, ſlaieng is eaſilie placed. For ſomtime men are iuſtlie ſlaine, and ſometime vniuſtlie. For the magiſtrate hath the ſword, and it is preſcribed him by God, that he ſhould puniſh offenders. And if he doo it with a good mind, and a right purpoſe, his worke is counted both good and holie: but if he ſhall doo it to ſatiſfie his malice, and to proſecute his quarels, or to yéeld to his rage and crueltie, he dooth not well. Alſo a priuate man, who hath not the right of the ſword, if he kill anie man, he dooth amiſſe: vnleſſe he be mooued vntounto it by GOD, through a certeine prerogatiue or priuiledge, whereby the common lawe is debarred. But then muſt he, which is ſtirred vp by God, be verie certeine of his impulſion. And therefore men muſt not deale raſhlie héerein; but a firme and perfect certeintie muſt be expected.
Now then I would affirme, that thoſe things; which at the firſt ſight ſéeme to be abſurd, are by faith made honeſt and right. For they be allowed by God, bicauſe they be doone by the preſcript of his word; when as men cleaue effectuallie vntounto him by faith: neither maketh it anie matter, whether that word be of the common lawe, or of peculiar inſpiration. Wherefore the goodnes of works dependeth of faith. So that, euen as it is ſaid; Rom. 14, 23Whatſoeuer is not of faith, is ſinne: ſo on the other ſide may be inferred; That which is of faith, is iuſt: for faith it ſelfe iuſtifieth, as the apoſtles writings doo teſtifie. Alſo the goodnes of works dependeth of the ſpirit that mooueth: for if anie man be mooued by the ſpirit of the fleſh, he dooth vniuſtlie; but if it be by the impulſion of the ſpirit of God, he worketh iuſtlie. And vntounto this had the Lord regard, when in forbidding the apoſtles, that they ſhould not call downe fire againſt the Samaritanes, he ſaith; Luk. 1, 55.Ye knowe not of what ſpirit ye be. And Helias ſhall be excuſed, not onlie through his intent, faith, and ſpirit; but for bicauſe that GOD deliuered vntounto him his iudgements to be executed, and appointed him to be a iudge of the Baalits. So that he ſhall not be accounted a priuate man, but a man of God; who euen as by an ordinarie waie in the earth he would hauehave magiſtrates to be his deputies, ſo likewiſe can he promote to that place of dignitie, whom ſoeuer he ſhall thinke good.
8 But paſſing ouer theſe excuſes, I ſaie, that it is decided by the lawe. For in Deuteronomie the 18. chapter it is decréed, Deut. 18, 20that the prophet ſhould be ſlaine, which ſpeaketh lies in the name of God, or which propheſieth in the name of other gods. verſe. 11.And in the 17. chapter is the verie ſame thing, euen as touching priuate men and women, which worſhipped idols. But in the 13. chapter of that booke, verſe. 5.not onelie death is aſſigned to the prophet which ſeduceth; but there is alſo a commandement added, that none ſhould ſpare his owne brother, or the ſonne of his mother, neither ſonne, nor daughter, nor ſeruants, nor thoſe which were moſt déere and néereſt friends vntounto him. Thirdlie, it is commanded, that the whole citie, when it is infected with idolatrie, ſhould be deſtroied with fire & ſword. Further, verſe. 16.in the 24. chapter of Leuiticus it is decréed, that the blaſphemous man ſhould not be ſuffered to liue. Herewithall adde the iuſtice of rendering like for like: for the prophets of Baal had cauſed the miniſters of the true God to be ſlaine, 1. kin. 18, 4. and 13.as well by Iezabel, as by king Achab. But, will ſome man ſaie; By theſe lawes and reaſons it is prooued, that theſe Baalites had indéed deſerued death, but perhaps they ſhould not hauehave béene ſlaine by the prophet, for auoiding ſuſpicion of man-ſlaughter. Howbeit this I anſwere, that the king was alſo preſent, and conſented vntounto the ſlaughter. Helias indéed preuented the kings iudgement; yet it appéereth not, that he did againſt it, bicauſe the king being preſent, did not withſtand it.
But wherefore he held his peace, manie reaſons may be brought. Firſt, it might not be, but that by ſéeing ſo great a woonder, he alſo was aſtoniſhed, & excéedinglie amazed: wherefore he could not but ſpurne againſt the pricke. Adde alſo, that the king durſt not ſtand againſt ſo great a conſent of the people. Alſo it might be, that he was verie deſirous of raine, and that therefore, leaſt he ſhould be diſappointed, he gaue ſome maner of conſent vntounto this ſlaughter. He cauſed the falſe prophets to be brought to the brooke Kiſon; to wit, that their dead bodies ſhould be caſt into it: a brooke otherwiſe noble, Iudg. 4, 15.for the victorie gotten of Iabin and Siſara, by the leading and conduct of Barach and Debora, as it is written in the booke of Iudges, and mentioned by Dauid in the Pſalmes. Pſal. 43, 10.But to ſome it ſéemeth an vnwoorthie and cruell thing, that the prophet himſelfe, with his owne hand, as the hiſtorie reporteth, ſlue ſome of them. As though it were not read, that Samuel ſmote Agag the king of Amalech. 1. Sa. 15, 33.Moſes alſo with the Leuits deſtroied manie thouſands of idolaters.
But and if thou wilt ſaie; that Moſes was prince of the people, and as a lawfull magiſtrat vſed the Leuits in ſtéed of ſoldiers: I grant. But what ſhould we ſaie of Phinees, who being a priuate man, ſlue Zimbri and Cosbi, Exod. 2, 12.which were taken in whoredome? Did not Moſes alſo, before he receiued the principalitie, ſlaie an Aegyptian man? It is not lawfull to blame that fact, Act. 7, 24.ſéeing Steeuen in the Acts of the apoſtles alloweth and commendeth it. We knowe in déed, that it is the part of prophets and miniſters to deale by the word, not by violence, and by the ſword. Wherefore Peter and Paule, Acts. 13, 11. Acts. 5, 5.if they puniſhed or put anie to death, they did it by the word, not by the ſword. But we ſaie, that theſe things, which Moſes and Helias did, were not ordinarie, but certeine acts out of vſe, and common order. 1. kin. 18, 23Yea and wheras Helias exerciſed the office of a prieſt, and ſacrificed out of the place choſen by God: Auguſtine vponupon Leuiticus, queſtion 56. excuſeth it, by the ſame reaſon, by which was excuſed the déed of Abraham, Gen. 22, 3.who ment to ſlaie his owne ſonne. All theſe things were doone by the priuate inſtinct of God, againſt the common lawe ſet foorth. The lawe-giuer himſelfe, when he commandeth anie thing to be doone againſt his lawes, his commandement muſt be counted for a lawe.