from the nature of the case must judge for himself. No man can estimate the importance of these simple principles. It was by disregarding them that the Church came gradually to deny the right of private judgment ; to subordinate the Scriptures to its decisions ; and to put itself in the place of God. In this way it has imposed unscriptural doctrines upon the faith of men ; made multitudes of things to be obligatory which God never enjoined ; and declared the greatest sins, such as treason, persecution, and massacre to be Christian duties.
While, therefore, the duty of obedience to our superiors, and submission to law, as enjoined in the fifth commandment, is the source of all order in the family, the Church, and the State ; the limitation of this duty by our higher obligation to God, is the foundation of all civil and religious liberty.
§ 10. The Sixth Commandment, Its Design,
This commandment, as expounded by our Lord (Matt. v. 21, 22), forbids malice in all its degrees and in all its manifestations. The Bible recognizes the distinction between anger and malice. The former is on due occasion allowable ; the other is in its nature, and therefore always, evil. The one is a natural or constitutional emotion arising out of the experience or perception of wrong, and includes not only disapprobation but also indignation, and a desire in some way to redress or punish the wrong inflicted. The other includes hatred and the desire to inflict evil to gratify that evil passion. Our Lord is said to have been angry ; but in Him there was no malice or resentment. He was the Lamb of God ; when He was reviled, He reviled not again ; when He suffered, He threatened not ; He prayed for his enemies even on the cross.
In the several commandments of the decalogue, the highest manifestation of any evil is selected for prohibition, with the intention of including all lesser forms of the same evil. In for- bidding murder, all degrees and manifestations of malicious feel- ing are forbidden. The Bible assigns special value to the life of man, first, because he was created in the image of God. He is not only like God in the essential elements of his nature, but he is also God's representative on earth. An indignity or injury inflicted on him, is an act of irreverence toward God. And sec- ondly, all men are brethren. They are of one blood ; children of a common father. On these grounds we are bound to love and respect all men as men ; and to do all we can not only to protect