Moses the God of Aaron, or the Power and Duty of Princes in Sacred Matters

Chapter I. On Right

original: "De Jure"; referring here to the legal and moral right or authority of the ruler.

§. III. The Prince also must not compel his subjects toward the true religion, nor to hold faith in the Word of God; he must not do so, first, because of the very nature of the matter. This is because the human intellect cannot be forced to believe or not believe a thing, and faith is a persuasion of the intellect. Therefore, it is an internal act, and such acts are not capable of being subjected to human compulsion. Secondly, he must not do so because of the will of God, who forbids it, as seen in Luke 9:52–56. In this Gospel passage, Jesus rebukes his disciples for wanting to call down fire upon a Samaritan village that did not receive Him, demonstrating that faith should not be imposed by force.

§. IV. Furthermore, subjects are not to be invited to the true religion with rewards, since Christ does not desire such hypocrites who wish to follow him for the sake of worldly gain, as in Matthew 8:19–20. Jesus warns a scribe that "the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head," implying that following Him brings no earthly comfort or profit. However, if some embrace the true faith because they see that those who hold correct religious views perform public duties and enjoy other advantages—hoping that they too might later obtain such things—this fault lies with them, not with the Prince; for God Himself gives many gifts to those who worship Him rightly.

§. V. Nor indeed should subjects be led to the truth by the Prince through fictions referring to manufactured miracles or pious legends, because it is unworthy of the truth for it to be supported by pretenses or lies. Otherwise, the truth might eventually be held in the same low regard as fictions, which would harm both religion and the salvation of men. Even the name pious fraud, original: "pia fraus"; a term used for a deception practiced for a supposedly good or religious end. by which such things are called, involves a contradiction in terms original: "contradictionem in adjecto"; a logical error where the modifier (pious) contradicts the noun (fraud)., as is commonly said.

§. VI. Now, the power and duty of the Prince consists in this: that [he] [removes] false religion—
The text cuts off here at the catchword "tol-," which likely begins the word tollat (removes) or tollenda (to be removed) on the following page.