(16:106) This truth seems to be adumbrated in a somewhat obscurer form by
those who maintain that men can sin against God's revelation, but not
against the eternal decree by which He has ordained all things.

(107) We may be asked, what should we do if the sovereign commands anything
contrary to religion, and the obedience which we have expressly vowed to
God? should we obey the Divine law or the human law? (108) I shall treat of
this question at length hereafter, and will therefore merely say now, that
God should be obeyed before all else, when we have a certain and
indisputable revelation of His will: but men are very prone to error on
religious subjects, and, according to the diversity of their dispositions,
are wont with considerable stir to put forward their own inventions, as
experience more than sufficiently attests, so that if no one were bound to
obey the state in matters which, in his own opinion concern religion,
the rights of the state would be dependent on every man's judgment
and passions. (109) No one would consider himself bound to obey laws framed
against his faith or superstition; and on this pretext he might assume
unbounded license. (110) In this way, the rights of the civil authorities
would be utterly set at nought, so that we must conclude that the sovereign
power, which alone is bound both by Divine and natural right to preserve and
guard the laws of the state, should have supreme authority for making any
laws about religion which it thinks fit; all are bound to obey its behests
on the subject in accordance with their promise which God bids them to keep.

(16:111) However, if the sovereign power be heathen, we should either enter
into no engagements therewith, and yield up our lives sooner than transfer
to it any of our rights; or, if the engagement be made, and our rights
transferred, we should (inasmuch as we should have ourselves transferred the
right of defending ourselves and our religion) be bound to obey them, and to
keep our word: we might even rightly be bound so to do, except in those