her, go to be judged before the
unjust," i.e. unbelievers, "and not before the saints?" Therefore it
seems that unbelievers cannot have authority over the faithful.

_I answer that,_ That this question may be considered in two ways.
First, we may speak of dominion or authority of unbelievers over the
faithful as of a thing to be established for the first time. This
ought by no means to be allowed, since it would provoke scandal and
endanger the faith, for subjects are easily influenced by their
superiors to comply with their commands, unless the subjects are of
great virtue: moreover unbelievers hold the faith in contempt, if they
see the faithful fall away. Hence the Apostle forbade the faithful to
go to law before an unbelieving judge. And so the Church altogether
forbids unbelievers to acquire dominion over believers, or to have
authority over them in any capacity whatever.

Secondly, we may speak of dominion or authority, as already in force:
and here we must observe that dominion and authority are institutions
of human law, while the distinction between faithful and unbelievers
arises from the Divine law. Now the Divine law which is the law of
grace, does not do away with human law which is the law of natural
reason. Wherefore the distinction between faithful and unbelievers,
considered in itself, does not do away with dominion and authority of
unbelievers over the faithful.

Nevertheless this right of dominion or authority can be justly done
away with by the sentence or ordination of the Church who has the
authority of God: since unbelievers in virtue of their unbelief
deserve to forfeit their power over the faithful who are converted
into children of God.

This the Church does sometimes, and sometimes not. For among those
unbelievers who are subject, even in temporal matters, to the Church
and her members, the Church made the law that if the slave of a Jew
became a Christian, he should forthwith receive his freedom, without
paying any price, if he should be a "vernaculus," i.e. born in
slavery; and likewise if, when yet an unbeliever, he had been bought
for his service: if, however, he had been bought for sale, then he
should be offered for sale within three months. Nor does the Church
harm them in this, because since those Jews themselves are subject to
the Church, she can dispose of their possessions, even as secular
princes have enacted many laws to be observed by their subjects, in
favor of liberty. On t