Civil law can direct men only outwardly; it cannot command the soul. The conscience is free from coercion. Still, civil law can outwardly order people to that which is good for the soul. Thus, Sabbath laws are just, because they remove distractions for holy worship. Laws can also penalize open blasphemy and irreverence in the interest of public peace and Christian peoplehood. The justification for such laws is not simply that God forbids these things in the First Table of the Ten Commandments, but that they cause public harm, both to the body and the soul.
