Boniface's Essay: What Leads To Happiness?

To “seek the good,” which leads to “happiness” is what humans are essentially seeking within their lives. Boniface attempts to acquire this happiness by trying to gain control of the secular government of Phillip IV the Fair of France through his pope title. In a similar thought, Dante believed the spiritual power of God established the government for the sake of man to be judged in the “terrestrial world,” but God has the highest judgment and the only one that matters. Furthermore, Marsilius of Padua expands on Dante’s idea and concludes the church and state must be separated in order to reach happiness.
Boniface tries to use the “divine law” to get more power. He writes, in his Unam Sanctum, that all power is derived from God. Hence then, the pope has the right to govern over both the church and government because there’s “one shepherd” and everyone is subjected to his “spiritual power”. He even brings the Greeks. Boniface says, …show more content…
He goes to argue all power of the church derives from God, and not from the church itself. The body of Christ is the church, but it does not have any power other than to teach the people the common good from the Bible. This lead to its power; from the people. Thus, he goes to argue, the Church, since they got their power from the people, they can’t give themselves rule over them. It’s against “the nature of the Church”.
Marsilius of Padua expands on this idea. With combination of secularism and Aristotelianism, Marsilius says states should protect the common good so people could thrive. The only way to accomplish this is by a “coercive authority,” that’s just and fair. Church’s couldn’t get political power according to Marsilius because they couldn’t stop citizens from “exercising worldly rule”. Instead he suggests the church must be led by a “Christian council”. Ultimately, with the separation of church and state, compromise will keep the