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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/38147-8.txt b/38147-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..23fd136 --- /dev/null +++ b/38147-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11429 @@ +Project Gutenberg's St. Peter, His Name and His Office, by Thomas W. Allies + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: St. Peter, His Name and His Office + As set forth in holy scripture + +Author: Thomas W. Allies + +Release Date: November 27, 2011 [EBook #38147] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ST. PETER, HIS NAME AND HIS OFFICE *** + + + + +Produced by Steven Giacomelli, Dianne Nolan, Jeannie Howse +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian +Libraries) + + + + + + + + ST. PETER, + + HIS NAME AND HIS OFFICE, + + AS SET FORTH IN + + HOLY SCRIPTURE. + + BY + + THOMAS W. ALLIES, M.A. + + AUTHOR OF "THE SEE OF ST. PETER, THE ROCK OF THE CHURCH," + "A JOURNAL IN FRANCE," &c. + + + LONDON: + RICHARDSON AND SON, 172, FLEET STREET; + 9, CAPEL STREET, DUBLIN; AND DERBY. + MDCCCLII. + + TO PETER, + + PRINCE OF THE APOSTLES, + + THE ROCK OF THE CHURCH, + + AGAINST WHICH THE GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL, + + THE BEARER OF THE KEYS, + + THE BINDER AND LOOSER ON EARTH AND IN HEAVEN, + + THE CONFIRMER OF HIS BRETHREN, + + THE SHEPHERD OF THE FOLD. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The present work took its rise, and is largely drawn, from the very +learned Father Passaglia's "Commentary on the Prerogatives of St. +Peter, Prince of the Apostles, as proved by the authority of Holy +Writ," which was published in Latin, in 1850. The eighth and ninth +chapters are, indeed, translations, respectively, of the +twenty-seventh of his first book, and the first of his second book. +And as to the rest, my obligations are more than I can specify. I +owe, on the other hand, many excuses to Father Passaglia, for while +I have only partially observed his order in treating the subject, I +have considered his whole work as a treasure-house of learning, +whence I might draw at my pleasure "things old and new," adapting +them, as I thought good, to the needs of the Protestant mind, as +familiar to me in England. Thus I have not scrupled to translate, to +omit, or to insert matter of my own, according to my judgment. It +seemed to me of paramount importance to present to the English +reader the whole chain of scriptural evidence for the Primacy and +prerogatives of St. Peter. This chain of evidence is so strong, +that, when I first saw it completely drawn out, it struck my own +mind, brought up in the prejudices of Protestantism, with the force +of a new revelation. I put to myself the question; is it possible +that they who specially profess to draw their faith from the written +Word of God, would refuse to acknowledge a doctrine set forth in +Holy Scripture with at least as strong evidence as the Godhead of +our Lord itself, if they could see it not broken up into morsels, +like bits of glass reflecting a distorted and imperfect image, +according to the fashion of citing separate texts without regard to +the proportion of the faith, but presented in a complete picture on +the mirror of God's Word? This picture is thus complete and perfect +in Father Passaglia's work. Yet the form of that work, no less than +its bulk, the scrupulous minuteness with which every opposite +interpretation of so many adversaries in modern times is answered, +as well as the fulness with which every part of the subject is +treated, made me feel that a simple translation would not be +tolerated by the impatience of a population, which has little time +and less mind for studies of this character. I have pursued, +therefore, the humble task of _popularising_, so far as I could, +Father Passaglia's work, omitting, as I trust, no essential part of +the argument, and grouping it under different combinations, each of +which might be in turn presented to the eye, and so more readily +embraced. + +The importance of the argument, as it affects the Papal Supremacy, +which is but a summary of the whole cause at issue between +Protestantism in every shape, and the Church of Christ, cannot be +overrated. If St. Peter be already set forth in Scripture as the +Head and Bond of the Apostolic College, if he be delineated as the +supreme Ruler who succeeds our Lord Himself in the visible +government of His Church on earth, there becomes at once the +strongest ground for expecting that such a Ruler will be continued +as long as the Church herself lasts. Thus a guiding clue is given to +us among all the following records of antiquity. Tradition and +history become illuminated with a light which exhibits all objects +in their due proportion and true grouping, when they are shown to be +but the realisation of what the Incarnate Word, His Church's one +only Lawgiver, decreed from the beginning, set forth not only in +prophetic image, but distinct command, and stored up in words of +such exceeding power, that they bear the whole weight of the kingdom +of God, stretching through all ages and nations, without effort or +pressure. And if ancient writers speak in no doubtful tone of St. +Peter's prerogatives, yet clearer, more emphatic, and soul-piercing, +as we should expect, are the words of God Himself, appealing in +man's form to the mind and heart of man, whom He had created, and +was come to redeem, and to knit into one eternal monarchy. + +A subsequent part of the argument, namely, that the Bishop of Rome +_is_ successor of St. Peter, has been treated by the author in +another work, "The See of St. Peter the Rock of the Church, the +Source of Jurisdiction, and the Centre of Unity," specially in the +fifth section, which ought, logically, to be preceded by this +treatise. It is there proved that not only the Christian Fathers, as +individual writers and witnesses, but the ancient Church in her +universal Councils, did, with one voice, from age to age, regard the +Pope as sitting in St. Peter's chair, which is proof enough, and all +that can in reason be demanded, that the prerogatives given to St +Peter as Head of the Church were, in the belief of the Church, and +in full accordance with our Lord's own promise,[A] continued on to +his successors, and are as imperishable as the life of the Church +herself. + +21, North Bank, Regent's Park, +September, 1852. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[A] Matt. xvi. 18.--"Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build +my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it," _i. +e._, as founded on that rock. The foundation and the superstructure +coexist for ever. + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS. + + PAGE. +CHAPTER I. + +THE NAME OF PETER PROMISED, CONFERRED, AND EXPLAINED. + + The Church the finished work of the Word Incarnate 1 + + Unity and visibility enter into the Church's idea, as set + forth in its several types 2 + + Visible headship also part of this idea 5 + + Christ on earth in two capacities, as founder and + ruler,--Double selection among the disciples, first of + twelve, then of one 6 + + Statement of the question at issue in this treatise 7 + + First mention of Peter, the name promised 8 + + Meaning of the name, stone 9 + + The name conferred 11 + + Name explained, and promises attached 12 + + Classes of names given in Scripture 16 + + Parallel between Abraham and Peter 17 + + Source of pre-eminence in both, association with Christ 23 + + Instances of such association 26 + + Interpretation of S. Chrysostome 27 + + Summary 28 + + +CHAPTER II. + +EDUCATION AND FINAL DESIGNATION OF PETER TO BE THE RULER +WHO SHOULD CONFIRM HIS BRETHREN. + + Education of Peter in the Theology and Economy 29 + + Preference shown to him in witnessing the Transfiguration 30 + + Also in the Agony; and the raising the daughter of Jairus 32 + + The receivers of the didrachma come to Peter 34 + + The answer of Christ, and what is involved in it 35 + + Interpretation of our Lord's action by Origen and S. Chrysostome 36 + + Question of the Apostles to which it leads 37 + + Answer of our Lord, designating a thief 38 + + Our Lord in two capacities; + 1, as Founder, 2, as Ruler of the Church 43 + + The Church unchangeable in her form 44 + + She had one ruler from the beginning.--Immense and + continually growing importance of this our ruler 45 + + The Primacy which He designated, one of real power 47 + + Translation of the discourse to Peter 48 + + Confirming used of the three Divine Persons 51 + + Nature of the charge, Confirm thy brethren 52 + + Meaning of the term confirm 53 + + Scope and harmony of our Lord's discourse in Luke xxii 56 + + Corollaries from the charge to confirm the brethren 59-63 + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE INVESTITURE OF PETER. + + What our Lord had done up to His resurrection 64 + + Further disposition of powers after His resurrection 65 + + Special care to prove the resurrection to Peter 66 + + Fulfilment of the Lord's promises to the Twelve, in the + bestowal of their legislative, judicial, and executive powers 68 + + Subsequent exercise of these powers by the Twelve 69 + + Fulfilment of the special promises to Peter in the bestowal of the + legislative, judicial, and executive powers of the Primacy 70 + + Force of the Lord's title, the Shepherd 72 + + Importance and extent of the charge conveyed by this title 74 + + Force of the circumstances under which it is conveyed 76 + + S. Ambrose, S. Chrysostome, Theophylact, S. Leo, and S. Basil + on the text 79 + + S. Cyprian adds the Primacy to the Apostolic equality 81 + + Force of Follow thou Me 82 + + +CHAPTER IV. + +CORRESPONDENCE AND EQUIVALENCE OF THE GREAT TEXTS CONCERNING PETER. + + Difference in the mode of speaking of persons indicates a + difference of rank--The phrase, a person "and they that were + with him." 84 + + S. Peter first in all the Apostolic catalogues 86 + + Synthetical view of the whole evidence 89 + + Distinct spheres of S. Peter and S. John 91 + + Peter wrought into the whole Gospel history 92 + + The Primacy defined by the three great texts: first, + Matt. xvi. 18 94 + + Paraphrase of Matt. xvi. 18 95 + + Corollaries from it 96 + + Our Lord's answer to the question, who was the greatest? 100 + + The text, confirm thy brethren 101 + + Our Lord's conduct to Peter, after His resurrection, the + counter part to that before it.--Comparison of what is given to + the Apostles, and what to Peter 102 + + The joint force, identity, and reciprocal relations + of the three texts 104 + 1. They are appropriated to Peter only. + 2. Priority of time is assigned to him. + 3. Their equivalence. + 4. They indicate a sovereign and independent authority. + 5. Their definiteness. + 6. The ordinary government of the Church contained in them. + 7. Peter made in them the _continuous_ principle of power. + 8. Peter made the type and efficient cause of visible unity. + + These conclusions borne out by Cassian in Gaul 111 + + By Maximus of Turin, in Italy 112 + + By S. Isidore in Spain, and summed up by Pope Gregory II. 113 + + +CHAPTER V. + +PETER'S PRIMACY AS EXHIBITED IN THE ACTS. + + Division of the Acts into history of the Church universal, and + of S. Paul in particular 114 + + Gospels, history of the Head; Acts, of the Body 115 + + Execution of Christ's promises declaratory of their enactment 116 + + General proof of this as to the Primacy in the Acts 117 + 1. Peter oftener mentioned than all the rest put together. + 2. The leading part assigned to him. + 3. Peter mentioned directly; the rest obliquely 118 + 4. Peter answers for all the Apostles 119 + 5. Luke records Peter's actions and speeches in full. + 6. The first part of the Acts may be called the + history of Peter 120 + + I. Particular proof--Election of a new Apostle 122 + + S. Chrysostome's comment on this 124 + + Peter's conduct in defending the rest on the day of Pentecost 125 + + Third and fourth speech of Peter.--Summary of the first + four chapters 128 + + II. Proof from junction of authoritative teaching and miracles 129 + + Resemblance between Peter's miracles and Christ's 131 + + Peter the chief figure among the Apostles as Christ before 133 + + III. Peter presides over the different steps in propagating + the Church 134 + + Peter's part in the conversion of Samaria 135 + + IV. Peter receiving the Gentiles in the person of Cornelius 137 + + Things to be noted in this reception concerning Peter.--Peter + murmured against by some of the circumcision 142 + + S. Chrysostome and S. Gregory upon his conduct 143 + + V. S. Peter exercising supreme judicial power over Ananias 144 + + VI. S. Peter exercising supreme visitatorial power 145 + + VII. S. Peter's supreme legislative authority in council 147 + + The consent and joint action of others do not impugn the + supremacy 148 + + Tertullian's testimony as to his authority here, and that of + S. Jerome and Theodoret 150 + + VIII. Contrast between the mode in which the imprisonment of + Peter, and that of James and Paul is mentioned 151 + + Summary of the testimony to Peter in the Acts 153 + + His Primacy magisterial, judicial, and legislative.--Its + institution compared with its exercise 154 + + No opposition offered to it 155 + + The mystical headship contrasted with the visible 157 + + +CHAPTER VI. + +TESTIMONY OF S. PAUL TO S. PETER'S PRIMACY. + + Detailed mention of the Primacy not to be expected in S. Paul's + Epistles: but an incidental one occurs often 159 + + Four notices of Peter in 1 Ep. to Cor. 160 + + Paul's visit to Peter Gal. i. 16 162 + + Theodoret, Chrysostome, Tertullian, Mar. Victorinus, + Ambrosiaster, S. Jerome, S. Thomas Cant. on this passage 163 + + Paul's second visit.--Parallel between Peter with James and John + on the one hand, and Paul with Barnabas and Titus on the other 165 + + The censure of Peter by Paul, Gal. ii. 169 + + S. Chrysostome's and S. Jerome's remarks 170 + + Misuse of this passage by ancient and modern heretics 171 + + Contrast of the three ancient interpretations with those of + modern heretics 172 + + Fundamental opposition between the Fathers and the Reformers 176 + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE PRIMACY OF PETER INVOLVED IN THE FOURFOLD UNITY OF CHRIST'S KINGDOM. + + The person of the God-man the principle of headship + in the Church 178 + + Testimony of the Fathers to this 179 + + Fourfold unity resulting from this headship 181 + + First unity of mystical influx 182 + + The second unity of charity, whose efficient principle is the + Holy Spirit.--Third unity of faith, whose efficient principle + is the Holy Spirit acting through the visible hierarchy 183 + + Set forth by S. Paul also 185 + + Headship of mystical influx does not obviate the creation of an + external hierarchy 188 + + Fourth unity of visible headship.--This the root and efficient + principle of the visible hierarchy 190 + + The one body is complete 192 + + The unity of a college not sufficient to express our Lord's + personal unity 193 + + Positive teaching corresponds to the inherent notion of + the Church 194 + + The Father in the holy Trinity what Peter's see is in the + Church 195 + + Summary of this fourfold unity 196 + + Importance of S. Peter's office hence resulting 197 + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +SUMMARY OF THE PROOF GIVEN FOR S. PETER'S PRIMACY. + + Points in question, _generally_, inequality in the Apostolic + College: _specially_, the appointment of one over the rest; + resolution of these tried by four examinations:--1. Into the words + and acts of Christ; which relate to the Apostles.--2. Into those + which seem to mark the institution of a singular authority.--3. Into + the mode of writing used by the evangelists.--4. Into the + history of the rising Church.--A concurrence of these four + points would prove the two questions 200 + + The analysis of what has been written shows this concurrence 201 + + Twelve arguments from what has been written, proving the + inequality of the Apostolic college, and Peter's Primacy 203 + + What is the force and nature of the Primacy.--Six proofs + establishing this to consist in superior jurisdiction 209 + + Enquiry into the end and purpose of the Primacy: for the + knowledge of the intention and purpose equivalent at least to + a _negative_ rule, ascertaining what _must_ be given to it 212 + + Three classes of reasons, typical, analogical, and real, + ascertain for us this purpose.--1. Typical. Parallel of Peter + with Abraham and its results 213 + + Parallel of Peter with Judah and its results 214 + + ii. Analogical. Analogy of body, house, kingdom, city, and fold, + and its results.--And of universal, and each particular Church on + one hand, and Primate and bishops on the other 217 + + iii. Real, whether educed from texts containing the institution + of the Primacy, or from the inherent properties of the Church. + 1. Educed from texts 219 + 2. Educed from properties of the Church; _first_, its + _identity_; _secondly_, its _unity_; _thirdly_, its + _catholicity_; scriptural setting forth of unity 220 + + Further illustration from Protestant opinions of the Church's + unity.-- + + A. First, that of Anglicans, of unity in particular Churches, + but not in the universal Church, represented by Dodwell 222 + + B. Second opinion, set forth by Vitringa, of distinction between + the necessity of internal and that of external unity 225 + + C. Third opinion, of agreement in fundamentals 232 + + Two causes of this being held, one theoretical, the other + practical.--The former stated 233 + + The practical cause 234 + + Reasons educed, _thirdly_, from the _Catholicity_ of the + Church, with which the Primacy is bound up.--Catholicity has + two parts, one _material_ and one _formal_ 236 + + The _material_ part, amplitude and extension.--The _formal_ + part, not only negative, but affirmative.--_Negative_, as + expelling from the one true Church all heretics and schismatics: + testimonies to it 237 + + _Affirmative_, at making a coherent body with members and + articulations 238 + + Testimonies to the _mode_ of this coherence, in Irenæus, + Cyprian, and Tertullian, and the other Fathers, summed up + in S. Leo 239 + + Hence answers to the question whether the doctrine of + S. Peter's Primacy is contained in the creed.--It is involved + in one Catholic Church 243 + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE NATURE, MULTIPLICITY, AND FORCE OF PROOF FOR S. PETER'S PRIMACY. + + Different sorts of proof.--1. The principal here used, and the + subsidiary.--Their joint force 246 + + Hence, I. The nature of the answer required to it.--2. The + proof, if unanswered, demonstrates the Primacy to be revealed 247 + + 3. Enquiry into the _certitude_ of the proof used 248 + + I. Force of the proof _in itself_ and _absolutely_.--Two + conditions requisite, and here found, authenticity of the + documents, and clearness of their evidence.--Number + and harmony of scriptural testimonies to the Primacy 249 + + The parallel of Julius Cæsar 250 + + Collateral proof, supporting that of the holy Scriptures, so + that the whole consists in the harmony of these four:--1. + Scriptural documents.--2. Ancient witnesses.--3. Analogy.--4. + Facts of Christian history, in fourteen distinct classes 251 + + Prodigious force of this compound proof 256 + + No counter religious system producible by Greek, Anglican, + or pure Protestant, but mere negation and objection 257 + + II. Force of the proof _comparatively_ with other doctrines: + comparison with the texts on which Anglicans, Lutherans, + and Calvinists severally rely 259 + + Retort that all but Catholics are opposed to our interpretation; + answer, that from Catholics alone we are to gather the truth 260 + + Yet all protestants not agreed in opposing our interpretation + and reasons why their opposition is of little moment 261 + + Compare, likewise, opposition to the Church in the fourth, + fifth, and sixth centuries 264 + + And again the conduct of Lutherans and Anglicans in maintaining + their own distinctive texts.--But what, then, are the true + criteria of documentary evidence? They are four:-- + + Internal {and immediate {4. Verbal. + { {2. Real. + {and remote 3. Analogical. + External 4. Agreement of witnesses 265 + + 1. Comparison carried through _verbal_ criterion, between the + texts alleged by us, and those of Lutherans, Anglicans, + and Calvinists 266 + + 2. And through the _real_ criterion, or that of the subject + matter, greater in the proofs for Peter's prerogatives than in + those for the real presence, or the Divinity of Christ, on + account of the difficulty of grasping the object in the + latter cases 267 + + As to the superiority of bishops over presbyters, the proof + severed from that of the Primacy sinks into nothing: considered + with it, it is of the same character, but weaker 268 + + Accordingly, the criterion from the subject matter is + stronger for Peter's Primacy, than for the superiority of + bishops over presbyters, for the real presence, and for the + Divinity of Christ.--Sum of both these criteria, verbal and + real, in favour of Peter's Primacy, over these three doctrines 270 + + Appeal hence arising to Lutherans, Anglicans, and + Calvinists.--Comparison with the inferior evidence for other + received doctrines 271 + + 3. The third _criterion_ of analogy: force of this in favour + of Peter's Primacy from three heads:--1. The divine institution + of bishops.--2. The unity of the Church.--3. The Catholicity + of the Church 272 + + 4. Fourth criterion of witnesses.--Immense force of this + criterion, both as stated by the fathers, and shewn by + Protestants in their own conduct 274 + + Witnesses unanimous in favour of the Primacy 277 + + + + + +ST. PETER, + +HIS NAME AND HIS OFFICE, + +AS SET FORTH + +In Holy Scripture. + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE NAME OF PETER PROMISED, CONFERRED, AND EXPLAINED. + + +Our Lord tells us that He came upon earth to "finish a work;" and He +likewise tells us what that work was, the setting up a living +society of men, who should dwell in Him and He in them; on whom His +Spirit should rest, with whom His presence should abide, until the +consummation of all things. For, the evening before His passion, +"lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said: Father, the hour is come. * +* * I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work +which Thou gavest Me to do. * * I have manifested Thy name to the +men whom Thou hast given Me out of the world. Thine they were, and +to Me Thou gavest them; and they have kept Thy word. * Holy Father, +keep them in Thy name, whom Thou has given Me; that they may be one, +as We also are. While I was with them I kept them in Thy name.--And +now I come to Thee.--I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of +the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from evil. * * As Thou +hast sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. +And for them do I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified +in truth. And not for them only do I pray, but for those also who +through their word shall believe in Me; that they all may be one, as +Thou, Father, in Me, and I in Thee; that they also may be one in Us; +that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. And the glory +which Thou hast given to Me, I have given to them, that they may be +one, as We also are one. I in them, and Thou in Me; that they may be +made perfect in one; and the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, +and hast loved them as Thou hast loved Me. * * And I have made known +Thy name to them, and will make it known; that the love wherewith +Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them."[1] + +In these terms the Eternal Word condescends to declare to us that +the fruit of His Incarnation, the "finished work" which His Father +had given Him to do, was the establishment of a society whose unity +in "truth" and "love" should be so perfect, that He exemplifies it +by the indwelling in each other of the Divine Persons; which should +be perpetual and visible for ever, so that the world by it and in it +should recognise His own mission, and believe in the Sender; and +that the dowry of this society, thus perpetually visible, should be +the equally perpetual possession of truth--the revelation of God's +will--and of love, which is conformity to it. And He based these +unexampled promises on no less a guarantee than the Almighty Power +and ineffable Goodness of His Father, witnessed by His own dwelling +amongst us in our flesh. + +Elsewhere He termed this society His Church, declared that He +would [2]"build it on a rock, and that the gates of hell should not +prevail against it." + +He told those whom He had set over it to go forth in His name, and +to teach all nations whatsoever He had commanded them, adding the +solemn engagement on His own part, [3]"Behold, I am with you all +days, even to the consummation of the world." + +His whole teaching is full of reference to it, setting forth its +nature with every variety of illustration, enfolding it, as it were, +with an exuberance of divine charity. + +But two conceptions run through every illustration, and are involved +in its primary idea, nay, as this was the finished work of His +Incarnation, so are they found in His adorable Person, from which +His work springs. These conceptions are Unity and Visibility. + +As the mystery of the Incarnation consists in the union of the +divine and human natures, in one Person, and in the assumption of a +body, that is, matter, by the one uncreated, incomprehensible, and +invisible Being, whereby He becomes visible, so Unity and Visibility +are the unfailing marks of His Church, and enter into every image of +it, in such a manner that without them the image loses its point and +significancy. + +Accordingly He proclaims the Church which He was founding to be "the +Kingdom of God," and "the Kingdom of Heaven," thus bringing before +us the conceptions of order, government, power, headship on the one +hand, dependence on the other, and a host of mutual relations +between the Sovereign and the people, significantly remarking that +"a kingdom which is divided against itself must fall." Now, a +kingdom without unity is a contradiction in terms, and a kingdom of +God on earth, which cannot be seen, would be for spirits and not for +men. + +So He calls it a [4]"city seated on a mountain," which "cannot be +hid," answering to His prophet's words, "the city of the great +King," "His rest, and His habitation for ever." Here again are +embodied the notions of order, government, conspicuous majesty, +impregnable strength. + +Thus He inspires His apostle to call it[ 5]"the house of God, the +pillar and ground of the truth." The house must have its head, the +family their father; the knowledge of that father's will is the +truth which rests upon the family as its support and pillar. Outside +of the family that knowledge may be lost, together with the will to +obey the father and to love him; but within it is a living +tradition, "familiar to the ear as household words." As long as the +Master and the Father is there, a perpetual light from His face is +there too upon His children and His servants. Divide the house, or +corrupt its internal life, and the idea of the house is destroyed; +while an invisible house is an absurdity. + +Again, the Lord, calling Himself [6]"the Good Shepherd, who giveth +His life for the sheep," terms His Church the sheepfold, and +declares that as there is one shepherd, so there must be one fold. + +But, rising yet in nearness to the Divine Person of the Word +Incarnate, from whose side sleeping on the cross she is moulded, the +Church is called His Spouse, as united to Him in eternal wedlock, +[7]"a great Sacrament," or mystery; and even yet more, His Body, as +supported by the continual influx of her Head; and all her members +are called "flesh of His flesh, and bone of His bones." + +It is evident, then, that in these promises and illustrations are +set forth, as belonging to their object, a visible unity, a +perpetual possession and maintenance of the truth, and the closest +union with God, founded upon a most supernatural indwelling of the +Godhead in a society of men on earth, the founding of which was the +"finished work" of God the Word Incarnate. _Were these promises to +fail in any respect_, which is utterly impossible, for while heaven +and earth shall pass away, no word of their Maker can pass away--_it +is plain that our ground for trusting in any promises of Holy Writ +whatsoever would be demolished_. The whole Christian revelation +rests on the imperishable life of the Church; because the corruption +or division of the Church would falsify the written records of our +faith, in which, after the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity, and the +Godhead of our Lord, no truth is so deeply embedded as the perpetual +existence and office of the Church. + +We have seen the idea of King, Lord, Master, Father, Shepherd, +Husband, and Head, running through the delineation of the Church. +And no society is complete without its ruler. Such was our Lord, +while on earth--the _visible_ ruler of a _visible_ Church. "While I +was with them I kept them in Thy name." He went forth from His +baptism to win souls. The water became wine in His presence. He bade +men follow Him, and they followed. Power went forth from Him, and +healed diseases. Grace flowed from His lips and conquered hearts. An +innumerable multitude surrounded Him, of all ages and conditions. +[8]"And going up into a mountain He called unto Him whom He would +Himself; and they came to Him. And He made that twelve should be +with Him, and that He might send them to preach." + +Here, then, the true Israel chooses the future princes of His house, +who should sit with Him on thrones, judging the twelve tribes. +Already, while yet with His Church, He is preparing for her future +government, when His visible presence shall be taken from her. In +three years all should be accomplished, but when [9]"the covenant +should have been confirmed with many in one week, and in the half +of the week the victim and the sacrifice should fail;" when His +Apostles should see Him no longer; was any one ordained to take that +all-important place of supreme ruler which He had filled? For upon +earth He had been in two relations to His Church, her Founder, and +her Ruler. The former office belonged to His single Person; in its +nature it could not pass to another; the work was finished once and +for ever. But the latter office was, in its nature likewise, +perpetual. How, then, should the charge of visible ruler, as man +among men, be executed, when His Person was withdrawn, when He +ascended up on high, when all power in heaven and earth was indeed +given into His hands, and so the headship of spiritual influence and +providential care; but when, nevertheless, that sacred Body was +withdrawn into the tabernacle of God, and the Bridegroom was taken +away for a time, and the voice and visible presence [10]"what they +had seen, and heard, and handled, of the word of life," "was with +them and kept them" no longer. Should His Church, which had been +under one visible ruler from the beginning, now have her government +changed? Or had He marked out any one among the Twelve to succeed to +His own office of visible headship, and to be [11]"the greater," and +"the ruler" among His brethren. His own special representative and +vicar? + +To answer this question, we must carefully observe and distinguish +what is said and what is given to the Apostles _in common_, and what +to any one of their number _in particular_; the former will instruct +us as to their equality, the latter as to the pre-eminence which any +one enjoyed over the rest, and in what it consisted. + +Just, then, as at a certain period of His ministry, our Lord, out +of the multitude who followed Him, selected twelve, to be His +special attendants upon earth, and, when He should be taken up, to +be the heralds of His Gospel among all nations, so out of the twelve +He from the beginning distinguished one, marked him out for a +peculiar and singular office, connected him with Himself in a +special manner, and after having through the whole of His ministry +given him tokens and intimations of his future destination, at last +expressly nominated him to take His own place, and preside among his +brethren. His dealing with this Apostle forms one connected whole, +in which there is nothing abrupt or inharmonious, out of keeping, or +opposed to what He said to others. What is at first obscurely +intimated is afterwards expressly promised, again in fresh terms +corroborated, and at last, in yet other language, but of the like +force, most significantly [12]conveyed, while it is attested by a +number of incidental notices scattered through the whole Gospel +history. Thus [13]it becomes necessary to consider each particular, +as well as the whole sum of things said, _proper_ and _peculiar_ to +this Apostle; to weigh first their _separate_ and then their _joint_ +force, and only at last to form an united judgment upon all. + +We are searching into the will of the Divine Founder of our faith, +which He has not only communicated to His Church in a living +tradition, but in this case likewise ordered to be set forth in +authentic written documents. These alone we are here considering, +and the point in question is whether He decreed that all the Twelve +should share equally in that divine mission and authority which He +had received from the Father, or whether while bestowing on them all +very high and distinctive powers, He yet appointed one, namely +Simon, the son of Jonas, to preside over the rest in His own place. +We have, then, to consider all in these documents which is said +peculiar to such apostle, pointing out singular gifts and +prerogatives, and carrying with it special authority of government. +And we must remember that where proofs are numerous and complex, +some which in themselves are only probable and accessory, yet have +their force on the ultimate result. But this result must be drawn +from a general view of the whole, and will collect in one the sum of +proof both probable and certain. + +Again, where many various causes concur, some more and some less, to +produce a certain effect, the force of such effect is the force of +all these causes put together, not of each by itself alone. Or where +many witnesses are examined, whose evidence differs in value, +although the testimony of some be in itself decisive, yet the +verdict must be given after a consideration and review of all. + +Now the first mention which we have of the Apostle Simon is full of +signification. Our Lord had only just begun His ministry; he had +been lately baptized, and as yet had called no disciples. But two of +John the Baptist's disciples hearing their master name Jesus "the +Lamb of God," follow Him, are kindly received by Him, and one of +them being Andrew, Simon's brother, finds Simon, and says to +him, [14]"we have found the Messias. And he brought him to Jesus. +And Jesus looking on him said, Thou art Simon the son of Jonas; thou +shalt be called Cephas, which is interpreted Peter:" as if He would +say, by birth thou art Simon, son of John; but another and a higher +lot is in store for thee. I will give thee another name which thou +shalt bear, a name in itself signifying the place which thou shalt +hold in my Church. Thou shalt be called, and thou shalt be, the +Rock. + +For why, when a vast multitude of our Lord's words and actions have +been omitted, was this recorded for us, save that a deep meaning lay +in it? Or what could that meaning be when our Lord, for the first +time looking on Peter, promised to him and to him alone, a new name, +and that a name given in prophecy to Himself, a name declaring by +its very sound that he should be laid by the builder, as a +foundation of the structure about to be raised? So in the fourth +century S. Chrysostome comments on the text, calling him "the +foundation of the Church, he that was really Peter" (the Rock) "both +in name and in deed:"[15] and a little after S. Cyril, of +Alexandria, "with allusion to the rock He transferred His name to +Peter, for upon him He was about to found His Church." The Creator +of the world does not give a name for nothing. His word is with +power, and does what it expresses. Of old, "He spake and they were +made; He commanded and they were created." Now, too, He speaks, at +the first dawn of His great spiritual restoration. When as yet +nothing has been done, and not a stone of the divine building +reared, He who determines the end from the beginning looks upon what +seemed a simple fisherman, and at first beholding him, He takes +Simon, the son of Jonas, out of the roll of common men; He marks him +for a future design; He wraps him in a prophetic title; He +associates him with His own immovable power. Of Himself it had been +said,[16] "Behold I will lay a stone in the foundation of Sion, a +tried stone, a corner stone, a precious stone, founded on the +foundation. He that believeth, let him not hasten." And again, "the +stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of +the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is wonderful in our +eyes." And again, "A stone was cut out of a mountain without hands; +and it struck the statue upon the feet thereof that were of iron and +clay, and broke them in pieces. But the stone that struck the statue +became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." And again, +"Behold the stone that I have laid before Jesus: upon one stone +there are seven eyes; behold I will grave the graving thereof, saith +the Lord of Hosts; and I will take away the iniquity of that land in +one day." In reference to which S. Paul said of Christians, that +they are "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, +Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone; in whom all the +building, being framed together, groweth up into a holy temple in +the Lord." It is plain, then, that our Lord "both by the Old and New +Testament,[17] is called a stone." + +But this which He had of Himself, and by virtue of His own divine +power, as the Word of God, He would communicate in a degree, and by +dependence on Himself, to another. This is no modern interpretation, +but the very words of St. Ambrose, "Great is the grace of Christ, +who bestowed almost all His own names on His disciples. I, said He, +am the light of the world, and yet He granted to His disciples the +very name in which He exulted, by the words, Ye are the light of the +world. Christ is the Rock, but yet He did not deny the grace of this +name to His disciple, that he should be Peter, because he has from +the Rock firm constancy, immovable faith."[18] + +In the third century, Origen, on this very text, observes: "He said +he should be called Peter, by allusion to the Rock, which is Christ, +that as a man from wisdom is termed wise, and from holiness holy, so +too Peter from the Rock." And in the fifth, S. Leo paraphrases the +name thus: "While I am the inviolable Rock, the Corner-stone, who +make both one, the foundation beside which no one can lay another; +yet thou also art the rock, because by My virtue thou art +established, so as to enjoy by participation the properties which +are peculiar to Me."[19] + +Here, then, we have three facts: i. That our Lord having twelve +Apostles whom He chose, loved, and honoured, above all His other +disciples, yet promised to one[20] only a new name; and, ii., this a +name in the highest degree significative, and most deeply +prophetical of a particular office; and, iii., a name peculiar to +Himself, as the immovable foundation of the Church. This happened in +the first year of His ministry, before, as it would appear, either +Peter or any other apostle was called. + +The promise thus emphatically made to Simon, "Thou shalt be called +the Rock," our Lord fulfilled in the second year of His ministry, +when He distinguished the twelve Apostles from the rest of His +disciples, giving them authority to teach, and power to heal +sicknesses and to cast out devils. Then, says S. Mark "to[21] Simon +He gave the name of Peter;" and S. Matthew, "the names of the Twelve +Apostles are these; the first, Simon, who is called Peter;" and S. +Luke, "Simon whom also He named Peter." And by this name He marked +Him out from amongst all his brethren, and united him to Himself. +"He changes, too," says Tertullian, "Peter's name from Simon, +because also as Creator He altered the names of Abraham, Sara, and +Oshua, calling the last Jesus, and adding syllables to the others, +but why did He call him Peter? If for the strength of his faith, +many solid substances would lend him a name from themselves. Or was +it because Christ is both the Rock and the Stone? Since we read that +He is set for a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence. I omit the +rest. And so it was His pleasure to communicate to the dearest of +His disciples, in a peculiar manner, a name drawn from the figures +of Himself, I imagine, as being nearer than one drawn from figures +not of Himself."[22] + +It is, then, setting a seal on His former acts, drawing out and +corroborating their meaning, that He once more, and in the most +emphatic way of all, recurs to this name, attaching to it the most +signal promises, and establishing its prophetic power. In the third +year of His ministry our Lord "came into the quarters of Cesarea +Philippi: and He asked His disciples, saying, Whom do men say that +the Son of Man is? But they said, Some John the Baptist, and others +Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. Jesus saith to +them, But whom say ye that I am? Simon Peter answered and said, Thou +art Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answering, said to +him, Blessed art thou Simon Bar Jonas, because flesh and blood hath +not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say +to thee that thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my +Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I +will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever +thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven; and +whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in +heaven." + +When we reflect that the first act of our Lord to Peter was to look +upon him, and to promise him this name, a token of His omnipotence +to Simon yet knowing him not, as that seeing him under the fig-tree +was to Nathaniel of His omniscience; and that when He chose His +twelve apostles, it is said markedly "to Simon He gave the name of +Peter," the force of His reply cannot well be exceeded. The promise +of our Lord answers part by part to the confession of His apostle. +The one says: "Thou art the Christ," that is, the anointed one; the +other, "Thou art Peter," that is, the Rock, the name which I gave +thee myself: my own title with which I invested thee. The one adds, +"the Son of the living God;" the other, "And upon this rock I will +build my Church," that is, as it is true what thou confessest, that +I am "the Son of the living God," so my power as such shall be shown +in building my Church upon thee whom I have long named the Rock, +"and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Not only this, +but I will unfold to thee the full meaning of thy name, and declare +the gifts which accompany it. "And[23] I will give to thee the keys +of the kingdom of heaven." That is, "The root and the offspring of +David," "the holy one and the true one, He that hath the key of +David; He that openeth and no man shutteth; shutteth and no man +openeth;" as He gave to thee to share His name of the Rock, so He +shall give to thee to bear in His name His own symbol of supreme +dominion, the key which opens or shuts the true city of David; all +ages shall own thee, all nations acknowledge thee, as _The Bearer of +the Keys_; as long as my Church shall last, against which the gates +of hell shall not prevail, thy office shall last too; as long as +there are souls to be saved, they shall pass by thy ministry into +the gate of the Church. And further, as long as there need in my +spiritual kingdom laws to be promulgated, precepts issued, sins +forgiven, "whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound +also in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall +be loosed also in heaven." + +Who, indeed, can adequately express the gifts which the world's +Creator and Redeemer here promises to His favoured servant? Thus in +the fourth century S. Chrysostome labours to set them forth. "See +how He raises Peter to a higher opinion of Himself; and reveals and +shews Himself to be the Son of God by these two promises. For what +belongs to God alone, to loose sins, and to render the Church +immovable in such an assault of waves, and to make a fisherman more +solid than any rock, when the whole world was at war with him, these +are what He promises to give him; as the Father addressing Jeremias, +said: 'I have made thee an iron pillar and a wall,' but him to one +nation, whereas the other to the whole world. Willingly would I ask +those who wish to diminish the dignity of the Son, which are the +greatest gifts, those which the Father gave to Peter, or those which +the Son. For the Father bestowed on Peter the revelation of the Son; +but the Son disseminated that of the Father and of Himself through +the whole world; and _put into the hands of a mortal man power over +all things in heaven, when He gave the keys to him_ who extended the +Church through the whole world, and showed it to be firmer than the +heaven."[24] And not many years later S. Leo says, "That which the +Truth ordered remains; and blessed Peter persisting in that strength +of the rock which he received, has not deserted the guidance, once +undertaken, of the Church. For thus was he set before the rest, that +while he is called the Rock, while he is declared to be the +foundation, while he is appointed the door-keeper of the kingdom of +heaven, while he is advanced to be the judge of what shall be bound +and what loosed, with the condition that his sentence shall be +ratified even in heaven, _we might learn through the very mysteries +of the names given to him, how he was associated with Christ_."[25] +This association passed, indeed, into the very mind of the Church, +for among all the titles given by fathers and councils and liturgies +to Peter, and expressing his prerogatives, the one contained in this +name is the most frequent. Thus he is termed, [26]"the rock of the +Church," [27]"the rock of the Church that was to be built," +[28]"underlying the building of the Church," [29]"receiving on +himself the building of the Church," [30]"the immovable rock," +[31]"the rock which the proud gates of hell prevail not against," +[32]"the most solid rock," [33]"he to whom the Lord granted the +participation of His own title, the rock," [34]"the foundation +second from Christ," [35]"the great foundation of the Church," +[36]"the foundation and basis," [37]"founding the Church by his +firmness," [38]"the support of the Church," [39]"the Apostle in whom +is the Church's support," [40]"the support of the faith," [41]"the +pillar of the Church," and by an authority sufficient alone to +terminate all controversy, the great Council of Chalcedon,[42] "the +rock and foundation of the Catholic Church, and the basis of the +orthodox faith."[43] + +Thus, then, we have the name of Peter first promised, next +conferred, then explained. And further light will be shed on this by +the consideration of the purpose for which names in Holy Writ were +bestowed by divine command on individuals, or their former names +changed. + +Now[44] of names imposed in Scripture there would seem to be three +classes. The first and most common are _commemorative_, and are for +the purpose of recording and handing down to posterity remarkable +facts. Such are Peleg, "because in his days the earth was +_divided_;" Isaac, from the _laughter_ of his father and mother; +Issachar, a _reward_; Manasseh, "God hath made me to _forget_ my +labours;" Ephraim, "God hath made me to _grow_;"[45] and a multitude +of others. + +The second class may be termed _significative_, being imposed to +distinguish their bearers from others by some quality. Such are +Jacob, the supplanter; Esau; Edom, the red; Moses, the taken or +saved; Maccabæus; Boanerges.[46] + +The third and highest class are _prophetic_, and as such evidently +can be imposed by God alone, who foresees the future. They are +two-fold: i. Those which foresignify events concerning not so much +their bearers as others; such are Shear-jashub, "the remnant shall +return;" Jezrael "I will visit;" Lo-ruhamah, "not pitied;" Lo-ammi, +"not my people." ii. Those which point out the office and destiny +of their bearers; such as Noah, rest; Israel, a prince before God; +Joshua, Saviour; Sarah, princess; John, in whom there is grace; and, +after the divine name of Jesus, "who saves His people from their +sins,"[47] Abraham, and Cephas, or Peter, which two neither +commemorate a past event, nor signify a quality or ornament already +possessed, but are wholly prophetic, inasmuch as they shadow out the +dignity to which the leaders of the two covenants are divinely +marked out by the very imposition of their name. + +For it will perhaps bring out the pre-eminence and superior +authority of Peter, if we consider the very close resemblance and +almost identity of the dispensation into which God entered with +Abraham, and that which Christ gave to Peter. But first we must +observe how the more remarkable things occurring in the New +Testament were foretold by types, images, parallelisms, and distinct +prophecies in the Old. How[48] both our Lord, the Evangelists, and +the Apostles, take pains to point out the close agreement between +the two covenants; how the ancient ecclesiastical writers do the +like in their contests with early heretics, or in recommending the +truth of the Christian faith either to Jew or Gentile. They +considered scarcely any proof of the Gospel superior to that which +might be drawn by grave and solid inference from the anticipation of +Christian truths in the old covenant. Now, among such truths, what +concerns Peter is surely of signal importance, as it affects the +whole judgment on the form of government which our Lord instituted +for His Church. + +Again, it may be taken as an axiom that, as a similitude of causes +is inferred from a similitude of effects, so a resemblance of the +divine counsels may be inferred from a resemblance of exterior +manifestations. As effects are so many steps by which we rise to the +knowledge and discernment of causes, so divine manifestations are +tokens which unfold God's eternal decrees. Thus if the series of +dealings which constitute God's dispensation to Abraham be very much +like that other series in which the Scriptures of the New Testament +set forth the dispensation given to Peter, we may conclude, first, +that the two dispensations may be compared, and, secondly, that from +their resemblance, a resemblance in the divine purpose may be +deduced. + +First,[49] then, "God at sundry times, and in divers manners, +speaking to the Fathers" of that covenant of grace, into which He +had already entered with our first parents, said to Abram, "Go forth +out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and out of thy father's +house, and I will make of thee a great nation." But when in the last +days He began to fulfil that covenant, and to declare His will by +His Son, Jesus said to Simon and Andrew, "Follow me, and I will make +you to become fishers of men," and to Simon specially, "Fear not, +for henceforth thou shalt catch men."[50] + +Abram hearkened to God calling him: "So Abram went out as the Lord +had commanded him;" and Simon as readily obeyed Christ's vocation: +"And immediately leaving their nets they followed Him."[51] + +God rewarded Abraham's obedience by the promise of a new name: +"Neither shall thy name be called any more Abram, but thou shalt be +called Abraham." So Christ honoured Simon, saying, "Thou art Simon, +the son of Jonas, thou shalt be called Cephas."[52] + +No sooner had God unfolded the dignity shadowed forth in the +promised name, and bestowed that dignity on Abraham, than He +required of him a signal instance of faith and love: "God tempted +Abraham, and said to him, Take thy son, thine only begotten, whom +thou lovest, and offer him for a holocaust." So Christ required of +Simon a proof of faith and of superior love before He either +unfolded the excellence of the promised name, or adorned him with +that excellency: "He saith to them, Whom say ye that I am?" "Simon, +son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?"[53] + +And both were no less ready to show the fortitude of their faith and +love than they had been ready to follow the divine calling. For, +"Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the sword to sacrifice +his son;" and "Simon Peter answering, said, Thou art the Christ, the +Son of the living God;" and again, "Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I +love Thee."[54] + +Then, as the bestowal of the new name was the reward of the +obedience with which each had followed his vocation, so God, moved +by their remarkable ensuing faith and charity, explained the dignity +contained in that name, and bestowed it when so explained. The +following refers to the explanation; "By myself have I sworn, +because thou hast done this thing," and "Because flesh and blood +hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I +say unto thee." + +But as to the dignity bestowed, it should be remarked that it is +divine, and communicated to each with this resemblance: _First_, +that Abraham thereby becomes the source and parent of all the +faithful, and Peter their base and foundation; the one, the author +of a seed which should equal in number the stars of the heaven and +the sand of the sea; the other, the Rock of the Church, which should +embrace all nations, tribes, and languages. God says to Abraham, +"And multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven and +as the sand which is on the sea-shore." But Christ to Peter, "and +upon this rock I will build my Church." _Secondly_, the blessing +thus bestowed from above upon each was not one which should rest in +their single persons, but from them and through them should be +extended to the universal posterity and society of the faithful; so +that all who should believe, to the consummation of time, should +gain through them blessing, stability, and victory over the assault +of enemies and the gates of hell. The promise to Abraham is clear: +"thy seed shall possess the gate of their enemies, and in thy seed +shall all the nations of the earth be blessed:" nor less so to +Peter, "And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." + +But the high excellence of this dignity, embracing, as it does, the +whole company of the faithful, was presignified in the very meaning +of the name imposed. For of Abraham's name we read, "And thy name +shall be Abraham, for a father of many nations have I made thee." +Exactly resembling is what is said of Peter's appellation, "Thou art +Peter, the Rock, and upon this rock I will build my Church." + +Nay, we may put in parallel columns the two promises, thus-- + + 1. Thy name shall be 1. Thou art Peter, + Abraham, + + 2. For a father of many 2. And upon this rock I + nations have I made thee: will build my Church. + +And just as in the former, the second clause contains the reason of +the first, so in the latter likewise the two clauses cohere, as the +name and its explanation. Again, the dignity of the one is expressed +as that of the Father; of the other as that of the Rock. Further, +those alone can share the blessing of Abraham, who are born of his +spirit: and those alone the stability divinely granted to Peter, who +refuse by any violence, or at any cost, to be separated from him. + +But Abraham was thus raised to be the friend of God, associated in +the divine Fathership, and made the teacher of posterity; and +therefore, as being such, God would show him His counsels, that +through him they might descend to his children. "And the Lord said, +Can I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? for I know that he +will command his children and his household after him to keep the +way of the Lord." In a precisely similar way, when God would call +the Gentiles to the light of the Gospel, He shewed it by a special +revelation to Peter alone: "There came upon him an ecstasy of mind; +and he saw the heaven opened; and this was done thrice." And the +reason of so preferring Peter was God's decree, that through him all +other Christians, even the Apostles themselves, might be informed, +and convinced. "You know that in former days God made choice among +us that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the Gospel +and believe." "And thou, when thou art converted, confirm thy +brethren."[55] + +Finally, as God pronounces Abraham blest, so Christ pronounces +Peter; and as He made Abraham the source and fountain-head of +blessing and strength to all others, so no less did Christ make +Peter. Of the first we read, "I will bless thee, and will make thy +name great, and thou shalt be a blessing;" of the second, "Blessed +art thou, Simon Bar Jonah;--and upon this rock I will build My +Church." + +In one word, the parallel is as follows between Abraham and Peter. +Both receive a remarkable call, and follow it; both are promised and +receive a new, and that a prophetical name; of both signal instances +of faith and love are required; both furnish these, and therefore do +not lose the increase of their reward; to Abraham his prophetical +name is explained, and to Peter likewise; Abraham understands his +destination to be the Father of all nations, and Peter that he is +made the Rock of the universal Church; Abraham is called blest, and +so Peter; to Abraham it is revealed that no one, save from him, and +through him, shall share the heavenly blessing; to Peter that all, +from him, and through him, shall gain strength and stability; it is +only through Abraham that his posterity can promise itself victory +over the enemy, and only through being built on Peter, the Rock, +that the Church will triumph over the gates of hell; in fine, if +Abraham, as the teacher of the faithful, is instructed in the divine +counsels with singular care, not less is shown to Peter, whom Christ +has made the doctor and teacher of all believers. + +The gifts thus bestowed on Abraham and Peter are _peculiar_, for +they are read of no one else in the Holy Scriptures; they are not +only _gifts_, but a _reward_ for singular merit; and in their own +nature they cannot be _general_. As by them Abraham is put into a +relation of _Fathership_, so that all the faithful become his +children, so Peter being called and made the Rock and _Foundation_ +of the Church, all its members have a dependence on him. + +And if these gifts are _peculiar_, no less do they convey a singular +_dignity_ and _pre-eminence_. For it follows that, as S. Paul +says,[56] that all the faithful are children of Abraham, being heirs +not of his flesh, but of his spirit and faith; so no one is, or can +be, a part of the Church's building, who rests not on Peter as the +foundation. For the same God who said to Abraham, "Thy name shall no +longer be called Abram, but Abraham shall be thy name," said also to +Simon, "Thou shalt not be called Simon, but Cephas;" the same God +who said to the former, "In thee shall all families of the earth be +blessed," said to the latter, "Upon this Rock I will build my +Church." + +What is the source of this pre-eminence in both? To both the same +objection may be made, and for both the same defence. + +How should blessing and adoption be propagated from Abraham, as a +sort of head, into the whole body of the faithful? Because Abraham +is considered as joined with that mighty Seed his offspring, whence +_in chief_ and _primarily_ the salvation of all depends; because +Abraham is made by _participation_ partner of that dignity which +_naturally_ and _substantially_ belongs to the Seed that was to +spring from him. God Himself has told us this, and His Apostle S. +Paul explained it. For as we read that it was said to Abraham, "In +thee shall all nations of the earth be blessed," so God Himself has +told us that _in thee, by thee_, means _in, by thy seed_. Hence S. +Paul:[57] "To Abraham were the promises made, and to his seed. He +saith not, seeds, as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which +is Christ." So that the divine words, "In thee shall all nations of +the earth be blessed," give this meaning: "As thou shalt give flesh +to my only begotten Son whom I cherish in my bosom, whence He shall +be called at once 'the Son of God and the Son of Abraham,'[58] so He +makes thee a partner of His dignity and excellence, whence, if not +the source and origin, yet thou shalt be a broad stream of blessing +to be poured out on all nations." + +Now just in the same manner is Peter the Rock of the Church, and the +cause next to Christ of that firmness with which the Church shall +remain impregnable to the end. For therefore is he the Rock and +Foundation of the Church, because he has been called into a sort of +unity with Him of whom it is said, "Behold I lay in Sion a chief +corner stone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on it shall not +be ashamed:" and in whom, as Paul explains, "the whole building +fitly framed together increaseth unto a holy temple in the +Lord."[59] Therefore is he the Church's Rock, because as he, by his +own confession, declared the Godhead of the Foundation in chief, +"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," so from Him, who +is the chief and substantial Foundation, he received the gift of +being made partner in one and the same property: "And I too say unto +thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my +Church;" one with Me by communication of My office and charge, My +dignity and excellency. Hence the stability of Peter is that of +Christ, as the splendour of the ray is that of the sun; Peter's +dignity that of Christ, as the river's abundance is the abundance of +the fountain. Those who diminish Peter's dignity may well be charged +with violating the majesty of Christ; those who are hostile to +Peter, and divorced from him, stand in the like opposition to +Christ. + +Now this parallel is an answer[60] to those who object to Peter's +supereminence as the Foundation, that this dignity is entirely +divine, surpassing by an almost infinite degree the capacity of man. +For is not that a divine dignity which consists in the paternity of +all the faithful? Is not that prerogative beyond man's capacity by +which one becomes the author of a blessing diffused through all +nations? Yet no one denies that such a dignity and such a +prerogative were granted to Abraham. In divine endowments, +therefore, their _full_ and _natural possession_ must be carefully +distinguished from their _limited_ and _analogous participation_. +The one, as inherent, cannot fall to the creature's lot; the other, +as transferable, may be granted as God pleases. For what further +removed from man than the Godhead? Yet it is written, "I have said, +ye are Gods."[61] + +Not weightier is the other objection, that the office of being the +Foundation is too important to be entrusted to human care. Was there +less difficulty in blessing being diffused from one man among all +nations? Rather we must look on man not as he is by, and of, +himself, apart from God, and left to his own weakness, but as +upborne by divine power, according to the promise, "Behold, I am +with you all days, until the consummation of the world." Who can +doubt that man, in union with God, may serve for a foundation, and +discharge those offices in which the unity of a structure consists? +It is confidently and constantly objected, that "other foundation no +man can lay beside that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ."[62] +As if what has been laid by Christ Himself, and consists in the +virtue of Christ alone, can be thought other than Christ; or as if +it were unusual, or unscriptural, for things proper to Christ to be +participated by men. Therefore the chief difficulties against +Peter's pre-eminence, and character as the Foundation, seem to +spring from the mind failing to realise the supernatural order +instituted by God, and the perpetual presence of Christ watching +over His Church. + +Thus it is no derogation to Abraham's being the Father of the +faithful, or to the hierarchy of the Church instituted by Christ +Himself, that our Lord says,[63] "Call none your father upon earth, +for one is your Father who is in heaven;" inasmuch as Scripture +abundantly proves that divine gifts are richly conferred upon men. +What more divine than the Holy Spirit? Yet it is written,[64] "And I +will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, that +He may abide with you for ever." What a higher privilege than filial +adoption? Yet it is said, [65]"Ye have received the spirit of filial +adoption, by which we cry, Abba Father." What a greater treasure +than co-inheritance with Christ? Yet we read, [66]"but if children, +also heirs: heirs of God, but joint heirs with Christ." What higher +than the vision of God? Yet S. Paul bears witness, [67]"We see now +through a glass darkly, but then face to face." What more wonderful +than the power of remitting sins? Yet this very power is granted to +the Apostles, [68]"Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven +them." What further from human weakness than the power of working +miracles? Yet Christ establishes this, [69]"Amen, amen, I say unto +you, he that believeth on Me, the works which I do, shall he do +also, and greater works than these shall he do." Indeed, the +participation and communion of heavenly gifts have the closest +coherence with that supernatural order, which God in creating man +chose, and to which He called fallen man back through His only +begotten Son; with that dispensation of Christ by which He loved the +Apostles as He Himself was loved by the Father, by which He called +them, [70]"not servants, but friends," and gave them that glory +which He had Himself received from the Father. And the tone of mind +which denies Peter's prerogative as the Foundation of the Church, +under pretence that it is an usurpation of divine power, tends to +deny some one or all of the privileges just cited, and, as a fact, +does deny some of them. It is [71]wonderful to see how only common +and vulgar things are discerned by modern eyes, where the Fathers +saw celestial and divine gifts. Those without the Church have fallen +away as well from the several parts and privileges, from what may be +called the standing order, of the Incarnation, as from its final +purpose and scope; and it is much if they would not charge with +blasphemy that glorious saying put forth by the greatest of the +Eastern, as by the greatest of the Western Fathers, "that God became +man, in order that man might become God."[72] + +Was, then, S. Chrysostome wrong when he said that our Lord, in that +passage of Matthew, showed a power equal to God the Father by the +gifts which He bestowed on a poor fisherman? "He who gave to him the +keys of the heavens, and made him Lord of such power, and needed not +prayer for this, for He did not then say, I prayed, but, with +authority, I will build my Church, and I will give to thee the keys +of heaven."[73] Was he wrong when he called him "the chosen of the +Apostles, the mouth-piece of the disciples, the head of the band, +the ruler over the brethren?"[74] Or where he saw these prerogatives +in the very name of Peter, observing, "When I say Peter, I mean the +impregnable rock, the immovable foundation, the great apostle, the +first of the disciples?"[75] + +To sum up, then, what has been hitherto said, we have advanced so +far as this; first the promise, and then the bestowal of a new name, +expressing a singular pre-eminence, and in its _proper_ sense +befitting Christ alone, have distinguished Simon from the rest of +the apostles. But much more the power signified by that name, and +explained by the Lord Himself, carries far higher Peter's privilege, +and indicates him to be the possessor of authority over the +Apostles. For if Simon is the Rock of the Church, and if the +property of Foundation, on which the structure of the Church rests, +belongs to him immediately after Christ, and analogously with +Christ, there arises this relation between Christ and Simon, that as +He is first, and chiefly, and by inherent power, so Simon is +secondarily, by participation and analogy, that which underlies, +holds together, and supports the Apostles and the whole fabric of +the Church. + +Now such a relation carries with it not merely precedency of honour, +but superior authority. The strength of the Apostles lay in their +union with Christ, and subordination to Him. The like necessity of +adhering to Peter is expressed in his new name. Take away that +subordination, and you destroy the very image by which the Lord +chose to express Peter's dignity; and you remove, likewise, Peter's +participation in that property which the Lord communicated to him in +the name of the Rock. For if the Apostles needed not to be joined +with him, he had no title to be called the Foundation; and if he had +no coactive power over the Apostles, he did not share the property +by which Christ is the Rock and Foundation. Thus the name, and the +dignity expressed by the name, show Peter to have been singly +invested by the Lord with both honour and power superior to all the +Apostles.[76] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] John xvii. + +[2] Matt. xvi. 18. + +[3] Matt. xxviii. 19, 20. + +[4] Matt. v. 14; Psalm xlvii. 2; cxxxi. 13, 14. + +[5] 1 Tim. iii. 15. + +[6] John x. 11-16. + +[7] Eph. v. 32, 30. + +[8] Mark iii. 13. + +[9] Dan. ix. 26. + +[10] 1 John i. 1. + +[11] Luke xxii. 26. + +[12] Vid. John i. 42; Mark iii. 16; Matt. xvi. 18; Luke xxii. 32; +John xxi. 15. + +[13] Passaglia, p. 35-7. + +[14] John i. 35-42. + +[15] S. Chrysostome on the text. S. Cyril on John i. 42. + +[16] Isai. xxviii. 16; Ps. cxvii. 22; Dan. ii. 35; Zach. iii. 9; +Eph. ii. 20. + +[17] Theodoret on Dan. ii. 34. + +[18] Ambrose on Luke, Lib. 6, n. 97. + +[19] Serm. iv. 2. + +[20] For the name Boanerges, which in one place is given to the two +sons of Zebedy, is in the first place a joint name; secondly, it is +nowhere else referred to, and does not take the place of their +birth-names; thirdly, it indicates not an official dignity, but an +inward disposition. We cannot doubt that such a name bestowed on the +two brothers was a mark of great distinction, but, for the above +reasons, it cannot come into competition with the name of Peter. See +Passaglia, p. 44, n. 38. + +[21] Mark iii. 14; Matt. x. 1; Luke vi. 14. + +[22] Cont. Marcion. L. 4, c. 13. + +[23] Apoc. xxii. 16; iii. 7. + +[24] S. Chris. on Matt. 16, Hom. 54. + +[25] S. Leo, Serm. 3 on his anniversary. + +[26] Hilary of Poitiers on Matt. xv. n. 6; on Ps. cxxxi. n. 4; on +the Trinity, L. 6, n. 20. Gregory Naz. Orat. 26, p. 453. Ambrose in +his first hymn, referred to also by Augustine, Retract. lib. 1, c. +21, and Epiph. in ancor. n. 9. + +[27] Tertullian de monogam. c. 8. Origen on Ps. 1, quoted by +Eusebius, Hist. I. 6, c. 25. Cyprian, Ep. 71, and Firmilian, among +Cyprian's letters, 75. + +[28] Basil cont. Eunom. lib. 2, n. 4. Zeno. lib. 2, tract. 13, n. 2. + +[29] By the same. + +[30] Epiphan. hær. 59, n. 7. + +[31] August. in Ps. cont. par. Donati. Leo, serm. 98. + +[32] Theodoret, ep. 77. + +[33] Maximus of Turin, serm. pro natali Petri et Pauli. + +[34] Greg. Nazian. in hom. archieratico inserta. + +[35] Origen on Exod. hom. 5, n. 4. + +[36] Gallican sacramentary, edited by Mabillon, T. I. Mus. Ital. p. +343. Synod of Ephesus, act. 3. + +[37] Peter Chrysologus, serm. 154. + +[38] Ambrose on Virginity, c. 16. + +[39] Ambrose on Luke, lib. 4, n. 70. + +[40] Chrysostome, hom. on debtor of ten thousand talents, Tom. 3, p. +4. + +[41] Philip, legate of the Apostolic See, in Act. 3 of Council of +Ephesus. + +[42] Council of Chalcedon, act. 3. in deposing Dioscorus. + +[43] For the above references see Passaglia, p. 400. + +[44] Vid. Passaglia, p. 54, note 47. + +[45] Gen. x. 25; xvii. 19; xxx. 18; xii. 51, 52. + +[46] Gen. xxv. 26; xxvii. 36; xxv. 25; xxv. 30; Exod. ii. 10; 1 +Macc. ii. 4; Mark iii. 17. + +[47] Isai. vii. 3; Os. i. 4, 6, 9; Gen. v. 29; xxxii. 28; Numb. +xiii. 17; Gen. xvii. 15; Matt. iii. 1. + +[48] Passaglia, p. 51. + +[49] Passaglia, p. 52. + +[50] Gen. xii. 1; Mark 1. 16, 17; Luke v. 10. + +[51] Gen. xii. 4; Mark i. 18. + +[52] Gen. xvii. 5; John i. 42. + +[53] Gen. xxii. 1; Matt. xvi. 15; John xxi. 15. + +[54] Gen. xxii. 10; Matt. xvi. 16; John xxi. 15. + +[55] Gen. xviii. 17; Acts x. 10; xv. 7; Luke xxii. 32. + +[56] Gal. iii. 7. + +[57] Gal. iii. 16. + +[58] Matt. i. 1. + +[59] Is. xxviii. 16; Eph. ii. 21. + +[60] Passaglia, p. 58. + +[61] Ps. lxxxii. 6, with John x. 34. + +[62] 1 Cor. iii. 11. + +[63] Matt. xxiii. 9. + +[64] John xiv. 16. + +[65] Rom. viii. 15. + +[66] Rom. viii. 17. + +[67] 1 Cor. xiii. 12. + +[68] John xx. 23. + +[69] John xiv. 12. + +[70] John xv. 9, 15. + +[71] Passaglia, p. 442. n. 38. + +[72] O tou Theou Logos enênthrhôpêsen hina hêmeis +theopoiêthômen. St. Athan. de Incarn. Factus est Deus homo, ut homo +fieret deus. St. Aug. Serm. 13, de Temp. + +[73] S. Chrys. Tom. vii. 786. Hom. 82, in Matt. + +[74] Tom. viii. 525. Hom. 88, in Joan. + +[75] Hom. 3, de Poenitentia. Tom. ii. 300. + +[76] Passaglia, p. 48, 9. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +EDUCATION AND FINAL DESIGNATION OF PETER TO BE THE RULER WHO SHOULD +CONFIRM HIS BRETHREN. + + +Having promised[1] and bestowed on Simon a new name, prophetic of +the peculiar position which he was to occupy in the Church, and +having set forth the meaning contained in that name in terms so +large and magnificent, that, as we have seen, the greatest saints +and fathers have felt it impossible to exhaust their force, our Lord +proceeded to _educate_ Peter, so to say, for his especial charge of +supreme ruler. He bestowed upon him, in the course of His ministry, +tokens of preference which agree with the title thus solemnly +conferred; and He instructed him with all the care which we should +expect to be given to one who was to become the chief doctor of +Christians. Such instruction may be said to consist in two things, a +more complete knowledge of the Christian revelation, and a singular +apprehension of its divine proofs. + +Now, innumerable as are the particulars in which the Christian +revelation consists, they may yet be gathered up mainly into two +points, which meet in the Person of our Lord, and are termed by the +ancient fathers who have followed this division, the _Theology_, and +the _Economy_. There is the Divine Nature, that "_form of God_," +which our Lord had from the beginning in the bosom of the Father; +and there is the human nature, that "_form of a servant_," which "in +the economy or dispensation of the fulness of times" He assumed, in +order that He might purchase the Church with His blood, and[2] +"re-establish all things in heaven and on earth." All, therefore, +in the Christian faith which concerns "the form of God" is termed +the Theology; all which contemplates "_the form of a servant_," the +Economy. + +But the heavenly origin and certain truth of both these parts of +Christian faith are proved partly by the fulfilment of prophecy, and +partly by the working of miracles. To both our Lord perpetually +appealed, and His apostles after Him, and those who have followed +them. One, then, who was to be the chief ruler and doctor of +Christians, needed especial instruction in the Theology, and +Economy, especial assurance of the fulfilment of prophecy, and the +working of miraculous power. Now Peter was specially selected for +this instruction and that assurance. + +The whole teaching of our Lord, indeed, and the innumerable acts of +power and words of grace with which it was fraught, were calculated +to convey these to all the Apostles. But while they were witnesses +in common of that teaching in general, some parts of it were +disclosed only to Peter and the two sons of Zebedy. Perhaps there is +no incident in the Gospel history, which set forth in so lively a +manner, and so convincingly proved, the mysteries concerning the +union of "the form of God" and "the form of a servant," as the +Transfiguration. The retreat to the "high mountain apart," and in +the midst of that solitary prayer, "the face shining as the sun," +and "the robes white as light," the presence of Moses and Elias, +conversing with Him on the great sacrifice for sin, "the bright +cloud which encompassed them," and the voice from out of it, +proclaiming "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear +Him;" so impressed themselves on the great Apostle, that after long +years he appealed to them in proof that he and his brethren had not +taught "cunningly devised fables, when they made known the power +and presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, but had been eyewitnesses of +His majesty, when He received from God the Father honour and glory, +this voice coming down to Him from the excellent glory, 'This is my +beloved Son, in whom I have pleased myself: hear ye Him.' And this +voice we heard brought from heaven, when we were with Him in the +holy mount." Among all the Apostle's experience of the three years' +ministry, by the shore and on the waves of the lake of Galilee, in +the cornfields, or on the mountain side, in the noon-day heat, or +midnight storm, even in the throng which cried 'Hosannah!' and +'Crucify Him!' this stood out, until "the laying aside of his +fleshly tabernacle," as "the Lord had signified to Him."[3] For[4] +what indeed was not there? the plurality of persons in the Godhead, +the Father and the Son, the true, and not adopted, Sonship of the +latter, His divine mission unto men; the new order of things +resulting from it, and the summing up under one head of all things +in heaven and in earth; the sealing up and accomplishing of the law +and the prophets, by the presence of their representatives, Moses +and Elias, a most wonderful and transporting miracle; and the +command implicitly to obey Him in whom the Father was well pleased. +Thus the Transfiguration may be termed the summing up of the whole +Christian revelation. + +But now of this we read that "after six days Jesus taketh unto Him +_Peter_, and James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into +a high mountain apart." These three alone of the twelve. Yet does He +not associate the sons of Zebedy with Peter in this privilege? +Needful no doubt it was that so splendid an act should have a +suitable number of witnesses, and that as His future glory should +have[5] three witnesses from heaven, and as many from earth, so +this, its rudimental beginning, should be attested by three as from +heaven, God the Father, Moses, and Elias, and by three from earth, +Peter, James, and John. Dear to Him likewise, next to Peter, and +most privileged after Peter, were the sons of Zebedy; yet a +distinction is seen in the mode in which they are treated even when +joined together in so great a privilege. For in all the three +accounts Peter is named first; "He taketh to Him Peter, and James, +and John." They likewise are called by their birth-name, he by his +prophetic appellation of the Rock; they are silent, but he speaks; +"Peter answering, said;" nor only speaks, but in the name of all; +"It is good _for us_ to be here," as if their leader. And, fifthly, +he is named specially, they as his companions; "but Peter, _and they +that were with him_, were heavy with sleep."[6] Thus even when three +are associated in a special privilege above the Twelve, Peter is +distinguished among the three. + +But if there was one other occasion on which above all "the form of +the servant" was to be set forth in the most awful, and the most +endearing light, it was on that evening, "the hour" of evil men and +"the power of darkness," when "the righteous servant who should +justify many" was about to perform the great, central, crowning act +of His mediation. Then we read that "He said to His disciples, Sit +you here, till I go yonder and pray."[7] And then immediately +"taking with Him Peter, and the two sons of Zebedy, He began to grow +sorrowful and to be sad." Yet here again, even in the association +with the sons of Zebedy, Simon is distinguished, for he is named +first; and by the illustrious name of Peter, the Rock; and as the +leader of the others, for, says Matthew, Christ after His first +prayer, "comes to His disciples, and finds them sleeping, and _says +to Peter_, What, could _ye_ not watch with me one hour?" Why the +change of number, Peter in the singular, _ye_ in the plural? Why the +blame of Peter, involving the blame of the rest? Because the members +are censured in the head. + +In these two signal instances our Lord, while preferring Peter and +the two sons of Zebedy to the rest of the Twelve, yet marks a +gradation likewise between them and Peter. And these two set forth +the Theology and Economy, in the most emphatic manner. + +And as the supreme preceptor must not only be acquainted with the +truth which he has to deliver, but with the evidence on which it +rests, so is Peter specially made a witness of his Lord's "power and +presence" and "the works which no other man did." In that remarkable +miracle of raising to life the ruler of the synagogue's daughter we +read, "He admitted not any man to follow Him, but Peter and James, +and John the brother of James;"[8] where, as before, and always, +Peter is mentioned first, and by the prophetic name of his Primacy. + +From[9] all which we gather four points; 1. Several things are +mentioned in the Gospels which Christ gave to Peter, and not to the +rest of the Apostles: 2. But nothing which He gave to them together, +and not to Peter with them. 3. What He seemed to give to them in +common, yet accrue to Peter in a special manner, who appears among +the Apostles not as one out of the number, but their destined head, +by the name, that is, of Peter, so markedly promised, bestowed, and +wonderfully explained by our Lord, of which, as we have seen, S. +Chrysostome, an eastern Patriarch, as well as a great Saint and +Father, observed, "When I say Peter, I mean the impregnable Rock, +the immovable foundation, the great Apostle, the first of the +disciples." 4. Either we are not to take Christ's dealing as the +standard of Peter's dignity, and destination, or we must admit that +he was preferred to the rest, and made the supreme teacher of the +faithful. + +S. Matthew records the incidents of the officers asking for the +payment of the didrachma which all the children of Israel were bound +to contribute to the temple; and his words show us a fresh instance +of honour done to Peter, and a fresh note of his superiority. "When +they were come to Capharnaum, they that received the didrachma came +to Peter and said to him, Doth not your master pay the didrachma?"[10] +But why should they come to _him_, and ask, not if _his_ master, but +"your" master, the master of all the Apostles, paid the census, save +that it was apparent, even to strangers, that Peter was the first and +most prominent of the company? Why use him rather than any of the +others, for the purpose of approaching Christ? "As Peter seemed to be +first of the disciples," says S. Chrysostome, on the text, "they go to +him." The context naturally suggests this reason, and the ancient +commentators remarked it. But what follows is much more striking. +Peter answered, Yes, that is, that his master observed all the laws of +Moses, and this among the number. As he went home he purposed, no +doubt, to ask our Lord about this payment, but "when he was come +into the house Jesus prevented him," having in His omniscience seen +and heard all that had passed, and He proceeded to speak words +involving His own high dignity, followed by a singular trial of Peter's +faith, and as marked a reward of it when tried. "What thinkest thou, +Simon? The kings of the earth, of whom do they receive tribute or +custom? of their own children or of strangers? And he said, Of +strangers. Jesus said to him, Then the children are free." Slight +words in seeming, yet declaring in fact that most wonderful truth +which had formed so shortly before Peter's confession, and drawn +down upon him the yet unexhausted promise; for they expressed, I am +as truly the natural Son of that God, the Sovereign of the temple, for +whom this tribute is paid, as the children of earthly sovereigns, who +take tribute, are their sons by nature. Therefore by right I am free. +"But that we may not scandalize them, go to the sea and cast in a hook; +and that fish which shall first come up, take; and when thou hast opened +its mouth, thou shalt find a stater; take that and give it to them for +Me and thee." Declaring to His favoured disciple afresh that He is +the true, and not the adopted, Son of God, answering his thoughts by +anticipation, and expressing His knowledge of absent things by the +power of the Son of God, He tries his faith by the promise of a +fresh miracle, which involved a like exercise of divine power. +Peter, in proceeding to execute His command, must make that +confession afresh by deed, which he had made before by word, and +which his Lord had just repeated with His own mouth. How else could +he go to the lake expecting to draw at the first cast a fish in +whose mouth he should find a coin containing the exact amount due to +the temple for two persons? But what followed? What but a most +remarkable reward for the faith which he should show? "Take that and +give it to them for Me and thee." There are looks, there are tones +of the voice, which convey to us more than language. So, too, there +are acts so exceedingly suggestive, that without in any _formal_ way +proving, they carry with them the force of the strongest proof. And +so, perhaps, never did our Lord in a more marked manner _associate_ +Peter with Himself than here. It was a singular distinction which +could not fail to strike every one who heard it. Thus S. Chrysostome +exclaims,[11] "You see the exceeding greatness of the honour;" and +he adds, "wherefore, too, in reward for his faith He connected him +with Himself in the payment of the tribute;" and he remarks on +Peter's modesty, "for Mark, the disciple of Peter, seems not to have +recorded this incident, because it pointed out the great honour +bestowed on him; but he did record his denial, while he was silent +as to the points which made him conspicuous, his Master perhaps +begging him not to say great things about him." Indeed, _how_ could +one of the disciples be more signally pointed out than by this +incident, as "the faithful and wise steward, whom the Lord would set +over His household, to give them their portion of food in due time?" + +Other fathers, as well as S. Chrysostome, did not fail to see such a +meaning in this passage; but let us take the words of Origen as +pointing out the connection of this incident with the important +question following. His words are: "It seems to me that (the +disciples) considering this a very great honour which had been done +to Peter by Jesus, in having put him higher than the rest of His +disciples, they wished to make sure of what they suspected by asking +Jesus and hearing His answer, whether, as they conceived, He judged +Peter to be greater than them; and they also hoped to learn the +cause for which Peter was preferred to the rest of the disciples. +Matthew, then, wishing to signify this by these words, "take that +and give it to them for Me and thee," added, "on that day the +disciples came to Jesus, saying, Who, thinkest thou, is the greater +in the kingdom of heaven?"[12] + +For, indeed, why should they immediately ask this question? The +preceding incident furnishes a natural and sufficient cause. The +Apostles, it seems, were urged by the plainness of Christ's words +and acts to inquire who among them should have the chief authority. +Who will not agree with S. Chrysostome: "The Apostles were touched +with a human infirmity, which the Evangelist too signifies in the +words, 'in that hour,' when He had honoured him (Peter) before them +all. For though of James and John one of the two was the +first-born," (alluding to an opinion that the tax was paid by the +first-born,) "He did nothing like it for them. Hence, being ashamed, +they confessed their excitement of mind, and do not say plainly, Why +hast thou preferred Peter to us? Is he greater than we are? For this +they did not dare; but they ask indefinitely, Who is the greater? +For when they saw three preferred to the rest, they felt nothing +like this; but when one received so great an honour, they were +pained. Nor were they kindled by this alone, but by putting together +many other things. For He had said to him, 'I will give to thee the +keys,' and 'Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona,' and here 'Give it to +them for Me and for thee;' and also they were pricked at seeing his +confidence and freedom of speech."[13] + +Thus their question, if it did not express, at least suggested this +meaning, "Speak more plainly and distinctly whether Peter is to be +the greater and the chief in the Church, and accordingly among us," +and so they seem to have drawn from our Lord's act a conclusion +which they did not see in the promising or bestowing the prophetic +name of Peter, nor even in the promises conveyed in explaining that +name, and were vexed at the preference shown to him. + +And if [14]any be inclined to conclude from hence that our Lord's +words and acts to Peter had not been of any marked significancy, +they should be reminded that the very clearest and plainest things +were sometimes not understood by the Apostles, before the descent of +the Holy Spirit on them. This was specially the case with the things +which they were disinclined to believe. Thus our Lord again and +again foretold to them His passion in express terms, but we are +told, "they understood none of these things."[15] He foretold, too, +His resurrection, yet they did not the least expect it, and they +became at length fully assured of the fact before they remembered +the prediction. Strange as these things seem, yet probably +everyone's private experience will furnish him with similar +instances of a veil being cast upon his eyes, which prevented his +discerning the most evident things, towards which there was +generally some secret disinclination. + +But [16]how did our Lord answer their question? Did He remove at +once the ground of their jealousy by declaring that in the kingdom +of heaven no one should have pre-eminence of dignity, but the +condition of all be equal? On the contrary, He condemns ambition and +enjoins humility, but likewise gives such a turn to His discourse as +to insinuate that there would be one pre-eminent over the +rest.[17] "Jesus calling unto Him a little child, set him in the +midst of them, and said, Amen I say unto you, unless you be +converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into +the kingdom of heaven." Then He adds, "whosoever therefore shall +humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the +kingdom of heaven." Thus He did not exclude the pre-eminence of that +"greater one," about which they asked, but pointed out what his +character ought to be. But this will be much clearer from a like +enquiry, and the answer to it, recorded by S. Luke. + +For even at the last supper, our Lord having told them that He +should be betrayed, and was going to leave them in the way +determined for Him, there was not only an enquiry among them which +of them should do that thing, but also, so keenly were their minds +as yet, before the coming down of the Holy Spirit, alive to the +desire of pre-eminence, and so strongly were they persuaded that +such a superior had not been excluded by Christ, but rather marked +out and ordained, "there was a strife among them which of them +should seem to be greater." Now our Lord meets their contention +thus: "The [18]kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and they +that have power over them are called beneficent. But you not so; but +he that is the greater among you, let him become as the younger; and +he that is the leader, as he that serveth. For which is greater, he +that sitteth at table, or he that serveth? Is not he that sitteth at +table? But I am in the midst of you as he that serveth. And you are +they who have continued with Me in my temptations; and I dispose to +you, as My Father hath disposed to Me, a kingdom; that you may eat +and drink at My table in My kingdom; and may sit upon thrones +judging the twelve tribes of Israel." + +Now [19]in this speech of our Lord we may remark four points:-- + +1. What is omitted, though it would seem most apposite to be said; + +2. What is affirmed, if not expressly, yet by plain consequence; + +3. What comparison is used in illustration; + +4. What meets with censure and rejection. + +1. First, then, though the Apostles had twice before contended about +pre-eminence, yet our Lord neither there, nor here, said openly that +He would not prefer any one over the rest, nor appoint any one to be +their leader. Yet the importance of the subject, His own wisdom, and +His love towards His disciples, as well as His usual mode of acting, +seemed to demand, that had it been His will for no one of them to be +set over the rest, He should plainly declare it, and thus extinguish +all strife. No less a matter was at issue than the harmony of the +Apostles with each other, the peace of the Church, and the success +of the divine counsel for its government. Moreover, the Gospels +represent Him to us as continually removing doubts, clearing up +perplexities, and correcting wrong judgments among His disciples. +Let us recall to remind a very similar occasion, when the mother of +the sons of Zebedy with her children came before Him asking "that +these my two sons may sit the one on thy right hand and the other on +thy left, in thy kingdom." He rejected their prayer at once, saying, +"To sit on My right or My left hand is not mine to give to you, but +to them for whom it is prepared by My Father."[20] The silence, +therefore, of Christ here, under such circumstances, is a proof that +it was not the divine will that all the Apostles should be in such a +sense equal that no one of them should hold a superior authority +over the rest. + +2. But eloquent as this silence is, we are not left to trust to it +alone, for our Lord's words point out, besides, the institution of +one superior. "The kings of the Gentiles," He says, "lord it over +them; and they that have power over them are called benefactors. But +you not so: but he that is the greater among you, let him become as +the younger; and he that is the leader, as he that serveth." _A +greater_ and _a leader_, then, _there was to be_. Our Lord's words +contain two parallel propositions repeated. 1. There is among you +one who is the greater, let him, then, be as the younger. 2. There +is among you one who is the leader, let him be as he that serveth. +Thus our Lord's meaning is most distinct that they should have a +superior. + +But in the very similar passage about the sons of Zebedy, lest any +should conclude that no one of the Apostles was to be superior to +the rest, He called them to Him and said, "You know that the princes +of the Gentiles lord it over them, and they that are the greater +exercise power upon them. It shall not be so among you, but +whosoever will be the greater among you, let him be your minister; +and he that will be the first among you shall be your servant. Even +as the Son of man is not come to be ministered unto, but to +minister, and to give His life a redemption for many." Where He +tells them His will, not that no one of the Apostles should be +"great" and "first," but what the type and model should be which +that "great" and "first" one should imitate, even the Son of man who +came to minister. + +3. For to make this quite certain, there, and here too, He directs +us to a particular comparison, by which He explains and concludes +His discourse, "For who is greater, he that sitteth at table, or he +that serveth? Is not he that sitteth at table? But I am among you as +he that serveth.--And I dispose unto you as My Father disposed unto +Me, a kingdom." Here our Lord sets Himself before His Apostles as +the exemplar both of the rule which the superior was to exercise, +and of the temper and character which he was to shew. As He had been +speaking of the kingdoms of the Gentiles, so He now points out to +them in contrast the true kingdom which He was disposing unto them. +The Church as it had been from the beginning, was to be the model of +what it should be to the end. Now all confess that in that Church +Christ had held the place of "the First," "the Great one," "the +Ruler." And now He explains that one of His Apostles should occupy +that place of His, and occupying it should be of a like temper with +Himself, who had been the minister and servant of all. And it may be +remarked that the same word is here applied to him who should _rule_ +among the disciples, which expresses the dignity of Christ Himself +in the prophecy of Micah, quoted in Matt. ii. 6, "Out of thee shall +go forth[21] _the ruler_, who shall be shepherd over my people +Israel." For Christ says, "He that is the greater among you let him +be as the younger; and _he that ruleth_ as he that serveth. _For_, +who is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he who serveth? But I am +among you as he that serveth." "I dispose to you a kingdom: as My +Father disposed to Me:" let him who follows Me in place, follow Me +in character. + +But, 4, what does our Lord censure and reject from His Church? It is +plain that He compares kingdom with kingdom, and the kingdom of +heaven, which is the Church, with human kingdoms, and, moreover, +that the negative quality as to which, in the clause, "But you not +so," the two are compared, is, _not_ the fact that there is +pre-eminence and rule in both, but a certain _mode_ of exercising +them. This is, the pomp and ambition expressed in the words, +"lording it," "exercising authority," "are called benificent." As +again is shewn in the repeated declaration that what had been most +alien from the spirit of His own ministry, should not appear in the +ministry that He would establish after Him. Now He had shown no pomp +and pride of dominion, but yet He had shown the dominion itself in +the fullest sense, the power of passing laws, enjoining precepts, +defining rites, threatening punishments, governing, in fine, His +Church, so that He had been pre-eminently "the Lord." Lastly, this +is shown in the words recorded by S. John, as said shortly after on +this same occasion. "You call Me Master and Lord, and you say well, +for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, +you also ought to wash one another's feet: _for I have given you an +example_, that as I have done unto you, so you also may do."[22] + +Now nothing can show more strongly than this discourse the +pre-eminence and authority which our Lord was going to establish in +one of His Apostles over the rest. For here we have His intention +disclosed that in His kingdom, which is the Church's, some one there +should be "the Great," "the First," and "the Ruler," who should +discharge, in due proportion and analogy, the office which He +Himself, before He returned to the Father, had held. But before we +consider further who this one was, let us look at the subject from a +somewhat different point of view. + +And [23]here we must lay down three points, the _first_ of which is, +that our Lord, during His life on earth, had acted in two +capacities, the one, as the Author and Founder, the other, as the +Head and Supreme Ruler of His Church. His functions in the former +capacity are too plain to need enlarging upon. He disclosed the +objects of our faith: He instituted rites and sacraments: He +provided by the establishment of a ministry for the perpetual growth +and duration of the Church. It was in this sense that He spoke of +Himself to His apostles, as "the Master," who could share His +prerogatives with no one: "But be not you called Rabbi, for one is +your Master, and all you are brethren."[24] Thus is He, "the +Teacher," "the Master," throughout the Gospel. + +But He likewise acted as the Head of His Church, with the dignity +and authority of the chief visible Ruler. He was the living bond of +His disciples: the person around whom they grouped: whose presence +wrought harmony: whose voice terminated contention among them: who +was ever at hand to solve emergent difficulties. Thus it is that +prophecy distinguished Him as "the Lord," "the King," "the +Shepherd;" "on whose shoulders is the government," "who should +_rule_ His people, Israel." And His Church answers to Him in this +capacity, as the family, the house, the city, the fold, and the +kingdom. + +Thus His relation to the Church was twofold, as Founder, and as +Supreme Pastor. + +_Secondly_, the Church shares her Lord's prerogative of +unchangeableness, and as He is "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, +to-day, and for ever," so She, His mystical Body, in her proportion, +remains like herself from the beginning to the end. The Church and +Christianity are bound to each other in a mutual relation; the +Church is Christianity embodied; Christianity is the Church in +conception: the consistency and identity which belong to +Christianity belong likewise to her; neither can change their +nature, nor put on another form. + +But, _thirdly_, the Church would be unlike herself, if, having been +from her very cradle visibly administered by the rule of One, she +fell subsequently, either under no rule at all, according to the +doctrine of the Independents, or under the rule of the multitude, +according to the Calvinists, or under the rule of an aristocracy, as +Episcopalians imagine. A change of government superinduces a change +of that substantial form which constitutes a society. But this holds +in her case especially, above all other societies, as she came forth +from the creative hand of her Lord, her whole organization instinct +with inward life, her government _directly_ instituted by God +Himself, in which lies her point of distinction from all temporal +polities. + +For imagine, that upon our Lord's departure, no one had been deputed +to take the visible headship and rule over the Church. How, without +ever fresh revelations, and an abiding miraculous power, could that +complex unity of faith, of worship, and of polity, have been +maintained, which the[25] Lord has set forth as the very sign and +token of His Church? A multitude scattered throughout the most +distant regions, and naturally differing in race, in habits, in +temperament, how could it possibly be joined in one, and remain one, +without a powerful bond of unity? Hence, in the fourth century, S. +Jerome[26] observed, "The safety of the Church depends on the +dignity of the supreme Priest, in whom, if all do not recognise a +peculiar and supereminent power, there will arise as many schisms in +the Church as there are priests." And the repentant confessors out +of Novatian's schism, in the middle of the third century, "We know +that Cornelius (the Pope) has been elected Bishop of the most holy +Catholic Church, by Almighty God, and Christ our Lord.--We are not +ignorant that there is one God, one Christ the Lord, whom we +confessed, one Holy Spirit, and that there ought to be one bishop +in the Catholic Church."[27] And these words, both of S. Jerome, and +of the confessors, if they primarily apply to the diocesan bishop +among his priests and people, so do they with far greater force +apply to the chief bishop among his brethren in the whole Church. +Now, as our Lord willed that His Church should do without fresh +revelations, and new miracles, such as at first accredited it, and +that it should preserve unity; and as, when it was a little flock, +which could be assembled in a single room, it had yet one visible +Ruler, how can we doubt that He willed this form of government to +remain, and that there should be one perpetually to rule it in His +name, and preserve it in unity, since it was to become co-extensive +with the earth? + +Again, we may ask, was the condition of fold, house, family, city, +and kingdom, so repeatedly set forth in Holy Scripture, to belong to +the Church only while Christ was yet on earth, or to be the visible +evidence of its truth for ever? Do these terms exhibit a temporary, +or a perpetual state? Each one of these symbols by itself, and all +together, involve one visible Ruler: therefore, so long as the +Church can be called with truth, the one house, the one family, the +one city, the one fold, the one kingdom, so long must it have one +visible and supreme Ruler. + +But once grant that such a one there was after our Lord's departure, +and no one can doubt that one to have been Peter. It is easier to +deny the supreme Ruler altogether, than to make him any one but +Peter. The whole course of the Gospels shows none other marked out +by so many distinctions. Thus, even those who wish to refuse a real +power to his Primacy, are compelled by the force of evidence to +allow him a Primacy of order and honour. + +But nothing did our Lord more pointedly reject than the vain pomp of +titles and honours. In nothing is His own example more marked than +in that He exercised real power and supreme authority without pomp +or show. Nothing did He enjoin more emphatically on the disciple who +should be the "Great one," and "the Ruler," among his brethren, than +that he must follow his Master in being the servant of all. A +Primacy, then, consisting in titles and mere precedency, is of all +things most opposed to the spirit and the precepts of our Lord. And +so the Primacy which He designated must be one of real power and +pre-eminent authority. + +And this brings us back to the passage of S. Luke which we were +considering, where four things prove that Christ had such a headship +in view. First, the occasion, for the Apostles were contending for a +place of real authority. The sons of Zebedy expressed it by sitting +on His right hand and on His left, that is, holding the second and +the third place of dignity in the kingdom. + +Secondly, the double comparison which our Lord used, the one +negative, the other affirmative: in the former, contrasting the +Church's ruler with the kings of the Gentiles, He excluded pomp and +splendour, lordship and ambition; in the latter, referring him to +His own example, who had the most real and true power and +superiority, He taught him to unite these with a meekness and an +attention to the wants of his brethren, of which His own life had +been the model. + +Thirdly, the words "the First," "the Greater," and "the Ruler," +indicate the pre-eminence of the future head, for as they appear in +the context, and according to their Scriptural force, they indicate +not a vain and honorary, but a real authority, one of them being +even the very title given to our Lord. + +And, fourthly, this is proved by the object in view, which is, +maintaining the identity of the Church, and the form which it had +from the beginning, and preserving its manifold unity. As to its +identity, and original form, it is needless to observe that Christ +exercised in it not an honorary but a real supremacy, so that under +Him its government was really in the hands of one, the Ruler. As to +the preservation of its unity--and especially a unity so +complex--the very analogy of human society will sufficiently teach +us that it is impossible to be preserved without a strong central +authority. Contentions can neither be checked as they arise, nor +terminated when they come to a head, without the interference of a +power to which all yield obedience. And the living example of those +religious societies which have not this power is an argument whose +force none can resist. Where Peter is not, there is neither unity of +faith, nor of charity, nor of external regimen. + +No sooner [28]then had our Lord in this manner pointed out that +there should be one hereafter to take His place on earth and to be +the Ruler of his brethren, expressing at the same time the toilsome +nature of the trust, and the duty of exercising it with the spirit +which He, the great model, had shown, than turning His discourse +from the Apostles, whom hitherto He had addressed in common, to +Peter singly, He proceeded to designate Peter as that one, to assure +him of a singular privilege, and to enforce upon him a proportionate +duty. + +And first a break in the hitherto continuous discourse is ushered in +by the words, "And the Lord said," and what follows is fixed to +Peter specially, by the reiteration of his name, "Simon, Simon, +behold Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as +wheat:" to have _you_, that is not Peter alone, but all the +Apostles, the same you, whom in the preceding verses He had so often +repeated, "you not so," "but I am in the midst of you," "but you are +they that have continued with Me," "and I dispose to you a kingdom," +"that you may eat and drink with Me;" and what follows? What was the +resource provided by the Lord against this attack of the great enemy +on all His fold? "But I have prayed for _thee_, that _thy_ faith +fail not: and thou being once converted confirm thy brethren." Not +"I have prayed for _you_," where all were assaulted, "that _your_ +faith fail not," but I have prayed for _thee_, Peter, that _thy_ +faith fail not! Nothing can be more emphatic than this change of +number, when our Lord throughout all His previous discourse had used +the plural, and now continuing the plural to designate the persons +attacked, uses the singular to specify the person for whom He has +prayed, and to whom He assures a singular privilege, the fruit of +that prayer. Nothing could more strongly prove that this address was +special to Peter. + +Nor less evident is the singular dignity of what is here promised to +him. First of all, it is the fruit of the prayer of Christ. Of what +importance must that be which was solicited by our Lord of His +Father, and at a moment when the redemption of the world was being +accomplished, and when His passion may be said to have begun? Of +what importance that which was to be the defence of not Peter only, +but all the disciples, against the most formidable assault of the +great enemy, who had[29] demanded them as it were to deliver them +over to punishment? And this was "that thy faith fail not." How is +it possible to draw any other conclusion here than what S. Leo in +the fifth century expressed so clearly before all the bishops of +Italy? "The danger from the temptation of fear was common to all the +Apostles, and all equally needed the help of the divine protection, +since the devil desired to dismay all, to crush all; and yet a +special care of Peter is undertaken by our Lord, and He prays +peculiarly for the faith of Peter, as if the state of the rest would +be more sure, if the mind of their chief were not conquered. In +Peter, therefore, the fortitude of all is protected, and the help of +divine grace is so ordered, that the firmness which through Christ +is given to Peter, through Peter is conferred on the Apostles."[30] +And if such is the importance of the help secured, no less is the +charge following: "And thou, being once converted, confirm thy +brethren." To confirm others, is to be put in an office of dignity +and authority over them. And his brethren were those whom our Lord +till now had been addressing in common with him; to whom He had just +disclosed "a Greater" and "a Ruler" "among" them; that is, the +Apostles themselves. Among these, then, when our Lord's visible +presence was withdrawn, Peter was to be the principle of stability, +binding and moulding them into one building. For one cannot fail to +see how this great promise and prophecy answer to those in Matthew. +There our Lord, as Architect, promised to lay Peter as the +foundation of the Church, against which the gates of hell should not +prevail: here, being about to leave the world, when His own work was +finished, to ascend unto His Father, and to assume His great power +and reign, He makes Peter as it were the Architect to carry on the +work which was to be completed by _His_ grace and authority, but by +human co-operation. So exact is the resemblance that we may put the +two promises in parallel columns to illustrate each other: + + Thou art Peter, and upon But I have prayed for + this Rock I will build My thee that thy faith fail not; + Church; and the gates of hell and thou, being once converted, + shall not prevail against it. confirm thy brethren. + +But light is thrown on the greatness of this pre-eminence thus +bestowed on Peter of confirming his brethren, if we consider that +the term is applied to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as +bestowing by inherent power what is here granted by participation. +Of the Father it is said, "To Him that is able to _establish_ you +according to my Gospel--the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be +honour and glory." And again, "Now He that _confirmeth us_ with you +in Christ, and that hath anointed us, is God;" and again, "The God +of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory in Christ +Jesus, after you have suffered a little, will Himself perfect you, +_confirm_, establish you."[31] Of Christ likewise: "As therefore you +have received Jesus Christ the Lord, walk ye in Him, rooted and +built up in Him, and _confirmed_ in the faith." And "waiting for the +manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who also will _confirm_ you +unto the end without crime." And again: "Now our Lord Jesus Christ +Himself exhort your hearts, and _confirm_ you in every good word and +work."[32] And the Holy Spirit is continually mentioned as the +author of this gift, when, for instance, to Him is ascribed "the +teaching all truth," "the leading into all truth," "the bringing to +mind" all things which Christ had said. And S. Paul prays "that He +would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be +_strengthened_ by His Spirit with might unto the inward man."[33] + +What, therefore, is proper to the most Holy Trinity, and given in +the highest sense by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, it was +the will of Christ should be shared by Peter, according as man is +capable of it. That is, it was His pleasure that the same man, whom +He had intimately associated with Himself by communicating to him +His prerogative to be the Rock, should be closely joined with the +Blessed Trinity by participating in that privilege, whereby, +together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, He is the confirmation +and stability of the faithful. But if any rule there can be whereby +to measure pre-eminence and dignity, it is surely that which is +derived from participation of divine properties and offices. And the +closer that by these Peter is shown to have approached to God, the +higher his exaltation above the rest of his brethren, who, as it has +been observed, are the Apostles. To them he is the Rock, and them he +is to confirm. Thus Theophylact, in the eleventh century, commenting +on this text, says: "The plain meaning of this is, that, since I +hold thee as the ruler of My disciples, after thou shalt have wept +over thy denial and repented, confirm the rest. For this belongs to +thee as being after Me the rock and support" (literally, +confirmation) "of the Church. Now one may see that this is said not +only of the apostles, that they are confirmed by Peter, but also +concerning all the faithful until the consummation of the world." + +But looking more closely into the nature of this dignity, since +Christ, by the bestowal of heavenly gifts, caused Peter to be +conspicuous through the firmness of his own faith, and through the +charge of confirming the faith of his brethren, we can call it by no +fitter name than a Primacy of faith. For it has these two +qualities: it cannot fail itself; and it confirms others. And for +the authority which it carries, such a Primacy of faith cannot even +be imagined without at the same time imagining the office by which +Peter was bound to watch over the firmness and integrity of the +common faith. In this office two things are involved; first, the +right to, and therefore the possession of, all things necessary for +its fulfilment; and secondly, the duty by which all were bound to +agree in the profession of one faith with Peter. So that Peter's +dignity, rightly termed the Primacy of faith, mainly consists in the +supreme right of demanding from all an agreement in faith with him. + +It[34] remains to explain the proper force of the word _confirm_. +Now this is a term of architecture, and as such is joined with other +terms relating to that art, as by S. Peter, "the God of all +grace--Himself fit you together" (as living spiritual stones,) +"confirm, strengthen, ground you."[35] It means, to make anything +fit so firmly that it cannot be shaken. Thus in Holy Writ it +frequently bears metaphorically a moral signification, such as +encouraging, supporting, as we say, confirming the resolution, as in +the passage just quoted; and again, "Be watchful, and _confirm_ the +things that remain, which are ready to die."[36] Now it cannot be +doubted that the phrase "confirm thy brethren," carries a moral +sense very like that in which the word _confirm_, when applied to +the spiritual building of the Church, is used of God and of +Christ,[37] from whom the Church has both its being and its +perseverance to the end, and again of the Apostles, who strengthen +the flock entrusted to them by the imparting spiritual gifts, as S. +Paul says, "I long to see you that I may impart unto you some +spiritual grace to strengthen you;"[38] or, again, of Bishops, who, +as sent by the Apostles, and charged by the Holy Spirit with the +government of the Church, are bid to be watchful, and see that those +who stand do not fall, and those who are in danger do not +perish.[39] Accordingly, when it is said to Peter, "And thou in thy +turn one day confirm thy brethren," _the charge and office are laid +upon him, as an architect divinely chosen, of holding together, +strengthening, and keeping in their place, the several parts of the +ecclesiastical structure_. + +But what are these _parts_ to be confirmed, and what is the _nature_ +of the confirmation? + +As to the first question there can be no controversy, it being +determined by the words, "confirm _thy brethren_:" and it is plain +from what is said above, that, by brethren, are meant the Apostles. +He had, therefore, the Apostles committed to his charge +_immediately_: but likewise, the rest of all the faithful, +_mediately_. When a person has been named by Christ to confirm the +Apostles expressly, the nature of the case does not allow that the +whole congregation of believers be not in their persons committed to +him. The care of the flock is manifestly involved in the care of the +shepherds: and no one in his senses can doubt that the man who is +charged to support the pillars, is charged to keep in their place +the inferior stones. + +And as to the _nature_ of the confirmation, it is for protection +against the fraud of the great enemy. And the danger lay in losing +the faith. Peter, then, is charged to confirm, in such sense that +neither the pillars of the Church, nor its inferior parts, may, by +the loss of faith, be moved from their place, and so severed from +the Church's structure. No charge can be higher than such an office +of confirmation; nor for any thing need we to be more thankful to +our Saviour; but, particularly, nothing can more distinctly shew the +divinely-appointed relation between Peter on the one hand, and on +the other, the rest of the Apostles, and the whole company of the +faithful; nothing define more clearly the special authority of +Peter; that is, to protect and strengthen the unity of the faith, +and to possess all powers needed for such protection. + +This charge was given after that by the prayer of Christ the +privilege had been gained for Peter's faith, _that it should never +fail_. Hence, that faith is become, in virtue of such prayer, the +infallible standard of evangelical truth: as S. Cyprian expressed it +of old, "that faith of the Romans, which perfidy _cannot_ +approach."[40] It follows that all the faithful owe to it obedience. +And Peter's authority rests on a double title, _external_ of +mission, _internal_ of spiritual gift: the former contained in the +words of Christ the legislator, "And thou,[41] in thy turn, one day +confirm thy brethren:" the latter, in the words of Christ, the +bestower of all gifts, "But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith +fail not." + +More than a thousand years ago two Easterns seem to have expressed +all this, one the Bishop Stephen, suppliantly approaching Pope +Martin I., in the Lateran Synod of A.D. 649, and speaking of "the +blessed Peter, in a manner special and peculiar to himself, having +above all a firm and immutable faith in our Lord God, to consider +with compassion, and confirm his spiritual partners and brethren +when tossed by doubt: inasmuch as he has received power and +sacerdotal authority, according to the dispensation, over all, from +the very God for our sakes incarnate."[42] And Theodore, Abbot of +the Studium, at Constantinople, addressing Pope Paschal I., A.D. +817, in the midst of persecution from the state, as if he were Peter +himself: "Hear, O Apostolic Head, O shepherd of the sheep of Christ, +set over them by God, O door-keeper of the kingdom of heaven, O rock +of the faith, upon which the Catholic Church is built. For Peter art +thou, who adornest and governest the See of Peter. To thee, said +Christ our God, 'and thou, in thy turn, one day confirm thy +brethren.' Behold the time, behold the place, help us, thou who art +ordained by God for this. Stretch forth thy hand as far as may be: +power thou hast from God, because thou art the chief of all."[43] + +Now let us[44] view in its connexion the whole scope of our Lord's +discourse. We shall see how naturally the contest of the Apostles +arose out of what He had told them, and how well the former and the +latter part of His answer harmonize together, and terminate that +contest. We learn from S. John's record of this divine conversation, +that our Lord besought His Father, saying: "While I was with them in +the world, I kept them in Thy name--but now I come to Thee:" that +is, so long as I was with them visibly in the world, (for invisibly +I will always be with them, and nurture them with the spiritual +influx of the Vine,) I kept them united in Thy name: "but now I come +to Thee," I leave the world, I relinquish the office of visible +head. It remains, that by the appointment of another visible head, +Thou shouldst entrust him with My office, provide for the +conspicuous unity of all, and preserve them joined to each other and +to Us. So S. Luke tells us, that no sooner had our Lord declared to +the Apostles, "the Son of man indeed goeth according to that which +is determined," than they began to have a strife among them, "which +of them should seem to be the greater." For they had heard that +Christ would withdraw His visible presence, and they had heard Him +also earnestly entreating of the Father to provide for their visible +unity. Accordingly, the time seemed at hand when another was to take +this office of visible head; hence their questioning, who should be +the greater among them. Now our Lord does not reprove this inference +of theirs, but He does reprove the temper in which they were +coveting pre-eminence. For, engaged as they were in this strife, He +warned them that the person who should be "the Greater and the +Ruler" among them, must follow in the discharge of his office the +rule and the standard which _He_ had set up in His own conduct, and +not that which the kings of the Gentiles follow. Thus, setting these +in sharp contrast, He proceeds. "The kings, indeed, of the nations, +lord it over their subjects, and love high titles, and to be called +benefactors: but I, though Lord and Master amongst you, have dealt +otherwise, as you know. For I have exercised, not a lordship, but a +servitude: I have not sat at table, but waited: I have not cared for +titles, but called you friends and brethren. Let this example then +be before you all, but specially before him who is to be the greater +and the ruler among you. For I appoint unto you, and dispose of you, +as My Father hath disposed of Me; of Me He hath disposed that +through humiliation, emptying of Myself, ignominy, and manifold +temptations, I should gain the kingdom, reach the joys of heaven, +and obtain all power in heaven and on earth. So likewise dispose I +of you, that, through humility, sufferings, reproaches, hunger, +thirst, and all manner of temptations, you may reach whither I have +come, being worthy, after your hunger and your thirst, to eat and +drink at My table in My kingdom; after being despised and +dishonoured, to sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. +Now, hitherto you have trodden with Me this royal way full of +sorrows, and have continued with Me in My temptations. But little +will it profit to begin, if you persevere not to the end. None shall +be crowned, save he who has contended lawfully; none be saved, but +he who perseveres to the end. Will you remain with Me still in your +temptations to come, and when I am no longer present with you visibly, +to protect and exhort, will you preserve your steadfastness? Simon, +Simon, behold! I see Satan exerting all his force to overcome your +purpose, and to destroy the fidelity which you have hitherto shewn Me. +I see the danger to your faith and your salvation approaching. But I, +who, when visibly present with you, left nothing undone to guard, +protect, and strengthen you visibly, so, too, when separated from +your bodily sight, will yet not leave you without a visible support. +Wherefore, Peter, I have prayed for thee, that thou fail not, and +thou, in thy turn, one day confirm thy brethren. Remember that thou +hast to discharge that part visibly towards thy brethren, which I, +while yet mortal, and visible, discharged: remember, that I +therefore had special care of thee, because it was My will, that +thou, confirmed by My prayers, shouldst confirm thy brethren, My +disciples, and My friends."[45] + +Now from[46] what has been said, it appears that Peter in Holy +Scripture is set forth as the source and principle of ecclesiastical +unity under a double but cognate image, as Foundation, and as +Confirmer. Of the former we will here say nothing further, but a few +consequences of the latter it is desirable here to group together. +I. The unity, then, which consists in the profession of one and the +same faith, is conspicuous among those[47] modes of unity by which +Christ has willed that His Church should be distinguished. Now, +first, S. Paul declares that the whole ministerial hierarchy, from +the Apostolate downwards, was instituted by our Lord, for the sake +of obtaining and preserving this unity. "He gave some Apostles, and +some Prophets, and other some Evangelists, and other some pastors +and doctors, for the perfecting" (literally, the fitting in +together, the same word which S. Peter had used in his prayer, ch. +v. 10,) "of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the +edifying of the body of Christ; until we all meet into the unity of +faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, +unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ."[48] To this +living hierarchy he expressly attributes preservation from doctrinal +error, proceeding thus: "That henceforth we be no more children +tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by +the wickedness of men, by cunning craftiness by which they lie in +wait to deceive." And, secondly, this hierarchy itself was knitted +and gathered up into a monarchy, and its whole force and solidity +made to depend on association with Peter, to whom _alone_ was said, +"But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not;" to whom alone +was enjoined, "And thou, in thy turn, one day confirm thy brethren." + +II. Accordingly the pre-eminence of Peter is well expressed by the +words,[49] "Primacy of faith," "chiefship of faith," "chiefship in +the episcopate of faith," meaning thereby a peculiar authority to +prescribe the faith, and determine its profession, and so protect +its unity and purity. This is conveyed in the words of Christ, +confirm thy brethren. Thus[50] S. Bernard addressed Innocent II., +"All emergent dangers and scandals in the kingdom of God, specially +those which concern the faith, are to be referred to your +Apostolate. For I conceive that we should look especially for +reparation of the faith to the spot where faith _cannot_[51] fail. +That indeed is the prerogative of this see. For to whom else was it +once said, 'I have prayed for thee, Peter, that thy faith fail not?' +Therefore what follows is required of Peter's successor: 'And thou +in thy turn one day confirm thy brethren.' And this is now +necessary. It is time for you, most loving father, to recognise your +chiefship, to approve your zeal, and so make your ministry honoured. +In that you clearly fulfil the part of Peter, whose seat you occupy, +if by your admonition you confirm hearts fluctuating in faith, if by +your authority you crush those who corrupt it." + +III. All who have received the ministry of the word, and the charge +of defending the faith and preserving unity, and are "ambassadors in +Christ's name," have a claim to be listened to, but he above all who +holds the chiefship of faith, and who received the charge, "Confirm +thy brethren." He therefore must be the supreme standard of faith, +which is just what S. Peter Chrysologus, in the fifth century, wrote +to Eutyches: "We exhort you in all things, honourable brother, to +pay obedience to what is written by the most blessed Pope of the +Roman city; for S. Peter, who both lives and rules in his own see, +grants to those who ask for it the truth of faith."[52] + +IV. And in this prerogative of Peter, to be heard above all others, +we find the meaning of certain ancient expressions. Thus +[53]Prudentius calls him, "the first disciple of God;" [54]S. +Augustine, "the figure of the Church;" [55]S. Chrysostome, "the +mouthpiece of the disciples, and teacher of the world;" [56]S. +Ephrem Syrus, "the candle, the tongue of the disciples, and the +voice of preachers;" [57]S. Cyril of Jerusalem, "the prince of the +Apostles, and the highest preacher of the truth." In these and such +like continually recurring expressions we recognise his chiefship in +the episcopate of faith, his being the standard of faith, and his +representing the Catholic faith, as the branches are gathered up in +the root, and the streamlets in the fountain. + +V. Our [58]Lord has most solemnly declared, and S. Paul repeated, +that no one shall be saved without maintaining the true and +uncorrupt faith. Of this Peter's faith is the standard and exemplar. +Accordingly by the law of Christ unity with the faith of Peter is +necessary to salvation. This law our Lord set forth in the words, +"Confirm thy brethren." And to this the Fathers in their expressions +above quoted allude. + +VI. The true faith and the true Church are so indivisibly united, +that they cannot even be conceived apart from each other, faith +being to the Church as light to the sun. But the true faith neither +is, nor can be, other than that which Peter, "the first disciple of +God," "the teacher of the world," "the mouthpiece of the disciples," +and "the confirmer of his brethren," holds and proposes to others. +No communion, therefore, called after Christ, which yet differs from +that faith, can claim either the name or dignity of the true Church. + +VII. If any knowledge have a special value, it is surely that by +which we have a safe and ready test of the true faith and the true +Church. It is of the utmost necessity to know and embrace both, and +the means of reaching them are proportionably valuable. Now that +test abides in Peter, by keeping which before us we can neither miss +the true faith nor the true Church. For no other true faith can +there be than that which he delivers, who received the charge of +confirming his brethren, nor other true Church than what Christ +built, and is building still. Hence the expression of S. +Ambrose,[59] "where Peter is, there is the Church;" and of +Stephen[60] of Larissa, to Pope Boniface II. (A.D. 530.) "that all +the churches of the world rest in the confession of Peter." + +VIII. With all these agrees that famous and most early testimony of +S. Cyprian,[61] that men "fall away from the Church into heresy and +schism so long as there is no regard _to the source of truth, no +looking to the head_, nor keeping to the doctrine of our heavenly +Master. If any one consider and weigh this, he will not need length +of comment or argument. It is easy to offer proofs to a faithful +mind, because in that case the truth may be quickly stated." And +then he quotes our Lord's words to Peter, Matt. xvi. 16, and John +xxi. 17, adding, "upon him being one He builds His Church." +Therefore that Church can neither be torn from the one on whom she +is built, nor profess any other faith, save what that one, who is +Peter, proposes. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Passaglia, p. 68. + +[2] Eph. i. 10. + +[3] 2 Pet. i. 14. + +[4] Passaglia, p. 69. + +[5] 1 John v. 6, 7. + +[6] Luke ix. 32. + +[7] Matt. xxviii. 36. + +[8] Mark v. 35. + +[9] Passaglia, p. 72. + +[10] Matt. xvii. 23. + +[11] On Matt. Hom. 58, n. 2. + +[12] Origen on the text, in Matt. Tom. xiii. 14. + +[13] S. Chrysostome on the text, Hom. 58, Tom. 7, p. 587. + +[14] Passaglia, p. 77, note 38. + +[15] Luke xviii. 34. + +[16] Passaglia, p. 78. + +[17] Matt. xviii. 2. + +[18] Luke xxii. 25. + +[19] Passaglia, p. 77. + +[20] Matt, xx. 20. + +[21] Hêgoumenos. + +[22] John xiii. 13. + +[23] Passaglia, p. 82. + +[24] Matt. xxiii. 8. + +[25] John chps. x., xiii., xvii. + +[26] Dialog. cont. Lucif. n. 9. + +[27] St. Cyprian, Ep. 46. + +[28] Passaglia, p. 89. + +[29] Exêtêsato. The word in classic Greek has this force. + +[30] Serm. 4, c. 3. + +[31] Rom. xvi. 25; 2 Cor. i. 21; 1 Pet v. 10. + +[32] Col. ii. 6; 1 Cor. i. 7; 2 Thess. ii. 16. + +[33] John xvi. 13; xiv. 16, 26; Eph. iii. 16. + +[34] Passaglia, p. 563. + +[35] 1 Pet. v. 10. + +[36] Apoc. iii. 2. + +[37] Rom. xvi. 25; 1 Thess. iii. 13; 2 Thess. ii. 17; 1 Pet. v. 10. + +[38] Rom. i. 11. + +[39] Apoc. iii. 2. + +[40] S. Cyprian, Ep. 55. + +[41] As far as the _words_ by themselves go, it is the opinion of +the best commentators that they may be equally well rendered, "And +thou, when thou art converted," or, "And thou, in thy turn, one +day," &c. But as it is impossible to bring a discussion turning on a +Hebrew idiom conveyed in a Greek word before the English reader, we +must here restrict ourselves to the proof arising from the _sense_ +and _context_. And here one thing alone, among several which may be +urged, is sufficient to prove that the sense preferred in the text, +"And thou in thy turn one day confirm thy brethren," is the true +one. For the other rendering supposes that the time of Peter's +conversion would also be the time of his confirming his brethren; +whereas this was far otherwise. He was converted by our Lord looking +on him that same night shortly after his denial, and "immediately +went out and wept bitterly." But he did not succeed to the charge of +confirming his brethren till after our Lord's ascension. It must be +added that the collocation of the original words kai su pote +epistrepsas stêrixon is such as absolutely to require that the +joint action indicated by them should belong to the same time, and +that an _indefinite_ time expressed by pote. Now this would +be false according to the rendering, "And thou, when thou art +converted, confirm thy brethren," for the conversion was immediate +and definite, the confirmation distant and indefinite; whereas it +exactly agrees with the rendering, "And thou in thy turn one day +confirm thy brethren." + +Those who wish to see the whole controversy admirably drawn out may +find it in Passaglia, b. 2, ch. 13. + +[42] Mansi. Concilia, x. 894. + +[43] Baronius, Annal. A.D., 817, xxi. + +[44] Passaglia, p. 545. + +[45] Passaglia, p. 547. + +[46] Passaglia, p. 571. + +[47] For which see hereafter, ch. 7. + +[48] Eph. iv. 11. + +[49] Petrus uti audivit, vos autem quid me dicitis? _Statim loci non +immemor sui, primatum egit_; primatum confessionis utique, non +honoris; primatum fidei, non ordinis. Ambros. de Incarn. c. 4, n. +32, Tom. 2, p. 710. + +[50] Ep. 190, vol. 1, p. 649. + +[51] Observe the exact identity with S. Cyprian's expression nine +hundred years earlier, quoted p. 55. + +[52] Twenty-fifth letter among those of St. Leo. + +[53] Con. Symmachum, Lib. 2, v. 1. + +[54] Sermon 76. + +[55] Hom. 88, on John. + +[56] Encom. in Petrum et coeteros Apostolos. + +[57] Cat. xi. n. 3. ho prôtosthatês tôn Apostholôn kai tês +ekklêshias koryphaios khêryx. + +[58] Mark xvi. 16; John iii. 18; Rom. iii. 3, &c. + +[59] Ambros. in Ps. 1. n. 30. + +[60] Mansi, Tom. viii. 746. + +[61] De unitate Ecclesiæ, 3. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE INVESTITURE OF PETER. + + +Our Lord has hitherto, while on earth,[1] ruled as its visible head +that body of disciples which He had chosen out of the world, and +which His Father had given Him. And this body He for the first time +called the Church in that famous prophecy[2] wherein He named the +person, who, by virtue of an intimate association with Himself, the +Rock, should be its foundation, and the duration of which until the +consummation of the world, He pronounced at the same time, in spite +of all the rage of "spiritual wickedness in high places" against it, +because it should be founded upon the rock which He should lay. + +Secondly, He had, at that period of His ministry when He thought it +meet, the second year, selected out of the rest of His disciples, +after ascending into a mountain and continuing the night long in +prayer, twelve whom He named Apostles--as before and above all sent +by Him--for "He called whom He would Himself, and they came to Him," +to whom "He gave authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, +and to heal every disease and every weakness," whom He chose also +"to be with Him," His personal attendants, "and to send them to +preach;" to whom, moreover, He subsequently made a promise that +whatever they should bind on earth, should be bound in heaven, and +whatever they should loose on earth should be loosed in heaven.[3] + +Thirdly, as at a certain time in His ministry, that is the second +year, He had selected twelve to be nearer His person than the rest +of His disciples, so at a yet later time, the third year of His +ministry, He had set apart one out of the twelve, to whom from the +very first, and before either he, or any one, had been called to be +an Apostle, or even, as it would seem, a disciple, He had given a +prophetic name; whom by word and deed, in correspondence with that +name, He designated to be the future Rock of His Church, to be the +Bearer of the keys, which opened or shut the entrance to His +mystical Holy City, to be endued with power _singly_ to bind and to +loose; and whom at last, on the very eve of His being taken away +from His disciples, He pointed out as the future "First one," +"Greater one," or "Ruler," among them, having, as such, had given to +him a _special_ and _singular_ charge, after the departure of the +Head, to "confirm his brethren." + +It is manifest that this was all which, before His offering Himself +up for the sin of the world, and the withdrawal of His visible +presence thereupon ensuing, He could do for the government of His +Church. For as long as He was there, the Son of Man among men, seen, +felt, touched, and handled, the sacred voice in their ears, and the +divine eyes gazing bodily upon them, He was not only the fountain of +all headship and rule, but He exercised in His own person the +highest functions of that headship and visible rule. He daily +encouraged, warned, corrected, taught, united them; in short, to use +His own words, "while He was with them, He kept them in His Father's +name."[4] + +But now another time, and other dangers were approaching. The sword +was drawn which should "strike the shepherd," there was a fear that +"the sheep would be scattered," not only for a moment, but for ever. +To meet this the care of the divine guardian was necessary in a +further disposition of those powers which He received at His +resurrection from the dead. For henceforth His visits, as of a risen +King, were to be few and sudden, when He pleased, and at times they +expected not, "for forty days appearing to them and speaking of the +kingdom of God," and as soon as His final injunctions had been thus +royally given, "the heavens were to receive Him till the time of the +restoration of all things." The Apostles could no longer "be with +Him," as before, nor He "keep them," as in the days of His flesh. + +How, then, does He complete the ministerial hierarchy which sprung +from His own divine Person on earth, and which is to rule His Church +and represent that Person from His first to His second coming? + +Now, first, we must remark, that while great care is taken to make +known to all the Apostles the resurrection of the Lord, yet a +special solicitude is shown with regard to that one who was to be +"the Ruler." Thus the angels, announcing the fact to the holy women +at the sepulchre, "He is risen, He is not here, behold the place +where they laid Him," add, "but go, tell His disciples _and Peter_, +that He goeth before you into Galilee."[5] The expression indicates +his superior place, as when Peter, himself delivered from prison, +recounted to the disciples at the house of Mark his escape, and +added, "Tell these things to James and to the brethren," where no +one fails to see the pre-eminence given to James, by such a mention +of him, that apostle being the Bishop of Jerusalem, and so put over +the brethren, and, with himself, one of those who "seemed to be +pillars." Again, to Peter our Lord appeared first among the +Apostles. S. Paul exhibiting a sort of sum of Christian doctrine, as +he says "the Gospel which I preached unto you," begins, "I +delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how +that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that +He was buried, and that He rose again the third day, according to +the Scriptures; and that He was seen by Cephas, and after that by +the eleven." By him alone, first, then by them in conjunction with +him. And further, St. Paul's words seem to express a sort of +descending ratio, "Then was He seen by more than five hundred +brethren at once, of whom many remain until this present, and some +are fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the +Apostles. And last of all He was seen also by me, as by one born out +of due time. For I am the least of the Apostles."[6] And while they +were yet in doubt, and for joy could not receive the marvellous +tidings, when brought by the women, as soon as our Lord appeared to +Peter, their hesitation was removed, and the two disciples returning +from Emmaus--themselves full of His wonderful conversation with +them--"found the eleven gathered together and those that were with +them, saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon," +as the Church in her exultation repeats, where philologists tell us +that the Greek _and_ bears what is often the Hebrew meaning, and +signifies "for," as if no doubt could remain any longer of their +happiness, when Peter had become a witness of it. + +These are indications of superiority, slight perhaps in themselves, +if they stood alone, but not slight as bearing tacit witness to a +fact otherwise resting on its own explicit evidence. If one of the +Apostles was destined to be the head of the rest, this is what we +should have expected to happen to that one, and this did happen to +Peter, who is elsewhere made the head of the Apostles. + +But now we come to those most important injunctions which our Lord +gave to His Apostles after His resurrection, concerning the +government of His Church. And here it becomes necessary to mark with +the utmost accuracy what He said and what He gave to all the +Apostles in common, and what to Peter in particular. + +First of all, then, we may remark our Lord's care to redeem the +promises which He had made to the Twelve, and to convey to them +their legislative, judicial, and executive powers. These are +mentioned by each of the four Evangelists, in somewhat different +terms, but alike involving the distinctive apostolic powers of +immediate institution by Christ, and universal mission; as Apostles +they are _sent_, and they are sent _by Christ_. The form recorded in +S. Matthew is, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. +Go ye, therefore, and make disciples all nations, baptizing them in +the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, +teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; +and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the +world." + +The form of S. Mark is, "Go ye into the whole world, and preach the +gospel to every creature." + +S. Luke refers specially in two passages to the descent of the Holy +Ghost, as being Himself as well the Divine "Gift," and the immediate +worker of all graces in man, as the principle of the ecclesiastical +hierarchy. "And I send the promise of My Father upon you, but stay +you in the city till you be endued with power from on high." And +again, "Eating together with them, He commanded them that they +should not depart from Jerusalem, but should wait for the promise of +the Father, which you have heard," saith He, "by My mouth; for John, +indeed, baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy +Ghost not many days hence." "You shall receive the power of the Holy +Ghost coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto Me in +Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost +part of the earth." + +The form recorded by S. John is, "As the Father hath sent Me, I also +send you. When He had said this, He breathed on them; and He said to +them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost; whose sins you shall forgive, they +are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are +retained."[7] + +Now, it may be remarked that these passages of the several +evangelists are _identical_ in their force; that is, they each +convey all those powers which constitute the Apostolate. These are +received by all the Apostles in common, and together; and in the +joint possession of them consists that _equality_ which is often +attributed by the ancient writers to the Apostles, as notably by S. +Cyprian, "He gives to all the Apostles an equal power, and says, 'as +the Father sent Me, I also send you.'" And again, "Certainly the +other Apostles also were what Peter was, endued with an equal +fellowship, both of honour and power."[8] + +And these Apostolic powers, legislative, judicial, and executive, +are afterwards referred to as exercised; as in Acts ch. xv., where +the first council passes decrees which bind the Church, nay, which +go forth in the joint name of the Holy Ghost, and the rulers of the +Church, "It hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us;"--which +are delivered by S. Paul to the cities to be kept: Acts xvi. 4--as +in Acts xx. 28, where bishops are charged to rule the Church, each +over his flock, wherein the Holy Ghost has placed him--as in 1 Cor. +v. 1-5, where S. Paul, "in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ," +excommunicates--as in 2 Cor. x. 6, where he sets forth his +apostolic power--as in the Epistles to Titus and Timothy, where he +sets them in authority, enjoins them to ordain priests in every +city, and commands them to "reprove," or "rebuke." + +And all these powers S. Peter, of course, as one of the Twelve, had +received in common with the rest. The limit to them would seem to +lie in their being shared in common by twelve; as, for instance, +universal mission dwelling in such a body must practically be +determined and limited somehow to the different members of that +body, or one would interfere with the other. But there is nothing in +these powers which answers to the images of "the rock," on which the +Church is built, the single "bearer of the keys," and "confirmer" of +his brethren, which Christ had appropriated to one Apostle. + +In like manner, then, as our Lord fulfilled His promises to the +Twelve, so did He those to S. Peter, and we find written the +committal of an authority to him exactly answering to these images; +an authority, which expresses the full legislative, judicial and +executive power of the head, which can be executed by one alone at a +time, and is of its own nature supreme, and responsible to none save +God. It remained for our Lord to find an image setting forth all +this as decisively as that of the Rock, the Bearer of the keys, and +the Confirmer of his brethren. + +Once, as He passed along the shores of the lake of Galilee, He had +seen two fishermen casting their net into the sea, and had "said to +them, Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men, and +immediately leaving their nets, they followed Him." Once again, too, +He had gone into the ship of that same fisherman, and sitting, +taught the multitudes out of it. And then He bade that fisherman, +"who had laboured all the night and taken nothing, to launch out +into the deep," and in faith, "let down his nets for a draught," +whereupon "he enclosed so great a multitude of fishes that the net +brake."[9] And, again, in after times, when the fisherman had become +an Apostle, that same ship waited on His convenience, and carried +Him across the lake. It was there He was asleep when the storm +raged, and His disciples in little faith awoke Him, saying, "Master, +save us, we perish," not yet knowing that the ship which carried the +Lord might be tost, but could not sink.[10] From it they beheld Him +walking on the sea, in the fourth watch of the night, when Peter, in +his fervour, desired to join Him, and going to meet his Lord on the +waves, his faith failed him, and he began to sink, till the Almighty +hand supported him, and drew him with it to the ship, which +"presently was at the land to which they were going."[11] And now, +Peter, and Thomas, and Nathaniel, and the sons of Zebedy, and two +others, were once more on that same ship and sea, but no longer with +Him who had commanded the winds, and walked on the waves. Once more, +too, they[12] toiled all the night, but "caught nothing:" when, lo, +in the morning light, Jesus stood on the shore, but yet unknown to +them, and bade them cast the net on the right side of the ship, "and +now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes." Thus +He revealed Himself to them, and invited them to eat with Him of the +fishes which they had caught. "Then Simon Peter went up, and drew +the net to land, full of great fishes, one hundred fifty-three. And +although there were so many, the net was not broken:" for, indeed, +that draught of great fishes, gathered by Peter at Christ's command, +betokened God's elect, whom the Church is to gather out of the sea +of this world, who cannot break from the net, which net, therefore, +Peter drew to land, even the everlasting shore whereon Christ +welcomes His own. And after that marvellous banquet of the disciples +with their Lord, betokening the never ending marriage feast, wherein +"the roasted fish is Christ in His passion,"[13] our Lord proceeds +to crown all that series of distinctions, wherewith, since imposing +the prophetic name, He had marked out Simon, the son of Jonas, to be +the Leader of His disciples; and thus He fulfils by the side of the +lake of Galilee what He foreshadowed when He first looked upon +Peter, what He promised in the quarters of Cesarea Philippi, and +what He repeated on the eve of His passion. + +It was His will to appoint one to take His place on earth. Now He +had assumed to Himself specially a particular title, under which of +old time His prophets had foretold His advent among men, and which +above all others expressed His tender love for fallen man. It had +been said of Him, "I will set up one shepherd over them, and He +shall feed them, even my servant David: He shall feed them, and He +shall be their shepherd." And again: "Say to the cities of Judah, +behold your God.--He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall +gather together the lambs with His arm, and shall take them up in +His bosom, and He Himself shall carry them that are with young." +And, once more, in the very prophecy by which the chief priests and +scribes declared to Herod that He must be born at Bethlehem, "For +from thee shall go forth the ruler, who shall feed (or shepherd) My +people Israel." Appropriating these predictions to Himself, the Lord +had said: "I am the good shepherd.[14] The good shepherd giveth His +life for His sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this +fold; them also I must bring; and there shall be one fold and one +shepherd." And now it was His pleasure to give this particular +title, so specially His own, to Peter, and to Peter alone, and to +Peter in most marked contrast even with the best beloved of His +other disciples, and to Peter, thrice repeating the charge, and +varying the expression of it so as to include the term in its utmost +force. "When, therefore, they had dined, Jesus said to Simon Peter, +Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me more than these? He saith to Him, +Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith to him, Feed My +lambs. He saith to him again, Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me? He +saith to Him, Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith to +him, Feed My lambs. He saith to him the third time, Simon, son of +John, lovest thou Me? Peter was grieved because He had said to him +the third time, lovest thou Me? And he said to Him, Lord, Thou +knowest all things: Thou knowest that I love Thee. He said to him, +Feed My sheep." + +Our Lord had before addressed the seven disciples present in common, +"Children, have you any meat?" "Cast the net, and you shall find." +"Bring hither of the fishes which you have now caught." "Come and +dine." But now, turning to one in particular, He singles him out in +the most special manner, by his name, by asking of him a love +greater than that of any others towards Himself, by conferring on +him a charge, which, as we shall see, from its extension excludes +its being held in joint possession by any other, and by a prophecy +concerning the manner of his death, which is wholly particular to +Peter. If it is possible by any words to convey a power and a charge +to a particular person, and to exclude the rest of the company from +that special power and charge, it is done here. + +But, secondly, it is a charge of a very high and distinguishing +nature indeed, for our Lord before conferring it demands of Peter, +as a condition, greater love towards His own person than that felt +for Him by any of the Twelve--even by the sons of Zebedy, whom from +their zeal He surnamed Boanerges, sons of thunder--even by the +disciple whom He loved, and who lay on His breast at the last +supper. What must that charge be, the preliminary condition for +which is a greater love for Jesus than that of the beloved disciple? +What shall be a fitting sequel to "Simon, son of John, lovest thou +me _more_ than these?" What, again, the importance of that office, +in bestowing which our Lord thrice repeats the condition, and thrice +inculcates the charge? The words of God are not spoken at random, +nor His repetitions without effect. What, again, are the _subjects_ +of the charge? They are "My lambs," and "My sheep," that is, the +fold itself of the Great Shepherd. As He said, "If I wash thee not, +thou shalt have no part with Me," so those who are not either His +lambs or His sheep, form no part of His fold. Others, too, in Holy +Writ, are addressed as shepherds, but with a limitation, as, "Take +heed to the whole flock _wherein_ the Holy Ghost hath placed you +bishops," or "feed the flock of God _which is among you_." And, more +largely far it was said, "Go ye, therefore, and make disciples all +nations;" and "Go ye into the whole world and preach the Gospel to +every creature."[15] But they to whom this was said were yet +themselves sheep of the Great Shepherd, and in committing the world +to them, He did not commit _them_ to each other. Whereas here, they +too, as His sheep, are committed to one, even Peter; and very +expressly, in the persons of James and John, and the rest present, +"lovest thou Me more than these?" A particular flock is never +termed absolutely and simply "the flock," or "the flock of God," but +"the flock _which is among you_," "_in which the Holy Ghost hath +made you bishops_." And, again, the Apostles are sent in common to +the whole world, to preach to all nations, and to form one flock; +but they are twelve, and "power given to several carries its +restriction in its division, whilst power given to one alone and +over all, and without exception, carries with it plenitude, and, not +having to be divided with any other, it has no bounds save those +which its terms convey."[16] What are the terms here? "Feed," and +"be shepherd over" or "rule" "My lambs and My sheep." The terms have +no limit, save that of salvation itself. Such, then, are the +_persons_ indicated as subjects of this charge. But what is the +nature of the charge? Two different words of unequal extent and +force in the original, but both rendered "feed" in the translation, +convey this. One means "to give food" simply, the other, of far +higher and nobler reach, embraces every act of care and providence +in the government of others, under an image the farthest removed +from the spirit of pride and ambition. Such is even its heathen +meaning, and the first of poets termed Agamemnon by this word, +"Shepherd of the people." By this word, S. Paul, and S. Peter[17] +himself, express the power of the bishop over his own flock. And so +our Lord, here instituting the Bishop of Bishops, the one Shepherd +of the one fold, gives to Peter over all his flock, the very word +given to _Him_ in the famous prophecy, "Thou, Bethlehem, the land of +Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee +shall come forth the captain that shall _rule_ My people Israel:" +the very word, which used of Himself in Psalm ii. to express all His +power and dominion, in His revelation to S. John, is spoken of His +own triumphant career, as the Word of God going forth to battle, "He +shall _rule_ them with a rod of iron;" and, again, in the same book +is applied by Himself to set forth the honour which He will give "to +him that shall overcome and keep My works unto the end."[18] Thus, +just as in the _persons_ pointed out, the _subject_ of this charge +is _universal_, so in the _terms_ by which it is expressed, the +_nature_ of the power is _supreme_. What the bishop is to his own +flock, Peter is made to "the flock of God:" and this at once, in the +most simple, as well as in the most absolute and emphatic manner, by +institution from the chief Shepherd Himself, at the close of His +ministry, and by associating Peter singly with Himself in His most +distinctive title. If the fold of Christ is equivalent to "the +Church of Christ," and "the kingdom of heaven," so to feed and to +rule the lambs and the sheep of that fold is equivalent to being +"the Rock" of that Church, and "the Bearer of the keys," as well as +_the First, the Greater one, and the Ruler_ in that kingdom of +heaven. + +Again, looking at the circumstances under which this charge is +received by Peter, it either conveys that special and singular +honour and power which we have here set forth, or _none at all_. For +Peter had _already_ received the full Apostolic authority: he had +heard together with the rest of the Apostles those words of power, +"As My Father sent Me, I also send you," and the charge following, +to bind and to loose. It could not therefore be this power which was +given him, for he had it already. All which James and John, the sons +of thunder, ever had given them, he also had before these words were +uttered. Besides a power which was to be shared by James and John, +and the rest of the Apostles, could not be given in terms which +distinguished him from them, "lovest thou Me _more than these_?" It +could not be the mere forgiveness of his denial, for not only did +the Apostolate, since conferred, carry that, but when our Lord +appeared to him first of all the Apostles after His resurrection, it +was a token of such forgiveness. There remained nothing else to give +him, but presidency over the Apostles themselves, the reward of +superior love, as was prophesied and promised to him in reward for +superior faith. For these two oracles of our Lord exactly correspond +to each other as promise and performance. Their conditions and their +terms shed a reciprocal light on each other. In the one there is the +great confession, "Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God;" +in the other as singular a declaration, "Lovest thou Me more than +these? Yea, Lord." In the one there follows the reward, "And I say +to thee, that thou art Peter," &c.: and in the other a like reward, +"Feed My lambs, be shepherd over My sheep." The one is future, "I +will build, I will give, thou shalt bind, thou shall loose:" the +other present, "Feed and be shepherd." What concerns "the Church and +the kingdom of heaven" in the one, concerns "the fold" in the other. +And the promise and performance are singularly restricted to +Peter--"I say unto thee, Thou art Peter"--"Simon, son of John, +lovest thou Me more than these?" + +As then Peter received the promise of the supreme episcopate _before +all_ and _by himself_, under the terms that he should be the Rock, +by being built on which the Church should never fall, that he should +be the Bearer of the keys in the kingdom of heaven, and that +_singly_ he should bind and loose in heaven and in earth; so _after_ +his own Apostolate, and that of the rest had been completed, _by +himself_, and as the crown of the divine work, he received the +fulfilment of that supreme episcopate, under the terms, "Feed My +lambs, be shepherd over My sheep." And as a part out of that +magnificent promise made to him _singly_, was afterwards taken and +made to the Apostles _jointly_ with him, for so "it was the design +of Jesus Christ to put first in one alone what afterwards He meant +to put in several; but the sequel does not reverse the beginning, +nor the first lose his place. That first word, 'Whatsoever thou +shalt bind,' said to one alone, has already ranged under his power +each one of those to whom shall be said, 'Whatsoever ye shall +remit;' for the promises of Jesus Christ, as well as His gifts, are +without repentance; and what is once given indefinitely and +universally is irrevocable:"[19] so when Peter and the rest already +possessed the whole Apostolate, the commission to go and preach to +the whole world, and to make disciples of all nations, a power was +added to Peter to make up what was promised to him originally; the +Apostles themselves, with the whole fold, were put under his charge; +he represented the person of the Great Shepherd: and the divine work +was complete. + +Thus the powers of the Apostolate and the Primacy are not +antagonistic, but fit into, and harmonise with each other. In the +college of the Twelve, as before inaugurated, and sent forth into +the whole world, something had been wanting, save that, "by the +appointment of a head, the occasion of schism was taken away:"[20] +and Satan would have shaken the whole fabric, but that there was one +divinely set to "confirm the brethren." He who "kept them" once, +when "with them," by His personal presence, now kept them for +evermore by the word of His power, issued on the shore of the lake +of Galilee, but resounding through every age, clear and decisive, +amid the fall of empires, and the change of races, and heard by all +His flock to the utmost of the isles of the sea, till the day of the +Son of Man comes,--"Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me more than +these? Feed My lambs: Feed My sheep." + +And that the universal and supreme authority over the Church of +Christ, was in these words committed to Peter by the Lord, is the +belief of antiquity. Thus, S. Ambrose, in the west: "It is not +doubtful that Peter believed, and believed because he loved, and +loved because he believed. Whence, too, he is grieved at being asked +a third time, Lovest thou Me? For we ask those of whom we doubt. But +the Lord does not doubt, but asks not to learn, but to teach him +whom, on the point of ascending into heaven, He was leaving, _as it +were, the successor and representative of His love_.[21] It is +because he alone out of all makes a profession, that _he is +preferred to all_. Lastly, for the third time, the Lord asks him, no +longer, _hast_ thou _a regard_ (diligis me) for Me, but _lovest_ +(amas) thou Me: and now he is ordered to feed, not the lambs, as at +first, who need a milk diet, nor the little sheep, as secondly, but +the more perfect sheep, _in order that he who was the more perfect +might have the government_."[22] In the East, S. Chrysostome, "Why, +then, passing by the rest, does He converse with him on these +things? _He was the chosen of the Apostles, and the mouthpiece of +the disciples, and the head of the band._ Therefore, also Paul once +went up to see him rather than the rest. It was, besides, to shew +him, that for the future he must be bold, as his denial was done +away with, that _He puts into his hands the presidency over the +brethren._ And He does not mention the denial, nor reproach him with +what had past; but He says, if thou lovest Me, _rule the brethren_, +and show now that warm affection which on all occasions thou didst +exhibit, and in which thou didst exult, and the life which thou +didst offer to lay down for Me, now spend for My sheep." Again, +"thrice He asks the question, and thrice lays on him the same +command, showing at how high a price He sets _the charge of His own +sheep_." Again, "he was put in charge with the direction of his +brethren." "He made him great promises _and put the world into his +hands_." Thus John and James, and the rest of the Apostles were +committed to Peter, but never Peter to them: and he adds, "But if +any one asks, How then did James receive the throne of Jerusalem? I +would reply that He elected Peter _not to be the teacher of this +throne, but of the whole world_." And in another place, "Why did He +shed His blood to purchase those sheep _which He committed to Peter +and his successors_? With reason then said Christ, 'who is the +faithful and prudent servant whom his Lord hath set over His own[23] +house?'" Theophylact repeated, seven hundred years later, the +perpetual tradition of the East. "He puts into Peter's hands the +headship over the sheep of the whole world, and to no other but to +him gives He this; first, because he was distinguished above all, +and the mouth-piece of the whole band; and secondly, showing to him +that he must be confident, as his denial was put out of account." +And if S. Leo, a Pope, declares that "though there be among the +people of God many priests and many shepherds, yet Peter rules all +by immediate commission, whom Christ also rules by Sovereign +power,"[24] the great Eastern, Saint Basil, assigned an adequate +reason for this near a century before, when he viewed all pastoral +authority in the Church as included in this grant to Peter, +declaring that the spiritual "ruler is none else but one who +represents the person of the Saviour, and offers up to God the +salvation of those who obey him, and this we learn from Christ +Himself _in that He appointed Peter to be the shepherd of His Church +after_[25] _Himself_." + +But especially must we quote S. Cyprian, because to that equality of +the Apostles as such, before referred to by us, by considering which +without regard to the proportion of faith some have been led astray, +he adds the full recognition of the Primacy, and urges its extreme +importance. Thus quoting the promise and the fulfilment, "Thou art +Peter, &c." and "Feed My sheep," he goes on, "Upon him being one He +builds His Church; and _though_ He gives to all the Apostles an +equal power, and says, "As the Father sent Me, I also send you, +&c.," yet in order to manifest unity He has, by His own authority, +so placed the source of the same unity as to begin from one. +Certainly the other Apostles also were what Peter was, endued with +an equal fellowship both of honour and power, but a commencement is +made from unity, that the Church may be set before us as one."[26] +That is, the Apostles were equal as to the powers bestowed in John +xx. 23-5, but as to those given in Matt. xvi. 18-19, Luke xxii. +31-3, and John xxi. 15-18, "the Church was built upon Peter alone," +and he was made the source and ever-living spring of ecclesiastical +unity. + +Yet clearly as our Lord in this charge associates Peter with +Himself, puts him over his brethren, the other Apostles, and fulfils +to him all that He ever promised, as to making him "the first," "the +greater one" and "the ruler or leader," by that one title of "the +Shepherd," in which is summed up all authority over His Church, and +the very purpose of His own divine mission, "to seek and to save +that which was lost," still a touch of tenderness is added by the +Master's hand, which brings out all this more forcibly, and must +have told personally on Peter's feelings and those of his +fellow-disciples, as the highest and most solemn consecration to his +singular office. For when the Lord spoke that parable, "I am the +good shepherd," He added, as the token of the character, "the good +shepherd giveth His life for His sheep." And so now, appointing +Peter to take His place over the flock, He adds to him this token +also: "Amen, amen, I say to thee, when thou wast younger, thou didst +gird thyself, and didst walk where thou wouldst, but when thou shalt +be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird +thee, and lead thee whither thou wouldst not." "When thou wast +younger, thou didst gird thyself," alluding, perhaps, to that +impulse of affection with which, just before, as soon as Peter heard +from John that it was the Lord standing on the shore, "he girt his +coat about him and cast himself into the sea," for his love waited +not for the slowness of the boat. Thus He taught Peter that the +chiefship to which He was appointing him, that "care of all the +Churches," as it required a different spirit to fulfil it from that +which prevailed among "the kings of the nations," so it led to a +different end, the last crowning act of a lifelong self-sacrifice, +which began by being the servant of all, ran through a thousand acts +of humiliation and anxiety, and was to be completed in the martyrdom +of crucifixion. And so in his death, as well as in his charge of +visible head of the Church, he was to be made like his Lord, and +after the manner of the Good Shepherd, whom he succeeded, should lay +down his life for his sheep. For "this He said signifying by what +death he should glorify God. And when He had said this, He saith to +him, Follow Me." With far deeper meaning now than when those words +of power were first uttered to him beside that lake. Then it was, +"Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." Now it is, "Follow +Me, and I will associate thee with My life and with My death, with +My charge and with its reward. This shall be the proof of thy +greater love, to be obedient even to death, and that the death of +the cross." Such was the anointing which the first Primate of the +Church received to the triple crown. "Follow thou Me." Like his +divine Master, he was during the whole of his ministry to have the +cross set before his eyes, and laid upon his heart, as the certain +end of his course. And thus Peter "received power and sacerdotal +authority over all, from the very God for our sakes incarnate:"[27] +thus he followed in the steps of the Good Shepherd, as he succeeded +to His office. And, therefore, having accomplished his mission and +triumphed on the Roman hill, from Rome he speaks through the undying +line of his spiritual heirs, and feeds the flock of Christ. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Passaglia, p. 93. + +[2] Matt. xvi. 16. + +[3] Matt. x. 1; Mark iii. 13-15; Luke vi. 12-13; Matt. xviii, 18. + +[4] John xvii. 12. + +[5] Mark xvi. 6. + +[6] 1 Cor. xv. 1-9. + +[7] Matt. xxviii. 18; Mark xvi. 15; Luke xxiv. 49; Acts i. 4-8; +John. xx. 21. + +[8] De unitate ecclesiæ, 3. + +[9] Mark i. 16; Luke v. 3. + +[10] Mark iv. 38; Luke viii. 24. + +[11] John vi. 21. + +[12] John xxi. 1-14. + +[13] St. Augustine's 122nd discourse on St. John, who has thus set +forth this chapter: "Piscis assus Christus est passus." + +[14] Ezech. xxiv. 33; Isai. xl. 9-11; Mich. v. 2; Matt. ii. 6; John +x. 11, 14, 16. + +[15] Acts xx. 28; 1 Pet. v. 10; Matt. xxviii. 19; Mark xvi. 15. + +[16] Bossuet, sermon on unity. + +[17] Acts xx. 28; 1 Pet. v. 10; Ps. ii. 9; Apoc. xix. 15; ii. 27. + +[18] Poimahinein used in the text of John, and in all +these. + +[19] Bossuet, sermon on unity. + +[20] St. Jerome. + +[21] Amoris sui veluti vicarium. + +[22] In Lucam, Lib. 10, n. 175. + +[23] St. Chrys. in Joan. Hom. 88, p. 525-7; and De Sacerdot. Lib. 2, +Tom. 1. p. 372. + +[24] St. Leo. Serm. 4. + +[25] St. Basil, Constit. Monas. xxii. Tom. 2, p. 573. + +[26] St. Cyprian, de unit. 3. + +[27] Stephen of Dora, in the Lateran Synod, A.D., 649. Mansi, x. +893. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE CORRESPONDENCE AND EQUIVALENCE OF THE GREAT TEXTS CONCERNING +PETER. + + +Before we compare together more exactly what was said to the +Apostles in common, and what to Peter in particular, it is desirable +to consider briefly two other points, which will complete the +evidence furnished by the Gospels. + +1. If, then, the[1] question to be decided by documents is, whether +several persons are to be accounted equal in rank, honour, and +authority, or whether one of them is superior to the rest, it will +be an unexceptionable rule to observe whether they are spoken of in +the same manner. For words are signs of ideas, and set forth as in a +mirror the mind's conceptions. A similarity of language, therefore, +will indicate a similarity of rank; a distinction of language, +especially if it be repeated and constant, will show a like +distinction of rank. Let us apply this rule to the mode in which the +Evangelists speak of Peter and of the other Apostles. + +Now to express one of rank and his attendants, the Evangelists often +use the phrase, a person _and those with him_. Thus, Luke vi. 4, +"David and _those that were with him_;" and Matt. xii. 3 with Mark +ii. 25, "Have ye not read what David did, when himself was a +hungered and _those that were with him_?" Of our Lord and the +Apostles it is said, Mark iii. 11, "And He made twelve, _that they +should be with Him_:" and xvi. 10, "She went and told _them that +had been with Him_." And Acts iv. 13, the chief priests "knew them," +Peter and John, "that _they had been with Jesus_." And Matthew xxvi. +69, Peter is reproached, "Thou also _wast with Jesus_." Now just so +the Evangelists speak of Peter. Our Lord having on one occasion left +the Apostles for solitary prayer, S. Mark writes, i. 36, "And Simon +_and they that were with him_ followed after Him." Again, the woman +with the issue of blood having touched the Lord, when He asked, 'Who +is it that touched Me?' S. Luke says, viii. 45, "all denying, Peter +_and they that were with him_ said," &c. And on the occasion of the +Transfiguration, "Peter and _they that were with him_," being James +and John. Just as after the resurrection Luke writes, Acts ii. 14, +"Peter standing up with the eleven;" verse 37, "They said to Peter +and to the rest of the Apostles;" v. 29, "Peter and the Apostles +answering said." And the angels to the holy women, Mark xvi. 7, "Go +tell His disciples and Peter." + +It is then to be remarked that Peter is the _only_ Apostle who is +put in this relation to the rest. _Never_ is it said "James," or +"John and the rest of the Apostles," or, "and those with him." Peter +is named, and the rest are added in a mass, and this happens in his +case continually, never in the case of any other Apostle. + +No adequate cause can be alleged for this but the Primacy and +superior rank of Peter, which was ever in the mind of the +Evangelists, and is sometimes indicated by the prophetic name; for +as often as Simon is called Peter, he is marked as the foundation of +the Church, according to the Lord's prophecy. And long before +contentions about the prerogatives of Peter arose, the ancient +Fathers attributed it to his Primacy, that he was thus named +expressly and first, the others in a mass, or in the second place. + +According, then, to the rule above-mentioned, Peter, by the mode in +which the Evangelists speak of him, is distinguished from the other +Apostles, and his position with regard to the rest is described in +the very same phrase which is used to express the superiority of +David over his men, and even of our Lord over the Twelve. And for +this there seems no adequate cause, but that special association of +Peter with Himself indicated in the name, and the promises +accompanying it in Matt. xvi. + +2. Again, four[2] catalogues of the Apostles exist,[3] and in each +of these Peter is placed first. And in the three which occur in the +Gospels, (that of Luke in the Acts being a more brief repetition of +his former one,) the prophetic name Peter is indicated as the reason +for his being thus placed first. So Mark. "And to Simon He gave the +name Peter. And James the son of Zebedy, and John the brother of +James; and He named them Boanerges, which is, the sons of thunder:" +for which reason, that the Lord had given them a name, though it was +held in common, and not, like that of Peter, expressive of official +rank, but personal qualities, Mark seems to set these two before +Andrew, whom both in Matthew and in Luke they follow. Again, Luke +says, "He chose twelve of them, whom also He named Apostles, Simon +whom He surnamed Peter, and Andrew his brother," &c. "_The first_ of +all, and the chief of them, he that was illiterate and uneducated," +says S. Chrysostome;[4] and Origen long before him, observing that +Peter was always named first in the number of the twelve, asks, What +should be thought the cause of this order? He replies, it was +constantly observed because Peter was "more honoured than the +rest," thus intimating that he no less excelled the rest on account +of the gifts which he had received from heaven, than "Judas through +his wretched disposition was truly the last of all, and worthy to be +put at the end."[5] But much more marked is Matthew in signifying +the superior dignity of Peter, not only naming him at the head in +his catalogue, but calling him simply and absolutely "the first." +"And the names of the twelve Apostles are these, The first, Simon, +who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, James," &c. Now that +_second_ and _third_ do not follow, shows that "first" is not a +numeral here, but designates rank and pre-eminence. Thus in heathen +authors this word "first" by itself indicates the most excellent in +its kind: thus in the Septuagint occur, "first friend of the king," +"first of the singers," "the first priest,"[6] i.e. the chief +priest. So our Lord, "whichever among you will be first;" "Bring +forth the first robe;" and S. Paul, "sinners, of whom I am +first,"[7] i.e. chief. Thus "the first of the island," Acts, xxviii. +7, means the chief magistrate; and "first" generally in Latin +phraseology, the superior, or prince. + +Such, then, is the rank which Matthew gives to Peter, when he +writes, "the first, Simon, who is called Peter." + +It should also be remarked that, whenever the Evangelists have +occasion to mention _some_ of the Apostles, Peter being one, he is +ever put first. Thus Matt., "He taketh unto Him Peter, and James, +and John his brother;" and Mark, "He admitted not any man to follow +Him, but Peter, and James, and John, the brother of James:" and +"Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew asked Him apart:" and "He +taketh Peter, and James, and John with Him:" and Luke, "He suffered +not any man to go in with him, but Peter, and James, and John, and +the father and mother of the maiden:" and "He sent Peter and John:" +and John, "There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas, who is +called Didymus, and Nathaniel, who was of Cana in Galilee, and the +two sons of Zebedy, and two others of His disciples."[8] This rule +would seem to be invariable, though James and John are not always +mentioned next after him. + +An attempt has been made to evade the force of these testimonies, by +giving as a reason for Peter being always thus named first, that he +was the most aged of all the Apostles, and the first called. Even +were it so, such reasons would seem most inadequate, but +unfortunately they are neither of them facts. For as to age, +antiquity bears witness that Andrew was Peter's elder brother. And +as to their calling, S. Augustine has observed, "In what order all +the twelve Apostles were called, does not appear in the narrations +of the Evangelists, since not only not the order of the calling, but +not even the calling itself of all is mentioned, but only of Philip, +and Peter, and Andrew, and of the sons of Zebedy, and of Matthew, +the publican, termed also Levi. But Peter was both the first and the +only one who separately received a name from Him."[9] As it may be +conjectured from the Gospels that Christ said to Philip first of +all, "Follow Me," Joh. i. 44, he has the best right to be considered +the first called. + +Now the two classes of facts just mentioned, as to the mode in which +the Evangelists speak of Peter in combination with the other +Apostles, prove directly and plainly his _Primacy_, while they do +not _directly_ prove, save Matthew's title of _First_, nor are they +here quoted to prove, the _nature_ of that Primacy, which rests, as +we have seen, on other and more decisive texts. + +At length, then, we have before us the whole evidence of the +Gospels, and having considered it piece by piece, may now take a +general view. It is time to gather up the several parts of this +evidence, and, claiming for each its due force, to present the sum +of all before the mind. For distinct and decisive as certain texts +appear, and are, even by themselves, yet when they are seen to fit +into a whole system, and perfectly to harmonise together, they have +much greater power to convince the mind, which really seeks for +truth. But moral evidences generally, and especially that which +results from a study of the Holy Scripture, is not intended to move +a mind in a lower condition than this; a mind, that is, which loves +something else better than the truth. + +Thus, out of the body of His disciples, we see our Lord choosing +Twelve, and again, out of those Twelve, distinguishing One by the +most singular favours. This distinction even begins _before_ the +selection of the Twelve, and has its root in the very commencement +of our Lord's ministry: for, as we have seen, it was when Andrew +first led his brother Simon before Christ, that He "looked upon +him," and promised him the prophetic name which revealed his +Primacy, and his perpetual relation to the Church of God. The name +thus promised is in due time bestowed, and solemnly recorded by the +three Evangelists, at the appointment of the Apostles, as the reason +why he is invariably set at their head; Matthew, still more +distinctly expressing in it his primacy, "_the first_, Simon, who is +called Peter." And their whole mode of mentioning him, and +exhibiting his relation to the other apostles, shews that this +Primacy was, when they wrote, ever in their minds. It comes out in +the most incidental way, as when Mark writes, "Simon, and they that +were with him, followed after" Christ; or Luke, "Peter, and they +that were with him, said;" as naturally as they write, "David, and +those that were with him:" or of our Lord Himself, and the Apostles, +"those that had been with Him."[10] Again this preference of Peter +is shewn by our Lord, both at the Transfiguration and the Agony: +where, even when the two next favoured of the Apostles are +associated with Him as witnesses, yet there is evidence of Peter's +superiority in the mode with which the Evangelists mention him. +Great as the dignity was of the two sons of thunder, they are yet +ranged under Peter by Luke, with that same phrase which we have just +been considering. "Peter, and they that were with him were heavy +with sleep." And our Lord, at the agony, says to Peter, "could not +_you_," that is, all the three, "watch with Me one hour?"[11] Again, +how incidentally, yet markedly, does Matthew shew that this +superiority of Peter over others was apparent even to strangers, +when he writes, that the officers who collected the tribute for the +temple, came to _him_, and said, "does not _your_ master" (the +master of all the Apostles,) "pay the didrachma?"[12] Much more +significant is the incident immediately following, when our Lord +orders him to go to the sea, to cast a hook, and to bring up a fish, +which shall have a stater in his mouth, adding, "take that, and give +it to them for Me, and for thee:" a token of preference so strong, +and of association so singular, that it set the Apostles on the +immediate enquiry, who should be the greater among them: the answer +to which we will revert to presently. + +And this designation of Peter to his high and singular office +becomes even more striking, if we contrast what our Lord did and +said to him with what He did and said to another Apostle, who _in +another way_ is even in some respects preferred to Peter himself. +For "the disciple whom Jesus loved," who lay on His breast at +supper, to whom was committed at the most sorrowful of all moments +the domestic care of the Virgin Mother, has in the affection of our +Lord his own unapproachable sphere. But as Peter does not come into +competition with him here, so neither in another view he with Peter. +His distinction is private, and in the nature of personal affection: +Peter's is public, and in the nature of Church government. To one is +committed the Mother of the Lord, the living symbol of the Church, +the most blessed of all creatures, and that, when her full dignity +and blessedness stood at length revealed in the full Godhead of her +Son, yet whose throne was intercessory, apart from rule on earth: to +the other is committed the Church herself, her championship in the +time of conflict, the rudder of the vessel on the lake, till with +Christ it should reach the shore. Each of these, so eminent and +unapproachable in his way, has that way apart; and when Peter, on +receiving his final commission, turned about and saw his best-loved +friend following, and ventured to ask, "Lord, and what shall this +man do?" our Lord replied with something like a reproof, "what is +that to thee? Follow thou Me." These distinct preferences of the two +Apostles were indicated by Tertullian, when he wrote, "Was anything +concealed from Peter, who was named the rock on which the Church +should be built, who received the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and +the power to bind and loose in heaven and on earth? Was anything, +too, concealed from John, the most beloved of the Lord, who lay +upon His breast, to whom alone the Lord foresignified the traitor +Judas, whom He committed in His own place as Son to Mary?"[13] + +But to return. Our Lord, after encompassing Peter during His whole +ministry with such tokens of preference, and a preference specially +belonging to his office, and designating it, appears to him first of +all the Apostles after His resurrection. And yet all the proofs +which we have been here summing up of Peter's pre-eminence, are but +collateral and subordinate: though by themselves ten-fold more than +any other can claim, yet Peter's authority does not rest _mainly_ on +them. And this likewise is true of another class of facts concerning +Peter, which yet carries with it much force, and when once remarked, +never leaves the thoughtful mind. It is his great predominance in +the sacred history over the rest of the Twelve. A single incident or +expression distinguishing him, is perhaps all that falls to the lot +of another Apostle, as when "Philip saith unto Him, Lord, show us +the Father and it sufficeth us;" and the Lord replies, "Have I been +so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip?" Or +as Thomas, at a moment of danger, "said to his fellow disciples, Let +us also go that we may die with Him."[14] But Peter's name is +wrought into the whole tissue of the Gospel history; he is +perpetually approaching the Lord with questions: "Lord, how oft +shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? until seven +times?" The rest suffer the Lord in silence to wash their feet, but +Peter is overcome at the sight. "Lord, dost Thou wash my feet? Thou +shalt never wash my feet;" "Lord, not my feet only, but also my +hands and my head."[15] Thus in the whole New Testament, John, who +is yet mentioned oftener than the rest, occurs only thirty-eight +times; but in the Gospels alone, omitting the Acts and the Epistles, +Peter is mentioned twenty-three times by Matthew, eighteen by Mark, +twenty by Luke, and thirty by John.[16] More especially it is the +custom of the Evangelists, when they record anything which touches +all the Apostles, almost invariably to exhibit Peter as singly +speaking for all, and representing all. Thus when Christ asked them +all equally, "But whom say ye that I am? Simon Peter answered and +said." He told them all equally "That a rich man shall hardly enter +into the kingdom of heaven,"[17] whereupon "Peter answering said to +Him, Behold, we have left all things, and followed Thee: what +therefore shall we have?" And when "Jesus said to the twelve, Will +you also go away?"[18] at once we hear, "Simon Peter answered and +said, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal +life." And a very remarkable occasion occurs where our Lord had been +telling to His disciples the parable of the watchful servant, upon +which Peter said to Him, "Lord, dost Thou speak this parable to us, +or likewise to all?"[19] And the reply seems by anticipation to +express the very office which Peter was to hold. "Who, then, is the +faithful and wise steward, whom his lord setteth over his family, to +give them their measure of wheat in due season?" Now it looks not +like an equal, but a superior, to anticipate the rest, to represent +them, to speak and act for them. S. Chrysostome drew the conclusion +long ago. "What then says Peter, the mouth-piece of the Apostles? +Everywhere impetuous as he is, the leader of the band of the +Apostles, when a question is asked of all, he replies."[20] No +other cause can be assigned for the care of the Evangelists in +setting before us so continually his words and acts, in bringing him +out, as the second object, after Christ. But though his future place +in the Church is a reason for this, and this again, a token of that +singular pre-eminence, its decisive proof rests on declarations from +our Lord's own mouth, expressly circumscribed to him, of singular +lucidity, and of force which nothing can evade; declarations which +set forth, under different but coincident images, a power supreme +and without equal, and of its own nature belonging to but one at a +time. The proofs which we have hitherto mentioned take away all +abruptness from these declarations, and show that they embody a +great design which runs all through the Gospel; but the office +itself rests upon these, and by these is most clearly and absolutely +defined. + +Thus, when our Lord, in answer to a great confession of His Apostle, +"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," replies, "and I +too, say unto thee, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build +My Church:" every one must feel how it adds to the cogency of the +reply, that the name, which He is explaining, was not the person's +natural name, but first promised, and then given, by that same Lord, +who now attaches other promises and prophecies to it. This fact +serves, among others, to fix the whole which follows to Peter +individually, and to introduce what follows, as part of a design, +which before had been intimated: for what follows no more belongs to +the other Apostles, than the name, Peter, belongs to them: and a +name, on the other hand, so promised, and so given, naturally looks, +as it were, to such a result. To say solemnly of a man, when first +seen, "Thou art called Simon, but thou shall be called The Rock," +and to make nothing of him when so called, would be, if ascribed to +any one, a dull and pointless thing; but what shall we say, when the +speaker is God? It is a new thing for God the Word to speak with +little meaning, or to speak, and not to do: and so now He does what +He had long designed. And what is it that He does? He sets up a +governor who is never to be put down. He inaugurates a Church +against which Hell shall rage, but in vain: He establishes a +government at which the nations shall rage, the kings of the earth +set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, for ever, but +to their own confusion. He does what He alone could do, and so the +answer is worthy of the confession, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of +the living God." + +"Blessed [21]art thou, Simon Bar-Jonas, for flesh and blood hath not +revealed it unto thee, but My Father who is in heaven. _And I, too, +say unto thee_, in return for what thou hast said to Me, and to +shew, like My Father, My good will towards thee, and what I say, as +the Almighty Word of the Father, by My power I fulfil, _that thou +art Peter_, the Rock, and so partaker with Me of that honour whereby +I am the chief Rock and Foundation; _and upon this Rock_, which I +have called thee, _I will build My Church_, which, therefore, with +Me for its architect, shall rest on thee, to thee adhere, and from +thee derive its conspicuous unity: _and the gates of hell_, even all +the powers of the enemy, _shall not prevail against it_, nor take +that, which, by My Godhead, is established upon thee, but rather +yield to it the victory. _And to thee_, whom, as Supreme Architect, +I have marked out for the Rock and Foundation of My Church, as King +and Lord _I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven_, and the +supreme authority over My Church, and will make thee sharer with Me +in that dignity, by which I hold the keys of heaven and of earth, +_and whatsoever_, in virtue of that authority and as associated in +My dignity, _thou shalt bind upon earth, shall be bound in heaven_, +and there shall be no matter relating to My Church, and the kingdom +of heaven, but shall be subject to thy legislative and judicial +power, which shall reach the heaven itself: for it is a power at +once human, and divine; human, as entrusted to a man, and +administered by a man; divine, as a participation of that right by +which I am, in heaven and on earth, Supreme Lawgiver and Judge; _and +whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, shall be loosed in heaven_." + +Thus it is that the most famous Fathers and Bishops, the most +distinguished Councils, the most various nations, have understood +our Lord's words, and this is their meaning, according to the fixed +laws of grammar, of rhetoric, of philosophy, and of logic, as well +as by the testimony of history, and in accordance with the +principles of theology. Let us mention certain consequences which +follow from them. + +These words[22] of Christ are, in the most marked manner, addressed +to Peter _only_ among the Apostles, and are, therefore, with their +meaning, _peculiar_ to him. And they designate pre-eminence in the +government of the Church. They have, therefore, the two qualities +which render them a suitable testimony to establish his Primacy +among the Apostles. + +Now, if persons differ in rank and pre-eminence, they must be +considered not equals, but absolutely unequal. And such pre-eminence +Peter had, deriving from Christ, the Founder, a superior rank in the +Church's ministry. Therefore, the college of the Apostles must be +termed absolutely unequal, and all the Apostles, compared with +Peter, absolutely unequal. + +But as inequality may be manifold, as of age, calling, honour, +order, jurisdiction and power, its nature and its degree must be +sought in that property which belongs to one over the rest. So that +we must determine, by the authority of the Scriptures, from those +gifts which were promised to Peter alone, the nature and the degree +of that inequality which subsisted between him and the other +Apostles. + +The gifts promised to Peter alone, are contained in these words of +Christ, recorded by Matthew: and therefore, from their nature and +inherent qualities, we must judge of the sort, and the extent of +inequality, put by Christ between Peter and the rest. + +These are summed up in the four following: I. That Peter is the +rock, on which the Church was to be built by Christ, the Chief +Architect. II. That the impregnable strength which the Church was to +have against the gates of hell, depended on its union with Peter, as +the divinely laid foundation. III. That by Christ, the King of +kings, and Lord of lords, Peter is marked out as next to Him, and +after Him, the Bearer of the keys in the Church's heavenly kingdom: +IV. And that, accordingly, universal power of binding and loosing is +promised to him, leaving him responsible to Christ alone, the +supreme Lawgiver and Judge. Therefore the nature of the prerogatives +expressed in these four terms must be our standard both of the +character and degree of inequality between the Apostles and Peter, +and of the power of the Primacy promised to Peter. + +But these terms mark authority, and plainly express jurisdiction +and power; the inequality, therefore, is one relating to +jurisdiction and power; and Peter's pre-eminence likewise such. + +That these terms, which contain Peter's prerogatives really do +express jurisdiction and authority, may be thus very briefly shown. +The first, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My +Church," is drawn from architecture, exhibiting between Peter and +the Church, which includes also the Apostles, the relation which +exists between the foundation and the superstructure. This is one of +dependence, by which accordingly the Apostles must maintain an +indivisible union with Peter. Which relation of dependence, again, +cannot be understood without the notion of superior jurisdiction in +Peter, for these are correlative. The second term corroborates this; +for it is a plain duty, and undoubted moral obligation, to be united +to him, if severed from whom, the words of Christ do not entitle you +to expect stability or victory over the gates of hell. Now, "the +gates of hell shall not prevail against it," most plainly express +that perseverance and victory are promised to no one by Christ, who +does not remain joined with Peter. So much for the _duty_ which +binds all Christians, and the Apostles among them, to avoid +separation from Peter as their destruction. But such duty involves +the faculty and authority on Peter's part of enjoining on all +without exception the maintenance of unity, and of keeping from the +whole body the sin of schism, which, again, expresses his superior +jurisdiction. Yet plainer and more striking is the _third_; for in +the words, "And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of +heaven," it is foretold that Peter, in regard to the kingdom of +heaven, and therefore to all Christians, whether teachers or taught, +subjects or prelates, shall discharge the office of the bearer of +the keys; with which jurisdiction and authority are indivisibly +united. But in the _fourth_, there is no matter relating to the +heavenly kingdom, which is not subjected by this promise to Peter's +authority. "Whatsoever thou shalt bind," "whatsoever thou shalt +loose;" but this is in its own kind without limit, a full +legislative and judicial power. Thus these four terms exactly agree +with each other, and express, severally and collectively, +prerogatives by which Peter is admitted to a singular and close +association with Christ; and therefore is pre-eminent among the +Apostles by his Primacy, and his superior authority over the whole +Church. + +They also show, with no less clearness, that Christ in bestowing +these prerogatives and primacy on Peter, designed to produce the +visible unity of His kingdom and Church; and this in two ways, the +first _typically prefiguring_ the Church's own unity in Peter, the +single Foundation, Bearer of the keys, and supreme Legislator and +Judge; the second _efficiently_, as by a principle and cause, +_forming_, _holding together_, and _protecting_, visible unity in +that same Peter, as he discharged these functions. For just as the +building is based on the foundation, and by virtue of it all the +parts are held together, so a kingdom's unity and harmonious +administration are first _moulded out_, and then _preserved_, in the +unity of its supreme authority. + +And this Primacy may be regarded from three different points of +view; as it _is in itself_, and as it regards its _efficient_ and +its _final_ cause. As to the first, it consists in superior +jurisdiction and authority; as to the second, it springs from Christ +Himself, who said to Peter alone, "And I too say unto thee," &c.; as +to the third, it _prefigures_, _forms_, and _protects_ the Church's +visible unity. + +But to prefigure, to form, and to protect the Church's unity being +distinct functions, care must be taken not to confuse them, the +former concerning the Primacy as a type, the two latter as the +origin and efficient cause; and also not to concede the former while +the latter are denied, which latter make up the Primacy as +jurisdictional, and the instrument effecting unity. Now Peter is +both the type of unity, its origin, and its efficient cause. + +A long line[23] of fathers, from the most ancient downwards, regards +Peter as at once the type, and the origin, and efficient cause of +unity; setting it forth as a prerogative of his headship that no +one, whether Apostle, or Prophet, or Evangelist, or Doctor, or +Teacher, might separate from him without the crime of schism. In +this consists his Primacy, and in this the famous phrase of S. +Cyprian finds its solution, that "the Episcopate is one, of which a +part is held by each without division of the whole." + +And, what is like to the preceding, they hold that Peter is the +_continuous_ source of all power in the Church, and that while its +plenitude dwells in his person, a portion of it is derived to the +various prelates under him. No one has set this forth more fully +than S. Leo, in the middle of the fifth century, as where he says, +that "if Christ willed that other rulers should enjoy aught together +with him, (that is, Peter,) yet never did He give, _save through +him_, what He denied not to others."[24] + +There is no one of these consequences but seems to result from the +words of our Lord here solemnly addressed to Peter. + +But, recurring to our general view, we find our Lord three +several[25] times appealed to by the Apostles to declare who should +be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven; and while on neither of +these occasions does He declare to them that there should be no +"greater one" among them, though such a declaration would have +terminated their rivalry, on the last and most urgent, at the very +eve of His departure from them, He sets forth in vivid words what +ought to be the character and deportment of the one so to be placed +over them; and then turning His conversation from them in a body to +Peter in particular, He charges him, at a future time, when He shall +obtain for him the gift of a faith that could not fail, to "confirm +his brethren." Having before dwelt on the full meaning of these +words, we need only remark how marvellously they coincide in force +with the prophecy which we have just been considering, while they +differ from it in expression. They convey as absolutely a supreme +authority as the former; and an authority independent of others, and +exclusive of participation; and one which is given for the +maintenance of the faith, and of visible unity in that faith. Nor +can we imagine a more fitting termination to the whole of our Lord's +dealing with His disciples before His passion, than that, when about +to be taken from them, He should designate, in words so full of +affection and provident care, one who was presently to take His own +place among them. "Simon, Simon, I have prayed for thee, that thy +faith fail not, and thou in thy turn one day confirm thy brethren." + +But if our Lord's preference of Peter, as to rank and dignity in the +Church, was during his lifetime consistent and uniform; if, +moreover, He made to him, twice, promises so large as to include and +go far beyond all that He said to the Apostles in common; and if He +took out, as it were, of what He had first promised to Peter a +portion which He afterwards promised as their common inheritance to +the rest; His dealing with Peter and the Apostles after His +resurrection is the exact counterpart to this. The fulfilment is +equivalent to the promise. In the fourfold prophecy to Peter, in +Matt. xvi. the last member is, "And whatsoever thou shalt bind on +earth, it shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt +loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven." That this is a +grant of full legislative and judicial power, given to one, we have +seen. Now on a later occasion it is repeated to the twelve together, +Matt. xviii. 18. _But the other three members of the prophecy made +to Peter are never repeated to the twelve_. In the fulfilment the +same distinction takes place. To the twelve in common our Lord +communicates the power contained in the fourth member of His +original promise, saying, John xx. 21, "As the Father hath sent Me, +I also send you. Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whose sins ye shall +forgive, they are forgiven them: and whose sins ye shall retain, +they are retained:" to which the other forms contained in Matt. +xxviii. 18, Mark xvi. 15, Luke xxiv. 49, Acts i. 4, 8, of preaching +the Gospel to every creature, of waiting for the power of the Holy +Ghost wherewith they should be endued, of teaching men to observe +all things which He had commanded, are equivalent, though less +definite. _But nowhere are the powers contained in the first three +members of the prophecy to Peter communicated to the twelve_. As the +promises were made to Peter alone originally, so to Peter alone are +they, as we shall see, fulfilled. Indeed, it could not be otherwise, +for the promises to be the rock of the Church, by coherence with +which the Church should be impregnable, and the bearer of the keys, +are in their own nature confined to one, and exclusive of +participants, and once made by the very Truth Himself to one man, +they ranged under his power all his brethren: "For the promises of +Jesus Christ, as well as His gifts, are without repentance; and what +is once given indefinitely and universally is irrevocable."[26] +Besides that, another indisputable principle must be taken into +account, viz., "that power given to several carries its restriction +in its division:" just as if a king before his death bequeaths the +whole administration of his sovereignty to a board of twelve +councillors, though the sum of authority so conveyed be sovereign, +yet the share of each individual in the college will be restricted +by the equal right of his colleagues. Whereas "power given to one +alone, and over all, and without exception, carries with it +plenitude, and, not having to be divided with any other, it has no +bounds save those which its terms convey." Such was the power +originally promised to Peter; and such, no less, that which was +ultimately conveyed. He stands apart and alone no less in the +fulfilment than in the promise. And under another image, but one +equally expressive with the first, the Lord conveys an authority as +absolute and as exclusive. The "bounds which its terms convey" are +the whole fold of Christ: "the sheep" no less than "the lambs:" "to +govern" no less than "to feed."[27] As the great Architect of the +heavenly city said to Peter, "Thou art the Rock;" as "the King of +kings," who "hath the key of David," and "on whose shoulder is the +government," said to Peter, "To thee will I give the keys of the +kingdom of heaven;" as He "who upholdeth all things by the word of +His power," and "in whom all things consist," said to Peter, +"Confirm thy brethren:" so to the same Peter, the same "Great +Shepherd of the sheep," said, "Feed My lambs, be shepherd over My +sheep," thus committing to him the chief Apostles themselves who +heard this charge, and causing there to be for ever "one fold and +one shepherd," on earth as in heaven. + +It remains briefly to consider these three palmary texts in their +reciprocal relations to each other, by which the fullest light is +thrown upon the scriptural prerogatives of S. Peter. + +1. First, then, all these texts are in the most marked manner +circumscribed to Peter _alone_. In all he is addressed by name; in +all he is distinguished by other circumstances from his brethren at +the time present with him; in all a special condition is attached +belonging to him; in the first, superior faith--in the second, +faith, which, by a particular gift, the fruit of Christ's own +prayer, should never fail--in the third, superior love. So that, +without an utter disregard of the meaning of words, and the force of +the context, and every law of grammar and philology, no one of these +texts can be extended from its application to Peter alone, and made +common to the other Apostles. + +2. Secondly, the note of _priority in time_ is secured to Peter by +the first text, to which the other two correspond. Even if the +promise in Matt. xviii. 18, made to all the Apostles, were of equal +latitude with that previously made to Peter, which it is so very far +from being that it contains one point only out of four, yet, the +fact that they had been already ranged by the former under him, and +that he had been promised _singly_ what they afterwards were +promised _in common_, would make a vast difference between them; +indeed, the difference of the Primacy. But, as it is, the very +first mention of the Church is connected with a promise made to +Peter of the highest authority in that Church, and a perpetual +relationship, entering into its inmost constitution, between it and +his person. Before the Church is formed, it is foretold that Peter +shall rule her: before she is set up against the gates of hell, +that, by virtue of her coherence with Him, she should prevail over +them. And the germ of her Episcopate, on which she is to grow, is +sown in His person; just as, in the last act of our Lord, that +Episcopate is delivered over to Him, universal and complete. + +3. Thirdly, those three texts are exactly _equivalent_ to each +other: they each involve and express the other. They could not have +been said of different persons without contradiction and confusion. +He who has one of them must have the rest. There is variation of +image, but identity of meaning. Thus, the relation between Peter and +the Church is in the first, that of Foundation and Superstructure; +of the heaven-built city, and of him who holds its keys: in the +second, it is that of the Architect, who, by skill and authority, +won for him, and given to him, by the Supreme Builder, the Word and +Wisdom of God, maintains every living stone of the structure in its +due place: in the third it is that of the supreme and universal +Pastor and his whole flock. In all of these there is the habit of +dependence between the superior and that over which he is set: in +all the need of close coherence with him. Observe in particular the +identity of the second and third. The special office of the Shepherd +of[28] souls is to lead his flock into suitable pastures, that is, +duly to instruct them in the Divine Word and Will: the pastoral +office is identical with that of teaching: "He gave some Apostles, +some Prophets, some Evangelists, some pastors and teachers," the +former are distinguished, the last united together: where the +Apostle observes, that the whole ministry, from the highest to the +lowest, is organised "to edify the body of Christ into the unity of +faith," and to preserve men from being "carried about by every wind +of doctrine." But if this was the design of Christ as to the whole +ministry, and as to each individual teacher, most of all was it in +instituting one supreme and universal Pastor: in him most of all +would be seen the perfect _fitting in together_[29] of each +individual member: he was set up especially for the compacting of +each spiritual joint, the harmony and cohesion of the whole. Here, +then, the office of the universal Pastor or Teacher is precisely +equivalent to him, who, by another image confirms, strengthens, +consolidates his brethren. Thus, in the second text Christ foretold +the third. But the more we contemplate all the three in their mutual +relations, the more a certain thought suggests itself to the mind. +There is a special doctrine concerning the most Holy Trinity, the +most distinctive of that great mystery, which expresses the +reciprocal indwelling of the Three Persons. Now something analogous +may be said of the way in which these three texts impermeate and +include each other, of their exact equivalence, and distinct, but +inseparable force: of whom one is said, of the same must all. + +4. Fourthly, they all indicate a _sovereign_ authority, +_independent_ itself, but on which all others depend; symbolising +power from above, but claiming obedience from below; immutable in +itself, but by which all the rest are made proof against change; for +it is not to the sheep that the shepherd is responsible, but to +their owner. It has been said throughout that the one special mark +of Peter's distinction was a peculiar association with Christ. It is +not therefore by any infringement of equal rights that this +authority is set up, but as the representative, the vicegerent, of +Him in whom all power dwells: who bore this authority in His own +body, and who committed to another what was first His own, both by +creation and by purchase--"Feed _My_ sheep." In all these texts the +immediate transference of authority from the Person of the God-man +is most striking; in Peter He inaugurates His great theandric +dispensation, and forms the Body which He was to leave on earth. +Thus these texts most clearly express that important doctrine of +antiquity, the keystone of the Church's liberty from the world, +which is the reason why the world so hates it, "The first See is +judged by no man." So entirely have political ideas and jealousies +infected our mode of judging of spiritual things--to such a degree +is our peculiar civil liberty made the standard of Church +government--that it is necessary to insist again and again on what +to Christians ought to be a first principle, viz., that "all power +and jurisdiction in the Church, like the Church herself, ought to +rest not upon natural and human authority, but on the divine +authority of Christ. This is the reason why we may pronounce no +otherwise concerning such jurisdiction, than we know has been handed +down from Christ, its proper author and founder. Now it is certain +that at the same moment at which Christ instituted the community +called the Church, such a power was introduced, and entrusted as +well to Peter singly as the head, as to the Apostles under him. Nay, +that power was fixed and constituted, and its ministers and bishops +marked out, _before_ the Church, that is, the whole body and +commonwealth, had grown into coherence. And so ecclesiastical +jurisdiction did not first dwell in the community itself, and was +then translated by a sort of popular suffrage and consent to its +magistrates; but from the very first origin Peter was destined to be +single chief of the future body, and next to him the other +Apostles."[30] + +5. Fifthly, it must be observed that there is a _definiteness_ about +these texts which belongs in a far less degree to those forms in +which the co-ordinate and co-equal authority of the Apostles, as +such, is expressed. This last is left to be harmonised and brought +into operation by the superior power of the chief. They are indeed +sent into all the world, they are immediately instituted by our +Lord, they have the promise that His power shall be with them, and +that their sentence shall stand good in heaven and on earth; but +this promise, which is the most distinct made to them, has been +already gathered up into the hands of one, and in its practical +issue is limited by the necessity of cooperating with that one; that +is, the authority of Peter includes and embraces theirs, but theirs +is ranged under his. Theirs is modified not only by being shared, +but by having his set over them. Now observe how distinct and clear, +how definite in their meaning, while universal in their range, are +the things said of him alone; 1. That he should be the rock on which +Christ would build His Church; 2. That permanence and victory should +belong to that Church for ever through Him: 3. That he should bear +the keys in the kingdom of heaven: 4. That whatever _singly_ he +should bind and loose, should be bound and loosed in heaven as well +as on earth: 5. That he should confirm his brethren, the Apostles +themselves being the very first so called: 6. That he should be the +Shepherd of the fold. What can constitute inequality between two +parties, if such a series of promises given to one, and not to the +other, does not? + +6. Sixthly, these promises cannot be contemplated without seeing +that the ordinary and regular government of the Church springs from +the person whom they designate, and in whom they are concentrated. +To take the last, all spiritual care is summed up in the word +Pastorship, the office of priest, bishop, metropolitan, patriarch, +and pope, rising in degree, and extending in range, but in its +nature the same. On the contrary Apostles, (with this one exception, +in virtue of the Primacy,) Prophets, and Evangelists, are +extraordinary officers, attending the opening of the dispensation, +but afterwards dropping off. But the Church, as it was to endure for +ever, and the orderly arrangement of the divine ministry, were +summed up in the Primacy, and flowed forth from it as the full +receptacle of the virtue of God the Word Incarnate. And so it is the +head of the ministerial body. All which is set forth as in a picture +to the mind, in that scene upon the shore of the lake of Galilee, +when the Lord said to Peter, "Feed My sheep." + +7. And, again, Peter was thus made the beginning and principle of +spiritual power, as it left the Person of God the Word, not for +once, but for ever. Long as the structure should endure, its +principle of cohesion must bind it. As the law of gravitation binds +all worlds together in the natural kingdom, and is a _continuous_ +source of strength and harmony, so should be in the spiritual +kingdom that force which the same Wisdom of God established; it goes +on with power undiminished; it is the full fountain-head from which +all streams emanate; it is the highest image of God's power as the +centre and source of all things. This idea is dwelt upon by S. +Cyprian and S. Augustine, as well as by Pope S. Innocent,[31] the +contemporary of the latter, and was afresh expressed in a synodical +letter of the three provinces of Africa to Pope Theodore, in A.D. +646, "No one can doubt that there is in the Apostolic See a great +unfailing fountain, pouring forth waters for all Christians, whence +rich streams proceed, bountifully irrigating the whole Christian +world."[32] + +8. And, lastly, in these great promises Peter is specially set forth +as the type and the efficient cause of visible unity in the Church. +Such was the very purpose of Christ, that His disciples might be +one, as He and the Father are one. For this end, in the words of S. +Augustine, "He entrusted His sheep to Peter, as to another self, He +willed to make him one with Himself;" and in the words of S. Leo, +"He assumed him into the participation of His indivisible +unity."[33] But this is seen no less plainly in the words of Christ, +than in the Fathers; for He made _one_ Rock, _one_ Bearer of the +keys, _one_ Confirmer of the brethren, and _one_ Shepherd. The union +of millions of naturally conflicting wills in the profession and +belief of one doctrine is almost the very highest work of divine +power; and as grace, that is, the Holy Spirit diffused in the heart, +is the inward efficient of this, so the outward, both symbol and +instrument, is the Primacy, that "other self" which the Lord left in +the world. And as the Church of God through every succeeding age +grows and expands, the need of this power becomes greater and not +less, and reverence to that "single chair in which unity was to be +observed by all,"[34] a more imperative virtue, or rather an +ever-deepening instinct, of the Christian mind. + +But antiquity itself drew no other conclusions from the +concentration of these great privileges in the person of Peter. We +have but to go back to a time before the present nationalities of +Europe, those jealous foes of Peter's authority, had come into +existence, and we find the chief men of France, and Spain, and +Italy, interpreting the above texts as we have done. Take one whose +testimony from the circumstances of his life ought to be above +suspicion. John Cassian was by birth a Scythian, was educated in a +monastery at Bethlehem, travelled through Egypt, and made himself +acquainted with its most distinguished religious men, went to +Constantinople, and was ordained deacon by S. Chrysostome, and +afterwards at Rome priest by Pope Innocent I. On the capture of Rome +by Alaric, he settled at Marseilles, about the year 410, and there +founded two monasteries. In his work on the Incarnation he says,[35] +"Let us ask him, who is supreme, both as disciple among disciples, +and as teacher among teachers, who, steering the course of the Roman +Church, held the supremacy as well of the faith as of the +priesthood. Tell us, therefore, tell us, we pray, O Peter, Prince of +the Apostles, tell us how the Churches ought to believe. For just it +is that thou, who wast taught of the Lord, shouldst teach us, and +open to us the door whose key thou hast received. Shut out all who +undermine the heavenly house, and turn away those who attempt to +make an entry through treacherous caverns and illicit approaches; +because it is certain that no one shall be able to enter the door of +the kingdom, save he to whom the key placed by thee in the Church +shall open it. Tell us, therefore, how we ought to believe that +Jesus is the Christ, and to confess our common Lord." Again, +fourteen hundred years ago, Maximus, Bishop of Turin in that day, +confessed by his words, what his successor of the present day bears +witness to by his sufferings: for he writes of Peter, "As[36] the +Good Shepherd he received the defence of the flock, so that he, who +before had been weak in his own case, might become the confirmation +to all: and he who had been shaken by the temptation of the question +asked him, might be a foundation to the rest by the stability of his +faith. In fine, for the firmness of his devotion he is called the +Rock of the Churches, as the Lord says, 'Thou art Peter, and upon +this Rock I will build My Church.' For he is called the Rock, +because he was the first to lay the foundations of the faith among +the nations, _and, because, as an immoveable stone, he holds +together the framework and the mass of the whole Christian +structure_. Peter, therefore, for his devotion is called the Rock, +and the Lord is named the Rock by His inherent power, as the Apostle +says, 'and they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and +the rock was Christ.' _Rightly does he merit to share the name, who, +likewise, merits to share the work._" Again, far and wide has the +lying story been spread by false-hearted men, who above all things, +hate the spiritual kingdom which God has set up in the world, that +Peter's power has been the growth of gradual encroachment on the +secular authority. Now, long before Pelayo renewed the Spanish +monarchy in the mountains of the Asturias, and while Augustine, sent +by Pope Gregory, was laying the foundation of the English Church, S. +Isidore, Bishop of Seville, from 598 to 636, the very highest of the +ancient Spanish doctors, wrote thus explicitly to his colleague at +Toledo:[37] "But as to the question of the equality of the Apostles, +Peter is pre-eminent over the rest, who merited to hear from the +Lord, 'Thou shalt be called Cephas--Thou art Peter, and upon this +rock I will build My Church.' And not from any one else, but from +the very Son of God and the Virgin, he was the first to receive the +honour of the pontificate in the Church of Christ, to whom also, +after the resurrection of the Son of God, was said by the same, +'Feed My lambs,' noting by the name of lambs the prelates of the +churches. And although the dignity of this power is derived to all +Catholic bishops, yet in a more special manner it remains for ever +in the Roman bishop, who is by a certain singular privilege set as +the head over the other limbs. Whoso, therefore, renders not +reverently to him due obedience, involves himself, as being severed +from the head, in the schism of the Acephali." + +It would be easy to multiply such authorities of a period prior to +the formation of all the existing European states. It was the will +of God, providing for His Church, that before the old Roman society +was utterly upheaved from its foundations by the deluge of the +Northern tribes, reverence for S. Peter's throne should be fixed as +an immovable rock, on which a new Christian civilization might be +founded. Thus Pope Gregory II., writing to the Emperor Leo the +Isaurian, about the year 717, only sums up the force and effect of +all preceding tradition, when he says: "The whole West turns its +eyes upon us, and, unworthy though we be, puts complete trust in us, +and in that blessed Peter, whose image you threaten to overturn, but +whom all the kingdoms of the West count for a God upon earth."[38] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Passaglia, p. 106. + +[2] Passaglia, p. 109. + +[3] Matt. x. 2-5; Mark iii. 16-19; Luke vi. 14-17; Acts i. 13. + +[4] St. Chrysostome on Matt. Hom. 32. + +[5] Origen on John, Tom. 32, n. 5, T. 4, p. 413. + +[6] 1 Paral. xxvii. 33; Neh. xii. 45; 2 Paral. xxvi. 20. + +[7] Matt. xx. 27; Luke xv. 22; 1 Tim. i. 15. + +[8] Matt. xvii. 1; Mark v. 37; xiii. 3; xiv. 33; Luke viii. 51; +xxii. 8; John xxi. 2. + +[9] De Consensu. Evang. Lib. 2, c. xvii. n. 39. + +[10] Mark i. 36; Luke viii. 45; Matt. xii. 3; Mark ii. 25; xvi. 10. + +[11] Luke ix. 32; Matt. xxvi. 40. + +[12] Matt. xvii. 24. + +[13] De Præsc. c. 22. + +[14] John xiv. 8; xi. 16. + +[15] Matt. xviii. 21; John xiii. 6. + +[16] Passaglia, p. 134. + +[17] Matt. xix. 23. + +[18] John vi. 67. + +[19] Luke xii. 41. + +[20] In Matt. Hom. 54. + +[21] Passaglia, p. 510. + +[22] Passaglia, p. 518. + +[23] These testimonies have been set forth at length in another +work, "The See of St. Peter, the Rock of the Church," &c. Pp. +97-118. + +[24] Serm. 4. + +[25] Matt. xviii. 1; xx. 20; Luke xxii. 24. + +[26] Bossuet, Sermon on unity. + +[27] Poimahinein, gubernare, to govern, the particular word +which our Lord employs to convey His powers to Peter, is also the +particular word which gives such offence to temporal governments, +when acted on by Peter: bhoskein, pascere, to feed, they +find more endurable, and probably they would all be content, from +the heathen Roman emperors to the present day, to allow _the Church_ +to _feed_, so long as _they_ are allowed to _govern_ the faithful. +The objection on the part of the Church is, that our Lord gave +_both_ to Peter. + +[28] Passaglia, p. 591. + +[29] Ho katartismos tôn hagiôn. Eph. iv. 12. + +[30] Petavius, de Ecc. Hier. Lib. 3, c. 14. + +[31] St. Cyprian de unitate, c. 3. St. Aug. to Pope Innocent, Ep. +177, n. 19. Pope Innocent to the Councils of Carthage and Numidia. + +[32] Mansi x. 919. + +[33] St. Aug. Serm. 46. St. Leo, Epistle 10. + +[34] St. Optatus, cont. Parm. Lib. 2, c. 6. + +[35] Lib. 3, c. 12. + +[36] De Petro Apostolo, Hom. 4. + +[37] Ad Eugenium Toletanum. + +[38] Mausi, Concil. T. xii. 972. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +S. PETER'S PRIMACY AS EXHIBITED IN THE ACTS. + + +The [1]purpose of S. Luke in writing the Acts seems to have been to +set before us the labours and sufferings of the Apostles in planting +and propagating the Church. But he has divided the book very +distinctly into two portions; the latter, from the thirteenth +chapter to the end, with one short exception, is wholly occupied +with the labours of S. Paul, "the vessel of election," in spreading +the faith among the Gentiles, and so contains the particular history +of that Apostle, and the churches founded by him. The former, from +the beginning to the end of the twelfth chapter, embraces the +history of the Apostles in common, and of the whole Church, as it +rose at Jerusalem, and was spread first in Judea, then in Samaria, +and finally extended to the Gentiles. The former history, then, is +universal; the latter, particular. + +Moreover, to use the words of [2]S. Chrysostome, "we may here see +the promises which Christ made in the Gospels carried into +execution, and the bright light of truth shining in the very +actions, and a great change in the disciples, arising from the +Spirit that had entered into them.--You will see here Apostles +speeding on the wing over land and sea, and men once timid and +unskilled suddenly changed into despisers of wealth, and conquerors +of glory and all other passions; you will see them united in the +utmost harmony, without jealousy, which once they had, without +contention for the higher place." + +We may say, then, in a word, that the Gospels are a history of the +Head, and the Acts of the mystical Body. Hence both issue forth from +one and the same fountain and source. The history of the Head begins +with the descent of the Holy Ghost, whereby Christ was conceived, +and [3]"the race of God and of man became one. For just as the union +of man with woman joins two families, so upon Christ assuming flesh, +by that flesh the whole Church became of kin with Christ, Paul +became Christ's kinsman, and Peter, each one of the faithful, all +we, every holy person. Therefore, says Paul, [4]'being the offspring +of God,' and again, 'we are the body of Christ and members in +particular,' that is, through the flesh, which He has assumed, we +are His kinsmen." Now the history of the Body, proceeding from the +same fountain-head, sets before us the Holy Spirit, who, by +descending first on the teachers, and afterwards on the disciples, +exalts and advances all, and by imparting Himself, imparts "the +proportional deification of man," that is, "the utmost possible +assimilation and union with God."[5] For "the Spirit works in us by +His proper power, truly sanctifying, and uniting us to Himself into +one frame, and making us partakers of the divine nature:"[6] +"becoming as it were a quality of the Godhead in us, and dwelling in +the saints, and abiding for ever." + +Now it is [7]manifest that if the first twelve chapters of the Acts +contain the history of the Church from its beginning, and what the +Apostles did for its first formation, its growth, and its form of +government, all this has the closest connection with the question as +to Peter's prerogatives. For the historical accounts in the Acts, +which exhibit the _execution_ of Christ's promises and intentions, +naturally tend to set in the fullest light, and to reveal +distinctly, whatever as to the administration of the Church may be +less clearly _foretold_ in the Gospels. For in itself the +_execution_ is declaratory of the _enactment_, and supplies a safe +rule for understanding and determining the words of institution. +Now, if we apply this rule to the present question, it will be +apparent that those expressions of the Gospel, which we assigned to +the divine institution of the Primacy, cannot be otherwise received +without making the _execution_ in the Acts at variance with what the +Gospels record. + +For, take it as a still doubtful hypothesis whether there exist +evangelical testimonies of Peter's _institution_ to be head and +chief of the Apostles. What needs it to turn this hypothesis into +certainty? What should we expect of Peter, if he really had received +from Christ the charge of leading the other Apostles? What but that +he should never follow, but always be at the head; should close +dissensions, weigh and terminate controversies, punish emergent +offences, maintain the general discipline, give the support of his +counsel and authority in need, and leave undone none of those +functions which accompany the office of head and supreme ruler? +Hence it is plain that there are two ways, the one absolute, the +other hypothetical, by which a decisive judgment may be drawn from +the history of the Acts, as to whether Peter's Primacy was +instituted in the Gospels. Critics and philosophers are perpetually +using both these tests. Thus, the former, "if a certain work--say +the epistles of the martyr Ignatius--be genuine, it ought to contain +certain characteristics. But it does contain these, and so is +genuine." Or absolutely, "a certain work, the Epistles of Ignatius, +contains all which we should expect in a genuine work, therefore it +is genuine." The latter infer, "If bodies be moved by the law of +gravitation, they would pass through a certain space under such and +such a condition. But this they do, and accordingly are moved by +gravitation." Or absolutely, "Bodies left to themselves pass through +space under such conditions as they would follow, if impelled by +gravitation. Accordingly they are so impelled." Now in the parallel +case, "If Christ in the Gospels pre-ordained a form of Church +government, which gathered up the supreme power and visible headship +into Peter's hands, the _exercise_ of such _institution_ ought to be +found in the Acts. But it is so found. Therefore," &c.--or again, +"No one would expect certain acts from Peter, unless he were the +head of all the Apostles; and all would fairly expect those acts of +Peter, if they recognised him as so set over all by Christ. Now in +the general history of the Apostles we find such acts recorded of +Peter, and that not partially, here and there, but in a complete +series. Accordingly the history of the rising Church, exhibited in +the first part of the Acts, demands Peter's Primacy for its +explanation; and if we deny that Primacy, and take in another sense +the words recording its institution in the Gospel, the history +becomes unintelligible." + +Now this reasoning is conclusive in either way, provided only that +what we have asserted be really found in the Acts. The proof of this +may be either general, or piecemeal and particular. We will take +both in order, beginning with the former. + +1. First, [8]then, we must repeat, as concerns that whole portion of +the Acts containing the history of the universal Church, and all +the Apostles, viz. the first twelve chapters, a remark before made +as to the Gospels, which is, that Peter simply is more often +mentioned than all the rest put together. For Peter's name occurs +more than fifty times, the others very seldom, and those who are +found the oftenest, John and James, are recorded, the former seven +or eight, the latter three or four times. Yet this is a history of +them all: Luke is recording the common exertions of all the Apostles +in building up the Church. This is the very distinction between the +former and the latter portion of his book, which is confined to the +labours of S. Paul, leaving aside the rest of the Church. What then +is the reason that Peter, in a general history, is so often brought +forward, and the rest, either singly or in conjunction, so seldom? +Because after our Lord's glorious ascension Peter stood to the +eleven in an analogous position to that held by our Lord, so long as +He was visible, towards the whole college: because Peter was become +the head, and the rest, as members, were ranged under him. + +2. Such subordination on their part, such pre-eminence on his,[9] +Luke shows yet more clearly, whenever he groups Peter with the rest, +by assigning to him the leading place. It frequently happens to him +to speak of Peter and the rest together, but on no one occasion does +he give Peter any but the first place, and the leading part. Just as +the evangelists do with regard to Christ, and the Apostles and +disciples, so Luke prefers Peter to the rest, to mark a difference +between the rank and office of Peter, and that of the others. + +3. Luke seems to confirm his readers in such a conclusion by the +form which he follows of mentioning Peter _directly_, and the rest +_obliquely_ or _in a mass_. These are instances: "In those days +Peter, _rising up in the midst of the brethren_, said"--"Peter, +_standing up with the eleven_, lifted up his voice"--"They said _to +Peter and to the rest of the Apostles_"--"Peter _with John_ +fastening his eyes upon him said, Look upon us."--"Peter _and the +Apostles_ answering, said."[10] Now what form of writing could Luke +choose to refute an opinion about the _universal_ equality of the +Apostles? Or to show Peter as set over the rest, and to satisfy in +this even the most unreasonable? Either the form which he did choose +is calculated to do this, or none such can be found. + +4. Add to this that Peter is represented as speaking and answering, +when the occasion would suggest that all the Apostles, equally, +should disclose their mind. The reproaches of the unbelieving Jews +affected not Peter singly, but all alike; but he alone stands forth, +he alone lifts up his voice, and in a long speech brings them to +sound reflection. The multitude, struck with compunction, asked not +Peter only, but the rest likewise, "What shall we do, men and +brethren?" Yet it is forthwith added, "But _Peter_ said to them." +Upon the miracle by which one who had been lame from his mother's +womb was healed, "all the people ran together to them," both Peter +and John, but Peter alone speaks, and takes on himself the defence +of the common cause: "Peter seeing, made answer to the people."[11] +Fresh instances may be found in chs. iv. 6-7, and v. 2-3. The result +of the whole is that Peter is continually "the mouth-piece of the +Apostles,"[12] always takes the lead, and gives his own mind, as +conveying that of the rest. + +On what ground does he do this? Was it from natural fervour of +disposition? But it was the same after he was filled with the Holy +Spirit as before. Was it the result of superior age, or first +calling? but the facts refute this. What other cause can be +suggested save that Primacy which the Gospels record, and the Acts +confirm? + +5. To this we must likewise refer it that Luke, while he amply +describes actions which belong to Peter, rather hints at than +narrates what concerns the other Apostles. Thus he leaves it to be +understood that the others spoke, while he gives Peter's discourses +entire, and seems to have chosen them as the principal material of +his history. He simply suggests that miracles were wrought by the +rest, but records particularly what Peter did for the establishment +of the faith. He relates but very little of those who became +Christians by the exertion of others, but notes at large the +abundant fruit of Peter's teaching. Take an ancient author's summary +of the Acts, "this whole volume is about the ascension of Christ +after the resurrection, and about the descent of the Holy Spirit on +the holy Apostles, and how and where the disciples announced +Christ's religion, and all the wondrous deeds which they did by +prayer and faith in Him, and about Paul's divine calling from +heaven, his apostleship, and fruitful preaching, and in a word about +those many great dangers which the Apostles underwent for +Christ:"[13] follow, out of this, all which concerns the universal +Church in the first twelve chapters, and Peter will be found not +only the principal, but well nigh the only, figure in the +foreground. + +6. Hence as the Gospels may be called the history of Christ, so this +first part of the Acts may be called the history of Peter; for as +Christ occupies each page of the Gospels, so Peter here. Nothing can +be more emphatic or more just than S. Chrysostome's words: "Behold +him making his rounds on every side, and the first to be found; when +an Apostle was to be chosen, he was the first; when the Jews were to +be told that they were not drunken; when the lame man was to be +healed; when the multitude was to be addressed, he is before the +rest; when they had to do with the rulers, it is he; when with +Ananias, when healings took place from the shadow, still it is he. +Where there was danger, it is he, and where there was dispensation; +but when all is tranquil, they act in common. He sought not the +greater honour. But again, when miracles are to be worked, he comes +forth before the rest."[14] What can prove Peter's pre-eminence if +this does not? But his words on another occasion deserve mention. +Alluding to the title "Acts of the Apostles," which seems to promise +their common history, he observes, "Yet if you search accurately, +the first part of the book exhibits Peter's miracles and teaching, +but little on the part of the other Apostles; and after this the +whole account is spent on Paul." But he adds, "How are they the acts +of all the Apostles? Because, according to Paul, when one member is +glorified, all the members are glorified with it, the historian did +not entitle them, the Acts of Peter and of Paul, but the Acts of the +Apostles; the promise of the writer includes them all."[15] Now +every one must feel the very high distinction given to Paul in the +latter part of the book, when the historian turns away from the +general history of the Church to record his particular labours, in +which, no doubt, the object was to show the progress of the Church +among the Gentiles; but with regard to the part which is common to +the whole Church, another thought is suggested. The history of what +Peter taught and did, to build up and extend the Church, is +considered the common history of the Apostles, and so inscribed as +their Acts. But can this be called an _accurate_ expression, unless +Peter had been the head of the Apostles? It is very plain that the +acts of a head are imputed to the whole body; to a college of +brethren, what its chief executes; to a city or kingdom, the deeds +of its prince. But it is not plain how this can be, if the actor be +one of a number, and do not exceed his brethren in honour or +dignity. Therefore the Acts of Peter could be called, generally, the +Acts of the Apostles, only because they were considered the Acts of +their head. + +Now let us pass from the general view to that in detail. + +I. After [16]the Lord's ascension a most important point immediately +arose, whether, that is, the number of the Twelve was to be filled +up by the election of a new Apostle to take the place of Judas. The +will of Christ on this matter was to be learnt; a witness was to be +chosen who should participate in the mission of Christ Himself, +according to the words, "As the Father hath sent Me, I also send +you," and carry the light of the Gospel to the ends of the world; +and one was to be elected to the dignity of the Apostolate, the +highest rank in the Church. It was, therefore, so important a +matter, that no one could undertake it save he who had received the +vicarious headship of our Lord Himself. Now the history in the Acts +tells us that Peter alone spoke on the subject of substituting a +fresh Apostle for Judas; Peter alone proved from Scripture the +necessity of the election, defined the conditions of eligibility, +and appointed the mode of election, and presided over and directed +the whole transaction. + +For Luke begins thus: "In those days," the interval between the +Ascension and Pentecost, "Peter rising up in the midst of the +brethren, said." Here the important prerogative _of initiation_ is +shown to belong to Peter, and by the phrase, "in the midst of the +brethren," or "disciples,"--which is often used of Christ in respect +of the Apostles--his pre-eminence over the disciples is shown. +"Brethren, it behoved that the Scripture should be fulfilled which +the Holy Ghost spoke before by the mouth of David, concerning Judas, +who was the leader of them that apprehended Jesus, who was numbered +with us, and had obtained part of this ministry," that is, of the +Apostolate. Then having mentioned the miserable end of the traitor, +he applies to him the prophecy: "For it is written in the Book of +Psalms, 'Let his habitation become desolate, and let there be none +to dwell therein:' and, adding another prophecy from another Psalm, +'his bishopric let another take.'"[17] Whence he concludes, +"Wherefore of these men who have companied with us all the time that +the Lord Jesus came in and went out among us, beginning from the +baptism of John, until the day wherein He was taken up from us, one +of these _must_ be made a witness with us of His resurrection." In +these words Peter plainly points out the _necessity_ of the matter +in question, confirms it by the Holy Scriptures, speaking in the +character of their highest interpreter, and as the appointed teacher +of all; and, while proposing it to their deliberation, yet requires +their consent; for the phrase, "wherefore, one _must_," means, "I am +not proposing what may be done or left undone, but declaring and +prescribing what is to be done." So he determines the conditions of +eligibility, and the form of election. Whereupon his hearers--"the +number of persons together about an hundred and twenty"--instantly +agree unanimously to Peter's proposition, follow its conditions, and +complete the election. + +No one can reflect on the above without concluding, that if Peter +presided over the rest by the authority of a divinely chosen +headship, no course could be more becoming, both for Peter and for +the disciples, than this; and if, on the contrary, Peter was only +one out of many, not having yet even received the Pentecostal gifts +of the Holy Spirit, and had been entrusted by Christ with no +pre-eminent office in the ministry, nothing could be more unfitting +for both. We have therefore to infer that Peter "stood in the midst +of the disciples," as a superior among inferiors, not as an equal +among equals, and conceived that the charge of supplying an Apostle, +and filling up the Apostolic college, belonged in chief to himself, +because he and they alike were conscious, that he was the steward +set in chief over the Lord's family. + +But, clear as this is on the face of the narration itself, fresh +light is shed on it by the fact that S. Chrysostome observed and +recorded this very conclusion. For why did Peter alone arise? Why +was he the first and the only one to speak? "Both[18] as fervent, +and _as one entrusted by Christ with the flock_, and _as the first +of the choir_, he ever first begins to speak." Why does he allege +prophecy? First, that he might not seem with human counsel "to +attempt a great matter, and one fitted for Christ:" next to imitate +his Master, "he always reasons from the Scriptures." "Why did he not +singly ask of Christ to give him some one in the place of Judas?" +Because "Peter had now improved," and overcome his natural +disposition. But "_might not Peter by himself have elected?_ +Certainly: but he does not so, that he may not seem partial." "Why +does he communicate this to them," the whole number of the +names? "That the matter may not be contested, nor they fall into +strife: for" (he alludes to the contention of the Apostles for the +primacy,) "if this had happened to themselves, much more would it to +the others," that is, the candidates to succeed Judas. Then he +points out to our admiration "Peter doing this with common consent, +nothing[19] with authority, nothing with lordship," where we must +note that the _abuse_ of a power is only to be feared from one who +really has that power. For again he says, "he first acts with[20] +authority in the matter, _as having himself all put into his hands_, +for to him Christ said, 'And thou in thy turn one day confirm thy +brethren.'" + +The college of the Apostles completed, it followed that the head, if +such there were, would on every occasion of danger, be the first to +protect it, and to defend its reputation. Now there ensues the +miracle of the Holy Spirit's descent, and the gift of tongues, +whereupon Luke describes the various opinions of the astonished +multitude, some of whom "mocking,[21] said, These men are full of +new wine." That is, they blasphemed the working of the Spirit, and +by the most monstrous calumny were destroying the good name of the +Apostles. Whereupon, "Peter, standing up with the Eleven, lifted up +his voice and spoke to them: Ye men of Judea, and all you that dwell +in Jerusalem, be this known to you, and with your ears receive my +words. For these are not drunk as you suppose, seeing it is but the +third hour of the day: but this is that which was spoken of by the +prophet Joel." Now here, both the _form of the words_, and the +_matter_, establish Peter's primacy. For the phrase, "Peter standing +up with the Eleven, lifted up his voice and spoke to them," +portrays Peter as the leader of the band, the master of the family. +So S. Chrysostome,[22] "What means _with the Eleven_? They uttered a +common voice, and he was the mouthpiece of all. And the Eleven stand +beside him, bearing witness to his words." And as to the _matter_, +Peter alone fulfils the part of teacher, by interpreting scripture, +and declaring the agreement of both covenants: Peter alone maintains +the common cause: Peter alone, representing all, addresses the +multitude in the name of all. "Observe, too, the harmony of the +Apostles: they give up to him the office of speaking:"[23] that is, +they yielded to him who was the Head, and who, as he says, showed +here "the courage," as before "the providential care" of the Head. + +After refuting the calumny, Peter goes on in a noble discourse to +explain prophecies, and then coming to the dispensation of Jesus, +gives the strongest proofs of His resurrection and exaltation to the +right hand of the Father, and finally sums up with great force and +authority. "Therefore, let all the house of Israel know most +certainly, that God hath made both Lord and Christ this same Jesus +whom you have crucified." + +Now, what[24] is here to our purpose? It is this, that Luke seems +only to dwell on what concerns Peter: that Peter, first of all, and +in the name of all, performs the office of a witness, laid both on +himself and the rest, ("ye shall be witnesses to Me;" "and you shall +give witness,")[25] saying, "this Jesus hath God raised up, of which +we all are witnesses:" that first of all, he publicly and solemnly +discharges the duty of instruction with authority: that, first of +all, he fulfils the charge set by Christ on all the Apostles, "make +disciples--teach:" that, first of all, he promulgates the necessity +of believing in Jesus as the divinely appointed Lord and Christ. Now +these are things which, so far from allowing an equality between +Peter and the rest of the Apostles, point out in him a headship over +them. + +Thereupon, the hearers, struck with compunction for having +crucified, not merely a just man, but the Anointed of the Lord, +"said to Peter and the rest of the Apostles"--here again he alone is +singly named--but of all alike they asked, "Men and brethren, what +shall we do?" Whereupon, S. Chrysostome[26] notes, "here again, +where all are asked, he alone replies." For, as Luke goes on, "Peter +said to them:" As the leader, he performs what belongs to all: he +alone sets forth the law of Christ. "Do penance, and be baptized +every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of +sins:" he alone encourages them with the promised gifts of the Holy +Spirit, "and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost:" he alone +continues at length the instruction of the hearers, "and with very +many other words did he testify and exhort them:" he alone declares +the fruit of Christian profession, "save yourselves from this +perverse generation," and he alone it is, of whose ministry Luke +adds, "They, therefore, that gladly received his word were baptized, +and there were added, in that day, about three thousand souls." + +And here we see how fitting it was that Peter, whom Christ had set +as the foundation and rock of the Church, should labour with all his +might, as the chief architect after Him, to build up the structure. +But what, in the meantime, of the other Apostles? Were not they also +architects? Yes, but _with_ Peter, and _under_ Peter, whom +accordingly, they attend and support. The subsequent additions to +the Church's structure, and the course consistently pursued by +Peter, will bring this out yet more clearly. For, of fresh +accretions, Luke writes, "Many of them who had heard the word, +believed, and the number of the men was made five thousand."[27] +Now, whose word was this? Still the word of Peter, who speaks for +the third[28] and fourth time, as he had for the first and second. + +For, as to the third[29] occasion, Luke, after mentioning Peter and +John together, introduces Peter alone as urging the children of +Abraham to embrace the faith of Christ, and persuading them that +Jesus is the Prophet, promised by God through Moses in Deuteronomy. +And as to the fourth,[30] he writes, "Then Peter, filled with the +Holy Ghost, said to them--" But was he alone present? not so, for +the council "setting them," not him, but John as well as Peter, "in +the midst, they asked," on which Chrysostome[31] observes, "See how +John is on every occasion silent, while Peter defends him likewise." +That is, John was silent, as knowing that the lead belonged to +Peter, and Peter spoke, because the Head defends not himself only, +but the members committed to him. + +Now, reviewing these first four chapters of the Acts, let us ask +these questions. Had Peter held the authority of head among the +Apostles, what would he have done? He would have filled up the +Apostolic college, carefully watched over it, protected its several +members. But this is just what he did. Again, had Christ made him +the supreme teacher and doctor, what would he have done? He would +have disclosed, first to the Apostles themselves, and to the +disciples, and then to the multitude, who were to be converted, the +secrets of the divine will laid up in the Scriptures; he would have +shown the agreement between the dispensation of Christ, and the +oracles of the Old Testament, and so have proved that Jesus was the +Messiah. But this he repeatedly did. Once more, had Christ made him +the chief among the builders of the Church, what would have been his +office? He would have been the very first to set his hand to the +work, and to construct the building with living stones; he would +have held the other workmen under his control, so that the edifice +might rise worthy of Christ, and exactly answering to His promises. +But does not the history give precisely this picture of him, and +does not the Church which Peter raised answer exactly to the +archetype prescribed by the Lord? "All they that believed were +together, and had all things common:" "the multitude of believers +had but one heart and one soul:" what is this but the counterpart of +that divine prayer, "that they all may be one, as Thou, Father, art +in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us, that the +world may believe that Thou hast sent[32] Me." + +II. To take another point. The office of[33] authoritative teaching +is in the New Testament closely connected with the power of working +miracles, so that Christ not only said of Himself, "If I had not +come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have +no excuse for their sin:" but likewise added, "If I had not done +among them the works that no other man hath done, they would not +have sin: but now they have both seen and hated both Me and My +Father:"[34] to shew that, while faith depended on preaching, and +authoritative instruction, these also needed the power of _works_ to +conciliate conviction. In accordance with which, when He first sent +out His Twelve to preach, He not only charged them what to say, "the +kingdom of heaven is at hand,"[35] but added the fullest miraculous +power, "heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out +devils." And when more solemnly sending them, not to one people, but +to all nations, "Go ye into the whole world, and preach the Gospel +to every creature," He adds their warrant, "these signs shall follow +them that believe. In My name they shall cast out devils, they shall +speak with new tongues, they shall take up serpents:" and the +Evangelist subjoins, "They going forth preached everywhere, the Lord +working withal, and confirming the word with signs that +followed."[36] + +Remembering, then, this very close connexion between the authority +of Apostolic teaching and the power of working miracles, we may fix +a criterion for recognising the exercise of the supreme office in +teaching. Suppose any one of the Apostles to have been invested at +the commencement of the Church with this office, how may he be +ascertained? If any one is found invariably the first to announce +the word of truth, and likewise to confirm it with miracles, you may +suppose him to be that one. Suppose, again, that Luke intended to +represent one of the Apostles as the supreme teacher. How may it be +safely inferred? If, in the course of his narration, he continually +exhibits one as eminent above all the rest in preaching the Gospel +and guaranteeing it by signs. These are not tests arbitrarily +chosen, but naturally suggested. And both exactly fit to Peter, and +to Peter alone. For he, in this history of the universal Church, is +the first, nay, well nigh the only one, both to preach and to +support his preaching by miracles. And Luke takes pains to relate no +less his miracles than his discourses, and scarcely describes with +any detail either the one or the other, of any but Peter. + +Nay, his mode of writing suggests a parallel between himself and S. +John in his Gospel, as if it were no less Luke's intention to show +Peter invested with the supreme office, than John's to set forth +Christ as the head and teacher of the Apostolic college; and no less +Luke's purpose to accredit the Church by Peter's miracles, than[37] +John's by the miracles of Christ to establish faith in Him as the +true Son of God. For the circumstances of each narration point to +this similarity of design. As S. John subordinates the group of +Apostles entirely to the figure of Christ, so Luke, very slightly +sketching the rest, is profuse in detail of what concerns Peter, and +marks him as set over all. As John in recording the miracles of +Christ dwells on the points which prove His divine mission and +origin from the Father, so Luke directs his narration to exhibit the +beginning, the growth, and the authority of the Church, as due to +Peter's miracles. We will mark two further resemblances. _First_, +the miracles which Luke records of Peter seem cast in the same type +as those of Christ. Compare the first one with that told by John, +ch. v. + + John v. 5-9. "There was a certain man there that had been eight + and thirty years under his infirmity. Him when Jesus had seen + lying, and knew that he had been now a long time, He saith to + him, Wilt thou be made whole? The infirm man answered Him, Sir, + I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the + pond. For whilst I am coming another goeth down before me. + Jesus said to him, Arise, take up thy bed, and walk. And + immediately the man was made whole, and he took up his bed and + walked." + + Acts iii. 2-8. "And a certain man, who was lame from his + mother's womb, was carried, whom they laid every day at the + gate of the temple, which is called Beautiful. He, when he had + seen Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked to + receive an alms. But Peter, with John, fastening his eyes upon + him, said, Look upon us. But he looked earnestly upon them, + hoping that he should receive something of them. But Peter + said, Silver and gold I have none, but what I have, I give + thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, arise and walk. + And taking him by the right hand, he lifted him up, and + forthwith his feet and soles received strength, and he, leaping + up, stood, and walked." + + +How often had the hand of the Lord--as here that of Peter--healed +the sick, given the blind sight, cured the leper, and raised the +dead! But if Peter's miracle in healing Oeneas of the palsy +carries[38] one back immediately to the poor man let down through +the roof before our Lord, there is a yet more exact identity between +the great miracle of Christ raising Jairus' daughter, and Peter +raising Dorcas. In the one case, the Lord "having put them all out, +taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were +with Him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying, and taking the +damsel by the hand, He said to her, Talitha cumi, which is, Damsel, +arise, and immediately the damsel rose up and walked." In the other +case, Peter came into the upper chamber, "and all the widows stood +about him weeping--and they being all put forth, Peter, kneeling +down, prayed, and turning to the body, he said, Tabitha, arise. And +she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up,[39] and giving +her his hand he lifted her up." But how perfect the resemblance of +the following. + + Luke iv. 40. "And when the sun was down, all they that had any + sick with divers diseases brought them to Him. But He, laying + His hands on every one of them, healed them. And devils went + out from many." + + Acts v. 15. "Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the + streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that, when Peter + came, his shadow, at the least, might overshadow any of them, + and they might be delivered from their infirmities. And there + came also together to Jerusalem a multitude out of the + neighbouring cities, bringing sick persons, and such as were + troubled with unclean spirits, who were all healed." + +The _second_ point of resemblance is, that the multitude regarded +Peter among the Apostles as before they had regarded Christ: for, +putting the rest of the Apostles in the second place, they flocked +to him, and besought his aid. So that Luke, briefly saying of them, +that "by the hands of the Apostles were many signs and wonders +wrought among the people,"[40] goes on to Peter, and of him relates +the unheard-of wonders just described, assigning to the miracles +wrought by him, "that the multitude of men and women who believed in +the Lord was more increased." It is just as when "there came to +Jesus great multitudes, having with them the dumb, the blind, the +lame, the maimed, and many others; and they cast them down at His +feet, and He healed them."[41] And the fuller the resemblance these +incidents shew between Peter and Christ, the more evident their +proof that Peter's ministry must be considered a continuation of +that which Christ begun. + +III. We proceed[42] to the order predetermined by our Lord in the +propagation of His Church. + +Of Himself He had said, though the Redeemer of all, that He was not +sent, that is, as an Apostle, actually to preach, "save to the lost +sheep of the house of Israel:" and on first sending His Apostles, He +gave them this commission, "Go ye not into the way of the Gentiles, +and into the city of the Samaritans enter ye not, but go ye rather +to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But when about to ascend +to the Father, He tells them, "You shall receive the power of the +Holy Ghost coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me in +Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost +part of the earth:"[43] that is, that they should set up His kingdom +through all the world, proceeding by gradual steps, from Jerusalem +to Judea, thence to Samaria, and at length "to every creature" in +the whole world. + +Now the history of the Acts shows the exact accomplishment of this +order, and it likewise shows that Simon Peter was the one elected +chief instrument for carrying out these successive propagations of +the Church. What we have said already shows this as to the mother +Church of Jerusalem, and, before proceeding to the Gentile Churches, +we will trace the same instrumentality as used to bring the +Samaritans into the universal kingdom. + +The persecution ensuing on the proto-martyr Stephen's death caused, +by our Lord's providence, the dissemination of many believers +through Judea and Samaria, while the Apostles alone remained at +Jerusalem. Amongst those who thus "went about preaching the word of +God," Philip the deacon came to Samaria, and many of the people, +hearing his words and seeing his miracles, were converted and +baptized. But the Church thus commenced by the preaching of the +deacon would have dried up without hope of progress, had it not +received the assistance of those whom Christ had set in the place of +fathers, and who could bestow the gifts of the Holy Ghost. For[44] +"the Church is in the bishop," and, as S. Jerome said of a faction +which had a deacon for its author, "With the man the sect also +perished, because a deacon could ordain no clerk after him. But it +is not a Church which has no priest." Accordingly when[45] "the +Apostles, who were in Jerusalem, had heard that Samaria had received +the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John," who "laid +their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Ghost." The +providence of Christ, then, so ordered the propagation of His +kingdom as to choose Peter and John to complete and perfect the +Samaritan Church. But was this on equal terms, or is no superior +dignity and authority apparent in Peter over John? A regard to the +words of Luke, and the series of acts recorded, will prevent such a +misconception. For he mentions Peter and John, but he sets Peter +first, and in his record of what happened to Simon John acts the +second part, and it is Peter alone who teaches, commands, judges, +and condemns, with authority, as the head and supreme ruler. Simon +Magus, tempted by beholding the gifts of the Holy Spirit visibly +bestowed on imposition of the Apostles' hands, "offered them money," +to both Peter and John. But Peter alone replies, and not only so, +but condemns his profaneness, enlarges on his guilt, and solemnly +declares that the gifts of God are not purchaseable with money. +"Keep thy money to thyself to perish with thee, because thou hast +thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money;" he +discloses Simon's secret thoughts, "for thy heart is not right in +the sight of God;" he inflicts on him excommunication, "thou hast no +part nor lot in this matter;" he exhorts him to repent, "do penance +therefore from this thy wickedness, and pray to God, if perhaps this +thought of thy heart may be forgiven thee." Now here John, the next +of the Apostles in rank, is with Peter, yet he does not speak, +teach, or enjoin: Peter does all this singly. He answers Simon's +question, lances and probes the most secret wound of his conscience, +declares how divine gifts are given, proscribes the plague of +simony, orders penance, and inflicts excommunication on a scandalous +public offender. Thus the twenty-second of the Apostolic canons +runs, "If any bishop, priest or deacon, hath obtained this dignity +by money, let him and his ordainer be deposed, and altogether be +deprived of communion, as Simon Magus was by Peter." Nothing but an +inequality of rank between Peter and John will account for Luke's +narration here. But if John was inferior to Peter, much more the +rest. + +But there is another proof of his superiority here, in that God +caused Simon Peter to engage Simon Magus. Thus, by His providence, +"reaching from end to end mightily, and ordering all things +sweetly," the first-born of Christ is brought to conflict with the +"first-born of the devil," the chief of teachers with the earliest +of heretics, and prime of that long brood of the evil one, who are +to persecute "the seed of the woman." Thus ancient writers record +that Peter afterwards went to Rome on purpose to expose the acts of +this same Simon. Thus they mention his engaging with the famous +Alexandrine Apion, the enemy of the Jewish and the Christian faith +alike. And hence, too, probably the very ancient writer (whoever he +was) of the Epistle of Clement to S. James, begins it by recording +how "Simon, for his true faith and his firm grounding in doctrine, +was appointed to be the foundation of the Church, and for this very +reason by Jesus Himself with most true augury had his name changed +to Peter, the first-fruits of our Lord, the first of the Apostles, +to whom first the Father revealed the Son, whom Christ with reason +blessed, the called and the elect, His guest and comrade, the good +and the proved disciple, _he who, as the most able of all, was +commanded to illuminate the West, the darker quarter of the world_, +and who was enabled to succeed." + +But as to what is said that "the Apostles who were in Jerusalem +_sent_ to the Samaritans Peter and John," it must be remembered, +that at the head of those thus _sending_ was Peter himself, and that +next to him John was the most distinguished of the Apostolic +college. And since it is evident from all that we have hitherto +seen, that in whatever concerned the Apostles equally, Peter took +the leading part, and in their common deliberations exercised the +initiative, it must be concluded that he was likewise the first +author of this resolution, to send himself and John to the +Samaritans. And this is confirmed by our seeing that in the +fulfilment of this mission he discharges the offices, and acts with +the authority, of head. To none else could the execution of a fresh +advance in the propagation of the Church be committed; and so great, +besides, were the jealousies between the Jews and Samaritans, that +it needed no less than Peter's authority to induce the Jewish +converts to receive them into the bond of the same society. + +IV. But now we[46] draw nigh to the revelation of that great +"mystery which in other generations was not known to the sons of +men--that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, +and co-partners of His promise in Christ Jesus by the Gospel," +whereby was brought to pass the prophecy, "from the rising of the +sun even to the going down My Name is great among the Gentiles, and +in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to My Name a +clean oblation."[47] The hour was come "when the true adorers were +to adore the Father in spirit and in truth" throughout every region +of the world purchased with the blood of the Son of God, and of this +event, expected during four thousand years, God, by an unexampled +honour, disclosed to Peter, and through Peter, the time and the +manner. This greatest of purposes, after His own ascension, Christ +left to be revealed through him to whom He had committed the feeding +of His sheep. + +While Peter[48] was "passing through all," that is, exercising his +general supervision as primate of the Church, God sent His angel "in +a vision manifestly" to "a certain man in Cesarea named Cornelius, a +centurion of that which is called the Italian band, a religious man, +and fearing God with all his house, giving much alms to the people, +and always praying to God." And the angel says to him: "Thy prayers +and thine alms are ascended for a memorial in the sight of God, and +now send men to Joppa, and call hither one Simon, who is surnamed +Peter; he will tell thee what thou must do." Though God, then, sends +an angel, it is left to _Simon, who is surnamed Peter_, to declare +His counsel, in what affected the salvation of innumerable souls. +Other Apostles there were to whom had been said equally, "Go ye into +the whole world and preach the Gospel to every creature," and "Ye +shall be witnesses to Me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and +Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth;" and "as the +Father hath sent Me, I also send you." Yet putting aside all these, +as on so many other occasions, Peter is preferred, and that because +to him alone was said, "on this rock I will build My Church," and +again, "Feed My lambs, be shepherd over My sheep." Fitting it was +that, when the wall between the Jews and Gentiles should be taken +away, by him specially, all should be collected into one, on whom, +as the divinely-laid foundation, all were to rest. Fitting, again, +that the Lord's prophecy, "Other sheep I have which are not of this +fold; those also I must bring; and they shall hear My voice; and +there shall be one fold and one shepherd," should be fulfilled +chiefly by his ministry to whom the Lord had committed His own +office of universal visible pastor. For the Church, in her very +birth, and in the whole process of her growth, bore this upon her +forehead, that _universality_ as well as _unity_ belonged +substantially to Peter, and that it was no less his function to +gather up all nations into the mould of unity by his ministration as +the one chief shepherd, than to embrace them all in the wide circuit +of his love. Therefore it is a marvellous agreement in which the +_institution_ of the Primacy has a corresponding _execution_; and as +the latter confirms the former, so from the former you might +anticipate the latter before it was recorded in the sacred history. + +But in the meantime, while the messengers of Cornelius were +approaching the house in which Peter was a guest, "there came upon +him an ecstasy of mind, and he saw the heaven opened, and a certain +vessel descending, as it were a great linen sheet let down by the +four corners from heaven to the earth, wherein were all manner of +four-footed beasts, and creeping things of the earth, and fowls of +the air;" and while Peter is fixed in contemplation, "there came a +voice to him, Arise Peter, kill and eat," that he might understand +how "by[49] his preaching he was to make a sacrifice to the Lord of +those who were represented by these animals, bringing them into the +divine service through the mysteries of the Lord's passion," which +he not yet understanding, replies, "Far be it from me, for I never +did eat anything that is common or unclean." Then the heavenly +"voice spoke to him again the second time, That which God hath +cleansed, do not thou call common. And this having been done thrice, +presently the vessel was taken up into heaven." + +Here three things are set forth; first, that as the ark of Noah +contained all sorts of animals, clean and unclean, so the fold of +Christ was to gather from Jews and Greeks and barbarians "a[50] +great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations and +tribes, and peoples, and tongues;" secondly, that the blessings of +Christ concerned all who did not reject the proferred grace; +thirdly, that the elaborate system of Mosaic ordinances concerning +meats, rites, and ceremonies, had fallen to the ground. But to whom +is disclosed, first and immediately, this whole dispensation of the +first principles on which the Church was to be propagated? To none +other but Peter, "to me hath God shown to call no man common or +unclean." Now the undoubted knowledge of this dispensation must +appear of the greatest moment, whether in itself, or as concerns the +Jews, of whom the earliest church consisted, or the Apostles, by +whose ministry it was to be extended. And yet, by that providence +which is ever over His Church, the wisdom of God so ruled it, that +through Peter alone the Apostles should be taught when they were +first to approach the Gentiles, and discharge their office of +witnesses before all nations without distinction. And that because +He had made Peter "the greater one" and "the leader" of all, and put +him in His own place, and constituted him supreme teacher in these +words, "Confirm thy brethren." Thus[51] Epiphanius, in the fourth +century, says that the charge of bringing the Gentiles into the +Church was laid upon all the Apostles, "but most of all on holy +Peter." Why this _most of all_? Because, while He had heard with the +rest, "make disciples of all nations," he had singly and peculiarly +received the charge of the whole fold, and of the Apostles, as part +of it. + +But Peter, still pondering on the vision, hears a fresh voice from +the Spirit, "Behold three men seek thee. Arise, therefore, get thee +down, and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them." He +accompanies the messengers and finds Cornelius, "his kinsman and his +special friends;" he asks why they have sent for him, whereupon +Cornelius informs him of what had past, and concludes, "now +therefore all we are present in thy sight, to hear all things +whatsoever are commanded thee by the Lord." Peter in reply sets +forth to them the heads of Christian doctrine, and as he comes to +the words "to Him all the prophets give testimony, that by His name +all receive remission of sins, who believe in Him," "the Holy Ghost +fell upon all them that heard the word" of life and truth from his +lips. And the Jewish Christians who were with him, being astonished +at this reception of Gentiles into the Church by the Holy Spirit's +visible descent, Peter cries, "Can any man forbid water that these +should not be baptised, who have received the Holy Ghost as well as +we?" "Words," says [52]S. Chrysostome, "of one almost assaulting any +that would forbid, and say that should not be," and so "he +commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus;" for +Peter also, like his Lord,[53] preached in person, but baptized by +the hands of others. + +Are not then the prerogatives of Peter written legibly on this whole +narration? First, among all the Apostles he alone is chosen to +consecrate to God the first fruits of the Gentiles. Again, through +him, as the teacher of all, God makes known to the Apostles +themselves when the door was to be opened to the Gentiles. Thirdly, +without advising with the rest, he enlarges the fold of Christ, +which in Christ's place he ruled, with the accession of the +Gentiles. Fourthly, the building of the Church is thus referred to +him alone. Further, he gathers up to himself the Church which is +made out of Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles; as the foundation he +sustains the whole; and when constructed, he binds it together. +Lastly, Luke, without having recorded a single speech of any other +Apostle, has given five of Peter, thus showing that Peter's words, +as well as his actions, had a higher importance than theirs in the +history of the Church's birth and growth; for, indeed, in the +history of the head that of the body is included. + +On Peter's[54] return to Jerusalem, "the Apostles and brethren who +were in Judea, having heard that the Gentiles also had received the +word of God,"[55] "they that were of the circumcision contended with +him," because he had "gone in to men uncircumcised, and ate with +them." Hereupon Peter set forth to them the whole series of events, +upon which "they held their peace and glorified God, saying, God +then has also to the Gentiles given repentance unto life." Now some +in late times have attempted to derogate from Peter's authority on +the strength of this incident. On the other hand S. Chrysostome, +not satisfied with setting forth Peter's rank, and assigning his +whole apology to a most gracious condescension, continues, "See how +he defends himself, and _will not use his dignity as the Teacher_, +for he knew that the more gently he spoke with them, the surer he +was to win them."[56] And what expression can signify Peter's rank +more markedly than _the_ Teacher? And Gregory the Great sets forth +Peter's distinctions, how he alone had received the keys, walked on +the waters, healed with his shadow, killed with his word, and raised +the dead by his prayer; then he goes on, "and because, warned by the +Spirit, he had gone in to Cornelius, a Gentile, a question was +raised against him by the faithful, as to wherefore he had gone in +to the Gentiles, and eaten with them, and received them in baptism. +And yet the same first of the Apostles, filled with so great a grace +of gifts, supported by so great a power of miracles, answers the +complaint of the faithful by an appeal not to authority but to +reason.... For if, when blamed by the faithful, he had considered +the authority which he held in holy Church, he might have answered, +that the sheep entrusted to the shepherd should not venture to +censure him. But if, in the complaint of the faithful, he had said +anything of his own power, he would not have been the teacher of +meekness. Therefore he quieted them with humble reason, and in the +matter where he was blamed even cited witnesses. If, therefore, _the +Pastor of the Church, the Prince of the Apostles_, having a +_singular_ power to do signs and miracles, did not disdain, when he +was censured, humbly to render account, how much more ought we +sinners, when blamed for anything, to disarm our censurers by a +humble defence."[57] + +Here it occurs to observe with what different eyes Holy Scripture +may be read, for just where persons determined to deny Peter's +authority find an excuse for their foregone conclusion, the Fathers +draw arguments to praise the moderation with which he exercised that +same superior authority. + +V. But [58]founded as we have seen the Church to have hitherto been, +and at each step of its course advanced, mainly by the authority of +Peter, it could not hope to remain in a vigorous and united state +without the continual exercise of _judicial_ and _legislative_ +power, and diligent _inspection_. Nor is there, in fact, one of +these which Peter did not exercise, and that in a manner to indicate +the ruler set over all. For as to the judicial power, do we not hear +him saying, "Tell[59] me whether you sold the land for so much;" +and, "Ananias, why hath Satan tempted thy heart, that thou shouldst +lie to the Holy Ghost, and by fraud keep part of the price of the +land? Whilst it remained did it not remain to thee? And after it was +sold, was it not in thy power? Why hast thou conceived this thing in +thy heart? Thou hast not lied to men but to God." And presently the +sentence comes forth from him who binds in heaven as well as on +earth. "Behold the feet of them who have buried thy husband are at +the door, and they shall carry thee out." Here then we have Peter, +in the midst of the Apostles, yet acting singly as the supreme +judge, and defender of ecclesiastical discipline, on which S. +Chrysostome says, "For Peter was terrible, punishing, and convicting +the thoughts, to whom they adhered the more both for the sign, and +his first speech, and his second, and his third. For he it was who +did the first sign, and the second, and the present, which seems to +me double, one to convict the thoughts, and another to kill with his +command." Then, asking why nobody had announced her husband's death +to Sapphira, "This was fear of the Teacher; this respect of the +disciples; this obedience:"[60] where he is mentioned not as _a_ +teacher, but the supreme and chief one. + +Yet though the other Apostles were judges, with power to bind and to +loose, though they were present, and concerned, for "Ananias +bringing a certain part, laid it at the feet of the Apostles," not +of Peter only, it was not they, but Peter, who entered on the cause +of Ananias and Sapphira, passed sentence, and inflicted punishment. +Why did he judge singly a cause which was brought before the common +tribunal of the Apostles? Because Peter was to have the Primacy in +all things; because from him the model of ecclesiastical judgments +was to be taken; because the charge of maintaining ecclesiastical +discipline belonged in chief to him as the head. + +VI. But no less [61]markedly does Luke represent Peter as everywhere +visiting the Churches, providing for them as universal pastor, and +exercising herein the administrative Primacy. "The Churches," he +says, "throughout all Judea, and Galilee, and Samaria, had peace, +being edified and walking in the fear of the Lord, and were +multiplied by the consolation of the Holy Ghost. And it came to pass +_that Peter, as he passed through, visiting all_, came to the saints +who dwelt at Lydda."[62] In illustration of this we may remember +Paul's charge to Titus:[63] "for this cause I left thee in Crete, +that thou shouldst set in order the things that are wanting, and +shouldst ordain priests in every city, as I also appointed thee." +And again, what Luke writes of Paul himself: "After some days Paul +said to Barnabas, Let us return and visit our brethren in all the +cities wherein we have preached the word of the Lord, to see how +they do."[64] And what[65] Eusebius, from S. Clement, relates of S. +John, that he visited with authority the Churches of Asia, which he +had either founded, or specially attended to. By these passages we +see the nature of Peter's visitation, that it was pastoral, and +likewise the difference between his and these others, for they were +_local_, but his _universal_. Titus acted in Crete, the special +sphere of his labour, to which S. Paul the founder of that Church +had appointed him. Paul and Barnabas propose to visit "our brethren +_in every city in which we have preached the word of the Lord_;" S. +John exerts visitatorial power over the churches of that province +wherein he dwelt, and that too, apparently, when he was the sole +survivor of the Apostolic college, yet did not go into other parts. +But Peter's charge is oecumenical, and therefore his visitation +universal. He inspects the labours of others, as well as his own. +For he was not the only Apostle at Jerusalem, nor had he singly +built up all the churches of Judea, Galileo, and Samaria, yet he +alone makes a progress from Jerusalem to all these churches. Though +not the Bishop of Jerusalem, over which the Apostle James presides, +he goes everywhere, as "the Bishop of Bishops."[66] No other reason +coherent with Scripture can we find for this universal inspection of +Peter; for all the Apostles were indeed pastors, but he alone set +over the whole fold; he alone not limited, like Paul, "to the +brethren in every city wherein he had preached." He differs from +all others as the universal from the particular, and so S. +Chrysostome says of him in this very passage, "like a general he +went round surveying the ranks, seeing what portion was well massed +together, what in order, what needed his presence. Behold him making +his rounds in every direction."[67] + +VII. Further, [68]we may see the deference paid to this supreme +authority of Peter by the Apostles and ancients at Jerusalem, on +occasion of that severest dissension which threatened the unity of +the Church, and kindled the greatest agitation, the question whether +Gentile converts should be bound to obey the Mosaic ritual law. For +"the [69]Apostles and Ancients having assembled to consider of this +matter," after "there had been much disputing, Peter, rising up, +said to them." But why does Peter first rise and decide the cause? +Because he was first of the Apostles, and as such supreme arbiter in +controversy. But consider what he says. "Men and brethren, you know +that in former days God made choice among us, that by my mouth the +Gentiles should hear the word of the Gospel, and believe." _By my +mouth_, he appeals to their knowledge of his election by God to the +singular privilege of receiving the Gentiles: in virtue of that +election he claims and exercises authority. "And God, who knoweth +the hearts, gave testimony, giving unto them the Holy Ghost, as well +as unto us, and put no difference between us and them, purifying +their hearts by faith." God, therefore, has already decided this +controversy, by my ministry, whom He specially called thereunto, and +by the effects which He caused to accompany it. Then, using words +full of force, being, indeed, very like those in which he had +answered Ananias and Sapphira, he continues, "now, therefore, why +tempt you God, to put a yoke upon the necks of the disciples, which +neither our fathers, nor we, have been able to bear? But by the +grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we believe that we shall be saved, in +like manner as they also." "How full of power are these words," is +the comment of S. Chrysostome,[70] "he says here what Paul has said +at great length in the Epistle to the Romans." And then, speaking of +the heads of Paul's doctrine, he adds, "the seeds of all this lie in +Peter's discourse." This, then, is a _decision_, and given in no +hesitating manner, but with severe censure of those who maintained +the opposite, as "tempting God," words suitable for him only to use +who had authority over all. But how did the council receive them? +Though "there had been much disputing before," though the keenest +feelings had been excited, and the point involved the strongest +prepossessions of the Jewish converts, "all the multitude held their +peace." They acquiesced in Peter's judgment, and now readily "heard +Barnabas and Paul telling what great signs and wonders God had +wrought among the Gentiles by them." It follows, then, that on a +capital point, and in the first council of the Church, Peter +occupied a position which befits only the supreme judge of +controversies, so that had we no other evidence but this place +whereby to decide upon his rank and office, his pre-eminence would +be evident. "See," says S. Chrysostome, "he first permits a +discussion to arise in the Church, and then he speaks."[71] + +But is this affected by other persons likewise speaking and voting, +as Paul and Barnabas? or by S. James likewise giving his sentence, +as an Apostle? or by the whole matter being settled by common +consent? As little as to be _head_ involves being _all_; as to +preside over the rest takes from them the power of deliberation, and +resolution. Rather it is the office of the Head and the President to +take the initiative, and point out the course which others are to +follow. + +For those here present were teachers, and had the prerogative of +hearing and judging, as well as Peter; they were bound to weigh the +matter in controversy to the best of their power, and to decide on it +according to the proportion of faith. They stood to Peter in a relation, +not of simple obedience, as the ordinary members of the flock, but of +judges, who, though responsible to his superintendence, yet are really +judges, pass sentence, and decree by inherent authority. It is no part +of the idea of a judge, that he should be supreme and irresponsible: +this is the _special_ privilege of the one supreme judge. Objections +such as these, therefore, do not take from Peter his Primacy, and +quality of Head, but claim for Paul, Barnabas, James, and the other +Apostles, the judicial authority and office, which they undoubtedly +possessed. + +Nor again, that, not Peter only, but all, passed the decree in +common, as it is written: "It seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to +us;" and as Paul and Timothy "delivered to the cities the decrees to +keep that were decreed by the Apostles and Ancients."[72] For a +decree made in common by many shews not an equality of power in +each, but a competent authority to join in that decree. Such acts +proceed, not only from equal, but from unequal assemblies. A +question, therefore, terminated by common decision, and laws +established by common consent, do indeed prove a power to deliberate +and decree common to all participating, but do not prove that all, +and every, of the judges were equal in their privileges, for who +gives to the Ancients the same authority as to the Apostles? + +This inequality is elsewhere established, and rests on its own +proof, but bearing it in mind, we shall see that Peter is the first +and chief author of this common decree, and that laws passed by +common consent depend on him primarily as Head. Most unsuspicious +witnesses of this are the ancient writers, and this is the very +conclusion which they drew from the account of this council. Thus, +Tertullian, in the second century, speaking of Peter's singular +prerogatives, says, "On him the Church was built, that is, through +him: it was he who hanselled the key. This is it. 'Ye men of Israel, +hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among +you, &c.' He, too, first by Christian baptism opened the approach of +the heavenly kingdom, by which offences, heretofore bound, are +loosed, and those not loosed are bound, according to true salvation. +And Ananias he bound with the chain of death: and him that was weak +in his feet he delivered from his disease. But likewise, in that +discussion as to maintaining the law, Peter, first of all, instinct +with the Spirit, and preluding with the vocation of the Gentiles, +says, 'And now why tempt ye the Lord, by imposing a yoke on the +brethren, which neither we, nor our fathers have been able to bear? +But by the grace of Christ we believe that we shall be saved, as +also they.' _This_ SENTENCE _both loosed what was given up of the +law, and kept binding what was reserved_."[73] As clearly, S. +Jerome, in the fourth century, writes, that Peter "used his wonted +freedom, and that the Apostle James _followed his sentence_, and all +the ancients at once _acceded to it, and that the decree was drawn +upon his wording_."[74] A little later Theodoret wrote to S. Leo, +thus: "If Paul, the preacher of the truth, the trumpet of the Holy +Spirit, hastened to the great Peter, to carry from him the solution +to those at Antioch, at issue about living under the law; much more +do we, poor and humble, run to your Apostolic throne, to receive +from you healing for the wounds of the Churches."[75] Why does he +here call Peter, _the great_, or say that Paul hastened to him for +solution of a grave contention? Did not Paul go to all the Apostles? +But Peter was the head among them, and had a power in chief--a power +above the rest, a "more special" power--of binding and loosing. + +VIII. One other [76]instance there is of Peter's superior dignity, +and therefore importance, in the Apostolic college, which if, +perhaps, less direct than some of the foregoing, is even more +persuasive. For there was an Apostle associated, as we have seen, by +our Lord with Peter and John in several favours not granted to the +rest; one who with John received from Him the name Boanerges; the +elder brother of John, who with him had once asked to sit on the +Lord's right hand and on His left in His kingdom. Now Luke is led in +the course of his narrative to mention the martyrdom of this great +and favoured Apostle; the first likewise of the Apostolic choir who +drank, as he had promised, of His Lord's baptism, and sealed his +labours and trials with his blood. The occasion was a great and +striking one. It is thus recorded by Luke. "And at the same time +Herod the king stretched forth his hands to afflict some of the +Church. And he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword." +This is the first and the last time that he is mentioned by himself +in Luke's inspired history of the universal Church. Great as he was, +so eminently favoured by his Lord, the elder brother of John, +nothing is said of the Church's anxiety for his danger, her prayers +for his release, her sorrow at his loss, or her exultation at his +triumph by witnessing unto blood. He passed to his throne in heaven +with this short record. The more emphatic is the contrast following. +"And seeing that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to take up Peter +also. Now it was in the days of the azymes. And when he had +apprehended him, he cast him into prison, delivering him to four +files of soldiers to be kept, intending after the pasch to bring him +forth to the people. Peter therefore was kept in prison. _But prayer +was made without ceasing by the Church unto God for him._" That is, +by the instinct of self-preservation she prayed for her head. A few +years later another Apostle, after glorious labours by land and sea, +and missions of unrivalled success, was seized and imprisoned in +this same city of Jerusalem, and in danger of his life. But we do +not hear of prayers being offered up without ceasing even for Paul, +the doctor of the nations. The Church's safety was not bound up with +his, any more than with that of James, and therefore not even of the +great preacher "in labours more abundant than all," are we told that +in the hour of danger "prayer was made without ceasing by the Church +unto God for him." James and Paul were most distinguished _members_, +but Peter was more. This was an honour reserved for the Head alone, +as the life of the Head was peculiarly precious to the whole body. +Thus S. Chrysostome explains it. "The prayer is a proof of +affection: they all sought for a Father, a kind Father."[77] And +then Luke proceeds to give at length Peter's delivery out of prison +by the angel, and his departure in safety to another place. But +there is no other solution of such a difference in recording what +happened alike to James, to Peter, and to Paul, but that Peter held +the place of father in the Lord's family, of commander in His army, +of steward in His household, delivering to each of His servants +their measure of wheat in due season. + +The result,[78] then, of our particular enquiry in the Acts is to +demonstrate two things, that Peter discharged the office of Father +and Head in the Lord's family, and that the Church received and +admitted him when so acting, with a consciousness that such was the +will of Christ. + +Now this office did not consist in "lording it" over his brethren, +in assuming high titles, and interfering with the ministry of others +when exercised in its due course, in rejecting their assistance, or +impeding the unanimous exercise of their counsel. On the contrary, +the Lord had before prescribed that "the greater" among them should +be as the younger, and "the leader" as he that ministers, proposing +to them Himself as the great model, who had exercised the highest +power with the utmost gentleness, and, being "the Lord," had become +"the servant of all." What, then, did this office of Primate consist +in? We may say that Peter was undoubtedly such, if he constantly +exercised the power of a head in building up the Church, in +maintaining discipline, in reconciling dissensions, and in general +administration. Now it would be doing Peter wrong to suppose that he +usurped as peculiar to himself what equally belonged to all the +Apostles; or that, having received the special power of the Holy +Ghost, he did not fulfil his own advice to others, "not to lord it +over the clergy, but to be made a pattern of the flock."[79] And the +four points just mentioned may be reduced to a triple authority, a +Primacy _magisterial_, _judicial_, and _legislative_. Let us take in +at one glance what has been said of Peter in regard to each of +these. + +As to the _magisterial_, or power of authoritative teaching, and +general administration, Peter is constantly taking the lead, he is +the mouthpiece of the Apostles: he alone, or he first, by teaching +plants the Churches; he alone, or he in chief, completes them when +planted; he it is who by divine revelation given to himself, +discloses to the rest the dispensation of God; and he in words full +of power sets forth to these assembled in council the course which +they are to pursue. + +As to the _judicial_, none other judgments are found in that portion +of the Acts which contains the history of the whole Church, save +those of which he was either the _sole_ or the _chief_ author. Alone +he took cognisance of Ananias and Sapphira, and alone he punished +them. And Simon he censured in chief, and excommunicated. + +As to the _legislative_, Peter alone promulged the law as to +receiving the Gentiles; alone he prescribed that for abrogating the +Mosaic ceremonial ordinances; and he was the chief author of the +decree which expressed in terms his own previous act, and was put +forth in common by the Apostles and Ancients.[80] + +Again, compare the _institution_ of the Primacy with its _exercise_. +Its institution consisted in three things. 1. That Peter was named +by Christ the foundation of the Church, with whom its whole fabric +was most intimately to cohere, and from whom it should derive +visible unity and impregnable strength: 2. That the authority of +universal pastor, and the care of the whole fold, was committed to +him: 3. That to him belonged the confirmation of his brethren, and a +power of the keys to which all were subject. Now consider the +execution. + +As foundation of the Church, he gathers up to himself congregations +from the Jews, the Samaritans, and the Gentiles. + +As universal pastor, he collects from these three the flock, +nourishes, defends, inspects it, and fills up one place of highest +rank in the ministry forfeited by the traitor. + +As confirmer of the brethren, he disclosed to them the heavenly +vision signifying the universal calling of the Gentiles, and the +abrogation of the Mosaic law. He acts in the Lord's household as the +bearer of the keys, going to all parts, defending and inspecting +all. By himself he binds and looses, calling Ananias and Sapphira to +his tribunal, and excommunicating the first heretic. + +So exactly, then, do the institution of the Primacy and the acts of +Peter fit into each other, that from the former you may predict the +latter, and from the latter prove the former. They are like cause +and effect, or an à priori and an à posteriori argument. They are a +reciprocal confirmation to each other; just as if by time you +calculate the sun's rising, and see the diffusion of his light, from +his having risen you infer his light, and from his light conclude +that he has risen. + +Nor in the Apostolic Church does any one appear to resist or +question this office of Peter. Rather upon him all eyes are fixed, +for him all are anxious; no Abiram rises up against him with the +words of rebellion; "Thou takest too much upon thee, seeing all the +congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among +them, wherefore then liftest thou up thyself above the congregation +of the Lord?"[81] No Aaron in a moment of delusion cries, "Did the +Lord speak by Moses only? hath He not spoken also by us?" + +Yet Peter acts not like one out of a number, and occasions of +contention are not wanting, strong prepossessions and keen +feelings.[82] He is everywhere; his pre-eminence and his control are +universal: he can act with severity, and there are some impatient +even of a just control. When Ananias and Sapphira fell dead at his +feet, none murmured. When he exclaimed, in full council, "now, +therefore, why tempt you God?" the whole multitude was silent. When +he explained the reception of the Gentiles, those who had murmured +"held their peace, and glorified God."[83] + +But had Peter not possessed, by divine commission, the authority +which he exercised, it is clear, from the conduct of Paul, that he +would have met with opposition from each in proportion to his +advance in Christian perfection. Paul's censure of his indulgence to +the prejudices of the circumcision, proceeding as it did from +charity, shews this. But what would Paul, and what would the other +Apostles have done, had they seen Peter perpetually taking the lead, +and exercising the power of a head, without any special title +thereto? Would they not have resisted him to the face, and before +all, and declared that there was no difference of authority between +them? Yet, not a trace of such resistance appears, while on +numberless occasions the Apostles, and the whole assembly of the +faithful, yield to him the Primacy, a sign truly that they +recognized in him one who had received the place of Christ as +visible Head among them. + +The place of Christ _as visible Head_, for infinite indeed is the +distance between Christ and Peter, as to the headship of mystical +influx and the source of grace. Neither he nor any creature has part +with Christ as to this latter, of which Paul writes, "that God hath +set all things under His feet, and given Him to be Head over all to +the Church, which is His body, the fulness of Him who filleth all in +all;" of which again, "from whom the whole body, being compacted and +fitly joined together, by what every joint supplieth, according to +the operation in the measure of every part maketh increase of the +body, unto the edifying of itself in charity;" and "the husband is +the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the Church, and He is +the Saviour of His body:" and all this "to present it to Himself a +glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing."[84] +In _this_ sense Headship belongs to Christ, not only first and +chiefly, but absolutely and solely. But, as to the Headship of +external government and visible unity, though here also the same +Apostle calls Him, "the head of the body the Church, who is the +beginning, the first-born from the dead; that in all things He may +hold the primacy,"[85] to this Christ Himself has in a measure +associated Peter by saying to him specially, "Feed My sheep--follow +thou Me." + +And observe how that divine injunction was fulfilled. For as +following our Lord with loving gaze through the Gospels we see every +object grouped about that heavenly figure of His; as our eyes rest +ever upon Him in the synagogue, in the market-place, among the +crowd, before the Pharisees, the elders, the chief priests, healing +the sick, raising the dead, supporting and animating His +disciples--so turning to the Acts we see a human copy indeed of that +Divine portrait, but still one wrought by the Holy Spirit out of our +redeemed flesh and blood. We see the fervent Apostle treading in his +master's steps, the centre and the support of his brethren, the +first before the Council, and before the people, ready with his +words and his deeds, uttering to the dead, as the echo of his Lord, +"Arise," and healing the sick with his shadow. With reason, then, do +the inspired writers use of Peter and of Christ similar forms of +speech, and as they write, "Jesus, and His disciples," "there went +with Him His disciples," "there He abode with His disciples," so +they write, "Peter standing up with the Eleven," "they said to Peter +and to the rest of the Apostles," "Peter and the Apostles +answering." What above all is remarkable is to observe the same +_proportion_ between the figure of Peter and the Apostles in the +first twelve chapters of the Acts, as between the figure of our Lord +and the Apostles in the Gospel. Such was the power and the will of +the Divine Master when He said, "Feed My sheep; follow thou Me." +Such the truth of the disciple, answering, "Lord, Thou knowest all +things, Thou knowest that I love Thee." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Passaglia, p. 138. + +[2] Passaglia, p. 140. St. Chrys. in Acta, Hom. 1. + +[3] St. Chrys. Hom. in Ascens., and on Acts, Tom. 3, p. 773. + +[4] Acts xvii. 28-9, and compare 1 Cor. xii. 12-17 with Eph. iv. 16. + +[5] Dionys. de Coel. Hier. cap. 1, § 3. + +[6] S. Cyril. Thes. lib. 34, p. 352, and lib. 9, on John, p. 810. + +[7] Passaglia, p. 143. + +[8] Passaglia, p. 144. + +[9] Acts i. 13; ii. 14; iii. 1-3; iv. 19; viii. 14. + +[10] Acts i. 15; ii. 14, 37; iii. 4; v. 29. + +[11] Acts ii. 13, 37, 38; iii. 11, 12. + +[12] St. Chrysostome. + +[13] Euthalius, apud Zaccagnium, p. 410. + +[14] On Acts, Hom. 21, n. 2. + +[15] Hom. on beginning of Acts, n. 8. Tom. 3, 764. + +[16] Passaglia, p. 148. + +[17] Ps. lxix. 26; cviii. 8. + +[18] Hom. 3, in Act. n. 1, 2, 3. + +[19] Authentikôs. + +[20] Authentei. + +[21] Acts 2. + +[22] On the Acts, Hom. 4, n. 3. + +[23] St. Chrysostome, as before. + +[24] Passaglia, p. 153. + +[25] Acts i. 8; John xv. 27. + +[26] On Acts, Hom. 7, n. 1. + +[27] Acts iv. 4. + +[28] Acts iii. 12-26; iv. 8-19. + +[29] Acts iii. 11, 12-26. + +[30] Acts iv. 7, 8. + +[31] On Acts, Hom. 8, n. 2. + +[32] Acts ii. 44; iv. 32; John xvii. 21. + +[33] Passaglia, p. 157. + +[34] John xv. 22-4. + +[35] Matt. x. 7. + +[36] Mark xvi. 15-17. + +[37] John xx. 21. + +[38] Compare Acts ix. 33, with Mark ii. 3-11. + +[39] Mark v. 40; Acts ix. 39. + +[40] Acts v. 12-14. + +[41] Matt. xv. 30. + +[42] Passaglia, p. 163. + +[43] Matt. xv. 24; x. 5; Acts i. 8. + +[44] St. Cyprian, Ep. 69. St. Jerome, dialogue con. Luciferianos. + +[45] Acts viii. 14. + +[46] Passaglia, p. 174. + +[47] Eph. iii. 5; Mal. i. 11. + +[48] Acts ix. 32. + +[49] Bede on this text. + +[50] Apoc. vii. 9. + +[51] Hær. 28, s. 3. + +[52] Hom. 24 on the Acts, n. 1. + +[53] John iv. 2. + +[54] Passaglia, p. 181. + +[55] Acts xi. 1-4. + +[56] On Acts, Hom. 24, n. 2. + +[57] Lib. 9. Ep. 39. + +[58] Passaglia. p. 188. + +[59] Acts v. 8. 3. + +[60] On Acts, Hom. 12. + +[61] Passaglia, p. 190. + +[62] Acts ix. 31. + +[63] Titus i. 5. + +[64] Acts xv. 36. + +[65] Hist. Ecc. Lib. 3, ch. 23. + +[66] So called by Arnobius, on psalm 138. + +[67] On Acts, Hom. 21, n. 2. + +[68] Passaglia, p. 192. + +[69] Acts xv. 6. + +[70] Hom. 32, n. 1. + +[71] Hom. 32, Tom. 9, p. 250. + +[72] Acts xv. 28; xvi. 4. + +[73] De Pudicitia, c. 21. + +[74] S. Jerome, Ep. 75, inter Augustinianas, Tom. 2, p. 171. + +[75] Theodoret, Ep. 113, Tom. 3, 984. + +[76] Passaglia, p. 197. + +[77] On Acts, Hom. 26, n. 2. + +[78] Passaglia, p. 198. + +[79] 1 Pet. v. 3. + +[80] Princeps hujus fuit decreti, says St. Jerome to St. Augustine, +Ep. 75, n. 8. inter Augustinianas. + +[81] Numbers xvi. 3; xii. 2. + +[82] Acts vi. 1; xv. 2; xi. 2. + +[83] Acts xi. 18. + +[84] Eph. i. 22; iv. 15; v. 23, 27. + +[85] Col. i. 18. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +TESTIMONY OF S. PAUL TO S. PETER'S PRIMACY. + + +In leaving the Gospels and the Acts we quit those writings in which +we should expect, beforehand, that divine government to be set +forth, which it pleased our Lord to establish for His church. In +exact accordance with such expectation we have seen the institution +of the apostolic college, and of S. Peter's Primacy over it, +described in the Gospels, and the history in the Acts of its +execution and practical working. Both institution and execution have +been complete in their parts, and wonderfully harmonise with each +other. But in the other inspired writings of the New Testament, +comprising the letters of various Apostles, and specially of S. +Paul, we had no reason to anticipate any detailed mention of Church +government. The fourteen Epistles of S. Paul were written +incidentally on different subjects, no one of them leading him to +set forth, with any exact specification, that divine hierarchy under +which it was the pleasure of the Lord that His Church should grow +up. Moreover, it so happened that the [1]circumstances of S. Paul's +calling to be an Apostle, and the opposition which he sometimes met +with from those attached to Jewish usages, caused him to be a great +defender of the Apostolic dignity, as bestowed upon himself, and +continually to assert that he received it not of men, but of God. +Had there, then, been no recognition at all of S. Peter's superior +rank in the Apostolic College to be found in his writings, it would +not have caused surprise to those who consider the above reasons. +And proportionably strong and effective is the recognition of that +rank, which, though incidental, does occur, and that several times. +If, then, S. Paul, being so circumstanced, selected expressions +which seem to indicate a distinction of dignity between the Apostles +and S. Peter, they claim a special attention, and carry a double +force. Now on putting these together we shall find that they show +not merely a distinction of dignity, but a superior authority, in +Peter. + +The first are four several passages in the first Epistle to the +Corinthians, in all of which S. Peter holds the higher place, and in +two is moreover mentioned singly, while the rest are mentioned only +in mass. These are the following, "Now this I say, that every one of +you saith: I indeed am of Paul; and I of Apollo; and I of Cephas; +and I of Christ." Again: "All things are yours, whether it be Paul, +or Apollo, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things +present, or things to come, for all are yours, and you are Christ's, +and Christ is God's." Again, "Have we not power to carry about a +woman, a sister, as well as the rest of the Apostles, and the +brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?" And once more: "That He was seen +by Cephas, and after that by the eleven."[2] First, we may remark +that the place of dignity in a sentence varies[3] according to its +nature: if it _descends_, such place is the first; but if it +_ascends_, it is the furthest point from the first. Now in the first +instance the discourse ascends, for what can be plainer than that it +terminates in Christ, as in the supreme point? "Every one of you +saith, I indeed am of Paul, and I of Apollo, and I of Cephas, and I +of Christ;" so S. Chrysostome observes, "It was not to prefer +himself before Peter that he set him last, but to prefer Peter even +greatly before himself. For he speaks in the ascending scale:" and +Theodoret: "They called themselves from different teachers: now he +mentioned his own name and that of Apollo: but he adds also the name +of the chief of the Apostles."[4] As plain is this in the second +instance, where S. Paul, developing his thought, "all things are +yours," adds, "whether Paul, or Apollo, or Cephas," or if that be +not sufficient, "the world" itself, which, carried away in a sort of +transport, he seems to divide into its parts, "or life, or death, or +things present, or things to come, all," I repeat, "are yours:" but +only, you are not your own, "you are Christ's, and Christ is God's." +In all which, from human instruments, who plant and water, he rises +up to God, the ultimate source, the beginning and the end. Stronger +yet is the third passage, for being in the very act of setting forth +the dignity of his own Apostolate, "have we not power," he says, "to +lead about a sister, a woman, as well as the rest of the Apostles, +and the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?" Now, whether "the rest of +the Apostles" here means, those who, in the looser signification are +so called, as "the Apostles of the Churches," and "Andronicus, and +Junias--who are of note among the Apostles,"[5] or the original +Twelve, the ascending scale is equally apparent. For why is Peter +distinguished by name from all the rest? Why alone termed by his +prophetical name? S. Chrysostome, again tells us why. "Look at +Paul's wisdom. _He puts the chief the last. For there he puts that +which was strongest among the principal. For it was not so +remarkable to shew the rest doing this, as him that was chief, and +had been entrusted with the keys of heaven._ But he puts not him +alone, but all, as if he would say, whether you look for inferiors, +or superiors, you have examples of all. For the brethren of the +Lord, being delivered from their first unbelief,[6] were among the +principal, though they had not reached the height of Apostles, and, +therefore, he put them in the middle, with the highest on the two +sides:"[7] words in which he seems to indicate that Peter was as +excellent among the Apostles, as they among the rest of the +disciples, and the Lord's brethren. + +Of the superiority contained in the fourth passage, we have spoken +above, under another head: and, therefore, proceed to much more +remarkable testimonies of S. Paul. + +In the epistle to the Galatians, S. Paul has occasion[8] to defend +his Apostolic authority, and the agreement of the Gospel which he +had preached with that of the original Apostles. After referring to +his marvellous conversion, he continues, "immediately I condescended +not to flesh and blood; neither went I to Jerusalem to the Apostles, +who were before me, but I went into Arabia, and again I returned to +Damascus. Then, after three years, I went to Jerusalem, to visit +Peter, and I tarried with him fifteen days. But other of the +Apostles I saw none, saving James, the brother of the Lord." At +length, then, S. Paul goes to Jerusalem, and that with a fixed +purpose, "to visit Peter." But why Peter only, and not the rest of +the Apostles, and the brethren of the Lord?[9] Why speaks he of +these, and of James himself, besides, as if he would intimate that +he had little care of seeing them? No other answer can be given to +such queries, than is shadowed out in the prophetic name of Peter, +and contained in the explanation of it given by Christ Himself, +"Upon this Rock I will build My Church." + +For, to prove this, let us go back once more to witnesses beyond +suspicion, who wrote a thousand years before the denial of Peter's +Primacy began. The Greek and Latin Fathers see here a recognition of +his chief authority. Thus Theodoret, "Not needing doctrines from +man, as having received it from the God of all, he gives the fitting +honour to the chief." Theodoret follows S. Chrysostome, who had +said, "After so many great deeds, needing nothing of Peter, nor of +his instruction, but being his equal in rank, for I will say no more +here, still he goes up to him as to the greater and elder:" his +equal in the Apostolic dignity, and the immediate reception of his +authority from Christ, but yet his inferior in the range of his +jurisdiction, Peter being "greater and elder." And he goes on, "he +went, but for this alone, to see him and honour him by his presence. +He says, I went up to visit Peter. He said not to see Peter, but to +visit Peter, as they say, in becoming acquainted with great and +illustrious cities. So much pains he thought it worth only to see +the man." And he concludes, "This I repeat, and would have you +remember, lest you should suspect the Apostle, on hearing anything +which seems said against Peter. For it was for this that he so +speaks, correcting by anticipation, that when he shall say, I +resisted Peter, no one may think these words of enmity and +contention. For he honours the man, and loves him more than all. For +he says that he came up for none of the Apostles, save him." +Elsewhere, S. Chrysostome, commenting on the charge, Feed My sheep, +asks, "Why, then, passing by the rest, does He converse with him +(Peter) on these things?" And he replies, Peter "was the one +preferred among the Apostles, and the mouth-piece of the disciples, +and the head of the band: _therefore_, too, Paul then went up to +visit him _rather than the rest_."[10] Tertullian, the most ancient +of the Latins, says, "then, as he relates himself, he went up to +Jerusalem for the purpose of becoming acquainted with Peter, that +is, according to duty, and the claim of their identical faith and +preaching:"[11] the _duty_, which Paul had to Peter; the _claim_ +which Peter had on Paul. In the fourth century, Marius Victorinus +observes: "After three years, says he, I came to Jerusalem; then he +adds the cause, to see Peter. For if the foundation of the Church +was laid in Peter, as is said in the Gospel, Paul, to whom all +things had been revealed, knew that he was _bound_ to see Peter, as +one to whom so great an authority had been given by Christ, not to +learn anything from him."[12] The writer called Ambrosiaster, as his +works are attached to those of S. Ambrose, and contemporary with +Pope Damasus, (A.D. 366-384) remarks, "It was proper that he should +desire to see Peter, because he was first among the Apostles, to +whom the Saviour had committed the care of the Churches." S. Jerome, +more largely, says, "not to behold his eyes, his cheeks, or his +countenance, whether he were thin or stout, with nose straight or +twisted, covered with hair, or as Clement, in the Periods, will have +it, bald. It was not, I conceive, in the gravity of an Apostle, that +after so long as three years' preparation, he could wish to see +anything human in Peter. But he gazed on him with those eyes with +which now he is seen in his own letters. Paul saw Cephas with eyes +such as those with which all wise men now look on Paul. If any one +thinks otherwise, let him join all this with the sense before +indicated, that the Apostles contributed nothing to each other. For +even in that he seemed to go to Jerusalem, in order that he might +see the Apostle, it was not to learn, as having himself too the same +author of his preaching, but _to shew honour to the first +Apostle_."[13] Our own S. Thomas sums up all these in saying, "the +doctor of the Gentiles, who boasts that he had learnt the Gospel, +not of man, nor through man, but instructed by Christ, went up to +Jerusalem, conferred concerning the faith _with the head of the +Churches_, lest perchance he might run, or had run, in vain."[14] + +These last words lead us attentively to consider the passage which +follows in S. Paul. At a subsequent period the zealots of the law +had raised against him a report that the Gospel which he preached +differed from that of the Twelve. At once to meet and silence such a +calumny, he tells us that "after fourteen years, I went up again to +Jerusalem, with Barnabas, taking Titus also with me. And I went up +according to revelation, and," assigning the particular purpose, +"conferred with them the Gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, +but apart with them who seemed to be something; lest, perhaps, I +should run, or had run, in vain." Then, having proved the identity +of his doctrine with that of those who "seemed to be something," +that is, Peter, James, and John, though to him they "added nothing," +he specifies Peter among these, and proceeds to draw a singular +parallel between, on the one hand, Peter, as accompanied by James +and John, and himself, as working with Barnabas and Titus. If we set +the clauses over against each other, this will be more apparent:-- + + When they had seen that As to Peter was that of + to me was committed the Gospel the circumcision, + of the uncircumcision, + + For He who wrought in Wrought in me also among + Peter, to the Apostleship of the Gentiles, + the circumcision, + + [15]James, and Cephas, and Gave to me and Barnabas + John, who seemed to be the right hand of fellowship; + pillars, + +where it would appear that James and John stand in the like relation +to Cephas, as Barnabas and Titus, just before mentioned, to Paul. +And S. Chrysostome, who, it must be remarked, reads Cephas, and not +James, first, as do some manuscripts and many Fathers, observes, +"where it was requisite to compare himself, he mentions Peter only, +but were to call a testimony, he names three together and with +praise, saying, 'Cephas, and James, and John, who seemed to be +pillars.'" And further, Paul "shows himself to be of the same rank +with them, and matches himself not with the rest, but with the +leader, showing that each of them enjoyed the same dignity,"[16] +that is, of the Apostolic commission, and the divine cooperation. +And Ambrosiaster explains the parallel: "Paul names Peter only, and +compares him to himself, as having received the Primacy _for the +founding of the Church_, he being in like manner elected to hold a +Primacy _in founding the Churches of the Gentiles_, yet so that +Peter, if occasion might be, should preach to the Gentiles, and Paul +to the Jews. For both are found to have done both." And presently, +"by the Apostles who were the more illustrious among the rest, whom +for their stability he names pillars, and who were ever in the +Lord's secret council, being worthy to behold His glory on the +mount," (where Ambrosiaster confuses James, the brother of the Lord, +with James the brother of John,) "by these he declares to have been +approved the gift which he received from God, that he should be +worthy to hold the Primacy in the preaching of the Gentiles, as +Peter held it in the preaching of the circumcision. _And as he +assigns to Peter for companions distinguished men among the +Apostles, so he joins Barnabas to himself; yet he claims to himself +alone the grace of the Primacy as granted by God, like as to Peter +alone it was granted among the Apostles_.[17] + +Now Baronius proves that the above words cannot be taken of a +division of jurisdiction, and that the singular dignity of Peter is +marked in them. "For as a mark of his excellence Christ Himself, who +came to save all men, with whom there is no distinction of Jew and +Greek, was yet called 'minister of the circumcision,' by Paul, (Rom. +xv. 8,) a title of dignity, according to Paul's own words, for +theirs was 'the adoption of children, and the glory, and the +testament, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and +the promises,' while 'the Gentiles praise God for His mercy,' But +just as Christ our Lord was so called minister of the circumcision, +as yet to be the Pastor and Saviour of all, so Peter too was called +the minister of the circumcision, in such sense as yet to be by the +Lord constituted (Acts ix. 32,) pastor and ruler of the whole flock. +Whence S. Leo, 'out of the whole world Peter alone is chosen to +preside over the calling of all the Gentiles, and over all the +Apostles, and the collected Fathers of the Church, so that though +there be among the people of God many priests and many shepherds, +yet Peter rules all by immediate commission, whom Christ also rules +by Sovereign power.'"[18] + +The parallel, then, drawn by Paul between himself and Peter, +distinctly conveys that as he was superior to Barnabas and Titus, +and used their cooperation, so was Peter among the Apostles, and +specially the chief ones, James and John, as their leader and head. +For what is the meaning of the words, "He who wrought in Peter to +the Apostleship of the circumcision?" Was the Apostleship of the +circumcision entrusted to Peter only? It needs no proof that it was +also entrusted to James and John, nay, Paul himself immediately says +so, "They gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, +that _we_ should go unto the Gentiles, and _they_ unto the +circumcision." Why then does Paul so express himself as to intimate +that the Gospel of the circumcision was given to Peter only? For the +same reason that he said that to himself "was committed the Gospel +of the uncircumcision," and that God "wrought in me also among the +Gentiles." Now Barnabas likewise had been[19]separated by the Holy +Ghost Himself for the Gentile mission; Barnabas, too, and Titus +were discharging the office of ambassadors for Christ among the +Gentiles: "that _we_," Paul says, not I, "should go to the +Gentiles." The terms, therefore, used by Paul both of himself and +Peter, do not _exclude_ the rest, but express the _superiority_ of +the one named singly before the rest, as if he alone held the +charge. Their fittest interpretation, then, will be, "The Apostles +saw that the Gospel of the uncircumcision was no less given to me +_above_ the rest, than the Gospel of the circumcision to Peter +_above_ the rest; for He who wrought in Peter _above_ the rest in +the Gospel of the circumcision, wrought also in me _above_ the rest +in the Gospel of the uncircumcision." But what can set forth S. +Peter's dignity more remarkably than to exhibit him in the same +light of superiority among the original Apostles, as S. Paul was +among S. Barnabas and his other fellow-workers? + +Further confirmation of this is given by the argument with which he +refutes the calumny urged against him of disagreement with the +Apostles. For while he appeals to them _in general_, and to his +union with them, he likewise _specifies_ the point which favoured +that union. It was the parallel between himself and Peter, as we +have seen; it was the exact resemblance between his mission and that +of Peter, which was the cause of their joining hands: they approve +Paul's Apostleship because they see that it follows the type of +Peter's. + +And other words of Paul which follow, prove not only the point of +his own cause, but the source of Peter's singular privileges. "But +when Cephas was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, +because he was to be blamed: for before that some came from James, +he did eat with the Gentiles; but when they were come he withdrew, +and separated himself, fearing them who were of the circumcision. +And to his dissimulation the rest of the Jews consented, so that +Barnabas also was led by them into that dissimulation. But when I +saw that they walked not uprightly unto the truth of the Gospel, I +said to Cephas before them all, If thou being a Jew livest after the +manner of the Gentiles, and not as the Jews do, how dost thou compel +the Gentiles to live as the Jews?" For why did Paul here censure +Peter _only_? By his own account not only Peter, but the rest, and +Barnabas himself amongst them, set apart as he was by the Holy Ghost +to preach to the Gentiles, did not defend Christian liberty, as they +ought to have done. Why, then, does he single out Peter among all +these, resist him to the face, and so firmly censure all, in his +person? No answer can be given but one: that by this dissembling of +Peter the zealots of the law gathered double courage to press +against Paul their calumny of dissension from Peter, and to infer +that he had run in vain, from the indulgence which Peter showed; +that Peter's authority with all was so great that his example drew +the pastors and their flocks alike to his side, and that it was +requisite to correct the members in the head. From this S. +Chrysostome proves that it was really the Apostle Peter, which some, +as we shall soon see, denied: "For to say, that I resisted him to +the face, and to put this as a great thing, was to show that he had +not reverenced the dignity of his person. But had he said it of +another, that I resisted him to the face, he would not have put it +as a great thing. Again, if it had been another Peter, his change +would have not had such force as to draw the rest of the Jews with +him. For he used no exhortation, nor advice, but merely dissembled, +and separated himself, and that dissembling and separation had +power to draw after him all the disciples, _on account of the +dignity of his person_."[20] Again, another writer of the fourth +century tells us this: "Therefore he inveighs against Peter alone, +in order that the rest might learn in the person of him who is the +first."[21] It was, then, Peter's primacy, and the necessity of +agreeing with him thence arising, which led Paul to resist him +publicly, and, disregarding the conduct of the rest, to direct an +admonition to him alone. "So great," S. Jerome tells us, on these +two passages, "was Peter's authority, that Paul in his epistle +wrote, 'Then after three years I went to Jerusalem to see Peter, and +I tarried with him fifteen days.' And again in what follows, 'After +fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking +Titus also with me. And I went up according to revelation, and +conferred with them the Gospel which I preach among the Gentiles,' +_showing that he had no security in preaching the Gospel, unless it +were confirmed by the sentence of Peter and those who were with +him_."[22] + +But this passage,[23] concerning the reprehension of S. Peter by S. +Paul, has afforded so signal an instance "of the unlearned and +unstable wresting Scripture to their own proper destruction,"[24] +that we must dwell a little longer upon it. First, the Gnostics and +the Marcionites quoted it to accuse the Apostles of ignorance, and +to favour their own claim to a progressive light. In Peter, they +would have it, there was still a taint of Judaism. Next Porphyry, +who "raged against Christ like a mad dog,"[25] tried by this passage +to weaken the authority of the Apostles, and to convict Paul of +ambition and rashness, who censured the first of the Apostles and +the leader of the band, not privately, but openly before all, as S. +Chrysostome and S. Jerome tell us. Julian the apostate succeeded +these, and tried, by means of Paul's contention with Peter, to bring +discredit on the religion itself. For who, he asked, could value a +religion whose chief teachers were guilty of hypocrisy, ignorance, +and ambition? And in complete accordance with the spirit of these, +all, who, since the sixteenth century, have attempted to impugn S. +Peter's prerogatives, have rested their chief effort on the +exaggeration and distortion of this reprehension. "This," says +Baronius, "is the stone of stumbling, and rock of offence, on which +a great number have dashed themselves. For those, who without any +diligent consideration have superficially interpreted a difficult +statement, have gone so far in their folly as either to accuse Paul +of rashness for having inveighed against Peter not merely with +freedom, but wantonness, or to calumniate Peter as a hypocrite, for +acting with dissimulation; or to condemn both, for not agreeing in +the same rule of faith."[26] + +In most remarkable contrast with these stand out three several +interpretations, which prevailed in early times, all differing from +each other in points, but all equally careful to maintain the +dignity of Peter, and to clear up the conduct of Paul. First, from +S. Clement of Alexandria in the second century up to S. Chrysostome +in the fourth, we find a number of Greek writers asserting that it +was not the Apostle Peter, who was here meant, but another; S. +Jerome gives their reasons thus: "there are those who think that +Cephas, whom Paul here writes that he resisted to the face, was not +the Apostle Peter, but another of the seventy disciples so called, +and they allege that Peter could not have withdrawn himself from +eating with the Gentiles, for he had baptized Cornelius the +centurion, and on his ascending to Jerusalem, being opposed by those +of the circumcision who said, 'why hast thou entered in to men +uncircumcised, and eaten with them?' after narrating the vision, he +terminates his answer thus: 'If, then, God hath given to them the +same grace as to us who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I +that I should withstand God?' On hearing which they were silent, and +glorified God, saying: 'Therefore to the Gentiles, also, God hath +given repentance unto life.' Especially as Luke, the writer of the +history, makes no mention of this dissension, nor even says that +Peter was at Antioch with Paul; and occasion would be given to +Porphyry's blasphemies, _if we could believe either that Peter had +erred, or that Paul had impertinently censured the prince of the +Apostles_."[27] + +But this interpretation, contrary both to internal evidence and to +early tradition, and suggested only by the anxiety to defend S. +Peter's dignity, did not prevail. Another succeeded, supported by S. +Chrysostome, S. Cyril, and the greatest Greek commentators, and for +a long time by S. Jerome, even more remarkably opposed to the +apparent sense of the passage, and only, as it would seem, dictated +by the same desire to defend the dignity of S. Peter, and the +conduct of S. Paul. Admitting that it was really Peter who was here +mentioned, they maintained that it was not a real dissension between +the two Apostles, but apparent only, and arranged both by the one +and the other, to terminate the question more decidedly. S. +Chrysostome[28] sets forth at great length this opinion: "Do you +see," says he, "how S. Paul accounts himself the least of all +saints, not of Apostles only? Now he who was so disposed with +respect to all, both knew how great a prerogative Peter ought to +enjoy, and reverenced him most of all men, and was disposed towards +him as he deserved. And this is a proof. The whole earth was looking +to Paul; there rested on his spirit the solicitude for the Churches +of all the world. A thousand matters engaged him every day; he was +besieged with appointments, commands, corrections, counsels, +exhortations, teachings, the administration of endless business; yet +giving up all these, he went to Jerusalem. And there was no other +occasion for this journey save to see Peter, as he says himself: 'I +went up to Jerusalem to visit Peter.' Thus he honoured him, and +preferred him to all men." Suspecting, too, that an accusation +against Peter's unwavering faith, might be brought from the words, +"fearing those of the circumcision," he breaks out, 'What say you? +Peter fearful and unmanly? Was he not for this called Peter, that +his faith was immovable? What are you doing, friend? Reverence the +name given by the Lord to the disciple. Peter fearful and unmanly! +Who will endure you saying such things?'" + +Now compare[29] together these two interpretations of the Greek +Fathers with that of the reformers and their adherents since the +sixteenth century. A more complete antagonism of feelings and +principles cannot be conceived. I. There is not a Greek Father who +does not infer the singular authority of Peter from the first and +second chapter of the epistle to the Galatians. There is not an +adherent of the reformers who does not trust that he can draw from +those same chapters matter to impugn S. Peter's Primacy. II. The +Greek Fathers anxiously search out every point which may conduce to +Peter's praise. The adherent of the reformers suppresses all such, +and seems not to see them. III. If anything in Paul's account seems +at first sight to tell against Peter's special dignity, the Greek +Fathers are studious carefully to remove it; the adherents of the +reformers to exaggerate it. IV. The Greek Fathers prefer slightly to +force the obvious meaning of the words, and to desert the original +interpretation, rather than set Apostles at variance with each +other, or admit that Peter, the chief of the Apostles, was not +treated with due deference. The adherents of the reformers intensify +everything, take it in the worst sense, and are the more at home, +the more bitterly they inveigh against Peter. + +Now turn to the third interpretation, that of the Latin Fathers. +They admit both that it was Peter and that it was a real dissension, +but they are as anxious as the Greek to defend Peter's dignity. Thus +Tertullian:[30] "If Peter was blamed--certainly it was a fault of +_conduct_, not of _preaching_." And Cyprian:[31] "not even Peter, +whom first the Lord chose, and upon whom He built His Church, when +afterwards Paul disagreed with him respecting circumcision, claimed +aught proudly, or assumed aught arrogantly to himself, saying that +he held the Primacy, and that obedience rather was due to him by +those younger and later." And Augustine: "Peter himself received +with the piety of a holy and benignant humility what was with +advantage done by Paul in the freedom of charity. And so he gave to +posterity a rarer and a holier example, that they should not +disdain, if perchance they left the right track, _to be corrected +even by their youngers_, than Paul, that even _inferiors_ might +confidently venture to resist _superiors_, maintaining brotherly +charity, in the defence of evangelical truth. For better as it is on +no occasion to quit the proper path, yet much more wonderful and +praiseworthy is it, willingly to accept correction, than boldly to +correct deviation. Paul then has the praise of just liberty, and +_Peter of holy humility_: which, so far as seems to me according to +my small measure, had been a better defence against the calumnies of +Porphyry, than the giving him greater occasion of finding fault: for +it would be a much more stinging accusation that Christians should +with deceit either write their epistles, or bear the mysteries of +their God."[32] + +Now, to see the[33] fundamental opposition between the Greek and +Latin Fathers, and the reformers, let us observe that, though there +are three ancient interpretations of this passage, differing from +each other, the first denying that the Cephas so reprehended by +Paul, was the chief of the Apostles, the second affirming this, but +reducing the whole contention to an arrangement of prudence between +the two Apostles, and the third maintaining the reality of the +reprehension, yet all three have in common the reconciling Peter's +chief dignity with the reprehension of him, and the two latter, +besides, are much more careful to admire his modesty, than Paul's +liberty, and make the most of every point in the narration setting +forth Peter's Primacy. On the other hand the reformers use this +reprehension as their sharpest weapon against his authority, praise +Paul's liberty to the utmost in order to depress that authority, +hunt out everything against Peter, and pass over everything for him. +It is equally evident that their motive in this runs counter to the +faith universal in the Church during the first four centuries; and +that their inference cannot be accepted without rejecting all +Christian antiquity, and the very sentiments expressed by Paul +himself, as we have seen, towards Peter. + +But as to the reprehension itself, it would seem to have been not on +a point of _doctrine_ at all, but of _conduct_. S. Peter had long +ago both admitted the Gentiles into the Church, and declared that +they were not bound to the Jewish law. But out of regard to the +feelings of the circumcised converts, he pursued a line of conduct +at Antioch, which they mistook to mean an approval of their error, +and which needed, therefore, to be publicly cleared up. Accordingly, +Peter's fault, if any there were, amounted to this, that having, +with the best intention, done what was not forbidden, he had not +sufficiently foreseen what others would thence infer contrary to his +own intention. Can this be esteemed either a dogmatic error, or a +proof of his not holding supreme authority? But the _event_ being +injurious, and contrary to the truth of the Gospel, why should not +Paul admonish Peter concerning it? But very remarkable it is, that +he quotes S. Peter's own example and authority, opposes the +antecedent to the consequent fact, and maintains Gospel liberty by +Peter's own conduct. S. Chrysostome remarked this. "Observe his +prudence. He said not to him, Thou dost wrong, in living as a Jew, +but he alleges his former mode of living, that the admonition and +the counsel may seem to come not from Paul's mind, but from the +judgment of Peter already expressed. For had he said, Thou dost +wrong to keep the law, Peter's disciples would have blamed him, but +now, hearing that this admonition and correction came not from +Paul's judgment, but that Peter himself so lived, and held in his +mind this belief, whether they would, or would not, they were +obliged to be quiet."[34] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Passaglia, p. 206. + +[2] 1 Cor. i. 12; iii. 22; ix. 5: xv. 5. + +[3] Passaglia, p. 124-6. + +[4] S. Chrys. in 1 Cor. Hom. 3, n. 2. Theodoret on text. + +[5] 2 Cor. viii. 23; Rom. xvi. 7. + +[6] John vii. 5. + +[7] In 1 Cor. Hom. 21. n. 2. + +[8] Passaglia, p. 208. + +[9] Gal. i. 16-19. + +[10] Theodoret and Chrysostome on the text, and on John, Hom. 88. + +[11] De Præsc. c. 23. + +[12] Comm. in Gal. i. 18. Mai nova collectio. Tom. 3. + +[13] Ambrosiaster and S. Jerome on the text. + +[14] S. Thomas Cant. Epist. Lib. i, 97. + +[15] An argument has been drawn by some against S. Peter's primacy +from S. Paul here placing S. James first. Now as to this we must +remark that some most ancient manuscripts, and the original Latin +version, read "Peter, and James, and John," and that this is +followed by Tertullian, Chrysostome, Ambrose, Ambrosiaster, +Augustine, Theodoret, Jerome, Irenæus, Gregory of Nyssa, and +Cassiodorus, of whom Jerome is the more important, in that he had +studied so many ancient commentaries before writing his own. But +supposing that the vulgar reading is the true one, Peter's being +once placed by S. Paul between S. James and S. John will not +counterbalance the vast positive evidence for his primacy. Those who +wish to see the probable reasons why S. James was here placed first, +may consult Passaglia, b. 1, c. 14, who treats of the question at +length. Perhaps S. Paul, narrating historically a past incident, +recalled them to his recollection _in the order of time_, in which +they received him: and S. James, residing constantly at Jerusalem, +might very probably have seen him first. + +[16] S. Chrys. in Gal. c. 2. + +[17] Comm. on Gal. ii. 7, 8. + +[18] Baron. Ann. A.D. 51. § 29. S. Leo. Serm. 4. + +[19] Acts xiii. 2. + +[20] Hom. on, I resisted Him to the face, n. 15. + +[21] Ambrosiaster on Gal. ii. 14. + +[22] Epist. inter. Augustin. 75, n. 8. + +[23] Passaglia, p. 217. + +[24] 2 Pet. iii. 16. + +[25] S. Jerome. + +[26] Ad. Ann. 51, § 32. + +[27] S. Jerome on Gal. ch. 2. + +[28] Homily on the text, I resisted him to the face, n. 8, Tom. 3, +p. 368. + +[29] Passaglia, p. 232. + +[30] De Præse. c. 24. + +[31] Cyprian, Ep. 71. + +[32] Ep. 82, n. 22. + +[33] Passaglia, p. 240. + +[34] Hom. on text, n. 17. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +S. PETER'S PRIMACY INVOLVED IN THE FOURFOLD UNITY OF CHRIST'S +KINGDOM. + + +The doctrine[1] of S. Paul has brought us to a most interesting +point of the subject, what, namely, is the principle of unity in the +Church. A short consideration of this will shew us how the office of +S. Peter enters into and forms part of the radical idea of the +Church, so that the moment we profess our belief in one holy +Catholic Church, the belief is likewise involved in that Primacy of +teaching and authority which makes and keeps it one. + +The principle of unity, then, is no other than "the Word made +flesh:" that divine Person who has for ever joined together the +Godhead and the Manhood. Thus, S. Paul speaks to us of God "having +made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good +pleasure, which He purposed in Himself, in the dispensation of the +fulness of times, _to gather together under one head all things in +Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth_:" at whose +resurrection, "He set all things under His feet, and gave Him to be +head over all to the Church, which is His body, the fulness of Him +who filleth all in all." And again, "the head of every man is +Christ;--and the head of Christ is God." "And we being many are one +body in Christ, and every one members one of another:"[2] as, again, +he sets forth at length in the 12th chapter of the First Epistle to +the Corinthians, calling that one body by the very name of Christ. + +With one voice the ancient Fathers[3] exult in this as the great +purpose of His Incarnation. "The work," says S. Hippolytus,[4] "of +His taking a body, is the gathering up into one head of all things +unto Him." "The Word Man," says S. Irenæus,[5] "gathering all things +up into Himself, that as in super-celestial, and spiritual, and +invisible things, the Word of God is the chief, so also in visible +and corporeal things He may hold the chiefship, assuming the Primacy +to Himself, and joining Himself as Head to the Church, may draw all +things to Himself, at the fitting time." And again, "The Son of God +was made Man among men, to join the end to the beginning, that is, +man to God;" or, as Tertullian says,[6] "that God might shew that in +Himself was the evolution of the beginning to the end, and the +return of the end to the beginning." And Oecumenius, "Angels and +men were rent asunder; God then joined them, and made them one +through Christ." S. Gregory Thaumaturgus breaks out, "Thou art He +that didst bridge over heaven and earth by Thy sacred body." And +Augustine,[7] "Far off He was from us, and very far. What, so far +off as the creature and the Creator? What, so far off as God and +man? What, so far off as justice and iniquity? What, so far off as +eternity and mortality? See how far off was 'the Word in the +beginning, God with God, by whom all things were made.' How, then, +was He made nigh, that He might be as we, and we in Him? 'The Word +was made flesh.'" "Man, being assumed, was taken into the nature of +the Godhead," says S. Hilary:[8] and S. Chrysostome,[9] "He puts on +flesh, that He who cannot be held may be holden:" "dwelling with +us," says Gregory[10] of Nazianzum, "by interposing His flesh as a +veil, that the incomprehensible may be comprehended." "For since," +adds S. Cyril,[11] "man's nature was not capable of approaching the +pure and unmixed glory of the Godhead, because of its inherent +weakness, for our use the only-begotten one put on our likeness." +"In the assumption of our nature," says S. Leo,[12] "He became to us +the step, by which through Him we may be able to mount unto Him:" +"the descent of the Creator to the creature is the advance of +believers to things eternal:" and, "it is not doubtful that man's +nature has been taken into such connection by the Son of God, that, +not only in that Man who is the first-born of all creation, but even +in all His saints, there is one and the same Christ: and as the Head +cannot be divided from the limbs, so neither the limbs from the +Head. For though it belong not to this life, but to that of +eternity, that God be all in all, yet even now He is the undivided +inhabitant of His temple, which is the Church." For all the above is +contained in our Lord's own words, "that they all may be one, as +Thou, Father, in Me, and I in Thee," on which S. Athanasius[13] +says, "that all, being carried by Me, may be all one body and one +spirit, and reach the perfect man:"--"for, as the Lord having +clothed Himself in a body, became man, so we men are deified by the +Word, being assumed through His flesh." S. Gregory,[14] of Nyssa, +has unfolded this idea thus: "since from no other source but from +our lump was the flesh which received God, which, by the +resurrection, was together with the Godhead exalted; just as in our +own body the action of one organ of sense communicates sympathy to +all that which is united with the part, so, just as if the whole +nature (of man) were one living creature, the resurrection of a part +passes throughout the whole, being communicated from the part to the +whole, according to the nature's continuity and union." And +another,[15] interpreting the words, "that they all may be one," +"thus I will, that they being drawn into unity, may be blended with +each other, and becoming as one body, may all be in Me, who carry +all in that one temple which I have assumed; the temple, namely, of +His Body." And lastly, S. Hilary[16] deduces this not only from the +Incarnation, but from the Blessed Eucharist. "For, if the Word be +really made flesh, and we really receive the Word as flesh, in the +food of the Lord, how is He not to be thought to remain in us +naturally, since, both in being born a man, He assumed the nature of +our flesh, never to be severed from Him, and has joined the nature +of His flesh to the eternal nature under the sacrament of the flesh +to be communicated to us." + +So deep in the junction of the divine and human natures in our +Lord's adorable Person lies the root of unity for that humanity +which He purchased with His blood. It is in virtue of this headship +that the whole mystical body is one, and "we all members one of +another." By this headship our Lord nourishes and cherishes the +Church, and communicates to her incessantly that stream of grace by +which she lives. And as this headship flows from the union of the +Godhead and Manhood, so it is inseparable from His Person, and +incommunicable. But He has Himself, in His parting discourse, +recorded by S. John, dwelt upon the great sacrament of unity, the +result of this headship, and set it forth as the sign and seal of +His own divine mission, and the one convincing proof of His +religion's superhuman origin. By following His words we shall see +that this unity is not simple but fourfold, and we shall trace the +mutual relation and subordination to the divine Headship of its +several kinds. + +1. And first, "In[17] that day," says He, that is, after His own +resurrection, "ye shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, +and I in you," whereby He declares that, in the completion of the +dispensation, the union between Himself and the faithful shall be +such as to image out the mutual indwelling of the Father and the +Son. Which again is further expressed, "I[18] am the true vine, and +My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in Me that beareth not +fruit He will take away: and every one that beareth fruit, He will +purge it, that it may bring forth more fruit.... I am the vine; you +the branches: he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same beareth +much fruit: for without Me you can do nothing. If any one abide not +in Me, he shall be cast forth as a branch, and shall wither, and +they shall gather him up and cast him into the fire, and he burneth. +If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you shall ask +whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you." In these words He +sets forth that union of mystical influx, by cooperation with which +His disciples keep His words and abide in His love, and of which He +is Himself the immediate principle. + +2. But He does not stop at this interior and invisible union between +His disciples and Himself: He speaks likewise of a new and special +command, and of a special gift, by which their union with each other +should be known. "A[19] new command I give unto you, that you love +one another: as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By +this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love +one to another." And again, "This[20] is My command, that you love +one another, as I have loved you. Greater love than this hath no +man, that any one lay down his life for his friends.--These things I +command you, that you love one another." But the Holy Spirit, whom +our Lord was about to send forth, is the efficient principle of the +love here enjoined, by His substantial indwelling, as we are told, +"The[21] charity of God is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy +Ghost who is given to us." From Him, therefore, bestowed by the Head +of the Church, springs that unity of charity, which, being itself +internal, is shown in outward signs, and constitutes that +distinctive spirit of the Christian people, the spirit characterising +it, and analogous to the national spirit in civil organization. + +3. But our Lord likewise speaks of a third unity, springing from the +direction of one and the same divine Spirit. "And[22] I will ask the +Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, that He may abide +with you for ever: the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot +receive, because it seeth Him not, nor knoweth Him: but you shall +know Him, because He shall abide with you, and shall be in you." +"The Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My +name, He will teach you all things, and bring all things to your +mind whatsoever I shall have said to you." "It[23] is expedient to +you that I go: for if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you; +but if I go, I will send Him to you." "But when He, the Spirit of +truth, is come, He will teach you all truth. For He shall not speak +of Himself, but what things soever He shall hear, He shall speak; +and the things that are to come, He shall show you. He shall glorify +Me, because He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it to you." Of +the nature of this unity we may judge by the gifts and offices +assigned to that Spirit and Paraclete from whom it springs. Now He +is repeatedly termed "the Spirit of truth," and His office, to +_suggest_, to _announce_, to _teach_, and _to lead into all truth_. +This unity, therefore, is opposed to the division produced by +ignorance and error, and so is the unity of faith, or Christian +profession. Thus our Lord promises, besides the unity of charity, +that of faith, the efficient principle of which, as well as of the +former, is contained in the communication of the Holy Spirit. But it +is no less true in the supernatural order of divine gifts, than in +the order of nature, that the first cause produces its effects by +means of second causes. And here, as often as the Lord promises the +Spirit of truth, He promises Him _to the Apostles_, and assures His +perpetual abidance with them and the successors in their charge, +thus, "That He may abide with you for ever:" "He shall abide with +you, and shall be in you:" "He shall teach you all things, and bring +all things to your mind which I have said unto you:" "Whom I will +send unto you from the Father:" "I will send Him unto you:" "He +shall lead you into all truth:" "He shall show you the things that +are to come." And so the unity of faith may be expected from its +_supreme_ cause, the Holy Spirit the Paraclete, _through the medium_ +of the Apostles and their legitimate successors: the Holy Spirit in +its _ultimate_, but they its _subordinate_ principle: He is the +_source_, but they the _channel_. Thus to trust to the invisible +action of the Spirit, but to despise the office and direction of the +teachers ordained by Christ, in the very virtue of that Spirit, is +to reject His divine institution, and to risk a shipwreck of the +promised gift of faith and truth. + +For in exact accordance with our Lord's words here, S. Paul has set +forth not only the institution, but the source, as well as the end +and purpose, of the whole visible hierarchy. It is instituted by our +Lord, as an act of His divine headship; its source is in "one and +the same Spirit dividing to every one according as He will;" its end +and purpose is, "the edifying the body of Christ, until we all meet +into the unity of faith."[24] + +Each of these points is important. Our Lord's divine headship over +the Church, all encompassing, as it is, and the spring of all +blessing and unity, does not dispense with the establishment of a +visible hierarchy, but rather is specially shown therein. And again, +the Holy Spirit is the source and superior principle of all +spiritual gifts to all, but yet He acts _through_ this hierarchy. He +is the spirit who maintains faith and truth, but it is by the +instruments of His own appointing. + +Now these three points, the bestowal of all spiritual gifts and +offices by Christ in virtue of His mystical headship, the Holy +Spirit being the one superior principle of such gifts and offices, +and His manifold operation therein through the visible hierarchy, +are set forth most distinctly in two passages of S. Paul, the +twelfth chapter of the First to the Corinthians, and the fourth +chapter to the Ephesians. "To every one of us is given grace, +according to the measure of the giving of Christ. Wherefore he +saith, Ascending on high He led captivity captive; He gave gifts to +men. Now that He ascended, what is it but because He also descended +first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the +same also that ascended above all the heavens, that He might fill +all things. And He gave some Apostles, and some prophets, and other +some evangelists, and other some pastors and doctors, for the +perfecting of the saints, unto the work of the ministry, unto the +edifying of the body of Christ, until we all meet into the unity of +faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, +unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ; that +henceforth we be no more children tossed to and fro, and carried +about with every wind of doctrine by the wickedness of men, by +cunning craftiness by which they lie in wait to deceive. But doing +the truth in charity, we may in all things grow up in Him who is the +Head, even Christ; from whom the whole body, being compacted and +fitly joined together, by what every joint supplieth, according to +the operation in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the +body, unto the edifying of itself in charity." "And the +manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man unto profit. To +one indeed by the Spirit is given the word of wisdom; and to another +the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit; to another, +faith, in the same Spirit; to another, the grace of healing, in one +Spirit; to another, the working of miracles; to another, prophecy; +to another, the discerning of spirits; to another, divers kinds of +tongues; to another interpretation of speeches. But all these things +one and the same Spirit worketh, dividing to every one according as +He will. For as the body is one, and hath many members; and all the +members of the body, whereas they are many, yet are one body, so +also is Christ. For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one +body, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether bond or free, and in one +Spirit we have all been made to drink."[25] + +Thus, then, we have been brought by the words both of our Lord and +of S. Paul, through an inward invisible unity, that of mystical +influx from the vine to its branches, and again, that of charity, +and that of faith and truth, to an outward and visible unity, one of +social organization, called forth by the great Head for the purpose +of exhibiting, defending, maintaining, and conveying the former, +since it is expressly said that He gave it "for the perfecting of +the saints, unto the work of the ministry, unto the edifying of the +body of Christ," and in order that "we may be no more children +tossed to and fro, and carried about by every wind of doctrine." And +the inward source and cause of this unity are indeed invisible, +being the Holy Spirit of God, sent down by Christ, when He ascended +up on high, to dwell permanently among men, but its effects are +external and most visible, even the growth of a body "unto a perfect +man, unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ," a body +which has an orderly arrangement of all its parts, and a hierarchy +of officers to continue till the end of all. And the function of +this hierarchy is one never to be superseded, and which none but +itself, the organ of the Holy Spirit, can perform, namely, to bring +its members "to meet in the unity of the faith, and of the +knowledge of the Son of God." As our Lord says, in the promise, +before His passion, "I will ask the Father, and He shall give you +(the Apostles) another Paraclete, that He may abide with you for +ever, the Spirit of truth," so S. Paul of the accomplishment after +His ascension, "He gave some Apostles and some prophets, and other +some evangelists, and other some pastors and doctors," yet "all +these things worketh one and the same Spirit." For as the divine +Head took to Himself a body, bridging thereby the worlds of matter +and of spirit, and as "in Him dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead +_corporally_," so in His Church, in perfect analogy with the +Archetype, the visible is the channel of the invisible, and the +outward organization is instinct with inward life, and the hierarchy +is the gift of the mystical Head, and the instrument of the one +sanctifying Spirit. To think otherwise, to disregard the external +framework, under a pretence of exalting the inward spirit, is to +undo so far the work of the Incarnation, and to renew the insanity +of those early heretics who in one way or another would "dissolve" +Christ; for there is no less "one Body," than there is "one Spirit." + +But if His headship of mystical influx is _alone_ and _immediately_ +sufficient, as is so often objected, for the maintenance of external +unity, to what end is the creation of this visible hierarchy? For +the objection that the invisible headship of Christ renders a +visible headship unnecessary, and indeed an infringement on His sole +divine prerogative, whatever force it may have, tells not more +against an oecumenical head of the Church, than against every order +and officer of the hierarchy. These all, and with them the whole +system of sacraments as well as symbols, become alike unnecessary +and even injurious, if each member of the mystical body be knit to +Christ _immediately_ without any outward framework. And with what +face especially can those maintain that the bishop is the visible +head of each diocese, and in being such does not contradict, but +illustrate, the headship of Christ, who yet deny that there is one +in the whole Church put in the like place over bishops, and see in +such an appointment an infringement on the office of Christ? Such an +argument is so profoundly illogical and inconsistent, that one has +difficulty in believing it to be seriously held, or is hopeless of +bringing conviction to those who cannot see an absurdity. + +Let those, then, who confound together the supreme Headship of +Christ over His Church, whereby He communicates to it life and +grace, with the inferior and subordinate headship of external unity, +see to what their objection tends. It stops at nothing short of +destroying the whole visible hierarchy, and the sacramental grace of +which it is the channel. Holy Scripture, on the contrary, tells us +in these passages that the providence by which the Church is +governed resembles that by which this outward universe is ruled, in +the subordination of second causes to the supreme cause. Christ +repeats as Redeemer His work as Creator, to give life and force to +these second causes, and while He works in the members of His body +both "to will and to do," bestows on them the privilege of +cooperating with Him. Thus the dignity of supreme Head which belongs +to Christ, and is incommunicable, no more takes away the ministry of +the external head who is charged with the office of effecting and +maintaining unity, than it impedes the ministry of "apostles, +prophets, evangelists, pastors, and doctors," to whom Christ +entrusted the Church, that by their means it might be brought to +sanctity and perfection. + +4. And these words bring us to the fourth unity mentioned by our +Lord. For not until "He ascended up on high" did "He give gifts to +men." And this visible hierarchy, the sign and token of His mystical +Headship, and fostering care, is by Him quickened and informed with +the Holy Spirit, when He is Himself invisible at the right hand of +the majesty of God. This absence, too, is what He foretold, saying, +"And now I am not in the world, and these are in the world, and I +come to thee; Holy Father, keep them in Thy name whom Thou hast +given Me; that they may be one, as we also are. While I was with +them, I kept them in Thy name.--And now I come to Thee."--These +words of our Lord show that it was His will that His believers +should be no less one among each other, by an outward and visible +union, than they were one by the internal bond of charity, the +guidance of one Spirit of truth, and the influx of the one Vine. And +so far we have seen that, to guard and maintain that unity under the +guidance of the Spirit of truth, He called forth the visible +hierarchy, in all its degrees. But what, then, was the external root +and efficient principle of this visible hierarchy, when He was gone +to the Father? Did He not likewise provide for the loss occasioned +by His own absence, which He had foretold? The argument of S. Paul +proves that He did so provide, as well as His own words. For S. Paul +declares the Church to be "one Body." Was it then a body without a +head, or a body with a head invisible? Or did the Lord of all, +having with complete wisdom framed His mystical body in all its +parts and proportions, and having set _first_ Apostles, and then in +their various degree, doctors and pastors, in one single, and that +the main point, reverse the analogy of all His doings? Did He +appoint every officer in His household, except the one who should +rule all? Did He construct the entire arch, save only the keystone? +Did He make a bishop to represent His person, and be the centre of +visible unity in every diocese, but none to represent that person in +the highest degree and to be the centre of unity to the whole +Church? Was it the end of His whole design "to gather together in +one the children of God, that were dispersed," in order that there +might be "One Fold," and did He fail to add, "One Shepherd?" Yet S. +Paul declares that "there are many members, but one body." How can +the distinct and diverse members be reduced to the unity of a body, +but by the unity of the head, as the efficient principle? In +accordance with which we may observe that never is the image of a +body used in Scripture to represent the Church, but it is thereby +shown to be visible; and never is it compared with a body as a type, +but that body is shown complete with its head. Such are the +well-known images of one House, Kingdom, City, Fold, and Temple, to +which we have had so often to appeal. Even the unity of things in +themselves dissimilar is derived in Scripture from the unity of the +Head. Thus the man and the woman are said in marriage to be one, and +that in a great mystery, representing Christ and the Church, but +this, because "the husband is the head of the wife." And Christ is +said to be one with the faithful, because "the head of every man is +Christ:" and God one with Christ, because "the head of Christ is +God." If, then,[26] the Church is one body, it receives, according +to the reasoning of Holy Scripture, that property from the unity of +its head. + +But such a one body, while yet militant upon earth, S. Paul declares +it to be, setting forth at the same time the various orders of its +hierarchy. Is it then a body complete, or incomplete? With a head or +without one? For it is no reply to say that it has indeed a head, +but one invisible. That invisible headship did not obviate, as we +have seen, the necessity of a visible hierarchy: why then does it +obviate the like and even more striking necessity, that the +hierarchy too must have its visible head? If it was, so to say, the +very first act of our Lord's supreme headship over all to the +Church--the very token that He had led captivity captive--to quicken +the visible ministry which He had established by sending down the +Holy Spirit to abide with it for ever, is the one place most +necessary in that ministry to be the only one left vacant by Him? Is +the one officer most fully representing Himself to be alone omitted? +"The _perfecting_ of the saints" (a metaphor taken as we have seen, +from the exact fitting together of the stones in a building,) and +"the edifying of the body of Christ," are described as the end to be +reached by those to whom "the work of the ministry" is committed, +but as this applies in a higher degree to the Bishop than to the +priest, so it applies in the highest of all to the Bishop of +bishops. + +Again, God's method of teaching by symbols, which runs through the +whole Scripture, and the institution of Sacraments, proves to us His +will to lead us on from the visible to the invisible, and to make +the former a channel to the latter. For "we are all baptized into +one body," and the outward act both images and conveys the inward +privilege. And again in the highest conceivable instance, "because +the head is one, we being many are one body, who all partake of +that one bread."[27] In like manner the outward unity of the Church +must accurately represent, and answer to the inward, which, we know, +is derived from the Person of Christ, who is its head. And so that +Person must be specially represented in the outward unity. + +And this is one reason why no unity of a college, whether of +Apostles, or of Bishops, will adequately express that visible +headship of which our Lord's Person is the exemplar. For the root of +all lies in a personal unity, that of the Godhead and Manhood, and +therefore a merely collective or representative unity cannot express +it. And if the Apostle wrote, "God hath set in the Church _first_ +Apostles," yet he also wrote that the grand result, "the perfecting +of the saints, and the edifying of the body of Christ," was due to +the ministry, not only of Apostles, but of prophets, evangelists, +pastors, and doctors, each in their degree; they all conspire to a +joint action, which does not impede the existence of distinct orders +in the hierarchy. And his expression that the Apostles are _first_ +in this hierarchy, without defining their mutual relations to each +other, does not exclude those other passages of Scripture which _do_ +define those relations, and which make Peter among the Apostles "the +first," "the ruler," "the greater," the Judah among his brethren, +the foundation of the whole building, and the one shepherd in the +universal fold. And the more so because S. Paul uses three +expressions of the Church, two of which are _relative_, but one +_absolute_. He calls it "the body of Christ," and "Christ," which +are relative; but he also calls it "one body," which is absolute. +Now, these expressions are not to be severed from each other, as if +each by itself would convey the whole idea of the Church, which +rather is to be drawn from them all together. In answer to what the +Church is, we must not say that it is _either_ "the body of Christ," +_or_ mystically called "Christ," _or_ set before us as "one body," +for it is _all_ of these at once, relatively "Christ," and "the body +of Christ," and absolutely "one body." + +As, then, the former expressions show that the Church is one _in +reference to Christ_, so the latter shows that it is so _in itself_, +and _simply_. For as the Church is called "Christ," and "the Body of +Christ," because it is one with Christ by mystical union, drawing +its supernatural life from Christ its head, so it is called "one +body," because in the variety of members and parts, of which it +consists, no one is wanting to its being one body in itself, and to +its being seen to be such. But it would neither be so, nor seem to +be so, if it were without a visible head, the origin and principle +of its inherent visible unity. And so where the Church is called by +S. Paul "one Body," he declares that it has a visible head. + +Thus it is that the inherent notion of the Church, as one visible +body, and the whole dispensation by which visible things answer to +invisible, as their archetypes, demand one visible head. Now to this +_inherent_ necessity let us add the force of _positive_ teaching. +When our Lord in almost His last words to His Church prays to His +Father, "while I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy +name--but now I come to Thee," what does He but suggest the +appointment of another visible head to take that place which He was +leaving? and further, what does He but name one to that high +dignity, when He calls him "the greater" and "the ruler" among his +brethren, commits them to him to be confirmed by him, and makes him +the shepherd of the whole flock? What else had He done but prepare +them for such a nomination, when He promised _one_ that he should +be the foundation of His Church, and the bearer of the keys? What +else did Christians from the beginning see in such an one, when they +called him the _head_, the _centre_, the _fountain_, the _root_, the +_principle_ of ecclesiastical unity? + +Let us remark, once more, as a confirmation of the above, that the +archetype of visible unity in the Church, which our Lord sets before +us in His prayer to the Father, is no other than that most high and +solemn of all things conceivable, the mutual indwelling of the +Father and the Son. "Holy Father, keep them in Thy name whom Thou +hast given Me, that they may be one, as We also are;" and again, for +all successive generations of the faithful, "that they all may be +one, as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may +be one in Us, that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me." +Now the relation established by our Lord between Peter and the rest +of the Apostles, by appointing him the visible head of the Church, +and between Peter's successor and all bishops, does represent, so +far as earthly things may, and in a degree which nothing else on +earth reaches to, the mutual relation of the three divine Persons to +each other. For as these are distinct, but inseparable, so, too, are +the Apostles. As the fulness of the Godhead is _first_ in the Father +and _then_ in the Son and in the Holy Spirit, so the fulness of +power _first_ promised and given to Peter, is _then_ propagated to +the other Apostles united with him. As in the Father the economy of +the divine Persons is summed up under one head, and gathered into a +monarchy, so in Peter is gathered up the fulness of ecclesiastical +power, which, through union with him, is one in all, as the Church +is one, and the Episcopate one. Moreover, as it is the dignity of +the Father to be the exemplar, principle, root, and fountain of +unity in the Trinity, so is it the dignity of Peter to be the +exemplar, principle, root, and fountain of visible unity in the +kingdom of God, which is the Church. This is alluded to by Pope +Symmachus, thirteen hundred and fifty years ago: "There is one +single priesthood in the different prelates, (of the Apostolic See) +after the example of the Trinity, whose power is one and +indivisible."[28] And long before him S. Cyprian: "The Lord says, 'I +and the Father are one.' And again it is written of the Father and +the Son and the Holy Spirit, 'And these three are one.' Is there a +man who believes that this unity, coming from the divine solidity, +cohering by heavenly sacraments, can possibly be broken in the +Church, and torn asunder by the collision of adverse wills? This +unity he who holds not, holds not the law of God, holds not the +faith of the Father and the Son, holds not the truth unto +salvation."[29] + +Whereas, then, all unity in the Body of Christ, the Church, is +derived ultimately from the person of its Head, the Word Incarnate, +that unity is yet four-fold in its operation, and the efficient +principle of one sort is not to be confounded with that of another. +There is the _mystical_ unity, which consists in the perpetual +divine influx from the great invisible Head to His members; there is +the _moral_ or _spiritual_ unity of charity, consisting in the +presence of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of believers, and these +two are internal, and in closest correspondence. There are two +likewise external, which may be called the _civil_ or _political_ +unity, consisting in the public profession of the same faith, the +same truth, for what the _law_ is to temporal states, the _faith_ is +to the great spiritual kingdom of Christ; and this unity is indeed +inspired by the Holy Spirit, but is maintained by Him through the +visible hierarchy; and lastly, correspondent to the unity of faith, +there is the _visible_ unity of external organization, the immediate +or efficient principle of which lies in the visible headship over +the Church attached by the Lord to S. Peter's chair. The latter two, +while they correspond to each other, are indeed subordinate to the +former, the unity of faith to that of charity, as the unity of the +visible headship to that of the invisible; yet the very truth of the +Body which the Lord has assumed, and in which He reigns, and the +whole analogy of His dealings with men, and the sacraments whereby +He makes us "partakers of the divine nature," warn us that it is of +the highest importance for us to see how external unity is the +channel of internal, and the visible the road to the invisible. No +words can be more emphatic to this effect than those with which the +Apostle introduces the description of the visible hierarchy, and the +divine headship which called it forth. "There is _one Body_ and one +Spirit, as you are called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one +faith, one baptism. One God and Father of all, who is above all, and +through all, and in us all." From which he goes on to say, +"Ascending up on high, He gave gifts to men--some Apostles, and some +prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors, and teachers." And +lastly, "the Head over all things to the Church," is "the Saviour +_of the Body_."[30] + +But if this be so, we can say nothing more highly to exalt S. +Peter's office in the Church, for he is the great bond and stay of +this outward unity, as even[31] enemies confess. As surely as in a +real monarchy the person of the sovereign ties together every part +of the political edifice, and is endued with majesty because he is +at once the type of God, and concentrates in one the power and +dignity of the whole community, so it is in that divine structure in +which "the manifold wisdom of God" is disclosed to all creation. The +point of strength is felt alike by friend and foe. On the Rock of +Peter has fallen every storm which the enmity of the evil one has +raised for eighteen hundred years; but yet the gates of hell have +not prevailed against it. In the Rock of Peter, and the divine +promise attached to it, every heart faithful to God and the Church +trusts now, as it trusted from the beginning. Many temporal monarchs +in their hour of pride have risen against S. Peter's See, but the +greatest of them all[32] declared that no one had ever gained honour +or victory in that conflict, and he lived to be the most signal +instance of his own observation. "God is patient, because He is +eternal," and the Holy See prevails in its weakness over power, and +in its justice over cupidity, because while temporal dominion passes +from hand to hand, and stays not with any nation, following the +gift of God which the poet calls fortune, + + Perchè una gente impera, e l'altra langue, + Seguendo lo giudizio di costei + Che è occulta, come in l'erba l'angue,--(DANTE, _Inferno_.) + +the visible kingdom of Christ, which is His Church, lasts for ever, +and is built upon the rock of Peter. The long line of descendants, +from Constantine and from Charlemagne, have in their turn impugned +and illustrated this glorious privilege of the Papal See. What is +there so stable in an empire of commerce, or so solid in the +nicely-balanced and delicate machinery of a constitutional monarchy, +as to exempt them from the action of an universal law, or to ensure +their victory in the doomed contest with the Vicar of Christ? +Mightier things than they have done their worst, have oppressed, +triumphed, and become extinct, and if it be allowed them in the +crisis of their trial to crucify Christ afresh, He will yet reign +from the cross, and "draw all men unto Him." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] In this chapter I have availed myself of Passaglia, b. 1, c. 25, +and b. 2, c. 11. + +[2] Eph. i. 9, 22; 1 Cor. xi. 2; Rom. xii. 5. + +[3] See Petavius, De Incarn. Lib. 2, c. 7 and 8, for the following +quotations. + +[4] Hippolytus, quoted by Anastasius, p. 216. + +[5] Irenæus, Lib. iii. 18, and iv. 37. + +[6] De Monogamia, c. 5. + +[7] Augustine, 21 Tract. in Joannem. + +[8] Hilary on Psalm 68. + +[9] S. Chrys. Tom. 5, (Savile) Hom. 106. + +[10] Greg. Naz. Orat. 36. + +[11] S. Cyril, Dialog. 1, De Trin. p. 399. + +[12] S. Leo. 5 Serm. on Nativity, c. 4 and 5, 12th Serm. on Passion, +c. 3. + +[13] S. Athanasius, Orat. 3, Contr. Arian. Tom. 1, p. 572. Oxf. +Trans. p. 403. + +[14] Greg. Nyss. Tom. 2, p. 524. Catechet Oratio, c. 32. + +[15] Ephrem, Patriarch of Antioch, quoted by Photius, cod. 229. + +[16] S. Hilary, de Trin. Lib. 8. n. 13. + +[17] John xiv. 20. + +[18] John xv. 1-2, 5-7. + +[19] John xiii. 34-6. + +[20] John xv. 12. + +[21] Rom. v. 5. + +[22] John xiv. 16-18. 26. + +[23] John xvi. 7. 13-15. + +[24] 1 Cor. xii. 11; Eph. iv. 13. + +[25] Eph. iv. 7-16; 1 Cor. xii. 7-13. + +[26] Passaglia, p. 254. + +[27] 1 Cor. x. 17. + +[28] Mansi, Concil. Tom. 8, 208. + +[29] S. Cyprian, de Unitate. + +[30] Eph. iv. 4. 8. 11; i. 22; v. 23. + +[31] That such was the belief of the most ancient fathers, Ignatius, +Irenæus, Tertullian, Cyprian, and others, see a most curious +admission of the Lutheran Mosheim, in his dissertation, De Gallorum +appellationibus, &c. s. 13. And his way of extricating himself is at +least as curious as the admission. His words are, "Cyprian and the +rest cannot have known the corollaries which follow from their +precepts about the Church. For no one is so dull as not to see that +between a certain unity of the universal Church, terminating in the +Roman pontiff, and such a community as we have described out of +Irenæus and Cyprian, there is scarcely so much room as between hall +and chamber, or between hand and fingers. If the _innocence_ of the +first ages stood in the way of their anticipating the snares which +ignorantly and unintentionally they were laying against sacred +liberty, those succeeding at least were more sharp-sighted, and it +was not long in becoming clear to the pontiffs what force in +establishing their own power and authority such tenets possessed." +So the ancient fathers were not intelligent enough to see that _the +hand was joined to the fingers_. But the other alternative was still +harder to Mosheim, that Lutheranism was fundamentally heretical and +schismatical. + +[32] Napoleon. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +SUMMARY OF PROOF GIVEN FOR S. PETER'S PRIMACY. + + +It would now seem to be made clear to all that the controversy on S. +Peter's Primacy relates _generally_ to the question of inequality in +the Apostolic college, and _specially_ to the question, whether +Christ, the Founder of the Church, set any one of the Apostles, and +whom of them in particular, over the rest. For as, on the one hand, +there would have been no room for the superior dignity of the +Primacy, had all the Apostles been completely equal, and +undistinguished in honour and authority from each other; so, on the +other hand, it is the nature of the Primacy to be incapable of even +being contemplated, save as fixed on some certain definite subject. + +But to determine the two questions, whether the Apostles stood, or +did not stand, on a complete equality, and whether one of them was +superior to the rest in honour and dignity, it seemed requisite to +examine chiefly four points. + +First, the words and the acts of Christ respecting the Apostles. + +Secondly, His expressions which seemed to mark the institution of a +_singular_ authority. + +Thirdly, the mode of writing and speaking usually and constantly +employed by the Evangelists and other inspired writers. + +Lastly, the history of the Church, from its beginning, from which +might be drawn conjectures, or even certain proofs, of the power +which either all the Apostles had exercised equally, or one had held +above the rest. + +For should it become plain, from the agreement of these four +sources, that a certain one of the Apostles, and that one Simon +Peter, had been distinguished from the rest by the acts and words of +Christ, and set over the Apostles; had been invariably described by +the inspired writers, as the Head and supreme authority; and in the +history of the rising Church, been portrayed in a way which could +only befit the universal ruler, no difficulty would remain, and +there would be arguments abundant to prove that Christ was the +author both of the inequality among the Apostles, and of Peter's +Primacy. + +Now we seem to have proved _absolutely_, what we proposed +_hypothetically_. For we have shewn that Christ declared by His +whole method of acting, and by solemn words and deeds, that He did +not account Peter as one of the rest, but as their Leader, Chief, +and Head. + +We have shown it to have been the will of Christ to concentrate in +Peter the distinctions which belong to Himself, as Supreme Ruler of +the Church. For such must be deemed the properties of being the +Foundation, the Bearer of the keys, the Holder of universal +authority, the Supporter, and lastly, the Chief Shepherd. Of these +there is no one which He did not promise to Peter singly, and confer +on Peter singly: no one, with which He did not associate Peter, and +Peter only, in making him the foundation of His Church, bestowing on +him the keys, and universal power of binding and loosing, in +setting him over his brethren to confirm them, and over His fold as +universal Pastor. + +We have shown that the Evangelists place almost the same distinction +between the Apostles and Peter, as between Peter and Christ, while +still among us. For as they set forth Peter as second after Christ, +so do they subject the Apostles to Peter; as the acts and words of +Christ occupy the foreground in respect to those of Peter, so do his +in respect to those of the Apostles; as Christ, in their histories, +is pre-eminent above Peter, so is Peter more conspicuous than the +Apostles; and as the Gospels cannot be read without seeing in them +Christ as the prototype, so neither can they without seeing that +Peter approaches the nearest to Christ. + +We have shown that S. Paul spoke of S. Peter in no other way than +the Evangelists, and that his pre-eminence is evident in S. Paul's +Epistles, as well as in the Gospels. + +Lastly, we have shown that Peter shines as the superior luminary in +the history of the rising Church. The lustre of his deeds in the +Acts recalls that of Christ in the Gospels. In the Gospels Christ is +named by far most frequently; in the Acts no one occurs so often as +Peter. The discourses, the acts, the miracles of Christ occupy every +page of the Gospels; and in that portion of the Acts which embraces +the history of the whole Church, a very large part has reference to +the discourses, the acts, and the miracles of Peter. In the Gospels, +Christ leads, the Apostles follow; in the Acts, Peter takes the +precedence, the Apostles attend him. In the Gospels, Christ teaches, +and the Apostles, in silence, consent; in the Acts Peter alone makes +speeches, and explains the doctrine of salvation; the Apostles by +their silence consent. In the Gospels, Christ provides for the +Apostolic college, guards it from injury, defends it when attacked; +in the Acts, Peter provides for filling up the place of Judas, +determines the conditions of eligibility, enjoins the election, and +defends the Apostles before people, rulers, and chief priests, in +quality of their head. + +Moreover, he alone is pre-eminent in exercising the triple power of +_authoritative Teacher, Judge, and Legislator_. _Of authoritative +Teacher_, not only towards Jews and Gentiles, whom he is the first +to join to Christ, so that the same person who was the Church's rock +and foundation, also became its chief architect; but towards the +Apostles likewise, who are taught by his ministry, that the time was +come for the blessing of redemption to be extended no less to +Gentiles than to Jews, and that the burden of legal rites could not +be laid on the Gentile converts without tempting God. _Of Judge_, +because, while the Apostles are silent, he is the first to hear the +causes of the faithful, to erect a tribunal, to examine the accused, +to issue sentence, and to support and confirm it by inflicting +excommunication. Of _Head and Supreme Legislator_, both when he +singly visits Christians in all parts, and provides for their needs, +or when he uses the prerogative of first voting, and draws with +authority the wording of the law to which the rest are to give an +unanimous consent. + +From this compendious enumeration we draw a multifold proof, both of +inequality in the Apostolic college, and of Peter's superiority at +once in rank and in real government. + +I. For, _first_, a college cannot be considered equal, out of which +Christ chose one, Simon Peter, whom, by His words and His actions, +He showed to be set over all. Now Christ's whole course of speaking +and acting, of which the Gospels give us the picture, tends to +exhibit Peter as chosen out from the rest, and set over them. +Accordingly, neither is the college of the Apostles equal, nor can +Peter be accounted as one of the rest. + +II. Again, one who has received all in common with the rest, but +much besides peculiar to himself, special and distinguishing, must +seem to be taken out of the common number. Now such must Peter have +been among the Apostles, since Christ granted nothing to them which +He denied to Peter, but did grant to Peter many most distinguishing +gifts which He gave not to the rest. + +III. And, further, it is apparent that the Foundation and the +Superstructure, the Bearer of the keys, and those who inhabit the +house or city whose keys he bears, the Confirmer, and those whom he +is to confirm, the universal Pastor and the sheep committed to his +charge, cannot be comprehended under the same order and rank. Now +the distinctions expressed by the terms Foundation, Bearer of the +keys, Confirmer, and universal Pastor, are Peter's official insignia +in reference to, and over, the Apostles themselves. His distinction +from them, therefore, and the inequality of the apostolic college, +are plain. + +Perhaps this may be put somewhat otherwise even more clearly. And +so, IV. Let it first be considered, what is plain in itself, that a +distinction carrying pre-eminence depends on distinction in +perfection and gifts, and follows in a greater or less degree from +the greater or less inequality of these, or in case of their parity +exists not at all. Next, be what we hold both of reason and of faith +remembered, that "every best gift and every perfect gift, is from +above, coming down from the Father of lights," that God is the +fountain head of all good, and that all gifts whatsoever flow over +from Him to His creatures. From both points it follows that the +amount of the creature's dignity and perfection lies in the +participation of divine goods, and is greater or less in proportion +to the participation and association with divine goods. So, then, +the controversy on Peter's Primacy and the inequality of the +Apostolic college, comes ultimately to this: _whether Christ, the +God-man, associated Peter singly, above all, with Himself, in the +possession of those properties on account of which He stands Himself +related to the Church as its supreme Ruler_. For let it be once +evident that Christ did so, and it will of necessity be evident +also, not only that Peter was preferred to all, but wherein his +leadership and headship consisted. And since we have made the +inquiry, there is abundant evidence to prove that Christ really did +associate Peter singly in five properties, which, belonging to +Himself _primarily_ and _chiefly_, contain the special cause for +which He is the Prince and Supreme Head of the Church. + +For, in truth, it is specially due to the properties and +distinctions of _Foundation, Bearer of the keys, Establisher, Chief +Shepherd_, and _Lord_, who has received all authority from the +Father, that the Church has an entire dependence on Christ, is +subject to Him, and that He enjoys over the Church the right and +authority of Supreme Lord and Ruler. But which of these properties +did He not choose to communicate to Peter, according to the degree +in which they were communicable? He bestowed them all upon Peter, +and upon Peter alone, so that Peter also is termed _the Foundation, +the Bearer of the keys, the Confirmer, the universal Pastor_, and +_the_[1] _Chief of the whole Church_. We see, therefore, a +remarkable proof of Peter being distinguished from the rest of the +Apostles, and set over them, in his singular and special association +with these gifts. + +Again, V., to this tends that disposition of divine wisdom which +provides that Peter holds in the Church, and among the Apostles, a +rank of dignity greatly resembling that which Abraham among the +Patriarchs, and Judah among his brethren, received from God. The +former of these relations has been exhibited, and shown not to be +arbitrarily conceived, but grounded on due proof. The latter will be +presently farther touched upon. Now who shall deny Abraham that +superiority whereby he was made the Father and Teacher of all the +faithful, or strip Judah of the dignity in which he excelled his +brethren, and was in many points preferred to them? As little may +any one strip Peter of his authority as supreme teacher, and take +from him those singular endowments, which make him "the greater one" +among his brethren the Apostles. + +Especially as, VI., this authority of Peter is clearly confirmed by +the mode of writing usual to the Evangelists. For it is monstrous +and preposterous to confound with the rest one whom the Evangelists +constantly distinguish and prefer to all. For what more could they +do to show their purpose to distinguish Peter, select him from the +rest, and place him at all times before all the Apostles? We may +venture to say that they omitted nothing to this end. And so it is +absurd to doubt of Peter's prerogatives, or set him on the same +footing with the rest. + +For, indeed, VII., no one would endure it to be denied, from the +usual mode of writing of the Evangelists, that Christ was +pre-eminent among the Apostles as their Supreme Head, and was +removed from them in dignity by an infinite interval. Now though the +Evangelists do not give Peter all things, nor in the same degree, +yet they do give him much, and in a degree not dissimilar, to +distinguish him from the rest, showing him, as in a nearer relation +to Christ, so proportionally exalted above the other Apostles. + +And this proof, VIII., is the more persuasive because S. Paul +follows the very same mode of speaking as the Evangelists. For in +repeatedly mentioning S. Peter in his epistles, he always gives him +the place of honour, and joins him as near as may be with Christ. +Who then can doubt that Peter held a certain pre-eminent rank? + +And the more, IX., because what is read in the Acts, and the view of +primitive history therein contained, looks the same way, and seems +set forth with the same purpose. For if you compare together the +Acts and the Gospels, the mind at once suggests that the position of +Prototype which Christ holds in the Gospels, belongs to Peter in the +Acts, and that Peter seems distinguished above the rest of the +Apostles in the Acts, as Christ is pre-eminent far above all in the +Gospels. Now what is the result of so apparent a likeness? What is +it fair to deduce from such a bearing in the Evangelical and +Apostolical history? Those who are obedient to reasoning, and follow +the bright torch of the Scriptures, must confess with us that in +this parallelism of both histories, and so of Christ and Peter, is +contained a mark and sign, proving that Peter follows next after +Christ in dignity and authority. + +In authority, X., I repeat, and, therefore, that kind of superiority +which very far surpasses the limits of precedence and order. For +what are the grounds on which we see Peter's eminence in the Acts, +or a resemblance between the Acts, when speaking of Peter, and the +Gospels when speaking of Christ? Chiefly these, that Peter is set +forth as remarkable, singly, above all, for the use and exercise of +the triple power, of Judge, Legislator, and authoritative Teacher. +Now, the superiority herein asserted, not merely distinguishes Peter +from the rest, but attaches to him a greater authority over the +rest. + +XI. And, indeed, propose an hypothesis which is necessary to solve a +complex and undoubted series of facts: is such an hypothesis thereby +made a certainty. At least these are the principles of philosophy, +from which the laws of reasoning will not allow us to depart. Now, +Peter's pre-eminence and supremacy are such an hypothesis, without +which you can render no sufficient cause of the facts narrated in +the first twelve chapters of the Acts. Accordingly, this supremacy +of Peter may be considered as proved. + +XII. Or to put the argument somewhat differently, thus: As the +existence of causes is deduced, _à posteriori_, from effects, so it +is perfectly established, _à priori_, whenever the series and sum of +effects, of which the senses are cognisant, are foretold from it +with certainty. We deduce the force of gravity necessarily from its +effects, à posteriori, but we likewise determine it to exist, with a +judgment no less invariable, à priori, when it is such that we do +not merely guess at, but certainly anticipate, its sensible +effects. Now Peter's supremacy is not inaptly compared with this +very force of gravity. For it is a characteristic of each to be, in +its proper order of things, the source and principle in which +effects are involved, which afterwards become apparent, whether in +this physical universe, or in the supernatural region of the Church. + +Suppose, then, Peter to have held the dignity which we claim for +him. What happens in the Acts which might not, nay, which should +not, have been anticipated? Is it his being mentioned above all, his +speaking in the name of all, his constantly taking the lead, and his +eminence, as if he were the head? But it could not be otherwise if +he alone received from Christ a higher dignity than all the rest. Is +it his discharging the office of supreme Judge, Legislator, Teacher, +and Doctor? Is not this just what was to be expected from the rank +of Head and universal Pastor? The Primacy, then, the larger +authority, and the unshared majesty of Peter, belong to that class +of truths which are indubitably believed on the strength of +deduction, and rational anticipation. + +Having noted, if not all, at least the greater number of those +arguments which we have alleged hitherto in favour of our cause, we +approach the question which was secondly to be cleared up, what, +namely, is _the force and nature of that Primacy_, which the same +arguments prove to belong to Peter. For I know that all Protestants +are possessed with the notion that no other pre-eminence should be +ascribed to Peter, on scriptural authority, than one limited to a +certain precedency of honour and order. That _precedency_ should be +granted Peter they are not unwilling to admit, but _supremacy_, they +stoutly maintain, must not and cannot be allowed him. As to which +their opinion I consider, that it would be much the shorter way to +strip Peter utterly of every prerogative, than to attenuate the +distinctions applied to him in Scripture to a sort of shadowy +precedency. I consider that nothing is so foreign to truth and the +Scriptures, as on their testimony to allow that Peter was +distinguished from the rest of the Apostles, but to confine that +superiority within the very narrow bounds of honour and order. + +For, _first_, whence do we most evidently and chiefly draw the +greater dignity which Peter clearly possessed above the others? We +draw it from the endowments separately bestowed upon him, whereby he +became the Foundation of the Church, the Supreme Bearer of the keys, +the Confirmer of his brethren, and the universal Pastor. But are +these names, images, signs, expressing a naked superiority of honour +and order, or rather designating an authority of jurisdiction and +power? I cannot hesitate to assert either that these forms are most +fitted of all to express a singular authority, or that none such +exist in language. For, _secondly_, their force is to ascribe to +Peter the main sway, and to mark him as set for the head and leader +of all. Who that hears them can, without perverting the natural +force of words, or disregarding the laws of interpretation, imagine +anything merely honorary, or figure to himself Peter with a mere +grant of precedency? + +Especially as, _thirdly_, he is named in Scripture not only _the +First_, but, comparatively, the _Greater_, and absolutely, the +_Superior_.[2] Now these terms do, of themselves, and far more if +you consider the context of the discourse in which they occur, +express a singular authority, and one without rival. An authority, +_fourthly_, kindred to that with which Christ, while yet in His +mortal life, presided over the Apostolic college, and administered +as supreme Head, the company which He had formed. For we can never +sufficiently urge a point which, being in itself most true, is of +itself abundantly sufficient completely to set at rest the present +controversy. It is this, that Peter's Primacy proceeds from a +singular association with those distinctions, in virtue of which +Christ is considered the Head and Chief, and Supreme Ruler of the +Church. So that the more his Primacy is depressed, the more Christ's +prerogatives and dignity are lowered; nor can he be confined to a +precedency of honour and order, without Christ's superiority being +shut within well nigh the same limits. + +Besides, _fifthly_, are tokens wanting in Scripture which disclose +the nature of Peter's Primacy? Are there not effects which unfold +the force and quality of the cause from which they spring? Such +tokens there are in abundance, and such effects manifold. These are, +the care with which Peter guarded the Apostolic college; the +authority with which he visited Christians in every part; the +singular exercise of judicial power, by which he established Church +discipline, and provided for its maintenance; his acts of +authoritative teaching; his drawing the form of laws which were to +rule the universal Church; and, in short, the wonderful regard with +which that Church followed Peter as its Head, and the Steward of all +the Lord's family. What Primacy is it which these tokens set forth? +What cause which these effects demonstrate? Is it one limited to a +precedency of honour and order? or one pre-eminent by an inherent +jurisdiction and authority? It is a point which needs no further +words. For if any there be whose minds are not struck by a candid +and sincere exposition of facts, you will in vain attempt to +persuade them by arguments. + +Unless, indeed, _sixthly_, they allow themselves to be forced out +of their prejudice by the Scriptures exhibiting such a Primacy of +Peter as compels all others to profess one and the same faith with +him, and to maintain one and the same society. For such an +obligation could proceed neither from titles of honour, nor from +precedency. It demanded a stronger cause--none other, in fact, but +that supreme authority by which Peter is made head of all. + +But we shall feel much more at home in the truth of this deduction, +if we enquire a little more deeply into the reasons for selecting +one among the rest, namely Peter, and instituting the Primacy. For +the purpose, and end proposed in a work, have the force of a +_negative_ rule by which we may judge with certainty what ought to +be done, or could not be left undone. I know well that it does not +follow, if anything has been instituted for a certain purpose, that +it ought to be endowed _only_ with those properties which appear +necessary for the end to be gained; for it may be much more +munificently established than the absolute need required. But at the +same time I know that there would be a failure in prudence and +wisdom in one who, desiring a certain work for a specific end, did +not provide it with everything that could be deemed necessary. Thus +the _knowledge of the intention and purpose_ is equivalent, if not +to a _positive_ rule, determining all and singular the powers +bestowed on any institution, at least to a _negative_, ascertaining +what must be given to it, and what cannot be denied to it. + +Now is the purpose for which Christ instituted the Primacy, and +honoured Peter with its dignity, unknown, or is it most truly +ascertained? The end which moved Christ to make the college of +Apostles unequal, and to set Peter as head over it, is it secret, or +very conspicuous? There are in all three _classes of reasons_ which +enable us to form, not a mere guess, but an ascertained judgment, as +to the purpose of Christ in instituting the Primacy. There are +_typical_ reasons, drawn from previous shadowings forth of it: there +are _analogical_, derived from relations of resemblance; and there +are _real_, inherent in the testimonies themselves, and the Church's +endowments. Let us briefly exhibit these in order. + +I. By, then, that signal agreement wherewith the two dispensations, +the old and the new, correspond to each other, the first in outline, +and the last as filled up, this rudimental, and that complete, we +are plainly instructed that it was Christ's purpose for Peter, in +the new dispensation, to bear the character, whose lineaments had +been traced before in Abraham, and to be eminent among the Apostles, +for the prerogative which Abraham had possessed among the +Patriarchs. Now Abraham's special prerogative, and pre-eminence, was +this, that no one could share either promise, whether carnal or +spiritual, which is expressed in Scripture, by "the Blessing," who +was not joined with Abraham by a double, that is, a carnal and +spiritual, a physical and moral, bond. For to him and to his seed +were the promises made, with the condition, that only by conjunction +with him, and with his seed, they could flow over to the rest. +Since, then, in the new dispensation, Peter was to sustain the +character of Abraham in the old, and since the only-begotten Son of +the Father, having put on the form of a servant, granted to Peter +the prerogative which, in prelude of His future order, He had given +to Abraham, it is plain that Simon was chosen, honoured with the +name of Cephas, and preferred above all, in order that from him as +supreme minister of Christ, and by union with him as visible head, +all the members of the Church's body might enjoy the blessings and +fruits of the Christian institution. + +The deductions from this are easy to see. For two things chiefly +follow, specially declarative of the nature of the Primacy, and +shewing its intent, to be the cause and efficient principle of that +unity by which the Church of Christ is one visible body. First, +there follows the _duty_ laid upon all the faithful, of being joined +with Peter, if they would not fall from those promises with which +Christ has most bountifully enriched His mystical Body, being no +other than that which reverences Peter as its visible head. +Secondly, there follows Peter's _jurisdiction_, in virtue of which +he enjoins all to form one communion and society with him, as well +as effects, defends, and maintains it. Now, nothing can be stronger +than this ordinance of Christ, either to prove a Primacy of supreme +jurisdiction, or to unfold its purpose of effecting and maintaining +unity. + +The same is the bearing of another type no less remarkable, and no +less adopted to explain the whole matter. For, as Israel, "according +to the flesh," was the shadow of the "Israel of God," which was +"according to promise:"[3] and as the kingdom of Israel was a type +and ensample of the kingdom of heaven, the approach of which Christ +proclaimed in these words, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom +of heaven is at hand:" so the twelve sons of Israel, the heads of +the Israelitish race, represented and imaged out those Twelve whom +Christ chose, made princes in His Church, and endowed with supreme +authority to build up that Church's structure, and enrich it day by +day with new accessions of spiritual children. Of this type our +Lord's words are the strongest guarantee: "Amen, I say unto you, +that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration, when the Son of +Man shall sit on the throne of His Majesty, you also shall sit on +twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." And, again, in +the very discourse where He sets forth the future Superior, "I +dispose to you, as My Father disposed to Me, a kingdom; that you may +eat and drink at My table, in My kingdom; and may sit upon thrones, +judging the twelve tribes of Israel."[4] + +But now, though all the sons of Israel in the former typical kingdom +were chiefs, and heads of tribes, yet one of them, that is Judah, +had a special prerogative, which the Scriptures set forth, and which +was called the _right of the first-born_. In virtue of this, on the +one hand, Judah was esteemed the Lord of his brethren, whom they +were to reverence as the parent of the whole family, and on the +other, it was only by union with him, and with the seed that was to +spring from him, that the other chiefs could promise to themselves +the divine blessing. And so the tribe of Judah had a great +pre-eminence over the other eleven. It was its prerogative to take +the[5] lead: it had received from God the promise of an[6] authority +which was not to terminate before the old covenant should be +transformed into the new: from it was the seed[6] to be expected, +which should be the source of blessing to all nations, prefigured as +they were by the twelve tribes; the other tribes were bound[7] to +union with it, and to the profession of its religion, on pain of +falling into schism, and forfeiting the divine covenant. All this +was expressed by Jacob in prophetic inspiration, when he addressed +Judah as the head and root of his line: "Judah (praise) art thou, +thy brethren shall praise thee: thy hand is on the neck of thine +enemies: the sons of thy father shall bow down to thee." It remains, +then, to ask, who was to represent Judah's person in the new +kingdom, and on whom Christ bestowed the prerogative, the type and +image of which had gone before in Judah. It is most plain that this +was Simon Peter, for whom we have, therefore, to claim a double +prerogative, the one of being the source and origin, from which no +one may be separated without severance from the kingdom and promises +of Christ: the other of being the first-born, as betokening +excellence, by which he was pre-eminent in the possession of special +rights among his brethren, the Apostles. + +The former prerogative was expressed by the Fathers of Aquileia, +when, in the words of S. Ambrose, they stated their belief in S. +Peter's chair, "For thence, as from a fountain head, the rights of +venerable communion flow unto[8] all." The latter is confirmed and +illustrated by the solemn expressions so often recurring in +Christian records, wherein Peter is called, "[9]the Bishop of +Bishops," "[10]the Pastor of Pastors," "[11]first prelate of the +Apostles," "[12]Patriarch of the whole world," "[13]universal +bishop," "[14]father of fathers," "[14]having the dignity of +pastoral headship," "[14]the most divine head of all heads, +arch-pastor of the Church." + +II. To these reasons, which, as we think, may be called _typical_, +succeed the _analogical_, which prove with equal evidence the +purpose of the Primacy as instituted, and its inherent powers. If we +ask what are these reasons from analogy, and to what they point, one +only answer can be given commended by any show of truth, that the +Primacy was instituted in order that the Church of Christ might seem +to be moulded after the analogy of one human body, one house, one +kingdom, one city, and one fold. But whence the need that so very +remarkable and clear an analogy should be obtained by the +institution of the Primacy? Doubtless because the Primacy was +created as a principle, by whose virtue and efficiency what was +various and manifold should be gathered up into unity, because it +was to be a head in which all the diverse members of the +ecclesiastical body should be joined, the centre of the Church's +circle. + +Therefore the reasons drawn from analogy show that the unity of the +Church is to be considered the special end for which the Primacy was +instituted, and the Primacy itself a principle abundantly provided +with all those means by which so admirable a blessing as unity may +be first produced and then maintained. + +And this is confirmed by another analogy, well worthy of close +attention. This consists in the double and reciprocal relation in +which the universal Church stands to particular Churches, and the +institution of the Primacy to the institution of bishops, who, by +Christ's appointment, govern those particular Churches: an agreement +which ought to have especial force with those who believe in the +divine institution of bishops. For as the whole society of true +believers, and the particular congregations of which it is made up, +are called in Holy Scripture and the Christian records by one and +the same name of the Church, so is there the very closest analogy +between the bond which connects the universal Church and that which +connects its several parts. + +Exactly, then, as it is asserted with great truth of all these +particular Churches that they are one house, one city, and one fold, +so must this be repeated of the whole Church, since it is set forth +in Scripture by no other images, and has no less right to claim the +property of unity. Hence S.[15] Chrysostome's golden saying, "If it +is the Church of God, it is united and one, not at Corinth only, but +in the whole world. For _the Church_ is a name not of division, but +of union and harmony;" and S.[16] Gregory calls it, "The tunic +without seam, woven from the top throughout." + +Now the same reason which existed for instituting particular bishops +to govern and preserve in unity particular flocks, moved Christ to +institute an universal Primate, and to set him over the whole fold. +If in the former case the best description of a particular Church is +that of S. Cyprian, "A people united to its priest, and a flock +adhering to its pastor;"[17] in the latter the _form of unity_, +which Christ established in the universal Primate, no less imposes +on all, both taught and teachers, the necessity of saying with S. +Jerome, "I following none as the first save Christ, am joined in +communion with your blessedness, that is, with the chair of Peter. +Upon that rock the Church is built, I know. Whoever outside of this +house eateth the lamb, is profane. If any one was not in the ark of +Noah, he shall perish. I know not Vitalis; I reject Meletius; I am +ignorant of Paulinus. Whoever gathers not with thee, scatters: that +is, he who is not of Christ is of Antichrist."[18] + +III. A great accession of evidence will accrue to what we have said +if we attentively consider the reasons deduced from the texts +containing the institution of the Primacy, and those proceeding from +the inherent properties of the Church. To speak of the texts first: + +1. Either they carry no meaning with them, or they prove at least +this, that Christ, in instituting the Primacy, intended,[19] while +exhibiting the whole Church under the usual image of a house and +building, to give it a _foundation_, the bond at once of its +strength and unity; and, again, while communicating to one the +special gift of unwavering faith, to make him the channel for +establishing and[20] _confirming_ all the faithful; to[21] render +the fold which he had gathered out of all nations one by the unity +of a supreme visible _pastor_, and to[22] constitute in the Lord's +family, amid so manifold a distinction of officers, one of such +eminence as to be _the Ruler_ and _the Greater_ among all. + +But can we, or ought we, to conclude from this as to the purpose of +the Primacy, and as to its constituent force and principle? +Assuredly these texts prove directly and categorically that the +Primacy was set up as _the efficient principle_, whereby to mould +the Church's visible unity, and was endowed with all that authority, +without which unity could neither have been produced, nor maintained +in existence. + +2. And in this judgment we shall be confirmed if we investigate the +properties of which the Church cannot be deprived, without taking a +form and an appearance different from that which it received from +Christ. The first which occurs is that _identity_ by which the +Church must always be like itself, and cannot be substantially +different at its beginning and in its growth; one thing when it had +Christ for its visible head, and another when His words had come to +pass, "A little while, and now you shall not see Me--because I go to +the Father." Now at its first commencement, in the time of our +Lord's mortal life, the Church presented the form of a society +governed by the supreme power of one, and deriving its visible unity +from one supreme visible head. That it might not subsequently lose +this identity, and put on another form, our Lord chose a Primate to +be the principle of visible unity, and to have the power of a head +over the whole body. + +And indeed this was necessary to maintain the double character and +test of[23] _unity_ and[24] _Catholicity_, by which the Church is +distinguished in Holy Scripture and in the records of Christian +antiquity. As to _unity_, not only are the expressions in the +creeds, and the more ample explanation of them in the[25] Fathers, +most clear and emphatic, but likewise what is said in the Holy +Scriptures of the _end_ for which the Church was founded by Christ. +For the[26] grace of God our Saviour hath appeared to all men, +instructing those who had[27] changed the truth of God into a lie, +and liked not to have God in their knowledge, that[28] denying all +these things they might become an acceptable people, and[29] +enlightened by Christ, and sanctified in the truth, might by the +profession of one faith be[30] one body and one spirit, in the +same[31] manner in which the Father and the Son are one, and might +be[32] divided by no sects and dissensions, which are manifestly the +works of the flesh, not of God, who is not the[33] God of dissension +but of peace. For therefore[34] Christ, the only-begotten of the +Father, gave His blood for it, to present it to Himself, a glorious +Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, which would +break peace, and disturb the agreement of faith; but that it should +be holy and without blemish,[35] immovable through that rock on +which it rests, and against which not even the gates of hell shall +prevail; wisely ordered as the[36] house of God, in which[37] all +hear his voice, who is set over as the[38] ruler, and has received +his brethren to be[39] confirmed, and the[40] care of the whole +flock;[41] endued with virtue from on high, and strengthened by +the[42] Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father; possessing the +power of[43] authoritative teaching, which if any[44] hear not, nor +obey, they are to be accounted as heathens and publicans, by a +judgment which binds both in heaven and on earth. Are there any who +do not see that in this description, which sets forth the Church's +pre-ordained end, its proper character and very lineaments, the +Primacy itself is included, and exhibited as the principal cause +which effects the unity of the whole body? I hardly think that any +such can be, so apparent is the bond which ties these several parts +together. + +Yet perhaps this may be more vividly brought out if we shortly +mention the common opinions among Protestants on the Church's unity. +For, omitting those who hold an[45] invisible Church, and so expunge +visible unity from its attributes, all the other opinions may be +reduced to three. + +A. Anglicans, whose belief has been set forth, besides Pearson on +the Creed, with more than usual care by Dodwell, (in his Treatise on +the Bishop, as the Principle of Unity, and S. Peter's Primacy among +the Apostles as the Exemplar of Unity,) begin by noting that the +question of visible unity cannot be determined in the same way as it +respects the universal Church, or each particular Church. But why? +Because, they say, it was indeed the will of Christ, that each +particular Church should have a double unity, inward and outward, +but it was not His will that the whole Church, the sum of these +particular Churches, should have the same mark and test. Because, it +was His will that both unities should characterise the particular +Churches, to use a school phrase, _separately_ and _distributively_, +but not the whole body, and the sum of these, taken _collectively_. +Whence they conclude that Bishops were chosen and made, by the +command of Christ, to preside over particular Churches, and be in +them the source and principle of external unity, but that a Primate +was not chosen, to whom the whole Church should be subject, and on +whom its external unity should depend. + +At this argument one is lost in astonishment, how it could have +suggested itself to learned men, and gained their assent. For what +had they to prove, or how could they assure themselves, or others, +as to either of these two points, that external unity was necessary +to particular Churches, but not to the whole Church, or that the +institution of Bishops, presiding over particular Churches, came +from Christ, but not that of the Primate, whose charge was to rule, +administer, and maintain in unity the whole Church. Had they texts +wherein to trust? But as often as the Bible speaks of the Church's +unity, it means that Church, which is called "the kingdom of God," +"the kingdom of Christ," and "the kingdom of heaven," which is +termed "the inheritance of the Gentiles," and embraces with a +mother's bosom, and a mother's love, the whole race of man, from one +end of the earth to the other. Had they creeds to cite? But in these +unity is attributed to that Church only, which is so termed +absolutely, and very often has the epithet of Catholic. + +Moreover, is the word Church, in its unrestricted application, of +doubtful meaning? On the contrary, it is specially defined as well +in the Holy Scriptures,[46] where it expresses of itself the whole +society of believers, as in the Fathers, such as Irenæus,[47] +Tertullian,[48] Clement[49] of Alexandria, Origen,[50] Hilary,[51] +Jerome,[52] and all the rest without exception, who, in using it, +express the whole Christian people joined in one sole communion. It +is defined also by Councils, as in the Canons of Laodicea,[53] +Carthage,[54] and Constantinople,[55] where the Church means the +whole assembly of orthodox believers, as distinct from heretics and +schismatics. It is defined in the most ancient explanation of the +creeds, the unanimous meaning of which Tertullian seems to have +rendered in saying: "And, therefore, so many and so great Churches +are that first one from the Apostles, whence all come. So all are +first, and all Apostolical, while all set forth one unity, while +they have interchange of peace, the appellation of brotherhood and +the common rights of friendship, privileges regulated by no other +principle than the tradition of the same sacrament."[56] Lastly, the +very heretics[57] defined this term, who, in order to make +themselves understood, could use the word Church in no other sense +than to express the universal assembly of the faithful. + +After this it is not at all necessary to ask Anglicans afresh if +they have ancient Fathers whose authority they can quote. What these +thought and believed about the Church's unity is fully shown by +those whom we have quoted, and by the words of Irenæus, "The Church, +though dispersed throughout the whole world, yet as if it were +contained in the same house, carefully preserves the rule of faith, +and holds it as if she had one soul and one heart, nay, and teaches +it with one consent, as if she spoke with one voice. For although +different tongues occupy the world, yet the force of tradition is +one and the same, nor do the Churches of Germany, Spain, Gaul, the +East, Egypt, Libya, and the middle of the world, embrace any other +faith. But as there is one and the same sun shining over the whole +world, so the preaching of the truth shines everywhere, and +enlightens all men who desire its knowledge."[58] + +What, then, was the motive of Anglicans, in maintaining the unity of +particular churches, and the institution of bishops cohering with +it, to be necessary, while they denied the necessity of unity in the +Church universal, or of a Primate's institution, to effect universal +unity? What induced them to assert incompatibilities, and defend +them as a matter of life and death? The evidence of the Scriptures, +and the unquestionable belief of all Christian antiquity, extorted +from them the acknowledgment that unity was a mark of the Church, +and the ascription to Christ of the institution of bishops as +necessary for the forming and maintaining unity. _But the fixed +purpose of defending their schism, and their determination to reject +the Primacy, urged them to deny that unity in the whole Church was +ordered and provided for by Christ._ The result of these +affirmatives and negatives was a doctrinal[59] monster of +incomparable ugliness, an outrage on the light both of nature and of +revelation, as incapable of defence, as abhorrent from reason and +from grace. + +B. The second Protestant opinion has been set forth at length by[60] +Vitringa, and supported with all his ingenuity. It is that of those +who distinguish a two-fold unity of the Church, one interior, +spiritual, proceeding from union with one and the same invisible +Head, Jesus Christ, and completed and perfected by the inhabitation +of the Holy Spirit, and the bestowal of heavenly gifts; the other +exterior, visible, depending on profession of the same faith, +participation of the same sacraments, obedience to the same +superiors. Having made this distinction, they proceed to argue for +the purpose of proving that while the former unity is universal, and +absolutely necessary, the latter is neither universal nor necessary, +save hypothetically, (of which hypothesis Vitringa nowhere explains +the nature,) and so is capable both of extension and restriction. In +a word, they attach simple and absolute necessity and universality +to the spiritual and invisible unity, but by no means to the +external and visible. + +But for this what are their authorities? Can they allege the most +ancient Fathers in unbroken succession from the Apostles? Nay, they +candidly confess that the Fathers thought external and visible unity +simply and absolutely necessary, and not those only of the fourth +and fifth century, but those of the second and third. Witness +Vitringa,[61] who says, "If we consult on this point the doctors of +the ancient Christian Church, they seem on all hands to have +embraced the view that the communion of believers in holy rites, in +the supper of the Lord, and in reciprocal offices of brotherly love, +was maintained absolutely, not hypothetically. They supposed, and +seem to have persuaded themselves, that all who were joined to the +Christian Church by the due rite of baptism after previous +preparation, were really regenerated by the grace of the Holy +Spirit, and so that the Christian Church was an assembly of men, +who in far greater part, saving hypocrites, of whom a few might +exist in secret, participated in the renewing and sanctifying grace +of the Holy Spirit. Accordingly, to be joined to the Church was much +the same as being joined to the heavenly city. To have one's name on +the Church's books, much the same as to have it in God's book of +life. On the other hand, to be severed from Church communion, or to +use Tertullian's words, "to be deprived of the sacrament of the Body +and Blood of the Lord, and to be debarred from all brotherly +communion," was to risk salvation, and incur the danger of eternal +death. That is, they supposed that no one was saved out of the +external communion of the Church, which they confounded with the +mystical and spiritual communion of the Saints. And again, kindred +points to these, and resting on the same principle, that bishops +represent the office and person of Jesus Christ Himself in the +Christian Church; that those who separated themselves from them when +rightly and duly elected, separated themselves at the same time from +the communion of Christ Himself. That those who were absolved by the +bishops after penance publicly performed according to the canons of +ecclesiastical discipline, restored to their rank, and honoured with +the kiss of peace, were absolved in the heavenly court by God +Himself, and Christ the Judge. Lastly, which was the most[62] +_audacious_ of all such hypotheses, that it was all over with the +salvation of all who separated themselves in schism from the +external communion of the Church and its rites, although hitherto +they had neither been tainted with heresy, nor involved in crimes +destructive of the Christian[63] profession. It would be easy for me +to support at length each one of these particulars by the sentiments +and the discipline of the doctors of the primitive Church, were they +unknown to the more instructed, or did my purpose allow it. I now +only appeal to Cyprian's letter to Magnus, in the whole of which He +supposes and urges the very hypotheses which I have been +enumerating; and amongst the rest, speaking of Novatian's schism, he +writes thus distinctly: "But if there is one Church, which is +beloved by Christ, and alone is cleansed in His laver, how can he +who is not in the Church," (that is, in communion with that +particular external assembly which makes a part of the external +Catholic Church,) "be loved by Christ, or washed and cleansed in His +laver? Wherefore as the Church alone possesses the water of life, +and the power of baptizing and washing a man, let him who asserts +that any one can be baptized and sanctified with Novatian, first +show and teach that Novatian is in the Church, or [64]_presides over +the Church_. For the Church is one, which, being one, cannot be at +once within and without. For if it is with Novatian, it was not with +Cornelius. But if it was with Cornelius, who succeeded the Bishop +Fabian in regular order, and whom the Lord hath glorified with +martyrdom over and above the rank of his high priesthood, Novatian +is not in the Church."[65] It is the precise thing which we have +been stating." + +But where did Vitringa and the supporters of his doctrine get +courage to contradict the whole line of Fathers and their unbroken +tradition? You would surely expect from them decisive arguments, and +expressions from Holy Writ distinctly laying down no other than a +_hypothetical_ necessity of visible and external unity. But you may +search in vain all over the Gospels, the Epistles, and the Acts, for +any such. Not only is there no mention in them of such a distinction +as that invisible unity is absolutely necessary, while external and +visible unity is but hypothetically so, but this latter is plainly +enjoined and set forth as the note which the mystical body of +Christ, the true Church, cannot be without; and its violation is +reckoned among those works of the flesh which exclude from the +kingdom of God. + +How, besides, can that be deemed necessary only under hypothesis, +without holding and faithfully maintaining which you cut yourself +off from the very fountain of blessing, and transgress and subvert +the order appointed by God for attaining salvation? Such an +assertion would be senseless. Yet in most of the Protestant +confessions,--the Helvetic, art. xiv., the Galliean, art. xvi., the +Scotch, art. xxvii., the Belgian, art. xxviii., the Saxon, art. +xii., the Bohemian, art. viii., and that of the Remonstrants, art. +xxii.,--it is laid down as an indisputable principle, "That the +heirs of eternal life are only to be found in the assembly of those +called." What then do those who violate outward and visible unity, +and withdraw from the outward and visible body of the Church? They +stop up the very way which Providence has opened for their obtaining +"the inheritance of sons." + +For indeed Christ is the Saviour, but of His mystical body, +which[66] is the Church, which therefore He purchased with His own +blood, joined to Himself by that closest bond of being His spouse, +enriched with promises,[67] provided with all manner of graces, and +most nobly dowered with[68] truth, charity, and the Holy Spirit, to +give her at last salvation, and[69] "the weight of eternal glory." +But have these things reference to a visible or an invisible Church? +To a Church one and coherent, or rent and torn by factions? It is +the Church which Christ founded, which He made to be[70] "the light +of the world," bound together by[71] manifold external links, +ordered to be one with the unity of a house, a family, a city, a +kingdom; with that unity wherewith the Father and the Son are one; +in which He placed[72] pastors and doctors to bind and to loose, and +to watch over the agreement of all the parts; which He founded upon +Peter, committed in chief to Peter to rule and to feed it. Such, +then, as fall off from one single visible Church are of the +condition of those whom the Apostles of the Lord foretold, that "in +the last time there should come mockers, walking according to their +own desires in ungodlinesses: these are they who separate +themselves, sensual men, having not the[73] Spirit:" these tear +themselves from their Saviour, lose the fruit purchased by His +blood, and fall from the inheritance which the Head obtained for His +body and His members. + +Therefore the necessity of union with the one single visible Church +is as great as the necessity of union with Christ the Head, as the +necessity of the remission of sins, "for[74] outside of it they are +not remitted: for this Church has specially received the Holy Spirit +in earnest, without whom no sins are remitted:" as the necessity of +charity, "[75]for it is this very charity which those who are cut +off from the communion of the Catholic Church do not possess," +whence "[76]whatsoever thing heretics and schismatics receive, the +charity which covers a multitude of sins is the gift of Catholic +unity and peace:" as great, in fine, as the necessity not to involve +oneself "in[77] a horrible crime and sacrilege," "in[78] the +greatest of evils," one "by[79] which Christ's passion is rendered +of no effect, and His body is rent," by which[80] the sin is +committed of which Christ said, "It shall not be forgiven, neither +in this world nor in the world to come:" by which one is estranged +"from the sole Catholic Church, which retains the true worship, in +which is the fountain of truth, the home of faith, the temple of +God, into which if any one enter not, or from which if any one go +out, he loses the hope of life and eternal salvation. Let no one +flatter himself in the spirit of obstinate contention, for life is +at issue, and salvation, which without care and caution will be +forfeited."[81] Can any necessity be greater, or less conditional +than this? Or what can be more plain than this statement of the +simple and absolute necessity of visible unity and outward +communion? + +Where then are we to find the cause which induced so many learned +and able Protestants first to imagine this distinction between the +necessity of internal and external communion and unity, and then to +deceive themselves and others with such a mockery? The real cause +was, as I believe, that having denied the institution of the +Primacy, and the authority lodged in it for the purpose of forming +and maintaining unity, they were without a criterion or proof, in +virtue of which, among so many Christian societies divided from and +condemning each other, they could safely choose the one with which +they were to be joined in communion, and the outward unity of duty +and obedience. For they would readily conclude that the unity so +often commended in Scripture, and so earnestly enjoined, could not +be external, since God, who does not command impossibilities, had +instituted no visible sign to mark that company of Christians, which +alone among all the rest was the continuation and development of the +Church founded by Christ, and built up by the Apostles. + +C. From the same source must the third Protestant doctrine on unity +be derived. [82]Jurien filled up the sketch of this, which +[83]Casaubon, [84]Claude, and [85]Mestrezat had drawn, and it became +so popular as not only to infect a large number of Protestants, but +to exert a withering influence on certain unstable members of the +Catholic body. It teaches that we must believe not only in an +internal and spiritual, but in a visible and external unity, for the +Scriptures plainly urge its necessity, and Christian tradition fully +describes it, so that there is not a truth more patent or +established on greater authority; but this unity is restricted +within narrow bounds, and confined to the articles called +fundamental, though as to how many these are no one defender of the +system is agreed with another. For it is sufficient for Christians +not to differ in the profession of such articles for them to be +deemed members of one and the same Church. Whence they infer that +one and the same true Church is made up out of almost all Christian +societies, the Roman, the Greek, the Nestorian, the Eutychian, the +Waldensian, the Lutheran, the Anglican, and the Calvinist, for their +differences, important as they are, offer no hindrance to the unity +which Christ enjoined, the Apostles preached, the creeds express, +and universal tradition demands. + +As Bossuet,[86] the brothers Walemburg,[87] Nicole,[88] and even +some Protestants have most fully dealt with this portentous opinion, +there is no need to urge much against it here. I prefer repeating +the question, what _occasion_ the Protestants had to get up so +unheard-of a paradox, and a system so absurd? It was twofold: one +theoretical, and the other practical. + +The theoretical was this. The crime of heresy, depicted in +Scripture, and Christian antiquity, with colours so dark, had +gradually lost its foulness and its magnitude in the minds of +Protestants, who had, at length, come to the pass of reckoning +religious, as well as civil, liberty, among the unquestionable +rights of man. As if, all other human acts being subject to a law, +those alone which proceed from the intellect are exempt: as if the +difference between right and wrong, which embraces the whole range +of man's life, did not relate to its noblest part, in the acts of +the intellect and the reason: as if God had laid down a law of +justice, charity, fortitude, and prudence, but entirely omitted a +_law[89] of faith_: as if the will submitted to a law of _good_, but +the mind owned no law of _truth_: or as if God cared for the boughs +and leaves, but took no thought of the root.[90] But what could +Protestants do? Having allowed to all full license of thought, and +overthrown the authority which ruled the mind, they were forced, +while they kept the _name_ of heresy, to give up the _thing_ meant +by it, and the effects springing from that thing: they were forced +to attenuate to the utmost the crime of heresy, and to reduce to the +smallest possible number the articles necessary to be believed by +all; they were forced to extend beyond all measure the Church's +limits, while they contracted beyond all measure the range of +necessary unity. + +Besides the theoretical, there was a practical occasion in those +schisms which, not merely in later or in mediæval times, but in the +first ages also, rent the Christian society. Jurien and Pfaff appeal +to these, pretentiously enumerating those which arose under Popes +Victor, Cornelius, Stephen, Urban VI., and Clement VII., and those +named from Donatus, Meletius, and Acacius. Then they ask if the true +Church of Christ can be thought to consist in one single society +perfectly at union with itself. They allege many conjectures against +this, but dwell on the argument, that _in defect of a visible +external test_, such an assertion could not be maintained without +_imposing upon all a most intolerable burden of searching out where +is the true doctrine and the legitimate ministerial succession_: for +it is not until those are found, that, at length, that one single +society will be recognised, with which, as the only true Church, +unity of Communion is to be kept. + +Now, I profess that I do not see how this argument can be met, if +the institution of the Primacy, and its proper function to form and +maintain unity, be rejected. For, without this, by what visible +token among so many Christian societies, divided by intestine +dissension, and condemning each other, can you distinguish the one +which has the character of the true Church, and the right to exact +communion with itself? There is none to be found; and so, either all +hope of finding the true Church must be relinquished, or an enquiry +must be undertaken into purity of doctrine, and legitimate +ministerial succession, on the termination of which the only true +Church will at last be found. But as this latter course is to by far +the greater number of men impossible, dangerous[91] to all without +exception, and most foreign to the Christian temper, the only +conclusion remaining, is, that the selection of a Primacy with the +power of effecting unity impressed upon it, _is most intimately +involved and bound up in the visibility and unity of the true +Church_. + +And quite as closely is it bound up with that other test of the +Church, its Catholicism. We are not to believe Voss and King,[92] in +their assertion that this test began to be applied first in the +fourth century, for the purpose of distinguishing the genuine +company of the orthodox, and the true body of Christ, from heretics +and schismatics. For we find the Church distinguished by the epithet +of Catholic, not merely in the records of the fourth[93] and +fifth[94] century, but in those of the third,[95] and the +second,[96] at the beginning of which S. Ignatius wrote, "Follow all +of you the bishop, as Jesus Christ the Father; and the body of +presbyters, as Apostles. But reverence deacons, as the command of +Christ. Without the bishop let nothing of what concerns the Church +be done by any one. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist which is +under the bishop, or with his sanction. Where the bishop is, there +also let the multitude be; as, where Christ Jesus is, _there is the +Catholic Church_."[97] As, therefore, that cannot be the Church of +Christ, which is not Catholic, we ought to investigate the meaning +which is given to this word by the consent of all orthodox +believers. + +Now, two points are signified in it, one of which is its _material_, +the other its _formal_, or _essential_, part. Its _material_ part +is, that the geographical extension of the true Church be such that +its mass be _morally_[98] universal, _absolutely_ great, and +eminently visible, but _comparatively_ with all heretical and +schismatical sects, larger and more numerous. Of this _material_ +meaning attached to the epithet, Catholic, we find abundant +witnesses in all[99] the orthodox writers who defended the cause of +the Church against the Donatists, and again, against the +Luciferians,[100] and Novatians; and likewise, in those who have +explained the creeds,[101] and, as occasion offered, have touched on +the force of the term Catholic.[102] But the same first cited +witnesses tell us that universal diffusion is not sufficient, and +that we require another element to infuse a soul into this +universally extended body, and to bring it to unity. + +For two properties are continually recurring in Christian records, one +of which may be called _negative_, the other _affirmative_. The force +of the former is to _expel from the circle of the one true Catholic +Church all sects of heretics and Schismatics_: of the latter, that +this Church _consist in one single communion and society, whose +members cohere together by hierarchical subordination_. + +But is it true that both these points are so plainly and constantly +inculcated? To remove all doubt we will quote the authors who most +distinctly assert the one and the other. As to the first, there are +[103]Clement of Alexandria, [104]Tertullian, [105]Alexander of +Alexandria, [106]Celestine, [107]Leander, the Emperor Justinian;[108] +then again the Councils of Nice,[109] Sardica,[110] and the +third of [111]Carthage; nay, the heretics[112] themselves; and all +these agree in asserting that _there is one only ancient Catholic +Church_, outside of which the divine patience endures and bears with +heresies, which are as thorns. Thus in language ecclesiastical and +Christian nothing can be considered as more certainly proved than +that the epithet of Catholic is _distinctive_, and shows the +communion which rejects from its bosom all heresies and all schisms. +It was with great reason, therefore, that [113]Pacian wrote what +[114]Cyril of Jerusalem, and [115]Augustine very frequently +repeated, "Our people is divided from the heretical name by this +appellation, that it is called Catholic." + +Moreover this unity, which we have said may be called _negative_, is +necessary indeed to the understanding of the Church as Catholic, but +is by no means sufficient to complete the idea of Catholicity. To it +therefore must be added the _affirmative_ unity, by which +Catholicism is not only divided from heretics and schismatics, but +becomes in itself a coherent body with members and articulations. It +is to the assertion and maintenance of this unity, which is the soul +of Catholicity, and without which it cannot even be conceived, that +has reference what we so often read in the monuments of antiquity +about the [116]necessity of communion among the members of the +Church and the [117]tokens and means of that communion. There are +very distinct and innumerable testimonies about it in the ancient +Fathers,[118] declaring its _necessity_, and setting forth its +_mode_ of composition and coherence. + +For to set forth the _mode_ of this is the plain drift of what +[119]Irenæus writes in confutation of heretics by the tradition of +the Apostolical churches: "For since it would be very long in the +compass of our present work to enumerate the successions of all the +Churches, taking that Church which is the greatest, the most +ancient, and well known to all, founded and established at Rome by +the two most glorious Apostles, Peter and Paul, by indicating that +tradition which it has from the Apostles, and the faith which it +announces to men, which has reached even to us by the succession of +bishops, we confound all those, who, in whatsoever manner, either +through self-pleasing, or vain glory, or blindness and evil +intention, [120]gather otherwise than they ought. _For_ to this +church on account of its superior chiefship, it is necessary that +every Church should come[121] together, that is, the faithful who +are everywhere; for in this Church the tradition which is from the +Apostles has been ever preserved by those who are everywhere. +...By this ordination and succession, the tradition and preaching of the +truth, which is from the Apostles in the Church, has reached down to +us. And this proof is most complete, that it is one and the same +vivifying faith, which has been preserved, and handed down in truth, +in the Church from the Apostles to the present day." + +The churches, therefore, which are everywhere diffused, derive that +strength and harmony of parts, out of which the whole body of the +Catholic Church is made up, from the fact of their agreeing in the +unity of faith and preaching with that Church of Peter, which is the +greatest, the chief, and the more powerful. It follows that the +Primacy of Peter, and the authority inherent in it to effect unity, +is that principle which Christ selected, that the Church which He +had set up might be Catholic, and bear the note of Catholicity on +its brow. + +And Cyprian would set forth the same _mode_ of communion, when he +speaks of the _coherence of bishops_, by which both the _Catholic +episcopate_ is made _one, and the Church one and Catholic_. For as +the _several communities draw the unity of the body from the unity +of the prelates_ to whom they are subject; so all prelates, and the +communities subject to them, constitute _one Catholic episcopate and +one Catholic Church_, because they cohere with the _principal_ +church, _the root and matrix_, which is the Church of Peter, _upon +whom_ the Lord founded the whole building, and whom He instituted +_to be the fountain and source of Catholic unity_.[122] + +These words are a clue to understand [123]Tertullian's meaning, when, +already become a Montanist, he called the Catholic Church, whose +discipline he was attacking, _the Church near to Peter_--"Concerning +your opinion, I now enquire whence you claim this right to the +Church. If because the Lord said to Peter, 'Upon this rock I will +build My Church,' 'to thee will I give the keys of the kingdom of +heaven,' or 'whatsoever thou shalt bind or loose on earth, shall be +bound or loosed in heaven,' you, therefore, pretend that the power +of binding and loosing is derived to you, that is, to all the Church +near to Peter; how do you overthrow and change the manifest +intention of the Lord in conferring this on Peter[124] _personally_, +'Upon thee I will build My Church,' and 'I will give to thee the +keys,' not to the Church, and 'whatsoever thou bindest or loosest,' +not what they bind or loose." Now he used this mode of speaking +because it was customary with Catholics, who were wont to exhibit +_nearness with Peter_ as the characteristic of the Church, and the +necessary condition for sharing that power, whose plenitude and +native source Christ had lodged in Peter. + +This certain and undoubting judgment of Catholics, Tertullian +himself, before his error, had clearly expressed in his book, De +Scorpiace, c. x., where he says, "For if you yet think the heaven +shut, remember that the Lord here (Matt. xvi. 19) left its keys to +Peter, and _through him to the Church_." Nearness, then, with +Peter, and [125]_consanguinity of doctrine_ thence proceeding, are no +less necessary to the Church, that it may be the Catholic Church +which Christ founded and built upon Peter, than that it be partaker +in those gifts which, again, He Himself granted only to unity, as it +is effected in Peter and by Peter. + +Now not only the most ancient Fathers, as Irenæus, Tertullian, and +Cyprian, but the whole body of them, assign the origin of this to +Peter. This they make the vivifying principle of agreement, society +and unity, without which the Church can neither be intrinsically +Catholic, nor the mind conceive it as such. It is so stated by +[126]Pacian, [127]Ambrose, the [128]Fathers of Aquileia, [129] +Optatus, [130]Gregory Nazianzen, [131]Jerome, [132]Augustine, [133] +Gelasius, [134]Hormisdas, [135]Agatho, [136]Maximus Martyr, and, to +shorten the list, by Leo[137] the Great. It is in setting forth the +unity of the Catholic episcopate that he writes what ought never to +be forgotten by Christian minds: "For the compactness of our unity +cannot remain firm, unless the bond of charity weld us into an +inseparable whole, because, as we have many members in one body, +and all members have not the same office, so we, being many, are one +body in Christ, and every one members one of another. For it is the +connection of the whole body which makes one soundness and one +beauty; and this connexion, as it requires unanimity in the whole +body, so especially demands concord among bishops. For though these +have a like dignity, yet have they not an equal jurisdiction; since +even among the most blessed Apostles, as there was a likeness of +honour, so was there a certain distinction of power, and the +election of all being equal, pre-eminence over the rest was given to +one, from which mould, or type, the distinction also between bishops +has arisen, and it was provided by a great ordering, that all should +not claim to themselves all things, but that in every province there +should be one whose sentence should be considered the first among +his brethren; and others again, seated in the greater cities, should +undertake a larger care, through whom the direction of the universal +Church should converge to the one See of Peter, and nothing anywhere +disagree from its head." + +And, if I do not deceive myself, the direct drift of all this is to +answer the question, whether the doctrine of Peter's Primacy, and +its virtue, as the constituent of unity and Catholicity, is +contained in the most solemn standard of faith, the creed. For +although there are unimpeachable testimonies to prove that the +creeds were not published and explained to Catechumens, in order to +convey to them a full and complete Christian instruction; and though +it be proved further to have been the purpose of the Church's +ancient teachers to omit many points in the creeds which were to be +set before the initiated at a more suitable season afterwards, it +may nevertheless be said that the most commonly received articles +of the creed may be regarded as so many most fruitful germs, from +which the remaining doctrines would spontaneously spring. And so, to +keep within our present point, what is more plain than that the sum +of doctrine concerning Peter's Primacy, contained in the Bible, +illustrated by the Fathers, and defined by Councils, is involved in +that article of the creed in which we profess that the Church is one +and Catholic? No doubt there nowhere occurs in the creeds, +_expressed in so many words_, mention of Peter, or of the Primacy +bestowed on him, or of hierarchical subordination; yet it is most +distinctly stated that the Church is one and Catholic. What meaning, +then, were the faithful to give to those epithets? What were they to +intend in the words, I believe one Catholic Church? What but the +meaning of the words themselves, which they received from the +Church's teachers together with the creeds? But they could not form +the conception of one Church and that Catholic, without thinking +likewise of one Catholic _principle_ of the Church; nor could they +assign the dignity of that one Catholic principle to any other but +Peter, whom alone they had invariably been taught to have been set +over all. For what S.[138] Bernard wrote in mediæval times, "For +this purpose the solicitude of all Churches rests on that one +Apostolic See, that all may be united under it and in it, and it may +be careful in behalf of all to preserve the unity of the Spirit in +the bond of peace," must be considered nothing but a repetition of +the faith which resounded through the whole world, from the very +beginning of the Christian religion. + +Unless, therefore, any can be found who prefer asserting _either_ +that true believers _never_ understood what they believed, in +professing the Church to be one and Catholic, _or_ that they +understood this _otherwise_ than it had been universally and +constantly explained by the Church's teachers; it must be admitted, +that faith in Peter's Primacy, and in the power bestowed upon it for +the purpose of making the visible kingdom of Christ one and +Catholic, is coeval with that profession of the creeds which sets +forth the Church as one and as Catholic.[139] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Hêgoumenos, Luke xxii. 26, the very term still given in +the East to the head of a religious community; and also, as has been +said, that which marks our Lord in the great prophecy of Micah, +recorded in Matt. ii. 6. + +[2] Prôtos, meizôn, hêgoumenos. See ch. 2. + +[3] 1 Cor. x. 18; Gal. vi. 16. + +[4] Matt. xix. 28; Luke xxii. 29. + +[5] See Num. ii. 3-9; x. 14; Judges i. 1-3; xx. 18. + +[6] Gen. xlix. 10; and see John iv. 22. + +[7] 3 Kings, xii. + +[8] S. Ambrose, Ep. 11. + +[9] Arnobius Junior in Ps. 138. + +[10] Eucherius of Lyons, hom. in vig. S. Petri. + +[11] Proclus, patriarch of Constantinople, on the Transfiguration. + +[12] The Archimandrites of Syria to Pope Hormisdas, Mansi 8, 428. + +[13] S. Bernard, de Cons. Lib. 2, c. 8. + +[14] S. Theodore Studites to Pope Leo III., Lib. 1, Ep. 33. + +[15] In 1 Cor. Hom. 1, n. 1. + +[16] S. Greg. Naz., Orat. 12, alluding to John xix. 23. + +[17] S. Cyprian, Ep. 79. + +[18] S. Jerome, Ep. 57. + +[19] Matt. xvi. 18. + +[20] Luke xxii. 31-2. + +[21] John xxi. 15. + +[22] Luke xxii. 26. + +[23] Unity, John x. 16; xvii. 20-23; 1 Cor. xii. 12-31; Ephes. ii. +14-22; iv. 5; 1 Cor. i. 10. + +[24] Catholicity. Luke xxiv. 47; Mark xvi. 20; Acts i. 8; ix. 15; +Rom. x. 18; Colos. i. 8-23. + +[25] For all the fathers hold the doctrine thus expressed by St. +Hilary of Poitiers on Ps. 121, n. 5. "The Church is one body, not +mixed up by a confusion of bodies, nor by each of these being united +in an indiscriminate heap and shapeless bundle; but we are all one +by the unity of faith, by the society of charity, by concord of +works and will, by the one gift of the sacrament in all." No notion +of the Church's unity in England, it may be remarked, outside of +Catholicism, goes beyond "the indiscriminate heap and shapeless +bundle." + +[26] Tit. ii. 11. + +[27] Rom. i. 25. + +[28] Tit. ii. 14, with 1 Pet. ii. 25. + +[29] John xvii. 17. + +[30] Eph. iv. 4. + +[31] John xvii. 21. + +[32] Gal. v. 20, 19. + +[33] 1 Cor. xiv. 33. + +[34] Eph. v. 27. + +[35] Matt. xvi. 18. + +[36] 1 Tim. iii. 15. + +[37] Matt. xviii. 17. + +[38] Luke xxii. 26. + +[39] Luke xxii. 31-2. + +[40] John xxi. 15. + +[41] Acts i. 4-8. + +[42] John xv. 26. + +[43] Matt. xxviii. 20. + +[44] Matt. xviii. 18. + +[45] The first Reformers fell into this grievous error because they +had no other way to defend their schism. They may be passed over at +present, as in most even of the Protestant confessions visibility is +reckoned among the notes of the Church. + +[46] 1 Cor. vi. 4; x. 32; xi. 22; xii. 28; Ephes. i. 22; iii. 10-21; +v. 23, 24, 25, 27, 29, 32; Colos. i. 18-24; 1 Tim. iii. 15. + +[47] Irenæus, Lib. 1, c. 3, Lib. 3, c. 4. + +[48] Tertullian, de Præsc. c. 4. + +[49] Clement. Stromat. Lib. 7, 17. + +[50] Origen in Cantic, Hom. 3. + +[51] Hilary, De Trin. Lib. 7, c. 12. + +[52] Jerome, adv. Lucifer. + +[53] Concil. Laodic. Can. 9, 10. + +[54] Concil. Carthag. 4, Can. 71. + +[55] Concil. Constant. 2, act 3. + +[56] De Præsc. c. 20. + +[57] See in the sixth act of the second Nicene Council the +quotations from the iconoclast synod of Constantinople. + +[58] Adv. hæreæs, Lib. 1, c. 3. + +[59] Even the Puritan Cartwright observed, "if it be necessary to +the unity of the Church that an archbishop should preside over other +bishops, why not on the same principle should one archbishop preside +over the whole Church of God?" Defence of Whitgift. + +[60] Sacred observations, Lib. 5, c. 7, on the hypothetical external +communion of Christians. + +[61] See also the testimony of Mosheim, quoted above p. 197, note. + +[62] Thus the universal belief of the Fathers from the beginning is +charged with _audacity_. It is difficult not to be struck with the +utter antagonism of feeling which separates Protestants from the +whole body of the Fathers. The statements here ascribed, and truly, +by Vitringa to them, would be viewed in modern English society, as +the very insanity of bigotry. + +[63] Because to rend Christ's mystical body, and to subvert that +unity for which He had prayed the Father, was regarded by them as a +crime of the deepest dye. In modern England it would be consecrated +by the glorious principle of "civil and religious liberty." + +[64] The unrestricted expression, "to preside over the Church," used +by Cyprian of Novatian, who claimed to be Peter's successor, +contains a clear indication that the fold entrusted to Peter was as +wide as the Church itself. It is the same Church in the two clauses, +but in the former it _must_ be understood universally. + +[65] Ep. 69. + +[66] Ephes. v. 23-25. + +[67] Ephes. iv. 15-17. + +[68] John xiv. 16-26; xv. 26; xvi. 7. + +[69] 2 Cor. iv. 17. + +[70] Matt. v. 14. + +[71] Compare Luke xii. 8, 9, with Matt. x. 32; Mark viii. 38; Rom. +x. 10; and again, Mark xvi. 15, with Matt. xxviii. 19; Acts ii. 41; +viii. 36; xix. 5; 1 Cor. xii. 13; and Matt. xxvi. 28, with Luke +xxii. 19; 1 Cor. x. 17; xi. 21; and Ephes. iv. 11, with Acts xx. 28; +Tit. i. 5. + +[72] Compare Ephes. iv. 11-16, with 1 Cor. xii. 13-31; and Matt. +xviii. 18, with John xx. 21; Acts xv. 41; xvi. 4; 2 Cor. x. 6; 1 +Tim. v. 20; Tit. i. 13; ii. 15. + +[73] Jude 18; 2 Pet. iii. 2, 3. + +[74] Augustin. in Euchirid. c. 63. + +[75] Aug. In Tract de Symb. c. 11. + +[76] Aug. De Baptismo Cont. Donat. Lib. 3, c. 16. + +[77] Aug. Cont. Litt. Petiliani, Lib. 1, c. 21-2, Lib. 2, c. 13-23. +Lib. 3, c. 52. + +[78] Optat. Lib. 1. + +[79] Ambros. de Obitu Satyri fratris, Lib. 1, n. 47. + +[80] Idem. de Poenit. Lib. 2, 4. + +[81] Lactant. Div. Institut. Lib. 3, c. 30. + +[82] Le vrai Systême de l'Eglise. + +[83] Answer to Cardinal Perron. + +[84] Defense de la Reforme, p. 200. + +[85] Traité de l'Eglise, p. 286. + +[86] Bossuet, writings against Jurien. + +[87] The brothers Walemburg, Treatise on Necessary and Fundamental +Articles. + +[88] Nicole, de l'Unité de l'Eglise. + +[89] See the recognition of this law, Mark xvi. 16; Matt xxviii. +18-20; Luke xii. 8, 9; Rom. x. 10. + +[90] Such the Fathers call Faith, terming it, "the beginning and +foundation," "the greatest mother of virtues," "the principle of +salvation," "the prelude of immortality," "the clear eye of Divine +knowledge," "the foundation of all wisdom." See Suicer, art. +pistis. + +[91] After having gone through this search for ten long years, it +may be allowed to express how great its danger, and how great too +the blessedness of those who are not exposed to it. It is worth the +experience of half a life to receive the truth, without personal +enquiry, from a competent authority. Protestantism begins its +existence by casting away one of the greatest blessings which man +can have. + +[92] De Symbolo, Diss. 1, 39, and Hist. Symb. Apostol. cap. 6. 16. + +[93] Pacian, Ep. 1, n. 4. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catech. 18, n. 23. +Eusebius on Isai. xxxii. 18. Chrysostome on Colos. hom. 1, n. 2, on +1 Cor. hom. 32, n. 1, Jerome on Matt. xxiv. 26. + +[94] Augustine on Ps. 41, n. 7; Epist. 49, n. 3-52, n. 1, and +elsewhere. + +[95] Council of Antioch, quoted by Euseb. Hist. Lib. 7, c. 30. +Origen on Romans, Lib. 8, n. 1; Cyprian, Epist. 52; Acts of S. +Fructuosus, n. 3, and of S. Pionius. n. 9. + +[96] Irenæus, Lib. 3, c. 17, and Epistle on martyrdom of S. +Polycarp, n. 19. + +[97] Epis. to Smyrneans, n. 8. + +[98] Augustine, Ep. 52. n. 1, Serm. 238, n. 3. + +[99] As Optatus, Lib. 2, Aug. de Unitate Ecc. c. 2. &c.; cont. +Cresconium, L. 2, c. 63, Contr. Petilian. L. 2, c. 12-55-58-73; on +Ps. 21, 47, 147, and on 1 Ep. John, Tract, 1, 2. + +[100] Pacian, Ep. 3, Jerome cont. Luciferianos. + +[101] Cyril of Jerusalem, Cat. 18. + +[102] Irenæus, Lib. 1, c. 10; Lib. 4, c. 19, Tertullian adv. Judæos, +c. 7, Bernard in Cantica, serm. 65. + +[103] Clement, Stromat. L. 7, § 15-17. + +[104] Tertullian de præsc. c. 30. + +[105] Alexander, apud Theodoret. H. E. Lib. 1, c. 4. + +[106] Coelestinus, homil. in laud. eccles. + +[107] Leander, Cont. Origenistas in Actis Synodi V. + +[108] Justinianus, epist. ad Mennam Constantinopolitanum. + +[109] Council of Nice, in the Creed, and Canon 8. + +[110] Sardica in letter to all bishops, quoted by Athanasius, Apol. +2. + +[111] 22nd Canon of Codex Africanus. + +[112] The Nestorian profession of faith, in fifth act of Council of +Ephesus. + +[113] Pacian, Ep. 1. + +[114] Cyril, Catech. 18. + +[115] Aug. de vera relig. c .6, de utilit. credendi, c. 7. + +[116] Pacian, Ep. 3, "The Church is a full and solid body, diffused +already through the whole world. As a city, I say, whose parts are +in unity. Not as you Novatians, an insolent particle, or a gathered +wen, separated from the rest of the body." + +[117] Such as are grammata koinônika, Euseb. H. E. lib. 7, c. 30. +epistolai koinônikai, Basil. Ep. 190, or kanônikai, Ep. 224, +letters of peace commendatory, ecclesiastical, &c. + +[118] See especially Chrys. Hom. 30 on 1 Cor. + +[119] Irenæus, Lib. 3, c. 3. + +[120] Compare Jerome's often-quoted passage, Ep. 15, to Pope +Damasus, "Whoso gathereth not with thee, scattereth; that is, whoso +is not of Christ is of antichrist." + +[121] For the meaning of "come together," see farther on, c. 40. +"God hath placed in the Church Apostles, Prophets, Doctors, and all +the rest of the operation of the Spirit, of which all those are not +partakers who do not _run together to the Church_, but defraud +themselves of life by an evil intention and a very bad conduct. For +where the Church is, there is the Spirit; and where is the Spirit of +God, there is the Church and all grace." + +[122] See S. Cyprian's letters, 69, 55, 45, 70, 73. 40. Consider the +force of the words, "Peter, upon whom the Church had been built by +the Lord, speaking one for all, and _answering with the voice of the +Church_, says, Lord, to whom shall we go?" Ep. 55, on which Fenelon +(de sum. Pontif. auct. c. 12) remarks, "What wonder, then, if Pope +Hormisdas and other ancient fathers says, "the Roman, that is, the +Catholic Church," since Peter was wont to answer _with the voice of +the Church_? What wonder if the body of the Church speaks by mouth +of its head?" + +[123] De Pudicitia, c. 21. + +[124] This Montanist corruption (into which Ambrose on Ps. 38, n. +37, and Pacian in his three letters to Sempronian, state that the +Novatians also fell,) induced some fathers, and especially +Augustine, (Enarrat. on Ps. 108. n. 1, Tract 118 on John, n. 4, and +last Tract n. 7) to teach that the keys were bestowed on Peter so +far forth as he represented the person of the Church in right of his +Primacy. By which mode of speaking they meant this one thing, that +the power of the keys, as being necessary to the Church, and +instituted for her good, began indeed in Peter, and was communicated +to him in a peculiar manner but by no means dropt, or could possibly +drop, with him. + +[125] Tertull. De Præsc. c. 32. + +[126] Pacian, ad Sempronium, Epis. 3, § 11. + +[127] Ambrose, de Poenit. Lib. 1, c. 7, n. 33. + +[128] Synodical Epistle, among the letters of Ambrose. + +[129] Optatus, de Schism. Donat. Lib. 2, c. 2, and Lib. 7, c. 3. + +[130] Gregory, de vita sua, Tom. 2, p. 9. + +[131] Jerome, adv. Jovin. Lib. 1, n. 14. + +[132] Augustine, in Ps. Cont. partem Donati, cont. Epist. Fundam. c. +4, de utilitate credendi, c. 17, and Epist. 43. + +[133] Gelasius, Epis. 14. + +[134] Hormisdas, Mansi, Tom. 8, 451, in the conditions on which he +readmitted the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Eastern bishops +to communion. + +[135] Agatho, in a letter to the sixth council, read and accepted at +its fourth sitting. + +[136] Maximus, Bibl. Patr. Tom. 11, p. 76. + +[137] Leo, Epist. 10, c. 1. + +[138] Ep. 358, to Pope Celestine. + +[139] The above chapter is translated from Passaglia, Pp. 298-336. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + THE NATURE, MULTIPLICITY, AND FORCE OF PROOF FOR S. PETER'S + PRIMACY. + +[1]As the natural end of all proof is to give assurance, every kind +of it must be considered a mean to persuade and determine the mind. +Not but that there are different kinds, and that in great variety. If +we refer these to their respective topics, some are _internal_ and +_artificial_, others _external_ and _inartificial_; some belong to +the philosopher, others to the theologian, the former having their +source in nature, the latter in revelation; another sort, again, rests +on _witnesses_, and another on _documents_. But if we consider +their persuasive force, they may be conveniently ranged under the +two classes of _probable_, and _certain_ or _demonstrative_. + +But if it be asked what sort of proof we have hitherto used, and +drawn out to the best of our ability, we must distinguish between +the _principal_ and prevailing proof, and this in form is +inartificial, theological, and drawn from the inspired documents; +and the proofs _occasionally inserted_ and confirmatory of the +principal: these, it will be evident, are sometimes artificial and +internal, such as those drawn from analogy, and the harmonious +coherence of doctrines, from the unity and Catholicity of the +Church, and the institution of bishops to rule particular flocks; +and sometimes derived from witnesses, for such we may deem the +ancient Fathers, whose importance and force, as testimonies, no +prudent mind will reject. To embrace, then, the full extent of our +proof, it ranges over all forms and modes, is artificial and +inartificial, and rests not only on documents, but on witnesses. Now +two things follow from this mixed and manifold character of our +proof, of too great importance to be passed over in silence. + +The first of these is, the standard and criterion of resistance +which our proof presents to opponents. For consisting, as it does, +of so many elements, confirmed, as it is, by the absolute harmony of +so many various parts, that only can be a satisfactory answer, which +meets at once every particular proof, and the whole sum of it. For +it would be to small purpose to give another sense, with some +speciousness, to one or two points, if the great mass of matter and +argument remain untouched. The only valid answer would be _to reject +and deny the Primacy of supreme authority, presenting at the same +time a sufficient cause for all those results of which the proof +consists_. For so long as the institution of the Primacy is +necessary to supply a sufficient cause for these results, so long +the force of our proof remains untouched, and the institution of the +Primacy unquestionable. We can therefore demand of our opponents +this alternative, either to acquiesce in our proof, or, rejecting +the Primacy, to find, and when they have found to establish, an +hypothesis equal to the explanation of all that is contained in our +arguments artificial and inartificial, in our documents and our +witnesses. + +The second point is one which all will admit. The proof we have +given is such that _unless_ it be deceptive, the institution of the +Primacy is demonstrated to be not only _true_, but also _revealed_, +not only _tenable_, but matter of _faith_. For although we have +interwoven testimonies and artificial arguments, this was to +confirm what was already demonstrated, and to shed fresh light on +what was already clear; but the _proper_ source from which we have +drawn our proofs, was the documents of the Holy Scriptures +themselves. Now what is thence drawn is [2]revealed, and enters into +the number of things which, being revealed, are matter of _faith_. + +These two points are clear, but a third may be somewhat less so. +Many will ask, what _is_ the force of the proof, its power to +persuade, and whether it carry complete certitude, or be defective. +Now to this we shall reply, that the proof which we have presented +is not only probable, but altogether decisive. It wants nothing to +produce the fullest assurance. This is a subject which I have judged +fit for special and separate investigation, as due both to myself, +my readers, and the cause which I am defending. For it is not a +happiness of our nature to catch the whole and the pure truth at a +single glance. This requires repeated acts of the mind; we have to +make the effort again and again, and only terminate our examination +when we have submitted our supposed discovery to reiterated +reflection. Thus it is that truth comes out in full light, +imposition is detected, the line drawn between doubt and certainty, +and every point located in its due place. This enquiry, then, into +the proof itself I consider due not only to myself and my readers, +but to a cause, which requires the utmost attention as being of the +highest importance, and the source of the deepest dissensions; for +it is not too much to say that the origin of all those divisions +which we see and lament in the Christian name, may be referred to +the reception or the denial of this doctrine concerning the Primacy. + +Now we shall best reach the subject by first considering the +inherent force of the proof _in itself_, and _absolutely_, and then +_comparatively_ with those arguments to which the most distinguished +Protestant sects ascribe a full and complete demonstrative power. + +I. First, then, as to the force of proof _absolutely_. We must +reflect that two conditions complete a proof derived from documents; +_first_, the authenticity of the document; _secondly_, either the +immediate and unquestionable evidence of the testimonies quoted from +it, or their meaning being rendered certain by argument. If these +two conspire, nothing is wanting to produce assurance. Now, as to +the documents, whence our proof is derived, no Christian doubts +their authenticity; and as to the testimonies drawn from them, +part[3] belong to a class of such evidence as to admit of no doubt; +and part,[4] being equally clear, and marked in themselves, have had +to be defended from false interpretations. Accordingly, our proof is +peremptory in both particulars. + +Moreover, our proof was not restricted to one or two passages of +holy Scripture, but extended over a great series, all tending to +support and consolidate the argument. We have set forth, not a naked +institution of the Primacy, but multifold foreshadowings and +promises of it, its daily operation and notoriety. From its first +anticipation we went on to its progressively clearer expression, its +promise, its institution, its exercise, and the everywhere diffused +knowledge of it in the primitive Church. So far, then, as I see, +nothing more can, with reason, be asked, to remove all doubt as to +Peter's prerogative of Primacy; for, when the bestowal of certain +privileges can be proved by documents, all question as to their +existence is terminated. But here we find in documents, not their +bestowal merely, but antecedents and consequences, a beginning, a +progress, and a manifold explanation, which stand to the Primacy as +signs to the thing signified. + +Accordingly, the demonstration which we have given of the Primacy, +considered _in itself_, and _absolutely_, needs nothing to challenge +assent. + +For, suppose it disputed whether Cæsar surpassed the other Roman +Senators in honour and power. Could it be proved by undoubted +records, that he so conducted himself as gradually to smooth his +path to the supreme power; that he next gained from the senate and +Roman people, the title of Emperor and Prince; that he exercised +these powers at home and abroad, and received universal testimony to +the dignity he had acquired; in such case the judgment would be +unanimous that he was emperor, and head of the Roman Senators. Now, +substitute Peter for Cæsar, the Apostles for the Senators; Christ, +the Evangelists, Luke and Paul, for the senate and people; and you +will see all the proofs enumerated for Cæsar, to square exactly with +Peter. For we learn from Scripture _the steps_ by which he rose to +the Primacy, _the time_ when he received it, _how_ he exercised it, +and the lucid testimonies to it which he received from Christ, the +Evangelists, the Apostolic Church, and Paul. Accordingly, his +Primacy and supreme authority among the Apostles rests on a proof +which gives complete assurance, and challenges assent. It is a +consequence deduced, not from a single, but from manifold +inference; not merely drawn from results, but foreseen in its +causes; declared not merely in the words of institution, but in the +very acts of its exercise; supported not only by sundry texts, but +by a cloud of conspiring witnesses; proved by an interpretation, not +obscure, and far-fetched, but clear and obvious. A thing of such a +nature it is folly to deny and temerity to doubt. + +But, further, reflect on the other arguments which come in +collaterally to support that from the Holy Scriptures. Then it will +be found that our proof consists in the harmonious concurrence of +these four sources, 1. _the authentic scriptural documents_ +distinctly setting forth the promises, the bestowal, the exercise, +and the everywhere diffused knowledge of the Primacy: 2. _witnesses_ +the most ancient, well nigh coeval with the Apostles, of great +number, renowned for their holiness, or their martyrdom, excellent +in learning, far removed from each other in situation, faithful +maintainers of the Apostolic teaching, who, with one mouth, +acknowledge the Primacy: 3. _the analogy of doctrines_, for the +Church, which we profess to be one, and Catholic, can neither exist, +nor even be conceived as such, without the Primacy: 4. _the facts of +Christian history_, which are so entwined with the institution of +the Primacy, that they cannot be even contemplated without it. For +there are no less than fourteen distinct classes of facts in +Christian history, all of which bear witness to the Primacy, and +which cannot be studied without coming across that power. Such are, +1. _the history of heresies_, where, in ancient times alone, +consider the acts and statutes of Pope Dionysius, in the causes of +Paul of Samosata, and Dionysius of Alexandria; of Popes Sylvester +and Julius, in the cause of Arius; of Pope Damasus in that of +Apollinarius; of Popes Innocent and Zosimus in that of Pelagius; of +Pope Celestine in that of Nestorius; and of Pope Leo in that of +Eutyches; so that Ferrandus[5] of Carthage wrote in the sixth +century, "If you desire to hear aught of truth, ask in the first +place the prelate of the Apostolic See, whose sound doctrine is +known by the judgment of truth, and grounded on the weight of +authority." 2. _The history of schisms_, which have arisen in the +Church, when we consider the unquestionable facts about Novatian, +Fortunatus and Felicissimus, the Donatists, and Acacius of +Constantinople, so that Bede, in our own country, wrote in the +seventh century, commenting on Matt. xvi. 10, "All believers in the +world understand, that whosoever, in any way separate themselves +from the unity of the faith, or from the society of Peter, such can +neither be absolved from the bonds of their sins, nor enter the +threshold of the heavenly kingdom." 3. _The history of the liturgy_, +as the contests about the paschal time, and what Eusebius, in the +fifth book of his history, c. 22-5, says about Pope Victor. 4. _The +history_ of the _summoning_, the _holding_, and the _confirming +general councils_, wherein the Acts of Synods, the letters of the +supreme Pontiffs, and the writings of the Fathers, show the entire +truth of what is stated by the ancient Greek historians, Socrates +and Sozomen,[6] that an ecclesiastical Canon had always been in +force, "that the Churches should not pass Canons contrary to the +decision of the bishop of Rome," which Pope Pelagius,[7] in the +sixth century thus expressed, "the right of calling councils is +entrusted by a special power to the Apostolic See, nor do we read +that a general council has been valid, which was not assembled or +supported by its authority. This is attested by the authority of +canons, corroborated by ecclesiastical history, and confirmed by the +holy Fathers." And Ferrandus says, "Universal councils, more +especially those to which the authority of the Roman Church has been +given, hold the place of second authority after the canonical +books."[8] 5. _The history of ecclesiastical laws_, for the +regulation of discipline, a summary of which, enacted by the +successors of Peter from Victor I. to Gregory II., may be found in +Zaccaria's Antifebronius, Tom. ii., p. 425, and his Antifebronius +Vindicatus, Diss. vi., c. 1. 6. _The history of judgments_, +specially the most remarkable in the Church, of which, if we are to +believe history, we can only repeat what Pope Gelasius wrote at the +end of the fifth century, to the Bishops of Dardania, "We must not +omit that the Apostolic See has frequently, to use our Roman phrase, +more majorum, even without any council preceding, had the power to +absolve those whom a council had unjustly condemned, or to condemn, +without any council, those who required condemnation:" and as he +wrote to the Greek emperor, Anastasius, "that the authority of the +Apostolic See has in all Christian ages been set over the Church +universal, is established by the series of the canons of the +Fathers, and by manifold tradition."[9] 7. _The history of +references_, which were wont to be made to the chair of Peter, in +the greater causes of faith, and in those respecting Catholic unity. +Thus, Avitus, bishop of Vienne, A.D. 500, said, "It is a rule of +synodical laws, that, in matters relating to the state of the +Church, if any doubt arises, we, as obedient members, recur to the +priest of the Roman Church, who is the greatest, as to our +head."[10] To the same effect is the letter of Pope Innocent I., to +S. Victrice, of Rouen, at the beginning of the fifth century, and +again, the African Fathers to Pope Theodore; or again, S. Bernard, +writing to Pope Innocent II., against the errors of Abelard, "All +dangers and scandals emerging in the kingdom of God, specially those +which concern faith, must be referred to your Apostolate: for I +esteem it fitting that the injuries done to faith should be repaired +there in particular, where faith cannot fail. That is the +prerogative of this See." 8. _The history of appeals_, of which a +vast number of remarkable instances exist. Take, as the key, the +words of Pope Gelasius once more: "It is the canons themselves which +have ordered the appeals of the whole Church to be carried to the +examination of this See. But from it they have allowed of no appeal +in any case; and, therefore, they enjoin that it should judge of the +whole Church, but go itself before the judgment of none: nor do they +allow of appeal from its sentence, but rather require obedience to +its decrees."[11] And Pope Agatho, in the Roman Council, pronouncing +on the appeal of our own S. Wilfrid, of York, the contemporary of +Bede, A.D. 688, declares that "Wilfrid the bishop, beloved of God, +knowing himself unjustly deposed from his bishopric, did not +_contumaciously resist by means of the secular power_, but with +humility of mind sought the canonical aid of our founder, blessed +Peter, prince of the Apostles, and declared in his supplication that +he would accept what by our mouth, blessed Peter, our founder, whose +office we discharge, should determine."[12] 9. _The history of the +ecclesiastical hierarchy_,[13] and of the _rights possessed by +certain episcopal Sees over others_, of which we may take an +instance in the grants of Pope Gregory the Great, and his +successors, to the See of Canterbury, which alone made it a Primacy. +For the bishops of Canterbury had no power whatever over the other +bishops of this country, save what they derived from S. Peter's See. +And the documents, and original letters conferring these powers +still exist, giving the fullest proof that Pope Pius only did in +1850, what Pope Gregory did in 596. 10. _The history of the +universal propagation of the Christian religion._[14] 11. _The +history of those tokens and pledges_,[15] such as letters of +communion, whereby Catholic unity was exhibited and maintained. 12. +_The history of Christian archæology_,[16] inscriptions, paintings, +and other monuments of this kind. 13. _The history of the emperors_, +as, for instance, what Ammianus Marcellinus[17] says of Constantius; +the letter of the Emperor Marcian to Pope Leo, entreating him to +confirm the council of Chalcedon; that of Galla Placidia, the 130th +novel of Justinian, and the remarkable constitution of Valentinian +III., A.D. 445. "Since the merit of S. Peter, who is the chief of +the episcopal coronet, and the dignity of the Roman city, moreover, +the authority of a sacred synod" (that of Sardica, A.D. 347) "have +confirmed the Primacy of the Apostolic See, let presumption not +endeavour to attempt anything unlawful, contrary to the authority of +that See: for, then, at length, the peace of the Church will +everywhere be preserved, if the whole (universitas) acknowledge its +ruler." And, 14. lastly, _the history of codes_, in which is +contained the legislation of Christian kingdoms, wherein we may +refer to the capitulars of the Franks, and the laws of the Lombards. + +Now from these concordant proofs thus slightly sketched, it follows +that the institution of the Primacy belongs to that class of facts +which is most certain, and which is absolutely demonstrated. For +would it be possible to find a concurrence of proofs so various in +case it had never been instituted? Is it possible to imagine so many +various results of a cause which never existed? So many various +tokens of reality in a fiction? What are the chances for letters +thrown at random forming themselves into an eloquent speech? Or a +beautiful portrait coming out from a mere assemblage of colours? Or +a whole discourse in an unknown tongue being elegantly rendered by a +guess? If these be sheer absurdities, although a few letters have +sometimes tumbled at random into a word, or a single clause been +decyphered, though in ignorance of the alphabet, then we may be sure +that the Primacy, attested by so vast a variety of convergent +results, can no more be untrue, than effects can exist without a +cause, splendour without light, or vocal harmony without sound. +Accordingly an institution established by such a union of proof, +carries prisoner the assent. It may indeed be disregarded by a +resolution of the _will_, but can neither be passed by, nor refuted, +by a judgment of the _reason_. + +And[18] having on the one hand this vast amount of _positive_ +proof, from sources so various, in its behalf, so that without it +the whole Christian history of eighteen centuries, in all its +manifold blendings with secular history, becomes unintelligible, a +snarl which it is impossible to arrange, when we come on the other +hand to consider what its opponents allege of _positive_ on their +own side, we find nothing. They content themselves with objections +to this or that detached point, with historical difficulties, and +obscurations of the full proof, such, for instance, as the conduct +of S. Cyprian in one controversy, the occasional resistance of a +metropolitan, the secular instinct of an imperial government +stirring up eastern bishops to revolt, and fostering an Erastian +spirit in the Church, the ambition of thoroughly bad men, such as +Acacius or Photius, and the like. But what we may fairly ask of +opponents, and what we never find the most distant approach to in +them is, if, as they say, S. Peter's Primacy be not legitimate, and +instituted by Christ for the government of the Church, what _counter +system_ have they, which they can prove by ancient documents, and +whereby they can solve the manifold facts of history? In all their +arguments against the Primacy they are so absolutely _negative_, +that the grand result, if they were successful, would be to reduce +the Church to a heap of ruins, to show that she, who is entrusted +with the authoritative teaching of the world, has no internal +coherence either of government or doctrine, in fact, no message from +God to deliver, and no power to enforce it when delivered. In the +arguments of Greeks and Anglicans, Lutherans and Calvinists, and all +the Protestant sects, the gates of hell have long ago prevailed +against the Church, and the devil has built up at his ease a city of +confusion on the rock which Christ chose for her foundation. If we +listen to them, never has victory been more complete than that of +the evil one over the Son of God: the promised unity he has +scattered to the winds: the doctrine of truth he has utterly +corrupted: the charity wherewith Christians loved one another he has +turned into gall and wormwood. That is, the opponents of S. Peter's +Primacy are one and all simply _destructives_; they inspire despair, +and are the pioneers of infidelity, but are utterly powerless to +build up. Ask the Anglican what is the source of spiritual +jurisdiction, and the bond of the episcopate which he affects to +defend? _He makes no reply._ All he can say is, it is _not_ S. +Peter. Ask the Greek, if bishops and patriarch disagree, and come to +opposite judgments on the faith, or to schisms in communion, which +party make the Church? _He has no solution to offer_, save that it +is _not_ the party which sides with S. Peter's successor. Ask the +pure Protestant, who maintains the sole authority of the written +word, if you disagree about the meaning of Scripture in points which +you admit to touch salvation, who is to determine what is the true +meaning of the word of God? _He has nothing to reply_, save that he +is sure it is _not_ the Pope. Contrast, then, on the one side, a +complete coherent system, fully delineated and set forth in the +Bible, attested by the Fathers, corroborated by analogy, and +harmonising the history of eighteen hundred years in its infinitely +numerous relations, with, on the other side, a mere heap of +objections and denials, with shreds of truths held without cohesion, +with analogy violated, history thrown into hopeless confusion, and +to crown the whole, Holy Scripture incessantly appealed to, yet its +plainest declarations recklessly disregarded, and its most +consoling promises utterly evacuated. Choose, upon this, between +_within_ and _without_. + +II. But such being the argument for the Primacy _of itself_ and +_absolutely_, look at it now in a _comparative_ point of view with +other doctrines. Let us ask Anglicans, Lutherans, and Calvinists, +respectively, to compare it in order with the proofs with which +they, each in behalf of his own sect, defend either the authority of +bishops, and their distinction from presbyters, as instituted by +Christ, or the real presence of the Lord's body in the Eucharist, or +the divine nature of Christ, and His consubstantiality with the +Father. Can they state, upon a comparison of these, that there are +_more_ testimonies of Holy Scripture in behalf of these latter +doctrines than for the Primacy of Peter? As for the articles of the +real presence, and the superiority of bishops, this cannot be +asserted with any show of truth, since in behalf of both there are +undoubtedly fewer. Certainly there are a great number for the +divinity of Christ, yet not much less are those which the same +Scriptures contain in support of Peter's Primacy. So that if the +force of proof is to be judged of by the _number of texts_, that in +behalf of the Primacy will either be preferred to the rest, or at +least yield to none. + +But I anticipate the answer that it is not the number of texts which +will decide the question, but their perspicuity and evidence, which +constitute their force. To meet which objection I shall merely set +these several parties against each other. What, then, do Lutherans +think of the perspicuity of those texts by which Anglicans maintain +the superiority of bishops over presbyters? They are unanimous in +thinking them not merely most obscure, but absolutely foreign to the +purpose for which they are cited. Just the same is the Calvinist +opinion of the Lutheran proofs for the real presence, and the +Socinian view of the texts alleged by Calvinists in behalf of +Christ's divinity. Both obstinately refuse to admit that their +opponents urge anything decisive. It would be easy to quote +instances of this, if it was not notorious. It is, then, no unfair +inference that Protestants have no particular reason to boast +triumphantly of the perspicuity and evidence of the texts on which +they severally rely. + +But who, they retort, cannot see that the cause of the Primacy, +which we defend, is far inferior? For our exposition is opposed not +by one or two parties, but by them all in a mass, Anglicans, +Lutherans, Calvinists, and _all who are not Catholics_. The addition +is significant, _all who are not Catholics_, for indeed all these, +and these alone, are our opponents. Yet their very name creates the +gravest prejudice against them, and shows them to be unworthy of +attention. As S. Augustine said, "The Catholic Church is one, to +which different heresies give various names, they themselves each +possessing their own name, which they dare not refuse. Whence judges +unaffected by partiality can form an opinion to whom the name of +Catholic, which all aim at, ought to be given."[19] If, then, the +name of Catholic is a note of truth, the negation of that name is a +test of error and heresy. But no one will imagine that heretics, +that is, the enemies of Christ and the Apostles, have a right to be +followed in what concerns the doctrine of Christ, and the Apostolic +institutions. Thus what Tertullian said is to the point, "Though we +had to search still and for ever, yet _where_ are we to search? Is +it among heretics, where all is foreign and opposed to our own +truth, whom we are not allowed to approach?[20] What servant expects +food from a stranger, not to say an enemy of his lord? What soldier +takes donative or pay from confederate, not to say from hostile +kings, except he be an open deserter and rebel? Even the woman in +the Gospel searched for her piece of silver within her own house. +Even he who knocked, struck the door of a friend.[21] Even the widow +solicited a judge, who was hard indeed, but not her enemy. No one +can be built up by the person who destroys him. No one be +enlightened by one who shuts him up in darkness. Let us search then +in our own, and from our own, and about our own, and only that which +can be questioned without harm to the rule of faith."[22] + +But if we look closer into the matter, we shall find that even in +the interpretation of our texts Protestants are not so agreed with +each other as uniformly to oppose us. Some of the greatest names +amongst them, such as Camero, Grotius, Hammond, Leclerc, Dodwell, +Michaelis, Rosenmüller, and Kuinoel, differ from the rest and agree +with us in interpreting, "upon this rock I will build My Church," +words of great importance in the controversy about the Primacy. So +that we were not wrong in stating that Protestants do not entirely +agree among each other in their interpretation, nor disagree with +ours. + +But grant that they were one and all opposed to it, it would not +prove much. For, _first_, it could hardly happen otherwise, since +the whole Protestant cause is so contained in this matter of the +Primacy, that, were they to confess themselves wrong in it, they +would pronounce themselves guilty of the most groundless schism. +Therefore it is a matter of life and death with them to resist us. +_Secondly_, as they dissent from us, so do they desert that doctrine +which the whole Christian body solemnly professed and defined before +the sixteenth century in ecumenical councils, that of Florence held +in 1439, the second of Lyons in 1274, and the fourth Lateran in +1215. We, then, follow antiquity, and they take up novelty. And so +it follows that while we have Protestants against us, we have the +earlier Christians for us, whilst Protestants are opposed not only +to the present race of Catholics, but to those whose children these +are, and whose doctrines they have preserved. For as to the ancient +interpretation of these texts take the following proof, contained in +a letter of Pope Agatho to the Greek emperor Heraclius, read and +approved in the sixth general council, A.D. 680. "The true +confession of Peter was revealed by the Father from heaven, for +which Peter was pronounced to be blessed by the Lord of all, who +likewise by a triple commendation was entrusted with the feeding of +the spiritual sheep of the Church by the Redeemer of all Himself; in +virtue of whose assistance this his apostolical church hath never +turned aside from the path of truth to any error whatsoever; whose +authority, as of the Prince of all the Apostles, the whole Catholic +Church at all times and the universal councils faithfully embracing, +have in all respects followed, and all the venerable Fathers have +entertained its apostolic doctrine; through which there have shone +the most approved lights of the Church; which while the holy +orthodox Fathers have venerated and followed, _heretics have pursued +with false accusations, and calumnies inspired by hatred. This is +the living tradition of Christ's Apostles, which His Church +everywhere holds._"[23] We might imagine that Sir Thomas More had +these words before his eyes when he answered Luther, "not only all +that learned and holy men have collected to the point moves me to +give willing obedience to that See, but especially what we have so +often witnessed, that not only there never was an enemy to the +Christian faith who did not at the same time declare war against +that See, but also that there never has been one who professed +himself an enemy of that See without shortly after declaring himself +signally a capital foe and traitor of Christ and our religion. +Another thing, too, has great weight with me, that if, in this +manner, the faults of individuals are laid to the charge of their +office, all authority will collapse, and the people will be without +ruler, law, or order. And if this ever happens, as it seems likely +to happen in parts of Germany, at length they will learn to their +cost how much more it is to the interest of society to have even bad +rulers rather than none."[24] + +Protestants, then, have many more opponents than we; to which we may +add, _thirdly_, that we assert and maintain a doctrine which for +several ages had no opponents worth mentioning, and which received a +general belief and assent. Protestants, on the contrary, no sooner +brought their doctrine to light than they roused the whole Catholic +Church against them; that very Church, _fourthly_, from which they +had rebelled, in which they had been washed in the laver of +regeneration, whose motherly care had enrolled them as Christians, +from which they had received the Bible and all other Christian +blessings, which, before that fatal schism, alone presented the +appearance of the true Church, and was invested with attributes +which inspired belief and fostered obedience. For such were +antiquity, the hierarchy, unity, the agreement of its members, +universality; such, again, the splendour of sanctity and learning; +zeal in the guardianship of primeval tradition, hatred of profane +novelties; and, lastly, the renown of those heavenly gifts, which +cannot fail the true Church of Christ, and were ascribed to no other +body. + +But _fifthly_, it would be very apposite to compare the Catholic +Church with herself, and contrast her state and condition in the +nineteenth century with that same state and condition in the fourth, +the fifth, and the sixth. Now who, in the fourth century, professed +the consubstantiality of the Trinity? Well nigh Catholics alone, +while innumerable sects of heretics opposed this doctrine. War to +the knife was waged against it by Praxeans, Noetians, Sabellians, +Paulianists, Arians, and their worst portion, the Anomæans, +Macedonians, and those who then made their appearance, Tritheists. +Again, in the fifth and the sixth centuries, who were they who +retained the true faith in Christ the God-Man, and His dispensation +in taking flesh? Once more the true faith was hardly found outside +the Catholics, while the followers of Theodore of Mopsuestia, and +Diodorus of Tarsus, Nestorius and the Nestorians, Eutyches, and the +Eutychean sects at daggers drawn with each other, and in fine, the +Monothelites and their sects, who hated one another and the +Catholics with equal bitterness, clubbed all their forces together +to oppose it. Now do any Protestants venture to infer that in the +fourth and following centuries the cause of the Catholic Church was +less certain, on account of this mob of hostile sects? I should +consider such an insinuation an insult to them. They must +accordingly allow my parallel inference, that it is fair to pass the +same judgment on the cause of the Primacy now for some centuries +defended by the Catholics against the Protestants. + +_Lastly_, to address specially Lutherans and Anglicans. They are +well aware that almost all sects are not more opposed to the +supremacy of Peter than to the superiority of bishops, and the +verity of the Lord's body in the Eucharist. But are they therefore +deterred by the number of their enemies, or do they distrust the +goodness of their cause, or doubt the perspicuity of those documents +on which they rely for the victory? They can afford to disdain the +tricks of their opponents, as well as repulse their attacks. They +must, accordingly, agree with us that the assertions or denials of +contesting parties ought not to be, and cannot be, the test of a +cause's goodness, and of documentary evidence. + +But, then, by what standard are we to go? I reply, by those criteria +which are not subject to just exception, and which must be approved +by all who seek the truth, and obey the dictate of reason. Now four +such criteria in chief I think may be assigned, the two former of +which are _immediate_ and _internal_, the third _internal_, but +somewhat more remote; the fourth, _external_, but of great weight, +and not to be overlooked. To speak of the former first; one of these +is _verbal_, and belongs to the words and phrases of which the text +consists; the other _real_, and regards the meaning of the sentence. +Indeed, no other sources of obscurity or of clearness can be +imagined than either the _words_ which express the _matter_, or the +_matter_ intended by the _words_. If both words and matter are +plain, and perspicuous, the discourse will be clear, and the +language distinct; but if either the matter exceed the power of +reason, or the words do not run clear, or both these conspire, the +evidence of the meaning will be more or less impaired. + +I. Now, to begin with _words_, I shall not be severe, but allow to +Anglicans, Lutherans, and Calvinists, that the texts alleged by each +of them in behalf of his own cause consist of words which are either +immediately perspicuous, or become mediately clear upon definite +principles. But in turn I should ask them repeatedly to consider +whether such a perspicuity can be denied to the words of which the +texts cited for the Primacy of Peter consist. These words are in +general and vulgar use, continually repeated in the Bible, but so +connected together that their certain meaning is either immediately +evident, or fixed with very little trouble. But are not most of them +metaphorical, such as _rock_, _building_, _keys_, _binding_, +_loosing_, _lambs_, _sheep_, _feeding_? Undoubtedly some are such, +yet not that words used in their _proper_ sense are wanting, as when +Peter is called _the first_, _the greater_, the _superior_; also +when he is charged _to confirm his brethren_; and what we collect +from the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles of S. Paul, and the +evangelists' mode of writing. Not, _secondly_, that it is not +evident, from the connection of the discourse, what fixed and +established meaning must be given to those metaphorical expressions. +Not, thirdly, that the meaning of those formulas is not shown by the +exercise of the powers conferred in them. Not, fourthly, that there +is any inability, if you remove the metaphor, to express in _proper_ +words what the metaphor shadows out. Not, fifthly, as if the literal +and immediate sense were therefore wanting; for it is very plain +that the metaphorical[25] sense likewise is literal and immediate. +And sixthly, not that _metaphorical_ can be considered equivalent to +_obscure_, for obscurity is most opposed to the very genius of +metaphor, and such a canon would destroy the perspicuity of human +language. For there is no language, ancient or modern, rude or +polished, semitic, chamitic, or japhetic, whose _metaphorical_ is +not much more copious than its _proper_ vocabulary. + +Metaphor, then, and obscurity are very far removed from each other, +and there is nothing to prevent a metaphorical expression bearing +the plainest sense. For such the sense will be, whenever what is +called the _foundation_ of the metaphor is clear, and the series of +the discourse indicates _the point of likeness_, and usage of speech +unfolds _the force_ of the metaphor. Now all these conditions, which +ensure perspicuity in the metaphor, are found in interpreting the +metaphors which contain the singular prerogatives of Peter. For as +it is perfectly plain whence the metaphors of _foundation_, +_building_, _keys_, _binding_, _loosing_, _sheep_, _lambs_, +_shepherd_, are drawn, so the context defines the point of +similitude, and usage of speech does not allow ignorance of the +force of such metaphors. And thus the texts on Peter's Primacy have +a verbal perspicuity which will bear a favourable comparison with +those texts, on which Anglicans, Lutherans, and Calvinists rely. For +indeed all the difficulties, in the invention of which Protestants +have shown their ingenuity, are introduced, put upon the words, not +drawn from them. So on the contrary, the haters of the Primacy +evidently wince at their clearness. + +2. _Verbal_ perspicuity is followed by _real_, or that which concerns +the _subject matter_. And this, I assert, is far inferior, far more +slender, in the above named Protestant controversies, than in this +of the Catholics. Indeed, both the controversies, on the real +presence and on the divinity of Christ, have a super-intelligible +object, so far exceeding the natural power of reason, as to admit +of the mind's conceiving it by analogy, but not by a _distinct_ and + _proper_ knowledge. For this is the nature of mysteries, whence it +follows in them that neither single words have distinct notions, +nor a whole proposition distinct sense. Whereas in the controversy +about the Primacy, there is nothing which is not commensurate with +reason, and which has not the advantage of proper and distinct +notions. For, of revealed truths, some being _rational_, some +_beyond_ reason, and some _above_ reason, the proper character of +those which are called _beyond_ reason is, that, _if_ revealed, they +are cognizable by reason. Now to such an order of truths the +institution of the Primacy belongs. Thus its _real_ evidence, that +namely which concerns its _subject matter_, is much superior to that +which the others admit of. But should we grant as much to the +controversy in which Anglicans defend the superiority of bishops +over presbyters? Grant this, yet still it remains that in this +species of _real_ evidence the cause of the Primacy is far superior +to that of the real presence, or that of the divinity of Christ. +But, in truth, the Anglican doctrine on bishops may be considered +from two points of view, either as severed from the Catholic dogma +on Peter's Primacy, or as in connexion and coherence with it. From +the latter point of view I should admit it to be so agreeable to +reason, that this power calls for it, and rests in it, when once +illuminated by faith, so as to know, that is, the purpose of Christ +that each particular Church should present the aspect of an united +family. But sever this superiority of bishops over presbyters from +the dogma of the Primacy, and inveigh as keenly against Peter's +supremacy as you defend their presidency, which is what Anglicans +do, and then I could only conclude that this doctrine is plainly +contrary to reason instead of agreeing with it. + +For whence do Anglicans deduce its agreement with reason? Hammond, +Pearson, Beveridge, Bingham, and their other greater theologians, +tell us that it follows very plainly, because we know that Christ +carefully provided for the unity of particular Churches, which, they +say, it seems impossible to obtain without the superior power of +bishops. It is a good inference; but did Christ show less care for +the unity of the whole Church than for that of particular Churches? +Who can seriously maintain this? For what is the unity recommended +by Christ and so earnestly urged by the Apostles, save that of the +whole Church? And when we acknowledge in the creed _one_ Church, do +we mean a particular or the universal Church? We mean that which we +also acknowledge to be Catholic, and therefore the unity is that of +the Catholic Church. And therefore it was Christ's intention, and +His certain will, that not only particular Churches, but the +universal body of the Church, should possess the test and the dower +of unity. And this Anglican notion, which denies of the universal +Church, what it affirms of particular Churches, may suit very well +an island, holding itself aloof from the rest of the world, but it +is quite incompatible with the radical idea of the kingdom of +Christ. + +Moreover, if it was necessary for the production and maintenance of +unity in particular Churches to set bishops over them, with +authority superior to that of presbyters; if reason demands that it +being Christ's will for particular Churches to live in unity, He +should likewise have instituted the power which distinguishes +bishops from presbyters; can we suppose either that it was not +necessary for the production and maintenance of unity in the +Catholic Church, to commit its government to an universal superior, +or that reason does not _equally_ require, that Christ, who enjoined +the Catholic Church to maintain unity, should have instituted the +universal Pastor? Nay, as the necessity is not equal on the two +sides, but so much stronger on the side of unity in the _Catholic_ +Church, as it is more difficult to hold together in one an +innumerable than a limited number, men scattered over the globe than +men within a narrow region, nations differing in genius, habits, and +laws, than those who resemble each other in these; so reason, which +for particular Churches requires their respective bishops, _much +more_ requires the institution of a _universal_ superior, lest the +end should appear to have been devised without the means, and the +divine work of Christ be deficient in wisdom. What, then, are +Anglicans about in dividing these two doctrines, and contending for +the institution of bishops, while they obstinately deny the +institution of the Primacy? They strip of its authority the very +truth which they defend, and by severing doctrines which derive +their consistency from their cohesion, put weapons in the hands of +presbyterians to assault and even overthrow the very dogma from +which they take their name of episcopalians. Accordingly the +evidence derived from the _subject matter_ is much clearer in those +texts which are alleged for Peter's Primacy, than in those by which +the superiority of bishops over presbyters, the real presence, and +the divine person of Christ, are proved. + +Now the force of demonstration derived from documents corresponds to +the sum of _verbal_ and _real_ evidence in the texts, being greater +or less as this is stronger or weaker. In other words, the force of +demonstration belongs to that class of evidence which mathematicians +call _direct_. But both these sorts of evidence exist in the same, +or even in a fuller degree, in those texts which concern the +Primacy, and set forth its divine institution. Accordingly the force +of demonstration for the Primacy is equal or superior to that +belonging to the arguments which prove the superiority of bishops, +the real presence, and Christ's divine person. Yet these arguments +have such force, that the articles which they prove cannot, in the +opinion of Anglicans, Lutherans, and Calvinists, be questioned +without incurring the deepest guilt of heresy. We have, then, the +same or even a stronger reason to affirm that the Primacy of Peter, +resting on the same, or even a stronger, evidence, as _revealed_, +cannot be denied without heresy. + +And this is a corollary which I would entreat Anglicans, Lutherans, +and Calvinists, carefully to consider, and then say whether they are +consistent; for then I feel assured they would become discontented +with themselves, by reflecting that, in the choice of the articles +which they hold, they are not following the clearness of revelation, +but party spirit and factious prejudices. What satisfactory answer +can they ever return to the Catholic who asks why they, who on equal +or less evidence defend the superiority of bishops, deny the Primacy +which rests on similar or greater proof? Or why they attack the +Primacy, while they defend the real presence, or the divinity of +Christ, which are supported by no more evident arguments? And how +will they satisfy their own conscience, should this thought ever +cross them, "Why do I at one time obey, at another time resist, the +same evidence of revelation?" That same faith with which they +severally believe the divine appointment of bishops, the real +presence, and the consubstantiality of Christ, compels them, if +they would maintain consistency, and not repel conviction, to +confess the Primacy of Peter. + +And this argument might be carried much further, if they would +reflect how great is the brilliancy of evidence in behalf of the +Primacy, compared with sundry other capital Christian doctrines, +some or all of which they hold without question: such are the +consubstantiality of the Trinity, the unity of Christ's Person, the +propagation of original sin, the eternity of punishment, +regeneration in baptism, and gratuitous justification. They will +find, on reflection, that they hold these doctrines not because they +are proved by stronger scriptural evidence than the Primacy, for +quite the reverse is the truth, nor because they are encompassed +with less obscurity in their own character, for the subject matter +of the Primacy is clear and distinct in comparison with them all, +but because the doctrines do not oppose the particular tradition +which they have received, and so their minds are not set against +them. Let them once come to compare the whole evidence for the +Primacy, scriptural, traditional, analogical, and historical, which +last alone comprehends the fourteen heads above enumerated, with the +same evidence in behalf of any or all of those, and they cannot but +admit its great superiority. + +3. But we must proceed to the _third_ criterion, which increases not +a little the evidence from revelation for the Primacy. For Catholics +and Protestants are agreed in considering _analogy_ as one of the +best helps in interpretation, and in assigning to it the force of a +real parallelism, a proceeding which rests on the necessity of the +Scripture presenting one whole and harmonious body of doctrine in +its several parts. And in order not to deprive this help of its +efficacy, both parties give two conditions for its exercise, the +first, _that no sense be put upon passages of Scripture contrary to +analogy_; the second, _that no violence be used to the language of +Scripture to conform it with analogy, which would be imposing on +holy writ the sense wanted from it_. These two faults carefully +avoided, analogy is of great service, and throws much light upon +interpretation. + +But, now, is there such a sum of doctrine, so remarkable, and so +diffused through all the books of the New Testament, that the texts +expressing the gifts and prerogatives of Peter, can be tried by the +touchstone of this analogy? Such, indeed, there is, very remarkable, +and threefold in character. The first point is found in the +texts[26] which regard the divine institution of bishops: the other +two in those which show the unity,[27] and the Catholicity[28] of +the Church. For what can stand in closer connection with these +articles of doctrine, than the appointment of a supreme ruler to +discharge over the universal Church the office which every bishop +exercises over his own particular Church, and his own portion of the +flock? What, again, can be more opposed to them, than the +supposition that provision was made, by the institution of bishops, +for _the parts_, but none, by the institution of a supreme pastor, +for _the whole body_, which is to be one and Catholic? Therefore, +that exposition of the texts concerning Peter, which exhibits him as +ruler of the Church universal, and as made to be the visible cause +of that same Catholic unity, so admirably agrees with analogy, that +it must be considered unquestionable, unless texts contradictory to +it can be produced. But so far is it from the case that texts +_considered in themselves_ contradict it, that, on the contrary, +they _immediately_ express it _of themselves_, and can be distorted +from it only by violating all the laws of interpretation. Accordingly, +that view of the texts about Peter, which establishes his Primacy, +is wonderfully confirmed by analogy, and by its harmony with what +the Scriptures tell us of the Church, as instituted by Christ. + +4. And nothing will be wanting to give full assurance to this +confirmation, if we add the _fourth or external_ criterion, that +derived from consent of witnesses. I am not going to urge here the +divine force and infallible authority of Christian tradition: I +shall merely allege what no person of discretion can deny or +question. The first point is, that in the actual controversy the +testimony of the most ancient witnesses cannot be disregarded: and +the second, that it carries the very strongest prejudice in favour +of whichever interpretation it supports. + +Now here we have to do first, with the interpretation of a series of +dogmatic texts; and, secondly, with a point of doctrine, which, +being of the utmost moment, could not be unknown to any one. But are +these matters on which ancient witnesses, such as the Christian +Fathers, and ecclesiastical writers, can be safely past by unheard? +If it were a matter of geography, chronology, or archæology, one +might allow it, though with regret: but this is out of the question, +in a matter of dogmatic texts, and those relating to a most +important doctrine. For notorious is the zeal with which the ancient +Fathers laboured to preserve and interpret the dogmatic texts of +Scripture. We know their care to prevent the introduction of new and +false interpretations, and new and false doctrines thence arising. +And we know that, together with the Scriptures, they received from +the Apostolic teaching the kindred power of interpreting them. For, +as Origen remarked, "Since there are many who think that they +believe what is of Christ, and some of them believe what is +different from those before them, yet, since the preaching of the +Church is preserved, as handed down by the order of succession from +the Apostles, and to the present day abiding in the Church, that +verity alone is to be believed, which in nothing is discordant from +the ecclesiastical and Apostolical tradition."[29] + +Moreover, can it seem safe to enter upon a track most divergent from +that which the Apostles marked out, and the Christian people +constantly followed? S. Paul[30] taught us to listen to witnesses, +and Christendom, whether assembled in council, or everywhere +diffused, was content to depend on them. Most clear is what is said +on this point about the Fathers at Nicea[31] and Ephesus,[32] and no +less so the words of Leontius[33] of Byzantium, John Cassian,[34] +Theodoret,[35] Augustine,[36] Jerome,[37] Epiphanius,[38] Basil,[39] +Origen,[40] Tertullian,[41] Clement[42] of Alexandria, and the +oldest of all, Irenæus,[43] who says, "The true knowledge is +the doctrine of the Apostles, and the ancient state of the Church +in the whole world, and the character of the body of Christ, +according to the succession of bishops, by which they handed down +the Church, which is in every place, which hath reached even to us, +being guarded without fiction, _with a most full interpretation of +the Scriptures_, admitting neither addition nor subtraction, and the +reading without falsification, and legitimate and diligent +exposition according to the Scriptures, without danger, and without +blasphemy, and the chief gift of charity, which is more precious +than knowledge, more glorious than prophecy, more eminent than all +graces." For, as he says elsewhere, "We ought to learn the truth, +where the gifts of the Lord are placed; among whom is that +succession of the Church, which is from the Apostles, sound and +irreproachable conversation, and discourse unadulterated and +incorrupt. For these maintain that faith of ours in one God, who +made all things: these increase that love towards the Son of God, +who has made for our sake so great dispositions: _these explain to +us the Scriptures without peril_." + +And, besides, where is the Protestant who does not praise the Hebrew +illustrations of Lightfoot, Schoettgen, and Meuschen? or who does +not at least make much of the commentaries of Aben Ezra, Kimchi, +Jarchi, and others, in the interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures? +They all see the advantage of approaching such sources of +information, and using them for their own purpose. But are we to +refuse to the Fathers, and ancient doctors of the Church the +deference which we allow to Rabbins and Thalmudists? This is at +least a reason for hearing the testimony of the Fathers. + +And if it be concordant, constant, and universal, it most +powerfully recommends that scriptural interpretation, which agrees +with it. In this, all Catholics without exception, and the most +judicious and learned Protestants, are agreed. In good truth, it +would be incredible that an interpretation could be false, which was +adopted unanimously by the Fathers of every age and country. And it +ought to be as incredible to find any one so conceited, as not to be +greatly moved by the witness and consent of Christian antiquity. + +One point of enquiry remains, whether the Fathers have given their +opinion, and that unanimously, on Peter and the texts, which relate +to him. But their words[44] inserted in the foregoing pages entirely +terminate this controversy, and show that they were all of the mind +expressed by Gregory the Great, in these words, which, it is well to +remember, were directed to the supreme civil authority of those +days, for he tells the emperor: + +"To all who know the Gospel, it is manifest that the charge of the +whole Church was entrusted by the voice of the Lord to the holy +Apostle Peter, Prince of all the Apostles. For to him it is said, +'Peter, lovest thou Me? Feed My sheep.' To him is said, 'Behold, +Satan hath desired to sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for thee, +Peter, that thy faith fail not; and do thou, one day, in turn, +confirm thy brethren.' To him is said, 'Thou art Peter, and upon +this rock I will build My Church,' &c. Lo, he hath received the keys +of the kingdom of heaven, the power of binding and loosing is given +to him, the care and the chiefship of the whole Church is committed +to him."[45] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The following chapter is translated from Passaglia, Pp. 339-360. + +[2] This is not said as _limiting_ revelation to such points, but to +exhibit the scope of the present work, which uses testimony merely +as a human, though very important, support of the cause. + +[3] The texts relating to the primacy, the Evangelists' mode of +writing, that of S. Luke in the first twelve chapters of the Acts, +and that of S. Paul. + +[4] The Apostles' contest about "the greater," the distinction +between the founder, and the visible head of the Church, and for +false interpretations, the primacy of mere precedency, the +perversion of John xxi. 15-20, the assertion of Apostolic equality, +and Gal. i 18-20. + +[5] Interroga igitur, si quid veritatis cupis audire, principaliter +sedis Apostolicæ antistitem, cujus sana doctrina constat judicio +veritatis, et fulcitur munimine auctoritatis. Ferrandus in Epist. ad +Severum. + +[6] Socrates, Hist. L. 2, c. 8-17. Sozomen, hist. L. 3, c. 10. + +[7] In fragm. epist. apud Baluzium, Miscell. Lib. 5, p. 467. + +[8] Ferrandus in litteris ad Pelagium. + +[9] Mansi. Tom. 8, 54, 34. + +[10] Avitus, Epist. 36. + +[11] Gelasius, Epist. 4, ad Faustum. Mansi. 8, 17. + +[12] Mansi. Tom. xi. 184. + +[13] See Peter Ballerini, de potestate ecclesiastica, cap. 1, § 1-6. + +[14] See Mamachi, origines et antiquitates Christianæ, Tom 2. + +[15] See Muzzarelli, de auctoritate Rom. Pontificis in Conciliis +generalibus, c. v. § 9. + +[16] See Mamachi, as above, Tom. v part. 1, c. 2. + +[17] Amm. Marcellinus, Lib. 15, c. 7. + +[18] The following paragraph, down to "within and without," I have +introduced here. It is not in F. Passaglia. + +[19] Aug. de utilitate credendi, c. 7, n. 19. + +[20] Tit. iii. 10. + +[21] Luke xv. 9; xi. 5; xviii. 2. + +[22] Tertullian, de Præsc. c. 21. + +[23] Mansi, concilia, Tom. 11, 239. + +[24] Responsis ad Lutheram, c. x. + +[25] Sense, says John, is the connection or mutual relation of +notions intended by the author in his words, or, according to +others, which is the same thing, the conception of the mind which +the author has expressed in words, and wishes to raise in his +readers. This sense, whether it springs from the proper or whether +from the improper and metaphorical meaning of words, or from +allegorical language, is immediate, grammatical, and literal. + +[26] Acts xiv. 22; xx. 28; 1 Tim. v. 19-22; 2 Tim. iv. 2-5; Tit. i. +5; 1 Pet. v. 2, 3. + +[27] Matt. xvi. 18; xviii. 18; John x. 16; Eph. v. 25; 1 Cor. xii; +John xvii. 20-26. + +[28] Luke xxiv. 47; Acts i. 8; ix. 15; Coloss. i. 8.; 1 Cor. i. 23; +ix. 20; Rom. x. 18. + +[29] Origen. preface kezi azchôn, n. 2. + +[30] 2 Tim. ii. 2. + +[31] See Athanas. de decritis Nic. Synodi, and also Hist. tripartit. +Lib. 2, 2-3. + +[32] See Vincent of Lerins. Commonit. c. 32, 3. + +[33] Leontius, Contr. Nestorium. Lib. 1. + +[34] Cassian, De Incarn. Lib. 1. + +[35] Theodoret, in the three dialogues. + +[36] Augustine, cont. Cresconium, 1, c. 32-3. + +[37] Jerome, Ep. 126, and dialog. adv. Luciferianos. + +[38] Epiphanius. bæres. 61, 75, 78. + +[39] Basil, cont. Eunomium, Lib. 1; de Spiritu S. c. 29. + +[40] Origen in Matt. Tract. 29. + +[41] Tertullian, throughout the book De Prescriptionibus. + +[42] Clement, Stromatum, Lib. 7. + +[43] Irenæus, Lib. 4, c. 63 and 45. + +[44] It may be allowable also to refer to the fifth section of the +work mentioned in the preface, "The See of S. Peter," &c. + +[45] S. Greg. Ep. Lib. 5, 20. + + + + +INDEX. + + +A. + +_Abraham_, parallel between, and Peter, 17-25, 206, 213-4 + +_Acts_, division of, 114 + state the accomplishment of Christ's promises, 114, 116 + history of the mystical body, as the Gospels of the Head, 115 + elucidate the institution of the Primacy by showing its + execution, 116 and following. + +_Africa_, Church of, its terms addressing Pope Theodore, 110, 254. + +_Agatho_, Pope, A.D., 678-682, referred to, 254 + states his Primacy in the case of S. Wilfrid, 254 + to the Emperor Heraclius and the 6th Council 262. + +_Alexander_, of Alexandria, referred to, 238. + +_Ambrose_, St., interprets the name of Peter, 10 + terms Peter "the Rock of the Church," 15 + "the Apostle in whom is the Church's support," 15 + affirms and describes his Primacy, 60 + declares, "where Peter is, there is the Church," 62 + interprets John xxi. 15-17, of Peter's Primacy, 79 + says, "the rights of venerable communion flow from St. Peter's chair + as from a fountain head," 216 + describes schism as rendering Christ's passion of no effect, 231 + and as the unforgiven sin, 231 + mentions a Novatian error of restricting the keys to Peter + personally, 241, n. + assigns the origin of unity to Peter, 242. + +_Ambrosiaster_, + makes Paul's visit an acknowledgment of Peter's Primacy, 164 + ranges James and John under Peter, as Barnabas under Paul, 167 + sees in Paul's censure of Peter a proof of Peter's Primacy, 171. + +_Ammianus Marcellinus_, referred to, 255. + +_Analogy_, between universal and particular churches and the + Primate and all bishops, 217 + of the body, house, kingdom, city, and fold, with the Church, 2-5, 217 + its force as a proof for the Primacy. 251 + as a criterion of interpretation, 272. + +_Anglicanism_, the peculiar inconsistency of, 222-5. + +_Anglicans_, _Lutherans_, and _Calvinists_, + comparative proof for their doctrines and for the Primacy, 259, 274. + +_Apostles_, their relation to Peter, 28, 70, 75-7, 97-9, 102, 104, 108 + their commission as given in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, 68 + exercise of their powers, 69, 149 + how they _sent_ Peter and John, 137 + are teachers and judges in controversy, 149 + the spirit of truth promised to them and to their successors, 184-189 + inequality in the college of, 200 + twelve proofs of it, 204-9. + +_Aquileia_, Fathers of, ascribe the origin of unity to Peter, 242. + +_Archimandrites of Syria_, + call Pope Hormisdas das "Patriarch of the whole world," 216. + +_Arnobius_, calls Peter, the Bishop of Bishops, 146, 216. + +_Athanasius St._, states the object of the Incarnation, 27, 180 + referred to, on behalf of the principle of tradition, 275. + +_Augustine St._, terms Peter + "the rock which the proud gates of hell prevail not against," 15 + "the figure of the Church," 61 + "made another self by Christ, and one with Himself," 110 + states the object of the Incarnation, 27, 179 + explains the banquet in John, ch. xxi, 72 + says the order in which the Apostles were called is uncertain, 88 + mentions Peter's holy humility in being censured by Paul, 176 + says there is no remission of sins outside the Church, 231 + that those who are out of the Church have not charity, 231 + terms schism a horrible crime and sacrilege, 231 + distinguishes the Church as Catholic, 236 + referred to as explaining the term Catholic, 237, 238 + and quoted, 260 + why he teaches that the keys were bestowed on Peter + as representing the person of the Church, 241, n. 124 + referred to, 242 + and on tradition, 295. + +_Avitus, St._, attests the Popes Primacy, 253. + + +B. + +_Ballerini_, Peter, his works referred to, 255. + +_Baronius_, explains St. Peter being sent to the circumcision, 167 + remarks on the distortion of Paul's censure against Peter, 172. + +_Basil St._ calls Peter underlying the building of the Church, 15 + interprets John, xxi. 15-17, as a grant of all pastoral authority to + the Church in the person of Peter her shepherd, 81 + referred to, on principle of tradition, 275. + +_Bede St._, interprets, "Arise, Peter, kill and eat," 140 + condemns all separation from the society of Peter, 252. + +_Bernard St._ + appeals to Pope Innocent II, as holding the Primacy of faith, 60, 254 + calls the Pope universal Bishop, 216 + referred to, as explaining the term Catholic, 237 + speaks of the solicitude of all churches resting on the + Apostolic See 244. + +_Bhoskein_, its meaning, contrasted with _poimahinein_, 103 note. + +_Bishops_, divine institution, of texts for, 273, n. 26 + proof for, compared with that for the Primacy, 268, 270. + +_Bossuet_, + explains the relation between Peter and the Apostles, 75, 78, 103 + his writings against Jurien referred to, 233. + + +C. + +_Coelestinus_, referred to, 238. + +_Calvinists_, their proofs for the divinity of Christ compared with + those of Catholics for the Primacy, 259. + +_Canons_, the 22nd of the Apostolic, quoted, 136. + +_Cartwright_, the Puritan, observes the inconsistency of + Anglicanism, 225, n. 59. + +_Casaubon_, referred to, 232. + +_Cassian John_, + states the Primacy of St. Peter as continuing in the Church, 111 + referred to 275. + +_Catholicity_, texts on the Church's referred to, 220, 273, n. 28 + in what it consists, material and formal parts, 236 + the formal part as negative and as affirmative, 237-241. + +_Cesar_, Julius, parallel between proof for his having been emperor, + and for Peter's Primacy, 250. + +_Christ_, at His passion commends the Church as His "finished work" + to God the Father, 1 + stands in two relations to the Church while on earth, as Founder + and as Ruler, 6, 43 + selects from His disciples first twelve and then one 7, 89 + explains the name of Peter, 12 + communicates to Peter the gift of being the Foundation, 24 + educates him for the office of chief ruler, 29 + associates him in a peculiar manner with Himself, 35 + designates a chief ruler in His Church, 38, 43 + and that one to be Peter, 48 + makes a further disposition of power after His resurrection, 65 + makes Peter the one Shepherd over his fold, 72, 83 + fulfils His promises to the Twelve, 68 + and to Peter, 70 + foretels Peter's crucifixion, 82 + paraphrase of His promises to Peter in Matt. xvi, 17-20, 95 + the mystical Head of the Church, 157 + the incarnate Word the principle of Unity and Headship in + the Church, 178-182 + His headship does not dispense with a visible hierarchy, 185 + and cannot be expressed by the unity of a college, 193 + bestows all spiritual gift, 186, 188. + +_Chrysostome_, St., interprets the name Peter, 9, 27 + terms Peter "the support of the faith," 15 + "the mouth-piece of the Apostles and teacher of the world," 61, 119 + the Teacher, 143, 145 + the Father, 152 + the greater and elder, 163 + interprets "the keys" to mean power over all things in heaven, 14 + interprets, "give it to them for me and for thee," 36, 37 + interprets John xxi, 15-17, as the charge of the whole + Church given to Peter, 79, 80 + witnesses to St. Peter's Primacy, 86, 93, 124, 126, 127 + describes the subject of the Acts, 114 + says that in Christ the race God and man is become one, 115 + describes Peter as the first on every occasion, 121 + says the Acts are those of St. Peter and St. Paul, 121 + interprets "confirm thy brethren" of St. Peter's supreme authority. 124 + makes St. John subordinate to St. Peter, 128 + interprets Acts x, 47, 141 + likens Peter to the commander of an army, 147 + says that he anticipates St. Paul's doctrine to the Romans, 148 + makes St. Paul prefer Peter to himself, 161 + and to the other Apostles, 162 + considers St. Paul's visit to him a proof of his Primacy, 164 + explains Gal. ii. 7-9, 166 + speaks of the dignity of St. Peter's person, 171 + denies it to have been St. Peter who censured by St. Paul, 174 + remarks on St. Paul's prudence in the manner of giving this + censure, 177 + his remark on the Incarnation, 180 + describes the unity of the Church all over the world, 218 + distinguishes the Church as Catholic, 236 + referred to on necessity of communion between the Church's + members, 239. + +_Church_, establishment of, + the "finished work" of God the Word incarnate, 1, 4 + unity and visibility part of its primary idea, 3 + and a visible headship, 5 + unchangeable, like her Lord, 44 + had one ruler from the beginning, 45 + unity or, fourfold, 182 + of mystical influx, 182 + of charity, 183 + of faith, 183-189 + of visible headship, 190-196 + its identity, 220 + its unity, and texts proving it, 220 + its Catholicity, 236 + these three viewed as reasons for the Primacy, 236-241 + means the whole society of believers, 223 + texts which so define it, 223, n. 46 + as set forth in Scripture, 230. + +_Claude_, the Calvinist, referred to, 232. + +_Clement_ of Alexandria referred to + as defining the Church, 223 + on the term Catholic, 237 + on the principle of tradition, 275. + +_Clement_, the Pseudo, his epistle St. James quoted, 137. + +_Confirming_, meaning of the term in Luke xxii. 32, 53. + +_Cornelius_, conversion of, 138. + +_Council_ of Nicea, referred to, 238, 275. + + ---- of Sardica, referred to, 238. + + ---- of Ephesus, referred to, 238. + + ---- of Chalcedon, terms Peter, "the rock and foundation of the + Catholic Church, and the basis of the orthodox faith," 16. + + ---- third of Carthage, referred to, 224, 238. + + ---- second of Constantinople, referred to, 224. + + ---- of Laodicea, referred to, 224. + + ---- second Nicene, referred to, 224. + +_Creed_, how it contains St. Peter's Primacy, 243. + +_Criteria_ of interpretation, four chief ones, 265 + verbal, 266 + real, 267 + analogical, 271 + consent of witnesses, 274. + +_Cyprian_ St., + terms Peter the Rock of the Church that was to be built, 15 + quotes the confessors out of Novatian's schism, 45 + says that perfidy cannot approach the Roman faith, 55 + says that the Church is built on Peter, 62, 175 + says that the Apostles, as such, are equal, 69 + but adds the Primacy of St. Peter, 81 + solution of his phrase, "the episcopate is one, of which apart is + held by each without division of the whole," 100 + how his statements on the unity of the Catholic episcopate cohere + with the Primacy, 240 + makes St. Peter's See the fountain in the Church, 110 + says the Church is in the bishop, 135 + compares the unity in the Church to that of the Holy Trinity, 196 + defines a particular church as a people united to its priest, + and a flock adhering to its pastor, 218 + describes the one Church and its prerogatives, 228 + distinguishes it by the name Catholic, 236. + +_Cyril_, St., of Alexandria, says the Church is founded on Peter, 9 + describes the presence of the Holy Spirit in Christians, 115 + remarks on the Incarnation, 180. + +_Cyril_, St., of Jerusalem, affirms St. Peter's Primacy, 61 + calls the Church Catholic, 236 + explains the term, 237. + + +D. + +_Dante_, his words on fortune, 199. + +_Dionysius_, the so-called Areopagite, states that the office of the + Holy Spirit is the deification of man, 115. + + +E. + +_Ephrem_, of Antioch, on the unity produced by the Incarnation, 181. + +_Ephrem_, St. Syrus, calls Peter the candle and tongue of the + disciples and the voice of preachers, 61. + +_Epiphanius_, St. terms Peter the immovable rock of the Church, 15 + and says that the charge of bringing the Gentiles into the Church + is laid on him, 141 + referred to, on tradition. 275. + +_Eucherius_, St., of Lyons, calls Peter the Pastor of pastors, 216. + +_Eusebius_, states that St. John visited the Churches of Asia, 146 + calls the Church by the name of Catholic, 236 + referred to, 252. + +_Euthalius_, his summary of the Acts, 120. + +_Evidence_, moral, how far intended to be convincing, 89. + + +F. + +_Faith_, how called by the Fathers, 234 note. + +_Fathers_, the Greek, on Gal. ii. 11 + unanimously set forth St. Peter's Primacy, 174-5. + +_Ferrandus_, refers enquirers to the Apostolic See, 252 + states the authority of Councils confirmed by it, 253. + +_First_, force of the term, 87. + +_Fructuosus_, St., the church in his Acts called Catholic, 236. + + +G. + +_Gelasius_, Pope, A.D., 492-6, referred to, 242 + states the power of the Apostolic See, 253, 254. + +_Gnostics_ and Marcionites, distort Paul's censure of Peter, 171. + +_Gregory_, Thaumaturgus, St. his remark on the Incarnation, 179. + +_Gregory_, Nazianzene, St., terms Peter the rock of the Church, 15 + remarks on the Incarnation, 180 + calls the Church the tunic without seam, &c., 218, + referred to, 242. + +_Gregory_, of Nyssa, St., his remark on the unity produced by + the Incarnation, 181. + +_Gregory_, the Great, St. A.D., 590-603, + remarks Peter's humility in defending himself, 143 + founds the Primacy on the three great texts, 277. + +_Gregory_ II, Pope, A.D., 715-731, describes the reverence felt to + Peter in the eighth century, 113. + + +H. + +_Heresy_, why it has lost its foulness in the minds of Protestants, 234. + +_Hierarchy_, the visible, why constituted, 185-190 + a head of it necessary, 190-6. + +_Hilary_, of Poitiers, St. terms Peter the rock of the Church, 15 + his remarks on the effect of the Incarnation, 180 + speaks of the unity produced by the Incarnation and the Eucharist, 181 + sets forth the Church's unity, 220 note + referred to as defining the Church, 223. + +_Hippolytus_, St., his remark on the fruit of the Incarnation, 179. + +_History_, Christian, fourteen distinct classes of facts in it + attest the Primacy, 251-6. + +_Hormisdas_, Pope, A.D. 514-523 + referred to, 242. + + +I. + +_Ignatius_, St., uses the word Catholic of the Church, 236. + +_Incarnation_, the order and gifts of, + lost sight of by those without the Church, 27 + the object of, 27, 178-181. + +_Innocent_ I., Pope, A.D., 401-417 + makes the Apostolic See the fountain in the Church, 110 + his letters to S. Victrice, 254. + +_Irenæus_, St., his remarks on the Incarnation, 179 + referred to as defining the Church, 223 + describes the Church's unity, 224 + and terms it Catholic, 236 + and explains the term, 237 + sets forth tradition and the chiefship of the Roman Church, 239 + states the principle of tradition as guarding the faith, 276. + +_Isidore_, St., declares that whoever does not obey Peter is a + schismatic, 113. + + +J. + +_James_, St., the martyrdom of, how mentioned by S. Luke, 151. + +_Jerome_, St., puts the safety of the Church in the bishop, 45 + makes the Primacy to be instituted against schism, 78 + says, it is not a church which has no priest, 135 + ascribes the decision of the Council of Jerusalem to St. Peter, 150 + and makes St. Paul's visit to Peter a token of his + Primacy, 165, 171 + gives the reasons of those who denied it to be St. Peter who was + censured, 173 + describes the necessity of adhering to Peter's See, 218, 239, note 120 + referred to as defining the Church, 223 + distinguishes it as Catholic, 236 + referred to, 242 + referred to on principle of tradition, 275. + +_John_, St., his sphere distinguished from that of Peter, 91 + how often mentioned in the New Testament. 93 + with his brother called Boanerges, 8, note, 86 + makes himself subordinate to Peter, 128, 135, 137. + +_Judah_, among his brethren, + a type of Peter among the Apostles, 206, 214-5. + +_Julian_, the apostate, distorts Paul's censure of Peter, 172. + +_Jurisdiction_, spiritual, derived from the person of Christ to + St. Peter, 99, 107, 109 + creation of, precedes the formation of the Church, 105, 107. + +_Jurien_, referred to, 232. + +_Justinian_, the Emperor, referred to, 238. + + +K. + +_King_, on the Creed, referred to, 236. + + +L. + +_Lactantius_, describes necessity of belonging to the Church, 231. + +_Leander_, referred to, 238. + +_Leo St._, Pope 440-461 + paraphrases the name of Peter, 11 + states his Primacy and association with Christ, 14 + explains why our Lord prays specially for Peter, 50 + says that Peter, rules all by immediate commission, 80, 168 + that Christ gave to the rest through Peter, 100 + that he assumed Peter into the participation of His indivisible + unity, 110 + remarks on the unity produced by the Incarnation, 180 + describes the unity of the Catholic Episcopate as knitted up + in the See of St. Peter, 242. + +_Leontius_, referred to, 275. + +_Luke_, St., his purpose in writing the Acts, 114 + part which he assigns to Peter, in general, 117-122 + in particulars, 122-153 + slightly mentions the other Apostles, 120 + exhibits Peter's miracles as John does those of Christ, 131 + makes him the main figure in the Apostolic college, 133. + +_Lutherans_, their proofs for the real presence compared with those + of Catholics for the Primacy, 259. + + +M. + +_Mamachi_, his works referred to, 255. + +_Maximus_, St., of Turin, + says that Christ gave to Peter His own title, the Rock, 15 + sets forth Peter's Primacy, 112. + +_Maximus_, martyr, referred to, 242. + +_Marius Victorinus_, makes Paul's visit an acknowledgment of + Peter's Primacy, 164. + +_Mastrezat_, referred to, 232. + +_Metaphor_, tests of clearness in, 267. + +_More_, Sir Thomas, his statement to Luther of reasons for maintaining + the Primacy, 263. + +_Mosheim_, his admission that the early Fathers set forth a unity which + terminates in the Papal See, as the hand does in the fingers, 197-8, note. + +_Muzzarelli_, his works referred to, 255. + + +N. + +_Names_, classes of, given in Scripture, 16. + +_Nicole_, referred to, 232. + + +O. + +_Oecumenius_, on the fruit of the Incarnation, 179. + +_Optatus_, St., calls St. Peter's the single chair in which unity + was to be observed by all, 110 + calls schism the greatest of evils, 231 + referred to, as explaining the term Catholic, 237 + ascribes the origin and maintenance of unity to Peter, 242. + +_Origen_, says that Peter is so called from Christ the Rock, 10 + calls Peter the great foundation of the Church, 15 + describes the great honour given by Christ to Peter in the matter + of the didrachmna, 36 + makes Peter the first, as Judas the last, of the Apostles, 89 + referred to, as defining the Church, 223 + distinguishes the Church as Catholic, 236 + states the principle of tradition, 275 + referred to, on same, 275. + + +P. + +_Pacian_, St., calls the Church Catholic, 236 + explains the term, 237, 238 + describes the Church's unity, 239, note + ascribes the origin of unity to Peter, 242. + +_Paul_, St., distinguishes St. Peter among the Apostles, 67 + why so much said of him in the Acts, 121 + his visitatorial power contrasted with St. Peter's, 146 + his epistles incidentally confirm St. Peter's Primacy, 160 + recognises St. Peter's Primacy, 161 + by going to visit him, 162-165 + and in his second visit, 166-169 + what is involved in his censure of St. Peter, 169-171 + its real amount, 177 + force of his terming the Church "one body," 193 + how emphatic he is in setting forth visible unity, 197. + +_Pelagius_ II., Pope, 578-590 + states privileges of the Apostolic See, 253. + +_Petavius_, shows that spiritual jurisdiction springs from the direct + gift of Christ, 107. + +_Peter_, St., first mention of him in the Gospel, 8 + meaning of his name, 9 + a special title of our Lord, 9 + name first promised, 8 + conferred, 11 + explained and promises attached, 12, 97-99 + titles of, betokening his association with Christ, 15 + parallel between, and Abraham, 17-25, 206, 213-4 + his name explained by St. Chrysostome, 27 + his relation to the Apostles, 28, 98-9, 102, 104, 108 + his instruction in the theology and economy, 30 + witness of the transfiguration, 30 + of the Lord's prayer in His agony, 32 + of raising the daughter of Jairus, 33 + associated with Christ in paying of the didrachma, 34 + designated to be chief ruler of the Church, 48 + charged to confirm his brethren, 49-63 + is distinguished in having the resurrection proved to him, 66 + all our Lord's promises fulfilled to him, 70, and following + mentioned by the Evangelists differently from the other Apostles., 84 + named first in every catalogue, 86 + his sphere distinguished from that of John, 91 + his predominance in the sacred history, 92 + how often mentioned in the Gospels, 93 + and in the Acts, 118 + the type, the origin, and the efficient cause of unity, 100, 108 + looked up to, as a God upon earth, by the West, 113 + prominence given to him in the Acts 116-122 + directs the election of a new Apostle, 122 + defends the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, 125 + speaks for them the third and fourth time, 128 + proves his supreme authority by special miracles, 129 + cures Oeneas and raises Dorcas, 132 + heals with his shadow, 133 + receives the Samaritans into the Church, 133-7 + and the Gentiles, 138-42 + exercises supreme judicial power, 144 + visits all churches, 145 + is the first to pronounce decision in the council of Jerusalem, 147-151 + his imprisonment and that of St. James and St. Paul, 151 + summary of his conduct in the Acts, 153-6 + his visible headship quite other than the headship of mystical + influx, 157 + set with James and John parallel to Paul with Barnabas and Titus, 166 + the head, centre, fountain, root, and principle of unity, 195 + is in the episcopate what God the Father is in the divine monarchy, 195 + his office in the Church acknowledged by friend and foe, 198 + typified in Judith, 206, 214-5. + +_Peter_, St. Chrysologus, + says of Peter that he founds the Church by his firmness, 15 + advises Eutyches to obey the Pope, 61. + +_Philip_, St., perhaps the first-called Apostle, 88 + +_Pionius_, St., his acts call the Church Catholic, 236. + +_Polycarp_, St., the epistle on his death calls the Church Catholic, 236. + +_Porphyry_, distorts Paul's censure of Peter, 171. + +_Primacy_, the nature of, defined in the three palmary texts, 104-110 + shown to consist in superiority of jurisdiction, 209-212 + compared to the law of gravitation, 109, 209 + institution and exercise of, compared, 155 + the controversy on, reduced to one point, 205 + summary of, as set forth in the Acts, 153 + and generally, 200-203 + the end and purpose of, 212 + to which end three classes of reasons guide us, + i. the typical, 213 + ii. the analogical, 217 + iii. the real, 219 + bound up in the visibility and unity of the Church, 235 + what is required of those who deny it, 247 + its denial the origin of all actual divisions among Christians, 248 + its proof as considered _absolutely_, 249 + _comparatively_ with that for the divine institution of bishops, the + real presence, and the divinity of Christ, 259-274 + multiplicity of proof for it, 251-6 + the opposition of Greeks, Anglicans, and Protestants to it, merely + negative, 257 + parallel between the opposition to it by sects now, and that to the + doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation in the fourth, fifth, + and sixth centuries, 264. + +_Primacy_ and _Apostolate_, + their relation to each other, 78, 98-9, 102, 104. + +_Proclus_, Patriarch of Constantinople, + calls Peter first prelate of the Apostles, 216. + +_Proofs_, the different sort of, and their whole sum, to be considered, 8 + different sorts of, and the principal here used, 246 + multiplicity of, for the Primacy, 247 + as considered _absolutely_, 249 + _comparatively_, 259 + concurrence of four great proofs for the Primacy, 250. + +_Prudentius_, calls Peter the first disciple of God, 61. + + +R. + +_Reformers_, distort Paul's censure of Peter, 172 + opposition between them and the Fathers as to Peter's Primacy, 176 + as to Church principles 227, note + denied the visibility of the Church, 222, note. + + +S. + +_Sacraments_ and _Symbols_ lead from the visible to the invisible, 192. + +_Sense_, in writing, definition of, 266, note. + +_Socrates_ and _Sozomen_, their canon respecting the bishop of Rome, 252. + +_Stephen_, bishop of Dora, describes Peter's Primacy, 56, 83. + +_Stephen_, bishop of Larissa, + makes all the Churches of the world to rest in Peter's confession, 62. + +_Symmachus_, Pope A.D. 498-514 + likens the unity of the Apostolic See to that of the Trinity, 196. + + +T. + +_Tertullian_, + why our Lord gave Peter a name drawn from figures of Himself, 11 + says the Church is built on Peter, 15 + expresses Peter's supreme power, and distinguishes his sphere from + that of John, 91 + ascribes the decision in the council of Jerusalem to St. Peter, 150, 164 + referred to, as defining the Church, 223 + and as explaining the term Catholic, 237, 238 + sets forth Church unity, 224 + denies that Peter's doctrine was censured, 175 + calls the Catholic Church _near to Peter_, 241 + says the Lord left the keys to Peter, and through him to the Church, 241 + his rule not to search for the truth among heretics, 261 + referred to, on the principle of tradition, 275. + +_Theodore_, Abbot of the Stadium at Constantinople, addresses Pope + Pascal I. as Peter, and beseeches him to exert his Primacy, 56 + calls Pope Leo III. father of fathers, &c., 216. + +_Theodoret_, says _stone_ a title of our Lord, 10 + terms Peter the most solid rock, 15 + ascribes the decision in the Council of + Jerusalem to St. Peter, 151 + recognises Peter's Primacy, 161 and 163. + +_Theophylact_, says that Peter confirms not only the Apostles, but + all the faithful to the end of the world, 52 + interprets John xxi. 15-17, of supreme power over the Church given + to Peter, 80. + +_Thomas_, St., of Canterbury, sees in Paul's visit to Peter a proof + of his Primacy, 165. + + +U. + +_Unity_, + that of the Father and the Son the archetype of the Church's unity, 195 + fourfold in the Church, of mystical influx, charity, faith, + visible headship, 181-196 + texts on the Church's unity, referred to 220, 273, n. 27 + Protestant notions of the Church's unity, 222 + that of Anglicans, 222 + that of distinguishing between internal and external unity, 225 + that of agreement in fundamentals, 232. + + +V. + +_Valentinian_ III., his constitution on the Primacy quoted, 255. + +_Vincent_ of Lerins, referred to, on principle of tradition, 275. + +_Vitringa_, sets forth a Protestant notion of unity, 225-8. + +_Voss_, on the Creed, referred to, 236. + + +W. + +_Walemburg_, the brothers, referred to, 233. + + +Z. + +_Zaccharia_, his works, referred to, 253. + +_Zeno_, St., quoted, 15. + + + + +INDEX OF TEXTS. + +THE NUMBER INDICATES THE PAGE. + + +GENESIS. + PAGE + v. 29 17 + x. 25 16 + xii. 1 18 + -- 4 18 + xvii. 5 18 + -- 15 17 + -- 19 16 + xviii. 17 21 + xxii. 1 19 + -- 10 19 + xxv. 25 16 + -- 26 16 + -- 30 16 + xxvii. 36 16 + xxx. 18 16 + xxxii. 28 17 + xl. 51-2 16 + xlix. 10 215 + + +EXODUS. + + ii. 10 16 + + +NUMBERS. + + ii. 3-9 215 + x. 14 215 + xii. 2 156 + xiii. 17 17 + xvi. 3 155 + + +JUDGES. + + i. 1-3 215 + xx. 18 215 + + +1 PARALIP. + + xxvii. 33 87 + + +2 PARALIP. + + xxvi. 20 87 + + +NEHEMIAH. + + xii. 45 87 + + +PSALMS. + + ii. 9 75 + xlvii. 2 3 + lxix. 26 123 + lxxxii. 6 25 + cviii. 8 123 + cxvii. 22 9 + cxxxi. 13, 14 4 + + +WISDOM. + + viii. 1 136 + + +ISAIAH. + + vii. 3 16 + ix. 6 103 + xxviii. 16 9, 24 + xl. 9-11 72 + + +EZECHIEL. + + xxiv. 33 72 + + +DANIEL. + + ii. 35 9 + ix. 26 5 + + +OSEA. + + i. 4-6-9 16 + + +MICAH. + + v. 2 42, 72 + + +ZACHARIAH. + + iii. 9 9 + + +MALACHI. + + l. 11 138 + + +1. MACC. + + ii. 2-4 16 + + +MATTHEW. + + i. 1 23 + ii. 6 42 + iii. 1 17 + v. 14 3, 230 + x. 1 11, 65 + -- 2 87, 89 + -- 5 134 + -- 7 130 + xii. 3 84, 90 + xv. 24 134 + -- 30 133 + xvi. 13-19 12 + -- 15 19, 93 + -- 16 19, 64, 93, 94, 112 + -- 17-20 95 + -- 18 2, 94, 98, 103, 139, 163, 219, 221 + -- 19 102, 103 + xvii. 1 87 + -- 23 34 + -- 24 34, 90 + -- 27 35, 90 + xviii. 1 100 + -- 2 38 + -- 17 221 + -- 18 65, 102, 221 + -- 21 92 + xix. 23 93 + -- 27 93 + -- 28 215 + xx. 20 100 + -- 27 87 + xxiii. 8 44 + -- 9 26 + xxvi. 36 34 + -- 40 90 + -- 69 85 + xxviii. 18 68, 102 + -- 19 74 + -- 19, 20 3, 221 + + +MARK. + + i. 16 70 + -- 16, 17 18, 28 + -- 18 18 + -- 36 85, 90 + ii. 25 84, 90 + iii. 11 84 + -- 13 5, 65 + -- 14 11 + -- 17 16 + -- 16-19 86 + iv. 38 71 + v. 35 33 + -- 37 87 + xiii. 3 87 + xiv. 33 87 + xvi. 6 66 + -- 7 85 + -- 10 84, 90 + -- 15 68, 74, 102, 138 + -- 15-17 130 + + +LUKE. + + iv. 40, 41 133 + v. 3 71 + -- 10 18 + vi. 4 84 + -- 12, 13 65 + -- 14 11 + -- 14-17 86 + viii. 24 71 + -- 45 85, 90 + -- 51 88 + ix. 32 85, 90 + xi. 5 261 + xii. 41, 42 93 + xv. 9 261 + -- 22 87 + xviii. 2 261 + -- 34 38 + xx. 20-23 40 + xxii. 8 88 + -- 22 57 + -- 24 100 + -- 24-30 39, 41, 57, 58, 59 + -- 26 6, 141, 193, 194, 206, 210, 219, 221 + -- 29 215 + -- 32 21, 49, 51, 54, 55, 101, 104, 141, 219, 221 + xxiv. 29 68, 102 + + +JOHN. + + i. 14 178 + -- 35-42 8 + -- 42 18 + -- 43 89, 94 + -- 44 88 + iv. 23 138 + v. 5-9 131 + vi. 21 71 + -- 67, 68 93 + x. 11-14-16 72 + -- 11-16 4 + -- 16 104, 139 + -- 34 25 + xi. 16 92 + -- 52 191 + xiii. 6 92 + -- 13 43 + -- 34-36 183 + xiv. 8 92 + -- 12 26 + -- 16 26, 188 + -- 16-18 183 + -- 16, 26 184, 230 + -- 20 182 + -- 26 184 + xv. 1-2, 5-7 182 + -- 9, 15 26 + -- 12, 13, 17 183 + -- 22-24 129 + -- 26 221 + -- 27 126 + xvi. 7, 13-15 184 + -- 13 43 + xvii. 1 + -- 11, 21 195 + -- 12, 13 57, 65, 190, 194 + -- 17 221 + -- 21 129, 180, 221 + xx. 21 122, 139 + -- 21-23 102 + -- 23 26 + xxi. 1-14 71 + -- 2 88 + -- 15 19, 73, 104, 139, 219, 221 + -- 16, 22 157, 158 + -- 18 82 + -- 21-22 91 + + +ACTS. + + i. 4-8 69, 102, 221 + -- 8 126 + -- 15 119 + -- 15, 16, 20, 21, 22 123 + ii. 13 119 + -- 14 85 + -- 13-16 125 + -- 14, 27 119 + -- 32 126 + -- 36 126 + -- 37 85 + -- 37, 38 119 + -- 37, 38, 40, 41 127 + -- 44 129 + iii. 2-8 131 + -- 4 119 + -- 11, 12 119 + iv. 3 85 + -- 4 128 + -- 7, 8 128 + -- 32 129 + v. 2 145 + -- 8, 3, 9 144 + -- 12-14 133 + -- 15-16 133 + -- 29 85, 119 + viii. 14 137 + -- 14-22 135 + ix. 32 138, 168 + -- 31-32 145 + -- 39-41 132 + x. 1-6 138 + x. 10 21 + -- 10-16 139 + -- 19 141 + -- 28 140 + -- 33, 43-47 141 + xi. 1-4 142 + -- 3, 17, 18 173 + -- 18 156 + xii. 1-5 152 + xv. 6-11 69, 147 + -- 7 21 + -- 12 148 + -- 28 149 + -- 36 146 + xvi. 4 69, 149 + xvii. 28 115 + xx. 28 69, 74, 75 + + +ROMANS. + + i. 11 54 + -- 25 221 + v. 5 183 + viii. 15 26 + -- 17 26 + ix. 4-5 167 + xii. 5 178 + xv. 8 167 + -- 9 168 + xvi. 7 161 + -- 25 51 + + +1 CORINTHIANS. + + i. 7 51 + -- 12 160, 161 + iii. 11 25 + -- 22 160, 161 + v. 1-5 69 + ix. 5 160, 161 + x. 4 112 + -- 17 192 + -- 18 214 + xii. 7-13 186 + -- 11 185, 188 + -- 12 191, 194 + -- 13 192 + -- 27 115 + xiii. 12 26 + xiv. 33 221 + xv. 1-9 67 + -- 5 160 + + +2 CORINTHIANS. + + i. 21 51 + iv. 17 230 + viii. 23 161 + x. 6 70 + + +GALATIANS. + + i. 16-19 162 + -- 18 171, 174 + ii. 1-2 165, 171 + -- 7-9 166, 168 + -- 8-9 168 + -- 11-14 169 + iii. 7 22 + -- 16 23 + v. 19, 20 221 + vi. 16 214 + + +EPHESIANS. + + i. 9, 22 178 + -- 10 29 + -- 22 157, 197 + ii. 20 9 + -- 21 24 + iii. 5 137 + -- 6 51 + -- 10 198 + iv. 4 194, 197, 221 + -- 7-16 186 + -- 8, 11 197 + -- 11 59, 105, 188, 193 + -- 12 187, 193 + -- 12-13 106 + -- 13 185, 187 + -- 14 187 + -- 15 157, 230 + -- 25 181 + v. 23 191, 197, 230 + -- 23, 27 157 + -- 27 221 + -- 30, 32 4 + +COLOSSIANS. + + i. 17 104 + -- 18 157, 194 + ii. 6 51 + -- 9 188 + + +2 THESSALONIANS. + + ii. 16 51 + + +1 TIMOTHY. + + i. 15 87 + iii. 15 4, 221 + + +2 TIMOTHY. + + ii. 2 275 + + +TITUS. + + i. 5 146 + ii. 11 221 + -- 14 221 + iii. 10 261 + + +HEBREWS. + + i. 3 104 + xiii. 8 44 + -- 20 104 + + +1 PETER. + + ii. 25 221 + v. 3 153 + -- 10 51, 53, 74, 75 + + +2 PETER. + + i. 4 197 + -- 14 31 + iii. 2, 3 230 + -- 16 171 + + +JAMES. + + i. 17 204 + + +1 JOHN. + + i. 1 6 + v. 6, 7 32 + + +JUDE. + + 18 230 + + +APOCALYPSE. + + ii. 27 76 + iii. 2 53, 54 + -- 7 13, 103 + vii. 9 140 + xvii. 14 103 + xix. 15 76 + xxii. 16 13 + +LONDON: +RICHARDSON AND SON, 172, FLEET STREET; +9, CAPEL ST., DUBLIN; AND DERBY. + + * * * * * +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES: + +Archaic spelling has been retained. +Punctuation errors corrected without comment. +Footnote markers in original book are inconsistent. Some come before + the reference cited, some after, some in the middle. +oe ligature not in latin-1 character set, replaced with oe +Apparent typesetting errors corrected as noted below: +Pg 18 begun changed to began (in the last days He began) +Pg 43 ensample changed to example (given you an example) + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of St. Peter, His Name and His Office, by +Thomas W. Allies + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ST. 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Allies + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: St. Peter, His Name and His Office + As set forth in holy scripture + +Author: Thomas W. Allies + +Release Date: November 27, 2011 [EBook #38147] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ST. PETER, HIS NAME AND HIS OFFICE *** + + + + +Produced by Steven Giacomelli, Dianne Nolan, Jeannie Howse +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian +Libraries) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<h1>ST. PETER,</h1> + + +<h2>HIS NAME AND HIS OFFICE,</h2> + +<h4>AS SET FORTH IN</h4> + +<h3>HOLY SCRIPTURE.</h3> + +<h4>BY</h4> + +<h3>THOMAS W. ALLIES, M.A.</h3> + +<h4>AUTHOR OF "THE SEE OF ST. PETER, THE ROCK OF THE CHURCH," +"A JOURNAL IN FRANCE," &c.</h4> + + +<h3>LONDON:</h3> +<h3>RICHARDSON AND SON, 172, FLEET STREET;</h3> +<h5>9, CAPEL STREET, DUBLIN; AND DERBY.</h5> +<h5>MDCCCLII.</h5> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3>TO PETER,</h3> +<h3>PRINCE OF THE APOSTLES,</h3> +<h5>THE ROCK OF THE CHURCH,</h5> +<h5>AGAINST WHICH THE GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL,</h5> +<h5>THE BEARER OF THE KEYS,</h5> +<h5>THE BINDER AND LOOSER ON EARTH AND IN HEAVEN,</h5> +<h5>THE CONFIRMER OF HIS BRETHREN,</h5> +<h5>THE SHEPHERD OF THE FOLD.</h5> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + + +<h3><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE.</h3> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<p>The present work took its rise, and is largely drawn, +from the very learned Father Passaglia's "Commentary +on the Prerogatives of St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, +as proved by the authority of Holy Writ," which was +published in Latin, in 1850. The eighth and ninth chapters +are, indeed, translations, respectively, of the twenty-seventh +of his first book, and the first of his second +book. And as to the rest, my obligations are more +than I can specify. I owe, on the other hand, many +excuses to Father Passaglia, for while I have only +partially observed his order in treating the subject, I +have considered his whole work as a treasure-house +of learning, whence I might draw at my pleasure +"things old and new," adapting them, as I thought good, +to the needs of the Protestant mind, as familiar to me +in England. Thus I have not scrupled to translate, to +omit, or to insert matter of my own, according to my +judgment. It seemed to me of paramount importance to +present to the English reader the whole chain of scriptural +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span>evidence for the Primacy and prerogatives of St. +Peter. This chain of evidence is so strong, that, when +I first saw it completely drawn out, it struck my own +mind, brought up in the prejudices of Protestantism, with +the force of a new revelation. I put to myself the +question; is it possible that they who specially profess +to draw their faith from the written Word of God, +would refuse to acknowledge a doctrine set forth in Holy +Scripture with at least as strong evidence as the Godhead +of our Lord itself, if they could see it not broken up into +morsels, like bits of glass reflecting a distorted and imperfect +image, according to the fashion of citing separate +texts without regard to the proportion of the faith, but +presented in a complete picture on the mirror of God's +Word? This picture is thus complete and perfect in Father +Passaglia's work. Yet the form of that work, no less +than its bulk, the scrupulous minuteness with which every +opposite interpretation of so many adversaries in modern +times is answered, as well as the fulness with which every +part of the subject is treated, made me feel that a simple +translation would not be tolerated by the impatience of a +population, which has little time and less mind for studies +of this character. I have pursued, therefore, the humble +task of <i>popularising</i>, so far as I could, Father Passaglia's +work, omitting, as I trust, no essential part of the argument, +and grouping it under different combinations, each +of which might be in turn presented to the eye, and so +more readily embraced.</p> + +<p>The importance of the argument, as it affects the Papal +Supremacy, which is but a summary of the whole cause at +issue between Protestantism in every shape, and the Church +of Christ, cannot be overrated. If St. Peter be already +set forth in Scripture as the Head and Bond of the Apostolic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span> +College, if he be delineated as the supreme Ruler +who succeeds our Lord Himself in the visible government +of His Church on earth, there becomes at once the strongest +ground for expecting that such a Ruler will be continued +as long as the Church herself lasts. Thus a guiding +clue is given to us among all the following records of +antiquity. Tradition and history become illuminated with +a light which exhibits all objects in their due proportion +and true grouping, when they are shown to be but the +realisation of what the Incarnate Word, His Church's one +only Lawgiver, decreed from the beginning, set forth not +only in prophetic image, but distinct command, and stored +up in words of such exceeding power, that they bear the +whole weight of the kingdom of God, stretching through +all ages and nations, without effort or pressure. And if +ancient writers speak in no doubtful tone of St. Peter's +prerogatives, yet clearer, more emphatic, and soul-piercing, +as we should expect, are the words of God Himself, appealing +in man's form to the mind and heart of man, whom +He had created, and was come to redeem, and to knit into +one eternal monarchy.</p> + +<p>A subsequent part of the argument, namely, that the +Bishop of Rome <i>is</i> successor of St. Peter, has been treated +by the author in another work, "The See of St. Peter the +Rock of the Church, the Source of Jurisdiction, and the +Centre of Unity," specially in the fifth section, which ought, +logically, to be preceded by this treatise. It is there +proved that not only the Christian Fathers, as individual +writers and witnesses, but the ancient Church in her universal +Councils, did, with one voice, from age to age, regard +the Pope as sitting in St. Peter's chair, which is proof +enough, and all that can in reason be demanded, that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span> +prerogatives given to St Peter as Head of the Church +were, in the belief of the Church, and in full accordance +with our Lord's own promise,<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> continued on to his successors, +and are as imperishable as the life of the Church +herself.</p> + +<p>21, North Bank, Regent's Park, +September, 1852.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span></p> +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> Matt. xvi. 18.—"Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the +gates of hell shall not prevail against it," <i>i. e.</i>, as founded on that rock. The foundation +and the superstructure coexist for ever.</p></div> +</div> + + + +<h2>TABLE OF CONTENTS.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<h4>CHAPTER I.</h4> + +<h5>THE NAME OF PETER PROMISED, CONFERRED, AND EXPLAINED.</h5> + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="TOC Chapter I"> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">PAGE.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Church the finished work of the Word Incarnate</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Unity and visibility enter into the Church's idea, as set forth in its several </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> types</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_2">2</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Visible headship also part of this idea</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_5">5</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Christ on earth in two capacities, as founder and ruler,—Double</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> selection among the disciples, first of twelve, then of one</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_6">6</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Statement of the question at issue in this treatise</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">First mention of Peter, the name promised</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_8">8</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Meaning of the name, stone</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The name conferred</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_11">11</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Name explained, and promises attached</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_12">12</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Classes of names given in Scripture</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_16">16</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Parallel between Abraham and Peter</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_17">17</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Source of pre-eminence in both, association with Christ</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_23">23</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Instances of such association</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_26">26</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Interpretation of S. Chrysostome</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Summary</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_28">28</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h4>CHAPTER II.</h4> + +<h5>EDUCATION AND FINAL DESIGNATION OF PETER TO BE THE RULER<br /> +WHO SHOULD CONFIRM HIS BRETHREN.</h5> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="TOC Chapter II"> +<tr><td align="left">Education of Peter in the Theology and Economy</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_29">29</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Preference shown to him in witnessing the Transfiguration</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Also in the Agony; and the raising the daughter of Jairus</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_32">32</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The receivers of the didrachma come to Peter</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_34">34</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The answer of Christ, and what is involved in it</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Interpretation of our Lord's action by Origen and S. Chrysostome</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_36">36</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Question of the Apostles to which it leads</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_37">37</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Answer of our Lord, designating a thief</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_38">38</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Our Lord in two capacities; 1, as Founder, 2, as Ruler of the Church</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_43">43</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Church unchangeable in her form</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_44">44</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">She had one ruler from the beginning.—Immense and continually growing </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> importance of this our ruler</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_45">45</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Primacy which He designated, one of real power</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Translation of the discourse to Peter</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_48">48</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Confirming used of the three Divine Persons</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_51">51</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Nature of the charge, Confirm thy brethren</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_52">52</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Meaning of the term confirm</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_53">53</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Scope and harmony of our Lord's discourse in Luke xxii</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_56">56</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Corollaries from the charge to confirm the brethren </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_59">59-63</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span></p> +<h4>CHAPTER III.</h4> + +<h5>THE INVESTITURE OF PETER.</h5> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="TOC Chapter III"> +<tr><td align="left">What our Lord had done up to His resurrection</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_64">64</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Further disposition of powers after His resurrection</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_65">65</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Special care to prove the resurrection to Peter</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_66">66</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Fulfilment of the Lord's promises to the Twelve, in the bestowal of their</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> legislative, judicial, and executive powers</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_68">68</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Subsequent exercise of these powers by the Twelve</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_69">69</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Fulfilment of the special promises to Peter in the bestowal of the</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">l egislative, judicial, and executive powers of the Primacy</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_70">70</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Force of the Lord's title, the Shepherd</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_72">72</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Importance and extent of the charge conveyed by this title</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_74">74</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Force of the circumstances under which it is conveyed</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_76">76</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">S. Ambrose, S. Chrysostome, Theophylact, S. Leo, and S. Basil on the text </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_79">79</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">S. Cyprian adds the Primacy to the Apostolic equality</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Force of Follow thou Me</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_82">82</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + + +<h4>CHAPTER IV.</h4> + +<h5>CORRESPONDENCE AND EQUIVALENCE OF THE GREAT TEXTS CONCERNING PETER.</h5> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="TOC Chapter IV"> +<tr><td align="left">Difference in the mode of speaking of persons indicates a difference of</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> rank—The phrase, a person "and they that were with him."</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_84">84</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">S. Peter first in all the Apostolic catalogues</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_86">86</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Synthetical view of the whole evidence</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_89">89</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Distinct spheres of S. Peter and S. John</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_91">91</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Peter wrought into the whole Gospel history</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_92">92</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Primacy defined by the three great texts: first, Matt. xvi. 18</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_94">94</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Paraphrase of Matt. xvi. 18</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_95">95</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Corollaries from it</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_96">96</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Our Lord's answer to the question, who was the greatest?</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_100">100</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The text, confirm thy brethren</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_101">101</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Our Lord's conduct to Peter, after His resurrection, the counter part to</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> that before it.—Comparison of what is given to the Apostles, and what </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> to Peter</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_102">102</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The joint force, identity, and reciprocal relations of the three texts </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_104">104</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> 1. They are appropriated to Peter only.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> 2. Priority of time is assigned to him.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> 3. Their equivalence.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> 4. They indicate a sovereign and independent authority.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> 5. Their definiteness.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> 6. The ordinary government of the Church contained in them.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> 7. Peter made in them the <i>continuous</i> principle of power.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> 8. Peter made the type and efficient cause of visible unity.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">These conclusions borne out by Cassian in Gaul</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_111">111</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">By Maximus of Turin, in Italy</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_112">112</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">By S. Isidore in Spain, and summed up by Pope Gregory II.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[Pg xiii]</a></span></p> + +<h4>CHAPTER V.</h4> + +<h5>PETER'S PRIMACY AS EXHIBITED IN THE ACTS.</h5> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="TOC Chapter V"> +<tr><td align="left">Division of the Acts into history of the Church universal, and of S. Paul</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> in particular</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_114">114</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Gospels, history of the Head; Acts, of the Body</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_115">115</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Execution of Christ's promises declaratory of their enactment</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_116">116</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">General proof of this as to the Primacy in the Acts</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> 1. Peter oftener mentioned than all the rest put together.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> 2. The leading part assigned to him.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> 3. Peter mentioned directly; the rest obliquely</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_118">118</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> 4. Peter answers for all the Apostles</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> 5. Luke records Peter's actions and speeches in full.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> 6. The first part of the Acts may be called the history of Peter</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_120">120</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">I. Particular proof—Election of a new Apostle</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_122">122</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">S. Chrysostome's comment on this</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_124">124</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Peter's conduct in defending the rest on the day of Pentecost</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_125">125</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Third and fourth speech of Peter.—Summary of the first four chapters</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_128">128</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">II. Proof from junction of authoritative teaching and miracles</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_129">129</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Resemblance between Peter's miracles and Christ's</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_131">131</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Peter the chief figure among the Apostles as Christ before</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_133">133</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">III. Peter presides over the different steps in propagating the Church</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_134">134</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Peter's part in the conversion of Samaria</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_135">135</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">IV. Peter receiving the Gentiles in the person of Cornelius</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_137">137</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Things to be noted in this reception concerning Peter.—Peter murmured</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> against by some of the circumcision</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_142">142</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">S. Chrysostome and S. Gregory upon his conduct</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_143">143</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">V. S. Peter exercising supreme judicial power over Ananias</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_144">144</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">VI. S. Peter exercising supreme visitatorial power</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_145">145</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">VII. S. Peter's supreme legislative authority in council</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_147">147</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The consent and joint action of others do not impugn the supremacy</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_148">148</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Tertullian's testimony as to his authority here, and that of S. Jerome and</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> Theodoret</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_150">150</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">VIII. Contrast between the mode in which the imprisonment of Peter,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> and that of James and Paul is mentioned</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_151">151</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Summary of the testimony to Peter in the Acts</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_153">153</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">His Primacy magisterial, judicial, and legislative.—Its institution</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> compared with its exercise</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_154">154</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">No opposition offered to it</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_155">155</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The mystical headship contrasted with the visible</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_157">157</a></td></tr> +</table></div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[Pg xiv]</a></span></p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER VI.</h4> + +<h5>TESTIMONY OF S. PAUL TO S. PETER'S PRIMACY.</h5> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="TOC Chapter VI"> +<tr><td align="left">Detailed mention of the Primacy not to be expected in S. Paul's</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> Epistles: but an incidental one occurs often</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_159">159</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Four notices of Peter in 1 Ep. to Cor.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_160">160</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Paul's visit to Peter Gal. i. 16</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_162">162</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Theodoret, Chrysostome, Tertullian, Mar. Victorinus, Ambrosiaster, S.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> Jerome, S. Thomas Cant. on this passage</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_163">163</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Paul's second visit.—Parallel between Peter with James and John on</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> the one hand, and Paul with Barnabas and Titus on the other</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_165">165</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The censure of Peter by Paul, Gal. ii.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_169">169</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">S. Chrysostome's and S. Jerome's remarks</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_170">170</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Misuse of this passage by ancient and modern heretics</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_171">171</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Contrast of the three ancient interpretations with those of modern heretics</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_172">172</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Fundamental opposition between the Fathers and the Reformers</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_176">176</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<h4>CHAPTER VII.</h4> + +<h5>THE PRIMACY OF PETER INVOLVED IN THE FOURFOLD UNITY OF CHRIST'S KINGDOM.</h5> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="TOC Chapter VII"> +<tr><td align="left">The person of the God-man the principle of headship in the Church</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_178">178</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Testimony of the Fathers to this</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_179">179</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Fourfold unity resulting from this headship</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_181">181</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">First unity of mystical influx</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_182">182</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The second unity of charity, whose efficient principle is the Holy Spirit.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> —Third unity of faith, whose efficient principle is the Holy Spirit</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> acting through the visible hierarchy</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_183">183</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Set forth by S. Paul also</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Headship of mystical influx does not obviate the creation of an external</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> hierarchy</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_188">188</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Fourth unity of visible headship.—This the root and efficient principle of</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> the visible hierarchy</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_190">190</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The one body is complete</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_192">192</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The unity of a college not sufficient to express our Lord's personal unity</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_193">193</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Positive teaching corresponds to the inherent notion of the Church</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_194">194</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Father in the holy Trinity what Peter's see is in the Church</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_195">195</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Summary of this fourfold unity</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_196">196</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Importance of S. Peter's office hence resulting</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_197">197</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[Pg xv]</a></span></p> +<h4>CHAPTER VIII.</h4> + +<h5>SUMMARY OF THE PROOF GIVEN FOR S. PETER'S PRIMACY.</h5> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="TOC Chapter VIII"> +<tr><td align="left">Points in question, <i>generally</i>, inequality in the Apostolic College:</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> <i>specially</i>, the appointment of one over the rest; resolution of these tried</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> by four examinations:—1. Into the words and acts of Christ; which relate</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> to the Apostles.—2. Into those which seem to mark the institution of</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> a singular authority.—3. Into the mode of writing used by the</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> evangelists.—4. Into the history of the rising Church.—A</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> concurrence of these four points would prove the two questions</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_200">200</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The analysis of what has been written shows this concurrence</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_201">201</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Twelve arguments from what has been written, proving the inequality of</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> the Apostolic college, and Peter's Primacy</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_203">203</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">What is the force and nature of the Primacy.—Six proofs establishing</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> this to consist in superior jurisdiction</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_209">209</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Enquiry into the end and purpose of the Primacy: for the knowledge of</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> the intention and purpose equivalent at least to a <i>negative</i> rule,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> ascertaining what <i>must</i> be given to it</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_212">212</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Three classes of reasons, typical, analogical, and real, ascertain for us this</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> purpose.—1. Typical. Parallel of Peter with Abraham and its results</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_213">213</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Parallel of Peter with Judah and its results</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_214">214</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">ii. Analogical. Analogy of body, house, kingdom, city, and fold, and its</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> results.—And of universal, and each particular Church on one hand,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> and Primate and bishops on the other</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_217">217</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">iii. Real, whether educed from texts containing the institution of the</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> Primacy, or from the inherent properties of the Church.—1. Educed</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> from texts</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_219">219</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">2. Educed from properties of the Church; <i>first</i>, its <i>identity</i>; <i>secondly</i>, its</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> <i>unity</i>; <i>thirdly</i>, its <i>catholicity</i>; scriptural setting forth of unity</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_220">220</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Further illustration from Protestant opinions of the Church's unity.—</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">A. First, that of Anglicans, of unity in particular Churches, but not in</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> the universal Church, represented by Dodwell</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_222">222</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">B. Second opinion, set forth by Vitringa, of distinction between the</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> necessity of internal and that of external unity</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_225">225</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">C. Third opinion, of agreement in fundamentals</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_232">232</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Two causes of this being held, one theoretical, the other practical.—The</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> former stated</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_233">233</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The practical cause</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_234">234</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Reasons educed, <i>thirdly</i>, from the <i>Catholicity</i> of the Church, with which</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> the Primacy is bound up.—Catholicity has two parts, one <i>material</i> and</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> one <i>formal</i></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_236">236</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The <i>material</i> part, amplitude and extension.—The <i>formal</i> part, not only</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> negative, but affirmative.—<i>Negative</i>, as expelling from the one true</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> Church all heretics and schismatics: testimonies to it</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_237">237</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Affirmative</i>, at making a coherent body with members and articulations</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_238">238</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Testimonies to the <i>mode</i> of this coherence, in Irenæus, Cyprian, and</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> Tertullian, and the other Fathers, summed up in S. Leo</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_239">239</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Hence answers to the question whether the doctrine of S. Peter's Primacy</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> is contained in the creed.—It is involved in one Catholic Church</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_243">243</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi">[Pg xvi]</a></span></p> +<h4>CHAPTER IX.</h4> + +<h5>THE NATURE, MULTIPLICITY, AND FORCE OF PROOF FOR S. PETER'S PRIMACY.</h5> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="TOC Chapter IX"> +<tr><td align="left">Different sorts of proof.—1. The principal here used, and the subsidiary.—Their</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> joint force</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_246">246</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Hence, I. The nature of the answer required to it.—2. The proof, if unanswered,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> demonstrates the Primacy to be revealed</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_247">247</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">3. Enquiry into the <i>certitude</i> of the proof used</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_248">248</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">I. Force of the proof <i>in itself</i> and <i>absolutely</i>.—Two conditions requisite,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> and here found, authenticity of the documents, and clearness of their</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> evidence.—Number and harmony of scriptural testimonies to the Primacy</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_249">249</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The parallel of Julius Cæsar</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_250">250</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Collateral proof, supporting that of the holy Scriptures, so that the whole</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> consists in the harmony of these four:—1. Scriptural documents.—</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> 2. Ancient witnesses.—3. Analogy.—4. Facts of Christian history, in fourteen</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> distinct classes</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_251">251</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Prodigious force of this compound proof</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_256">256</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">No counter religious system producible by Greek, Anglican, or pure Protestant,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> but mere negation and objection</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_257">257</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">II. Force of the proof <i>comparatively</i> with other doctrines: comparison</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> with the texts on which Anglicans, Lutherans, and Calvinists severally</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> rely</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_259">259</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Retort that all but Catholics are opposed to our interpretation; answer,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> that from Catholics alone we are to gather the truth</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_260">260</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Yet all protestants not agreed in opposing our interpretation and reasons</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> why their opposition is of little moment</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_261">261</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Compare, likewise, opposition to the Church in the fourth, fifth, and</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> sixth centuries</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_264">264</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">And again the conduct of Lutherans and Anglicans in maintaining their</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> own distinctive texts.—But what, then, are the true criteria of documentary</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> evidence? They are four:—</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> Internal {and immediate {4. Verbal.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 4em;">{ {2. Real.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 4em;">{and remote 3. Analogical.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> External 4. Agreement of witnesses </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_265">265</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1. Comparison carried through <i>verbal</i> criterion, between the texts alleged</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> by us, and those of Lutherans, Anglicans, and Calvinists</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_266">266</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">2. And through the <i>real</i> criterion, or that of the subject matter, greater</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> in the proofs for Peter's prerogatives than in those for the real presence,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> or the Divinity of Christ, on account of the difficulty of grasping</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> the object in the latter cases</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_267">267</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">As to the superiority of bishops over presbyters, the proof severed from</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> that of the Primacy sinks into nothing: considered with it, it is of the</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> same character, but weaker</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_268">268</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Accordingly, the criterion from the subject matter is stronger for Peter's</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> Primacy, than for the superiority of bishops over presbyters, for the</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> real presence, and for the Divinity of Christ.—Sum of both these criteria,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> verbal and real, in favour of Peter's Primacy, over these three</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> doctrines</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_270">270</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Appeal hence arising to Lutherans, Anglicans, and Calvinists.—Comparison</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> with the inferior evidence for other received doctrines</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_271">271</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">3. The third <i>criterion</i> of analogy: force of this in favour of Peter's Primacy</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> from three heads:—1. The divine institution of bishops.—2. The</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> unity of the Church.—3. The Catholicity of the Church</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_272">272</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">4. Fourth criterion of witnesses.—Immense force of this criterion, both</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> as stated by the fathers, and shewn by Protestants in their own conduct</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_274">274</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Witnesses unanimous in favour of the Primacy</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_277">277</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="ST_PETER" id="ST_PETER"></a>ST. PETER,</h2> + +<h3>HIS NAME AND HIS OFFICE,</h3> + +<h3>AS SET FORTH</h3> + +<h3>In Holy Scripture.</h3> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3>THE NAME OF PETER PROMISED, CONFERRED, AND EXPLAINED.</h3> + + +<p>Our Lord tells us that He came upon earth to "finish a +work;" and He likewise tells us what that work was, the +setting up a living society of men, who should dwell in Him +and He in them; on whom His Spirit should rest, with whom +His presence should abide, until the consummation of all +things. For, the evening before His passion, "lifting up +His eyes to heaven, He said: Father, the hour is come. * +* * I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished +the work which Thou gavest Me to do. * * I have +manifested Thy name to the men whom Thou hast given Me +out of the world. Thine they were, and to Me Thou gavest +them; and they have kept Thy word. * Holy Father, +keep them in Thy name, whom Thou has given Me; that +they may be one, as We also are. While I was with them I +kept them in Thy name.—And now I come to Thee.—I +pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, +but that Thou shouldest keep them from evil. * * As +Thou hast sent me into the world, I also have sent them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> +into the world. And for them do I sanctify Myself, that +they also may be sanctified in truth. And not for them +only do I pray, but for those also who through their word +shall believe in Me; that they all may be one, as Thou, +Father, in Me, and I in Thee; that they also may be one +in Us; that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. +And the glory which Thou hast given to Me, I have given +to them, that they may be one, as We also are one. I in +them, and Thou in Me; that they may be made perfect in +one; and the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and +hast loved them as Thou hast loved Me. * * And I have +made known Thy name to them, and will make it known; +that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in +them, and I in them."<a name="FNanchor_1_2" id="FNanchor_1_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_2" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> + +<p>In these terms the Eternal Word condescends to declare +to us that the fruit of His Incarnation, the "finished work" +which His Father had given Him to do, was the establishment +of a society whose unity in "truth" and "love" should +be so perfect, that He exemplifies it by the indwelling in +each other of the Divine Persons; which should be perpetual +and visible for ever, so that the world by it and in it +should recognise His own mission, and believe in the Sender; +and that the dowry of this society, thus perpetually visible, +should be the equally perpetual possession of truth—the +revelation of God's will—and of love, which is conformity to +it. And He based these unexampled promises on no less a +guarantee than the Almighty Power and ineffable Goodness +of His Father, witnessed by His own dwelling amongst us +in our flesh.</p> + +<p>Elsewhere He termed this society His Church, declared +that He would <a name="FNanchor_2_3" id="FNanchor_2_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_3" class="fnanchor">[2]</a>"build it on a rock, and that the gates of hell +should not prevail against it."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p><p>He told those whom He had set over it to go forth in His +name, and to teach all nations whatsoever He had commanded +them, adding the solemn engagement on His own +part, <a name="FNanchor_3_4" id="FNanchor_3_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_4" class="fnanchor">[3]</a>"Behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation +of the world."</p> + +<p>His whole teaching is full of reference to it, setting forth +its nature with every variety of illustration, enfolding it, as +it were, with an exuberance of divine charity.</p> + +<p>But two conceptions run through every illustration, and +are involved in its primary idea, nay, as this was the finished +work of His Incarnation, so are they found in His adorable +Person, from which His work springs. These conceptions +are Unity and Visibility.</p> + +<p>As the mystery of the Incarnation consists in the union +of the divine and human natures, in one Person, and in the +assumption of a body, that is, matter, by the one uncreated, +incomprehensible, and invisible Being, whereby He becomes +visible, so Unity and Visibility are the unfailing marks of His +Church, and enter into every image of it, in such a manner +that without them the image loses its point and significancy.</p> + +<p>Accordingly He proclaims the Church which He was +founding to be "the Kingdom of God," and "the Kingdom +of Heaven," thus bringing before us the conceptions of order, +government, power, headship on the one hand, dependence +on the other, and a host of mutual relations between the +Sovereign and the people, significantly remarking that "a +kingdom which is divided against itself must fall." Now, a +kingdom without unity is a contradiction in terms, and a +kingdom of God on earth, which cannot be seen, would be +for spirits and not for men.</p> + +<p>So He calls it a <a name="FNanchor_4_5" id="FNanchor_4_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_5" class="fnanchor">[4]</a>"city seated on a mountain," which +"cannot be hid," answering to His prophet's words, "the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>city of the great King," "His rest, and His habitation for +ever." Here again are embodied the notions of order, +government, conspicuous majesty, impregnable strength.</p> + +<p>Thus He inspires His apostle to call it <a name="FNanchor_5_6" id="FNanchor_5_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_6" class="fnanchor">[5]</a>"the house of +God, the pillar and ground of the truth." The house must +have its head, the family their father; the knowledge of +that father's will is the truth which rests upon the family +as its support and pillar. Outside of the family that knowledge +may be lost, together with the will to obey the father +and to love him; but within it is a living tradition, "familiar +to the ear as household words." As long as the Master +and the Father is there, a perpetual light from His face is +there too upon His children and His servants. Divide the +house, or corrupt its internal life, and the idea of the house +is destroyed; while an invisible house is an absurdity.</p> + +<p>Again, the Lord, calling Himself <a name="FNanchor_6_7" id="FNanchor_6_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_7" class="fnanchor">[6]</a>"the Good Shepherd, +who giveth His life for the sheep," terms His Church the +sheepfold, and declares that as there is one shepherd, so +there must be one fold.</p> + +<p>But, rising yet in nearness to the Divine Person of the +Word Incarnate, from whose side sleeping on the cross she +is moulded, the Church is called His Spouse, as united to +Him in eternal wedlock, <a name="FNanchor_7_8" id="FNanchor_7_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_8" class="fnanchor">[7]</a>"a great Sacrament," or mystery; +and even yet more, His Body, as supported by the continual +influx of her Head; and all her members are called +"flesh of His flesh, and bone of His bones."</p> + +<p>It is evident, then, that in these promises and illustrations +are set forth, as belonging to their object, a visible unity, a +perpetual possession and maintenance of the truth, and the +closest union with God, founded upon a most supernatural +indwelling of the Godhead in a society of men on earth, the +founding of which was the "finished work" of God the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>Word Incarnate. <i>Were these promises to fail in any +respect</i>, which is utterly impossible, for while heaven and +earth shall pass away, no word of their Maker can pass +away—<i>it is plain that our ground for trusting in any +promises of Holy Writ whatsoever would be demolished</i>. +The whole Christian revelation rests on the imperishable +life of the Church; because the corruption or +division of the Church would falsify the written records of +our faith, in which, after the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity, +and the Godhead of our Lord, no truth is so deeply embedded +as the perpetual existence and office of the Church.</p> + +<p>We have seen the idea of King, Lord, Master, Father, +Shepherd, Husband, and Head, running through the delineation +of the Church. And no society is complete without +its ruler. Such was our Lord, while on earth—the <i>visible</i> +ruler of a <i>visible</i> Church. "While I was with them I kept +them in Thy name." He went forth from His baptism to +win souls. The water became wine in His presence. He +bade men follow Him, and they followed. Power went forth +from Him, and healed diseases. Grace flowed from His lips +and conquered hearts. An innumerable multitude surrounded +Him, of all ages and conditions. <a name="FNanchor_8_9" id="FNanchor_8_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_9" class="fnanchor">[8]</a>"And going up +into a mountain He called unto Him whom He would Himself; +and they came to Him. And He made that twelve +should be with Him, and that He might send them to +preach."</p> + +<p>Here, then, the true Israel chooses the future princes of +His house, who should sit with Him on thrones, judging the +twelve tribes. Already, while yet with His Church, He is +preparing for her future government, when His visible +presence shall be taken from her. In three years all +should be accomplished, but when <a name="FNanchor_9_10" id="FNanchor_9_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_10" class="fnanchor">[9]</a>"the covenant should +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>have been confirmed with many in one week, and in the +half of the week the victim and the sacrifice should fail;" +when His Apostles should see Him no longer; was any one +ordained to take that all-important place of supreme ruler +which He had filled? For upon earth He had been in two +relations to His Church, her Founder, and her Ruler. The +former office belonged to His single Person; in its nature +it could not pass to another; the work was finished once +and for ever. But the latter office was, in its nature likewise, +perpetual. How, then, should the charge of visible +ruler, as man among men, be executed, when His Person +was withdrawn, when He ascended up on high, when all +power in heaven and earth was indeed given into His +hands, and so the headship of spiritual influence and providential +care; but when, nevertheless, that sacred Body was +withdrawn into the tabernacle of God, and the Bridegroom +was taken away for a time, and the voice and visible presence <a name="FNanchor_10_11" id="FNanchor_10_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_11" class="fnanchor">[10]</a>"what +they had seen, and heard, and handled, of +the word of life," "was with them and kept them" no +longer. Should His Church, which had been under one +visible ruler from the beginning, now have her government +changed? Or had He marked out any one among the +Twelve to succeed to His own office of visible headship, +and to be <a name="FNanchor_11_12" id="FNanchor_11_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_12" class="fnanchor">[11]</a>"the greater," and "the ruler" among His +brethren. His own special representative and vicar?</p> + +<p>To answer this question, we must carefully observe and +distinguish what is said and what is given to the Apostles +<i>in common</i>, and what to any one of their number <i>in particular</i>; +the former will instruct us as to their equality, the +latter as to the pre-eminence which any one enjoyed over +the rest, and in what it consisted.</p> + +<p>Just, then, as at a certain period of His ministry, our +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>Lord, out of the multitude who followed Him, selected +twelve, to be His special attendants upon earth, and, when +He should be taken up, to be the heralds of His Gospel +among all nations, so out of the twelve He from the beginning +distinguished one, marked him out for a peculiar and +singular office, connected him with Himself in a special +manner, and after having through the whole of His ministry +given him tokens and intimations of his future destination, +at last expressly nominated him to take His own +place, and preside among his brethren. His dealing with +this Apostle forms one connected whole, in which there is +nothing abrupt or inharmonious, out of keeping, or opposed +to what He said to others. What is at first obscurely intimated +is afterwards expressly promised, again in fresh +terms corroborated, and at last, in yet other language, but +of the like force, most significantly <a name="FNanchor_12_13" id="FNanchor_12_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_13" class="fnanchor">[12]</a>conveyed, while it +is attested by a number of incidental notices scattered +through the whole Gospel history. Thus <a name="FNanchor_13_14" id="FNanchor_13_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_14" class="fnanchor">[13]</a>it becomes +necessary to consider each particular, as well as the whole +sum of things said, <i>proper</i> and <i>peculiar</i> to this Apostle; to +weigh first their <i>separate</i> and then their <i>joint</i> force, and +only at last to form an united judgment upon all.</p> + +<p>We are searching into the will of the Divine Founder of +our faith, which He has not only communicated to His +Church in a living tradition, but in this case likewise +ordered to be set forth in authentic written documents. +These alone we are here considering, and the point in question +is whether He decreed that all the Twelve should share +equally in that divine mission and authority which He had +received from the Father, or whether while bestowing on +them all very high and distinctive powers, He yet appointed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>one, namely Simon, the son of Jonas, to preside over the +rest in His own place. We have, then, to consider all in these +documents which is said peculiar to such apostle, pointing out +singular gifts and prerogatives, and carrying with it special +authority of government. And we must remember that +where proofs are numerous and complex, some which in +themselves are only probable and accessory, yet have their +force on the ultimate result. But this result must be drawn +from a general view of the whole, and will collect in one the +sum of proof both probable and certain.</p> + +<p>Again, where many various causes concur, some more +and some less, to produce a certain effect, the force of such +effect is the force of all these causes put together, not of +each by itself alone. Or where many witnesses are examined, +whose evidence differs in value, although the testimony of +some be in itself decisive, yet the verdict must be given +after a consideration and review of all.</p> + +<p>Now the first mention which we have of the Apostle +Simon is full of signification. Our Lord had only just +begun His ministry; he had been lately baptized, and as +yet had called no disciples. But two of John the Baptist's +disciples hearing their master name Jesus "the Lamb of +God," follow Him, are kindly received by Him, and one +of them being Andrew, Simon's brother, finds Simon, +and says to him, <a name="FNanchor_14_15" id="FNanchor_14_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_15" class="fnanchor">[14]</a>"we have found the Messias. And +he brought him to Jesus. And Jesus looking on him +said, Thou art Simon the son of Jonas; thou shalt be +called Cephas, which is interpreted Peter:" as if He +would say, by birth thou art Simon, son of John; +but another and a higher lot is in store for thee. I will +give thee another name which thou shalt bear, a name in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>itself signifying the place which thou shalt hold in my +Church. Thou shalt be called, and thou shalt be, the Rock.</p> + +<p>For why, when a vast multitude of our Lord's words and +actions have been omitted, was this recorded for us, save +that a deep meaning lay in it? Or what could that meaning +be when our Lord, for the first time looking on Peter, +promised to him and to him alone, a new name, and that a +name given in prophecy to Himself, a name declaring by its +very sound that he should be laid by the builder, as a foundation +of the structure about to be raised? So in the fourth +century S. Chrysostome comments on the text, calling him +"the foundation of the Church, he that was really Peter" +(the Rock) "both in name and in deed:"<a name="FNanchor_15_16" id="FNanchor_15_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_16" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> and a little +after S. Cyril, of Alexandria, "with allusion to the rock He +transferred His name to Peter, for upon him He was about +to found His Church." The Creator of the world does not +give a name for nothing. His word is with power, and does +what it expresses. Of old, "He spake and they were made; +He commanded and they were created." Now, too, He +speaks, at the first dawn of His great spiritual restoration. +When as yet nothing has been done, and not a stone of the +divine building reared, He who determines the end from the +beginning looks upon what seemed a simple fisherman, and +at first beholding him, He takes Simon, the son of Jonas, out +of the roll of common men; He marks him for a future +design; He wraps him in a prophetic title; He associates +him with His own immovable power. Of Himself it had +been said,<a name="FNanchor_16_17" id="FNanchor_16_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_17" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> "Behold I will lay a stone in the foundation of +Sion, a tried stone, a corner stone, a precious stone, founded +on the foundation. He that believeth, let him not hasten." +And again, "the stone which the builders rejected, the same +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, +and it is wonderful in our eyes." And again, "A stone was +cut out of a mountain without hands; and it struck the +statue upon the feet thereof that were of iron and clay, and +broke them in pieces. But the stone that struck the statue +became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." And +again, "Behold the stone that I have laid before Jesus: +upon one stone there are seven eyes; behold I will grave +the graving thereof, saith the Lord of Hosts; and I will +take away the iniquity of that land in one day." In reference +to which S. Paul said of Christians, that they are +"built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, +Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone; in whom +all the building, being framed together, groweth up into a +holy temple in the Lord." It is plain, then, that our Lord +"both by the Old and New Testament,<a name="FNanchor_17_18" id="FNanchor_17_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_18" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> is called a stone."</p> + +<p>But this which He had of Himself, and by virtue of His +own divine power, as the Word of God, He would communicate +in a degree, and by dependence on Himself, to +another. This is no modern interpretation, but the very +words of St. Ambrose, "Great is the grace of Christ, who +bestowed almost all His own names on His disciples. I, +said He, am the light of the world, and yet He granted to +His disciples the very name in which He exulted, by the +words, Ye are the light of the world. Christ is the Rock, +but yet He did not deny the grace of this name to His +disciple, that he should be Peter, because he has from the +Rock firm constancy, immovable faith."<a name="FNanchor_18_19" id="FNanchor_18_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_19" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></p> + +<p>In the third century, Origen, on this very text, observes: +"He said he should be called Peter, by allusion to the +Rock, which is Christ, that as a man from wisdom is +termed wise, and from holiness holy, so too Peter from the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>Rock." And in the fifth, S. Leo paraphrases the name +thus: "While I am the inviolable Rock, the Corner-stone, +who make both one, the foundation beside which no one can +lay another; yet thou also art the rock, because by My +virtue thou art established, so as to enjoy by participation +the properties which are peculiar to Me."<a name="FNanchor_19_20" id="FNanchor_19_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_20" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></p> + +<p>Here, then, we have three facts: i. That our Lord having +twelve Apostles whom He chose, loved, and honoured, above +all His other disciples, yet promised to one<a name="FNanchor_20_21" id="FNanchor_20_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_21" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> only a new +name; and, ii., this a name in the highest degree significative, +and most deeply prophetical of a particular office; +and, iii., a name peculiar to Himself, as the immovable +foundation of the Church. This happened in the first year +of His ministry, before, as it would appear, either Peter or +any other apostle was called.</p> + +<p>The promise thus emphatically made to Simon, "Thou +shalt be called the Rock," our Lord fulfilled in the second +year of His ministry, when He distinguished the twelve +Apostles from the rest of His disciples, giving them authority +to teach, and power to heal sicknesses and to cast out +devils. Then, says S. Mark "to<a name="FNanchor_21_22" id="FNanchor_21_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_22" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> Simon He gave the +name of Peter;" and S. Matthew, "the names of the Twelve +Apostles are these; the first, Simon, who is called Peter;" +and S. Luke, "Simon whom also He named Peter." And +by this name He marked Him out from amongst all his +brethren, and united him to Himself. "He changes, too," +says Tertullian, "Peter's name from Simon, because also as +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>Creator He altered the names of Abraham, Sara, and Oshua, +calling the last Jesus, and adding syllables to the others, +but why did He call him Peter? If for the strength of his +faith, many solid substances would lend him a name from +themselves. Or was it because Christ is both the Rock and +the Stone? Since we read that He is set for a stone of +stumbling and a rock of offence. I omit the rest. And so +it was His pleasure to communicate to the dearest of His +disciples, in a peculiar manner, a name drawn from the +figures of Himself, I imagine, as being nearer than one +drawn from figures not of Himself."<a name="FNanchor_22_23" id="FNanchor_22_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_23" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p> + +<p>It is, then, setting a seal on His former acts, drawing out +and corroborating their meaning, that He once more, and in +the most emphatic way of all, recurs to this name, attaching +to it the most signal promises, and establishing its prophetic +power. In the third year of His ministry our Lord "came +into the quarters of Cesarea Philippi: and He asked His +disciples, saying, Whom do men say that the Son of Man is? +But they said, Some John the Baptist, and others Elias, +and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. Jesus saith to +them, But whom say ye that I am? Simon Peter answered +and said, Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. And +Jesus answering, said to him, Blessed art thou Simon Bar +Jonas, because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, +but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee that +thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my Church, +and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I +will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And +whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound also in +heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall +be loosed also in heaven."</p> + +<p>When we reflect that the first act of our Lord to Peter +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>was to look upon him, and to promise him this name, a +token of His omnipotence to Simon yet knowing him not, +as that seeing him under the fig-tree was to Nathaniel of +His omniscience; and that when He chose His twelve +apostles, it is said markedly "to Simon He gave the name +of Peter," the force of His reply cannot well be exceeded. +The promise of our Lord answers part by part to the confession +of His apostle. The one says: "Thou art the +Christ," that is, the anointed one; the other, "Thou art +Peter," that is, the Rock, the name which I gave thee +myself: my own title with which I invested thee. The one +adds, "the Son of the living God;" the other, "And +upon this rock I will build my Church," that is, as it is true +what thou confessest, that I am "the Son of the living God," +so my power as such shall be shown in building my Church +upon thee whom I have long named the Rock, "and the +gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Not only this, +but I will unfold to thee the full meaning of thy name, and +declare the gifts which accompany it. "And<a name="FNanchor_23_24" id="FNanchor_23_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_24" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> I will give to +thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven." That is, "The +root and the offspring of David," "the holy one and the +true one, He that hath the key of David; He that openeth +and no man shutteth; shutteth and no man openeth;" as +He gave to thee to share His name of the Rock, so He shall +give to thee to bear in His name His own symbol of supreme +dominion, the key which opens or shuts the true city of +David; all ages shall own thee, all nations acknowledge +thee, as <i>The Bearer of the Keys</i>; as long as my Church +shall last, against which the gates of hell shall not prevail, +thy office shall last too; as long as there are souls to be +saved, they shall pass by thy ministry into the gate of the +Church. And further, as long as there need in my spiritual +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>kingdom laws to be promulgated, precepts issued, sins forgiven, +"whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be +bound also in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on +earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven."</p> + +<p>Who, indeed, can adequately express the gifts which the +world's Creator and Redeemer here promises to His favoured +servant? Thus in the fourth century S. Chrysostome +labours to set them forth. "See how He raises Peter to a +higher opinion of Himself; and reveals and shews Himself +to be the Son of God by these two promises. For what +belongs to God alone, to loose sins, and to render the Church +immovable in such an assault of waves, and to make a fisherman +more solid than any rock, when the whole world was +at war with him, these are what He promises to give him; +as the Father addressing Jeremias, said: 'I have made +thee an iron pillar and a wall,' but him to one nation, +whereas the other to the whole world. Willingly would I +ask those who wish to diminish the dignity of the Son, which +are the greatest gifts, those which the Father gave to Peter, +or those which the Son. For the Father bestowed on Peter +the revelation of the Son; but the Son disseminated that +of the Father and of Himself through the whole world; and +<i>put into the hands of a mortal man power over all things +in heaven, when He gave the keys to him</i> who extended the +Church through the whole world, and showed it to be firmer +than the heaven."<a name="FNanchor_24_25" id="FNanchor_24_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_25" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> And not many years later S. Leo says, +"That which the Truth ordered remains; and blessed Peter +persisting in that strength of the rock which he received, +has not deserted the guidance, once undertaken, of the +Church. For thus was he set before the rest, that while he is +called the Rock, while he is declared to be the foundation, +while he is appointed the door-keeper of the kingdom of heaven, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>while he is advanced to be the judge of what shall be +bound and what loosed, with the condition that his sentence +shall be ratified even in heaven, <i>we might learn through the +very mysteries of the names given to him, how he was associated +with Christ</i>."<a name="FNanchor_25_26" id="FNanchor_25_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_26" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> This association passed, indeed, into +the very mind of the Church, for among all the titles given +by fathers and councils and liturgies to Peter, and expressing +his prerogatives, the one contained in this name is the most +frequent. Thus he is termed,<a name="FNanchor_26_27" id="FNanchor_26_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_27" class="fnanchor">[26]</a>"the rock of the Church,"<a name="FNanchor_27_28" id="FNanchor_27_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_28" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> +"the rock of the Church that was to be built,"<a name="FNanchor_28_29" id="FNanchor_28_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_29" class="fnanchor">[28]</a>"underlying +the building of the Church,"<a name="FNanchor_29_30" id="FNanchor_29_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_30" class="fnanchor">[29]</a>"receiving on himself +the building of the Church,"<a name="FNanchor_30_31" id="FNanchor_30_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_31" class="fnanchor">[30]</a>"the immovable rock,"<a name="FNanchor_31_32" id="FNanchor_31_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_32" class="fnanchor">[31]</a>"the +rock which the proud gates of hell prevail not against," <a name="FNanchor_32_33" id="FNanchor_32_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_33" class="fnanchor">[32]</a>"the +most solid rock,"<a name="FNanchor_33_34" id="FNanchor_33_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_34" class="fnanchor">[33]</a>"he to whom the Lord granted +the participation of His own title, the rock," <a name="FNanchor_34_35" id="FNanchor_34_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_35" class="fnanchor">[34]</a>"the +foundation second from Christ,"<a name="FNanchor_35_36" id="FNanchor_35_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_36" class="fnanchor">[35]</a>"the great foundation +of the Church,"<a name="FNanchor_36_37" id="FNanchor_36_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_37" class="fnanchor">[36]</a>"the foundation and basis," <a name="FNanchor_37_38" id="FNanchor_37_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_38" class="fnanchor">[37]</a>"founding +the Church by his firmness,"<a name="FNanchor_38_39" id="FNanchor_38_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_39" class="fnanchor">[38]</a>"the support +of the Church,"<a name="FNanchor_39_40" id="FNanchor_39_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_40" class="fnanchor">[39]</a>"the Apostle in whom is the Church's +support,"<a name="FNanchor_40_41" id="FNanchor_40_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_41" class="fnanchor">[40]</a>"the support of the faith,"<a name="FNanchor_41_42" id="FNanchor_41_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_42" class="fnanchor">[41]</a>"the pillar of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>Church," and by an authority sufficient alone to terminate +all controversy, the great Council of Chalcedon,<a name="FNanchor_42_43" id="FNanchor_42_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_43" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> "the +rock and foundation of the Catholic Church, and the basis +of the orthodox faith."<a name="FNanchor_43_44" id="FNanchor_43_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_44" class="fnanchor">[43]</a></p> + +<p>Thus, then, we have the name of Peter first promised, +next conferred, then explained. And further light will be +shed on this by the consideration of the purpose for which +names in Holy Writ were bestowed by divine command on +individuals, or their former names changed.</p> + +<p>Now<a name="FNanchor_44_45" id="FNanchor_44_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_45" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> of names imposed in Scripture there would seem +to be three classes. The first and most common are <i>commemorative</i>, +and are for the purpose of recording and +handing down to posterity remarkable facts. Such are +Peleg, "because in his days the earth was <i>divided</i>;" Isaac, +from the <i>laughter</i> of his father and mother; Issachar, a +<i>reward</i>; Manasseh, "God hath made me to <i>forget</i> my +labours;" Ephraim, "God hath made me to <i>grow</i>;"<a name="FNanchor_45_46" id="FNanchor_45_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_46" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> and a +multitude of others.</p> + +<p>The second class may be termed <i>significative</i>, being imposed +to distinguish their bearers from others by some +quality. Such are Jacob, the supplanter; Esau; Edom, +the red; Moses, the taken or saved; Maccabæus; Boanerges.<a name="FNanchor_46_47" id="FNanchor_46_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_47" class="fnanchor">[46]</a></p> + +<p>The third and highest class are <i>prophetic</i>, and as such +evidently can be imposed by God alone, who foresees the +future. They are two-fold: i. Those which foresignify +events concerning not so much their bearers as others; +such are Shear-jashub, "the remnant shall return;" Jezrael +"I will visit;" Lo-ruhamah, "not pitied;" Lo-ammi, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>"not my people." ii. Those which point out the office and +destiny of their bearers; such as Noah, rest; Israel, a +prince before God; Joshua, Saviour; Sarah, princess; +John, in whom there is grace; and, after the divine name +of Jesus, "who saves His people from their sins,"<a name="FNanchor_47_48" id="FNanchor_47_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_48" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> Abraham, +and Cephas, or Peter, which two neither commemorate +a past event, nor signify a quality or ornament already +possessed, but are wholly prophetic, inasmuch as they +shadow out the dignity to which the leaders of the two +covenants are divinely marked out by the very imposition +of their name.</p> + +<p>For it will perhaps bring out the pre-eminence and +superior authority of Peter, if we consider the very close +resemblance and almost identity of the dispensation into +which God entered with Abraham, and that which Christ +gave to Peter. But first we must observe how the more +remarkable things occurring in the New Testament were +foretold by types, images, parallelisms, and distinct prophecies +in the Old. How<a name="FNanchor_48_49" id="FNanchor_48_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_49" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> both our Lord, the Evangelists, +and the Apostles, take pains to point out the close agreement +between the two covenants; how the ancient ecclesiastical +writers do the like in their contests with early +heretics, or in recommending the truth of the Christian +faith either to Jew or Gentile. They considered scarcely +any proof of the Gospel superior to that which might be +drawn by grave and solid inference from the anticipation +of Christian truths in the old covenant. Now, among such +truths, what concerns Peter is surely of signal importance, +as it affects the whole judgment on the form of government +which our Lord instituted for His Church.</p> + +<p>Again, it may be taken as an axiom that, as a similitude +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>of causes is inferred from a similitude of effects, so a resemblance +of the divine counsels may be inferred from a resemblance +of exterior manifestations. As effects are so many +steps by which we rise to the knowledge and discernment +of causes, so divine manifestations are tokens which unfold +God's eternal decrees. Thus if the series of dealings which +constitute God's dispensation to Abraham be very much like +that other series in which the Scriptures of the New Testament +set forth the dispensation given to Peter, we may +conclude, first, that the two dispensations may be compared, +and, secondly, that from their resemblance, a resemblance +in the divine purpose may be deduced.</p> + +<p>First,<a name="FNanchor_49_50" id="FNanchor_49_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_50" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> then, "God at sundry times, and in divers manners, +speaking to the Fathers" of that covenant of grace, +into which He had already entered with our first parents, +said to Abram, "Go forth out of thy country, and from thy +kindred, and out of thy father's house, and I will make of +thee a great nation." But when in the last days He began +to fulfil that covenant, and to declare His will by His Son, +Jesus said to Simon and Andrew, "Follow me, and I will +make you to become fishers of men," and to Simon specially, +"Fear not, for henceforth thou shalt catch men."<a name="FNanchor_50_51" id="FNanchor_50_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_51" class="fnanchor">[50]</a></p> + +<p>Abram hearkened to God calling him: "So Abram went +out as the Lord had commanded him;" and Simon as readily +obeyed Christ's vocation: "And immediately leaving their +nets they followed Him."<a name="FNanchor_51_52" id="FNanchor_51_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_52" class="fnanchor">[51]</a></p> + +<p>God rewarded Abraham's obedience by the promise of a +new name: "Neither shall thy name be called any more +Abram, but thou shalt be called Abraham." So Christ +honoured Simon, saying, "Thou art Simon, the son of +Jonas, thou shalt be called Cephas."<a name="FNanchor_52_53" id="FNanchor_52_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_53" class="fnanchor">[52]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p><p>No sooner had God unfolded the dignity shadowed forth +in the promised name, and bestowed that dignity on Abraham, +than He required of him a signal instance of faith and +love: "God tempted Abraham, and said to him, Take thy +son, thine only begotten, whom thou lovest, and offer him +for a holocaust." So Christ required of Simon a proof of +faith and of superior love before He either unfolded the +excellence of the promised name, or adorned him with that +excellency: "He saith to them, Whom say ye that I am?" +"Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?"<a name="FNanchor_53_54" id="FNanchor_53_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_54" class="fnanchor">[53]</a></p> + +<p>And both were no less ready to show the fortitude of +their faith and love than they had been ready to follow the +divine calling. For, "Abraham stretched forth his hand, +and took the sword to sacrifice his son;" and "Simon Peter +answering, said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living +God;" and again, "Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love +Thee."<a name="FNanchor_54_55" id="FNanchor_54_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_55" class="fnanchor">[54]</a></p> + +<p>Then, as the bestowal of the new name was the reward +of the obedience with which each had followed his vocation, +so God, moved by their remarkable ensuing faith and +charity, explained the dignity contained in that name, and +bestowed it when so explained. The following refers to the +explanation; "By myself have I sworn, because thou hast +done this thing," and "Because flesh and blood hath not +revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And +I say unto thee."</p> + +<p>But as to the dignity bestowed, it should be remarked +that it is divine, and communicated to each with this +resemblance: <i>First</i>, that Abraham thereby becomes the +source and parent of all the faithful, and Peter their base +and foundation; the one, the author of a seed which should +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>equal in number the stars of the heaven and the sand of the +sea; the other, the Rock of the Church, which should +embrace all nations, tribes, and languages. God says to +Abraham, "And multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the +stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the sea-shore." +But Christ to Peter, "and upon this rock I will build my +Church." <i>Secondly</i>, the blessing thus bestowed from above +upon each was not one which should rest in their single +persons, but from them and through them should be extended +to the universal posterity and society of the faithful; +so that all who should believe, to the consummation of time, +should gain through them blessing, stability, and victory +over the assault of enemies and the gates of hell. The +promise to Abraham is clear: "thy seed shall possess the +gate of their enemies, and in thy seed shall all the nations +of the earth be blessed:" nor less so to Peter, "And the +gates of hell shall not prevail against it."</p> + +<p>But the high excellence of this dignity, embracing, as it +does, the whole company of the faithful, was presignified in +the very meaning of the name imposed. For of Abraham's +name we read, "And thy name shall be Abraham, for a +father of many nations have I made thee." Exactly resembling +is what is said of Peter's appellation, "Thou art +Peter, the Rock, and upon this rock I will build my +Church."</p> + +<p>Nay, we may put in parallel columns the two promises, +thus—</p> + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="promises"> +<tr><td align="left">1. Thy name shall be</td><td align="left" colspan="2">1. Thou art Peter,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Abraham,</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">2. For a father of many</td><td align="left" colspan="2">2. And upon this rock I</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">nations have I made thee: </td><td align="left" colspan="2">will build my Church.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>And just as in the former, the second clause contains the +reason of the first, so in the latter likewise the two clauses +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>cohere, as the name and its explanation. Again, the dignity +of the one is expressed as that of the Father; of the other +as that of the Rock. Further, those alone can share the +blessing of Abraham, who are born of his spirit: and those +alone the stability divinely granted to Peter, who refuse by +any violence, or at any cost, to be separated from him.</p> + +<p>But Abraham was thus raised to be the friend of God, +associated in the divine Fathership, and made the teacher +of posterity; and therefore, as being such, God would show +him His counsels, that through him they might descend to +his children. "And the Lord said, Can I hide from +Abraham what I am about to do? for I know that he will +command his children and his household after him to keep +the way of the Lord." In a precisely similar way, when +God would call the Gentiles to the light of the Gospel, He +shewed it by a special revelation to Peter alone: "There +came upon him an ecstasy of mind; and he saw the heaven +opened; and this was done thrice." And the reason of so +preferring Peter was God's decree, that through him all +other Christians, even the Apostles themselves, might be +informed, and convinced. "You know that in former days +God made choice among us that by my mouth the Gentiles +should hear the word of the Gospel and believe." "And +thou, when thou art converted, confirm thy brethren."<a name="FNanchor_55_56" id="FNanchor_55_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_56" class="fnanchor">[55]</a></p> + +<p>Finally, as God pronounces Abraham blest, so Christ +pronounces Peter; and as He made Abraham the source +and fountain-head of blessing and strength to all others, so +no less did Christ make Peter. Of the first we read, "I +will bless thee, and will make thy name great, and thou +shalt be a blessing;" of the second, "Blessed art thou, +Simon Bar Jonah;—and upon this rock I will build My +Church."</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p> +<p>In one word, the parallel is as follows between Abraham +and Peter. Both receive a remarkable call, and follow it; +both are promised and receive a new, and that a prophetical +name; of both signal instances of faith and love are +required; both furnish these, and therefore do not lose the +increase of their reward; to Abraham his prophetical name +is explained, and to Peter likewise; Abraham understands +his destination to be the Father of all nations, and Peter +that he is made the Rock of the universal Church; Abraham +is called blest, and so Peter; to Abraham it is revealed +that no one, save from him, and through him, shall share +the heavenly blessing; to Peter that all, from him, and +through him, shall gain strength and stability; it is only +through Abraham that his posterity can promise itself +victory over the enemy, and only through being built on +Peter, the Rock, that the Church will triumph over the +gates of hell; in fine, if Abraham, as the teacher of the +faithful, is instructed in the divine counsels with singular +care, not less is shown to Peter, whom Christ has made the +doctor and teacher of all believers.</p> + +<p>The gifts thus bestowed on Abraham and Peter are +<i>peculiar</i>, for they are read of no one else in the Holy Scriptures; +they are not only <i>gifts</i>, but a <i>reward</i> for singular +merit; and in their own nature they cannot be <i>general</i>. As +by them Abraham is put into a relation of <i>Fathership</i>, so +that all the faithful become his children, so Peter being +called and made the Rock and <i>Foundation</i> of the Church, +all its members have a dependence on him.</p> + +<p>And if these gifts are <i>peculiar</i>, no less do they convey a +singular <i>dignity</i> and <i>pre-eminence</i>. For it follows that, as +S. Paul says,<a name="FNanchor_56_57" id="FNanchor_56_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_57" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> that all the faithful are children of Abraham, +being heirs not of his flesh, but of his spirit and faith; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>so no one is, or can be, a part of the Church's building, who +rests not on Peter as the foundation. For the same God +who said to Abraham, "Thy name shall no longer be called +Abram, but Abraham shall be thy name," said also to Simon, +"Thou shalt not be called Simon, but Cephas;" the same +God who said to the former, "In thee shall all families of +the earth be blessed," said to the latter, "Upon this Rock +I will build my Church."</p> + +<p>What is the source of this pre-eminence in both? To +both the same objection may be made, and for both the +same defence.</p> + +<p>How should blessing and adoption be propagated from +Abraham, as a sort of head, into the whole body of the +faithful? Because Abraham is considered as joined with +that mighty Seed his offspring, whence <i>in chief</i> and <i>primarily</i> +the salvation of all depends; because Abraham is made +by <i>participation</i> partner of that dignity which <i>naturally</i> +and <i>substantially</i> belongs to the Seed that was to spring +from him. God Himself has told us this, and His Apostle +S. Paul explained it. For as we read that it was said to +Abraham, "In thee shall all nations of the earth be blessed," +so God Himself has told us that <i>in thee, by thee</i>, means +<i>in, by thy seed</i>. Hence S. Paul:<a name="FNanchor_57_58" id="FNanchor_57_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_58" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> "To Abraham were the +promises made, and to his seed. He saith not, seeds, as of +many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ." So +that the divine words, "In thee shall all nations of the +earth be blessed," give this meaning: "As thou shalt give +flesh to my only begotten Son whom I cherish in my +bosom, whence He shall be called at once 'the Son of God +and the Son of Abraham,'<a name="FNanchor_58_59" id="FNanchor_58_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_59" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> so He makes thee a partner of +His dignity and excellence, whence, if not the source and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>origin, yet thou shalt be a broad stream of blessing to be +poured out on all nations."</p> + +<p>Now just in the same manner is Peter the Rock of +the Church, and the cause next to Christ of that firmness +with which the Church shall remain impregnable to the +end. For therefore is he the Rock and Foundation of the +Church, because he has been called into a sort of unity +with Him of whom it is said, "Behold I lay in Sion a chief +corner stone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on it +shall not be ashamed:" and in whom, as Paul explains, "the +whole building fitly framed together increaseth unto a holy +temple in the Lord."<a name="FNanchor_59_60" id="FNanchor_59_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_60" class="fnanchor">[59]</a> Therefore is he the Church's Rock, +because as he, by his own confession, declared the Godhead +of the Foundation in chief, "Thou art the Christ, the +Son of the living God," so from Him, who is the chief +and substantial Foundation, he received the gift of being +made partner in one and the same property: "And I too +say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I +will build my Church;" one with Me by communication of +My office and charge, My dignity and excellency. Hence +the stability of Peter is that of Christ, as the splendour of +the ray is that of the sun; Peter's dignity that of Christ, +as the river's abundance is the abundance of the fountain. +Those who diminish Peter's dignity may well be charged +with violating the majesty of Christ; those who are hostile +to Peter, and divorced from him, stand in the like opposition +to Christ.</p> + +<p>Now this parallel is an answer<a name="FNanchor_60_61" id="FNanchor_60_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_61" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> to those who object to +Peter's supereminence as the Foundation, that this dignity +is entirely divine, surpassing by an almost infinite degree +the capacity of man. For is not that a divine dignity +which consists in the paternity of all the faithful? Is not +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>that prerogative beyond man's capacity by which one +becomes the author of a blessing diffused through all +nations? Yet no one denies that such a dignity and such +a prerogative were granted to Abraham. In divine endowments, +therefore, their <i>full</i> and <i>natural possession</i> must be +carefully distinguished from their <i>limited</i> and <i>analogous +participation</i>. The one, as inherent, cannot fall to the +creature's lot; the other, as transferable, may be granted +as God pleases. For what further removed from man than +the Godhead? Yet it is written, "I have said, ye are +Gods."<a name="FNanchor_61_62" id="FNanchor_61_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_62" class="fnanchor">[61]</a></p> + +<p>Not weightier is the other objection, that the office of +being the Foundation is too important to be entrusted to +human care. Was there less difficulty in blessing being +diffused from one man among all nations? Rather we +must look on man not as he is by, and of, himself, apart +from God, and left to his own weakness, but as upborne by +divine power, according to the promise, "Behold, I am with +you all days, until the consummation of the world." Who +can doubt that man, in union with God, may serve for a +foundation, and discharge those offices in which the unity +of a structure consists? It is confidently and constantly +objected, that "other foundation no man can lay beside +that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ."<a name="FNanchor_62_63" id="FNanchor_62_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_63" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> As if what +has been laid by Christ Himself, and consists in the +virtue of Christ alone, can be thought other than Christ; +or as if it were unusual, or unscriptural, for things proper +to Christ to be participated by men. Therefore the chief +difficulties against Peter's pre-eminence, and character as +the Foundation, seem to spring from the mind failing to +realise the supernatural order instituted by God, and the +perpetual presence of Christ watching over His Church.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p><p>Thus it is no derogation to Abraham's being the Father +of the faithful, or to the hierarchy of the Church instituted +by Christ Himself, that our Lord says,<a name="FNanchor_63_64" id="FNanchor_63_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_64" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> "Call none your +father upon earth, for one is your Father who is in heaven;" +inasmuch as Scripture abundantly proves that divine gifts +are richly conferred upon men. What more divine than +the Holy Spirit? Yet it is written,<a name="FNanchor_64_65" id="FNanchor_64_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_65" class="fnanchor">[64]</a> "And I will ask the +Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, that He +may abide with you for ever." What a higher privilege +than filial adoption? Yet it is said, <a name="FNanchor_65_66" id="FNanchor_65_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_66" class="fnanchor">[65]</a>"Ye have received +the spirit of filial adoption, by which we cry, Abba Father." +What a greater treasure than co-inheritance with Christ? +Yet we read, <a name="FNanchor_66_67" id="FNanchor_66_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_67" class="fnanchor">[66]</a>"but if children, also heirs: heirs of God, +but joint heirs with Christ." What higher than the vision +of God? Yet S. Paul bears witness,<a name="FNanchor_67_68" id="FNanchor_67_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_68" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> "We see now +through a glass darkly, but then face to face." What +more wonderful than the power of remitting sins? Yet +this very power is granted to the Apostles, <a name="FNanchor_68_69" id="FNanchor_68_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_69" class="fnanchor">[68]</a>"Whose sins +you shall forgive, they are forgiven them." What further +from human weakness than the power of working miracles? +Yet Christ establishes this, <a name="FNanchor_69_70" id="FNanchor_69_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_70" class="fnanchor">[69]</a>"Amen, amen, I say unto +you, he that believeth on Me, the works which I do, shall +he do also, and greater works than these shall he do." +Indeed, the participation and communion of heavenly gifts +have the closest coherence with that supernatural order, +which God in creating man chose, and to which He called +fallen man back through His only begotten Son; with that +dispensation of Christ by which He loved the Apostles as +He Himself was loved by the Father, by which He called +them, <a name="FNanchor_70_71" id="FNanchor_70_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_71" class="fnanchor">[70]</a>"not servants, but friends," and gave them that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>glory which He had Himself received from the Father. +And the tone of mind which denies Peter's prerogative as +the Foundation of the Church, under pretence that it is an +usurpation of divine power, tends to deny some one or all +of the privileges just cited, and, as a fact, does deny some +of them. It is <a name="FNanchor_71_72" id="FNanchor_71_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_72" class="fnanchor">[71]</a>wonderful to see how only common and +vulgar things are discerned by modern eyes, where the +Fathers saw celestial and divine gifts. Those without the +Church have fallen away as well from the several parts and +privileges, from what may be called the standing order, of +the Incarnation, as from its final purpose and scope; and it +is much if they would not charge with blasphemy that glorious +saying put forth by the greatest of the Eastern, as +by the greatest of the Western Fathers, "that God became +man, in order that man might become God."<a name="FNanchor_72_73" id="FNanchor_72_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_73" class="fnanchor">[72]</a></p> + +<p>Was, then, S. Chrysostome wrong when he said that our +Lord, in that passage of Matthew, showed a power equal to +God the Father by the gifts which He bestowed on a poor +fisherman? "He who gave to him the keys of the heavens, +and made him Lord of such power, and needed not +prayer for this, for He did not then say, I prayed, but, with +authority, I will build my Church, and I will give to +thee the keys of heaven."<a name="FNanchor_73_74" id="FNanchor_73_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_74" class="fnanchor">[73]</a> Was he wrong when he called +him "the chosen of the Apostles, the mouth-piece of the +disciples, the head of the band, the ruler over the brethren?"<a name="FNanchor_74_75" id="FNanchor_74_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_75" class="fnanchor">[74]</a> +Or where he saw these prerogatives in the very +name of Peter, observing, "When I say Peter, I mean the +impregnable rock, the immovable foundation, the great +apostle, the first of the disciples?"<a name="FNanchor_75_76" id="FNanchor_75_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_76" class="fnanchor">[75]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p><p>To sum up, then, what has been hitherto said, we have advanced +so far as this; first the promise, and then the bestowal +of a new name, expressing a singular pre-eminence, and in +its <i>proper</i> sense befitting Christ alone, have distinguished +Simon from the rest of the apostles. But much more the +power signified by that name, and explained by the Lord +Himself, carries far higher Peter's privilege, and indicates +him to be the possessor of authority over the Apostles. For +if Simon is the Rock of the Church, and if the property of +Foundation, on which the structure of the Church rests, +belongs to him immediately after Christ, and analogously +with Christ, there arises this relation between Christ and +Simon, that as He is first, and chiefly, and by inherent +power, so Simon is secondarily, by participation and +analogy, that which underlies, holds together, and supports +the Apostles and the whole fabric of the Church.</p> + +<p>Now such a relation carries with it not merely precedency +of honour, but superior authority. The strength of +the Apostles lay in their union with Christ, and subordination +to Him. The like necessity of adhering to Peter is expressed +in his new name. Take away that subordination, and you +destroy the very image by which the Lord chose to express +Peter's dignity; and you remove, likewise, Peter's participation +in that property which the Lord communicated to +him in the name of the Rock. For if the Apostles needed +not to be joined with him, he had no title to be called the +Foundation; and if he had no coactive power over the +Apostles, he did not share the property by which Christ is +the Rock and Foundation. Thus the name, and the dignity +expressed by the name, show Peter to have been singly +invested by the Lord with both honour and power superior +to all the Apostles.<a name="FNanchor_76_77" id="FNanchor_76_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_77" class="fnanchor">[76]</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p> +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_2" id="Footnote_1_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_2"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> John xvii.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_3" id="Footnote_2_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_3"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Matt. xvi. 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_4" id="Footnote_3_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_4"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Matt. xxviii. 19, 20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_5" id="Footnote_4_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_5"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Matt. v. 14; Psalm xlvii. 2; cxxxi. 13, 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_6" id="Footnote_5_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_6"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> 1 Tim. iii. 15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_7" id="Footnote_6_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_7"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> John x. 11-16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_8" id="Footnote_7_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_8"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Eph. v. 32, 30.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_9" id="Footnote_8_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_9"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Mark iii. 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_10" id="Footnote_9_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_10"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Dan. ix. 26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_11" id="Footnote_10_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_11"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> 1 John i. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_12" id="Footnote_11_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_12"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Luke xxii. 26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_13" id="Footnote_12_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_13"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Vid. John i. 42; Mark iii. 16; Matt. xvi. 18; Luke xxii. 32; John xxi. 15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_14" id="Footnote_13_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_14"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 35-7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_15" id="Footnote_14_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_15"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> John i. 35-42.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_16" id="Footnote_15_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_16"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> S. Chrysostome on the text. S. Cyril on John i. 42.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_17" id="Footnote_16_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_17"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Isai. xxviii. 16; Ps. cxvii. 22; Dan. ii. 35; Zach. iii. 9; Eph. ii. 20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_18" id="Footnote_17_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_18"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> Theodoret on Dan. ii. 34.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_19" id="Footnote_18_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_19"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Ambrose on Luke, Lib. 6, n. 97.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_20" id="Footnote_19_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_20"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Serm. iv. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_21" id="Footnote_20_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_21"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> For the name Boanerges, which in one place is given to the two sons of Zebedy, is in +the first place a joint name; secondly, it is nowhere else referred to, and does not take the +place of their birth-names; thirdly, it indicates not an official dignity, but an inward disposition. +We cannot doubt that such a name bestowed on the two brothers was a mark of +great distinction, but, for the above reasons, it cannot come into competition with the name of +Peter. See Passaglia, p. 44, n. 38.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_22" id="Footnote_21_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_22"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Mark iii. 14; Matt. x. 1; Luke vi. 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_23" id="Footnote_22_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_23"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Cont. Marcion. L. 4, c. 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_24" id="Footnote_23_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_24"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Apoc. xxii. 16; iii. 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_25" id="Footnote_24_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_25"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> S. Chris. on Matt. 16, Hom. 54.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_26" id="Footnote_25_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_26"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> S. Leo, Serm. 3 on his anniversary.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_27" id="Footnote_26_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_27"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> Hilary of Poitiers on Matt. xv. n. 6; on Ps. cxxxi. n. 4; on the Trinity, L. 6, n. 20. +Gregory Naz. Orat. 26, p. 453. Ambrose in his first hymn, referred to also by Augustine, +Retract. lib. 1, c. 21, and Epiph. in ancor. n. 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_28" id="Footnote_27_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_28"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Tertullian de monogam. c. 8. Origen on Ps. 1, quoted by Eusebius, Hist. I. 6, c. 25. +Cyprian, Ep. 71, and Firmilian, among Cyprian's letters, 75.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_29" id="Footnote_28_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_29"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Basil cont. Eunom. lib. 2, n. 4. Zeno. lib. 2, tract. 13, n. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_30" id="Footnote_29_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_30"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> By the same.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_31" id="Footnote_30_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_31"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Epiphan. hær. 59, n. 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_32" id="Footnote_31_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_32"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> August. in Ps. cont. par. Donati. Leo, serm. 98.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_33" id="Footnote_32_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_33"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Theodoret, ep. 77.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_34" id="Footnote_33_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_34"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> Maximus of Turin, serm. pro natali Petri et Pauli.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_35" id="Footnote_34_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_35"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> Greg. Nazian. in hom. archieratico inserta.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_36" id="Footnote_35_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_36"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> Origen on Exod. hom. 5, n. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_37" id="Footnote_36_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_37"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> Gallican sacramentary, edited by Mabillon, T. I. Mus. Ital. p. 343. Synod of Ephesus, +act. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_38" id="Footnote_37_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_38"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> Peter Chrysologus, serm. 154.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_39" id="Footnote_38_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_39"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> Ambrose on Virginity, c. 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_40" id="Footnote_39_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_40"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> Ambrose on Luke, lib. 4, n. 70.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_41" id="Footnote_40_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_41"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> Chrysostome, hom. on debtor of ten thousand talents, Tom. 3, p. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_42" id="Footnote_41_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_42"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> Philip, legate of the Apostolic See, in Act. 3 of Council of Ephesus.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_43" id="Footnote_42_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_43"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> Council of Chalcedon, act. 3. in deposing Dioscorus.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_44" id="Footnote_43_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_44"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> For the above references see Passaglia, p. 400.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_45" id="Footnote_44_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_45"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> Vid. Passaglia, p. 54, note 47.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_46" id="Footnote_45_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_46"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> Gen. x. 25; xvii. 19; xxx. 18; xii. 51, 52.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46_47" id="Footnote_46_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_47"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> Gen. xxv. 26; xxvii. 36; xxv. 25; xxv. 30; Exod. ii. 10; 1 Macc. ii. 4; Mark iii. 17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47_48" id="Footnote_47_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_48"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> Isai. vii. 3; Os. i. 4, 6, 9; Gen. v. 29; xxxii. 28; Numb. xiii. 17; Gen. xvii. 15; Matt. iii. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48_49" id="Footnote_48_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_49"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 51.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49_50" id="Footnote_49_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_50"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 52.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50_51" id="Footnote_50_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_51"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> Gen. xii. 1; Mark 1. 16, 17; Luke v. 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_51_52" id="Footnote_51_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_52"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> Gen. xii. 4; Mark i. 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52_53" id="Footnote_52_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_53"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> Gen. xvii. 5; John i. 42.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_53_54" id="Footnote_53_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_54"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> Gen. xxii. 1; Matt. xvi. 15; John xxi. 15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54_55" id="Footnote_54_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_55"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> Gen. xxii. 10; Matt. xvi. 16; John xxi. 15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_55_56" id="Footnote_55_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_56"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> Gen. xviii. 17; Acts x. 10; xv. 7; Luke xxii. 32.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_56_57" id="Footnote_56_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_57"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> Gal. iii. 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57_58" id="Footnote_57_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_58"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> Gal. iii. 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_58_59" id="Footnote_58_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_59"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> Matt. i. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59_60" id="Footnote_59_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_60"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> Is. xxviii. 16; Eph. ii. 21.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_60_61" id="Footnote_60_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_61"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 58.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_61_62" id="Footnote_61_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_62"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> Ps. lxxxii. 6, with John x. 34.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_62_63" id="Footnote_62_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_63"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> 1 Cor. iii. 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_63_64" id="Footnote_63_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_64"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> Matt. xxiii. 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_64_65" id="Footnote_64_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_65"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> John xiv. 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_65_66" id="Footnote_65_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_66"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> Rom. viii. 15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_66_67" id="Footnote_66_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_67"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> Rom. viii. 17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_67_68" id="Footnote_67_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_68"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> 1 Cor. xiii. 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_68_69" id="Footnote_68_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_69"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> John xx. 23.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_69_70" id="Footnote_69_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_70"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> John xiv. 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_70_71" id="Footnote_70_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_71"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> John xv. 9, 15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_71_72" id="Footnote_71_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_72"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 442. n. 38.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_72_73" id="Footnote_72_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_73"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> [Greek: O tou Theou Logos enênthrhôpêsen H +hina hêmeis theopoiêthômen.] St. Athan. de Incarn. +Factus est Deus homo, ut homo fieret deus. St. Aug. Serm. 13, de Temp.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_73_74" id="Footnote_73_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_74"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> S. Chrys. Tom. vii. 786. Hom. 82, in Matt.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_74_75" id="Footnote_74_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_75"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> Tom. viii. 525. Hom. 88, in Joan.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_75_76" id="Footnote_75_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_76"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> Hom. 3, de Pœnitentia. Tom. ii. 300.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_76_77" id="Footnote_76_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_77"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 48, 9.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3>EDUCATION AND FINAL DESIGNATION OF PETER TO BE THE +RULER WHO SHOULD CONFIRM HIS BRETHREN.</h3> + + +<p>Having promised<a name="FNanchor_1_78" id="FNanchor_1_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_78" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> and bestowed on Simon a new name, +prophetic of the peculiar position which he was to occupy in +the Church, and having set forth the meaning contained in +that name in terms so large and magnificent, that, as we +have seen, the greatest saints and fathers have felt it +impossible to exhaust their force, our Lord proceeded to +<i>educate</i> Peter, so to say, for his especial charge of supreme +ruler. He bestowed upon him, in the course of His ministry, +tokens of preference which agree with the title thus +solemnly conferred; and He instructed him with all the +care which we should expect to be given to one who was to +become the chief doctor of Christians. Such instruction +may be said to consist in two things, a more complete +knowledge of the Christian revelation, and a singular apprehension +of its divine proofs.</p> + +<p>Now, innumerable as are the particulars in which the +Christian revelation consists, they may yet be gathered up +mainly into two points, which meet in the Person of our Lord, +and are termed by the ancient fathers who have followed +this division, the <i>Theology</i>, and the <i>Economy</i>. There +is the Divine Nature, that "<i>form of God</i>," which our Lord +had from the beginning in the bosom of the Father; and +there is the human nature, that "<i>form of a servant</i>," +which "in the economy or dispensation of the fulness of +times" He assumed, in order that He might purchase the +Church with His blood, and<a name="FNanchor_2_79" id="FNanchor_2_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_79" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> "re-establish all things in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>heaven and on earth." All, therefore, in the Christian faith +which concerns "the form of God" is termed the Theology; +all which contemplates "<i>the form of a servant</i>," the +Economy.</p> + +<p>But the heavenly origin and certain truth of both these +parts of Christian faith are proved partly by the fulfilment +of prophecy, and partly by the working of miracles. To +both our Lord perpetually appealed, and His apostles after +Him, and those who have followed them. One, then, who +was to be the chief ruler and doctor of Christians, needed +especial instruction in the Theology, and Economy, especial +assurance of the fulfilment of prophecy, and the working of +miraculous power. Now Peter was specially selected for +this instruction and that assurance.</p> + +<p>The whole teaching of our Lord, indeed, and the innumerable +acts of power and words of grace with which it was +fraught, were calculated to convey these to all the Apostles. +But while they were witnesses in common of that teaching +in general, some parts of it were disclosed only to Peter and +the two sons of Zebedy. Perhaps there is no incident in +the Gospel history, which set forth in so lively a manner, +and so convincingly proved, the mysteries concerning the +union of "the form of God" and "the form of a servant," +as the Transfiguration. The retreat to the "high mountain +apart," and in the midst of that solitary prayer, "the +face shining as the sun," and "the robes white as light," +the presence of Moses and Elias, conversing with Him on +the great sacrifice for sin, "the bright cloud which encompassed +them," and the voice from out of it, proclaiming +"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: +hear Him;" so impressed themselves on the great Apostle, +that after long years he appealed to them in proof that +he and his brethren had not taught "cunningly devised<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> +fables, when they made known the power and presence of +the Lord Jesus Christ, but had been eyewitnesses of His +majesty, when He received from God the Father honour +and glory, this voice coming down to Him from the excellent +glory, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I have pleased +myself: hear ye Him.' And this voice we heard brought +from heaven, when we were with Him in the holy mount." +Among all the Apostle's experience of the three years' ministry, +by the shore and on the waves of the lake of Galilee, +in the cornfields, or on the mountain side, in the noon-day +heat, or midnight storm, even in the throng which cried +'Hosannah!' and 'Crucify Him!' this stood out, until +"the laying aside of his fleshly tabernacle," as "the Lord +had signified to Him."<a name="FNanchor_3_80" id="FNanchor_3_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_80" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> For<a name="FNanchor_4_81" id="FNanchor_4_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_81" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> what indeed was not there? +the plurality of persons in the Godhead, the Father and +the Son, the true, and not adopted, Sonship of the latter, +His divine mission unto men; the new order of things resulting +from it, and the summing up under one head of all +things in heaven and in earth; the sealing up and accomplishing +of the law and the prophets, by the presence of +their representatives, Moses and Elias, a most wonderful +and transporting miracle; and the command implicitly to +obey Him in whom the Father was well pleased. Thus the +Transfiguration may be termed the summing up of the +whole Christian revelation.</p> + +<p>But now of this we read that "after six days Jesus taketh +unto Him <i>Peter</i>, and James, and John his brother, and +bringeth them up into a high mountain apart." These +three alone of the twelve. Yet does He not associate the +sons of Zebedy with Peter in this privilege? Needful no +doubt it was that so splendid an act should have a suitable +number of witnesses, and that as His future glory should +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>have<a name="FNanchor_5_82" id="FNanchor_5_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_82" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> three witnesses from heaven, and as many from +earth, so this, its rudimental beginning, should be attested +by three as from heaven, God the Father, Moses, and +Elias, and by three from earth, Peter, James, and John. +Dear to Him likewise, next to Peter, and most privileged +after Peter, were the sons of Zebedy; yet a distinction is +seen in the mode in which they are treated even when +joined together in so great a privilege. For in all the +three accounts Peter is named first; "He taketh to Him +Peter, and James, and John." They likewise are called by +their birth-name, he by his prophetic appellation of the +Rock; they are silent, but he speaks; "Peter answering, +said;" nor only speaks, but in the name of all; "It is good +<i>for us</i> to be here," as if their leader. And, fifthly, he is +named specially, they as his companions; "but Peter, <i>and +they that were with him</i>, were heavy with sleep."<a name="FNanchor_6_83" id="FNanchor_6_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_83" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> Thus +even when three are associated in a special privilege above +the Twelve, Peter is distinguished among the three.</p> + +<p>But if there was one other occasion on which above all +"the form of the servant" was to be set forth in the most +awful, and the most endearing light, it was on that evening, +"the hour" of evil men and "the power of darkness," +when "the righteous servant who should justify many" +was about to perform the great, central, crowning act of +His mediation. Then we read that "He said to His disciples, +Sit you here, till I go yonder and pray."<a name="FNanchor_7_84" id="FNanchor_7_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_84" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> And then +immediately "taking with Him Peter, and the two sons of +Zebedy, He began to grow sorrowful and to be sad." Yet +here again, even in the association with the sons of Zebedy, +Simon is distinguished, for he is named first; and by the +illustrious name of Peter, the Rock; and as the leader of +the others, for, says Matthew, Christ after His first prayer, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>"comes to His disciples, and finds them sleeping, and <i>says to +Peter</i>, What, could <i>ye</i> not watch with me one hour?" Why +the change of number, Peter in the singular, <i>ye</i> in the +plural? Why the blame of Peter, involving the blame of +the rest? Because the members are censured in the +head.</p> + +<p>In these two signal instances our Lord, while preferring +Peter and the two sons of Zebedy to the rest of the Twelve, +yet marks a gradation likewise between them and Peter. +And these two set forth the Theology and Economy, in the +most emphatic manner.</p> + +<p>And as the supreme preceptor must not only be acquainted +with the truth which he has to deliver, but with +the evidence on which it rests, so is Peter specially made a +witness of his Lord's "power and presence" and "the works +which no other man did." In that remarkable miracle of +raising to life the ruler of the synagogue's daughter we +read, "He admitted not any man to follow Him, but Peter +and James, and John the brother of James;"<a name="FNanchor_8_85" id="FNanchor_8_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_85" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> where, as +before, and always, Peter is mentioned first, and by the +prophetic name of his Primacy.</p> + +<p>From<a name="FNanchor_9_86" id="FNanchor_9_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_86" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> all which we gather four points; 1. Several +things are mentioned in the Gospels which Christ gave to +Peter, and not to the rest of the Apostles: 2. But nothing +which He gave to them together, and not to Peter with +them. 3. What He seemed to give to them in common, yet +accrue to Peter in a special manner, who appears among +the Apostles not as one out of the number, but their destined +head, by the name, that is, of Peter, so markedly +promised, bestowed, and wonderfully explained by our +Lord, of which, as we have seen, S. Chrysostome, an eastern +Patriarch, as well as a great Saint and Father, observed, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>"When I say Peter, I mean the impregnable Rock, the immovable +foundation, the great Apostle, the first of the +disciples." 4. Either we are not to take Christ's dealing +as the standard of Peter's dignity, and destination, or we +must admit that he was preferred to the rest, and made the +supreme teacher of the faithful.</p> + +<p>S. Matthew records the incidents of the officers asking +for the payment of the didrachma which all the children of +Israel were bound to contribute to the temple; and his +words show us a fresh instance of honour done to Peter, and +a fresh note of his superiority. "When they were come to +Capharnaum, they that received the didrachma came to +Peter and said to him, Doth not your master pay the +didrachma?"<a name="FNanchor_10_87" id="FNanchor_10_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_87" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> But why should they come to <i>him</i>, and +ask, not if <i>his</i> master, but "your" master, the master of all +the Apostles, paid the census, save that it was apparent, +even to strangers, that Peter was the first and most prominent +of the company? Why use him rather than any of +the others, for the purpose of approaching Christ? "As +Peter seemed to be first of the disciples," says S. Chrysostome, +on the text, "they go to him." The context naturally +suggests this reason, and the ancient commentators remarked +it. But what follows is much more striking. +Peter answered, Yes, that is, that his master observed all +the laws of Moses, and this among the number. As he +went home he purposed, no doubt, to ask our Lord about +this payment, but "when he was come into the house Jesus +prevented him," having in His omniscience seen and heard +all that had passed, and He proceeded to speak words +involving His own high dignity, followed by a singular trial +of Peter's faith, and as marked a reward of it when tried. +"What thinkest thou, Simon? The kings of the earth, of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>whom do they receive tribute or custom? of their own children +or of strangers? And he said, Of strangers. Jesus +said to him, Then the children are free." Slight words in +seeming, yet declaring in fact that most wonderful truth +which had formed so shortly before Peter's confession, and +drawn down upon him the yet unexhausted promise; for +they expressed, I am as truly the natural Son of that God, +the Sovereign of the temple, for whom this tribute is paid, +as the children of earthly sovereigns, who take tribute, are +their sons by nature. Therefore by right I am free. +"But that we may not scandalize them, go to the sea and +cast in a hook; and that fish which shall first come up, +take; and when thou hast opened its mouth, thou shalt find +a stater; take that and give it to them for Me and thee." +Declaring to His favoured disciple afresh that He is the true, +and not the adopted, Son of God, answering his thoughts +by anticipation, and expressing His knowledge of absent +things by the power of the Son of God, He tries his faith +by the promise of a fresh miracle, which involved a like +exercise of divine power. Peter, in proceeding to execute +His command, must make that confession afresh by deed, +which he had made before by word, and which his Lord +had just repeated with His own mouth. How else could he +go to the lake expecting to draw at the first cast a fish in +whose mouth he should find a coin containing the exact +amount due to the temple for two persons? But what followed? +What but a most remarkable reward for the faith +which he should show? "Take that and give it to them +for Me and thee." There are looks, there are tones of the +voice, which convey to us more than language. So, too, +there are acts so exceedingly suggestive, that without in any +<i>formal</i> way proving, they carry with them the force of the +strongest proof. And so, perhaps, never did our Lord in a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> +more marked manner <i>associate</i> Peter with Himself than +here. It was a singular distinction which could not fail to +strike every one who heard it. Thus S. Chrysostome exclaims,<a name="FNanchor_11_88" id="FNanchor_11_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_88" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> +"You see the exceeding greatness of the honour;" +and he adds, "wherefore, too, in reward for his faith He +connected him with Himself in the payment of the tribute;" +and he remarks on Peter's modesty, "for Mark, the disciple +of Peter, seems not to have recorded this incident, because +it pointed out the great honour bestowed on him; but he +did record his denial, while he was silent as to the points +which made him conspicuous, his Master perhaps begging +him not to say great things about him." Indeed, <i>how</i> could +one of the disciples be more signally pointed out than by +this incident, as "the faithful and wise steward, whom the +Lord would set over His household, to give them their portion +of food in due time?"</p> + +<p>Other fathers, as well as S. Chrysostome, did not fail to +see such a meaning in this passage; but let us take the +words of Origen as pointing out the connection of this incident +with the important question following. His words are: +"It seems to me that (the disciples) considering this a very +great honour which had been done to Peter by Jesus, in +having put him higher than the rest of His disciples, they +wished to make sure of what they suspected by asking +Jesus and hearing His answer, whether, as they conceived, +He judged Peter to be greater than them; and they also +hoped to learn the cause for which Peter was preferred to +the rest of the disciples. Matthew, then, wishing to signify +this by these words, "take that and give it to them +for Me and thee," added, "on that day the disciples came +to Jesus, saying, Who, thinkest thou, is the greater in the +kingdom of heaven?"<a name="FNanchor_12_89" id="FNanchor_12_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_89" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p><p>For, indeed, why should they immediately ask this +question? The preceding incident furnishes a natural and +sufficient cause. The Apostles, it seems, were urged by +the plainness of Christ's words and acts to inquire who +among them should have the chief authority. Who will +not agree with S. Chrysostome: "The Apostles were +touched with a human infirmity, which the Evangelist too +signifies in the words, 'in that hour,' when He had +honoured him (Peter) before them all. For though of +James and John one of the two was the first-born," +(alluding to an opinion that the tax was paid by the first-born,) +"He did nothing like it for them. Hence, being +ashamed, they confessed their excitement of mind, and +do not say plainly, Why hast thou preferred Peter to us? +Is he greater than we are? For this they did not dare; +but they ask indefinitely, Who is the greater? For when +they saw three preferred to the rest, they felt nothing +like this; but when one received so great an honour, they +were pained. Nor were they kindled by this alone, but +by putting together many other things. For He had +said to him, 'I will give to thee the keys,' and 'Blessed +art thou Simon Bar-jona,' and here 'Give it to them for +Me and for thee;' and also they were pricked at seeing +his confidence and freedom of speech."<a name="FNanchor_13_90" id="FNanchor_13_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_90" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></p> + +<p>Thus their question, if it did not express, at least +suggested this meaning, "Speak more plainly and distinctly +whether Peter is to be the greater and the chief in the +Church, and accordingly among us," and so they seem to +have drawn from our Lord's act a conclusion which they +did not see in the promising or bestowing the prophetic +name of Peter, nor even in the promises conveyed in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>explaining that name, and were vexed at the preference +shown to him.</p> + +<p>And if <a name="FNanchor_14_91" id="FNanchor_14_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_91" class="fnanchor">[14]</a>any be inclined to conclude from hence that +our Lord's words and acts to Peter had not been of any +marked significancy, they should be reminded that the +very clearest and plainest things were sometimes not +understood by the Apostles, before the descent of the +Holy Spirit on them. This was specially the case with +the things which they were disinclined to believe. Thus +our Lord again and again foretold to them His passion +in express terms, but we are told, "they understood none +of these things."<a name="FNanchor_15_92" id="FNanchor_15_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_92" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> He foretold, too, His resurrection, +yet they did not the least expect it, and they became +at length fully assured of the fact before they remembered +the prediction. Strange as these things seem, yet +probably everyone's private experience will furnish him +with similar instances of a veil being cast upon his eyes, +which prevented his discerning the most evident things, +towards which there was generally some secret disinclination.</p> + +<p>But <a name="FNanchor_16_93" id="FNanchor_16_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_93" class="fnanchor">[16]</a>how did our Lord answer their question? Did +He remove at once the ground of their jealousy by declaring +that in the kingdom of heaven no one should +have pre-eminence of dignity, but the condition of all be +equal? On the contrary, He condemns ambition and +enjoins humility, but likewise gives such a turn to His +discourse as to insinuate that there would be one pre-eminent +over the rest.<a name="FNanchor_17_94" id="FNanchor_17_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_94" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> "Jesus calling unto Him a little +child, set him in the midst of them, and said, Amen I +say unto you, unless you be converted and become as +little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>heaven." Then He adds, "whosoever therefore shall humble +himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom +of heaven." Thus He did not exclude the pre-eminence +of that "greater one," about which they asked, but pointed +out what his character ought to be. But this will be +much clearer from a like enquiry, and the answer to it, +recorded by S. Luke.</p> + +<p>For even at the last supper, our Lord having told them +that He should be betrayed, and was going to leave them +in the way determined for Him, there was not only an +enquiry among them which of them should do that thing, +but also, so keenly were their minds as yet, before the +coming down of the Holy Spirit, alive to the desire of pre-eminence, +and so strongly were they persuaded that such +a superior had not been excluded by Christ, but rather +marked out and ordained, "there was a strife among them +which of them should seem to be greater." Now our Lord +meets their contention thus: "The <a name="FNanchor_18_95" id="FNanchor_18_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_95" class="fnanchor">[18]</a>kings of the Gentiles +lord it over them, and they that have power over +them are called beneficent. But you not so; but he that +is the greater among you, let him become as the younger; +and he that is the leader, as he that serveth. For which is +greater, he that sitteth at table, or he that serveth? Is not +he that sitteth at table? But I am in the midst of you as +he that serveth. And you are they who have continued +with Me in my temptations; and I dispose to you, as My +Father hath disposed to Me, a kingdom; that you may eat +and drink at My table in My kingdom; and may sit upon +thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel."</p> + +<p>Now <a name="FNanchor_19_96" id="FNanchor_19_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_96" class="fnanchor">[19]</a>in this speech of our Lord we may remark four +points:—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p><p>1. What is omitted, though it would seem most apposite +to be said;</p> + +<p>2. What is affirmed, if not expressly, yet by plain consequence;</p> + +<p>3. What comparison is used in illustration;</p> + +<p>4. What meets with censure and rejection.</p> + +<p>1. First, then, though the Apostles had twice before +contended about pre-eminence, yet our Lord neither there, +nor here, said openly that He would not prefer any one over +the rest, nor appoint any one to be their leader. Yet the +importance of the subject, His own wisdom, and His love +towards His disciples, as well as His usual mode of acting, +seemed to demand, that had it been His will for no one of +them to be set over the rest, He should plainly declare it, +and thus extinguish all strife. No less a matter was at +issue than the harmony of the Apostles with each other, +the peace of the Church, and the success of the divine +counsel for its government. Moreover, the Gospels represent +Him to us as continually removing doubts, clearing up +perplexities, and correcting wrong judgments among His +disciples. Let us recall to remind a very similar occasion, +when the mother of the sons of Zebedy with her children +came before Him asking "that these my two sons may sit +the one on thy right hand and the other on thy left, in thy +kingdom." He rejected their prayer at once, saying, "To +sit on My right or My left hand is not mine to give to you, +but to them for whom it is prepared by My Father."<a name="FNanchor_20_97" id="FNanchor_20_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_97" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> The +silence, therefore, of Christ here, under such circumstances, +is a proof that it was not the divine will that all the Apostles +should be in such a sense equal that no one of them +should hold a superior authority over the rest.</p> + +<p>2. But eloquent as this silence is, we are not left to trust +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>to it alone, for our Lord's words point out, besides, the +institution of one superior. "The kings of the Gentiles," +He says, "lord it over them; and they that have power +over them are called benefactors. But you not so: but he +that is the greater among you, let him become as the +younger; and he that is the leader, as he that serveth." +<i>A greater</i> and <i>a leader</i>, then, <i>there was to be</i>. Our Lord's +words contain two parallel propositions repeated. 1. There +is among you one who is the greater, let him, then, be as +the younger. 2. There is among you one who is the +leader, let him be as he that serveth. Thus our Lord's +meaning is most distinct that they should have a superior.</p> + +<p>But in the very similar passage about the sons of +Zebedy, lest any should conclude that no one of the +Apostles was to be superior to the rest, He called them to +Him and said, "You know that the princes of the Gentiles +lord it over them, and they that are the greater exercise +power upon them. It shall not be so among you, but whosoever +will be the greater among you, let him be your +minister; and he that will be the first among you shall be +your servant. Even as the Son of man is not come to be +ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a +redemption for many." Where He tells them His will, not +that no one of the Apostles should be "great" and "first," +but what the type and model should be which that "great" +and "first" one should imitate, even the Son of man who +came to minister.</p> + +<p>3. For to make this quite certain, there, and here too, +He directs us to a particular comparison, by which He +explains and concludes His discourse, "For who is greater, +he that sitteth at table, or he that serveth? Is not he that +sitteth at table? But I am among you as he that serveth.—And +I dispose unto you as My Father disposed unto Me, a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> +kingdom." Here our Lord sets Himself before His Apostles +as the exemplar both of the rule which the superior was to +exercise, and of the temper and character which he was to +shew. As He had been speaking of the kingdoms of the +Gentiles, so He now points out to them in contrast the true +kingdom which He was disposing unto them. The Church +as it had been from the beginning, was to be the model of +what it should be to the end. Now all confess that in that +Church Christ had held the place of "the First," "the +Great one," "the Ruler." And now He explains that one +of His Apostles should occupy that place of His, and occupying +it should be of a like temper with Himself, who had +been the minister and servant of all. And it may be +remarked that the same word is here applied to him who +should <i>rule</i> among the disciples, which expresses the dignity +of Christ Himself in the prophecy of Micah, quoted in Matt. +ii. 6, "Out of thee shall go forth<a name="FNanchor_21_98" id="FNanchor_21_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_98" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> <i>the ruler</i>, who shall be +shepherd over my people Israel." For Christ says, "He +that is the greater among you let him be as the younger; +and <i>he that ruleth</i> as he that serveth. <i>For</i>, who is greater, +he that sitteth at meat, or he who serveth? But I am +among you as he that serveth." "I dispose to you a kingdom: +as My Father disposed to Me:" let him who follows +Me in place, follow Me in character.</p> + +<p>But, 4, what does our Lord censure and reject from His +Church? It is plain that He compares kingdom with kingdom, +and the kingdom of heaven, which is the Church, with +human kingdoms, and, moreover, that the negative quality +as to which, in the clause, "But you not so," the two are +compared, is, <i>not</i> the fact that there is pre-eminence and +rule in both, but a certain <i>mode</i> of exercising them. This +is, the pomp and ambition expressed in the words, "lording +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>it," "exercising authority," "are called benificent." As +again is shewn in the repeated declaration that what had +been most alien from the spirit of His own ministry, should +not appear in the ministry that He would establish after +Him. Now He had shown no pomp and pride of dominion, +but yet He had shown the dominion itself in the fullest +sense, the power of passing laws, enjoining precepts, defining +rites, threatening punishments, governing, in fine, His +Church, so that He had been pre-eminently "the Lord." +Lastly, this is shown in the words recorded by S. John, +as said shortly after on this same occasion. "You call Me +Master and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, +your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you also +ought to wash one another's feet: <i>for I have given you an +example</i>, that as I have done unto you, so you also may +do."<a name="FNanchor_22_99" id="FNanchor_22_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_99" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p> + +<p>Now nothing can show more strongly than this discourse +the pre-eminence and authority which our Lord was going +to establish in one of His Apostles over the rest. For here +we have His intention disclosed that in His kingdom, which +is the Church's, some one there should be "the Great," +"the First," and "the Ruler," who should discharge, in due +proportion and analogy, the office which He Himself, before +He returned to the Father, had held. But before we consider +further who this one was, let us look at the subject +from a somewhat different point of view.</p> + +<p>And <a name="FNanchor_23_100" id="FNanchor_23_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_100" class="fnanchor">[23]</a>here we must lay down three points, the <i>first</i> of +which is, that our Lord, during His life on earth, had acted +in two capacities, the one, as the Author and Founder, the +other, as the Head and Supreme Ruler of His Church. +His functions in the former capacity are too plain to need +enlarging upon. He disclosed the objects of our faith: He +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>instituted rites and sacraments: He provided by the +establishment of a ministry for the perpetual growth and +duration of the Church. It was in this sense that He +spoke of Himself to His apostles, as "the Master," who +could share His prerogatives with no one: "But be not +you called Rabbi, for one is your Master, and all you are +brethren."<a name="FNanchor_24_101" id="FNanchor_24_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_101" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> Thus is He, "the Teacher," "the Master," +throughout the Gospel.</p> + +<p>But He likewise acted as the Head of His Church, with +the dignity and authority of the chief visible Ruler. He +was the living bond of His disciples: the person around +whom they grouped: whose presence wrought harmony: +whose voice terminated contention among them: who was +ever at hand to solve emergent difficulties. Thus it is that +prophecy distinguished Him as "the Lord," "the King," +"the Shepherd;" "on whose shoulders is the government," +"who should <i>rule</i> His people, Israel." And His Church +answers to Him in this capacity, as the family, the house, +the city, the fold, and the kingdom.</p> + +<p>Thus His relation to the Church was twofold, as Founder, +and as Supreme Pastor.</p> + +<p><i>Secondly</i>, the Church shares her Lord's prerogative of +unchangeableness, and as He is "Jesus Christ the same +yesterday, to-day, and for ever," so She, His mystical +Body, in her proportion, remains like herself from the +beginning to the end. The Church and Christianity are +bound to each other in a mutual relation; the Church is +Christianity embodied; Christianity is the Church in conception: +the consistency and identity which belong to +Christianity belong likewise to her; neither can change +their nature, nor put on another form.</p> + +<p>But, <i>thirdly</i>, the Church would be unlike herself, if, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>having been from her very cradle visibly administered by +the rule of One, she fell subsequently, either under no rule +at all, according to the doctrine of the Independents, or +under the rule of the multitude, according to the Calvinists, +or under the rule of an aristocracy, as Episcopalians +imagine. A change of government superinduces a change +of that substantial form which constitutes a society. But +this holds in her case especially, above all other societies, +as she came forth from the creative hand of her Lord, her +whole organization instinct with inward life, her government +<i>directly</i> instituted by God Himself, in which lies her +point of distinction from all temporal polities.</p> + +<p>For imagine, that upon our Lord's departure, no one had +been deputed to take the visible headship and rule over +the Church. How, without ever fresh revelations, and an +abiding miraculous power, could that complex unity of +faith, of worship, and of polity, have been maintained, +which the<a name="FNanchor_25_102" id="FNanchor_25_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_102" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> Lord has set forth as the very sign and token +of His Church? A multitude scattered throughout the +most distant regions, and naturally differing in race, in +habits, in temperament, how could it possibly be joined in +one, and remain one, without a powerful bond of unity? +Hence, in the fourth century, S. Jerome<a name="FNanchor_26_103" id="FNanchor_26_103"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_103" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> observed, "The +safety of the Church depends on the dignity of the supreme +Priest, in whom, if all do not recognise a peculiar and +supereminent power, there will arise as many schisms in +the Church as there are priests." And the repentant confessors +out of Novatian's schism, in the middle of the third +century, "We know that Cornelius (the Pope) has been +elected Bishop of the most holy Catholic Church, by +Almighty God, and Christ our Lord.—We are not ignorant +that there is one God, one Christ the Lord, whom we confessed, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>one Holy Spirit, and that there ought to be one +bishop in the Catholic Church."<a name="FNanchor_27_104" id="FNanchor_27_104"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_104" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> And these words, +both of S. Jerome, and of the confessors, if they primarily +apply to the diocesan bishop among his priests and people, +so do they with far greater force apply to the chief bishop +among his brethren in the whole Church. Now, as our Lord +willed that His Church should do without fresh revelations, +and new miracles, such as at first accredited it, and that it +should preserve unity; and as, when it was a little flock, +which could be assembled in a single room, it had yet one +visible Ruler, how can we doubt that He willed this form of +government to remain, and that there should be one perpetually +to rule it in His name, and preserve it in unity, +since it was to become co-extensive with the earth?</p> + +<p>Again, we may ask, was the condition of fold, house, +family, city, and kingdom, so repeatedly set forth in Holy +Scripture, to belong to the Church only while Christ was +yet on earth, or to be the visible evidence of its truth for +ever? Do these terms exhibit a temporary, or a perpetual +state? Each one of these symbols by itself, and all +together, involve one visible Ruler: therefore, so long as +the Church can be called with truth, the one house, the +one family, the one city, the one fold, the one kingdom, so +long must it have one visible and supreme Ruler.</p> + +<p>But once grant that such a one there was after our +Lord's departure, and no one can doubt that one to have +been Peter. It is easier to deny the supreme Ruler +altogether, than to make him any one but Peter. The +whole course of the Gospels shows none other marked out +by so many distinctions. Thus, even those who wish to +refuse a real power to his Primacy, are compelled by the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>force of evidence to allow him a Primacy of order and +honour.</p> + +<p>But nothing did our Lord more pointedly reject than the +vain pomp of titles and honours. In nothing is His own +example more marked than in that He exercised real power +and supreme authority without pomp or show. Nothing +did He enjoin more emphatically on the disciple who should +be the "Great one," and "the Ruler," among his brethren, +than that he must follow his Master in being the servant of +all. A Primacy, then, consisting in titles and mere precedency, +is of all things most opposed to the spirit and the +precepts of our Lord. And so the Primacy which He +designated must be one of real power and pre-eminent +authority.</p> + +<p>And this brings us back to the passage of S. Luke which +we were considering, where four things prove that Christ +had such a headship in view. First, the occasion, for the +Apostles were contending for a place of real authority. +The sons of Zebedy expressed it by sitting on His right +hand and on His left, that is, holding the second and the +third place of dignity in the kingdom.</p> + +<p>Secondly, the double comparison which our Lord used, +the one negative, the other affirmative: in the former, contrasting +the Church's ruler with the kings of the Gentiles, +He excluded pomp and splendour, lordship and ambition; +in the latter, referring him to His own example, who had +the most real and true power and superiority, He taught +him to unite these with a meekness and an attention to the +wants of his brethren, of which His own life had been the +model.</p> + +<p>Thirdly, the words "the First," "the Greater," and "the +Ruler," indicate the pre-eminence of the future head, for as +they appear in the context, and according to their Scriptural<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> +force, they indicate not a vain and honorary, but a +real authority, one of them being even the very title given +to our Lord.</p> + +<p>And, fourthly, this is proved by the object in view, which +is, maintaining the identity of the Church, and the form +which it had from the beginning, and preserving its manifold +unity. As to its identity, and original form, it is needless +to observe that Christ exercised in it not an honorary +but a real supremacy, so that under Him its government +was really in the hands of one, the Ruler. As to the preservation +of its unity—and especially a unity so complex—the +very analogy of human society will sufficiently teach us +that it is impossible to be preserved without a strong +central authority. Contentions can neither be checked as +they arise, nor terminated when they come to a head, without +the interference of a power to which all yield obedience. +And the living example of those religious societies which +have not this power is an argument whose force none can +resist. Where Peter is not, there is neither unity of faith, +nor of charity, nor of external regimen.</p> + +<p>No sooner <a name="FNanchor_28_105" id="FNanchor_28_105"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_105" class="fnanchor">[28]</a>then had our Lord in this manner pointed +out that there should be one hereafter to take His place on +earth and to be the Ruler of his brethren, expressing at +the same time the toilsome nature of the trust, and the +duty of exercising it with the spirit which He, the great +model, had shown, than turning His discourse from the +Apostles, whom hitherto He had addressed in common, to +Peter singly, He proceeded to designate Peter as that one, +to assure him of a singular privilege, and to enforce upon +him a proportionate duty.</p> + +<p>And first a break in the hitherto continuous discourse is +ushered in by the words, "And the Lord said," and what +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>follows is fixed to Peter specially, by the reiteration of his +name, "Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have +you that he may sift you as wheat:" to have <i>you</i>, that is +not Peter alone, but all the Apostles, the same you, whom +in the preceding verses He had so often repeated, "you not +so," "but I am in the midst of you," "but you are they +that have continued with Me," "and I dispose to you a +kingdom," "that you may eat and drink with Me;" and +what follows? What was the resource provided by the +Lord against this attack of the great enemy on all His fold? +"But I have prayed for <i>thee</i>, that <i>thy</i> faith fail not: and +thou being once converted confirm thy brethren." Not "I +have prayed for <i>you</i>," where all were assaulted, "that <i>your</i> +faith fail not," but I have prayed for <i>thee</i>, Peter, that <i>thy</i> +faith fail not! Nothing can be more emphatic than this +change of number, when our Lord throughout all His previous +discourse had used the plural, and now continuing the +plural to designate the persons attacked, uses the singular +to specify the person for whom He has prayed, and to whom +He assures a singular privilege, the fruit of that prayer. +Nothing could more strongly prove that this address was +special to Peter.</p> + +<p>Nor less evident is the singular dignity of what is here +promised to him. First of all, it is the fruit of the prayer +of Christ. Of what importance must that be which was +solicited by our Lord of His Father, and at a moment when +the redemption of the world was being accomplished, and +when His passion may be said to have begun? Of what +importance that which was to be the defence of not Peter +only, but all the disciples, against the most formidable +assault of the great enemy, who had<a name="FNanchor_29_106" id="FNanchor_29_106"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_106" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> demanded them as +it were to deliver them over to punishment? And this was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>"that thy faith fail not." How is it possible to draw any +other conclusion here than what S. Leo in the fifth century +expressed so clearly before all the bishops of Italy? "The +danger from the temptation of fear was common to all the +Apostles, and all equally needed the help of the divine protection, +since the devil desired to dismay all, to crush all; +and yet a special care of Peter is undertaken by our Lord, +and He prays peculiarly for the faith of Peter, as if the +state of the rest would be more sure, if the mind of their +chief were not conquered. In Peter, therefore, the fortitude +of all is protected, and the help of divine grace is so +ordered, that the firmness which through Christ is given to +Peter, through Peter is conferred on the Apostles."<a name="FNanchor_30_107" id="FNanchor_30_107"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_107" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> And +if such is the importance of the help secured, no less is the +charge following: "And thou, being once converted, confirm +thy brethren." To confirm others, is to be put in an +office of dignity and authority over them. And his brethren +were those whom our Lord till now had been addressing in +common with him; to whom He had just disclosed "a +Greater" and "a Ruler" "among" them; that is, the Apostles +themselves. Among these, then, when our Lord's visible +presence was withdrawn, Peter was to be the principle +of stability, binding and moulding them into one building. +For one cannot fail to see how this great promise and prophecy +answer to those in Matthew. There our Lord, as +Architect, promised to lay Peter as the foundation of the +Church, against which the gates of hell should not prevail: +here, being about to leave the world, when His own work +was finished, to ascend unto His Father, and to assume His +great power and reign, He makes Peter as it were the +Architect to carry on the work which was to be completed +by <i>His</i> grace and authority, but by human co-operation. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>So exact is the resemblance that we may put the two promises +in parallel columns to illustrate each other:</p> + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="promises"> +<tr><td align="left">Thou art Peter, and upon</td><td align="left" colspan="2">But I have prayed for</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">this Rock I will build My</td><td align="left" colspan="2">thee that thy faith fail not;</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Church; and the gates of hell </td><td align="left">and thou, being once converted,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">shall not prevail against it.</td><td align="left" colspan="2">confirm thy brethren.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>But light is thrown on the greatness of this pre-eminence +thus bestowed on Peter of confirming his brethren, if we +consider that the term is applied to the Father, the Son, +and the Holy Spirit, as bestowing by inherent power what +is here granted by participation. Of the Father it is said, +"To Him that is able to <i>establish</i> you according to my +Gospel—the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be honour +and glory." And again, "Now He that <i>confirmeth us</i> with +you in Christ, and that hath anointed us, is God;" and +again, "The God of all grace, who hath called us unto His +eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a +little, will Himself perfect you, <i>confirm</i>, establish you."<a name="FNanchor_31_108" id="FNanchor_31_108"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_108" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> +Of Christ likewise: "As therefore you have received Jesus +Christ the Lord, walk ye in Him, rooted and built up +in Him, and <i>confirmed</i> in the faith." And "waiting +for the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who +also will <i>confirm</i> you unto the end without crime." And +again: "Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself exhort +your hearts, and <i>confirm</i> you in every good word and +work."<a name="FNanchor_32_109" id="FNanchor_32_109"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_109" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> And the Holy Spirit is continually mentioned +as the author of this gift, when, for instance, to Him +is ascribed "the teaching all truth," "the leading into +all truth," "the bringing to mind" all things which Christ +had said. And S. Paul prays "that He would grant you, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>according to the riches of His glory, to be <i>strengthened</i> by +His Spirit with might unto the inward man."<a name="FNanchor_33_110" id="FNanchor_33_110"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_110" class="fnanchor">[33]</a></p> + +<p>What, therefore, is proper to the most Holy Trinity, and +given in the highest sense by the Father, the Son, and the +Holy Ghost, it was the will of Christ should be shared by +Peter, according as man is capable of it. That is, it was +His pleasure that the same man, whom He had intimately +associated with Himself by communicating to him His prerogative +to be the Rock, should be closely joined with the +Blessed Trinity by participating in that privilege, whereby, +together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, He is the +confirmation and stability of the faithful. But if any rule +there can be whereby to measure pre-eminence and dignity, +it is surely that which is derived from participation of divine +properties and offices. And the closer that by these Peter +is shown to have approached to God, the higher his exaltation +above the rest of his brethren, who, as it has been +observed, are the Apostles. To them he is the Rock, and +them he is to confirm. Thus Theophylact, in the eleventh +century, commenting on this text, says: "The plain meaning +of this is, that, since I hold thee as the ruler of My disciples, +after thou shalt have wept over thy denial and +repented, confirm the rest. For this belongs to thee as +being after Me the rock and support" (literally, confirmation) +"of the Church. Now one may see that this is said +not only of the apostles, that they are confirmed by Peter, +but also concerning all the faithful until the consummation +of the world."</p> + +<p>But looking more closely into the nature of this dignity, +since Christ, by the bestowal of heavenly gifts, caused Peter +to be conspicuous through the firmness of his own faith, and +through the charge of confirming the faith of his brethren, +we can call it by no fitter name than a Primacy of faith. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>For it has these two qualities: it cannot fail itself; and it +confirms others. And for the authority which it carries, +such a Primacy of faith cannot even be imagined without at +the same time imagining the office by which Peter was +bound to watch over the firmness and integrity of the common +faith. In this office two things are involved; first, the +right to, and therefore the possession of, all things necessary +for its fulfilment; and secondly, the duty by which all were +bound to agree in the profession of one faith with Peter. +So that Peter's dignity, rightly termed the Primacy of +faith, mainly consists in the supreme right of demanding +from all an agreement in faith with him.</p> + +<p>It<a name="FNanchor_34_111" id="FNanchor_34_111"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_111" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> remains to explain the proper force of the word <i>confirm</i>. +Now this is a term of architecture, and as such is +joined with other terms relating to that art, as by S. Peter, +"the God of all grace—Himself fit you together" (as living +spiritual stones,) "confirm, strengthen, ground you."<a name="FNanchor_35_112" id="FNanchor_35_112"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_112" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> It +means, to make anything fit so firmly that it cannot be +shaken. Thus in Holy Writ it frequently bears metaphorically +a moral signification, such as encouraging, supporting, +as we say, confirming the resolution, as in the passage just +quoted; and again, "Be watchful, and <i>confirm</i> the things +that remain, which are ready to die."<a name="FNanchor_36_113" id="FNanchor_36_113"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_113" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> Now it cannot be +doubted that the phrase "confirm thy brethren," carries a +moral sense very like that in which the word <i>confirm</i>, when +applied to the spiritual building of the Church, is used of +God and of Christ,<a name="FNanchor_37_114" id="FNanchor_37_114"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_114" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> from whom the Church has both its +being and its perseverance to the end, and again of the +Apostles, who strengthen the flock entrusted to them by +the imparting spiritual gifts, as S. Paul says, "I long to see +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>you that I may impart unto you some spiritual grace to +strengthen you;"<a name="FNanchor_38_115" id="FNanchor_38_115"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_115" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> or, again, of Bishops, who, as sent by +the Apostles, and charged by the Holy Spirit with the +government of the Church, are bid to be watchful, and see +that those who stand do not fall, and those who are in danger +do not perish.<a name="FNanchor_39_116" id="FNanchor_39_116"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_116" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> Accordingly, when it is said to Peter, +"And thou in thy turn one day confirm thy brethren," <i>the +charge and office are laid upon him, as an architect +divinely chosen, of holding together, strengthening, and +keeping in their place, the several parts of the ecclesiastical +structure</i>.</p> + +<p>But what are these <i>parts</i> to be confirmed, and what is +the <i>nature</i> of the confirmation?</p> + +<p>As to the first question there can be no controversy, it +being determined by the words, "confirm <i>thy brethren</i>:" +and it is plain from what is said above, that, by brethren, +are meant the Apostles. He had, therefore, the Apostles +committed to his charge <i>immediately</i>: but likewise, the +rest of all the faithful, <i>mediately</i>. When a person has +been named by Christ to confirm the Apostles expressly, +the nature of the case does not allow that the whole congregation +of believers be not in their persons committed to +him. The care of the flock is manifestly involved in the +care of the shepherds: and no one in his senses can doubt +that the man who is charged to support the pillars, is +charged to keep in their place the inferior stones.</p> + +<p>And as to the <i>nature</i> of the confirmation, it is for protection +against the fraud of the great enemy. And the +danger lay in losing the faith. Peter, then, is charged to +confirm, in such sense that neither the pillars of the Church, +nor its inferior parts, may, by the loss of faith, be moved +from their place, and so severed from the Church's structure. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>No charge can be higher than such an office of confirmation; +nor for any thing need we to be more thankful +to our Saviour; but, particularly, nothing can more distinctly +shew the divinely-appointed relation between Peter +on the one hand, and on the other, the rest of the Apostles, +and the whole company of the faithful; nothing define +more clearly the special authority of Peter; that is, to +protect and strengthen the unity of the faith, and to possess +all powers needed for such protection.</p> + +<p>This charge was given after that by the prayer of Christ +the privilege had been gained for Peter's faith, <i>that it +should never fail</i>. Hence, that faith is become, in virtue +of such prayer, the infallible standard of evangelical +truth: as S. Cyprian expressed it of old, "that faith of +the Romans, which perfidy <i>cannot</i> approach."<a name="FNanchor_40_117" id="FNanchor_40_117"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_117" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> It follows +that all the faithful owe to it obedience. And Peter's +authority rests on a double title, <i>external</i> of mission, +<i>internal</i> of spiritual gift: the former contained in the +words of Christ the legislator, "And thou,<a name="FNanchor_41_118" id="FNanchor_41_118"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_118" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> in thy turn, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>one day confirm thy brethren:" the latter, in the words +of Christ, the bestower of all gifts, "But I have prayed +for thee, that thy faith fail not."</p> + +<p>More than a thousand years ago two Easterns seem to +have expressed all this, one the Bishop Stephen, suppliantly +approaching Pope Martin I., in the Lateran Synod of +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 649, and speaking of "the blessed Peter, in a manner +special and peculiar to himself, having above all a firm and +immutable faith in our Lord God, to consider with compassion, +and confirm his spiritual partners and brethren when +tossed by doubt: inasmuch as he has received power and +sacerdotal authority, according to the dispensation, over all, +from the very God for our sakes incarnate."<a name="FNanchor_42_119" id="FNanchor_42_119"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_119" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> And Theodore, +Abbot of the Studium, at Constantinople, addressing +Pope Paschal I., <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 817, in the midst of persecution +from the state, as if he were Peter himself: "Hear, O +Apostolic Head, O shepherd of the sheep of Christ, set +over them by God, O door-keeper of the kingdom of +heaven, O rock of the faith, upon which the Catholic +Church is built. For Peter art thou, who adornest +and governest the See of Peter. To thee, said Christ +our God, 'and thou, in thy turn, one day confirm thy +brethren.' Behold the time, behold the place, help us, +thou who art ordained by God for this. Stretch forth thy +hand as far as may be: power thou hast from God, because +thou art the chief of all."<a name="FNanchor_43_120" id="FNanchor_43_120"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_120" class="fnanchor">[43]</a></p> + +<p>Now let us<a name="FNanchor_44_121" id="FNanchor_44_121"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_121" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> view in its connexion the whole scope of our +Lord's discourse. We shall see how naturally the contest +of the Apostles arose out of what He had told them, and +how well the former and the latter part of His answer harmonize +together, and terminate that contest. We learn +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>from S. John's record of this divine conversation, that our +Lord besought His Father, saying: "While I was with +them in the world, I kept them in Thy name—but now I +come to Thee:" that is, so long as I was with them visibly +in the world, (for invisibly I will always be with them, and +nurture them with the spiritual influx of the Vine,) I kept +them united in Thy name: "but now I come to Thee," I +leave the world, I relinquish the office of visible head. It +remains, that by the appointment of another visible head, +Thou shouldst entrust him with My office, provide for the +conspicuous unity of all, and preserve them joined to each +other and to Us. So S. Luke tells us, that no sooner had +our Lord declared to the Apostles, "the Son of man indeed +goeth according to that which is determined," than they +began to have a strife among them, "which of them should +seem to be the greater." For they had heard that Christ +would withdraw His visible presence, and they had heard +Him also earnestly entreating of the Father to provide for +their visible unity. Accordingly, the time seemed at hand +when another was to take this office of visible head; hence +their questioning, who should be the greater among them. +Now our Lord does not reprove this inference of theirs, but +He does reprove the temper in which they were coveting +pre-eminence. For, engaged as they were in this strife, +He warned them that the person who should be "the +Greater and the Ruler" among them, must follow in the +discharge of his office the rule and the standard which <i>He</i> +had set up in His own conduct, and not that which the +kings of the Gentiles follow. Thus, setting these in sharp +contrast, He proceeds. "The kings, indeed, of the nations, +lord it over their subjects, and love high titles, and to be +called benefactors: but I, though Lord and Master amongst +you, have dealt otherwise, as you know. For I have exercised,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> +not a lordship, but a servitude: I have not sat at +table, but waited: I have not cared for titles, but called you +friends and brethren. Let this example then be before you +all, but specially before him who is to be the greater and +the ruler among you. For I appoint unto you, and dispose +of you, as My Father hath disposed of Me; of Me He hath +disposed that through humiliation, emptying of Myself, +ignominy, and manifold temptations, I should gain the +kingdom, reach the joys of heaven, and obtain all power +in heaven and on earth. So likewise dispose I of you, that, +through humility, sufferings, reproaches, hunger, thirst, +and all manner of temptations, you may reach whither I +have come, being worthy, after your hunger and your +thirst, to eat and drink at My table in My kingdom; after +being despised and dishonoured, to sit on thrones, judging +the twelve tribes of Israel. Now, hitherto you have trodden +with Me this royal way full of sorrows, and have continued +with Me in My temptations. But little will it profit +to begin, if you persevere not to the end. None shall be +crowned, save he who has contended lawfully; none be +saved, but he who perseveres to the end. Will you remain +with Me still in your temptations to come, and when I am +no longer present with you visibly, to protect and exhort, +will you preserve your steadfastness? Simon, Simon, +behold! I see Satan exerting all his force to overcome +your purpose, and to destroy the fidelity which you have +hitherto shewn Me. I see the danger to your faith and +your salvation approaching. But I, who, when visibly +present with you, left nothing undone to guard, protect, +and strengthen you visibly, so, too, when separated from +your bodily sight, will yet not leave you without a visible +support. Wherefore, Peter, I have prayed for thee, that +thou fail not, and thou, in thy turn, one day confirm thy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> +brethren. Remember that thou hast to discharge that +part visibly towards thy brethren, which I, while yet mortal, +and visible, discharged: remember, that I therefore +had special care of thee, because it was My will, that thou, +confirmed by My prayers, shouldst confirm thy brethren, +My disciples, and My friends."<a name="FNanchor_45_122" id="FNanchor_45_122"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_122" class="fnanchor">[45]</a></p> + +<p>Now from<a name="FNanchor_46_123" id="FNanchor_46_123"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_123" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> what has been said, it appears that Peter in +Holy Scripture is set forth as the source and principle of +ecclesiastical unity under a double but cognate image, as +Foundation, and as Confirmer. Of the former we will here +say nothing further, but a few consequences of the latter it +is desirable here to group together. I. The unity, then, +which consists in the profession of one and the same faith, +is conspicuous among those<a name="FNanchor_47_124" id="FNanchor_47_124"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_124" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> modes of unity by which +Christ has willed that His Church should be distinguished. +Now, first, S. Paul declares that the whole ministerial +hierarchy, from the Apostolate downwards, was instituted +by our Lord, for the sake of obtaining and preserving this +unity. "He gave some Apostles, and some Prophets, and +other some Evangelists, and other some pastors and doctors, +for the perfecting" (literally, the fitting in together, +the same word which S. Peter had used in his prayer, ch. +v. 10,) "of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the +edifying of the body of Christ; until we all meet into the +unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, +unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the +fulness of Christ."<a name="FNanchor_48_125" id="FNanchor_48_125"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_125" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> To this living hierarchy he expressly +attributes preservation from doctrinal error, proceeding +thus: "That henceforth we be no more children tossed to +and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by +the wickedness of men, by cunning craftiness by which they +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>lie in wait to deceive." And, secondly, this hierarchy itself +was knitted and gathered up into a monarchy, and its +whole force and solidity made to depend on association with +Peter, to whom <i>alone</i> was said, "But I have prayed for +thee, that thy faith fail not;" to whom alone was enjoined, +"And thou, in thy turn, one day confirm thy brethren."</p> + +<p>II. Accordingly the pre-eminence of Peter is well expressed +by the words,<a name="FNanchor_49_126" id="FNanchor_49_126"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_126" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> "Primacy of faith," "chiefship of +faith," "chiefship in the episcopate of faith," meaning +thereby a peculiar authority to prescribe the faith, and +determine its profession, and so protect its unity and purity. +This is conveyed in the words of Christ, confirm thy +brethren. Thus<a name="FNanchor_50_127" id="FNanchor_50_127"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_127" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> S. Bernard addressed Innocent II., +"All emergent dangers and scandals in the kingdom of +God, specially those which concern the faith, are to be +referred to your Apostolate. For I conceive that we should +look especially for reparation of the faith to the spot where +faith <i>cannot</i><a name="FNanchor_51_128" id="FNanchor_51_128"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_128" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> fail. That indeed is the prerogative of this +see. For to whom else was it once said, 'I have prayed +for thee, Peter, that thy faith fail not?' Therefore what +follows is required of Peter's successor: 'And thou in thy +turn one day confirm thy brethren.' And this is now +necessary. It is time for you, most loving father, to recognise +your chiefship, to approve your zeal, and so make +your ministry honoured. In that you clearly fulfil the +part of Peter, whose seat you occupy, if by your admonition +you confirm hearts fluctuating in faith, if by your +authority you crush those who corrupt it."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p><p>III. All who have received the ministry of the word, and +the charge of defending the faith and preserving unity, and +are "ambassadors in Christ's name," have a claim to be +listened to, but he above all who holds the chiefship +of faith, and who received the charge, "Confirm thy +brethren." He therefore must be the supreme standard of +faith, which is just what S. Peter Chrysologus, in the fifth +century, wrote to Eutyches: "We exhort you in all things, +honourable brother, to pay obedience to what is written by +the most blessed Pope of the Roman city; for S. Peter, +who both lives and rules in his own see, grants to those +who ask for it the truth of faith."<a name="FNanchor_52_129" id="FNanchor_52_129"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_129" class="fnanchor">[52]</a></p> + +<p>IV. And in this prerogative of Peter, to be heard above +all others, we find the meaning of certain ancient expressions. +Thus<a name="FNanchor_53_130" id="FNanchor_53_130"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_130" class="fnanchor">[53]</a>Prudentius calls him, "the first disciple of +God;"<a name="FNanchor_54_131" id="FNanchor_54_131"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_131" class="fnanchor">[54]</a>S. Augustine, "the figure of the Church;"<a name="FNanchor_55_132" id="FNanchor_55_132"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_132" class="fnanchor">[55]</a>S. +Chrysostome, "the mouthpiece of the disciples, and teacher +of the world;"<a name="FNanchor_56_133" id="FNanchor_56_133"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_133" class="fnanchor">[56]</a>S. Ephrem Syrus, "the candle, the +tongue of the disciples, and the voice of preachers;"<a name="FNanchor_57_134" id="FNanchor_57_134"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_134" class="fnanchor">[57]</a>S. +Cyril of Jerusalem, "the prince of the Apostles, and the +highest preacher of the truth." In these and such like +continually recurring expressions we recognise his chiefship +in the episcopate of faith, his being the standard of faith, +and his representing the Catholic faith, as the branches +are gathered up in the root, and the streamlets in the +fountain.</p> + +<p>V. Our <a name="FNanchor_58_135" id="FNanchor_58_135"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_135" class="fnanchor">[58]</a>Lord has most solemnly declared, and S. Paul +repeated, that no one shall be saved without maintaining +the true and uncorrupt faith. Of this Peter's faith is the +standard and exemplar. Accordingly by the law of Christ +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>unity with the faith of Peter is necessary to salvation. +This law our Lord set forth in the words, "Confirm thy +brethren." And to this the Fathers in their expressions +above quoted allude.</p> + +<p>VI. The true faith and the true Church are so indivisibly +united, that they cannot even be conceived apart from +each other, faith being to the Church as light to the +sun. But the true faith neither is, nor can be, other than +that which Peter, "the first disciple of God," "the teacher +of the world," "the mouthpiece of the disciples," and "the +confirmer of his brethren," holds and proposes to others. +No communion, therefore, called after Christ, which yet +differs from that faith, can claim either the name or dignity +of the true Church.</p> + +<p>VII. If any knowledge have a special value, it is surely +that by which we have a safe and ready test of the true +faith and the true Church. It is of the utmost necessity +to know and embrace both, and the means of reaching +them are proportionably valuable. Now that test abides in +Peter, by keeping which before us we can neither miss the +true faith nor the true Church. For no other true faith +can there be than that which he delivers, who received the +charge of confirming his brethren, nor other true Church +than what Christ built, and is building still. Hence the +expression of S. Ambrose,<a name="FNanchor_59_136" id="FNanchor_59_136"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_136" class="fnanchor">[59]</a> "where Peter is, there is the +Church;" and of Stephen<a name="FNanchor_60_137" id="FNanchor_60_137"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_137" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> of Larissa, to Pope Boniface II. +(<span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 530.) "that all the churches of the world rest in the +confession of Peter."</p> + +<p>VIII. With all these agrees that famous and most early +testimony of S. Cyprian,<a name="FNanchor_61_138" id="FNanchor_61_138"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_138" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> that men "fall away from +the Church into heresy and schism so long as there is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>no regard <i>to the source of truth, no looking to the head</i>, +nor keeping to the doctrine of our heavenly Master. If +any one consider and weigh this, he will not need length of +comment or argument. It is easy to offer proofs to a faithful +mind, because in that case the truth may be quickly +stated." And then he quotes our Lord's words to Peter, +Matt. xvi. 16, and John xxi. 17, adding, "upon him being +one He builds His Church." Therefore that Church can +neither be torn from the one on whom she is built, nor profess +any other faith, save what that one, who is Peter, +proposes.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_78" id="Footnote_1_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_78"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 68.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_79" id="Footnote_2_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_79"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Eph. i. 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_80" id="Footnote_3_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_80"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> 2 Pet. i. 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_81" id="Footnote_4_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_81"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 69.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_82" id="Footnote_5_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_82"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> 1 John v. 6, 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_83" id="Footnote_6_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_83"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Luke ix. 32.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_84" id="Footnote_7_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_84"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Matt. xxviii. 36.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_85" id="Footnote_8_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_85"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Mark v. 35.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_86" id="Footnote_9_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_86"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 72.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_87" id="Footnote_10_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_87"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Matt. xvii. 23.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_88" id="Footnote_11_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_88"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> On Matt. Hom. 58, n. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_89" id="Footnote_12_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_89"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Origen on the text, in Matt. Tom. xiii. 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_90" id="Footnote_13_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_90"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> S. Chrysostome on the text, Hom. 58, Tom. 7, p. 587.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_91" id="Footnote_14_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_91"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 77, note 38.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_92" id="Footnote_15_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_92"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Luke xviii. 34.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_93" id="Footnote_16_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_93"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 78.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_94" id="Footnote_17_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_94"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> Matt. xviii. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_95" id="Footnote_18_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_95"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Luke xxii. 25.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_96" id="Footnote_19_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_96"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 77.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_97" id="Footnote_20_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_97"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Matt, xx. 20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_98" id="Footnote_21_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_98"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> [Greek: Hêgoumenos.]</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_99" id="Footnote_22_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_99"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> John xiii. 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_100" id="Footnote_23_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_100"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 82.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_101" id="Footnote_24_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_101"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Matt. xxiii. 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_102" id="Footnote_25_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_102"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> John chps. x., xiii., xvii.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_103" id="Footnote_26_103"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_103"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> Dialog. cont. Lucif. n. 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_104" id="Footnote_27_104"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_104"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> St. Cyprian, Ep. 46.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_105" id="Footnote_28_105"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_105"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 89.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_106" id="Footnote_29_106"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_106"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> [Greek: exêtêsato]. The word in classic Greek has this force.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_107" id="Footnote_30_107"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_107"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Serm. 4, c. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_108" id="Footnote_31_108"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_108"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> Rom. xvi. 25; 2 Cor. i. 21; 1 Pet v. 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_109" id="Footnote_32_109"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_109"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Col. ii. 6; 1 Cor. i. 7; 2 Thess. ii. 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_110" id="Footnote_33_110"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_110"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> John xvi. 13; xiv. 16, 26; Eph. iii. 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_111" id="Footnote_34_111"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_111"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 563.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_112" id="Footnote_35_112"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_112"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> 1 Pet. v. 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_113" id="Footnote_36_113"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_113"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> Apoc. iii. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_114" id="Footnote_37_114"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_114"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> Rom. xvi. 25; 1 Thess. iii. 13; 2 Thess. ii. 17; 1 Pet. v. 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_115" id="Footnote_38_115"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_115"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> Rom. i. 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_116" id="Footnote_39_116"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_116"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> Apoc. iii. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_117" id="Footnote_40_117"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_117"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> S. Cyprian, Ep. 55.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_118" id="Footnote_41_118"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_118"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> As far as the <i>words</i> by themselves go, it is the opinion of the best commentators that +they may be equally well rendered, "And thou, when thou art converted," or, "And thou, +in thy turn, one day," &c. But as it is impossible to bring a discussion turning on a Hebrew +idiom conveyed in a Greek word before the English reader, we must here restrict ourselves +to the proof arising from the <i>sense</i> and <i>context</i>. And here one thing alone, among several +which may be urged, is sufficient to prove that the sense preferred in the text, "And thou in +thy turn one day confirm thy brethren," is the true one. For the other rendering supposes +that the time of Peter's conversion would also be the time of his confirming his brethren; +whereas this was far otherwise. He was converted by our Lord looking on him that same +night shortly after his denial, and "immediately went out and wept bitterly." But he did not +succeed to the charge of confirming his brethren till after our Lord's ascension. It must be +added that the collocation of the original words [Greek: kai su pote epistrepsas stêrixon] is such as +absolutely to require that the joint action indicated by them should belong to the same +time, and that an <i>indefinite</i> time expressed by [Greek: pote]. Now this would be false according to +the rendering, "And thou, when thou art converted, confirm thy brethren," for the conversion +was immediate and definite, the confirmation distant and indefinite; whereas it +exactly agrees with the rendering, "And thou in thy turn one day confirm thy brethren." +</p><p> +Those who wish to see the whole controversy admirably drawn out may find it in Passaglia, +b. 2, ch. 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_119" id="Footnote_42_119"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_119"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> Mansi. Concilia, x. 894.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_120" id="Footnote_43_120"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_120"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> Baronius, Annal. <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, 817, xxi.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_121" id="Footnote_44_121"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_121"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 545.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_122" id="Footnote_45_122"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_122"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 547.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46_123" id="Footnote_46_123"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_123"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 571.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47_124" id="Footnote_47_124"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_124"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> For which see hereafter, ch. 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48_125" id="Footnote_48_125"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_125"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> Eph. iv. 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49_126" id="Footnote_49_126"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_126"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> Petrus uti audivit, vos autem quid me dicitis? <i>Statim +loci non immemor sui, primatum egit</i>; primatum confessionis utique, +non honoris; primatum fidei, non ordinis. Ambros. de Incarn. c. 4, +n. 32, Tom. 2, p. 710.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50_127" id="Footnote_50_127"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_127"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> Ep. 190, vol. 1, p. 649.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_51_128" id="Footnote_51_128"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_128"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> Observe the exact identity with S. Cyprian's +expression nine hundred years earlier, quoted p. 55.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52_129" id="Footnote_52_129"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_129"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> Twenty-fifth letter among those of St. Leo.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_53_130" id="Footnote_53_130"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_130"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> Con. Symmachum, Lib. 2, v. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54_131" id="Footnote_54_131"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_131"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> Sermon 76.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_55_132" id="Footnote_55_132"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_132"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> Hom. 88, on John.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_56_133" id="Footnote_56_133"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_133"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> Encom. in Petrum et cœteros Apostolos.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57_134" id="Footnote_57_134"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_134"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> Cat. xi. n. 3. [Greek: ho prôtosthatês tôn Apostholôn kai tês ekklêshias koryphaios khêryx.]</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_58_135" id="Footnote_58_135"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_135"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> Mark xvi. 16; John iii. 18; Rom. iii. 3, &c.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59_136" id="Footnote_59_136"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_136"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> Ambros. in Ps. 1. n. 30.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_60_137" id="Footnote_60_137"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_137"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> Mansi, Tom. viii. 746.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_61_138" id="Footnote_61_138"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_138"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> De unitate Ecclesiæ, 3.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3>THE INVESTITURE OF PETER.</h3> + + +<p>Our Lord has hitherto, while on earth,<a name="FNanchor_1_139" id="FNanchor_1_139"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_139" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> ruled as its +visible head that body of disciples which He had chosen out +of the world, and which His Father had given Him. And +this body He for the first time called the Church in that +famous prophecy<a name="FNanchor_2_140" id="FNanchor_2_140"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_140" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> wherein He named the person, who, by +virtue of an intimate association with Himself, the Rock, +should be its foundation, and the duration of which until +the consummation of the world, He pronounced at the same +time, in spite of all the rage of "spiritual wickedness in +high places" against it, because it should be founded upon +the rock which He should lay.</p> + +<p>Secondly, He had, at that period of His ministry when +He thought it meet, the second year, selected out of the +rest of His disciples, after ascending into a mountain and +continuing the night long in prayer, twelve whom He +named Apostles—as before and above all sent by Him—for +"He called whom He would Himself, and they came to +Him," to whom "He gave authority over unclean spirits, +to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every weakness," +whom He chose also "to be with Him," His personal +attendants, "and to send them to preach;" to whom, moreover, +He subsequently made a promise that whatever they +should bind on earth, should be bound in heaven, and +whatever they should loose on earth should be loosed in +heaven.<a name="FNanchor_3_141" id="FNanchor_3_141"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_141" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> + +<p>Thirdly, as at a certain time in His ministry, that is the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>second year, He had selected twelve to be nearer His person +than the rest of His disciples, so at a yet later time, the +third year of His ministry, He had set apart one out of the +twelve, to whom from the very first, and before either he, +or any one, had been called to be an Apostle, or even, as it +would seem, a disciple, He had given a prophetic name; +whom by word and deed, in correspondence with that name, +He designated to be the future Rock of His Church, to be +the Bearer of the keys, which opened or shut the entrance +to His mystical Holy City, to be endued with power <i>singly</i> +to bind and to loose; and whom at last, on the very eve of +His being taken away from His disciples, He pointed out +as the future "First one," "Greater one," or "Ruler," among +them, having, as such, had given to him a <i>special</i> and <i>singular</i> +charge, after the departure of the Head, to "confirm +his brethren."</p> + +<p>It is manifest that this was all which, before His offering +Himself up for the sin of the world, and the withdrawal of +His visible presence thereupon ensuing, He could do for +the government of His Church. For as long as He was +there, the Son of Man among men, seen, felt, touched, and +handled, the sacred voice in their ears, and the divine eyes +gazing bodily upon them, He was not only the fountain of +all headship and rule, but He exercised in His own person +the highest functions of that headship and visible rule. He +daily encouraged, warned, corrected, taught, united them; +in short, to use His own words, "while He was with them, +He kept them in His Father's name."<a name="FNanchor_4_142" id="FNanchor_4_142"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_142" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> + +<p>But now another time, and other dangers were approaching. +The sword was drawn which should "strike the shepherd," +there was a fear that "the sheep would be scattered," +not only for a moment, but for ever. To meet this the care +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>of the divine guardian was necessary in a further disposition +of those powers which He received at His resurrection +from the dead. For henceforth His visits, as of a risen +King, were to be few and sudden, when He pleased, and at +times they expected not, "for forty days appearing to them +and speaking of the kingdom of God," and as soon as His +final injunctions had been thus royally given, "the heavens +were to receive Him till the time of the restoration of all +things." The Apostles could no longer "be with Him," as +before, nor He "keep them," as in the days of His flesh.</p> + +<p>How, then, does He complete the ministerial hierarchy +which sprung from His own divine Person on earth, and +which is to rule His Church and represent that Person from +His first to His second coming?</p> + +<p>Now, first, we must remark, that while great care is taken +to make known to all the Apostles the resurrection of the +Lord, yet a special solicitude is shown with regard to that +one who was to be "the Ruler." Thus the angels, announcing +the fact to the holy women at the sepulchre, "He +is risen, He is not here, behold the place where they laid +Him," add, "but go, tell His disciples <i>and Peter</i>, that He +goeth before you into Galilee."<a name="FNanchor_5_143" id="FNanchor_5_143"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_143" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> The expression indicates +his superior place, as when Peter, himself delivered from +prison, recounted to the disciples at the house of Mark his +escape, and added, "Tell these things to James and to the +brethren," where no one fails to see the pre-eminence given +to James, by such a mention of him, that apostle being the +Bishop of Jerusalem, and so put over the brethren, and, with +himself, one of those who "seemed to be pillars." Again, +to Peter our Lord appeared first among the Apostles. +S. Paul exhibiting a sort of sum of Christian doctrine, as he +says "the Gospel which I preached unto you," begins, "I +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, +how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; +and that He was buried, and that He rose again the +third day, according to the Scriptures; and that He was +seen by Cephas, and after that by the eleven." By him +alone, first, then by them in conjunction with him. And +further, St. Paul's words seem to express a sort of descending +ratio, "Then was He seen by more than five hundred +brethren at once, of whom many remain until this present, +and some are fallen asleep. After that He was seen by +James, then by all the Apostles. And last of all He was +seen also by me, as by one born out of due time. For I am +the least of the Apostles."<a name="FNanchor_6_144" id="FNanchor_6_144"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_144" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> And while they were yet in +doubt, and for joy could not receive the marvellous tidings, +when brought by the women, as soon as our Lord appeared +to Peter, their hesitation was removed, and the two disciples +returning from Emmaus—themselves full of His wonderful +conversation with them—"found the eleven gathered +together and those that were with them, saying, The Lord +is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon," as the Church +in her exultation repeats, where philologists tell us that the +Greek <i>and</i> bears what is often the Hebrew meaning, and +signifies "for," as if no doubt could remain any longer of +their happiness, when Peter had become a witness of it.</p> + +<p>These are indications of superiority, slight perhaps in +themselves, if they stood alone, but not slight as bearing +tacit witness to a fact otherwise resting on its own explicit +evidence. If one of the Apostles was destined to be the +head of the rest, this is what we should have expected to +happen to that one, and this did happen to Peter, who is +elsewhere made the head of the Apostles.</p> + +<p>But now we come to those most important injunctions +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>which our Lord gave to His Apostles after His resurrection, +concerning the government of His Church. And here it +becomes necessary to mark with the utmost accuracy what +He said and what He gave to all the Apostles in common, +and what to Peter in particular.</p> + +<p>First of all, then, we may remark our Lord's care to +redeem the promises which He had made to the Twelve, +and to convey to them their legislative, judicial, and executive +powers. These are mentioned by each of the four +Evangelists, in somewhat different terms, but alike involving +the distinctive apostolic powers of immediate institution +by Christ, and universal mission; as Apostles they are <i>sent</i>, +and they are sent <i>by Christ</i>. The form recorded in S. +Matthew is, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in +earth. Go ye, therefore, and make disciples all nations, +baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, +and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things +whatsoever I have commanded you; and behold I am with +you all days, even to the consummation of the world."</p> + +<p>The form of S. Mark is, "Go ye into the whole world, +and preach the gospel to every creature."</p> + +<p>S. Luke refers specially in two passages to the descent of +the Holy Ghost, as being Himself as well the Divine "Gift," +and the immediate worker of all graces in man, as the +principle of the ecclesiastical hierarchy. "And I send the +promise of My Father upon you, but stay you in the city +till you be endued with power from on high." And again, +"Eating together with them, He commanded them that +they should not depart from Jerusalem, but should wait for +the promise of the Father, which you have heard," saith He, +"by My mouth; for John, indeed, baptized with water, but +you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days +hence." "You shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> +coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto Me in +Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the +uttermost part of the earth."</p> + +<p>The form recorded by S. John is, "As the Father hath +sent Me, I also send you. When He had said this, He +breathed on them; and He said to them, Receive ye the +Holy Ghost; whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven +them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are +retained."<a name="FNanchor_7_145" id="FNanchor_7_145"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_145" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></p> + +<p>Now, it may be remarked that these passages of the +several evangelists are <i>identical</i> in their force; that is, they +each convey all those powers which constitute the Apostolate. +These are received by all the Apostles in common, and together; +and in the joint possession of them consists that +<i>equality</i> which is often attributed by the ancient writers to +the Apostles, as notably by S. Cyprian, "He gives to all +the Apostles an equal power, and says, 'as the Father sent +Me, I also send you.'" And again, "Certainly the other +Apostles also were what Peter was, endued with an equal +fellowship, both of honour and power."<a name="FNanchor_8_146" id="FNanchor_8_146"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_146" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> + +<p>And these Apostolic powers, legislative, judicial, and +executive, are afterwards referred to as exercised; as in +Acts ch. xv., where the first council passes decrees which +bind the Church, nay, which go forth in the joint name of +the Holy Ghost, and the rulers of the Church, "It hath +seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us;"—which are delivered +by S. Paul to the cities to be kept: Acts xvi. 4—as +in Acts xx. 28, where bishops are charged to rule the +Church, each over his flock, wherein the Holy Ghost has +placed him—as in 1 Cor. v. 1-5, where S. Paul, "in the +name of our Lord Jesus Christ," excommunicates—as in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>2 Cor. x. 6, where he sets forth his apostolic power—as in +the Epistles to Titus and Timothy, where he sets them in +authority, enjoins them to ordain priests in every city, and +commands them to "reprove," or "rebuke."</p> + +<p>And all these powers S. Peter, of course, as one of the +Twelve, had received in common with the rest. The limit +to them would seem to lie in their being shared in common +by twelve; as, for instance, universal mission dwelling in +such a body must practically be determined and limited +somehow to the different members of that body, or one +would interfere with the other. But there is nothing in +these powers which answers to the images of "the rock," +on which the Church is built, the single "bearer of the +keys," and "confirmer" of his brethren, which Christ had +appropriated to one Apostle.</p> + +<p>In like manner, then, as our Lord fulfilled His promises +to the Twelve, so did He those to S. Peter, and we +find written the committal of an authority to him exactly +answering to these images; an authority, which expresses +the full legislative, judicial and executive power of the head, +which can be executed by one alone at a time, and is of its +own nature supreme, and responsible to none save God. +It remained for our Lord to find an image setting forth all +this as decisively as that of the Rock, the Bearer of the +keys, and the Confirmer of his brethren.</p> + +<p>Once, as He passed along the shores of the lake of +Galilee, He had seen two fishermen casting their net into +the sea, and had "said to them, Come after Me, and I will +make you fishers of men, and immediately leaving their nets, +they followed Him." Once again, too, He had gone into the +ship of that same fisherman, and sitting, taught the multitudes +out of it. And then He bade that fisherman, "who +had laboured all the night and taken nothing, to launch<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> +out into the deep," and in faith, "let down his nets for a +draught," whereupon "he enclosed so great a multitude of +fishes that the net brake."<a name="FNanchor_9_147" id="FNanchor_9_147"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_147" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> And, again, in after times, +when the fisherman had become an Apostle, that same ship +waited on His convenience, and carried Him across the +lake. It was there He was asleep when the storm raged, +and His disciples in little faith awoke Him, saying, "Master, +save us, we perish," not yet knowing that the ship which +carried the Lord might be tost, but could not sink.<a name="FNanchor_10_148" id="FNanchor_10_148"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_148" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> +From it they beheld Him walking on the sea, in the fourth +watch of the night, when Peter, in his fervour, desired to +join Him, and going to meet his Lord on the waves, his +faith failed him, and he began to sink, till the Almighty +hand supported him, and drew him with it to the ship, +which "presently was at the land to which they were +going."<a name="FNanchor_11_149" id="FNanchor_11_149"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_149" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> And now, Peter, and Thomas, and Nathaniel, +and the sons of Zebedy, and two others, were once more on +that same ship and sea, but no longer with Him who had +commanded the winds, and walked on the waves. Once +more, too, they<a name="FNanchor_12_150" id="FNanchor_12_150"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_150" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> toiled all the night, but "caught nothing:" +when, lo, in the morning light, Jesus stood on the +shore, but yet unknown to them, and bade them cast the +net on the right side of the ship, "and now they were not +able to draw it for the multitude of fishes." Thus He +revealed Himself to them, and invited them to eat with +Him of the fishes which they had caught. "Then Simon +Peter went up, and drew the net to land, full of great +fishes, one hundred fifty-three. And although there were +so many, the net was not broken:" for, indeed, that +draught of great fishes, gathered by Peter at Christ's command, +betokened God's elect, whom the Church is to gather +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>out of the sea of this world, who cannot break from the net, +which net, therefore, Peter drew to land, even the everlasting +shore whereon Christ welcomes His own. And after +that marvellous banquet of the disciples with their Lord, +betokening the never ending marriage feast, wherein "the +roasted fish is Christ in His passion,"<a name="FNanchor_13_151" id="FNanchor_13_151"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_151" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> our Lord proceeds +to crown all that series of distinctions, wherewith, since +imposing the prophetic name, He had marked out Simon, +the son of Jonas, to be the Leader of His disciples; and +thus He fulfils by the side of the lake of Galilee what He +foreshadowed when He first looked upon Peter, what He +promised in the quarters of Cesarea Philippi, and what He +repeated on the eve of His passion.</p> + +<p>It was His will to appoint one to take His place on +earth. Now He had assumed to Himself specially a particular +title, under which of old time His prophets had +foretold His advent among men, and which above all others +expressed His tender love for fallen man. It had been +said of Him, "I will set up one shepherd over them, and +He shall feed them, even my servant David: He shall feed +them, and He shall be their shepherd." And again: "Say +to the cities of Judah, behold your God.—He shall feed +His flock like a shepherd: He shall gather together the +lambs with His arm, and shall take them up in His bosom, +and He Himself shall carry them that are with young." +And, once more, in the very prophecy by which the chief +priests and scribes declared to Herod that He must be born +at Bethlehem, "For from thee shall go forth the ruler, +who shall feed (or shepherd) My people Israel." Appropriating +these predictions to Himself, the Lord had said: +"I am the good shepherd.<a name="FNanchor_14_152" id="FNanchor_14_152"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_152" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> The good shepherd giveth +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>His life for His sheep. And other sheep I have which are +not of this fold; them also I must bring; and there shall +be one fold and one shepherd." And now it was His +pleasure to give this particular title, so specially His own, +to Peter, and to Peter alone, and to Peter in most marked +contrast even with the best beloved of His other disciples, +and to Peter, thrice repeating the charge, and varying the +expression of it so as to include the term in its utmost +force. "When, therefore, they had dined, Jesus said to +Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me more +than these? He saith to Him, Yea, Lord, Thou knowest +that I love Thee. He saith to him, Feed My lambs. He +saith to him again, Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me? +He saith to Him, Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love +Thee. He saith to him, Feed My lambs. He saith to him +the third time, Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me? Peter +was grieved because He had said to him the third time, +lovest thou Me? And he said to Him, Lord, Thou knowest +all things: Thou knowest that I love Thee. He said to +him, Feed My sheep."</p> + +<p>Our Lord had before addressed the seven disciples present +in common, "Children, have you any meat?" "Cast +the net, and you shall find." "Bring hither of the fishes +which you have now caught." "Come and dine." But +now, turning to one in particular, He singles him out in the +most special manner, by his name, by asking of him a love +greater than that of any others towards Himself, by conferring +on him a charge, which, as we shall see, from its +extension excludes its being held in joint possession by any +other, and by a prophecy concerning the manner of his +death, which is wholly particular to Peter. If it is possible +by any words to convey a power and a charge to a particular +person, and to exclude the rest of the company from +that special power and charge, it is done here.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> + +<p>But, secondly, it is a charge of a very high and distinguishing +nature indeed, for our Lord before conferring it +demands of Peter, as a condition, greater love towards His +own person than that felt for Him by any of the Twelve—even +by the sons of Zebedy, whom from their zeal He surnamed +Boanerges, sons of thunder—even by the disciple +whom He loved, and who lay on His breast at the last +supper. What must that charge be, the preliminary condition +for which is a greater love for Jesus than that of the +beloved disciple? What shall be a fitting sequel to +"Simon, son of John, lovest thou me <i>more</i> than these?" +What, again, the importance of that office, in bestowing +which our Lord thrice repeats the condition, and thrice inculcates +the charge? The words of God are not spoken at +random, nor His repetitions without effect. What, again, +are the <i>subjects</i> of the charge? They are "My lambs," +and "My sheep," that is, the fold itself of the Great Shepherd. +As He said, "If I wash thee not, thou shalt have +no part with Me," so those who are not either His lambs or +His sheep, form no part of His fold. Others, too, in Holy +Writ, are addressed as shepherds, but with a limitation, as, +"Take heed to the whole flock <i>wherein</i> the Holy Ghost +hath placed you bishops," or "feed the flock of God <i>which +is among you</i>." And, more largely far it was said, "Go +ye, therefore, and make disciples all nations;" and "Go ye +into the whole world and preach the Gospel to every creature."<a name="FNanchor_15_153" id="FNanchor_15_153"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_153" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> +But they to whom this was said were yet themselves +sheep of the Great Shepherd, and in committing the +world to them, He did not commit <i>them</i> to each other. +Whereas here, they too, as His sheep, are committed to +one, even Peter; and very expressly, in the persons of +James and John, and the rest present, "lovest thou Me +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>more than these?" A particular flock is never termed absolutely +and simply "the flock," or "the flock of God," but +"the flock <i>which is among you</i>," "<i>in which the Holy Ghost +hath made you bishops</i>." And, again, the Apostles are +sent in common to the whole world, to preach to all nations, +and to form one flock; but they are twelve, and "power +given to several carries its restriction in its division, whilst +power given to one alone and over all, and without exception, +carries with it plenitude, and, not having to be divided +with any other, it has no bounds save those which its terms +convey."<a name="FNanchor_16_154" id="FNanchor_16_154"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_154" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> What are the terms here? "Feed," and "be +shepherd over" or "rule" "My lambs and My sheep." The +terms have no limit, save that of salvation itself. Such, +then, are the <i>persons</i> indicated as subjects of this charge. +But what is the nature of the charge? Two different words +of unequal extent and force in the original, but both +rendered "feed" in the translation, convey this. One +means "to give food" simply, the other, of far higher +and nobler reach, embraces every act of care and providence +in the government of others, under an image the +farthest removed from the spirit of pride and ambition. +Such is even its heathen meaning, and the first of poets +termed Agamemnon by this word, "Shepherd of the people." +By this word, S. Paul, and S. Peter<a name="FNanchor_17_155" id="FNanchor_17_155"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_155" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> himself, express +the power of the bishop over his own flock. And so our Lord, +here instituting the Bishop of Bishops, the one Shepherd +of the one fold, gives to Peter over all his flock, the very +word given to <i>Him</i> in the famous prophecy, "Thou, Bethlehem, +the land of Juda, art not the least among the +princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come forth the +captain that shall <i>rule</i> My people Israel:" the very word, +which used of Himself in Psalm ii. to express all His power +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>and dominion, in His revelation to S. John, is spoken of His +own triumphant career, as the Word of God going forth to +battle, "He shall <i>rule</i> them with a rod of iron;" and, +again, in the same book is applied by Himself to set forth +the honour which He will give "to him that shall overcome +and keep My works unto the end."<a name="FNanchor_18_156" id="FNanchor_18_156"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_156" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> Thus, just as in the +<i>persons</i> pointed out, the <i>subject</i> of this charge is <i>universal</i>, +so in the <i>terms</i> by which it is expressed, the <i>nature</i> of the +power is <i>supreme</i>. What the bishop is to his own flock, +Peter is made to "the flock of God:" and this at once, in +the most simple, as well as in the most absolute and +emphatic manner, by institution from the chief Shepherd +Himself, at the close of His ministry, and by associating +Peter singly with Himself in His most distinctive title. If +the fold of Christ is equivalent to "the Church of Christ," +and "the kingdom of heaven," so to feed and to rule the +lambs and the sheep of that fold is equivalent to being "the +Rock" of that Church, and "the Bearer of the keys," as +well as <i>the First, the Greater one, and the Ruler</i> in that +kingdom of heaven.</p> + +<p>Again, looking at the circumstances under which this +charge is received by Peter, it either conveys that special +and singular honour and power which we have here set +forth, or <i>none at all</i>. For Peter had <i>already</i> received the +full Apostolic authority: he had heard together with the +rest of the Apostles those words of power, "As My Father +sent Me, I also send you," and the charge following, to +bind and to loose. It could not therefore be this power +which was given him, for he had it already. All +which James and John, the sons of thunder, ever had +given them, he also had before these words were uttered. +Besides a power which was to be shared by James and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>John, and the rest of the Apostles, could not be given in +terms which distinguished him from them, "lovest thou Me +<i>more than these</i>?" It could not be the mere forgiveness of +his denial, for not only did the Apostolate, since conferred, +carry that, but when our Lord appeared to him first of +all the Apostles after His resurrection, it was a token of +such forgiveness. There remained nothing else to give +him, but presidency over the Apostles themselves, the +reward of superior love, as was prophesied and promised to +him in reward for superior faith. For these two oracles of +our Lord exactly correspond to each other as promise and +performance. Their conditions and their terms shed a +reciprocal light on each other. In the one there is the +great confession, "Thou art the Christ the Son of the +living God;" in the other as singular a declaration, +"Lovest thou Me more than these? Yea, Lord." In the +one there follows the reward, "And I say to thee, that +thou art Peter," &c.: and in the other a like reward, "Feed +My lambs, be shepherd over My sheep." The one is future, +"I will build, I will give, thou shalt bind, thou shall loose:" +the other present, "Feed and be shepherd." What concerns +"the Church and the kingdom of heaven" in the one, +concerns "the fold" in the other. And the promise and +performance are singularly restricted to Peter—"I say +unto thee, Thou art Peter"—"Simon, son of John, lovest +thou Me more than these?"</p> + +<p>As then Peter received the promise of the supreme +episcopate <i>before all</i> and <i>by himself</i>, under the terms that +he should be the Rock, by being built on which the Church +should never fall, that he should be the Bearer of the keys +in the kingdom of heaven, and that <i>singly</i> he should bind +and loose in heaven and in earth; so <i>after</i> his own Apostolate, +and that of the rest had been completed, <i>by himself</i>,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> +and as the crown of the divine work, he received the fulfilment +of that supreme episcopate, under the terms, "Feed +My lambs, be shepherd over My sheep." And as a part +out of that magnificent promise made to him <i>singly</i>, was +afterwards taken and made to the Apostles <i>jointly</i> with him, +for so "it was the design of Jesus Christ to put first in one +alone what afterwards He meant to put in several; but the +sequel does not reverse the beginning, nor the first lose his +place. That first word, 'Whatsoever thou shalt bind,' said +to one alone, has already ranged under his power each one +of those to whom shall be said, 'Whatsoever ye shall remit;' +for the promises of Jesus Christ, as well as His gifts, are +without repentance; and what is once given indefinitely +and universally is irrevocable:"<a name="FNanchor_19_157" id="FNanchor_19_157"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_157" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> so when Peter and the +rest already possessed the whole Apostolate, the commission +to go and preach to the whole world, and to make +disciples of all nations, a power was added to Peter to +make up what was promised to him originally; the Apostles +themselves, with the whole fold, were put under his +charge; he represented the person of the Great Shepherd: +and the divine work was complete.</p> + +<p>Thus the powers of the Apostolate and the Primacy are +not antagonistic, but fit into, and harmonise with each +other. In the college of the Twelve, as before inaugurated, +and sent forth into the whole world, something had been +wanting, save that, "by the appointment of a head, the +occasion of schism was taken away:"<a name="FNanchor_20_158" id="FNanchor_20_158"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_158" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> and Satan would +have shaken the whole fabric, but that there was one +divinely set to "confirm the brethren." He who "kept +them" once, when "with them," by His personal presence, +now kept them for evermore by the word of His power, +issued on the shore of the lake of Galilee, but resounding +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>through every age, clear and decisive, amid the fall of +empires, and the change of races, and heard by all His +flock to the utmost of the isles of the sea, till the day of the +Son of Man comes,—"Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me +more than these? Feed My lambs: Feed My sheep."</p> + +<p>And that the universal and supreme authority over the +Church of Christ, was in these words committed to Peter +by the Lord, is the belief of antiquity. Thus, S. Ambrose, +in the west: "It is not doubtful that Peter believed, and +believed because he loved, and loved because he believed. +Whence, too, he is grieved at being asked a third time, +Lovest thou Me? For we ask those of whom we doubt. +But the Lord does not doubt, but asks not to learn, but to +teach him whom, on the point of ascending into heaven, He +was leaving, <i>as it were, the successor and representative of +His love</i>.<a name="FNanchor_21_159" id="FNanchor_21_159"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_159" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> It is because he alone out of all makes a profession, +that <i>he is preferred to all</i>. Lastly, for the third +time, the Lord asks him, no longer, <i>hast</i> thou <i>a regard</i> +(diligis me) for Me, but <i>lovest</i> (amas) thou Me: and now he +is ordered to feed, not the lambs, as at first, who need a +milk diet, nor the little sheep, as secondly, but the more +perfect sheep, <i>in order that he who was the more perfect +might have the government</i>."<a name="FNanchor_22_160" id="FNanchor_22_160"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_160" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> In the East, S. Chrysostome, +"Why, then, passing by the rest, does He converse with him +on these things? <i>He was the chosen of the Apostles, and +the mouthpiece of the disciples, and the head of the band.</i> +Therefore, also Paul once went up to see him rather than +the rest. It was, besides, to shew him, that for the future +he must be bold, as his denial was done away with, that +<i>He puts into his hands the presidency over the brethren.</i> +And He does not mention the denial, nor reproach him with +what had past; but He says, if thou lovest Me, <i>rule the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>brethren</i>, and show now that warm affection which on +all occasions thou didst exhibit, and in which thou didst +exult, and the life which thou didst offer to lay down for +Me, now spend for My sheep." Again, "thrice He asks the +question, and thrice lays on him the same command, showing +at how high a price He sets <i>the charge of His own +sheep</i>." Again, "he was put in charge with the direction of +his brethren." "He made him great promises <i>and put the +world into his hands</i>." Thus John and James, and the rest +of the Apostles were committed to Peter, but never Peter +to them: and he adds, "But if any one asks, How then did +James receive the throne of Jerusalem? I would reply that +He elected Peter <i>not to be the teacher of this throne, but of +the whole world</i>." And in another place, "Why did He +shed His blood to purchase those sheep <i>which He committed +to Peter and his successors</i>? With reason then said +Christ, 'who is the faithful and prudent servant whom his +Lord hath set over His own<a name="FNanchor_23_161" id="FNanchor_23_161"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_161" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> house?'" Theophylact repeated, +seven hundred years later, the perpetual tradition of +the East. "He puts into Peter's hands the headship over +the sheep of the whole world, and to no other but to him +gives He this; first, because he was distinguished above all, +and the mouth-piece of the whole band; and secondly, showing +to him that he must be confident, as his denial was put +out of account." And if S. Leo, a Pope, declares that +"though there be among the people of God many priests +and many shepherds, yet Peter rules all by immediate commission, +whom Christ also rules by Sovereign power,"<a name="FNanchor_24_162" id="FNanchor_24_162"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_162" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> the +great Eastern, Saint Basil, assigned an adequate reason for +this near a century before, when he viewed all pastoral +authority in the Church as included in this grant to Peter, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>declaring that the spiritual "ruler is none else but one who +represents the person of the Saviour, and offers up to God +the salvation of those who obey him, and this we learn from +Christ Himself <i>in that He appointed Peter to be the shepherd +of His Church after</i><a name="FNanchor_25_163" id="FNanchor_25_163"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_163" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> <i>Himself</i>."</p> + +<p>But especially must we quote S. Cyprian, because to that +equality of the Apostles as such, before referred to by us, +by considering which without regard to the proportion +of faith some have been led astray, he adds the full recognition +of the Primacy, and urges its extreme importance. +Thus quoting the promise and the fulfilment, "Thou art +Peter, &c." and "Feed My sheep," he goes on, "Upon him +being one He builds His Church; and <i>though</i> He gives to +all the Apostles an equal power, and says, "As the Father +sent Me, I also send you, &c.," yet in order to manifest +unity He has, by His own authority, so placed the source of +the same unity as to begin from one. Certainly the other +Apostles also were what Peter was, endued with an equal +fellowship both of honour and power, but a commencement +is made from unity, that the Church may be set before us +as one."<a name="FNanchor_26_164" id="FNanchor_26_164"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_164" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> That is, the Apostles were equal as to the +powers bestowed in John xx. 23-5, but as to those given in +Matt. xvi. 18-19, Luke xxii. 31-3, and John xxi. 15-18, +"the Church was built upon Peter alone," and he was made +the source and ever-living spring of ecclesiastical unity.</p> + +<p>Yet clearly as our Lord in this charge associates Peter +with Himself, puts him over his brethren, the other Apostles, +and fulfils to him all that He ever promised, as to +making him "the first," "the greater one" and "the ruler +or leader," by that one title of "the Shepherd," in which +is summed up all authority over His Church, and the very +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>purpose of His own divine mission, "to seek and to save +that which was lost," still a touch of tenderness is added by +the Master's hand, which brings out all this more forcibly, +and must have told personally on Peter's feelings and those +of his fellow-disciples, as the highest and most solemn consecration +to his singular office. For when the Lord spoke +that parable, "I am the good shepherd," He added, as the +token of the character, "the good shepherd giveth His life +for His sheep." And so now, appointing Peter to take +His place over the flock, He adds to him this token also: +"Amen, amen, I say to thee, when thou wast younger, thou +didst gird thyself, and didst walk where thou wouldst, but +when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, +and another shall gird thee, and lead thee whither thou +wouldst not." "When thou wast younger, thou didst gird +thyself," alluding, perhaps, to that impulse of affection with +which, just before, as soon as Peter heard from John that it +was the Lord standing on the shore, "he girt his coat about +him and cast himself into the sea," for his love waited not +for the slowness of the boat. Thus He taught Peter that +the chiefship to which He was appointing him, that "care +of all the Churches," as it required a different spirit to fulfil +it from that which prevailed among "the kings of the +nations," so it led to a different end, the last crowning act +of a lifelong self-sacrifice, which began by being the servant +of all, ran through a thousand acts of humiliation and +anxiety, and was to be completed in the martyrdom of +crucifixion. And so in his death, as well as in his charge +of visible head of the Church, he was to be made like his +Lord, and after the manner of the Good Shepherd, whom +he succeeded, should lay down his life for his sheep. For +"this He said signifying by what death he should glorify +God. And when He had said this, He saith to him, Follow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> +Me." With far deeper meaning now than when those +words of power were first uttered to him beside that lake. +Then it was, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of +men." Now it is, "Follow Me, and I will associate thee +with My life and with My death, with My charge and with +its reward. This shall be the proof of thy greater love, to +be obedient even to death, and that the death of the cross." +Such was the anointing which the first Primate of the +Church received to the triple crown. "Follow thou Me." +Like his divine Master, he was during the whole of his +ministry to have the cross set before his eyes, and laid upon +his heart, as the certain end of his course. And thus Peter +"received power and sacerdotal authority over all, from the +very God for our sakes incarnate:"<a name="FNanchor_27_165" id="FNanchor_27_165"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_165" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> thus he followed in +the steps of the Good Shepherd, as he succeeded to His +office. And, therefore, having accomplished his mission +and triumphed on the Roman hill, from Rome he speaks +through the undying line of his spiritual heirs, and feeds +the flock of Christ.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p> +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_139" id="Footnote_1_139"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_139"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 93.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_140" id="Footnote_2_140"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_140"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Matt. xvi. 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_141" id="Footnote_3_141"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_141"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Matt. x. 1; Mark iii. 13-15; Luke vi. 12-13; Matt. xviii, 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_142" id="Footnote_4_142"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_142"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> John xvii. 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_143" id="Footnote_5_143"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_143"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Mark xvi. 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_144" id="Footnote_6_144"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_144"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> 1 Cor. xv. 1-9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_145" id="Footnote_7_145"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_145"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Matt. xxviii. 18; Mark xvi. 15; Luke xxiv. 49; Acts i. 4-8; John. xx. 21.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_146" id="Footnote_8_146"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_146"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> De unitate ecclesiæ, 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_147" id="Footnote_9_147"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_147"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Mark i. 16; Luke v. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_148" id="Footnote_10_148"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_148"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Mark iv. 38; Luke viii. 24.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_149" id="Footnote_11_149"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_149"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> John vi. 21.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_150" id="Footnote_12_150"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_150"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> John xxi. 1-14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_151" id="Footnote_13_151"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_151"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> St. Augustine's 122nd discourse on St. John, who has thus set forth this chapter: +"Piscis assus Christus est passus."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_152" id="Footnote_14_152"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_152"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Ezech. xxiv. 33; Isai. xl. 9-11; Mich. v. 2; Matt. ii. 6; John x. 11, 14, 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_153" id="Footnote_15_153"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_153"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Acts xx. 28; 1 Pet. v. 10; Matt. xxviii. 19; Mark xvi. 15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_154" id="Footnote_16_154"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_154"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Bossuet, sermon on unity.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_155" id="Footnote_17_155"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_155"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> Acts xx. 28; 1 Pet. v. 10; Ps. ii. 9; Apoc. xix. 15; ii. 27.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_156" id="Footnote_18_156"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_156"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> [Greek: Poimahinein] used in the text of John, and in all these.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_157" id="Footnote_19_157"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_157"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Bossuet, sermon on unity.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_158" id="Footnote_20_158"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_158"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> St. Jerome.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_159" id="Footnote_21_159"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_159"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Amoris sui veluti vicarium.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_160" id="Footnote_22_160"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_160"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> In Lucam, Lib. 10, n. 175.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_161" id="Footnote_23_161"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_161"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> St. Chrys. in Joan. Hom. 88, p. 525-7; and De Sacerdot. Lib. 2, Tom. 1. p. 372.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_162" id="Footnote_24_162"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_162"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> St. Leo. Serm. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_163" id="Footnote_25_163"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_163"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> St. Basil, Constit. Monas. xxii. Tom. 2, p. 573.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_164" id="Footnote_26_164"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_164"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> St. Cyprian, de unit. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_165" id="Footnote_27_165"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_165"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Stephen of Dora, in the Lateran Synod, <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, 649. Mansi, x. 893.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h3>THE CORRESPONDENCE AND EQUIVALENCE OF THE GREAT TEXTS +CONCERNING PETER.</h3> + + +<p>Before we compare together more exactly what was said +to the Apostles in common, and what to Peter in particular, +it is desirable to consider briefly two other points, which +will complete the evidence furnished by the Gospels.</p> + +<p>1. If, then, the<a name="FNanchor_1_166" id="FNanchor_1_166"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_166" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> question to be decided by documents +is, whether several persons are to be accounted equal in +rank, honour, and authority, or whether one of them is +superior to the rest, it will be an unexceptionable rule to +observe whether they are spoken of in the same manner. +For words are signs of ideas, and set forth as in a mirror +the mind's conceptions. A similarity of language, therefore, +will indicate a similarity of rank; a distinction of language, +especially if it be repeated and constant, will show a like +distinction of rank. Let us apply this rule to the mode in +which the Evangelists speak of Peter and of the other +Apostles.</p> + +<p>Now to express one of rank and his attendants, the +Evangelists often use the phrase, a person <i>and those with +him</i>. Thus, Luke vi. 4, "David and <i>those that were with +him</i>;" and Matt. xii. 3 with Mark ii. 25, "Have ye not +read what David did, when himself was a hungered and +<i>those that were with him</i>?" Of our Lord and the Apostles +it is said, Mark iii. 11, "And He made twelve, <i>that they +should be with Him</i>:" and xvi. 10, "She went and told <i>them +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>that had been with Him</i>." And Acts iv. 13, the chief +priests "knew them," Peter and John, "that <i>they had been +with Jesus</i>." And Matthew xxvi. 69, Peter is reproached, +"Thou also <i>wast with Jesus</i>." Now just so the Evangelists +speak of Peter. Our Lord having on one occasion left +the Apostles for solitary prayer, S. Mark writes, i. 36, +"And Simon <i>and they that were with him</i> followed after +Him." Again, the woman with the issue of blood having +touched the Lord, when He asked, 'Who is it that touched +Me?' S. Luke says, viii. 45, "all denying, Peter <i>and they +that were with him</i> said," &c. And on the occasion of the +Transfiguration, "Peter and <i>they that were with him</i>," +being James and John. Just as after the resurrection Luke +writes, Acts ii. 14, "Peter standing up with the eleven;" +verse 37, "They said to Peter and to the rest of the Apostles;" +v. 29, "Peter and the Apostles answering said." +And the angels to the holy women, Mark xvi. 7, "Go tell +His disciples and Peter."</p> + +<p>It is then to be remarked that Peter is the <i>only</i> Apostle +who is put in this relation to the rest. <i>Never</i> is it said +"James," or "John and the rest of the Apostles," or, +"and those with him." Peter is named, and the rest are +added in a mass, and this happens in his case continually, +never in the case of any other Apostle.</p> + +<p>No adequate cause can be alleged for this but the Primacy +and superior rank of Peter, which was ever in the +mind of the Evangelists, and is sometimes indicated by the +prophetic name; for as often as Simon is called Peter, he is +marked as the foundation of the Church, according to the +Lord's prophecy. And long before contentions about the +prerogatives of Peter arose, the ancient Fathers attributed +it to his Primacy, that he was thus named expressly and +first, the others in a mass, or in the second place.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></p> + +<p>According, then, to the rule above-mentioned, Peter, by +the mode in which the Evangelists speak of him, is distinguished +from the other Apostles, and his position with +regard to the rest is described in the very same phrase +which is used to express the superiority of David over his +men, and even of our Lord over the Twelve. And for this +there seems no adequate cause, but that special association +of Peter with Himself indicated in the name, and the promises +accompanying it in Matt. xvi.</p> + +<p>2. Again, four<a name="FNanchor_2_167" id="FNanchor_2_167"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_167" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> catalogues of the Apostles exist,<a name="FNanchor_3_168" id="FNanchor_3_168"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_168" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> and +in each of these Peter is placed first. And in the three +which occur in the Gospels, (that of Luke in the Acts +being a more brief repetition of his former one,) the prophetic +name Peter is indicated as the reason for his being +thus placed first. So Mark. "And to Simon He gave the +name Peter. And James the son of Zebedy, and John the +brother of James; and He named them Boanerges, which +is, the sons of thunder:" for which reason, that the +Lord had given them a name, though it was held in +common, and not, like that of Peter, expressive of official +rank, but personal qualities, Mark seems to set these +two before Andrew, whom both in Matthew and in Luke +they follow. Again, Luke says, "He chose twelve of +them, whom also He named Apostles, Simon whom He +surnamed Peter, and Andrew his brother," &c. "<i>The +first</i> of all, and the chief of them, he that was illiterate and +uneducated," says S. Chrysostome;<a name="FNanchor_4_169" id="FNanchor_4_169"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_169" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> and Origen long before +him, observing that Peter was always named first in the +number of the twelve, asks, What should be thought the +cause of this order? He replies, it was constantly observed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>because Peter was "more honoured than the rest," thus +intimating that he no less excelled the rest on account of +the gifts which he had received from heaven, than "Judas +through his wretched disposition was truly the last of all, +and worthy to be put at the end."<a name="FNanchor_5_170" id="FNanchor_5_170"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_170" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> But much more +marked is Matthew in signifying the superior dignity of +Peter, not only naming him at the head in his catalogue, +but calling him simply and absolutely "the first." "And +the names of the twelve Apostles are these, The first, +Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, +James," &c. Now that <i>second</i> and <i>third</i> do not follow, +shows that "first" is not a numeral here, but designates +rank and pre-eminence. Thus in heathen authors this +word "first" by itself indicates the most excellent in its +kind: thus in the Septuagint occur, "first friend of the +king," "first of the singers," "the first priest,"<a name="FNanchor_6_171" id="FNanchor_6_171"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_171" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> i.e. the +chief priest. So our Lord, "whichever among you will be +first;" "Bring forth the first robe;" and S. Paul, "sinners, of +whom I am first,"<a name="FNanchor_7_172" id="FNanchor_7_172"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_172" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> i.e. chief. Thus "the first of the island," +Acts, xxviii. 7, means the chief magistrate; and "first" +generally in Latin phraseology, the superior, or prince.</p> + +<p>Such, then, is the rank which Matthew gives to Peter, +when he writes, "the first, Simon, who is called Peter."</p> + +<p>It should also be remarked that, whenever the Evangelists +have occasion to mention <i>some</i> of the Apostles, Peter +being one, he is ever put first. Thus Matt., "He taketh +unto Him Peter, and James, and John his brother;" and +Mark, "He admitted not any man to follow Him, but +Peter, and James, and John, the brother of James:" and +"Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew asked Him +apart:" and "He taketh Peter, and James, and John with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>Him:" and Luke, "He suffered not any man to go in +with him, but Peter, and James, and John, and the father +and mother of the maiden:" and "He sent Peter and +John:" and John, "There were together Simon Peter, +and Thomas, who is called Didymus, and Nathaniel, +who was of Cana in Galilee, and the two sons of Zebedy, +and two others of His disciples."<a name="FNanchor_8_173" id="FNanchor_8_173"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_173" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> This rule would seem +to be invariable, though James and John are not always +mentioned next after him.</p> + +<p>An attempt has been made to evade the force of these +testimonies, by giving as a reason for Peter being always +thus named first, that he was the most aged of all the +Apostles, and the first called. Even were it so, such +reasons would seem most inadequate, but unfortunately +they are neither of them facts. For as to age, antiquity +bears witness that Andrew was Peter's elder brother. And +as to their calling, S. Augustine has observed, "In what +order all the twelve Apostles were called, does not appear +in the narrations of the Evangelists, since not only not the +order of the calling, but not even the calling itself of all is +mentioned, but only of Philip, and Peter, and Andrew, and +of the sons of Zebedy, and of Matthew, the publican, +termed also Levi. But Peter was both the first and the +only one who separately received a name from Him."<a name="FNanchor_9_174" id="FNanchor_9_174"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_174" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> As +it may be conjectured from the Gospels that Christ said to +Philip first of all, "Follow Me," Joh. i. 44, he has the best +right to be considered the first called.</p> + +<p>Now the two classes of facts just mentioned, as to the +mode in which the Evangelists speak of Peter in combination +with the other Apostles, prove directly and plainly his +<i>Primacy</i>, while they do not <i>directly</i> prove, save Matthew's +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>title of <i>First</i>, nor are they here quoted to prove, the <i>nature</i> +of that Primacy, which rests, as we have seen, on other and +more decisive texts.</p> + +<p>At length, then, we have before us the whole evidence +of the Gospels, and having considered it piece by piece, +may now take a general view. It is time to gather up the +several parts of this evidence, and, claiming for each its due +force, to present the sum of all before the mind. For distinct +and decisive as certain texts appear, and are, even by +themselves, yet when they are seen to fit into a whole system, +and perfectly to harmonise together, they have much +greater power to convince the mind, which really seeks +for truth. But moral evidences generally, and especially +that which results from a study of the Holy Scripture, is +not intended to move a mind in a lower condition than +this; a mind, that is, which loves something else better than +the truth.</p> + +<p>Thus, out of the body of His disciples, we see our Lord +choosing Twelve, and again, out of those Twelve, distinguishing +One by the most singular favours. This distinction +even begins <i>before</i> the selection of the Twelve, and has +its root in the very commencement of our Lord's ministry: +for, as we have seen, it was when Andrew first led his +brother Simon before Christ, that He "looked upon him," +and promised him the prophetic name which revealed his +Primacy, and his perpetual relation to the Church of God. +The name thus promised is in due time bestowed, and +solemnly recorded by the three Evangelists, at the appointment +of the Apostles, as the reason why he is invariably +set at their head; Matthew, still more distinctly expressing +in it his primacy, "<i>the first</i>, Simon, who is called Peter." +And their whole mode of mentioning him, and exhibiting +his relation to the other apostles, shews that this Primacy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> +was, when they wrote, ever in their minds. It comes out +in the most incidental way, as when Mark writes, "Simon, +and they that were with him, followed after" Christ; or +Luke, "Peter, and they that were with him, said;" as +naturally as they write, "David, and those that were with +him:" or of our Lord Himself, and the Apostles, "those +that had been with Him."<a name="FNanchor_10_175" id="FNanchor_10_175"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_175" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> Again this preference of +Peter is shewn by our Lord, both at the Transfiguration +and the Agony: where, even when the two next favoured +of the Apostles are associated with Him as witnesses, yet +there is evidence of Peter's superiority in the mode +with which the Evangelists mention him. Great as the +dignity was of the two sons of thunder, they are yet ranged +under Peter by Luke, with that same phrase which we +have just been considering. "Peter, and they that were +with him were heavy with sleep." And our Lord, at the +agony, says to Peter, "could not <i>you</i>," that is, all the three, +"watch with Me one hour?"<a name="FNanchor_11_176" id="FNanchor_11_176"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_176" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> Again, how incidentally, yet +markedly, does Matthew shew that this superiority of Peter +over others was apparent even to strangers, when he writes, +that the officers who collected the tribute for the temple, +came to <i>him</i>, and said, "does not <i>your</i> master" (the master +of all the Apostles,) "pay the didrachma?"<a name="FNanchor_12_177" id="FNanchor_12_177"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_177" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> Much more +significant is the incident immediately following, when our +Lord orders him to go to the sea, to cast a hook, and to +bring up a fish, which shall have a stater in his mouth, +adding, "take that, and give it to them for Me, and for +thee:" a token of preference so strong, and of association +so singular, that it set the Apostles on the immediate +enquiry, who should be the greater among them: the +answer to which we will revert to presently.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p><p>And this designation of Peter to his high and singular +office becomes even more striking, if we contrast what our +Lord did and said to him with what He did and said to +another Apostle, who <i>in another way</i> is even in some respects +preferred to Peter himself. For "the disciple whom +Jesus loved," who lay on His breast at supper, to whom was +committed at the most sorrowful of all moments the domestic +care of the Virgin Mother, has in the affection of our +Lord his own unapproachable sphere. But as Peter does +not come into competition with him here, so neither in +another view he with Peter. His distinction is private, and +in the nature of personal affection: Peter's is public, and +in the nature of Church government. To one is committed +the Mother of the Lord, the living symbol of the Church, +the most blessed of all creatures, and that, when her full +dignity and blessedness stood at length revealed in the full +Godhead of her Son, yet whose throne was intercessory, +apart from rule on earth: to the other is committed the +Church herself, her championship in the time of conflict, +the rudder of the vessel on the lake, till with Christ it +should reach the shore. Each of these, so eminent and +unapproachable in his way, has that way apart; and when +Peter, on receiving his final commission, turned about and +saw his best-loved friend following, and ventured to ask, +"Lord, and what shall this man do?" our Lord replied with +something like a reproof, "what is that to thee? Follow +thou Me." These distinct preferences of the two Apostles +were indicated by Tertullian, when he wrote, "Was +anything concealed from Peter, who was named the rock +on which the Church should be built, who received the +keys of the kingdom of heaven, and the power to bind +and loose in heaven and on earth? Was anything, too, +concealed from John, the most beloved of the Lord, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> +lay upon His breast, to whom alone the Lord foresignified +the traitor Judas, whom He committed in His own +place as Son to Mary?"<a name="FNanchor_13_178" id="FNanchor_13_178"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_178" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></p> + +<p>But to return. Our Lord, after encompassing Peter +during His whole ministry with such tokens of preference, +and a preference specially belonging to his office, and designating +it, appears to him first of all the Apostles after +His resurrection. And yet all the proofs which we have +been here summing up of Peter's pre-eminence, are but +collateral and subordinate: though by themselves ten-fold +more than any other can claim, yet Peter's authority does +not rest <i>mainly</i> on them. And this likewise is true of +another class of facts concerning Peter, which yet carries +with it much force, and when once remarked, never leaves +the thoughtful mind. It is his great predominance in the +sacred history over the rest of the Twelve. A single incident +or expression distinguishing him, is perhaps all that +falls to the lot of another Apostle, as when "Philip saith +unto Him, Lord, show us the Father and it sufficeth us;" +and the Lord replies, "Have I been so long time with +you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip?" Or as +Thomas, at a moment of danger, "said to his fellow disciples, +Let us also go that we may die with Him."<a name="FNanchor_14_179" id="FNanchor_14_179"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_179" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> But +Peter's name is wrought into the whole tissue of the Gospel +history; he is perpetually approaching the Lord with +questions: "Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against +me, and I forgive him? until seven times?" The rest +suffer the Lord in silence to wash their feet, but Peter is +overcome at the sight. "Lord, dost Thou wash my feet? +Thou shalt never wash my feet;" "Lord, not my feet +only, but also my hands and my head."<a name="FNanchor_15_180" id="FNanchor_15_180"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_180" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> Thus in the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>whole New Testament, John, who is yet mentioned oftener +than the rest, occurs only thirty-eight times; but in the +Gospels alone, omitting the Acts and the Epistles, Peter +is mentioned twenty-three times by Matthew, eighteen +by Mark, twenty by Luke, and thirty by John.<a name="FNanchor_16_181" id="FNanchor_16_181"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_181" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> More +especially it is the custom of the Evangelists, when they +record anything which touches all the Apostles, almost +invariably to exhibit Peter as singly speaking for all, and +representing all. Thus when Christ asked them all +equally, "But whom say ye that I am? Simon Peter +answered and said." He told them all equally "That a +rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven,"<a name="FNanchor_17_182" id="FNanchor_17_182"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_182" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> +whereupon "Peter answering said to Him, Behold, we have +left all things, and followed Thee: what therefore shall we +have?" And when "Jesus said to the twelve, Will you +also go away?"<a name="FNanchor_18_183" id="FNanchor_18_183"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_183" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> at once we hear, "Simon Peter answered +and said, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou +hast the words of eternal life." And a very remarkable +occasion occurs where our Lord had been telling to His +disciples the parable of the watchful servant, upon which +Peter said to Him, "Lord, dost Thou speak this parable +to us, or likewise to all?"<a name="FNanchor_19_184" id="FNanchor_19_184"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_184" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> And the reply seems by +anticipation to express the very office which Peter was to +hold. "Who, then, is the faithful and wise steward, whom +his lord setteth over his family, to give them their +measure of wheat in due season?" Now it looks not like +an equal, but a superior, to anticipate the rest, to represent +them, to speak and act for them. S. Chrysostome +drew the conclusion long ago. "What then says Peter, +the mouth-piece of the Apostles? Everywhere impetuous +as he is, the leader of the band of the Apostles, when a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>question is asked of all, he replies."<a name="FNanchor_20_185" id="FNanchor_20_185"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_185" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> No other cause can be +assigned for the care of the Evangelists in setting before us +so continually his words and acts, in bringing him out, as +the second object, after Christ. But though his future place +in the Church is a reason for this, and this again, a token of +that singular pre-eminence, its decisive proof rests on declarations +from our Lord's own mouth, expressly circumscribed +to him, of singular lucidity, and of force which nothing can +evade; declarations which set forth, under different but +coincident images, a power supreme and without equal, and +of its own nature belonging to but one at a time. The +proofs which we have hitherto mentioned take away all +abruptness from these declarations, and show that they +embody a great design which runs all through the Gospel; +but the office itself rests upon these, and by these is most +clearly and absolutely defined.</p> + +<p>Thus, when our Lord, in answer to a great confession of +His Apostle, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living +God," replies, "and I too, say unto thee, Thou art Peter, +and upon this rock I will build My Church:" every one +must feel how it adds to the cogency of the reply, that the +name, which He is explaining, was not the person's natural +name, but first promised, and then given, by that same +Lord, who now attaches other promises and prophecies to +it. This fact serves, among others, to fix the whole which +follows to Peter individually, and to introduce what follows, +as part of a design, which before had been intimated: for +what follows no more belongs to the other Apostles, than +the name, Peter, belongs to them: and a name, on the +other hand, so promised, and so given, naturally looks, as +it were, to such a result. To say solemnly of a man, when +first seen, "Thou art called Simon, but thou shall be called +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>The Rock," and to make nothing of him when so called, +would be, if ascribed to any one, a dull and pointless thing; +but what shall we say, when the speaker is God? It is a +new thing for God the Word to speak with little meaning, +or to speak, and not to do: and so now He does what He +had long designed. And what is it that He does? He sets +up a governor who is never to be put down. He inaugurates +a Church against which Hell shall rage, but in vain: +He establishes a government at which the nations shall +rage, the kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers +take counsel together, for ever, but to their own confusion. +He does what He alone could do, and so the answer is +worthy of the confession, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of +the living God."</p> + +<p>"Blessed <a name="FNanchor_21_186" id="FNanchor_21_186"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_186" class="fnanchor">[21]</a>art thou, Simon Bar-Jonas, for flesh and +blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father who +is in heaven. <i>And I, too, say unto thee</i>, in return for +what thou hast said to Me, and to shew, like My Father, +My good will towards thee, and what I say, as the Almighty +Word of the Father, by My power I fulfil, <i>that thou art +Peter</i>, the Rock, and so partaker with Me of that honour +whereby I am the chief Rock and Foundation; <i>and upon +this Rock</i>, which I have called thee, <i>I will build My +Church</i>, which, therefore, with Me for its architect, shall +rest on thee, to thee adhere, and from thee derive its conspicuous +unity: <i>and the gates of hell</i>, even all the powers +of the enemy, <i>shall not prevail against it</i>, nor take that, +which, by My Godhead, is established upon thee, but rather +yield to it the victory. <i>And to thee</i>, whom, as Supreme +Architect, I have marked out for the Rock and Foundation +of My Church, as King and Lord <i>I will give the keys of +the kingdom of heaven</i>, and the supreme authority over My +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>Church, and will make thee sharer with Me in that dignity, +by which I hold the keys of heaven and of earth, <i>and whatsoever</i>, +in virtue of that authority and as associated in My +dignity, <i>thou shalt bind upon earth, shall be bound in +heaven</i>, and there shall be no matter relating to My +Church, and the kingdom of heaven, but shall be subject +to thy legislative and judicial power, which shall reach the +heaven itself: for it is a power at once human, and divine; +human, as entrusted to a man, and administered by a man; +divine, as a participation of that right by which I am, in +heaven and on earth, Supreme Lawgiver and Judge; <i>and +whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, shall be loosed in +heaven</i>."</p> + +<p>Thus it is that the most famous Fathers and Bishops, the +most distinguished Councils, the most various nations, have +understood our Lord's words, and this is their meaning, +according to the fixed laws of grammar, of rhetoric, of +philosophy, and of logic, as well as by the testimony of +history, and in accordance with the principles of theology. +Let us mention certain consequences which follow from +them.</p> + +<p>These words<a name="FNanchor_22_187" id="FNanchor_22_187"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_187" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> of Christ are, in the most marked manner, +addressed to Peter <i>only</i> among the Apostles, and are, +therefore, with their meaning, <i>peculiar</i> to him. And they +designate pre-eminence in the government of the Church. +They have, therefore, the two qualities which render them +a suitable testimony to establish his Primacy among the +Apostles.</p> + +<p>Now, if persons differ in rank and pre-eminence, they +must be considered not equals, but absolutely unequal. +And such pre-eminence Peter had, deriving from Christ, +the Founder, a superior rank in the Church's ministry. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>Therefore, the college of the Apostles must be termed +absolutely unequal, and all the Apostles, compared with +Peter, absolutely unequal.</p> + +<p>But as inequality may be manifold, as of age, calling, +honour, order, jurisdiction and power, its nature and its +degree must be sought in that property which belongs to +one over the rest. So that we must determine, by the +authority of the Scriptures, from those gifts which were +promised to Peter alone, the nature and the degree of +that inequality which subsisted between him and the other +Apostles.</p> + +<p>The gifts promised to Peter alone, are contained in these +words of Christ, recorded by Matthew: and therefore, from +their nature and inherent qualities, we must judge of the +sort, and the extent of inequality, put by Christ between +Peter and the rest.</p> + +<p>These are summed up in the four following: I. That +Peter is the rock, on which the Church was to be built by +Christ, the Chief Architect. II. That the impregnable +strength which the Church was to have against the gates +of hell, depended on its union with Peter, as the divinely +laid foundation. III. That by Christ, the King of kings, +and Lord of lords, Peter is marked out as next to Him, +and after Him, the Bearer of the keys in the Church's +heavenly kingdom: IV. And that, accordingly, universal +power of binding and loosing is promised to him, leaving +him responsible to Christ alone, the supreme Lawgiver and +Judge. Therefore the nature of the prerogatives expressed +in these four terms must be our standard both of the +character and degree of inequality between the Apostles +and Peter, and of the power of the Primacy promised to +Peter.</p> + +<p>But these terms mark authority, and plainly express<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> +jurisdiction and power; the inequality, therefore, is one +relating to jurisdiction and power; and Peter's pre-eminence +likewise such.</p> + +<p>That these terms, which contain Peter's prerogatives +really do express jurisdiction and authority, may be thus +very briefly shown. The first, "Thou art Peter, and upon +this rock I will build My Church," is drawn from architecture, +exhibiting between Peter and the Church, which +includes also the Apostles, the relation which exists between +the foundation and the superstructure. This is one +of dependence, by which accordingly the Apostles must +maintain an indivisible union with Peter. Which relation +of dependence, again, cannot be understood without the +notion of superior jurisdiction in Peter, for these are correlative. +The second term corroborates this; for it is a +plain duty, and undoubted moral obligation, to be united +to him, if severed from whom, the words of Christ do not +entitle you to expect stability or victory over the gates of +hell. Now, "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it," +most plainly express that perseverance and victory are +promised to no one by Christ, who does not remain joined +with Peter. So much for the <i>duty</i> which binds all Christians, +and the Apostles among them, to avoid separation +from Peter as their destruction. But such duty involves +the faculty and authority on Peter's part of enjoining on +all without exception the maintenance of unity, and of +keeping from the whole body the sin of schism, which, +again, expresses his superior jurisdiction. Yet plainer and +more striking is the <i>third</i>; for in the words, "And I will +give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven," it is foretold +that Peter, in regard to the kingdom of heaven, and +therefore to all Christians, whether teachers or taught, +subjects or prelates, shall discharge the office of the bearer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> +of the keys; with which jurisdiction and authority are indivisibly +united. But in the <i>fourth</i>, there is no matter +relating to the heavenly kingdom, which is not subjected +by this promise to Peter's authority. "Whatsoever thou +shalt bind," "whatsoever thou shalt loose;" but this is in +its own kind without limit, a full legislative and judicial +power. Thus these four terms exactly agree with each +other, and express, severally and collectively, prerogatives +by which Peter is admitted to a singular and close association +with Christ; and therefore is pre-eminent among +the Apostles by his Primacy, and his superior authority +over the whole Church.</p> + +<p>They also show, with no less clearness, that Christ in bestowing +these prerogatives and primacy on Peter, designed +to produce the visible unity of His kingdom and Church; +and this in two ways, the first <i>typically prefiguring</i> the +Church's own unity in Peter, the single Foundation, Bearer +of the keys, and supreme Legislator and Judge; the +second <i>efficiently</i>, as by a principle and cause, <i>forming</i>, +<i>holding together</i>, and <i>protecting</i>, visible unity in that +same Peter, as he discharged these functions. For just +as the building is based on the foundation, and by virtue +of it all the parts are held together, so a kingdom's unity +and harmonious administration are first <i>moulded out</i>, and +then <i>preserved</i>, in the unity of its supreme authority.</p> + +<p>And this Primacy may be regarded from three different +points of view; as it <i>is in itself</i>, and as it regards its +<i>efficient</i> and its <i>final</i> cause. As to the first, it consists in +superior jurisdiction and authority; as to the second, it +springs from Christ Himself, who said to Peter alone, +"And I too say unto thee," &c.; as to the third, it <i>prefigures</i>, +<i>forms</i>, and <i>protects</i> the Church's visible unity.</p> + +<p>But to prefigure, to form, and to protect the Church's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> +unity being distinct functions, care must be taken not to +confuse them, the former concerning the Primacy as a +type, the two latter as the origin and efficient cause; and +also not to concede the former while the latter are denied, +which latter make up the Primacy as jurisdictional, and +the instrument effecting unity. Now Peter is both the +type of unity, its origin, and its efficient cause.</p> + +<p>A long line<a name="FNanchor_23_188" id="FNanchor_23_188"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_188" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> of fathers, from the most ancient downwards, +regards Peter as at once the type, and the origin, and +efficient cause of unity; setting it forth as a prerogative +of his headship that no one, whether Apostle, or Prophet, +or Evangelist, or Doctor, or Teacher, might separate from +him without the crime of schism. In this consists his +Primacy, and in this the famous phrase of S. Cyprian +finds its solution, that "the Episcopate is one, of which a +part is held by each without division of the whole."</p> + +<p>And, what is like to the preceding, they hold that Peter +is the <i>continuous</i> source of all power in the Church, and +that while its plenitude dwells in his person, a portion of +it is derived to the various prelates under him. No one +has set this forth more fully than S. Leo, in the middle of +the fifth century, as where he says, that "if Christ willed +that other rulers should enjoy aught together with him, +(that is, Peter,) yet never did He give, <i>save through him</i>, +what He denied not to others."<a name="FNanchor_24_189" id="FNanchor_24_189"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_189" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p> + +<p>There is no one of these consequences but seems to +result from the words of our Lord here solemnly addressed +to Peter.</p> + +<p>But, recurring to our general view, we find our Lord +three several<a name="FNanchor_25_190" id="FNanchor_25_190"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_190" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> times appealed to by the Apostles to declare +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>who should be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven; and +while on neither of these occasions does He declare to them +that there should be no "greater one" among them, though +such a declaration would have terminated their rivalry, on +the last and most urgent, at the very eve of His departure +from them, He sets forth in vivid words what ought to be +the character and deportment of the one so to be placed +over them; and then turning His conversation from them +in a body to Peter in particular, He charges him, at a +future time, when He shall obtain for him the gift of a +faith that could not fail, to "confirm his brethren." Having +before dwelt on the full meaning of these words, we +need only remark how marvellously they coincide in force +with the prophecy which we have just been considering, +while they differ from it in expression. They convey as +absolutely a supreme authority as the former; and an +authority independent of others, and exclusive of participation; +and one which is given for the maintenance of the +faith, and of visible unity in that faith. Nor can we +imagine a more fitting termination to the whole of our +Lord's dealing with His disciples before His passion, than +that, when about to be taken from them, He should designate, +in words so full of affection and provident care, one +who was presently to take His own place among them. +"Simon, Simon, I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail +not, and thou in thy turn one day confirm thy brethren."</p> + +<p>But if our Lord's preference of Peter, as to rank and +dignity in the Church, was during his lifetime consistent +and uniform; if, moreover, He made to him, twice, promises +so large as to include and go far beyond all that He +said to the Apostles in common; and if He took out, as it +were, of what He had first promised to Peter a portion +which He afterwards promised as their common inheritance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> +to the rest; His dealing with Peter and the Apostles +after His resurrection is the exact counterpart to this. +The fulfilment is equivalent to the promise. In the fourfold +prophecy to Peter, in Matt. xvi. the last member is, +"And whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, it shall be +bound also in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on +earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven." That this is a +grant of full legislative and judicial power, given to one, +we have seen. Now on a later occasion it is repeated to the +twelve together, Matt. xviii. 18. <i>But the other three members +of the prophecy made to Peter are never repeated to +the twelve</i>. In the fulfilment the same distinction takes +place. To the twelve in common our Lord communicates +the power contained in the fourth member of His original +promise, saying, John xx. 21, "As the Father hath sent +Me, I also send you. Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whose +sins ye shall forgive, they are forgiven them: and whose +sins ye shall retain, they are retained:" to which the +other forms contained in Matt. xxviii. 18, Mark xvi. 15, +Luke xxiv. 49, Acts i. 4, 8, of preaching the Gospel to +every creature, of waiting for the power of the Holy Ghost +wherewith they should be endued, of teaching men to +observe all things which He had commanded, are equivalent, +though less definite. <i>But nowhere are the powers +contained in the first three members of the prophecy to +Peter communicated to the twelve</i>. As the promises were +made to Peter alone originally, so to Peter alone are they, +as we shall see, fulfilled. Indeed, it could not be otherwise, +for the promises to be the rock of the Church, by coherence +with which the Church should be impregnable, and +the bearer of the keys, are in their own nature confined +to one, and exclusive of participants, and once made by +the very Truth Himself to one man, they ranged under<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> +his power all his brethren: "For the promises of Jesus +Christ, as well as His gifts, are without repentance; +and what is once given indefinitely and universally is +irrevocable."<a name="FNanchor_26_191" id="FNanchor_26_191"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_191" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> Besides that, another indisputable principle +must be taken into account, viz., "that power given +to several carries its restriction in its division:" just as +if a king before his death bequeaths the whole administration +of his sovereignty to a board of twelve councillors, +though the sum of authority so conveyed be sovereign, +yet the share of each individual in the college will be +restricted by the equal right of his colleagues. Whereas +"power given to one alone, and over all, and without +exception, carries with it plenitude, and, not having to +be divided with any other, it has no bounds save those +which its terms convey." Such was the power originally +promised to Peter; and such, no less, that which was +ultimately conveyed. He stands apart and alone no less +in the fulfilment than in the promise. And under another +image, but one equally expressive with the first, the Lord +conveys an authority as absolute and as exclusive. The +"bounds which its terms convey" are the whole fold of +Christ: "the sheep" no less than "the lambs:" "to +govern" no less than "to feed."<a name="FNanchor_27_192" id="FNanchor_27_192"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_192" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> As the great Architect +of the heavenly city said to Peter, "Thou art the +Rock;" as "the King of kings," who "hath the key of +David," and "on whose shoulder is the government," +said to Peter, "To thee will I give the keys of the kingdom +of heaven;" as He "who upholdeth all things by +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>the word of His power," and "in whom all things consist," +said to Peter, "Confirm thy brethren:" so to the +same Peter, the same "Great Shepherd of the sheep," +said, "Feed My lambs, be shepherd over My sheep," +thus committing to him the chief Apostles themselves who +heard this charge, and causing there to be for ever "one +fold and one shepherd," on earth as in heaven.</p> + +<p>It remains briefly to consider these three palmary texts +in their reciprocal relations to each other, by which the +fullest light is thrown upon the scriptural prerogatives of +S. Peter.</p> + +<p>1. First, then, all these texts are in the most marked +manner circumscribed to Peter <i>alone</i>. In all he is addressed +by name; in all he is distinguished by other circumstances +from his brethren at the time present with him; in +all a special condition is attached belonging to him; in the +first, superior faith—in the second, faith, which, by a particular +gift, the fruit of Christ's own prayer, should never +fail—in the third, superior love. So that, without an utter +disregard of the meaning of words, and the force of the +context, and every law of grammar and philology, no one +of these texts can be extended from its application to Peter +alone, and made common to the other Apostles.</p> + +<p>2. Secondly, the note of <i>priority in time</i> is secured to +Peter by the first text, to which the other two correspond. +Even if the promise in Matt. xviii. 18, made to all the +Apostles, were of equal latitude with that previously made +to Peter, which it is so very far from being that it contains +one point only out of four, yet, the fact that they had been +already ranged by the former under him, and that he had +been promised <i>singly</i> what they afterwards were promised +<i>in common</i>, would make a vast difference between them; +indeed, the difference of the Primacy. But, as it is, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> +very first mention of the Church is connected with a promise +made to Peter of the highest authority in that Church, +and a perpetual relationship, entering into its inmost constitution, +between it and his person. Before the Church is +formed, it is foretold that Peter shall rule her: before she +is set up against the gates of hell, that, by virtue of her +coherence with Him, she should prevail over them. And +the germ of her Episcopate, on which she is to grow, is +sown in His person; just as, in the last act of our Lord, +that Episcopate is delivered over to Him, universal and +complete.</p> + +<p>3. Thirdly, those three texts are exactly <i>equivalent</i> to +each other: they each involve and express the other. They +could not have been said of different persons without contradiction +and confusion. He who has one of them must +have the rest. There is variation of image, but identity of +meaning. Thus, the relation between Peter and the Church +is in the first, that of Foundation and Superstructure; +of the heaven-built city, and of him who holds its keys: +in the second, it is that of the Architect, who, by skill and +authority, won for him, and given to him, by the Supreme +Builder, the Word and Wisdom of God, maintains every +living stone of the structure in its due place: in the third +it is that of the supreme and universal Pastor and his whole +flock. In all of these there is the habit of dependence +between the superior and that over which he is set: in all +the need of close coherence with him. Observe in particular +the identity of the second and third. The special +office of the Shepherd of<a name="FNanchor_28_193" id="FNanchor_28_193"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_193" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> souls is to lead his flock into +suitable pastures, that is, duly to instruct them in the +Divine Word and Will: the pastoral office is identical +with that of teaching: "He gave some Apostles, some +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>Prophets, some Evangelists, some pastors and teachers," +the former are distinguished, the last united together: +where the Apostle observes, that the whole ministry, from +the highest to the lowest, is organised "to edify the body +of Christ into the unity of faith," and to preserve men +from being "carried about by every wind of doctrine." +But if this was the design of Christ as to the whole +ministry, and as to each individual teacher, most of all +was it in instituting one supreme and universal Pastor: in +him most of all would be seen the perfect <i>fitting in +together</i><a name="FNanchor_29_194" id="FNanchor_29_194"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_194" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> of each individual member: he was set up +especially for the compacting of each spiritual joint, the +harmony and cohesion of the whole. Here, then, the +office of the universal Pastor or Teacher is precisely +equivalent to him, who, by another image confirms, +strengthens, consolidates his brethren. Thus, in the +second text Christ foretold the third. But the more +we contemplate all the three in their mutual relations, +the more a certain thought suggests itself to the mind. +There is a special doctrine concerning the most Holy +Trinity, the most distinctive of that great mystery, which +expresses the reciprocal indwelling of the Three Persons. +Now something analogous may be said of the way in +which these three texts impermeate and include each +other, of their exact equivalence, and distinct, but inseparable +force: of whom one is said, of the same must all.</p> + +<p>4. Fourthly, they all indicate a <i>sovereign</i> authority, <i>independent</i> +itself, but on which all others depend; symbolising +power from above, but claiming obedience from below; +immutable in itself, but by which all the rest are made proof +against change; for it is not to the sheep that the shepherd +is responsible, but to their owner. It has been said +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>throughout that the one special mark of Peter's distinction +was a peculiar association with Christ. It is not therefore +by any infringement of equal rights that this authority +is set up, but as the representative, the vicegerent, of +Him in whom all power dwells: who bore this authority in +His own body, and who committed to another what was first +His own, both by creation and by purchase—"Feed <i>My</i> +sheep." In all these texts the immediate transference of authority +from the Person of the God-man is most striking; in +Peter He inaugurates His great theandric dispensation, and +forms the Body which He was to leave on earth. Thus these +texts most clearly express that important doctrine of antiquity, +the keystone of the Church's liberty from the world, +which is the reason why the world so hates it, "The first See +is judged by no man." So entirely have political ideas and +jealousies infected our mode of judging of spiritual things—to +such a degree is our peculiar civil liberty made the standard +of Church government—that it is necessary to insist +again and again on what to Christians ought to be a first +principle, viz., that "all power and jurisdiction in the +Church, like the Church herself, ought to rest not upon +natural and human authority, but on the divine authority +of Christ. This is the reason why we may pronounce no +otherwise concerning such jurisdiction, than we know has +been handed down from Christ, its proper author and +founder. Now it is certain that at the same moment at +which Christ instituted the community called the Church, +such a power was introduced, and entrusted as well to +Peter singly as the head, as to the Apostles under him. +Nay, that power was fixed and constituted, and its ministers +and bishops marked out, <i>before</i> the Church, that is, +the whole body and commonwealth, had grown into coherence. +And so ecclesiastical jurisdiction did not first dwell<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> +in the community itself, and was then translated by a sort +of popular suffrage and consent to its magistrates; but from +the very first origin Peter was destined to be single chief of +the future body, and next to him the other Apostles."<a name="FNanchor_30_195" id="FNanchor_30_195"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_195" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p> + +<p>5. Fifthly, it must be observed that there is a <i>definiteness</i> +about these texts which belongs in a far less degree to +those forms in which the co-ordinate and co-equal authority +of the Apostles, as such, is expressed. This last is left to +be harmonised and brought into operation by the superior +power of the chief. They are indeed sent into all the +world, they are immediately instituted by our Lord, they +have the promise that His power shall be with them, and +that their sentence shall stand good in heaven and on +earth; but this promise, which is the most distinct made to +them, has been already gathered up into the hands of one, +and in its practical issue is limited by the necessity of cooperating +with that one; that is, the authority of Peter +includes and embraces theirs, but theirs is ranged under +his. Theirs is modified not only by being shared, but by +having his set over them. Now observe how distinct and +clear, how definite in their meaning, while universal in +their range, are the things said of him alone; 1. That he +should be the rock on which Christ would build His +Church; 2. That permanence and victory should belong to +that Church for ever through Him: 3. That he should +bear the keys in the kingdom of heaven: 4. That whatever +<i>singly</i> he should bind and loose, should be bound and +loosed in heaven as well as on earth: 5. That he should +confirm his brethren, the Apostles themselves being the +very first so called: 6. That he should be the Shepherd of +the fold. What can constitute inequality between two parties, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>if such a series of promises given to one, and not to +the other, does not?</p> + +<p>6. Sixthly, these promises cannot be contemplated without +seeing that the ordinary and regular government of +the Church springs from the person whom they designate, +and in whom they are concentrated. To take the last, all +spiritual care is summed up in the word Pastorship, the +office of priest, bishop, metropolitan, patriarch, and pope, +rising in degree, and extending in range, but in its nature +the same. On the contrary Apostles, (with this one exception, +in virtue of the Primacy,) Prophets, and Evangelists, +are extraordinary officers, attending the opening of the +dispensation, but afterwards dropping off. But the Church, +as it was to endure for ever, and the orderly arrangement +of the divine ministry, were summed up in the Primacy, +and flowed forth from it as the full receptacle of the +virtue of God the Word Incarnate. And so it is the head +of the ministerial body. All which is set forth as in a +picture to the mind, in that scene upon the shore of +the lake of Galilee, when the Lord said to Peter, "Feed +My sheep."</p> + +<p>7. And, again, Peter was thus made the beginning +and principle of spiritual power, as it left the Person of +God the Word, not for once, but for ever. Long as +the structure should endure, its principle of cohesion +must bind it. As the law of gravitation binds all worlds +together in the natural kingdom, and is a <i>continuous</i> +source of strength and harmony, so should be in the +spiritual kingdom that force which the same Wisdom of +God established; it goes on with power undiminished; it +is the full fountain-head from which all streams emanate; +it is the highest image of God's power as the centre and +source of all things. This idea is dwelt upon by S.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> +Cyprian and S. Augustine, as well as by Pope S. Innocent,<a name="FNanchor_31_196" id="FNanchor_31_196"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_196" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> +the contemporary of the latter, and was afresh +expressed in a synodical letter of the three provinces of +Africa to Pope Theodore, in <span class="smcap">A. D.</span> 646, "No one can +doubt that there is in the Apostolic See a great unfailing +fountain, pouring forth waters for all Christians, +whence rich streams proceed, bountifully irrigating the +whole Christian world."<a name="FNanchor_32_197" id="FNanchor_32_197"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_197" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></p> + +<p>8. And, lastly, in these great promises Peter is specially +set forth as the type and the efficient cause of visible +unity in the Church. Such was the very purpose of +Christ, that His disciples might be one, as He and the +Father are one. For this end, in the words of S. Augustine, +"He entrusted His sheep to Peter, as to another +self, He willed to make him one with Himself;" and in +the words of S. Leo, "He assumed him into the participation +of His indivisible unity."<a name="FNanchor_33_198" id="FNanchor_33_198"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_198" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> But this is seen no +less plainly in the words of Christ, than in the Fathers; +for He made <i>one</i> Rock, <i>one</i> Bearer of the keys, <i>one</i> +Confirmer of the brethren, and <i>one</i> Shepherd. The union +of millions of naturally conflicting wills in the profession +and belief of one doctrine is almost the very highest +work of divine power; and as grace, that is, the Holy +Spirit diffused in the heart, is the inward efficient of +this, so the outward, both symbol and instrument, is the +Primacy, that "other self" which the Lord left in the +world. And as the Church of God through every succeeding +age grows and expands, the need of this power +becomes greater and not less, and reverence to that "single +chair in which unity was to be observed by all,"<a name="FNanchor_34_199" id="FNanchor_34_199"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_199" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> a more +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>imperative virtue, or rather an ever-deepening instinct, of +the Christian mind.</p> + +<p>But antiquity itself drew no other conclusions from +the concentration of these great privileges in the person +of Peter. We have but to go back to a time before the +present nationalities of Europe, those jealous foes of +Peter's authority, had come into existence, and we find +the chief men of France, and Spain, and Italy, interpreting +the above texts as we have done. Take one +whose testimony from the circumstances of his life ought +to be above suspicion. John Cassian was by birth a +Scythian, was educated in a monastery at Bethlehem, +travelled through Egypt, and made himself acquainted +with its most distinguished religious men, went to Constantinople, +and was ordained deacon by S. Chrysostome, +and afterwards at Rome priest by Pope Innocent I. On +the capture of Rome by Alaric, he settled at Marseilles, +about the year 410, and there founded two monasteries. +In his work on the Incarnation he says,<a name="FNanchor_35_200" id="FNanchor_35_200"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_200" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> "Let us ask +him, who is supreme, both as disciple among disciples, and +as teacher among teachers, who, steering the course of +the Roman Church, held the supremacy as well of the +faith as of the priesthood. Tell us, therefore, tell us, +we pray, O Peter, Prince of the Apostles, tell us how +the Churches ought to believe. For just it is that thou, +who wast taught of the Lord, shouldst teach us, and open +to us the door whose key thou hast received. Shut out +all who undermine the heavenly house, and turn away +those who attempt to make an entry through treacherous +caverns and illicit approaches; because it is certain that +no one shall be able to enter the door of the kingdom, +save he to whom the key placed by thee in the Church +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>shall open it. Tell us, therefore, how we ought to believe +that Jesus is the Christ, and to confess our common Lord." +Again, fourteen hundred years ago, Maximus, Bishop of +Turin in that day, confessed by his words, what his +successor of the present day bears witness to by his sufferings: +for he writes of Peter, "As<a name="FNanchor_36_201" id="FNanchor_36_201"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_201" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> the Good Shepherd +he received the defence of the flock, so that he, who +before had been weak in his own case, might become the +confirmation to all: and he who had been shaken by the +temptation of the question asked him, might be a foundation +to the rest by the stability of his faith. In fine, for +the firmness of his devotion he is called the Rock of the +Churches, as the Lord says, 'Thou art Peter, and upon +this Rock I will build My Church.' For he is called the +Rock, because he was the first to lay the foundations of +the faith among the nations, <i>and, because, as an immoveable +stone, he holds together the framework and the mass +of the whole Christian structure</i>. Peter, therefore, for +his devotion is called the Rock, and the Lord is named the +Rock by His inherent power, as the Apostle says, 'and +they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and +the rock was Christ.' <i>Rightly does he merit to share the +name, who, likewise, merits to share the work.</i>" Again, +far and wide has the lying story been spread by false-hearted +men, who above all things, hate the spiritual +kingdom which God has set up in the world, that Peter's +power has been the growth of gradual encroachment on +the secular authority. Now, long before Pelayo renewed +the Spanish monarchy in the mountains of the Asturias, +and while Augustine, sent by Pope Gregory, was laying +the foundation of the English Church, S. Isidore, Bishop of +Seville, from 598 to 636, the very highest of the ancient +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>Spanish doctors, wrote thus explicitly to his colleague at +Toledo:<a name="FNanchor_37_202" id="FNanchor_37_202"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_202" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> "But as to the question of the equality of the +Apostles, Peter is pre-eminent over the rest, who merited +to hear from the Lord, 'Thou shalt be called Cephas—Thou +art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My +Church.' And not from any one else, but from the very +Son of God and the Virgin, he was the first to receive the +honour of the pontificate in the Church of Christ, to whom +also, after the resurrection of the Son of God, was said by +the same, 'Feed My lambs,' noting by the name of lambs +the prelates of the churches. And although the dignity of +this power is derived to all Catholic bishops, yet in a more +special manner it remains for ever in the Roman bishop, +who is by a certain singular privilege set as the head over +the other limbs. Whoso, therefore, renders not reverently +to him due obedience, involves himself, as being severed +from the head, in the schism of the Acephali."</p> + +<p>It would be easy to multiply such authorities of a period +prior to the formation of all the existing European states. +It was the will of God, providing for His Church, that before +the old Roman society was utterly upheaved from its foundations +by the deluge of the Northern tribes, reverence for S. +Peter's throne should be fixed as an immovable rock, on +which a new Christian civilization might be founded. Thus +Pope Gregory II., writing to the Emperor Leo the Isaurian, +about the year 717, only sums up the force and effect of all +preceding tradition, when he says: "The whole West turns +its eyes upon us, and, unworthy though we be, puts complete +trust in us, and in that blessed Peter, whose image you +threaten to overturn, but whom all the kingdoms of the +West count for a God upon earth."<a name="FNanchor_38_203" id="FNanchor_38_203"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_203" class="fnanchor">[38]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p><div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_166" id="Footnote_1_166"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_166"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 106.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_167" id="Footnote_2_167"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_167"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 109.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_168" id="Footnote_3_168"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_168"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Matt. x. 2-5; Mark iii. 16-19; Luke vi. 14-17; Acts i. 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_169" id="Footnote_4_169"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_169"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> St. Chrysostome on Matt. Hom. 32.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_170" id="Footnote_5_170"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_170"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Origen on John, Tom. 32, n. 5, T. 4, p. 413.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_171" id="Footnote_6_171"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_171"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> 1 Paral. xxvii. 33; Neh. xii. 45; 2 Paral. xxvi. 20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_172" id="Footnote_7_172"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_172"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Matt. xx. 27; Luke xv. 22; 1 Tim. i. 15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_173" id="Footnote_8_173"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_173"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Matt. xvii. 1; Mark v. 37; xiii. 3; xiv. 33; Luke viii. 51; xxii. 8; John xxi. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_174" id="Footnote_9_174"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_174"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> De Consensu. Evang. Lib. 2, c. xvii. n. 39.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_175" id="Footnote_10_175"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_175"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Mark i. 36; Luke viii. 45; Matt. xii. 3; Mark ii. 25; xvi. 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_176" id="Footnote_11_176"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_176"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Luke ix. 32; Matt. xxvi. 40.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_177" id="Footnote_12_177"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_177"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Matt. xvii. 24.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_178" id="Footnote_13_178"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_178"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> De Præsc. c. 22.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_179" id="Footnote_14_179"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_179"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> John xiv. 8; xi. 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_180" id="Footnote_15_180"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_180"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Matt. xviii. 21; John xiii. 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_181" id="Footnote_16_181"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_181"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 134.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_182" id="Footnote_17_182"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_182"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> Matt. xix. 23.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_183" id="Footnote_18_183"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_183"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> John vi. 67.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_184" id="Footnote_19_184"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_184"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Luke xii. 41.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_185" id="Footnote_20_185"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_185"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> In Matt. Hom. 54.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_186" id="Footnote_21_186"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_186"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 510.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_187" id="Footnote_22_187"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_187"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 518.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_188" id="Footnote_23_188"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_188"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> These testimonies have been set forth at length in another work, "The See of St. +Peter, the Rock of the Church," &c. Pp. 97-118.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_189" id="Footnote_24_189"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_189"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Serm. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_190" id="Footnote_25_190"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_190"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> Matt. xviii. 1; xx. 20; Luke xxii. 24.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_191" id="Footnote_26_191"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_191"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> Bossuet, Sermon on unity.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_192" id="Footnote_27_192"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_192"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> [Greek: poimahinein], gubernare, to govern, the particular word which our Lord employs to +convey His powers to Peter, is also the particular word which gives such offence to temporal +governments, when acted on by Peter: [Greek: bhoskein], pascere, to feed, they find more endurable, +and probably they would all be content, from the heathen Roman emperors to the +present day, to allow <i>the Church</i> to <i>feed</i>, so long as <i>they</i> are allowed to <i>govern</i> the faithful. +The objection on the part of the Church is, that our Lord gave <i>both</i> to Peter.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_193" id="Footnote_28_193"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_193"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 591.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_194" id="Footnote_29_194"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_194"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> [Greek: ho katartismos tôn hagiôn]. Eph. iv. 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_195" id="Footnote_30_195"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_195"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Petavius, de Ecc. Hier. Lib. 3, c. 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_196" id="Footnote_31_196"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_196"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> St. Cyprian de unitate, c. 3. St. Aug. to Pope Innocent, Ep. 177, n. 19. Pope +Innocent to the Councils of Carthage and Numidia.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_197" id="Footnote_32_197"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_197"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Mansi x. 919.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_198" id="Footnote_33_198"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_198"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> St. Aug. Serm. 46. St. Leo, Epistle 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_199" id="Footnote_34_199"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_199"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> St. Optatus, cont. Parm. Lib. 2, c. 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_200" id="Footnote_35_200"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_200"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> Lib. 3, c. 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_201" id="Footnote_36_201"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_201"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> De Petro Apostolo, Hom. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_202" id="Footnote_37_202"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_202"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> Ad Eugenium Toletanum.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_203" id="Footnote_38_203"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_203"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> Mausi, Concil. T. xii. 972.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h3>S. PETER'S PRIMACY AS EXHIBITED IN THE ACTS.</h3> + + +<p>The <a name="FNanchor_1_204" id="FNanchor_1_204"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_204" class="fnanchor">[1]</a>purpose of S. Luke in writing the Acts seems to +have been to set before us the labours and sufferings of the +Apostles in planting and propagating the Church. But he +has divided the book very distinctly into two portions; the +latter, from the thirteenth chapter to the end, with one +short exception, is wholly occupied with the labours of S. +Paul, "the vessel of election," in spreading the faith among +the Gentiles, and so contains the particular history of that +Apostle, and the churches founded by him. The former, +from the beginning to the end of the twelfth chapter, embraces +the history of the Apostles in common, and of the +whole Church, as it rose at Jerusalem, and was spread first +in Judea, then in Samaria, and finally extended to the +Gentiles. The former history, then, is universal; the +latter, particular.</p> + +<p>Moreover, to use the words of <a name="FNanchor_2_205" id="FNanchor_2_205"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_205" class="fnanchor">[2]</a>S. Chrysostome, "we +may here see the promises which Christ made in the Gospels +carried into execution, and the bright light of truth +shining in the very actions, and a great change in the disciples, +arising from the Spirit that had entered into them.—You +will see here Apostles speeding on the wing over land +and sea, and men once timid and unskilled suddenly +changed into despisers of wealth, and conquerors of glory +and all other passions; you will see them united in the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>utmost harmony, without jealousy, which once they had, +without contention for the higher place."</p> + +<p>We may say, then, in a word, that the Gospels are a +history of the Head, and the Acts of the mystical Body. +Hence both issue forth from one and the same fountain and +source. The history of the Head begins with the descent +of the Holy Ghost, whereby Christ was conceived, and <a name="FNanchor_3_206" id="FNanchor_3_206"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_206" class="fnanchor">[3]</a>"the +race of God and of man became one. For just as +the union of man with woman joins two families, so upon +Christ assuming flesh, by that flesh the whole Church became +of kin with Christ, Paul became Christ's kinsman, and +Peter, each one of the faithful, all we, every holy person. +Therefore, says Paul, <a name="FNanchor_4_207" id="FNanchor_4_207"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_207" class="fnanchor">[4]</a>'being the offspring of God,' and +again, 'we are the body of Christ and members in particular,' +that is, through the flesh, which He has assumed, we +are His kinsmen." Now the history of the Body, proceeding +from the same fountain-head, sets before us the Holy +Spirit, who, by descending first on the teachers, and afterwards +on the disciples, exalts and advances all, and by imparting +Himself, imparts "the proportional deification of +man," that is, "the utmost possible assimilation and union +with God."<a name="FNanchor_5_208" id="FNanchor_5_208"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_208" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> For "the Spirit works in us by His proper +power, truly sanctifying, and uniting us to Himself into one +frame, and making us partakers of the divine nature:"<a name="FNanchor_6_209" id="FNanchor_6_209"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_209" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> +"becoming as it were a quality of the Godhead in us, and +dwelling in the saints, and abiding for ever."</p> + +<p>Now it is <a name="FNanchor_7_210" id="FNanchor_7_210"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_210" class="fnanchor">[7]</a>manifest that if the first twelve chapters of +the Acts contain the history of the Church from its beginning, +and what the Apostles did for its first formation, its +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>growth, and its form of government, all this has the closest +connection with the question as to Peter's prerogatives. +For the historical accounts in the Acts, which exhibit the +<i>execution</i> of Christ's promises and intentions, naturally tend +to set in the fullest light, and to reveal distinctly, whatever +as to the administration of the Church may be less clearly +<i>foretold</i> in the Gospels. For in itself the <i>execution</i> is declaratory +of the <i>enactment</i>, and supplies a safe rule for +understanding and determining the words of institution. +Now, if we apply this rule to the present question, it will +be apparent that those expressions of the Gospel, which we +assigned to the divine institution of the Primacy, cannot be +otherwise received without making the <i>execution</i> in the Acts +at variance with what the Gospels record.</p> + +<p>For, take it as a still doubtful hypothesis whether there +exist evangelical testimonies of Peter's <i>institution</i> to be +head and chief of the Apostles. What needs it to turn this +hypothesis into certainty? What should we expect of Peter, +if he really had received from Christ the charge of leading +the other Apostles? What but that he should never follow, +but always be at the head; should close dissensions, +weigh and terminate controversies, punish emergent offences, +maintain the general discipline, give the support of +his counsel and authority in need, and leave undone none +of those functions which accompany the office of head and +supreme ruler? Hence it is plain that there are two +ways, the one absolute, the other hypothetical, by which a +decisive judgment may be drawn from the history of the +Acts, as to whether Peter's Primacy was instituted in the +Gospels. Critics and philosophers are perpetually using +both these tests. Thus, the former, "if a certain work—say +the epistles of the martyr Ignatius—be genuine, it ought +to contain certain characteristics. But it does contain these,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> +and so is genuine." Or absolutely, "a certain work, the +Epistles of Ignatius, contains all which we should expect in +a genuine work, therefore it is genuine." The latter infer, +"If bodies be moved by the law of gravitation, they would +pass through a certain space under such and such a condition. +But this they do, and accordingly are moved by +gravitation." Or absolutely, "Bodies left to themselves +pass through space under such conditions as they would +follow, if impelled by gravitation. Accordingly they are so +impelled." Now in the parallel case, "If Christ in the +Gospels pre-ordained a form of Church government, which +gathered up the supreme power and visible headship into +Peter's hands, the <i>exercise</i> of such <i>institution</i> ought to be +found in the Acts. But it is so found. Therefore," &c.—or +again, "No one would expect certain acts from Peter, +unless he were the head of all the Apostles; and all would +fairly expect those acts of Peter, if they recognised him as +so set over all by Christ. Now in the general history of +the Apostles we find such acts recorded of Peter, and that +not partially, here and there, but in a complete series. Accordingly +the history of the rising Church, exhibited in the +first part of the Acts, demands Peter's Primacy for its +explanation; and if we deny that Primacy, and take in +another sense the words recording its institution in the +Gospel, the history becomes unintelligible."</p> + +<p>Now this reasoning is conclusive in either way, provided +only that what we have asserted be really found in the +Acts. The proof of this may be either general, or piecemeal +and particular. We will take both in order, beginning +with the former.</p> + +<p>1. First, <a name="FNanchor_8_211" id="FNanchor_8_211"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_211" class="fnanchor">[8]</a>then, we must repeat, as concerns that whole +portion of the Acts containing the history of the universal +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>Church, and all the Apostles, viz. the first twelve chapters, +a remark before made as to the Gospels, which is, that +Peter simply is more often mentioned than all the rest put +together. For Peter's name occurs more than fifty times, +the others very seldom, and those who are found the oftenest, +John and James, are recorded, the former seven or +eight, the latter three or four times. Yet this is a history +of them all: Luke is recording the common exertions of all +the Apostles in building up the Church. This is the very +distinction between the former and the latter portion of his +book, which is confined to the labours of S. Paul, leaving +aside the rest of the Church. What then is the reason +that Peter, in a general history, is so often brought forward, +and the rest, either singly or in conjunction, so seldom? +Because after our Lord's glorious ascension Peter stood to +the eleven in an analogous position to that held by our +Lord, so long as He was visible, towards the whole college: +because Peter was become the head, and the rest, as members, +were ranged under him.</p> + +<p>2. Such subordination on their part, such pre-eminence +on his,<a name="FNanchor_9_212" id="FNanchor_9_212"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_212" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> Luke shows yet more clearly, whenever he groups +Peter with the rest, by assigning to him the leading place. +It frequently happens to him to speak of Peter and the +rest together, but on no one occasion does he give Peter +any but the first place, and the leading part. Just as the +evangelists do with regard to Christ, and the Apostles and +disciples, so Luke prefers Peter to the rest, to mark a difference +between the rank and office of Peter, and that of +the others.</p> + +<p>3. Luke seems to confirm his readers in such a conclusion +by the form which he follows of mentioning Peter <i>directly</i>, +and the rest <i>obliquely</i> or <i>in a mass</i>. These are instances: +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>"In those days Peter, <i>rising up in the midst of the brethren</i>, +said"—"Peter, <i>standing up with the eleven</i>, lifted up +his voice"—"They said <i>to Peter and to the rest of the +Apostles</i>"—"Peter <i>with John</i> fastening his eyes upon him +said, Look upon us."—"Peter <i>and the Apostles</i> answering, +said."<a name="FNanchor_10_213" id="FNanchor_10_213"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_213" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> Now what form of writing could Luke choose to +refute an opinion about the <i>universal</i> equality of the Apostles? +Or to show Peter as set over the rest, and to satisfy +in this even the most unreasonable? Either the form which +he did choose is calculated to do this, or none such can be +found.</p> + +<p>4. Add to this that Peter is represented as speaking and +answering, when the occasion would suggest that all the +Apostles, equally, should disclose their mind. The reproaches +of the unbelieving Jews affected not Peter singly, +but all alike; but he alone stands forth, he alone lifts up +his voice, and in a long speech brings them to sound reflection. +The multitude, struck with compunction, asked +not Peter only, but the rest likewise, "What shall we +do, men and brethren?" Yet it is forthwith added, +"But <i>Peter</i> said to them." Upon the miracle by which +one who had been lame from his mother's womb was +healed, "all the people ran together to them," both +Peter and John, but Peter alone speaks, and takes on +himself the defence of the common cause: "Peter seeing, +made answer to the people."<a name="FNanchor_11_214" id="FNanchor_11_214"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_214" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> Fresh instances may be +found in chs. iv. 6-7, and v. 2-3. The result of the whole +is that Peter is continually "the mouth-piece of the Apostles,"<a name="FNanchor_12_215" id="FNanchor_12_215"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_215" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> +always takes the lead, and gives his own mind, as +conveying that of the rest.</p> + +<p>On what ground does he do this? Was it from natural +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>fervour of disposition? But it was the same after he was +filled with the Holy Spirit as before. Was it the result of +superior age, or first calling? but the facts refute this. +What other cause can be suggested save that Primacy +which the Gospels record, and the Acts confirm?</p> + +<p>5. To this we must likewise refer it that Luke, while he +amply describes actions which belong to Peter, rather hints +at than narrates what concerns the other Apostles. Thus +he leaves it to be understood that the others spoke, while +he gives Peter's discourses entire, and seems to have chosen +them as the principal material of his history. He simply +suggests that miracles were wrought by the rest, but records +particularly what Peter did for the establishment of +the faith. He relates but very little of those who became +Christians by the exertion of others, but notes at large the +abundant fruit of Peter's teaching. Take an ancient +author's summary of the Acts, "this whole volume is about +the ascension of Christ after the resurrection, and about the +descent of the Holy Spirit on the holy Apostles, and how +and where the disciples announced Christ's religion, and all +the wondrous deeds which they did by prayer and faith in +Him, and about Paul's divine calling from heaven, his apostleship, +and fruitful preaching, and in a word about those +many great dangers which the Apostles underwent for +Christ:"<a name="FNanchor_13_216" id="FNanchor_13_216"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_216" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> follow, out of this, all which concerns the universal +Church in the first twelve chapters, and Peter will be +found not only the principal, but well nigh the only, figure +in the foreground.</p> + +<p>6. Hence as the Gospels may be called the history of +Christ, so this first part of the Acts may be called the history +of Peter; for as Christ occupies each page of the Gospels, +so Peter here. Nothing can be more emphatic or +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>more just than S. Chrysostome's words: "Behold him +making his rounds on every side, and the first to be found; +when an Apostle was to be chosen, he was the first; when +the Jews were to be told that they were not drunken; +when the lame man was to be healed; when the multitude +was to be addressed, he is before the rest; when they had +to do with the rulers, it is he; when with Ananias, when +healings took place from the shadow, still it is he. Where +there was danger, it is he, and where there was dispensation; +but when all is tranquil, they act in common. He +sought not the greater honour. But again, when miracles +are to be worked, he comes forth before the rest."<a name="FNanchor_14_217" id="FNanchor_14_217"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_217" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> What +can prove Peter's pre-eminence if this does not? But his +words on another occasion deserve mention. Alluding to +the title "Acts of the Apostles," which seems to promise +their common history, he observes, "Yet if you search +accurately, the first part of the book exhibits Peter's miracles +and teaching, but little on the part of the other Apostles; +and after this the whole account is spent on Paul." +But he adds, "How are they the acts of all the Apostles? +Because, according to Paul, when one member is glorified, +all the members are glorified with it, the historian did not +entitle them, the Acts of Peter and of Paul, but the Acts +of the Apostles; the promise of the writer includes them +all."<a name="FNanchor_15_218" id="FNanchor_15_218"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_218" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> Now every one must feel the very high distinction +given to Paul in the latter part of the book, when the historian +turns away from the general history of the Church +to record his particular labours, in which, no doubt, the +object was to show the progress of the Church among the +Gentiles; but with regard to the part which is common to +the whole Church, another thought is suggested. The history +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>of what Peter taught and did, to build up and extend +the Church, is considered the common history of the Apostles, +and so inscribed as their Acts. But can this be called +an <i>accurate</i> expression, unless Peter had been the head of +the Apostles? It is very plain that the acts of a head are +imputed to the whole body; to a college of brethren, what +its chief executes; to a city or kingdom, the deeds of its +prince. But it is not plain how this can be, if the actor be +one of a number, and do not exceed his brethren in honour +or dignity. Therefore the Acts of Peter could be called, +generally, the Acts of the Apostles, only because they were +considered the Acts of their head.</p> + +<p>Now let us pass from the general view to that in detail.</p> + +<p>I. After <a name="FNanchor_16_219" id="FNanchor_16_219"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_219" class="fnanchor">[16]</a>the Lord's ascension a most important point +immediately arose, whether, that is, the number of the +Twelve was to be filled up by the election of a new Apostle +to take the place of Judas. The will of Christ on this +matter was to be learnt; a witness was to be chosen who +should participate in the mission of Christ Himself, according +to the words, "As the Father hath sent Me, I also send +you," and carry the light of the Gospel to the ends of the +world; and one was to be elected to the dignity of the +Apostolate, the highest rank in the Church. It was, therefore, +so important a matter, that no one could undertake it +save he who had received the vicarious headship of our +Lord Himself. Now the history in the Acts tells us that +Peter alone spoke on the subject of substituting a fresh +Apostle for Judas; Peter alone proved from Scripture the +necessity of the election, defined the conditions of eligibility, +and appointed the mode of election, and presided +over and directed the whole transaction.</p> + +<p>For Luke begins thus: "In those days," the interval +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>between the Ascension and Pentecost, "Peter rising up in +the midst of the brethren, said." Here the important +prerogative <i>of initiation</i> is shown to belong to Peter, and +by the phrase, "in the midst of the brethren," or "disciples,"—which +is often used of Christ in respect of the +Apostles—his pre-eminence over the disciples is shown. +"Brethren, it behoved that the Scripture should be fulfilled +which the Holy Ghost spoke before by the mouth +of David, concerning Judas, who was the leader of them +that apprehended Jesus, who was numbered with us, and +had obtained part of this ministry," that is, of the Apostolate. +Then having mentioned the miserable end of the +traitor, he applies to him the prophecy: "For it is written +in the Book of Psalms, 'Let his habitation become desolate, +and let there be none to dwell therein:' and, adding +another prophecy from another Psalm, 'his bishopric let +another take.'"<a name="FNanchor_17_220" id="FNanchor_17_220"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_220" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> Whence he concludes, "Wherefore of +these men who have companied with us all the time +that the Lord Jesus came in and went out among us, +beginning from the baptism of John, until the day wherein +He was taken up from us, one of these <i>must</i> be made a +witness with us of His resurrection." In these words +Peter plainly points out the <i>necessity</i> of the matter in +question, confirms it by the Holy Scriptures, speaking in +the character of their highest interpreter, and as the +appointed teacher of all; and, while proposing it to their +deliberation, yet requires their consent; for the phrase, +"wherefore, one <i>must</i>," means, "I am not proposing what +may be done or left undone, but declaring and prescribing +what is to be done." So he determines the conditions of +eligibility, and the form of election. Whereupon his +hearers—"the number of persons together about an hundred +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>and twenty"—instantly agree unanimously to Peter's +proposition, follow its conditions, and complete the election.</p> + +<p>No one can reflect on the above without concluding, +that if Peter presided over the rest by the authority of +a divinely chosen headship, no course could be more +becoming, both for Peter and for the disciples, than this; +and if, on the contrary, Peter was only one out of many, +not having yet even received the Pentecostal gifts of the +Holy Spirit, and had been entrusted by Christ with no +pre-eminent office in the ministry, nothing could be more +unfitting for both. We have therefore to infer that Peter +"stood in the midst of the disciples," as a superior among +inferiors, not as an equal among equals, and conceived +that the charge of supplying an Apostle, and filling up +the Apostolic college, belonged in chief to himself, because +he and they alike were conscious, that he was the steward +set in chief over the Lord's family.</p> + +<p>But, clear as this is on the face of the narration itself, +fresh light is shed on it by the fact that S. Chrysostome +observed and recorded this very conclusion. For why did +Peter alone arise? Why was he the first and the only +one to speak? "Both<a name="FNanchor_18_221" id="FNanchor_18_221"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_221" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> as fervent, and <i>as one entrusted by +Christ with the flock</i>, and <i>as the first of the choir</i>, he +ever first begins to speak." Why does he allege prophecy? +First, that he might not seem with human counsel "to +attempt a great matter, and one fitted for Christ:" next +to imitate his Master, "he always reasons from the Scriptures." +"Why did he not singly ask of Christ to give +him some one in the place of Judas?" Because "Peter +had now improved," and overcome his natural disposition. +But "<i>might not Peter by himself have elected?</i> Certainly: +but he does not so, that he may not seem partial." "Why +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>does he communicate this to them," the whole number of +the names? "That the matter may not be contested, +nor they fall into strife: for" (he alludes to the contention +of the Apostles for the primacy,) "if this had happened to +themselves, much more would it to the others," that is, +the candidates to succeed Judas. Then he points out to +our admiration "Peter doing this with common consent, +nothing<a name="FNanchor_19_222" id="FNanchor_19_222"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_222" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> with authority, nothing with lordship," where we +must note that the <i>abuse</i> of a power is only to be feared +from one who really has that power. For again he +says, "he first acts with<a name="FNanchor_20_223" id="FNanchor_20_223"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_223" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> authority in the matter, <i>as +having himself all put into his hands</i>, for to him Christ +said, 'And thou in thy turn one day confirm thy +brethren.'"</p> + +<p>The college of the Apostles completed, it followed that the +head, if such there were, would on every occasion of danger, +be the first to protect it, and to defend its reputation. +Now there ensues the miracle of the Holy Spirit's descent, +and the gift of tongues, whereupon Luke describes the +various opinions of the astonished multitude, some of whom +"mocking,<a name="FNanchor_21_224" id="FNanchor_21_224"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_224" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> said, These men are full of new wine." That +is, they blasphemed the working of the Spirit, and by the +most monstrous calumny were destroying the good name +of the Apostles. Whereupon, "Peter, standing up with +the Eleven, lifted up his voice and spoke to them: Ye men +of Judea, and all you that dwell in Jerusalem, be this +known to you, and with your ears receive my words. For +these are not drunk as you suppose, seeing it is but the +third hour of the day: but this is that which was spoken of +by the prophet Joel." Now here, both the <i>form of the +words</i>, and the <i>matter</i>, establish Peter's primacy. For +the phrase, "Peter standing up with the Eleven, lifted up +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>his voice and spoke to them," portrays Peter as the leader +of the band, the master of the family. So S. Chrysostome,<a name="FNanchor_22_225" id="FNanchor_22_225"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_225" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> +"What means <i>with the Eleven</i>? They uttered a +common voice, and he was the mouthpiece of all. And the +Eleven stand beside him, bearing witness to his words." +And as to the <i>matter</i>, Peter alone fulfils the part of teacher, +by interpreting scripture, and declaring the agreement of +both covenants: Peter alone maintains the common cause: +Peter alone, representing all, addresses the multitude in the +name of all. "Observe, too, the harmony of the Apostles: +they give up to him the office of speaking:"<a name="FNanchor_23_226" id="FNanchor_23_226"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_226" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> that is, +they yielded to him who was the Head, and who, as he +says, showed here "the courage," as before "the providential +care" of the Head.</p> + +<p>After refuting the calumny, Peter goes on in a noble +discourse to explain prophecies, and then coming to the dispensation +of Jesus, gives the strongest proofs of His resurrection +and exaltation to the right hand of the Father, +and finally sums up with great force and authority. +"Therefore, let all the house of Israel know most certainly, +that God hath made both Lord and Christ this same Jesus +whom you have crucified."</p> + +<p>Now, what<a name="FNanchor_24_227" id="FNanchor_24_227"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_227" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> is here to our purpose? It is this, that +Luke seems only to dwell on what concerns Peter: that +Peter, first of all, and in the name of all, performs the +office of a witness, laid both on himself and the rest, ("ye +shall be witnesses to Me;" "and you shall give witness,")<a name="FNanchor_25_228" id="FNanchor_25_228"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_228" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> +saying, "this Jesus hath God raised up, of which we all +are witnesses:" that first of all, he publicly and solemnly +discharges the duty of instruction with authority: that, +first of all, he fulfils the charge set by Christ on all the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>Apostles, "make disciples—teach:" that, first of all, he promulgates +the necessity of believing in Jesus as the divinely +appointed Lord and Christ. Now these are things which, +so far from allowing an equality between Peter and the +rest of the Apostles, point out in him a headship over +them.</p> + +<p>Thereupon, the hearers, struck with compunction for +having crucified, not merely a just man, but the Anointed +of the Lord, "said to Peter and the rest of the Apostles"—here +again he alone is singly named—but of all alike they +asked, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Whereupon, +S. Chrysostome<a name="FNanchor_26_229" id="FNanchor_26_229"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_229" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> notes, "here again, where all are +asked, he alone replies." For, as Luke goes on, "Peter +said to them:" As the leader, he performs what belongs to +all: he alone sets forth the law of Christ. "Do penance, +and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus +Christ, for the remission of sins:" he alone encourages them +with the promised gifts of the Holy Spirit, "and you shall +receive the gift of the Holy Ghost:" he alone continues at +length the instruction of the hearers, "and with very many +other words did he testify and exhort them:" he alone +declares the fruit of Christian profession, "save yourselves +from this perverse generation," and he alone it is, of whose +ministry Luke adds, "They, therefore, that gladly received +his word were baptized, and there were added, in that +day, about three thousand souls."</p> + +<p>And here we see how fitting it was that Peter, whom +Christ had set as the foundation and rock of the Church, +should labour with all his might, as the chief architect after +Him, to build up the structure. But what, in the meantime, +of the other Apostles? Were not they also architects? +Yes, but <i>with</i> Peter, and <i>under</i> Peter, whom +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>accordingly, they attend and support. The subsequent +additions to the Church's structure, and the course consistently +pursued by Peter, will bring this out yet more +clearly. For, of fresh accretions, Luke writes, "Many of +them who had heard the word, believed, and the number of +the men was made five thousand."<a name="FNanchor_27_230" id="FNanchor_27_230"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_230" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> Now, whose word +was this? Still the word of Peter, who speaks for the +third<a name="FNanchor_28_231" id="FNanchor_28_231"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_231" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> and fourth time, as he had for the first and +second.</p> + +<p>For, as to the third<a name="FNanchor_29_232" id="FNanchor_29_232"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_232" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> occasion, Luke, after mentioning +Peter and John together, introduces Peter alone as urging +the children of Abraham to embrace the faith of Christ, +and persuading them that Jesus is the Prophet, promised +by God through Moses in Deuteronomy. And as to the +fourth,<a name="FNanchor_30_233" id="FNanchor_30_233"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_233" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> he writes, "Then Peter, filled with the Holy +Ghost, said to them—" But was he alone present? not +so, for the council "setting them," not him, but John as +well as Peter, "in the midst, they asked," on which +Chrysostome<a name="FNanchor_31_234" id="FNanchor_31_234"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_234" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> observes, "See how John is on every occasion +silent, while Peter defends him likewise." That is, +John was silent, as knowing that the lead belonged to +Peter, and Peter spoke, because the Head defends not +himself only, but the members committed to him.</p> + +<p>Now, reviewing these first four chapters of the Acts, let +us ask these questions. Had Peter held the authority of +head among the Apostles, what would he have done? He +would have filled up the Apostolic college, carefully watched +over it, protected its several members. But this is just +what he did. Again, had Christ made him the supreme +teacher and doctor, what would he have done? He +would have disclosed, first to the Apostles themselves, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>to the disciples, and then to the multitude, who were to be +converted, the secrets of the divine will laid up in the +Scriptures; he would have shown the agreement between +the dispensation of Christ, and the oracles of the Old +Testament, and so have proved that Jesus was the +Messiah. But this he repeatedly did. Once more, had +Christ made him the chief among the builders of the +Church, what would have been his office? He would have +been the very first to set his hand to the work, and to +construct the building with living stones; he would have +held the other workmen under his control, so that the +edifice might rise worthy of Christ, and exactly answering +to His promises. But does not the history give precisely +this picture of him, and does not the Church which +Peter raised answer exactly to the archetype prescribed +by the Lord? "All they that believed were together, and +had all things common:" "the multitude of believers had +but one heart and one soul:" what is this but the counterpart +of that divine prayer, "that they all may be one, as +Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may +be one in Us, that the world may believe that Thou hast +sent<a name="FNanchor_32_235" id="FNanchor_32_235"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_235" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> Me."</p> + +<p>II. To take another point. The office of<a name="FNanchor_33_236" id="FNanchor_33_236"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_236" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> authoritative +teaching is in the New Testament closely connected with +the power of working miracles, so that Christ not only said +of Himself, "If I had not come and spoken to them, they +would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for +their sin:" but likewise added, "If I had not done among +them the works that no other man hath done, they would +not have sin: but now they have both seen and hated both +Me and My Father:"<a name="FNanchor_34_237" id="FNanchor_34_237"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_237" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> to shew that, while faith depended +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>on preaching, and authoritative instruction, these also +needed the power of <i>works</i> to conciliate conviction. In +accordance with which, when He first sent out His Twelve +to preach, He not only charged them what to say, "the +kingdom of heaven is at hand,"<a name="FNanchor_35_238" id="FNanchor_35_238"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_238" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> but added the fullest +miraculous power, "heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse +the lepers, cast out devils." And when more solemnly +sending them, not to one people, but to all nations, "Go +ye into the whole world, and preach the Gospel to every +creature," He adds their warrant, "these signs shall follow +them that believe. In My name they shall cast out devils, +they shall speak with new tongues, they shall take up serpents:" +and the Evangelist subjoins, "They going forth +preached everywhere, the Lord working withal, and confirming +the word with signs that followed."<a name="FNanchor_36_239" id="FNanchor_36_239"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_239" class="fnanchor">[36]</a></p> + +<p>Remembering, then, this very close connexion between +the authority of Apostolic teaching and the power of working +miracles, we may fix a criterion for recognising the +exercise of the supreme office in teaching. Suppose any +one of the Apostles to have been invested at the commencement +of the Church with this office, how may he be ascertained? +If any one is found invariably the first to announce +the word of truth, and likewise to confirm it with +miracles, you may suppose him to be that one. Suppose, +again, that Luke intended to represent one of the Apostles +as the supreme teacher. How may it be safely inferred? +If, in the course of his narration, he continually exhibits +one as eminent above all the rest in preaching the Gospel +and guaranteeing it by signs. These are not tests arbitrarily +chosen, but naturally suggested. And both exactly fit +to Peter, and to Peter alone. For he, in this history of +the universal Church, is the first, nay, well nigh the only +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>one, both to preach and to support his preaching by miracles. +And Luke takes pains to relate no less his miracles +than his discourses, and scarcely describes with any detail +either the one or the other, of any but Peter.</p> + +<p>Nay, his mode of writing suggests a parallel between +himself and S. John in his Gospel, as if it were no less +Luke's intention to show Peter invested with the supreme +office, than John's to set forth Christ as the head and +teacher of the Apostolic college; and no less Luke's purpose +to accredit the Church by Peter's miracles, than<a name="FNanchor_37_240" id="FNanchor_37_240"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_240" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> +John's by the miracles of Christ to establish faith in Him +as the true Son of God. For the circumstances of each +narration point to this similarity of design. As S. John +subordinates the group of Apostles entirely to the figure of +Christ, so Luke, very slightly sketching the rest, is profuse +in detail of what concerns Peter, and marks him as set over +all. As John in recording the miracles of Christ dwells +on the points which prove His divine mission and origin +from the Father, so Luke directs his narration to exhibit +the beginning, the growth, and the authority of the +Church, as due to Peter's miracles. We will mark two +further resemblances. <i>First</i>, the miracles which Luke +records of Peter seem cast in the same type as those of +Christ. Compare the first one with that told by John, +ch. v.</p> + +<blockquote><p>John v. 5-9. "There was +a certain man there that had +been eight and thirty years +under his infirmity. Him +when Jesus had seen lying, +and knew that he had been +now a long time, He saith +to him, Wilt thou be made +whole? The infirm man +answered Him, Sir, I have +no man, when the water is +troubled, to put me into the +pond. For whilst I am coming +another goeth down before +me. Jesus said to him, +Arise, take up thy bed, and +walk. And immediately the +man was made whole, and he +took up his bed and walked."</p></blockquote> + +<blockquote><p>Acts iii. 2-8. "And a certain +man, who was lame from +his mother's womb, was carried, +whom they laid every +day at the gate of the temple, +which is called Beautiful. +He, when he had seen +Peter and John about to go +into the temple, asked to receive +an alms. But Peter, +with John, fastening his eyes +upon him, said, Look upon +us. But he looked earnestly +upon them, hoping that he +should receive something of +them. But Peter said, Silver +and gold I have none, +but what I have, I give thee. +In the name of Jesus Christ +of Nazareth, arise and walk. +And taking him by the right +hand, he lifted him up, and +forthwith his feet and soles received +strength, and he, leaping +up, stood, and walked."</p></blockquote> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p> +<p>How often had the hand of the Lord—as here that of +Peter—healed the sick, given the blind sight, cured the +leper, and raised the dead! But if Peter's miracle in healing +Œneas of the palsy carries<a name="FNanchor_38_241" id="FNanchor_38_241"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_241" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> one back immediately to +the poor man let down through the roof before our Lord, +there is a yet more exact identity between the great miracle +of Christ raising Jairus' daughter, and Peter raising Dorcas. +In the one case, the Lord "having put them all out, taketh +the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were +with Him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying, and +taking the damsel by the hand, He said to her, Talitha +cumi, which is, Damsel, arise, and immediately the damsel +rose up and walked." In the other case, Peter came into +the upper chamber, "and all the widows stood about him +weeping—and they being all put forth, Peter, kneeling +down, prayed, and turning to the body, he said, Tabitha, +arise. And she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, +she sat up,<a name="FNanchor_39_242" id="FNanchor_39_242"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_242" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> and giving her his hand he lifted her up." +But how perfect the resemblance of the following.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p> +<blockquote><p>Luke iv. 40. "And when +the sun was down, all they +that had any sick with divers +diseases brought them +to Him. But He, laying His +hands on every one of them, +healed them. And devils +went out from many."</p></blockquote> + +<blockquote><p>Acts v. 15. "Insomuch that +they brought forth the sick +into the streets, and laid +them on beds and couches, +that, when Peter came, his +shadow, at the least, might +overshadow any of them, and +they might be delivered from +their infirmities. And there +came also together to Jerusalem +a multitude out of the +neighbouring cities, bringing +sick persons, and such as +were troubled with unclean +spirits, who were all healed."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The <i>second</i> point of resemblance is, that the multitude +regarded Peter among the Apostles as before they had +regarded Christ: for, putting the rest of the Apostles in the +second place, they flocked to him, and besought his aid. +So that Luke, briefly saying of them, that "by the hands +of the Apostles were many signs and wonders wrought +among the people,"<a name="FNanchor_40_243" id="FNanchor_40_243"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_243" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> goes on to Peter, and of him relates +the unheard-of wonders just described, assigning to the +miracles wrought by him, "that the multitude of men and +women who believed in the Lord was more increased." It +is just as when "there came to Jesus great multitudes, +having with them the dumb, the blind, the lame, the +maimed, and many others; and they cast them down at +His feet, and He healed them."<a name="FNanchor_41_244" id="FNanchor_41_244"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_244" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> And the fuller the +resemblance these incidents shew between Peter and Christ, +the more evident their proof that Peter's ministry must be +considered a continuation of that which Christ begun.</p> + +<p>III. We proceed<a name="FNanchor_42_245" id="FNanchor_42_245"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_245" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> to the order predetermined by our +Lord in the propagation of His Church.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p><p>Of Himself He had said, though the Redeemer of all, +that He was not sent, that is, as an Apostle, actually to +preach, "save to the lost sheep of the house of Israel:" and +on first sending His Apostles, He gave them this commission, +"Go ye not into the way of the Gentiles, and into the +city of the Samaritans enter ye not, but go ye rather to the +lost sheep of the house of Israel." But when about to +ascend to the Father, He tells them, "You shall receive the +power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and you shall +be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and +Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth:"<a name="FNanchor_43_246" id="FNanchor_43_246"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_246" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> +that is, that they should set up His kingdom through all +the world, proceeding by gradual steps, from Jerusalem to +Judea, thence to Samaria, and at length "to every creature" +in the whole world.</p> + +<p>Now the history of the Acts shows the exact accomplishment +of this order, and it likewise shows that Simon Peter +was the one elected chief instrument for carrying out these +successive propagations of the Church. What we have +said already shows this as to the mother Church of Jerusalem, +and, before proceeding to the Gentile Churches, +we will trace the same instrumentality as used to bring +the Samaritans into the universal kingdom.</p> + +<p>The persecution ensuing on the proto-martyr Stephen's +death caused, by our Lord's providence, the dissemination +of many believers through Judea and Samaria, while the +Apostles alone remained at Jerusalem. Amongst those +who thus "went about preaching the word of God," +Philip the deacon came to Samaria, and many of the +people, hearing his words and seeing his miracles, were +converted and baptized. But the Church thus commenced +by the preaching of the deacon would have dried up +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>without hope of progress, had it not received the assistance +of those whom Christ had set in the place of +fathers, and who could bestow the gifts of the Holy +Ghost. For<a name="FNanchor_44_247" id="FNanchor_44_247"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_247" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> "the Church is in the bishop," and, as S. +Jerome said of a faction which had a deacon for its +author, "With the man the sect also perished, because +a deacon could ordain no clerk after him. But it is not +a Church which has no priest." Accordingly when<a name="FNanchor_45_248" id="FNanchor_45_248"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_248" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> +"the Apostles, who were in Jerusalem, had heard that +Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto +them Peter and John," who "laid their hands upon them, +and they received the Holy Ghost." The providence of +Christ, then, so ordered the propagation of His kingdom +as to choose Peter and John to complete and perfect the +Samaritan Church. But was this on equal terms, or is +no superior dignity and authority apparent in Peter over +John? A regard to the words of Luke, and the series +of acts recorded, will prevent such a misconception. For +he mentions Peter and John, but he sets Peter first, and +in his record of what happened to Simon John acts the +second part, and it is Peter alone who teaches, commands, +judges, and condemns, with authority, as the head and +supreme ruler. Simon Magus, tempted by beholding the +gifts of the Holy Spirit visibly bestowed on imposition +of the Apostles' hands, "offered them money," to both +Peter and John. But Peter alone replies, and not only +so, but condemns his profaneness, enlarges on his guilt, +and solemnly declares that the gifts of God are not purchaseable +with money. "Keep thy money to thyself to +perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift +of God may be purchased with money;" he discloses +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>Simon's secret thoughts, "for thy heart is not right in +the sight of God;" he inflicts on him excommunication, +"thou hast no part nor lot in this matter;" he exhorts +him to repent, "do penance therefore from this thy wickedness, +and pray to God, if perhaps this thought of thy +heart may be forgiven thee." Now here John, the next +of the Apostles in rank, is with Peter, yet he does not +speak, teach, or enjoin: Peter does all this singly. He +answers Simon's question, lances and probes the most +secret wound of his conscience, declares how divine gifts +are given, proscribes the plague of simony, orders penance, +and inflicts excommunication on a scandalous public offender. +Thus the twenty-second of the Apostolic canons runs, +"If any bishop, priest or deacon, hath obtained this dignity +by money, let him and his ordainer be deposed, and +altogether be deprived of communion, as Simon Magus +was by Peter." Nothing but an inequality of rank between +Peter and John will account for Luke's narration here. +But if John was inferior to Peter, much more the rest.</p> + +<p>But there is another proof of his superiority here, in +that God caused Simon Peter to engage Simon Magus. +Thus, by His providence, "reaching from end to end +mightily, and ordering all things sweetly," the first-born +of Christ is brought to conflict with the "first-born of the +devil," the chief of teachers with the earliest of heretics, +and prime of that long brood of the evil one, who are to +persecute "the seed of the woman." Thus ancient writers +record that Peter afterwards went to Rome on purpose to +expose the acts of this same Simon. Thus they mention +his engaging with the famous Alexandrine Apion, the +enemy of the Jewish and the Christian faith alike. And +hence, too, probably the very ancient writer (whoever he +was) of the Epistle of Clement to S. James, begins it by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> +recording how "Simon, for his true faith and his firm +grounding in doctrine, was appointed to be the foundation +of the Church, and for this very reason by Jesus +Himself with most true augury had his name changed to +Peter, the first-fruits of our Lord, the first of the Apostles, +to whom first the Father revealed the Son, whom +Christ with reason blessed, the called and the elect, His +guest and comrade, the good and the proved disciple, +<i>he who, as the most able of all, was commanded to +illuminate the West, the darker quarter of the world</i>, +and who was enabled to succeed."</p> + +<p>But as to what is said that "the Apostles who were +in Jerusalem <i>sent</i> to the Samaritans Peter and John," it +must be remembered, that at the head of those thus <i>sending</i> +was Peter himself, and that next to him John was the +most distinguished of the Apostolic college. And since it is +evident from all that we have hitherto seen, that in whatever +concerned the Apostles equally, Peter took the leading +part, and in their common deliberations exercised the +initiative, it must be concluded that he was likewise the +first author of this resolution, to send himself and John +to the Samaritans. And this is confirmed by our seeing +that in the fulfilment of this mission he discharges the +offices, and acts with the authority, of head. To none +else could the execution of a fresh advance in the propagation +of the Church be committed; and so great, besides, +were the jealousies between the Jews and Samaritans, that +it needed no less than Peter's authority to induce the +Jewish converts to receive them into the bond of the same +society.</p> + +<p>IV. But now we<a name="FNanchor_46_249" id="FNanchor_46_249"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_249" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> draw nigh to the revelation of that +great "mystery which in other generations was not known +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>to the sons of men—that the Gentiles should be fellow +heirs, and of the same body, and co-partners of His promise +in Christ Jesus by the Gospel," whereby was brought +to pass the prophecy, "from the rising of the sun even to +the going down My Name is great among the Gentiles, and +in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to My +Name a clean oblation."<a name="FNanchor_47_250" id="FNanchor_47_250"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_250" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> The hour was come "when the +true adorers were to adore the Father in spirit and in +truth" throughout every region of the world purchased +with the blood of the Son of God, and of this event, expected +during four thousand years, God, by an unexampled +honour, disclosed to Peter, and through Peter, the time and +the manner. This greatest of purposes, after His own +ascension, Christ left to be revealed through him to whom +He had committed the feeding of His sheep.</p> + +<p>While Peter<a name="FNanchor_48_251" id="FNanchor_48_251"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_251" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> was "passing through all," that is, exercising +his general supervision as primate of the Church, +God sent His angel "in a vision manifestly" to "a certain +man in Cesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of that which +is called the Italian band, a religious man, and fearing God +with all his house, giving much alms to the people, and +always praying to God." And the angel says to him: +"Thy prayers and thine alms are ascended for a memorial +in the sight of God, and now send men to Joppa, and call +hither one Simon, who is surnamed Peter; he will tell thee +what thou must do." Though God, then, sends an angel, +it is left to <i>Simon, who is surnamed Peter</i>, to declare His +counsel, in what affected the salvation of innumerable souls. +Other Apostles there were to whom had been said equally, +"Go ye into the whole world and preach the Gospel to +every creature," and "Ye shall be witnesses to Me both in +Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the uttermost +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>part of the earth;" and "as the Father hath sent Me, +I also send you." Yet putting aside all these, as on so +many other occasions, Peter is preferred, and that because +to him alone was said, "on this rock I will build My +Church," and again, "Feed My lambs, be shepherd over +My sheep." Fitting it was that, when the wall between +the Jews and Gentiles should be taken away, by him specially, +all should be collected into one, on whom, as the +divinely-laid foundation, all were to rest. Fitting, again, +that the Lord's prophecy, "Other sheep I have which are +not of this fold; those also I must bring; and they shall +hear My voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd," +should be fulfilled chiefly by his ministry to whom +the Lord had committed His own office of universal visible +pastor. For the Church, in her very birth, and in the +whole process of her growth, bore this upon her forehead, +that <i>universality</i> as well as <i>unity</i> belonged substantially to +Peter, and that it was no less his function to gather up all +nations into the mould of unity by his ministration as the +one chief shepherd, than to embrace them all in the wide +circuit of his love. Therefore it is a marvellous agreement +in which the <i>institution</i> of the Primacy has a corresponding +<i>execution</i>; and as the latter confirms the former, so from +the former you might anticipate the latter before it was +recorded in the sacred history.</p> + +<p>But in the meantime, while the messengers of Cornelius +were approaching the house in which Peter was a guest, +"there came upon him an ecstasy of mind, and he saw the +heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending, as it were +a great linen sheet let down by the four corners from heaven +to the earth, wherein were all manner of four-footed +beasts, and creeping things of the earth, and fowls of the +air;" and while Peter is fixed in contemplation, "there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> +came a voice to him, Arise Peter, kill and eat," that he +might understand how "by<a name="FNanchor_49_252" id="FNanchor_49_252"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_252" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> his preaching he was to +make a sacrifice to the Lord of those who were represented +by these animals, bringing them into the divine service +through the mysteries of the Lord's passion," which he +not yet understanding, replies, "Far be it from me, for I +never did eat anything that is common or unclean." Then +the heavenly "voice spoke to him again the second time, +That which God hath cleansed, do not thou call common. +And this having been done thrice, presently the vessel was +taken up into heaven."</p> + +<p>Here three things are set forth; first, that as the ark of +Noah contained all sorts of animals, clean and unclean, so +the fold of Christ was to gather from Jews and Greeks +and barbarians "a<a name="FNanchor_50_253" id="FNanchor_50_253"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_253" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> great multitude, which no man could +number, of all nations and tribes, and peoples, and +tongues;" secondly, that the blessings of Christ concerned +all who did not reject the proferred grace; thirdly, that +the elaborate system of Mosaic ordinances concerning +meats, rites, and ceremonies, had fallen to the ground. +But to whom is disclosed, first and immediately, this whole +dispensation of the first principles on which the Church +was to be propagated? To none other but Peter, "to me +hath God shown to call no man common or unclean." Now +the undoubted knowledge of this dispensation must appear +of the greatest moment, whether in itself, or as concerns +the Jews, of whom the earliest church consisted, or the +Apostles, by whose ministry it was to be extended. And +yet, by that providence which is ever over His Church, the +wisdom of God so ruled it, that through Peter alone the +Apostles should be taught when they were first to approach +the Gentiles, and discharge their office of witnesses before +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>all nations without distinction. And that because He had +made Peter "the greater one" and "the leader" of all, +and put him in His own place, and constituted him supreme +teacher in these words, "Confirm thy brethren." Thus<a name="FNanchor_51_254" id="FNanchor_51_254"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_254" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> +Epiphanius, in the fourth century, says that the charge +of bringing the Gentiles into the Church was laid upon +all the Apostles, "but most of all on holy Peter." Why +this <i>most of all</i>? Because, while He had heard with the +rest, "make disciples of all nations," he had singly and +peculiarly received the charge of the whole fold, and of the +Apostles, as part of it.</p> + +<p>But Peter, still pondering on the vision, hears a fresh +voice from the Spirit, "Behold three men seek thee. +Arise, therefore, get thee down, and go with them, doubting +nothing, for I have sent them." He accompanies the +messengers and finds Cornelius, "his kinsman and his special +friends;" he asks why they have sent for him, whereupon +Cornelius informs him of what had past, and concludes, +"now therefore all we are present in thy sight, to +hear all things whatsoever are commanded thee by the +Lord." Peter in reply sets forth to them the heads of +Christian doctrine, and as he comes to the words "to Him +all the prophets give testimony, that by His name all receive +remission of sins, who believe in Him," "the Holy +Ghost fell upon all them that heard the word" of life and +truth from his lips. And the Jewish Christians who were +with him, being astonished at this reception of Gentiles +into the Church by the Holy Spirit's visible descent, Peter +cries, "Can any man forbid water that these should not be +baptised, who have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?" +"Words," says <a name="FNanchor_52_255" id="FNanchor_52_255"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_255" class="fnanchor">[52]</a>S. Chrysostome, "of one almost assaulting +any that would forbid, and say that should not be," and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>so "he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the +Lord Jesus;" for Peter also, like his Lord,<a name="FNanchor_53_256" id="FNanchor_53_256"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_256" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> preached in +person, but baptized by the hands of others.</p> + +<p>Are not then the prerogatives of Peter written legibly +on this whole narration? First, among all the Apostles +he alone is chosen to consecrate to God the first fruits of +the Gentiles. Again, through him, as the teacher of all, +God makes known to the Apostles themselves when the +door was to be opened to the Gentiles. Thirdly, without +advising with the rest, he enlarges the fold of Christ, +which in Christ's place he ruled, with the accession of +the Gentiles. Fourthly, the building of the Church is +thus referred to him alone. Further, he gathers up to +himself the Church which is made out of Jews, Samaritans, +and Gentiles; as the foundation he sustains the +whole; and when constructed, he binds it together. Lastly, +Luke, without having recorded a single speech of any +other Apostle, has given five of Peter, thus showing that +Peter's words, as well as his actions, had a higher importance +than theirs in the history of the Church's birth and +growth; for, indeed, in the history of the head that of the +body is included.</p> + +<p>On Peter's<a name="FNanchor_54_257" id="FNanchor_54_257"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_257" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> return to Jerusalem, "the Apostles and +brethren who were in Judea, having heard that the Gentiles +also had received the word of God,"<a name="FNanchor_55_258" id="FNanchor_55_258"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_258" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> "they that +were of the circumcision contended with him," because he +had "gone in to men uncircumcised, and ate with them." +Hereupon Peter set forth to them the whole series of +events, upon which "they held their peace and glorified +God, saying, God then has also to the Gentiles given +repentance unto life." Now some in late times have +attempted to derogate from Peter's authority on the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>strength of this incident. On the other hand S. Chrysostome, +not satisfied with setting forth Peter's rank, and +assigning his whole apology to a most gracious condescension, +continues, "See how he defends himself, and +<i>will not use his dignity as the Teacher</i>, for he knew that +the more gently he spoke with them, the surer he was +to win them."<a name="FNanchor_56_259" id="FNanchor_56_259"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_259" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> And what expression can signify Peter's +rank more markedly than <i>the</i> Teacher? And Gregory +the Great sets forth Peter's distinctions, how he alone +had received the keys, walked on the waters, healed with +his shadow, killed with his word, and raised the dead +by his prayer; then he goes on, "and because, warned +by the Spirit, he had gone in to Cornelius, a Gentile, a +question was raised against him by the faithful, as to +wherefore he had gone in to the Gentiles, and eaten with +them, and received them in baptism. And yet the same +first of the Apostles, filled with so great a grace of gifts, +supported by so great a power of miracles, answers the +complaint of the faithful by an appeal not to authority +but to reason.... For if, when blamed by the faithful, +he had considered the authority which he held in +holy Church, he might have answered, that the sheep +entrusted to the shepherd should not venture to censure +him. But if, in the complaint of the faithful, he had said +anything of his own power, he would not have been the +teacher of meekness. Therefore he quieted them with +humble reason, and in the matter where he was blamed +even cited witnesses. If, therefore, <i>the Pastor of the +Church, the Prince of the Apostles</i>, having a <i>singular</i> +power to do signs and miracles, did not disdain, when he +was censured, humbly to render account, how much more +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>ought we sinners, when blamed for anything, to disarm +our censurers by a humble defence."<a name="FNanchor_57_260" id="FNanchor_57_260"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_260" class="fnanchor">[57]</a></p> + +<p>Here it occurs to observe with what different eyes Holy +Scripture may be read, for just where persons determined +to deny Peter's authority find an excuse for their foregone +conclusion, the Fathers draw arguments to praise the +moderation with which he exercised that same superior +authority.</p> + +<p>V. But <a name="FNanchor_58_261" id="FNanchor_58_261"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_261" class="fnanchor">[58]</a>founded as we have seen the Church to have +hitherto been, and at each step of its course advanced, +mainly by the authority of Peter, it could not hope to +remain in a vigorous and united state without the continual +exercise of <i>judicial</i> and <i>legislative</i> power, and diligent +<i>inspection</i>. Nor is there, in fact, one of these which +Peter did not exercise, and that in a manner to indicate +the ruler set over all. For as to the judicial power, do we +not hear him saying, "Tell<a name="FNanchor_59_262" id="FNanchor_59_262"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_262" class="fnanchor">[59]</a> me whether you sold the land +for so much;" and, "Ananias, why hath Satan tempted +thy heart, that thou shouldst lie to the Holy Ghost, and +by fraud keep part of the price of the land? Whilst it +remained did it not remain to thee? And after it was +sold, was it not in thy power? Why hast thou conceived +this thing in thy heart? Thou hast not lied to men but +to God." And presently the sentence comes forth from +him who binds in heaven as well as on earth. "Behold +the feet of them who have buried thy husband are at the +door, and they shall carry thee out." Here then we have +Peter, in the midst of the Apostles, yet acting singly as +the supreme judge, and defender of ecclesiastical discipline, +on which S. Chrysostome says, "For Peter was terrible, +punishing, and convicting the thoughts, to whom +they adhered the more both for the sign, and his first +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>speech, and his second, and his third. For he it was who +did the first sign, and the second, and the present, which +seems to me double, one to convict the thoughts, and +another to kill with his command." Then, asking why +nobody had announced her husband's death to Sapphira, +"This was fear of the Teacher; this respect of the disciples; +this obedience:"<a name="FNanchor_60_263" id="FNanchor_60_263"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_263" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> where he is mentioned not as +<i>a</i> teacher, but the supreme and chief one.</p> + +<p>Yet though the other Apostles were judges, with power +to bind and to loose, though they were present, and concerned, +for "Ananias bringing a certain part, laid it at +the feet of the Apostles," not of Peter only, it was not +they, but Peter, who entered on the cause of Ananias and +Sapphira, passed sentence, and inflicted punishment. Why +did he judge singly a cause which was brought before the +common tribunal of the Apostles? Because Peter was to +have the Primacy in all things; because from him the +model of ecclesiastical judgments was to be taken; because +the charge of maintaining ecclesiastical discipline belonged +in chief to him as the head.</p> + +<p>VI. But no less <a name="FNanchor_61_264" id="FNanchor_61_264"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_264" class="fnanchor">[61]</a>markedly does Luke represent Peter +as everywhere visiting the Churches, providing for them +as universal pastor, and exercising herein the administrative +Primacy. "The Churches," he says, "throughout +all Judea, and Galilee, and Samaria, had peace, being +edified and walking in the fear of the Lord, and were +multiplied by the consolation of the Holy Ghost. And +it came to pass <i>that Peter, as he passed through, visiting +all</i>, came to the saints who dwelt at Lydda."<a name="FNanchor_62_265" id="FNanchor_62_265"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_265" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> In +illustration of this we may remember Paul's charge to +Titus:<a name="FNanchor_63_266" id="FNanchor_63_266"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_266" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> "for this cause I left thee in Crete, that thou +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>shouldst set in order the things that are wanting, and +shouldst ordain priests in every city, as I also appointed +thee." And again, what Luke writes of Paul himself: +"After some days Paul said to Barnabas, Let us return and +visit our brethren in all the cities wherein we have preached +the word of the Lord, to see how they do."<a name="FNanchor_64_267" id="FNanchor_64_267"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_267" class="fnanchor">[64]</a> And what<a name="FNanchor_65_268" id="FNanchor_65_268"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_268" class="fnanchor">[65]</a> +Eusebius, from S. Clement, relates of S. John, that he +visited with authority the Churches of Asia, which he had +either founded, or specially attended to. By these passages +we see the nature of Peter's visitation, that it was +pastoral, and likewise the difference between his and these +others, for they were <i>local</i>, but his <i>universal</i>. Titus acted +in Crete, the special sphere of his labour, to which S. Paul +the founder of that Church had appointed him. Paul and +Barnabas propose to visit "our brethren <i>in every city in +which we have preached the word of the Lord</i>;" S. John +exerts visitatorial power over the churches of that province +wherein he dwelt, and that too, apparently, when he was +the sole survivor of the Apostolic college, yet did not go +into other parts. But Peter's charge is œcumenical, and +therefore his visitation universal. He inspects the labours +of others, as well as his own. For he was not the only +Apostle at Jerusalem, nor had he singly built up all the +churches of Judea, Galileo, and Samaria, yet he alone +makes a progress from Jerusalem to all these churches. +Though not the Bishop of Jerusalem, over which the Apostle +James presides, he goes everywhere, as "the Bishop of +Bishops."<a name="FNanchor_66_269" id="FNanchor_66_269"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_269" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> No other reason coherent with Scripture can +we find for this universal inspection of Peter; for all the +Apostles were indeed pastors, but he alone set over the +whole fold; he alone not limited, like Paul, "to the brethren +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>in every city wherein he had preached." He differs +from all others as the universal from the particular, and so +S. Chrysostome says of him in this very passage, "like a +general he went round surveying the ranks, seeing what +portion was well massed together, what in order, what +needed his presence. Behold him making his rounds in +every direction."<a name="FNanchor_67_270" id="FNanchor_67_270"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_270" class="fnanchor">[67]</a></p> + +<p>VII. Further, <a name="FNanchor_68_271" id="FNanchor_68_271"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_271" class="fnanchor">[68]</a>we may see the deference paid to this +supreme authority of Peter by the Apostles and ancients at +Jerusalem, on occasion of that severest dissension which +threatened the unity of the Church, and kindled the +greatest agitation, the question whether Gentile converts +should be bound to obey the Mosaic ritual law. For "the <a name="FNanchor_69_272" id="FNanchor_69_272"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_272" class="fnanchor">[69]</a>Apostles +and Ancients having assembled to consider of this +matter," after "there had been much disputing, Peter, +rising up, said to them." But why does Peter first rise and +decide the cause? Because he was first of the Apostles, +and as such supreme arbiter in controversy. But consider +what he says. "Men and brethren, you know that in former +days God made choice among us, that by my mouth +the Gentiles should hear the word of the Gospel, and +believe." <i>By my mouth</i>, he appeals to their knowledge of +his election by God to the singular privilege of receiving +the Gentiles: in virtue of that election he claims and +exercises authority. "And God, who knoweth the hearts, +gave testimony, giving unto them the Holy Ghost, as well +as unto us, and put no difference between us and them, +purifying their hearts by faith." God, therefore, has +already decided this controversy, by my ministry, whom He +specially called thereunto, and by the effects which He +caused to accompany it. Then, using words full of force, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>being, indeed, very like those in which he had answered +Ananias and Sapphira, he continues, "now, therefore, why +tempt you God, to put a yoke upon the necks of the disciples, +which neither our fathers, nor we, have been able to +bear? But by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we +believe that we shall be saved, in like manner as they also." +"How full of power are these words," is the comment of S. +Chrysostome,<a name="FNanchor_70_273" id="FNanchor_70_273"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_273" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> "he says here what Paul has said at great +length in the Epistle to the Romans." And then, speaking +of the heads of Paul's doctrine, he adds, "the seeds of +all this lie in Peter's discourse." This, then, is a <i>decision</i>, +and given in no hesitating manner, but with severe censure +of those who maintained the opposite, as "tempting God," +words suitable for him only to use who had authority over +all. But how did the council receive them? Though "there +had been much disputing before," though the keenest feelings +had been excited, and the point involved the strongest +prepossessions of the Jewish converts, "all the multitude +held their peace." They acquiesced in Peter's judgment, +and now readily "heard Barnabas and Paul telling what +great signs and wonders God had wrought among the +Gentiles by them." It follows, then, that on a capital +point, and in the first council of the Church, Peter occupied +a position which befits only the supreme judge of controversies, +so that had we no other evidence but this place +whereby to decide upon his rank and office, his pre-eminence +would be evident. "See," says S. Chrysostome, +"he first permits a discussion to arise in the Church, and +then he speaks."<a name="FNanchor_71_274" id="FNanchor_71_274"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_274" class="fnanchor">[71]</a></p> + +<p>But is this affected by other persons likewise speaking +and voting, as Paul and Barnabas? or by S. James likewise +giving his sentence, as an Apostle? or by the whole +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>matter being settled by common consent? As little as to +be <i>head</i> involves being <i>all</i>; as to preside over the rest +takes from them the power of deliberation, and resolution. +Rather it is the office of the Head and the President to +take the initiative, and point out the course which others +are to follow.</p> + +<p>For those here present were teachers, and had the prerogative +of hearing and judging, as well as Peter; they +were bound to weigh the matter in controversy to the best +of their power, and to decide on it according to the proportion +of faith. They stood to Peter in a relation, not of +simple obedience, as the ordinary members of the flock, but +of judges, who, though responsible to his superintendence, +yet are really judges, pass sentence, and decree by inherent +authority. It is no part of the idea of a judge, that +he should be supreme and irresponsible: this is the <i>special</i> +privilege of the one supreme judge. Objections such as +these, therefore, do not take from Peter his Primacy, and +quality of Head, but claim for Paul, Barnabas, James, and +the other Apostles, the judicial authority and office, which +they undoubtedly possessed.</p> + +<p>Nor again, that, not Peter only, but all, passed the +decree in common, as it is written: "It seemed good to +the Holy Ghost, and to us;" and as Paul and Timothy +"delivered to the cities the decrees to keep that were +decreed by the Apostles and Ancients."<a name="FNanchor_72_275" id="FNanchor_72_275"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_275" class="fnanchor">[72]</a> For a decree +made in common by many shews not an equality of power +in each, but a competent authority to join in that decree. +Such acts proceed, not only from equal, but from unequal +assemblies. A question, therefore, terminated by common +decision, and laws established by common consent, do +indeed prove a power to deliberate and decree common to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>all participating, but do not prove that all, and every, of +the judges were equal in their privileges, for who gives +to the Ancients the same authority as to the Apostles?</p> + +<p>This inequality is elsewhere established, and rests on +its own proof, but bearing it in mind, we shall see that +Peter is the first and chief author of this common decree, +and that laws passed by common consent depend on him +primarily as Head. Most unsuspicious witnesses of this +are the ancient writers, and this is the very conclusion +which they drew from the account of this council. Thus, +Tertullian, in the second century, speaking of Peter's +singular prerogatives, says, "On him the Church was +built, that is, through him: it was he who hanselled the +key. This is it. 'Ye men of Israel, hear these words. +Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you, &c.' +He, too, first by Christian baptism opened the approach of +the heavenly kingdom, by which offences, heretofore bound, +are loosed, and those not loosed are bound, according to +true salvation. And Ananias he bound with the chain of +death: and him that was weak in his feet he delivered from +his disease. But likewise, in that discussion as to maintaining +the law, Peter, first of all, instinct with the Spirit, and +preluding with the vocation of the Gentiles, says, 'And +now why tempt ye the Lord, by imposing a yoke on the +brethren, which neither we, nor our fathers have been able +to bear? But by the grace of Christ we believe that we +shall be saved, as also they.' <i>This</i> <span class="smcap">sentence</span> <i>both loosed +what was given up of the law, and kept binding what was +reserved</i>."<a name="FNanchor_73_276" id="FNanchor_73_276"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_276" class="fnanchor">[73]</a> As clearly, S. Jerome, in the fourth century, +writes, that Peter "used his wonted freedom, and that the +Apostle James <i>followed his sentence</i>, and all the ancients at +once <i>acceded to it, and that the decree was drawn upon +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>his wording</i>."<a name="FNanchor_74_277" id="FNanchor_74_277"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_277" class="fnanchor">[74]</a> A little later Theodoret wrote to S. Leo, +thus: "If Paul, the preacher of the truth, the trumpet of +the Holy Spirit, hastened to the great Peter, to carry from +him the solution to those at Antioch, at issue about living +under the law; much more do we, poor and humble, +run to your Apostolic throne, to receive from you healing +for the wounds of the Churches."<a name="FNanchor_75_278" id="FNanchor_75_278"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_278" class="fnanchor">[75]</a> Why does he here +call Peter, <i>the great</i>, or say that Paul hastened to him for +solution of a grave contention? Did not Paul go to all the +Apostles? But Peter was the head among them, and had +a power in chief—a power above the rest, a "more special" +power—of binding and loosing.</p> + +<p>VIII. One other <a name="FNanchor_76_279" id="FNanchor_76_279"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_279" class="fnanchor">[76]</a>instance there is of Peter's superior +dignity, and therefore importance, in the Apostolic college, +which if, perhaps, less direct than some of the foregoing, +is even more persuasive. For there was an Apostle associated, +as we have seen, by our Lord with Peter and John +in several favours not granted to the rest; one who with +John received from Him the name Boanerges; the elder +brother of John, who with him had once asked to sit on +the Lord's right hand and on His left in His kingdom. +Now Luke is led in the course of his narrative to mention +the martyrdom of this great and favoured Apostle; the +first likewise of the Apostolic choir who drank, as he had +promised, of His Lord's baptism, and sealed his labours +and trials with his blood. The occasion was a great and +striking one. It is thus recorded by Luke. "And at the +same time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to +afflict some of the Church. And he killed James, the +brother of John, with the sword." This is the first and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>the last time that he is mentioned by himself in Luke's +inspired history of the universal Church. Great as he +was, so eminently favoured by his Lord, the elder brother +of John, nothing is said of the Church's anxiety for his +danger, her prayers for his release, her sorrow at his +loss, or her exultation at his triumph by witnessing unto +blood. He passed to his throne in heaven with this short +record. The more emphatic is the contrast following. +"And seeing that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to take +up Peter also. Now it was in the days of the azymes. +And when he had apprehended him, he cast him into +prison, delivering him to four files of soldiers to be kept, +intending after the pasch to bring him forth to the people. +Peter therefore was kept in prison. <i>But prayer was +made without ceasing by the Church unto God for him.</i>" +That is, by the instinct of self-preservation she prayed +for her head. A few years later another Apostle, after +glorious labours by land and sea, and missions of unrivalled +success, was seized and imprisoned in this same +city of Jerusalem, and in danger of his life. But we do +not hear of prayers being offered up without ceasing even +for Paul, the doctor of the nations. The Church's safety +was not bound up with his, any more than with that +of James, and therefore not even of the great preacher +"in labours more abundant than all," are we told that +in the hour of danger "prayer was made without +ceasing by the Church unto God for him." James +and Paul were most distinguished <i>members</i>, but Peter +was more. This was an honour reserved for the Head +alone, as the life of the Head was peculiarly precious +to the whole body. Thus S. Chrysostome explains +it. "The prayer is a proof of affection: they all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> +sought for a Father, a kind Father."<a name="FNanchor_77_280" id="FNanchor_77_280"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_280" class="fnanchor">[77]</a> And then Luke +proceeds to give at length Peter's delivery out of prison +by the angel, and his departure in safety to another place. +But there is no other solution of such a difference in recording +what happened alike to James, to Peter, and to +Paul, but that Peter held the place of father in the Lord's +family, of commander in His army, of steward in His +household, delivering to each of His servants their measure +of wheat in due season.</p> + +<p>The result,<a name="FNanchor_78_281" id="FNanchor_78_281"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_281" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> then, of our particular enquiry in the Acts +is to demonstrate two things, that Peter discharged the +office of Father and Head in the Lord's family, and that +the Church received and admitted him when so acting, +with a consciousness that such was the will of Christ.</p> + +<p>Now this office did not consist in "lording it" over his +brethren, in assuming high titles, and interfering with +the ministry of others when exercised in its due course, +in rejecting their assistance, or impeding the unanimous +exercise of their counsel. On the contrary, the Lord had +before prescribed that "the greater" among them should +be as the younger, and "the leader" as he that ministers, +proposing to them Himself as the great model, who had +exercised the highest power with the utmost gentleness, +and, being "the Lord," had become "the servant of all." +What, then, did this office of Primate consist in? We +may say that Peter was undoubtedly such, if he constantly +exercised the power of a head in building up the +Church, in maintaining discipline, in reconciling dissensions, +and in general administration. Now it would be +doing Peter wrong to suppose that he usurped as peculiar +to himself what equally belonged to all the Apostles; +or that, having received the special power of the Holy +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>Ghost, he did not fulfil his own advice to others, "not +to lord it over the clergy, but to be made a pattern of +the flock."<a name="FNanchor_79_282" id="FNanchor_79_282"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_282" class="fnanchor">[79]</a> And the four points just mentioned may +be reduced to a triple authority, a Primacy <i>magisterial</i>, +<i>judicial</i>, and <i>legislative</i>. Let us take in at one glance +what has been said of Peter in regard to each of these.</p> + +<p>As to the <i>magisterial</i>, or power of authoritative teaching, +and general administration, Peter is constantly taking +the lead, he is the mouthpiece of the Apostles: he alone, +or he first, by teaching plants the Churches; he alone, or +he in chief, completes them when planted; he it is who +by divine revelation given to himself, discloses to the rest +the dispensation of God; and he in words full of power +sets forth to these assembled in council the course which +they are to pursue.</p> + +<p>As to the <i>judicial</i>, none other judgments are found in +that portion of the Acts which contains the history of the +whole Church, save those of which he was either the <i>sole</i> +or the <i>chief</i> author. Alone he took cognisance of Ananias +and Sapphira, and alone he punished them. And Simon +he censured in chief, and excommunicated.</p> + +<p>As to the <i>legislative</i>, Peter alone promulged the law +as to receiving the Gentiles; alone he prescribed that for +abrogating the Mosaic ceremonial ordinances; and he was +the chief author of the decree which expressed in terms +his own previous act, and was put forth in common by the +Apostles and Ancients.<a name="FNanchor_80_283" id="FNanchor_80_283"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_283" class="fnanchor">[80]</a></p> + +<p>Again, compare the <i>institution</i> of the Primacy with its +<i>exercise</i>. Its institution consisted in three things. 1. That +Peter was named by Christ the foundation of the Church, +with whom its whole fabric was most intimately to cohere, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>and from whom it should derive visible unity and impregnable +strength: 2. That the authority of universal pastor, and +the care of the whole fold, was committed to him: 3. +That to him belonged the confirmation of his brethren, +and a power of the keys to which all were subject. Now +consider the execution.</p> + +<p>As foundation of the Church, he gathers up to himself +congregations from the Jews, the Samaritans, and the +Gentiles.</p> + +<p>As universal pastor, he collects from these three the +flock, nourishes, defends, inspects it, and fills up one place +of highest rank in the ministry forfeited by the traitor.</p> + +<p>As confirmer of the brethren, he disclosed to them the +heavenly vision signifying the universal calling of the +Gentiles, and the abrogation of the Mosaic law. He +acts in the Lord's household as the bearer of the keys, +going to all parts, defending and inspecting all. By himself +he binds and looses, calling Ananias and Sapphira to +his tribunal, and excommunicating the first heretic.</p> + +<p>So exactly, then, do the institution of the Primacy and +the acts of Peter fit into each other, that from the former +you may predict the latter, and from the latter prove the +former. They are like cause and effect, or an à priori +and an à posteriori argument. They are a reciprocal confirmation +to each other; just as if by time you calculate +the sun's rising, and see the diffusion of his light, from his +having risen you infer his light, and from his light conclude +that he has risen.</p> + +<p>Nor in the Apostolic Church does any one appear to +resist or question this office of Peter. Rather upon him +all eyes are fixed, for him all are anxious; no Abiram +rises up against him with the words of rebellion; "Thou +takest too much upon thee, seeing all the congregation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> +are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among +them, wherefore then liftest thou up thyself above the +congregation of the Lord?"<a name="FNanchor_81_284" id="FNanchor_81_284"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_284" class="fnanchor">[81]</a> No Aaron in a moment of +delusion cries, "Did the Lord speak by Moses only? hath +He not spoken also by us?"</p> + +<p>Yet Peter acts not like one out of a number, and occasions +of contention are not wanting, strong prepossessions +and keen feelings.<a name="FNanchor_82_285" id="FNanchor_82_285"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_285" class="fnanchor">[82]</a> He is everywhere; his pre-eminence +and his control are universal: he can act with +severity, and there are some impatient even of a just +control. When Ananias and Sapphira fell dead at his +feet, none murmured. When he exclaimed, in full council, +"now, therefore, why tempt you God?" the whole multitude +was silent. When he explained the reception of +the Gentiles, those who had murmured "held their peace, +and glorified God."<a name="FNanchor_83_286" id="FNanchor_83_286"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_286" class="fnanchor">[83]</a></p> + +<p>But had Peter not possessed, by divine commission, the +authority which he exercised, it is clear, from the conduct +of Paul, that he would have met with opposition from each +in proportion to his advance in Christian perfection. Paul's +censure of his indulgence to the prejudices of the circumcision, +proceeding as it did from charity, shews this. But +what would Paul, and what would the other Apostles +have done, had they seen Peter perpetually taking the +lead, and exercising the power of a head, without any +special title thereto? Would they not have resisted him +to the face, and before all, and declared that there was +no difference of authority between them? Yet, not a trace +of such resistance appears, while on numberless occasions +the Apostles, and the whole assembly of the faithful, yield +to him the Primacy, a sign truly that they recognized in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>him one who had received the place of Christ as visible +Head among them.</p> + +<p>The place of Christ <i>as visible Head</i>, for infinite indeed +is the distance between Christ and Peter, as to the headship +of mystical influx and the source of grace. Neither he nor +any creature has part with Christ as to this latter, of which +Paul writes, "that God hath set all things under His feet, +and given Him to be Head over all to the Church, which is +His body, the fulness of Him who filleth all in all;" of +which again, "from whom the whole body, being compacted +and fitly joined together, by what every joint supplieth, +according to the operation in the measure of every part +maketh increase of the body, unto the edifying of itself in +charity;" and "the husband is the head of the wife, as +Christ is the head of the Church, and He is the Saviour of +His body:" and all this "to present it to Himself a glorious +Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such +thing."<a name="FNanchor_84_287" id="FNanchor_84_287"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_287" class="fnanchor">[84]</a> In <i>this</i> sense Headship belongs to Christ, not +only first and chiefly, but absolutely and solely. But, as to +the Headship of external government and visible unity, +though here also the same Apostle calls Him, "the head of +the body the Church, who is the beginning, the first-born +from the dead; that in all things He may hold the primacy,"<a name="FNanchor_85_288" id="FNanchor_85_288"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_288" class="fnanchor">[85]</a> +to this Christ Himself has in a measure associated +Peter by saying to him specially, "Feed My sheep—follow +thou Me."</p> + +<p>And observe how that divine injunction was fulfilled. +For as following our Lord with loving gaze through the +Gospels we see every object grouped about that heavenly +figure of His; as our eyes rest ever upon Him in the synagogue, +in the market-place, among the crowd, before the +Pharisees, the elders, the chief priests, healing the sick, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>raising the dead, supporting and animating His disciples—so +turning to the Acts we see a human copy indeed of that +Divine portrait, but still one wrought by the Holy Spirit +out of our redeemed flesh and blood. We see the fervent +Apostle treading in his master's steps, the centre and the +support of his brethren, the first before the Council, and +before the people, ready with his words and his deeds, +uttering to the dead, as the echo of his Lord, "Arise," +and healing the sick with his shadow. With reason, then, +do the inspired writers use of Peter and of Christ similar +forms of speech, and as they write, "Jesus, and His disciples," +"there went with Him His disciples," "there He +abode with His disciples," so they write, "Peter standing up +with the Eleven," "they said to Peter and to the rest of +the Apostles," "Peter and the Apostles answering." What +above all is remarkable is to observe the same <i>proportion</i> +between the figure of Peter and the Apostles in the first +twelve chapters of the Acts, as between the figure of our +Lord and the Apostles in the Gospel. Such was the power +and the will of the Divine Master when He said, "Feed My +sheep; follow thou Me." Such the truth of the disciple, +answering, "Lord, Thou knowest all things, Thou knowest +that I love Thee."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_204" id="Footnote_1_204"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_204"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 138.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_205" id="Footnote_2_205"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_205"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 140. St. Chrys. in Acta, Hom. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_206" id="Footnote_3_206"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_206"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> St. Chrys. Hom. in Ascens., and on Acts, Tom. 3, p. 773.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_207" id="Footnote_4_207"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_207"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Acts xvii. 28-9, and compare 1 Cor. xii. 12-17 with Eph. iv. 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_208" id="Footnote_5_208"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_208"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Dionys. de Cœl. Hier. cap. 1, § 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_209" id="Footnote_6_209"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_209"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> S. Cyril. Thes. lib. 34, p. 352, and lib. 9, on John, p. 810.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_210" id="Footnote_7_210"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_210"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 143.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_211" id="Footnote_8_211"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_211"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 144.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_212" id="Footnote_9_212"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_212"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Acts i. 13; ii. 14; iii. 1-3; iv. 19; viii. 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_213" id="Footnote_10_213"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_213"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Acts i. 15; ii. 14, 37; iii. 4; v. 29.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_214" id="Footnote_11_214"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_214"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Acts ii. 13, 37, 38; iii. 11, 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_215" id="Footnote_12_215"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_215"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> St. Chrysostome.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_216" id="Footnote_13_216"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_216"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Euthalius, apud Zaccagnium, p. 410.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_217" id="Footnote_14_217"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_217"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> On Acts, Hom. 21, n. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_218" id="Footnote_15_218"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_218"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Hom. on beginning of Acts, n. 8. Tom. 3, 764.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_219" id="Footnote_16_219"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_219"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 148.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_220" id="Footnote_17_220"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_220"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> Ps. lxix. 26; cviii. 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_221" id="Footnote_18_221"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_221"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Hom. 3, in Act. n. 1, 2, 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_222" id="Footnote_19_222"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_222"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> [Greek: authentikôs.]</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_223" id="Footnote_20_223"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_223"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> [Greek: authentei.]</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_224" id="Footnote_21_224"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_224"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Acts 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_225" id="Footnote_22_225"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_225"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> On the Acts, Hom. 4, n. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_226" id="Footnote_23_226"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_226"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> St. Chrysostome, as before.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_227" id="Footnote_24_227"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_227"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 153.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_228" id="Footnote_25_228"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_228"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> Acts i. 8; John xv. 27.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_229" id="Footnote_26_229"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_229"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> On Acts, Hom. 7, n. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_230" id="Footnote_27_230"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_230"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Acts iv. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_231" id="Footnote_28_231"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_231"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Acts iii. 12-26; iv. 8-19.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_232" id="Footnote_29_232"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_232"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> Acts iii. 11, 12-26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_233" id="Footnote_30_233"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_233"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Acts iv. 7, 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_234" id="Footnote_31_234"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_234"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> On Acts, Hom. 8, n. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_235" id="Footnote_32_235"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_235"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Acts ii. 44; iv. 32; John xvii. 21.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_236" id="Footnote_33_236"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_236"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 157.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_237" id="Footnote_34_237"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_237"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> John xv. 22-4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_238" id="Footnote_35_238"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_238"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> Matt. x. 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_239" id="Footnote_36_239"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_239"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> Mark xvi. 15-17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_240" id="Footnote_37_240"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_240"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> John xx. 21.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_241" id="Footnote_38_241"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_241"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> Compare Acts ix. 33, with Mark ii. 3-11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_242" id="Footnote_39_242"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_242"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> Mark v. 40; Acts ix. 39.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_243" id="Footnote_40_243"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_243"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> Acts v. 12-14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_244" id="Footnote_41_244"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_244"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> Matt. xv. 30.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_245" id="Footnote_42_245"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_245"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 163.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_246" id="Footnote_43_246"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_246"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> Matt. xv. 24; x. 5; Acts i. 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_247" id="Footnote_44_247"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_247"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> St. Cyprian, Ep. 69. St. Jerome, dialogue con. Luciferianos.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_248" id="Footnote_45_248"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_248"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> Acts viii. 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46_249" id="Footnote_46_249"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_249"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 174.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47_250" id="Footnote_47_250"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_250"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> Eph. iii. 5; Mal. i. 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48_251" id="Footnote_48_251"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_251"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> Acts ix. 32.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49_252" id="Footnote_49_252"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_252"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> Bede on this text.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50_253" id="Footnote_50_253"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_253"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> Apoc. vii. 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_51_254" id="Footnote_51_254"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_254"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> Hær. 28, s. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52_255" id="Footnote_52_255"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_255"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> Hom. 24 on the Acts, n. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_53_256" id="Footnote_53_256"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_256"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> John iv. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54_257" id="Footnote_54_257"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_257"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 181.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_55_258" id="Footnote_55_258"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_258"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> Acts xi. 1-4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_56_259" id="Footnote_56_259"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_259"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> On Acts, Hom. 24, n. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57_260" id="Footnote_57_260"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_260"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> Lib. 9. Ep. 39.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_58_261" id="Footnote_58_261"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_261"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> Passaglia. p. 188.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59_262" id="Footnote_59_262"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_262"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> Acts v. 8. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_60_263" id="Footnote_60_263"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_263"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> On Acts, Hom. 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_61_264" id="Footnote_61_264"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_264"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 190.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_62_265" id="Footnote_62_265"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_265"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> Acts ix. 31.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_63_266" id="Footnote_63_266"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_266"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> Titus i. 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_64_267" id="Footnote_64_267"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_267"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> Acts xv. 36.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_65_268" id="Footnote_65_268"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_268"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> Hist. Ecc. Lib. 3, ch. 23.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_66_269" id="Footnote_66_269"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_269"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> So called by Arnobius, on psalm 138.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_67_270" id="Footnote_67_270"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_270"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> On Acts, Hom. 21, n. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_68_271" id="Footnote_68_271"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_271"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 192.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_69_272" id="Footnote_69_272"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_272"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> Acts xv. 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_70_273" id="Footnote_70_273"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_273"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> Hom. 32, n. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_71_274" id="Footnote_71_274"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_274"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> Hom. 32, Tom. 9, p. 250.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_72_275" id="Footnote_72_275"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_275"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> Acts xv. 28; xvi. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_73_276" id="Footnote_73_276"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_276"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> De Pudicitia, c. 21.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_74_277" id="Footnote_74_277"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_277"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> S. Jerome, Ep. 75, inter Augustinianas, Tom. 2, p. 171.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_75_278" id="Footnote_75_278"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_278"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> Theodoret, Ep. 113, Tom. 3, 984.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_76_279" id="Footnote_76_279"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_279"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 197.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_77_280" id="Footnote_77_280"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_280"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> On Acts, Hom. 26, n. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_78_281" id="Footnote_78_281"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_281"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 198.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_79_282" id="Footnote_79_282"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_282"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> 1 Pet. v. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_80_283" id="Footnote_80_283"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_283"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> Princeps hujus fuit decreti, says St. Jerome to St. Augustine, Ep. 75, n. 8. inter +Augustinianas.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_81_284" id="Footnote_81_284"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_284"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> Numbers xvi. 3; xii. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_82_285" id="Footnote_82_285"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_285"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> Acts vi. 1; xv. 2; xi. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_83_286" id="Footnote_83_286"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_286"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> Acts xi. 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_84_287" id="Footnote_84_287"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_287"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> Eph. i. 22; iv. 15; v. 23, 27.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_85_288" id="Footnote_85_288"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_288"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> Col. i. 18.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h3>TESTIMONY OF S. PAUL TO S. PETER'S PRIMACY.</h3> + + +<p>In leaving the Gospels and the Acts we quit those +writings in which we should expect, beforehand, that divine +government to be set forth, which it pleased our Lord to +establish for His church. In exact accordance with such +expectation we have seen the institution of the apostolic +college, and of S. Peter's Primacy over it, described in the +Gospels, and the history in the Acts of its execution and +practical working. Both institution and execution have +been complete in their parts, and wonderfully harmonise +with each other. But in the other inspired writings of the +New Testament, comprising the letters of various Apostles, +and specially of S. Paul, we had no reason to anticipate +any detailed mention of Church government. The fourteen +Epistles of S. Paul were written incidentally on different +subjects, no one of them leading him to set forth, with any +exact specification, that divine hierarchy under which it was +the pleasure of the Lord that His Church should grow up. +Moreover, it so happened that the <a name="FNanchor_1_289" id="FNanchor_1_289"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_289" class="fnanchor">[1]</a>circumstances of S. +Paul's calling to be an Apostle, and the opposition which he +sometimes met with from those attached to Jewish usages, +caused him to be a great defender of the Apostolic dignity, +as bestowed upon himself, and continually to assert that he +received it not of men, but of God. Had there, then, been +no recognition at all of S. Peter's superior rank in the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>Apostolic College to be found in his writings, it would not +have caused surprise to those who consider the above +reasons. And proportionably strong and effective is the +recognition of that rank, which, though incidental, does +occur, and that several times. If, then, S. Paul, being +so circumstanced, selected expressions which seem to indicate +a distinction of dignity between the Apostles and +S. Peter, they claim a special attention, and carry a +double force. Now on putting these together we shall +find that they show not merely a distinction of dignity, +but a superior authority, in Peter.</p> + +<p>The first are four several passages in the first Epistle +to the Corinthians, in all of which S. Peter holds the +higher place, and in two is moreover mentioned singly, +while the rest are mentioned only in mass. These are +the following, "Now this I say, that every one of you +saith: I indeed am of Paul; and I of Apollo; and I of +Cephas; and I of Christ." Again: "All things are yours, +whether it be Paul, or Apollo, or Cephas, or the world, +or life, or death, or things present, or things to come, for +all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's." +Again, "Have we not power to carry about a woman, a +sister, as well as the rest of the Apostles, and the brethren +of the Lord, and Cephas?" And once more: "That He +was seen by Cephas, and after that by the eleven."<a name="FNanchor_2_290" id="FNanchor_2_290"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_290" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> First, +we may remark that the place of dignity in a sentence +varies<a name="FNanchor_3_291" id="FNanchor_3_291"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_291" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> according to its nature: if it <i>descends</i>, such place +is the first; but if it <i>ascends</i>, it is the furthest point from +the first. Now in the first instance the discourse ascends, +for what can be plainer than that it terminates in Christ, +as in the supreme point? "Every one of you saith, I +indeed am of Paul, and I of Apollo, and I of Cephas, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>I of Christ;" so S. Chrysostome observes, "It was not +to prefer himself before Peter that he set him last, +but to prefer Peter even greatly before himself. For +he speaks in the ascending scale:" and Theodoret: +"They called themselves from different teachers: now he +mentioned his own name and that of Apollo: but +he adds also the name of the chief of the Apostles."<a name="FNanchor_4_292" id="FNanchor_4_292"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_292" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> +As plain is this in the second instance, where S. Paul, +developing his thought, "all things are yours," adds, +"whether Paul, or Apollo, or Cephas," or if that be not +sufficient, "the world" itself, which, carried away in a +sort of transport, he seems to divide into its parts, "or +life, or death, or things present, or things to come, all," +I repeat, "are yours:" but only, you are not your own, +"you are Christ's, and Christ is God's." In all which, +from human instruments, who plant and water, he rises +up to God, the ultimate source, the beginning and the +end. Stronger yet is the third passage, for being in the +very act of setting forth the dignity of his own Apostolate, +"have we not power," he says, "to lead about a sister, a +woman, as well as the rest of the Apostles, and the brethren +of the Lord, and Cephas?" Now, whether "the rest of the +Apostles" here means, those who, in the looser signification +are so called, as "the Apostles of the Churches," +and "Andronicus, and Junias—who are of note among +the Apostles,"<a name="FNanchor_5_293" id="FNanchor_5_293"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_293" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> or the original Twelve, the ascending +scale is equally apparent. For why is Peter distinguished +by name from all the rest? Why alone termed by his +prophetical name? S. Chrysostome, again tells us why. +"Look at Paul's wisdom. <i>He puts the chief the last. +For there he puts that which was strongest among the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>principal. For it was not so remarkable to shew the +rest doing this, as him that was chief, and had been +entrusted with the keys of heaven.</i> But he puts not +him alone, but all, as if he would say, whether you look +for inferiors, or superiors, you have examples of all. For +the brethren of the Lord, being delivered from their first +unbelief,<a name="FNanchor_6_294" id="FNanchor_6_294"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_294" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> were among the principal, though they had not +reached the height of Apostles, and, therefore, he put them +in the middle, with the highest on the two sides:"<a name="FNanchor_7_295" id="FNanchor_7_295"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_295" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> words +in which he seems to indicate that Peter was as excellent +among the Apostles, as they among the rest of the disciples, +and the Lord's brethren.</p> + +<p>Of the superiority contained in the fourth passage, +we have spoken above, under another head: and, therefore, +proceed to much more remarkable testimonies of S. +Paul.</p> + +<p>In the epistle to the Galatians, S. Paul has occasion<a name="FNanchor_8_296" id="FNanchor_8_296"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_296" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> to +defend his Apostolic authority, and the agreement of the +Gospel which he had preached with that of the original +Apostles. After referring to his marvellous conversion, +he continues, "immediately I condescended not to flesh +and blood; neither went I to Jerusalem to the Apostles, +who were before me, but I went into Arabia, and again I +returned to Damascus. Then, after three years, I went +to Jerusalem, to visit Peter, and I tarried with him fifteen +days. But other of the Apostles I saw none, saving James, +the brother of the Lord." At length, then, S. Paul goes +to Jerusalem, and that with a fixed purpose, "to visit +Peter." But why Peter only, and not the rest of the +Apostles, and the brethren of the Lord?<a name="FNanchor_9_297" id="FNanchor_9_297"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_297" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> Why speaks +he of these, and of James himself, besides, as if he would +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>intimate that he had little care of seeing them? No other +answer can be given to such queries, than is shadowed +out in the prophetic name of Peter, and contained in the +explanation of it given by Christ Himself, "Upon this +Rock I will build My Church."</p> + +<p>For, to prove this, let us go back once more to witnesses +beyond suspicion, who wrote a thousand years before the +denial of Peter's Primacy began. The Greek and Latin +Fathers see here a recognition of his chief authority. Thus +Theodoret, "Not needing doctrines from man, as having +received it from the God of all, he gives the fitting honour +to the chief." Theodoret follows S. Chrysostome, who +had said, "After so many great deeds, needing nothing +of Peter, nor of his instruction, but being his equal in +rank, for I will say no more here, still he goes up to +him as to the greater and elder:" his equal in the +Apostolic dignity, and the immediate reception of his +authority from Christ, but yet his inferior in the range +of his jurisdiction, Peter being "greater and elder." And +he goes on, "he went, but for this alone, to see him and +honour him by his presence. He says, I went up to +visit Peter. He said not to see Peter, but to visit Peter, +as they say, in becoming acquainted with great and +illustrious cities. So much pains he thought it worth +only to see the man." And he concludes, "This I repeat, +and would have you remember, lest you should suspect +the Apostle, on hearing anything which seems said against +Peter. For it was for this that he so speaks, correcting +by anticipation, that when he shall say, I resisted Peter, +no one may think these words of enmity and contention. +For he honours the man, and loves him more than all. +For he says that he came up for none of the Apostles, +save him." Elsewhere, S. Chrysostome, commenting on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> +the charge, Feed My sheep, asks, "Why, then, passing +by the rest, does He converse with him (Peter) on these +things?" And he replies, Peter "was the one preferred +among the Apostles, and the mouth-piece of the disciples, +and the head of the band: <i>therefore</i>, too, Paul then went +up to visit him <i>rather than the rest</i>."<a name="FNanchor_10_298" id="FNanchor_10_298"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_298" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> Tertullian, the +most ancient of the Latins, says, "then, as he relates +himself, he went up to Jerusalem for the purpose of +becoming acquainted with Peter, that is, according to +duty, and the claim of their identical faith and preaching:"<a name="FNanchor_11_299" id="FNanchor_11_299"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_299" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> +the <i>duty</i>, which Paul had to Peter; the <i>claim</i> +which Peter had on Paul. In the fourth century, Marius +Victorinus observes: "After three years, says he, I +came to Jerusalem; then he adds the cause, to see Peter. +For if the foundation of the Church was laid in Peter, +as is said in the Gospel, Paul, to whom all things had +been revealed, knew that he was <i>bound</i> to see Peter, as +one to whom so great an authority had been given by +Christ, not to learn anything from him."<a name="FNanchor_12_300" id="FNanchor_12_300"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_300" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> The writer +called Ambrosiaster, as his works are attached to those +of S. Ambrose, and contemporary with Pope Damasus, +(<span class="smcap">A. D.</span> 366-384) remarks, "It was proper that he should +desire to see Peter, because he was first among the +Apostles, to whom the Saviour had committed the care +of the Churches." S. Jerome, more largely, says, "not +to behold his eyes, his cheeks, or his countenance, whether +he were thin or stout, with nose straight or twisted, covered +with hair, or as Clement, in the Periods, will have it, bald. +It was not, I conceive, in the gravity of an Apostle, that +after so long as three years' preparation, he could wish +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>to see anything human in Peter. But he gazed on him +with those eyes with which now he is seen in his own +letters. Paul saw Cephas with eyes such as those with +which all wise men now look on Paul. If any one thinks +otherwise, let him join all this with the sense before indicated, +that the Apostles contributed nothing to each other. +For even in that he seemed to go to Jerusalem, in order +that he might see the Apostle, it was not to learn, as +having himself too the same author of his preaching, but +<i>to shew honour to the first Apostle</i>."<a name="FNanchor_13_301" id="FNanchor_13_301"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_301" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> Our own S. +Thomas sums up all these in saying, "the doctor of the +Gentiles, who boasts that he had learnt the Gospel, not +of man, nor through man, but instructed by Christ, went +up to Jerusalem, conferred concerning the faith <i>with the +head of the Churches</i>, lest perchance he might run, or +had run, in vain."<a name="FNanchor_14_302" id="FNanchor_14_302"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_302" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p> + +<p>These last words lead us attentively to consider the +passage which follows in S. Paul. At a subsequent +period the zealots of the law had raised against him +a report that the Gospel which he preached differed from +that of the Twelve. At once to meet and silence such a +calumny, he tells us that "after fourteen years, I went +up again to Jerusalem, with Barnabas, taking Titus also +with me. And I went up according to revelation, and," +assigning the particular purpose, "conferred with them +the Gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but apart +with them who seemed to be something; lest, perhaps, I +should run, or had run, in vain." Then, having proved +the identity of his doctrine with that of those who "seemed +to be something," that is, Peter, James, and John, though +to him they "added nothing," he specifies Peter among +these, and proceeds to draw a singular parallel between, on +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>the one hand, Peter, as accompanied by James and John, +and himself, as working with Barnabas and Titus. If we +set the clauses over against each other, this will be more +apparent:—</p> + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="parallel"> +<tr><td align="left">When they had seen that</td><td align="left" colspan="2">As to Peter was that of</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">to me was committed the Gospel </td><td align="left" colspan="2">the circumcision,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">of the uncircumcision,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">For He who wrought in</td><td align="left" colspan="2">Wrought in me also among</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Peter, to the Apostleship of</td><td align="left" colspan="2">the Gentiles,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">the circumcision,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><a name="FNanchor_15_303" id="FNanchor_15_303"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_303" class="fnanchor">[15]</a>James, and Cephas, and</td><td align="left" colspan="2">Gave to me and Barnabas</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">John, who seemed to be</td><td align="left" colspan="2">the right hand of fellowship;</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">pillars,</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>where it would appear that James and John stand in the +like relation to Cephas, as Barnabas and Titus, just before +mentioned, to Paul. And S. Chrysostome, who, it must +be remarked, reads Cephas, and not James, first, as do +some manuscripts and many Fathers, observes, "where it +was requisite to compare himself, he mentions Peter only, +but were to call a testimony, he names three together and +with praise, saying, 'Cephas, and James, and John, who +seemed to be pillars.'" And further, Paul "shows himself +to be of the same rank with them, and matches himself +not with the rest, but with the leader, showing that +each of them enjoyed the same dignity,"<a name="FNanchor_16_304" id="FNanchor_16_304"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_304" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> that is, of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>Apostolic commission, and the divine cooperation. And +Ambrosiaster explains the parallel: "Paul names Peter only, +and compares him to himself, as having received the Primacy +<i>for the founding of the Church</i>, he being in like manner +elected to hold a Primacy <i>in founding the Churches +of the Gentiles</i>, yet so that Peter, if occasion might be, +should preach to the Gentiles, and Paul to the Jews. +For both are found to have done both." And presently, +"by the Apostles who were the more illustrious among +the rest, whom for their stability he names pillars, and +who were ever in the Lord's secret council, being worthy +to behold His glory on the mount," (where Ambrosiaster +confuses James, the brother of the Lord, with James +the brother of John,) "by these he declares to have been +approved the gift which he received from God, that he should +be worthy to hold the Primacy in the preaching of the +Gentiles, as Peter held it in the preaching of the circumcision. +<i>And as he assigns to Peter for companions +distinguished men among the Apostles, so he joins Barnabas +to himself; yet he claims to himself alone the +grace of the Primacy as granted by God, like as to +Peter alone it was granted among the Apostles</i>.<a name="FNanchor_17_305" id="FNanchor_17_305"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_305" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p> + +<p>Now Baronius proves that the above words cannot be +taken of a division of jurisdiction, and that the singular +dignity of Peter is marked in them. "For as a mark +of his excellence Christ Himself, who came to save all +men, with whom there is no distinction of Jew and Greek, +was yet called 'minister of the circumcision,' by Paul, +(Rom. xv. 8,) a title of dignity, according to Paul's own +words, for theirs was 'the adoption of children, and the +glory, and the testament, and the giving of the law, +and the service of God, and the promises,' while 'the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>Gentiles praise God for His mercy,' But just as Christ +our Lord was so called minister of the circumcision, as +yet to be the Pastor and Saviour of all, so Peter too +was called the minister of the circumcision, in such +sense as yet to be by the Lord constituted (Acts ix. +32,) pastor and ruler of the whole flock. Whence S. +Leo, 'out of the whole world Peter alone is chosen +to preside over the calling of all the Gentiles, and over +all the Apostles, and the collected Fathers of the Church, +so that though there be among the people of God many +priests and many shepherds, yet Peter rules all by immediate +commission, whom Christ also rules by Sovereign +power.'"<a name="FNanchor_18_306" id="FNanchor_18_306"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_306" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></p> + +<p>The parallel, then, drawn by Paul between himself and +Peter, distinctly conveys that as he was superior to Barnabas +and Titus, and used their cooperation, so was Peter +among the Apostles, and specially the chief ones, James +and John, as their leader and head. For what is the +meaning of the words, "He who wrought in Peter to +the Apostleship of the circumcision?" Was the Apostleship +of the circumcision entrusted to Peter only? It +needs no proof that it was also entrusted to James and +John, nay, Paul himself immediately says so, "They gave +to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, that +<i>we</i> should go unto the Gentiles, and <i>they</i> unto the circumcision." +Why then does Paul so express himself as +to intimate that the Gospel of the circumcision was given +to Peter only? For the same reason that he said that +to himself "was committed the Gospel of the uncircumcision," +and that God "wrought in me also among the +Gentiles." Now Barnabas likewise had been<a name="FNanchor_19_307" id="FNanchor_19_307"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_307" class="fnanchor">[19]</a>separated +by the Holy Ghost Himself for the Gentile mission; Barnabas, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>too, and Titus were discharging the office of ambassadors +for Christ among the Gentiles: "that <i>we</i>," Paul +says, not I, "should go to the Gentiles." The terms, +therefore, used by Paul both of himself and Peter, do +not <i>exclude</i> the rest, but express the <i>superiority</i> of the +one named singly before the rest, as if he alone held the +charge. Their fittest interpretation, then, will be, "The +Apostles saw that the Gospel of the uncircumcision was +no less given to me <i>above</i> the rest, than the Gospel of +the circumcision to Peter <i>above</i> the rest; for He who +wrought in Peter <i>above</i> the rest in the Gospel of the +circumcision, wrought also in me <i>above</i> the rest in the +Gospel of the uncircumcision." But what can set forth +S. Peter's dignity more remarkably than to exhibit him +in the same light of superiority among the original Apostles, +as S. Paul was among S. Barnabas and his other +fellow-workers?</p> + +<p>Further confirmation of this is given by the argument +with which he refutes the calumny urged against him +of disagreement with the Apostles. For while he appeals +to them <i>in general</i>, and to his union with them, he likewise +<i>specifies</i> the point which favoured that union. It +was the parallel between himself and Peter, as we have +seen; it was the exact resemblance between his mission +and that of Peter, which was the cause of their joining +hands: they approve Paul's Apostleship because they see +that it follows the type of Peter's.</p> + +<p>And other words of Paul which follow, prove not only +the point of his own cause, but the source of Peter's +singular privileges. "But when Cephas was come to +Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was +to be blamed: for before that some came from James, +he did eat with the Gentiles; but when they were come<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> +he withdrew, and separated himself, fearing them who +were of the circumcision. And to his dissimulation the +rest of the Jews consented, so that Barnabas also was +led by them into that dissimulation. But when I saw +that they walked not uprightly unto the truth of the +Gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, If thou being +a Jew livest after the manner of the Gentiles, and not +as the Jews do, how dost thou compel the Gentiles to +live as the Jews?" For why did Paul here censure Peter +<i>only</i>? By his own account not only Peter, but the rest, +and Barnabas himself amongst them, set apart as he was +by the Holy Ghost to preach to the Gentiles, did not +defend Christian liberty, as they ought to have done. +Why, then, does he single out Peter among all these, +resist him to the face, and so firmly censure all, in his +person? No answer can be given but one: that by this +dissembling of Peter the zealots of the law gathered +double courage to press against Paul their calumny of +dissension from Peter, and to infer that he had run in +vain, from the indulgence which Peter showed; that +Peter's authority with all was so great that his example +drew the pastors and their flocks alike to his side, and +that it was requisite to correct the members in the head. +From this S. Chrysostome proves that it was really the +Apostle Peter, which some, as we shall soon see, denied: +"For to say, that I resisted him to the face, and to put +this as a great thing, was to show that he had not +reverenced the dignity of his person. But had he said it +of another, that I resisted him to the face, he would not +have put it as a great thing. Again, if it had been +another Peter, his change would have not had such force +as to draw the rest of the Jews with him. For he used +no exhortation, nor advice, but merely dissembled, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> +separated himself, and that dissembling and separation +had power to draw after him all the disciples, <i>on account +of the dignity of his person</i>."<a name="FNanchor_20_308" id="FNanchor_20_308"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_308" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> Again, another writer +of the fourth century tells us this: "Therefore he inveighs +against Peter alone, in order that the rest might learn +in the person of him who is the first."<a name="FNanchor_21_309" id="FNanchor_21_309"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_309" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> It was, then, +Peter's primacy, and the necessity of agreeing with him +thence arising, which led Paul to resist him publicly, +and, disregarding the conduct of the rest, to direct an +admonition to him alone. "So great," S. Jerome tells +us, on these two passages, "was Peter's authority, that +Paul in his epistle wrote, 'Then after three years I went +to Jerusalem to see Peter, and I tarried with him fifteen +days.' And again in what follows, 'After fourteen years +I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking +Titus also with me. And I went up according to revelation, +and conferred with them the Gospel which I preach +among the Gentiles,' <i>showing that he had no security in +preaching the Gospel, unless it were confirmed by the +sentence of Peter and those who were with him</i>."<a name="FNanchor_22_310" id="FNanchor_22_310"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_310" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p> + +<p>But this passage,<a name="FNanchor_23_311" id="FNanchor_23_311"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_311" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> concerning the reprehension of S. +Peter by S. Paul, has afforded so signal an instance +"of the unlearned and unstable wresting Scripture to +their own proper destruction,"<a name="FNanchor_24_312" id="FNanchor_24_312"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_312" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> that we must dwell a +little longer upon it. First, the Gnostics and the Marcionites +quoted it to accuse the Apostles of ignorance, +and to favour their own claim to a progressive light. In +Peter, they would have it, there was still a taint of +Judaism. Next Porphyry, who "raged against Christ +like a mad dog,"<a name="FNanchor_25_313" id="FNanchor_25_313"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_313" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> tried by this passage to weaken the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>authority of the Apostles, and to convict Paul of ambition +and rashness, who censured the first of the Apostles +and the leader of the band, not privately, but openly +before all, as S. Chrysostome and S. Jerome tell us. +Julian the apostate succeeded these, and tried, by means +of Paul's contention with Peter, to bring discredit on +the religion itself. For who, he asked, could value a +religion whose chief teachers were guilty of hypocrisy, +ignorance, and ambition? And in complete accordance +with the spirit of these, all, who, since the sixteenth +century, have attempted to impugn S. Peter's prerogatives, +have rested their chief effort on the exaggeration +and distortion of this reprehension. "This," says Baronius, +"is the stone of stumbling, and rock of offence, +on which a great number have dashed themselves. For +those, who without any diligent consideration have superficially +interpreted a difficult statement, have gone so far +in their folly as either to accuse Paul of rashness for +having inveighed against Peter not merely with freedom, +but wantonness, or to calumniate Peter as a hypocrite, +for acting with dissimulation; or to condemn both, for +not agreeing in the same rule of faith."<a name="FNanchor_26_314" id="FNanchor_26_314"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_314" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p> + +<p>In most remarkable contrast with these stand out three +several interpretations, which prevailed in early times, all +differing from each other in points, but all equally careful +to maintain the dignity of Peter, and to clear up the conduct +of Paul. First, from S. Clement of Alexandria in +the second century up to S. Chrysostome in the fourth, we +find a number of Greek writers asserting that it was not +the Apostle Peter, who was here meant, but another; S. +Jerome gives their reasons thus: "there are those who +think that Cephas, whom Paul here writes that he resisted +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>to the face, was not the Apostle Peter, but another of the +seventy disciples so called, and they allege that Peter could +not have withdrawn himself from eating with the Gentiles, +for he had baptized Cornelius the centurion, and on his +ascending to Jerusalem, being opposed by those of the circumcision +who said, 'why hast thou entered in to men uncircumcised, +and eaten with them?' after narrating the +vision, he terminates his answer thus: 'If, then, God hath +given to them the same grace as to us who believe in the +Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I should withstand God?' +On hearing which they were silent, and glorified God, +saying: 'Therefore to the Gentiles, also, God hath given +repentance unto life.' Especially as Luke, the writer of +the history, makes no mention of this dissension, nor even +says that Peter was at Antioch with Paul; and occasion +would be given to Porphyry's blasphemies, <i>if we could +believe either that Peter had erred, or that Paul had +impertinently censured the prince of the Apostles</i>."<a name="FNanchor_27_315" id="FNanchor_27_315"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_315" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></p> + +<p>But this interpretation, contrary both to internal evidence +and to early tradition, and suggested only by the +anxiety to defend S. Peter's dignity, did not prevail. +Another succeeded, supported by S. Chrysostome, S. Cyril, +and the greatest Greek commentators, and for a long time +by S. Jerome, even more remarkably opposed to the apparent +sense of the passage, and only, as it would seem, +dictated by the same desire to defend the dignity of +S. Peter, and the conduct of S. Paul. Admitting that it +was really Peter who was here mentioned, they maintained +that it was not a real dissension between the two +Apostles, but apparent only, and arranged both by the +one and the other, to terminate the question more decidedly. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>S. Chrysostome<a name="FNanchor_28_316" id="FNanchor_28_316"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_316" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> sets forth at great length this +opinion: "Do you see," says he, "how S. Paul accounts +himself the least of all saints, not of Apostles only? +Now he who was so disposed with respect to all, both +knew how great a prerogative Peter ought to enjoy, +and reverenced him most of all men, and was disposed +towards him as he deserved. And this is a proof. The +whole earth was looking to Paul; there rested on his +spirit the solicitude for the Churches of all the world. +A thousand matters engaged him every day; he was +besieged with appointments, commands, corrections, counsels, +exhortations, teachings, the administration of endless +business; yet giving up all these, he went to Jerusalem. +And there was no other occasion for this journey save +to see Peter, as he says himself: 'I went up to Jerusalem +to visit Peter.' Thus he honoured him, and preferred +him to all men." Suspecting, too, that an accusation +against Peter's unwavering faith, might be brought from +the words, "fearing those of the circumcision," he breaks +out, 'What say you? Peter fearful and unmanly? Was +he not for this called Peter, that his faith was immovable? +What are you doing, friend? Reverence the name given +by the Lord to the disciple. Peter fearful and unmanly! +Who will endure you saying such things?'"</p> + +<p>Now compare<a name="FNanchor_29_317" id="FNanchor_29_317"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_317" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> together these two interpretations of the +Greek Fathers with that of the reformers and their adherents +since the sixteenth century. A more complete antagonism +of feelings and principles cannot be conceived. +I. There is not a Greek Father who does not infer the singular +authority of Peter from the first and second chapter +of the epistle to the Galatians. There is not an adherent +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>of the reformers who does not trust that he can draw from +those same chapters matter to impugn S. Peter's Primacy. +II. The Greek Fathers anxiously search out every point +which may conduce to Peter's praise. The adherent of the +reformers suppresses all such, and seems not to see them. +III. If anything in Paul's account seems at first sight to +tell against Peter's special dignity, the Greek Fathers are +studious carefully to remove it; the adherents of the reformers +to exaggerate it. IV. The Greek Fathers prefer +slightly to force the obvious meaning of the words, and to +desert the original interpretation, rather than set Apostles +at variance with each other, or admit that Peter, the chief +of the Apostles, was not treated with due deference. The +adherents of the reformers intensify everything, take it in +the worst sense, and are the more at home, the more bitterly +they inveigh against Peter.</p> + +<p>Now turn to the third interpretation, that of the Latin +Fathers. They admit both that it was Peter and that +it was a real dissension, but they are as anxious as +the Greek to defend Peter's dignity. Thus Tertullian:<a name="FNanchor_30_318" id="FNanchor_30_318"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_318" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> +"If Peter was blamed—certainly it was a fault of <i>conduct</i>, +not of <i>preaching</i>." And Cyprian:<a name="FNanchor_31_319" id="FNanchor_31_319"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_319" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> "not even Peter, +whom first the Lord chose, and upon whom He built +His Church, when afterwards Paul disagreed with him +respecting circumcision, claimed aught proudly, or assumed +aught arrogantly to himself, saying that he held +the Primacy, and that obedience rather was due to him by +those younger and later." And Augustine: "Peter himself +received with the piety of a holy and benignant humility +what was with advantage done by Paul in the freedom of +charity. And so he gave to posterity a rarer and a holier +example, that they should not disdain, if perchance they +left the right track, <i>to be corrected even by their youngers</i>,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> +than Paul, that even <i>inferiors</i> might confidently venture to +resist <i>superiors</i>, maintaining brotherly charity, in the defence +of evangelical truth. For better as it is on no +occasion to quit the proper path, yet much more wonderful +and praiseworthy is it, willingly to accept correction, +than boldly to correct deviation. Paul then has +the praise of just liberty, and <i>Peter of holy humility</i>: +which, so far as seems to me according to my small +measure, had been a better defence against the calumnies +of Porphyry, than the giving him greater occasion +of finding fault: for it would be a much more stinging +accusation that Christians should with deceit either write +their epistles, or bear the mysteries of their God."<a name="FNanchor_32_320" id="FNanchor_32_320"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_320" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></p> + +<p>Now, to see the<a name="FNanchor_33_321" id="FNanchor_33_321"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_321" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> fundamental opposition between the +Greek and Latin Fathers, and the reformers, let us observe +that, though there are three ancient interpretations of this +passage, differing from each other, the first denying that +the Cephas so reprehended by Paul, was the chief of the +Apostles, the second affirming this, but reducing the whole +contention to an arrangement of prudence between the +two Apostles, and the third maintaining the reality of the +reprehension, yet all three have in common the reconciling +Peter's chief dignity with the reprehension of him, and the +two latter, besides, are much more careful to admire his +modesty, than Paul's liberty, and make the most of every +point in the narration setting forth Peter's Primacy. On +the other hand the reformers use this reprehension as +their sharpest weapon against his authority, praise Paul's +liberty to the utmost in order to depress that authority, +hunt out everything against Peter, and pass over everything +for him. It is equally evident that their motive in this +runs counter to the faith universal in the Church during +the first four centuries; and that their inference cannot be +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>accepted without rejecting all Christian antiquity, and the +very sentiments expressed by Paul himself, as we have +seen, towards Peter.</p> + +<p>But as to the reprehension itself, it would seem to have +been not on a point of <i>doctrine</i> at all, but of <i>conduct</i>. S. +Peter had long ago both admitted the Gentiles into the +Church, and declared that they were not bound to the +Jewish law. But out of regard to the feelings of the +circumcised converts, he pursued a line of conduct at +Antioch, which they mistook to mean an approval of their +error, and which needed, therefore, to be publicly cleared +up. Accordingly, Peter's fault, if any there were, amounted +to this, that having, with the best intention, done what was +not forbidden, he had not sufficiently foreseen what others +would thence infer contrary to his own intention. Can this +be esteemed either a dogmatic error, or a proof of his not +holding supreme authority? But the <i>event</i> being injurious, +and contrary to the truth of the Gospel, why should not +Paul admonish Peter concerning it? But very remarkable +it is, that he quotes S. Peter's own example and authority, +opposes the antecedent to the consequent fact, and maintains +Gospel liberty by Peter's own conduct. S. Chrysostome +remarked this. "Observe his prudence. He said +not to him, Thou dost wrong, in living as a Jew, but he +alleges his former mode of living, that the admonition and +the counsel may seem to come not from Paul's mind, but +from the judgment of Peter already expressed. For had +he said, Thou dost wrong to keep the law, Peter's disciples +would have blamed him, but now, hearing that this admonition +and correction came not from Paul's judgment, but +that Peter himself so lived, and held in his mind this belief, +whether they would, or would not, they were obliged to be +quiet."<a name="FNanchor_34_322" id="FNanchor_34_322"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_322" class="fnanchor">[34]</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span></p> +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_289" id="Footnote_1_289"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_289"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 206.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_290" id="Footnote_2_290"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_290"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> 1 Cor. i. 12; iii. 22; ix. 5: xv. 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_291" id="Footnote_3_291"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_291"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 124-6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_292" id="Footnote_4_292"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_292"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> S. Chrys. in 1 Cor. Hom. 3, n. 2. Theodoret on text.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_293" id="Footnote_5_293"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_293"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> 2 Cor. viii. 23; Rom. xvi. 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_294" id="Footnote_6_294"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_294"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> John vii. 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_295" id="Footnote_7_295"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_295"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> In 1 Cor. Hom. 21. n. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_296" id="Footnote_8_296"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_296"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 208.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_297" id="Footnote_9_297"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_297"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Gal. i. 16-19.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_298" id="Footnote_10_298"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_298"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Theodoret and Chrysostome on the text, and on John, Hom. 88.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_299" id="Footnote_11_299"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_299"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> De Præsc. c. 23.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_300" id="Footnote_12_300"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_300"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Comm. in Gal. i. 18. Mai nova collectio. Tom. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_301" id="Footnote_13_301"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_301"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Ambrosiaster and S. Jerome on the text.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_302" id="Footnote_14_302"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_302"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> S. Thomas Cant. Epist. Lib. i, 97.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_303" id="Footnote_15_303"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_303"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> An argument has been drawn by some against S. Peter's primacy from S. Paul here +placing S. James first. Now as to this we must remark that some most ancient manuscripts, +and the original Latin version, read "Peter, and James, and John," and that this is +followed by Tertullian, Chrysostome, Ambrose, Ambrosiaster, Augustine, Theodoret, Jerome, +Irenæus, Gregory of Nyssa, and Cassiodorus, of whom Jerome is the more important, in +that he had studied so many ancient commentaries before writing his own. But supposing +that the vulgar reading is the true one, Peter's being once placed by S. Paul between S. +James and S. John will not counterbalance the vast positive evidence for his primacy. +Those who wish to see the probable reasons why S. James was here placed first, may consult +Passaglia, b. 1, c. 14, who treats of the question at length. Perhaps S. Paul, narrating +historically a past incident, recalled them to his recollection <i>in the order of time</i>, in which +they received him: and S. James, residing constantly at Jerusalem, might very probably +have seen him first.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_304" id="Footnote_16_304"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_304"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> S. Chrys. in Gal. c. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_305" id="Footnote_17_305"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_305"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> Comm. on Gal. ii. 7, 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_306" id="Footnote_18_306"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_306"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Baron. Ann. <span class="smcap">A. D.</span> 51. § 29. S. Leo. Serm. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_307" id="Footnote_19_307"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_307"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Acts xiii. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_308" id="Footnote_20_308"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_308"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Hom. on, I resisted Him to the face, n. 15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_309" id="Footnote_21_309"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_309"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Ambrosiaster on Gal. ii. 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_310" id="Footnote_22_310"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_310"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Epist. inter. Augustin. 75, n. 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_311" id="Footnote_23_311"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_311"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 217.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_312" id="Footnote_24_312"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_312"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> 2 Pet. iii. 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_313" id="Footnote_25_313"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_313"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> S. Jerome.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_314" id="Footnote_26_314"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_314"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> Ad. Ann. 51, § 32.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_315" id="Footnote_27_315"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_315"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> S. Jerome on Gal. ch. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_316" id="Footnote_28_316"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_316"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Homily on the text, I resisted him to the face, n. 8, Tom. 3, p. 368.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_317" id="Footnote_29_317"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_317"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 232.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_318" id="Footnote_30_318"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_318"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> De Præse. c. 24.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_319" id="Footnote_31_319"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_319"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> Cyprian, Ep. 71.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_320" id="Footnote_32_320"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_320"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Ep. 82, n. 22.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_321" id="Footnote_33_321"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_321"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 240.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_322" id="Footnote_34_322"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_322"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> Hom. on text, n. 17.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h3>S. PETER'S PRIMACY INVOLVED IN THE FOURFOLD UNITY +OF CHRIST'S KINGDOM.</h3> + + +<p>The doctrine<a name="FNanchor_1_323" id="FNanchor_1_323"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_323" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> of S. Paul has brought us to a most +interesting point of the subject, what, namely, is the +principle of unity in the Church. A short consideration +of this will shew us how the office of S. Peter enters into +and forms part of the radical idea of the Church, so that +the moment we profess our belief in one holy Catholic +Church, the belief is likewise involved in that Primacy of +teaching and authority which makes and keeps it one.</p> + +<p>The principle of unity, then, is no other than "the Word +made flesh:" that divine Person who has for ever joined +together the Godhead and the Manhood. Thus, S. Paul +speaks to us of God "having made known to us the +mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure, +which He purposed in Himself, in the dispensation of +the fulness of times, <i>to gather together under one head +all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which +are on earth</i>:" at whose resurrection, "He set all things +under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all to the +Church, which is His body, the fulness of Him who +filleth all in all." And again, "the head of every man +is Christ;—and the head of Christ is God." "And we +being many are one body in Christ, and every one members +one of another:"<a name="FNanchor_2_324" id="FNanchor_2_324"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_324" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> as, again, he sets forth at length +in the 12th chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>calling that one body by the very name of +Christ.</p> + +<p>With one voice the ancient Fathers<a name="FNanchor_3_325" id="FNanchor_3_325"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_325" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> exult in this as +the great purpose of His Incarnation. "The work," says +S. Hippolytus,<a name="FNanchor_4_326" id="FNanchor_4_326"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_326" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> "of His taking a body, is the gathering +up into one head of all things unto Him." "The Word +Man," says S. Irenæus,<a name="FNanchor_5_327" id="FNanchor_5_327"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_327" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> "gathering all things up into +Himself, that as in super-celestial, and spiritual, and invisible +things, the Word of God is the chief, so also in +visible and corporeal things He may hold the chiefship, +assuming the Primacy to Himself, and joining Himself +as Head to the Church, may draw all things to Himself, +at the fitting time." And again, "The Son of God +was made Man among men, to join the end to the +beginning, that is, man to God;" or, as Tertullian says,<a name="FNanchor_6_328" id="FNanchor_6_328"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_328" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> +"that God might shew that in Himself was the evolution +of the beginning to the end, and the return of the end +to the beginning." And Œcumenius, "Angels and men +were rent asunder; God then joined them, and made +them one through Christ." S. Gregory Thaumaturgus +breaks out, "Thou art He that didst bridge over heaven +and earth by Thy sacred body." And Augustine,<a name="FNanchor_7_329" id="FNanchor_7_329"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_329" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> "Far +off He was from us, and very far. What, so far off as +the creature and the Creator? What, so far off as God +and man? What, so far off as justice and iniquity? What, +so far off as eternity and mortality? See how far off was +'the Word in the beginning, God with God, by whom all +things were made.' How, then, was He made nigh, that +He might be as we, and we in Him? 'The Word was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>made flesh.'" "Man, being assumed, was taken into the +nature of the Godhead," says S. Hilary:<a name="FNanchor_8_330" id="FNanchor_8_330"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_330" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> and S. Chrysostome,<a name="FNanchor_9_331" id="FNanchor_9_331"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_331" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> +"He puts on flesh, that He who cannot be +held may be holden:" "dwelling with us," says Gregory<a name="FNanchor_10_332" id="FNanchor_10_332"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_332" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> +of Nazianzum, "by interposing His flesh as a veil, that +the incomprehensible may be comprehended." "For +since," adds S. Cyril,<a name="FNanchor_11_333" id="FNanchor_11_333"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_333" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> "man's nature was not capable +of approaching the pure and unmixed glory of the Godhead, +because of its inherent weakness, for our use the +only-begotten one put on our likeness." "In the assumption +of our nature," says S. Leo,<a name="FNanchor_12_334" id="FNanchor_12_334"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_334" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> "He became to us the +step, by which through Him we may be able to mount +unto Him:" "the descent of the Creator to the creature +is the advance of believers to things eternal:" and, "it +is not doubtful that man's nature has been taken into +such connection by the Son of God, that, not only in +that Man who is the first-born of all creation, but even +in all His saints, there is one and the same Christ: and +as the Head cannot be divided from the limbs, so neither +the limbs from the Head. For though it belong not to +this life, but to that of eternity, that God be all in all, yet +even now He is the undivided inhabitant of His temple, +which is the Church." For all the above is contained in +our Lord's own words, "that they all may be one, as Thou, +Father, in Me, and I in Thee," on which S. Athanasius<a name="FNanchor_13_335" id="FNanchor_13_335"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_335" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> +says, "that all, being carried by Me, may be all one body +and one spirit, and reach the perfect man:"—"for, as the +Lord having clothed Himself in a body, became man, so +we men are deified by the Word, being assumed through +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>His flesh." S. Gregory,<a name="FNanchor_14_336" id="FNanchor_14_336"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_336" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> of Nyssa, has unfolded this +idea thus: "since from no other source but from our lump +was the flesh which received God, which, by the resurrection, +was together with the Godhead exalted; just as in +our own body the action of one organ of sense communicates +sympathy to all that which is united with the part, +so, just as if the whole nature (of man) were one living creature, +the resurrection of a part passes throughout the +whole, being communicated from the part to the whole, +according to the nature's continuity and union." And +another,<a name="FNanchor_15_337" id="FNanchor_15_337"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_337" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> interpreting the words, "that they all may be +one," "thus I will, that they being drawn into unity, may +be blended with each other, and becoming as one body, +may all be in Me, who carry all in that one temple which +I have assumed; the temple, namely, of His Body." And +lastly, S. Hilary<a name="FNanchor_16_338" id="FNanchor_16_338"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_338" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> deduces this not only from the Incarnation, +but from the Blessed Eucharist. "For, if the Word +be really made flesh, and we really receive the Word as +flesh, in the food of the Lord, how is He not to be thought to +remain in us naturally, since, both in being born a man, He +assumed the nature of our flesh, never to be severed from +Him, and has joined the nature of His flesh to the eternal +nature under the sacrament of the flesh to be communicated +to us."</p> + +<p>So deep in the junction of the divine and human natures +in our Lord's adorable Person lies the root of unity for +that humanity which He purchased with His blood. It +is in virtue of this headship that the whole mystical body +is one, and "we all members one of another." By this +headship our Lord nourishes and cherishes the Church, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>and communicates to her incessantly that stream of grace +by which she lives. And as this headship flows from the +union of the Godhead and Manhood, so it is inseparable +from His Person, and incommunicable. But He has Himself, +in His parting discourse, recorded by S. John, dwelt +upon the great sacrament of unity, the result of this +headship, and set it forth as the sign and seal of His +own divine mission, and the one convincing proof of His +religion's superhuman origin. By following His words +we shall see that this unity is not simple but fourfold, +and we shall trace the mutual relation and subordination +to the divine Headship of its several kinds.</p> + +<p>1. And first, "In<a name="FNanchor_17_339" id="FNanchor_17_339"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_339" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> that day," says He, that is, after His +own resurrection, "ye shall know that I am in My Father, +and you in Me, and I in you," whereby He declares that, +in the completion of the dispensation, the union between +Himself and the faithful shall be such as to image out +the mutual indwelling of the Father and the Son. Which +again is further expressed, "I<a name="FNanchor_18_340" id="FNanchor_18_340"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_340" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> am the true vine, and +My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in Me +that beareth not fruit He will take away: and every one +that beareth fruit, He will purge it, that it may bring +forth more fruit.... I am the vine; you the branches: +he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same beareth +much fruit: for without Me you can do nothing. If +any one abide not in Me, he shall be cast forth as a +branch, and shall wither, and they shall gather him up +and cast him into the fire, and he burneth. If you +abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you shall +ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you." +In these words He sets forth that union of mystical +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>influx, by cooperation with which His disciples keep +His words and abide in His love, and of which He is +Himself the immediate principle.</p> + +<p>2. But He does not stop at this interior and invisible +union between His disciples and Himself: He speaks +likewise of a new and special command, and of a special +gift, by which their union with each other should be +known. "A<a name="FNanchor_19_341" id="FNanchor_19_341"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_341" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> new command I give unto you, that you +love one another: as I have loved you, that you also +love one another. By this shall all men know that you +are My disciples, if you have love one to another." And +again, "This<a name="FNanchor_20_342" id="FNanchor_20_342"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_342" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> is My command, that you love one another, +as I have loved you. Greater love than this hath no +man, that any one lay down his life for his friends.—These +things I command you, that you love one another." +But the Holy Spirit, whom our Lord was about to send +forth, is the efficient principle of the love here enjoined, +by His substantial indwelling, as we are told, "The<a name="FNanchor_21_343" id="FNanchor_21_343"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_343" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> +charity of God is poured forth in our hearts by the +Holy Ghost who is given to us." From Him, therefore, +bestowed by the Head of the Church, springs that unity +of charity, which, being itself internal, is shown in outward +signs, and constitutes that distinctive spirit of the +Christian people, the spirit characterising it, and analogous +to the national spirit in civil organization.</p> + +<p>3. But our Lord likewise speaks of a third unity, +springing from the direction of one and the same divine +Spirit. "And<a name="FNanchor_22_344" id="FNanchor_22_344"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_344" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> I will ask the Father, and He shall +give you another Paraclete, that He may abide with +you for ever: the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot +receive, because it seeth Him not, nor knoweth Him: +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>but you shall know Him, because He shall abide with +you, and shall be in you." "The Paraclete, the Holy +Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He +will teach you all things, and bring all things to your +mind whatsoever I shall have said to you." "It<a name="FNanchor_23_345" id="FNanchor_23_345"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_345" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> is expedient +to you that I go: for if I go not, the Paraclete +will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to +you." "But when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He +will teach you all truth. For He shall not speak of +Himself, but what things soever He shall hear, He shall +speak; and the things that are to come, He shall show +you. He shall glorify Me, because He shall receive of +Mine, and shall show it to you." Of the nature of this +unity we may judge by the gifts and offices assigned +to that Spirit and Paraclete from whom it springs. Now +He is repeatedly termed "the Spirit of truth," and His +office, to <i>suggest</i>, to <i>announce</i>, to <i>teach</i>, and <i>to lead +into all truth</i>. This unity, therefore, is opposed to the +division produced by ignorance and error, and so is the +unity of faith, or Christian profession. Thus our Lord +promises, besides the unity of charity, that of faith, the +efficient principle of which, as well as of the former, is +contained in the communication of the Holy Spirit. But +it is no less true in the supernatural order of divine +gifts, than in the order of nature, that the first cause +produces its effects by means of second causes. And +here, as often as the Lord promises the Spirit of truth, +He promises Him <i>to the Apostles</i>, and assures His perpetual +abidance with them and the successors in their +charge, thus, "That He may abide with you for ever:" +"He shall abide with you, and shall be in you:" "He +shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>mind which I have said unto you:" "Whom I will send +unto you from the Father:" "I will send Him unto you:" +"He shall lead you into all truth:" "He shall show you +the things that are to come." And so the unity of faith +may be expected from its <i>supreme</i> cause, the Holy Spirit +the Paraclete, <i>through the medium</i> of the Apostles and +their legitimate successors: the Holy Spirit in its <i>ultimate</i>, +but they its <i>subordinate</i> principle: He is the <i>source</i>, but +they the <i>channel</i>. Thus to trust to the invisible action +of the Spirit, but to despise the office and direction of the +teachers ordained by Christ, in the very virtue of that +Spirit, is to reject His divine institution, and to risk a +shipwreck of the promised gift of faith and truth.</p> + +<p>For in exact accordance with our Lord's words here, +S. Paul has set forth not only the institution, but the source, +as well as the end and purpose, of the whole visible hierarchy. +It is instituted by our Lord, as an act of His divine +headship; its source is in "one and the same Spirit dividing +to every one according as He will;" its end and purpose +is, "the edifying the body of Christ, until we all meet into +the unity of faith."<a name="FNanchor_24_346" id="FNanchor_24_346"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_346" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p> + +<p>Each of these points is important. Our Lord's divine +headship over the Church, all encompassing, as it is, and +the spring of all blessing and unity, does not dispense with +the establishment of a visible hierarchy, but rather is +specially shown therein. And again, the Holy Spirit is the +source and superior principle of all spiritual gifts to all, but +yet He acts <i>through</i> this hierarchy. He is the spirit who +maintains faith and truth, but it is by the instruments of +His own appointing.</p> + +<p>Now these three points, the bestowal of all spiritual gifts +and offices by Christ in virtue of His mystical headship, the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>Holy Spirit being the one superior principle of such gifts +and offices, and His manifold operation therein through the +visible hierarchy, are set forth most distinctly in two passages +of S. Paul, the twelfth chapter of the First to the +Corinthians, and the fourth chapter to the Ephesians. +"To every one of us is given grace, according to the measure +of the giving of Christ. Wherefore he saith, Ascending +on high He led captivity captive; He gave gifts to men. +Now that He ascended, what is it but because He also descended +first into the lower parts of the earth? He that +descended is the same also that ascended above all the heavens, +that He might fill all things. And He gave some +Apostles, and some prophets, and other some evangelists, +and other some pastors and doctors, for the perfecting of +the saints, unto the work of the ministry, unto the edifying +of the body of Christ, until we all meet into the +unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, +unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the +fulness of Christ; that henceforth we be no more children +tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of +doctrine by the wickedness of men, by cunning craftiness +by which they lie in wait to deceive. But doing the +truth in charity, we may in all things grow up in Him +who is the Head, even Christ; from whom the whole +body, being compacted and fitly joined together, by what +every joint supplieth, according to the operation in the +measure of every part, maketh increase of the body, unto +the edifying of itself in charity." "And the manifestation +of the Spirit is given to every man unto profit. To one +indeed by the Spirit is given the word of wisdom; and to +another the word of knowledge, according to the same +Spirit; to another, faith, in the same Spirit; to another, +the grace of healing, in one Spirit; to another, the working<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> +of miracles; to another, prophecy; to another, the +discerning of spirits; to another, divers kinds of tongues; +to another interpretation of speeches. But all these things +one and the same Spirit worketh, dividing to every one according +as He will. For as the body is one, and hath many +members; and all the members of the body, whereas they +are many, yet are one body, so also is Christ. For in one +Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or +Gentiles, whether bond or free, and in one Spirit we have +all been made to drink."<a name="FNanchor_25_347" id="FNanchor_25_347"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_347" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></p> + +<p>Thus, then, we have been brought by the words both of +our Lord and of S. Paul, through an inward invisible unity, +that of mystical influx from the vine to its branches, and +again, that of charity, and that of faith and truth, to an +outward and visible unity, one of social organization, called +forth by the great Head for the purpose of exhibiting, defending, +maintaining, and conveying the former, since it is +expressly said that He gave it "for the perfecting of the +saints, unto the work of the ministry, unto the edifying of +the body of Christ," and in order that "we may be no +more children tossed to and fro, and carried about by every +wind of doctrine." And the inward source and cause of +this unity are indeed invisible, being the Holy Spirit of +God, sent down by Christ, when He ascended up on high, +to dwell permanently among men, but its effects are external +and most visible, even the growth of a body "unto a +perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fulness of +Christ," a body which has an orderly arrangement of all +its parts, and a hierarchy of officers to continue till the end +of all. And the function of this hierarchy is one never to +be superseded, and which none but itself, the organ of the +Holy Spirit, can perform, namely, to bring its members "to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>meet in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the +Son of God." As our Lord says, in the promise, before +His passion, "I will ask the Father, and He shall give you +(the Apostles) another Paraclete, that He may abide with +you for ever, the Spirit of truth," so S. Paul of the accomplishment +after His ascension, "He gave some Apostles and +some prophets, and other some evangelists, and other some +pastors and doctors," yet "all these things worketh one and +the same Spirit." For as the divine Head took to Himself +a body, bridging thereby the worlds of matter and of spirit, +and as "in Him dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead <i>corporally</i>," +so in His Church, in perfect analogy with the +Archetype, the visible is the channel of the invisible, and +the outward organization is instinct with inward life, and +the hierarchy is the gift of the mystical Head, and the instrument +of the one sanctifying Spirit. To think otherwise, +to disregard the external framework, under a pretence +of exalting the inward spirit, is to undo so far the +work of the Incarnation, and to renew the insanity of +those early heretics who in one way or another would +"dissolve" Christ; for there is no less "one Body," than +there is "one Spirit."</p> + +<p>But if His headship of mystical influx is <i>alone</i> and +<i>immediately</i> sufficient, as is so often objected, for the +maintenance of external unity, to what end is the creation +of this visible hierarchy? For the objection that +the invisible headship of Christ renders a visible headship +unnecessary, and indeed an infringement on His sole +divine prerogative, whatever force it may have, tells not +more against an œcumenical head of the Church, than +against every order and officer of the hierarchy. These +all, and with them the whole system of sacraments as +well as symbols, become alike unnecessary and even injurious,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> +if each member of the mystical body be knit to +Christ <i>immediately</i> without any outward framework. And +with what face especially can those maintain that the +bishop is the visible head of each diocese, and in being +such does not contradict, but illustrate, the headship of +Christ, who yet deny that there is one in the whole +Church put in the like place over bishops, and see in +such an appointment an infringement on the office of +Christ? Such an argument is so profoundly illogical and +inconsistent, that one has difficulty in believing it to be +seriously held, or is hopeless of bringing conviction to +those who cannot see an absurdity.</p> + +<p>Let those, then, who confound together the supreme +Headship of Christ over His Church, whereby He communicates +to it life and grace, with the inferior and +subordinate headship of external unity, see to what their +objection tends. It stops at nothing short of destroying +the whole visible hierarchy, and the sacramental grace +of which it is the channel. Holy Scripture, on the contrary, +tells us in these passages that the providence by +which the Church is governed resembles that by which +this outward universe is ruled, in the subordination of +second causes to the supreme cause. Christ repeats as +Redeemer His work as Creator, to give life and force +to these second causes, and while He works in the members +of His body both "to will and to do," bestows on +them the privilege of cooperating with Him. Thus the +dignity of supreme Head which belongs to Christ, and is +incommunicable, no more takes away the ministry of the +external head who is charged with the office of effecting +and maintaining unity, than it impedes the ministry of +"apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and doctors," to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> +whom Christ entrusted the Church, that by their means +it might be brought to sanctity and perfection.</p> + +<p>4. And these words bring us to the fourth unity mentioned +by our Lord. For not until "He ascended up on +high" did "He give gifts to men." And this visible hierarchy, +the sign and token of His mystical Headship, and +fostering care, is by Him quickened and informed with +the Holy Spirit, when He is Himself invisible at the right +hand of the majesty of God. This absence, too, is what +He foretold, saying, "And now I am not in the world, +and these are in the world, and I come to thee; Holy +Father, keep them in Thy name whom Thou hast given +Me; that they may be one, as we also are. While I +was with them, I kept them in Thy name.—And now I +come to Thee."—These words of our Lord show that it +was His will that His believers should be no less one +among each other, by an outward and visible union, +than they were one by the internal bond of charity, the +guidance of one Spirit of truth, and the influx of the one +Vine. And so far we have seen that, to guard and maintain +that unity under the guidance of the Spirit of truth, +He called forth the visible hierarchy, in all its degrees. +But what, then, was the external root and efficient principle +of this visible hierarchy, when He was gone to +the Father? Did He not likewise provide for the loss +occasioned by His own absence, which He had foretold? +The argument of S. Paul proves that He did so provide, +as well as His own words. For S. Paul declares the +Church to be "one Body." Was it then a body without +a head, or a body with a head invisible? Or did the Lord +of all, having with complete wisdom framed His mystical +body in all its parts and proportions, and having set <i>first</i> +Apostles, and then in their various degree, doctors and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> +pastors, in one single, and that the main point, reverse +the analogy of all His doings? Did He appoint every +officer in His household, except the one who should rule +all? Did He construct the entire arch, save only the +keystone? Did He make a bishop to represent His person, +and be the centre of visible unity in every diocese, +but none to represent that person in the highest degree +and to be the centre of unity to the whole Church? Was +it the end of His whole design "to gather together in one +the children of God, that were dispersed," in order that +there might be "One Fold," and did He fail to add, "One +Shepherd?" Yet S. Paul declares that "there are many +members, but one body." How can the distinct and +diverse members be reduced to the unity of a body, +but by the unity of the head, as the efficient principle? +In accordance with which we may observe that never +is the image of a body used in Scripture to represent +the Church, but it is thereby shown to be visible; and +never is it compared with a body as a type, but that +body is shown complete with its head. Such are the +well-known images of one House, Kingdom, City, Fold, +and Temple, to which we have had so often to appeal. +Even the unity of things in themselves dissimilar is +derived in Scripture from the unity of the Head. Thus +the man and the woman are said in marriage to be one, +and that in a great mystery, representing Christ and the +Church, but this, because "the husband is the head of +the wife." And Christ is said to be one with the faithful, +because "the head of every man is Christ:" and +God one with Christ, because "the head of Christ is +God." If, then,<a name="FNanchor_26_348" id="FNanchor_26_348"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_348" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> the Church is one body, it receives, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>according to the reasoning of Holy Scripture, that property +from the unity of its head.</p> + +<p>But such a one body, while yet militant upon earth, +S. Paul declares it to be, setting forth at the same time the +various orders of its hierarchy. Is it then a body complete, +or incomplete? With a head or without one? For +it is no reply to say that it has indeed a head, but one invisible. +That invisible headship did not obviate, as we +have seen, the necessity of a visible hierarchy: why then +does it obviate the like and even more striking necessity, +that the hierarchy too must have its visible head? If it +was, so to say, the very first act of our Lord's supreme +headship over all to the Church—the very token that He +had led captivity captive—to quicken the visible ministry +which He had established by sending down the Holy Spirit +to abide with it for ever, is the one place most necessary in +that ministry to be the only one left vacant by Him? Is +the one officer most fully representing Himself to be alone +omitted? "The <i>perfecting</i> of the saints" (a metaphor +taken as we have seen, from the exact fitting together of +the stones in a building,) and "the edifying of the body of +Christ," are described as the end to be reached by those to +whom "the work of the ministry" is committed, but as this +applies in a higher degree to the Bishop than to the priest, +so it applies in the highest of all to the Bishop of bishops.</p> + +<p>Again, God's method of teaching by symbols, which runs +through the whole Scripture, and the institution of Sacraments, +proves to us His will to lead us on from the visible to +the invisible, and to make the former a channel to the latter. +For "we are all baptized into one body," and the +outward act both images and conveys the inward privilege. +And again in the highest conceivable instance, "because the +head is one, we being many are one body, who all partake<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> +of that one bread."<a name="FNanchor_27_349" id="FNanchor_27_349"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_349" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> In like manner the outward +unity of the Church must accurately represent, and answer +to the inward, which, we know, is derived from the Person +of Christ, who is its head. And so that Person must be +specially represented in the outward unity.</p> + +<p>And this is one reason why no unity of a college, whether +of Apostles, or of Bishops, will adequately express that +visible headship of which our Lord's Person is the exemplar. +For the root of all lies in a personal unity, that of +the Godhead and Manhood, and therefore a merely collective +or representative unity cannot express it. And if the +Apostle wrote, "God hath set in the Church <i>first</i> Apostles," +yet he also wrote that the grand result, "the perfecting of +the saints, and the edifying of the body of Christ," was +due to the ministry, not only of Apostles, but of prophets, +evangelists, pastors, and doctors, each in their degree; they +all conspire to a joint action, which does not impede the +existence of distinct orders in the hierarchy. And his +expression that the Apostles are <i>first</i> in this hierarchy, +without defining their mutual relations to each other, does +not exclude those other passages of Scripture which <i>do</i> +define those relations, and which make Peter among the +Apostles "the first," "the ruler," "the greater," the Judah +among his brethren, the foundation of the whole building, +and the one shepherd in the universal fold. And the more +so because S. Paul uses three expressions of the Church, +two of which are <i>relative</i>, but one <i>absolute</i>. He calls it +"the body of Christ," and "Christ," which are relative; +but he also calls it "one body," which is absolute. Now, +these expressions are not to be severed from each other, +as if each by itself would convey the whole idea of the +Church, which rather is to be drawn from them all together. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>In answer to what the Church is, we must not say +that it is <i>either</i> "the body of Christ," <i>or</i> mystically called +"Christ," <i>or</i> set before us as "one body," for it is <i>all</i> of +these at once, relatively "Christ," and "the body of +Christ," and absolutely "one body."</p> + +<p>As, then, the former expressions show that the Church +is one <i>in reference to Christ</i>, so the latter shows that it is +so <i>in itself</i>, and <i>simply</i>. For as the Church is called +"Christ," and "the Body of Christ," because it is one +with Christ by mystical union, drawing its supernatural +life from Christ its head, so it is called "one body," because +in the variety of members and parts, of which it consists, +no one is wanting to its being one body in itself, and to its +being seen to be such. But it would neither be so, nor +seem to be so, if it were without a visible head, the origin +and principle of its inherent visible unity. And so where +the Church is called by S. Paul "one Body," he declares +that it has a visible head.</p> + +<p>Thus it is that the inherent notion of the Church, as one +visible body, and the whole dispensation by which visible +things answer to invisible, as their archetypes, demand one +visible head. Now to this <i>inherent</i> necessity let us add the +force of <i>positive</i> teaching. When our Lord in almost His +last words to His Church prays to His Father, "while I +was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy name—but +now I come to Thee," what does He but suggest the appointment +of another visible head to take that place which He +was leaving? and further, what does He but name one to +that high dignity, when He calls him "the greater" and +"the ruler" among his brethren, commits them to him to +be confirmed by him, and makes him the shepherd of the +whole flock? What else had He done but prepare them for +such a nomination, when He promised <i>one</i> that he should<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> +be the foundation of His Church, and the bearer of the +keys? What else did Christians from the beginning see +in such an one, when they called him the <i>head</i>, the <i>centre</i>, +the <i>fountain</i>, the <i>root</i>, the <i>principle</i> of ecclesiastical +unity?</p> + +<p>Let us remark, once more, as a confirmation of the +above, that the archetype of visible unity in the Church, +which our Lord sets before us in His prayer to the Father, +is no other than that most high and solemn of all things +conceivable, the mutual indwelling of the Father and the +Son. "Holy Father, keep them in Thy name whom Thou +hast given Me, that they may be one, as We also are;" and +again, for all successive generations of the faithful, "that +they all may be one, as Thou, Father, art in Me, and +I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us, that the world +may believe that Thou hast sent Me." Now the relation +established by our Lord between Peter and the rest of the +Apostles, by appointing him the visible head of the Church, +and between Peter's successor and all bishops, does represent, +so far as earthly things may, and in a degree which +nothing else on earth reaches to, the mutual relation of the +three divine Persons to each other. For as these are distinct, +but inseparable, so, too, are the Apostles. As the +fulness of the Godhead is <i>first</i> in the Father and <i>then</i> in +the Son and in the Holy Spirit, so the fulness of power +<i>first</i> promised and given to Peter, is <i>then</i> propagated to the +other Apostles united with him. As in the Father the +economy of the divine Persons is summed up under one +head, and gathered into a monarchy, so in Peter is +gathered up the fulness of ecclesiastical power, which, +through union with him, is one in all, as the Church is one, +and the Episcopate one. Moreover, as it is the dignity of +the Father to be the exemplar, principle, root, and fountain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> +of unity in the Trinity, so is it the dignity of Peter to be the +exemplar, principle, root, and fountain of visible unity in the +kingdom of God, which is the Church. This is alluded to +by Pope Symmachus, thirteen hundred and fifty years ago: +"There is one single priesthood in the different prelates, (of +the Apostolic See) after the example of the Trinity, whose +power is one and indivisible."<a name="FNanchor_28_350" id="FNanchor_28_350"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_350" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> And long before him +S. Cyprian: "The Lord says, 'I and the Father are one.' +And again it is written of the Father and the Son and the +Holy Spirit, 'And these three are one.' Is there a man +who believes that this unity, coming from the divine +solidity, cohering by heavenly sacraments, can possibly be +broken in the Church, and torn asunder by the collision of +adverse wills? This unity he who holds not, holds not the +law of God, holds not the faith of the Father and the Son, +holds not the truth unto salvation."<a name="FNanchor_29_351" id="FNanchor_29_351"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_351" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></p> + +<p>Whereas, then, all unity in the Body of Christ, the +Church, is derived ultimately from the person of its Head, +the Word Incarnate, that unity is yet four-fold in its +operation, and the efficient principle of one sort is not +to be confounded with that of another. There is the +<i>mystical</i> unity, which consists in the perpetual divine +influx from the great invisible Head to His members; +there is the <i>moral</i> or <i>spiritual</i> unity of charity, consisting +in the presence of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of +believers, and these two are internal, and in closest correspondence. +There are two likewise external, which may +be called the <i>civil</i> or <i>political</i> unity, consisting in the +public profession of the same faith, the same truth, for +what the <i>law</i> is to temporal states, the <i>faith</i> is to the +great spiritual kingdom of Christ; and this unity is +indeed inspired by the Holy Spirit, but is maintained +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>by Him through the visible hierarchy; and lastly, correspondent +to the unity of faith, there is the <i>visible</i> +unity of external organization, the immediate or efficient +principle of which lies in the visible headship over the +Church attached by the Lord to S. Peter's chair. The +latter two, while they correspond to each other, are indeed +subordinate to the former, the unity of faith to that of +charity, as the unity of the visible headship to that of +the invisible; yet the very truth of the Body which +the Lord has assumed, and in which He reigns, and +the whole analogy of His dealings with men, and the +sacraments whereby He makes us "partakers of the +divine nature," warn us that it is of the highest importance +for us to see how external unity is the channel +of internal, and the visible the road to the invisible. +No words can be more emphatic to this effect than those +with which the Apostle introduces the description of the +visible hierarchy, and the divine headship which called +it forth. "There is <i>one Body</i> and one Spirit, as you +are called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one +faith, one baptism. One God and Father of all, who +is above all, and through all, and in us all." From +which he goes on to say, "Ascending up on high, He +gave gifts to men—some Apostles, and some prophets, +and some evangelists, and some pastors, and teachers." +And lastly, "the Head over all things to the Church," +is "the Saviour <i>of the Body</i>."<a name="FNanchor_30_352" id="FNanchor_30_352"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_352" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p> + +<p>But if this be so, we can say nothing more highly to +exalt S. Peter's office in the Church, for he is the great +bond and stay of this outward unity, as even<a name="FNanchor_31_353" id="FNanchor_31_353"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_353" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> enemies +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>confess. As surely as in a real monarchy the person +of the sovereign ties together every part of the political +edifice, and is endued with majesty because he is at once +the type of God, and concentrates in one the power +and dignity of the whole community, so it is in that +divine structure in which "the manifold wisdom of God" +is disclosed to all creation. The point of strength is +felt alike by friend and foe. On the Rock of Peter has +fallen every storm which the enmity of the evil one +has raised for eighteen hundred years; but yet the gates +of hell have not prevailed against it. In the Rock of +Peter, and the divine promise attached to it, every heart +faithful to God and the Church trusts now, as it trusted +from the beginning. Many temporal monarchs in their +hour of pride have risen against S. Peter's See, but +the greatest of them all<a name="FNanchor_32_354" id="FNanchor_32_354"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_354" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> declared that no one had ever +gained honour or victory in that conflict, and he lived +to be the most signal instance of his own observation. +"God is patient, because He is eternal," and the Holy See +prevails in its weakness over power, and in its justice over +cupidity, because while temporal dominion passes from +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>hand to hand, and stays not with any nation, following +the gift of God which the poet calls fortune,</p> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">Perchè una gente impera, e l'altra langue,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Seguendo lo giudizio di costei<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Che è occulta, come in l'erba l'angue,—(<span class="smcap">Dante</span>, <i>Inferno</i>.)<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>the visible kingdom of Christ, which is His Church, lasts +for ever, and is built upon the rock of Peter. The long +line of descendants, from Constantine and from Charlemagne, +have in their turn impugned and illustrated this +glorious privilege of the Papal See. What is there so +stable in an empire of commerce, or so solid in the +nicely-balanced and delicate machinery of a constitutional +monarchy, as to exempt them from the action of an universal +law, or to ensure their victory in the doomed contest +with the Vicar of Christ? Mightier things than they have +done their worst, have oppressed, triumphed, and become +extinct, and if it be allowed them in the crisis of their trial +to crucify Christ afresh, He will yet reign from the cross, +and "draw all men unto Him."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_323" id="Footnote_1_323"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_323"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> In this chapter I have availed myself of Passaglia, b. 1, c. 25, +and b. 2, c. 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_324" id="Footnote_2_324"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_324"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Eph. i. 9, 22; 1 Cor. xi. 2; Rom. xii. 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_325" id="Footnote_3_325"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_325"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> See Petavius, De Incarn. Lib. 2, c. 7 and 8, for the following quotations.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_326" id="Footnote_4_326"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_326"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Hippolytus, quoted by Anastasius, p. 216.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_327" id="Footnote_5_327"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_327"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Irenæus, Lib. iii. 18, and iv. 37.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_328" id="Footnote_6_328"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_328"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> De Monogamia, c. 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_329" id="Footnote_7_329"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_329"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Augustine, 21 Tract. in Joannem.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_330" id="Footnote_8_330"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_330"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Hilary on Psalm 68.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_331" id="Footnote_9_331"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_331"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> S. Chrys. Tom. 5, (Savile) Hom. 106.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_332" id="Footnote_10_332"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_332"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Greg. Naz. Orat. 36.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_333" id="Footnote_11_333"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_333"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> S. Cyril, Dialog. 1, De Trin. p. 399.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_334" id="Footnote_12_334"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_334"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> S. Leo. 5 Serm. on Nativity, c. 4 and 5, 12th Serm. on Passion, c. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_335" id="Footnote_13_335"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_335"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> S. Athanasius, Orat. 3, Contr. Arian. Tom. 1, p. 572. Oxf. Trans. p. 403.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_336" id="Footnote_14_336"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_336"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Greg. Nyss. Tom. 2, p. 524. Catechet Oratio, c. 32.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_337" id="Footnote_15_337"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_337"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Ephrem, Patriarch of Antioch, quoted by Photius, cod. 229.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_338" id="Footnote_16_338"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_338"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> S. Hilary, de Trin. Lib. 8. n. 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_339" id="Footnote_17_339"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_339"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> John xiv. 20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_340" id="Footnote_18_340"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_340"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> John xv. 1-2, 5-7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_341" id="Footnote_19_341"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_341"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> John xiii. 34-6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_342" id="Footnote_20_342"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_342"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> John xv. 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_343" id="Footnote_21_343"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_343"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Rom. v. 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_344" id="Footnote_22_344"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_344"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> John xiv. 16-18. 26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_345" id="Footnote_23_345"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_345"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> John xvi. 7. 13-15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_346" id="Footnote_24_346"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_346"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> 1 Cor. xii. 11; Eph. iv. 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_347" id="Footnote_25_347"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_347"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> Eph. iv. 7-16; 1 Cor. xii. 7-13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_348" id="Footnote_26_348"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_348"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> Passaglia, p. 254.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_349" id="Footnote_27_349"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_349"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> 1 Cor. x. 17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_350" id="Footnote_28_350"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_350"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Mansi, Concil. Tom. 8, 208.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_351" id="Footnote_29_351"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_351"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> S. Cyprian, de Unitate.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_352" id="Footnote_30_352"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_352"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Eph. iv. 4. 8. 11; i. 22; v. 23.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_353" id="Footnote_31_353"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_353"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> That such was the belief of the most ancient fathers, Ignatius, Irenæus, Tertullian, +Cyprian, and others, see a most curious admission of the Lutheran Mosheim, in his dissertation, +De Gallorum appellationibus, &c. s. 13. And his way of extricating himself is at +least as curious as the admission. His words are, "Cyprian and the rest cannot have +known the corollaries which follow from their precepts about the Church. For no one is +so dull as not to see that between a certain unity of the universal Church, terminating in +the Roman pontiff, and such a community as we have described out of Irenæus and +Cyprian, there is scarcely so much room as between hall and chamber, or between hand +and fingers. If the <i>innocence</i> of the first ages stood in the way of their anticipating the +snares which ignorantly and unintentionally they were laying against sacred liberty, those +succeeding at least were more sharp-sighted, and it was not long in becoming clear to the +pontiffs what force in establishing their own power and authority such tenets possessed." +So the ancient fathers were not intelligent enough to see that <i>the hand was joined to the +fingers</i>. But the other alternative was still harder to Mosheim, that Lutheranism was +fundamentally heretical and schismatical.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_354" id="Footnote_32_354"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_354"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Napoleon.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h3>SUMMARY OF PROOF GIVEN FOR S. PETER'S PRIMACY.</h3> + + +<p>It would now seem to be made clear to all that the +controversy on S. Peter's Primacy relates <i>generally</i> to +the question of inequality in the Apostolic college, and +<i>specially</i> to the question, whether Christ, the Founder +of the Church, set any one of the Apostles, and whom +of them in particular, over the rest. For as, on the one +hand, there would have been no room for the superior +dignity of the Primacy, had all the Apostles been completely +equal, and undistinguished in honour and authority +from each other; so, on the other hand, it is the +nature of the Primacy to be incapable of even being +contemplated, save as fixed on some certain definite subject.</p> + +<p>But to determine the two questions, whether the Apostles +stood, or did not stand, on a complete equality, and +whether one of them was superior to the rest in honour +and dignity, it seemed requisite to examine chiefly four +points.</p> + +<p>First, the words and the acts of Christ respecting the +Apostles.</p> + +<p>Secondly, His expressions which seemed to mark the +institution of a <i>singular</i> authority.</p> + +<p>Thirdly, the mode of writing and speaking usually<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> +and constantly employed by the Evangelists and other +inspired writers.</p> + +<p>Lastly, the history of the Church, from its beginning, +from which might be drawn conjectures, or even certain +proofs, of the power which either all the Apostles had +exercised equally, or one had held above the rest.</p> + +<p>For should it become plain, from the agreement of +these four sources, that a certain one of the Apostles, +and that one Simon Peter, had been distinguished from +the rest by the acts and words of Christ, and set over +the Apostles; had been invariably described by the inspired +writers, as the Head and supreme authority; and +in the history of the rising Church, been portrayed in +a way which could only befit the universal ruler, no +difficulty would remain, and there would be arguments +abundant to prove that Christ was the author both of +the inequality among the Apostles, and of Peter's Primacy.</p> + +<p>Now we seem to have proved <i>absolutely</i>, what we proposed +<i>hypothetically</i>. For we have shewn that Christ +declared by His whole method of acting, and by solemn +words and deeds, that He did not account Peter as one +of the rest, but as their Leader, Chief, and Head.</p> + +<p>We have shown it to have been the will of Christ to concentrate +in Peter the distinctions which belong to Himself, +as Supreme Ruler of the Church. For such must +be deemed the properties of being the Foundation, the +Bearer of the keys, the Holder of universal authority, +the Supporter, and lastly, the Chief Shepherd. Of these +there is no one which He did not promise to Peter singly, +and confer on Peter singly: no one, with which He did not +associate Peter, and Peter only, in making him the foundation +of His Church, bestowing on him the keys, and universal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> +power of binding and loosing, in setting him over +his brethren to confirm them, and over His fold as universal +Pastor.</p> + +<p>We have shown that the Evangelists place almost the +same distinction between the Apostles and Peter, as +between Peter and Christ, while still among us. For +as they set forth Peter as second after Christ, so do +they subject the Apostles to Peter; as the acts and +words of Christ occupy the foreground in respect to +those of Peter, so do his in respect to those of the Apostles; +as Christ, in their histories, is pre-eminent above +Peter, so is Peter more conspicuous than the Apostles; and +as the Gospels cannot be read without seeing in them +Christ as the prototype, so neither can they without seeing +that Peter approaches the nearest to Christ.</p> + +<p>We have shown that S. Paul spoke of S. Peter in no +other way than the Evangelists, and that his pre-eminence +is evident in S. Paul's Epistles, as well as in the Gospels.</p> + +<p>Lastly, we have shown that Peter shines as the superior +luminary in the history of the rising Church. The +lustre of his deeds in the Acts recalls that of Christ in +the Gospels. In the Gospels Christ is named by far +most frequently; in the Acts no one occurs so often as +Peter. The discourses, the acts, the miracles of Christ +occupy every page of the Gospels; and in that portion +of the Acts which embraces the history of the whole +Church, a very large part has reference to the discourses, +the acts, and the miracles of Peter. In the Gospels, +Christ leads, the Apostles follow; in the Acts, Peter +takes the precedence, the Apostles attend him. In the +Gospels, Christ teaches, and the Apostles, in silence, consent; +in the Acts Peter alone makes speeches, and explains<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> +the doctrine of salvation; the Apostles by their silence +consent. In the Gospels, Christ provides for the Apostolic +college, guards it from injury, defends it when +attacked; in the Acts, Peter provides for filling up the +place of Judas, determines the conditions of eligibility, +enjoins the election, and defends the Apostles before +people, rulers, and chief priests, in quality of their +head.</p> + +<p>Moreover, he alone is pre-eminent in exercising the +triple power of <i>authoritative Teacher, Judge, and Legislator</i>. +<i>Of authoritative Teacher</i>, not only towards Jews +and Gentiles, whom he is the first to join to Christ, so +that the same person who was the Church's rock and +foundation, also became its chief architect; but towards +the Apostles likewise, who are taught by his ministry, +that the time was come for the blessing of redemption +to be extended no less to Gentiles than to Jews, and +that the burden of legal rites could not be laid on the +Gentile converts without tempting God. <i>Of Judge</i>, +because, while the Apostles are silent, he is the first to +hear the causes of the faithful, to erect a tribunal, to +examine the accused, to issue sentence, and to support +and confirm it by inflicting excommunication. Of <i>Head +and Supreme Legislator</i>, both when he singly visits +Christians in all parts, and provides for their needs, or +when he uses the prerogative of first voting, and draws +with authority the wording of the law to which the rest +are to give an unanimous consent.</p> + +<p>From this compendious enumeration we draw a multifold +proof, both of inequality in the Apostolic college, +and of Peter's superiority at once in rank and in real +government.</p> + +<p>I. For, <i>first</i>, a college cannot be considered equal, out<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> +of which Christ chose one, Simon Peter, whom, by His +words and His actions, He showed to be set over all. +Now Christ's whole course of speaking and acting, of +which the Gospels give us the picture, tends to exhibit +Peter as chosen out from the rest, and set over them. +Accordingly, neither is the college of the Apostles equal, +nor can Peter be accounted as one of the rest.</p> + +<p>II. Again, one who has received all in common with the +rest, but much besides peculiar to himself, special and distinguishing, +must seem to be taken out of the common +number. Now such must Peter have been among the +Apostles, since Christ granted nothing to them which He +denied to Peter, but did grant to Peter many most distinguishing +gifts which He gave not to the rest.</p> + +<p>III. And, further, it is apparent that the Foundation and +the Superstructure, the Bearer of the keys, and those who +inhabit the house or city whose keys he bears, the Confirmer, +and those whom he is to confirm, the universal +Pastor and the sheep committed to his charge, cannot be +comprehended under the same order and rank. Now the +distinctions expressed by the terms Foundation, Bearer of +the keys, Confirmer, and universal Pastor, are Peter's official +insignia in reference to, and over, the Apostles themselves. +His distinction from them, therefore, and the inequality +of the apostolic college, are plain.</p> + +<p>Perhaps this may be put somewhat otherwise even more +clearly. And so, IV. Let it first be considered, what is plain +in itself, that a distinction carrying pre-eminence depends +on distinction in perfection and gifts, and follows in a +greater or less degree from the greater or less inequality +of these, or in case of their parity exists not at all. Next, +be what we hold both of reason and of faith remembered, +that "every best gift and every perfect gift, is from above,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> +coming down from the Father of lights," that God is the +fountain head of all good, and that all gifts whatsoever flow +over from Him to His creatures. From both points it follows +that the amount of the creature's dignity and perfection +lies in the participation of divine goods, and is greater +or less in proportion to the participation and association +with divine goods. So, then, the controversy on Peter's +Primacy and the inequality of the Apostolic college, comes +ultimately to this: <i>whether Christ, the God-man, associated +Peter singly, above all, with Himself, in the possession +of those properties on account of which He stands +Himself related to the Church as its supreme Ruler</i>. For +let it be once evident that Christ did so, and it will of necessity +be evident also, not only that Peter was preferred to +all, but wherein his leadership and headship consisted. +And since we have made the inquiry, there is abundant evidence +to prove that Christ really did associate Peter singly +in five properties, which, belonging to Himself <i>primarily</i> +and <i>chiefly</i>, contain the special cause for which He is the +Prince and Supreme Head of the Church.</p> + +<p>For, in truth, it is specially due to the properties and +distinctions of <i>Foundation, Bearer of the keys, Establisher, +Chief Shepherd</i>, and <i>Lord</i>, who has received all +authority from the Father, that the Church has an entire +dependence on Christ, is subject to Him, and that He +enjoys over the Church the right and authority of Supreme +Lord and Ruler. But which of these properties +did He not choose to communicate to Peter, according to +the degree in which they were communicable? He bestowed +them all upon Peter, and upon Peter alone, so +that Peter also is termed <i>the Foundation, the Bearer +of the keys, the Confirmer, the universal Pastor</i>, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> +<i>the</i><a name="FNanchor_1_355" id="FNanchor_1_355"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_355" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> <i>Chief of the whole Church</i>. We see, therefore, +a remarkable proof of Peter being distinguished from +the rest of the Apostles, and set over them, in his singular +and special association with these gifts.</p> + +<p>Again, V., to this tends that disposition of divine wisdom +which provides that Peter holds in the Church, and +among the Apostles, a rank of dignity greatly resembling +that which Abraham among the Patriarchs, and +Judah among his brethren, received from God. The +former of these relations has been exhibited, and shown +not to be arbitrarily conceived, but grounded on due +proof. The latter will be presently farther touched +upon. Now who shall deny Abraham that superiority +whereby he was made the Father and Teacher of all +the faithful, or strip Judah of the dignity in which he +excelled his brethren, and was in many points preferred +to them? As little may any one strip Peter of his +authority as supreme teacher, and take from him those +singular endowments, which make him "the greater one" +among his brethren the Apostles.</p> + +<p>Especially as, VI., this authority of Peter is clearly +confirmed by the mode of writing usual to the Evangelists. +For it is monstrous and preposterous to confound +with the rest one whom the Evangelists constantly distinguish +and prefer to all. For what more could they +do to show their purpose to distinguish Peter, select him +from the rest, and place him at all times before all the +Apostles? We may venture to say that they omitted +nothing to this end. And so it is absurd to doubt of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>Peter's prerogatives, or set him on the same footing with +the rest.</p> + +<p>For, indeed, VII., no one would endure it to be denied, +from the usual mode of writing of the Evangelists, that +Christ was pre-eminent among the Apostles as their +Supreme Head, and was removed from them in dignity +by an infinite interval. Now though the Evangelists do +not give Peter all things, nor in the same degree, yet +they do give him much, and in a degree not dissimilar, +to distinguish him from the rest, showing him, as in a +nearer relation to Christ, so proportionally exalted above +the other Apostles.</p> + +<p>And this proof, VIII., is the more persuasive because +S. Paul follows the very same mode of speaking as the +Evangelists. For in repeatedly mentioning S. Peter in +his epistles, he always gives him the place of honour, +and joins him as near as may be with Christ. Who +then can doubt that Peter held a certain pre-eminent +rank?</p> + +<p>And the more, IX., because what is read in the Acts, +and the view of primitive history therein contained, looks +the same way, and seems set forth with the same purpose. +For if you compare together the Acts and the Gospels, +the mind at once suggests that the position of Prototype +which Christ holds in the Gospels, belongs to Peter in +the Acts, and that Peter seems distinguished above the +rest of the Apostles in the Acts, as Christ is pre-eminent +far above all in the Gospels. Now what is the +result of so apparent a likeness? What is it fair to +deduce from such a bearing in the Evangelical and Apostolical +history? Those who are obedient to reasoning, +and follow the bright torch of the Scriptures, must confess +with us that in this parallelism of both histories,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> +and so of Christ and Peter, is contained a mark and +sign, proving that Peter follows next after Christ in +dignity and authority.</p> + +<p>In authority, X., I repeat, and, therefore, that kind +of superiority which very far surpasses the limits of precedence +and order. For what are the grounds on which +we see Peter's eminence in the Acts, or a resemblance +between the Acts, when speaking of Peter, and the Gospels +when speaking of Christ? Chiefly these, that Peter +is set forth as remarkable, singly, above all, for the use +and exercise of the triple power, of Judge, Legislator, and +authoritative Teacher. Now, the superiority herein asserted, +not merely distinguishes Peter from the rest, but +attaches to him a greater authority over the rest.</p> + +<p>XI. And, indeed, propose an hypothesis which is necessary +to solve a complex and undoubted series of facts: +is such an hypothesis thereby made a certainty. At least +these are the principles of philosophy, from which the +laws of reasoning will not allow us to depart. Now, +Peter's pre-eminence and supremacy are such an hypothesis, +without which you can render no sufficient cause +of the facts narrated in the first twelve chapters of the +Acts. Accordingly, this supremacy of Peter may be +considered as proved.</p> + +<p>XII. Or to put the argument somewhat differently, +thus: As the existence of causes is deduced, <i>à posteriori</i>, +from effects, so it is perfectly established, <i>à priori</i>, whenever +the series and sum of effects, of which the senses are +cognisant, are foretold from it with certainty. We deduce +the force of gravity necessarily from its effects, à posteriori, +but we likewise determine it to exist, with a judgment no +less invariable, à priori, when it is such that we do not +merely guess at, but certainly anticipate, its sensible effects.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> +Now Peter's supremacy is not inaptly compared with this +very force of gravity. For it is a characteristic of each to +be, in its proper order of things, the source and principle +in which effects are involved, which afterwards become +apparent, whether in this physical universe, or in the +supernatural region of the Church.</p> + +<p>Suppose, then, Peter to have held the dignity which we +claim for him. What happens in the Acts which might +not, nay, which should not, have been anticipated? Is it +his being mentioned above all, his speaking in the name of +all, his constantly taking the lead, and his eminence, as if +he were the head? But it could not be otherwise if he +alone received from Christ a higher dignity than all the +rest. Is it his discharging the office of supreme Judge, Legislator, +Teacher, and Doctor? Is not this just what was to +be expected from the rank of Head and universal Pastor? +The Primacy, then, the larger authority, and the unshared +majesty of Peter, belong to that class of truths which are +indubitably believed on the strength of deduction, and +rational anticipation.</p> + +<p>Having noted, if not all, at least the greater number of +those arguments which we have alleged hitherto in favour +of our cause, we approach the question which was secondly +to be cleared up, what, namely, is <i>the force and nature of +that Primacy</i>, which the same arguments prove to belong +to Peter. For I know that all Protestants are possessed +with the notion that no other pre-eminence should be +ascribed to Peter, on scriptural authority, than one limited +to a certain precedency of honour and order. That <i>precedency</i> +should be granted Peter they are not unwilling to +admit, but <i>supremacy</i>, they stoutly maintain, must not and +cannot be allowed him. As to which their opinion I consider, +that it would be much the shorter way to strip Peter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> +utterly of every prerogative, than to attenuate the distinctions +applied to him in Scripture to a sort of shadowy +precedency. I consider that nothing is so foreign to truth +and the Scriptures, as on their testimony to allow that +Peter was distinguished from the rest of the Apostles, +but to confine that superiority within the very narrow +bounds of honour and order.</p> + +<p>For, <i>first</i>, whence do we most evidently and chiefly draw +the greater dignity which Peter clearly possessed above +the others? We draw it from the endowments separately +bestowed upon him, whereby he became the Foundation of +the Church, the Supreme Bearer of the keys, the Confirmer +of his brethren, and the universal Pastor. But +are these names, images, signs, expressing a naked superiority +of honour and order, or rather designating an +authority of jurisdiction and power? I cannot hesitate to +assert either that these forms are most fitted of all to +express a singular authority, or that none such exist in +language. For, <i>secondly</i>, their force is to ascribe to Peter +the main sway, and to mark him as set for the head and +leader of all. Who that hears them can, without perverting +the natural force of words, or disregarding the laws +of interpretation, imagine anything merely honorary, or +figure to himself Peter with a mere grant of precedency?</p> + +<p>Especially as, <i>thirdly</i>, he is named in Scripture not only +<i>the First</i>, but, comparatively, the <i>Greater</i>, and absolutely, +the <i>Superior</i>.<a name="FNanchor_2_356" id="FNanchor_2_356"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_356" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> Now these terms do, of themselves, and +far more if you consider the context of the discourse in +which they occur, express a singular authority, and one +without rival. An authority, <i>fourthly</i>, kindred to that +with which Christ, while yet in His mortal life, presided +over the Apostolic college, and administered as supreme +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>Head, the company which He had formed. For we can +never sufficiently urge a point which, being in itself most +true, is of itself abundantly sufficient completely to set at +rest the present controversy. It is this, that Peter's +Primacy proceeds from a singular association with those +distinctions, in virtue of which Christ is considered the +Head and Chief, and Supreme Ruler of the Church. So +that the more his Primacy is depressed, the more Christ's +prerogatives and dignity are lowered; nor can he be confined +to a precedency of honour and order, without Christ's +superiority being shut within well nigh the same limits.</p> + +<p>Besides, <i>fifthly</i>, are tokens wanting in Scripture which +disclose the nature of Peter's Primacy? Are there not +effects which unfold the force and quality of the cause +from which they spring? Such tokens there are in abundance, +and such effects manifold. These are, the care +with which Peter guarded the Apostolic college; the authority +with which he visited Christians in every part; the +singular exercise of judicial power, by which he established +Church discipline, and provided for its maintenance; his +acts of authoritative teaching; his drawing the form of +laws which were to rule the universal Church; and, in +short, the wonderful regard with which that Church followed +Peter as its Head, and the Steward of all the Lord's +family. What Primacy is it which these tokens set forth? +What cause which these effects demonstrate? Is it one +limited to a precedency of honour and order? or one +pre-eminent by an inherent jurisdiction and authority? It +is a point which needs no further words. For if any there +be whose minds are not struck by a candid and sincere +exposition of facts, you will in vain attempt to persuade +them by arguments.</p> + +<p>Unless, indeed, <i>sixthly</i>, they allow themselves to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> +forced out of their prejudice by the Scriptures exhibiting +such a Primacy of Peter as compels all others to profess +one and the same faith with him, and to maintain one and +the same society. For such an obligation could proceed +neither from titles of honour, nor from precedency. It +demanded a stronger cause—none other, in fact, but that +supreme authority by which Peter is made head of all.</p> + +<p>But we shall feel much more at home in the truth of +this deduction, if we enquire a little more deeply into the +reasons for selecting one among the rest, namely Peter, +and instituting the Primacy. For the purpose, and end +proposed in a work, have the force of a <i>negative</i> rule by +which we may judge with certainty what ought to be done, +or could not be left undone. I know well that it does not +follow, if anything has been instituted for a certain purpose, +that it ought to be endowed <i>only</i> with those properties +which appear necessary for the end to be gained; +for it may be much more munificently established than the +absolute need required. But at the same time I know that +there would be a failure in prudence and wisdom in one +who, desiring a certain work for a specific end, did not +provide it with everything that could be deemed necessary. +Thus the <i>knowledge of the intention and purpose</i> is equivalent, +if not to a <i>positive</i> rule, determining all and singular +the powers bestowed on any institution, at least to a <i>negative</i>, +ascertaining what must be given to it, and what cannot +be denied to it.</p> + +<p>Now is the purpose for which Christ instituted the +Primacy, and honoured Peter with its dignity, unknown, +or is it most truly ascertained? The end which moved +Christ to make the college of Apostles unequal, and to +set Peter as head over it, is it secret, or very conspicuous? +There are in all three <i>classes of reasons</i> which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> +enable us to form, not a mere guess, but an ascertained +judgment, as to the purpose of Christ in instituting the +Primacy. There are <i>typical</i> reasons, drawn from previous +shadowings forth of it: there are <i>analogical</i>, derived +from relations of resemblance; and there are <i>real</i>, +inherent in the testimonies themselves, and the Church's +endowments. Let us briefly exhibit these in order.</p> + +<p>I. By, then, that signal agreement wherewith the two +dispensations, the old and the new, correspond to each +other, the first in outline, and the last as filled up, this +rudimental, and that complete, we are plainly instructed +that it was Christ's purpose for Peter, in the new dispensation, +to bear the character, whose lineaments had +been traced before in Abraham, and to be eminent +among the Apostles, for the prerogative which Abraham +had possessed among the Patriarchs. Now Abraham's +special prerogative, and pre-eminence, was this, +that no one could share either promise, whether carnal +or spiritual, which is expressed in Scripture, by "the +Blessing," who was not joined with Abraham by a double, +that is, a carnal and spiritual, a physical and moral, +bond. For to him and to his seed were the promises made, +with the condition, that only by conjunction with him, +and with his seed, they could flow over to the rest. +Since, then, in the new dispensation, Peter was to sustain +the character of Abraham in the old, and since the +only-begotten Son of the Father, having put on the form +of a servant, granted to Peter the prerogative which, +in prelude of His future order, He had given to Abraham, +it is plain that Simon was chosen, honoured with the +name of Cephas, and preferred above all, in order that +from him as supreme minister of Christ, and by union +with him as visible head, all the members of the Church's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> +body might enjoy the blessings and fruits of the Christian +institution.</p> + +<p>The deductions from this are easy to see. For two +things chiefly follow, specially declarative of the nature +of the Primacy, and shewing its intent, to be the cause +and efficient principle of that unity by which the Church +of Christ is one visible body. First, there follows the +<i>duty</i> laid upon all the faithful, of being joined with +Peter, if they would not fall from those promises with +which Christ has most bountifully enriched His mystical +Body, being no other than that which reverences +Peter as its visible head. Secondly, there follows Peter's +<i>jurisdiction</i>, in virtue of which he enjoins all to form +one communion and society with him, as well as effects, +defends, and maintains it. Now, nothing can be stronger +than this ordinance of Christ, either to prove a Primacy +of supreme jurisdiction, or to unfold its purpose of effecting +and maintaining unity.</p> + +<p>The same is the bearing of another type no less remarkable, +and no less adopted to explain the whole matter. +For, as Israel, "according to the flesh," was the shadow +of the "Israel of God," which was "according to promise:"<a name="FNanchor_3_357" id="FNanchor_3_357"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_357" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> +and as the kingdom of Israel was a type and +ensample of the kingdom of heaven, the approach of +which Christ proclaimed in these words, "The time is +fulfilled, and the kingdom of heaven is at hand:" so the +twelve sons of Israel, the heads of the Israelitish race, +represented and imaged out those Twelve whom Christ +chose, made princes in His Church, and endowed with +supreme authority to build up that Church's structure, +and enrich it day by day with new accessions of +spiritual children. Of this type our Lord's words are +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>the strongest guarantee: "Amen, I say unto you, that +you who have followed Me, in the regeneration, when +the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of His Majesty, +you also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve +tribes of Israel." And, again, in the very discourse where +He sets forth the future Superior, "I dispose to you, as +My Father disposed to Me, a kingdom; that you may eat +and drink at My table, in My kingdom; and may sit upon +thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."<a name="FNanchor_4_358" id="FNanchor_4_358"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_358" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> + +<p>But now, though all the sons of Israel in the former +typical kingdom were chiefs, and heads of tribes, yet one +of them, that is Judah, had a special prerogative, which the +Scriptures set forth, and which was called the <i>right of the +first-born</i>. In virtue of this, on the one hand, Judah was +esteemed the Lord of his brethren, whom they were to +reverence as the parent of the whole family, and on the +other, it was only by union with him, and with the seed +that was to spring from him, that the other chiefs could +promise to themselves the divine blessing. And so the +tribe of Judah had a great pre-eminence over the other +eleven. It was its prerogative to take the<a name="FNanchor_5_359" id="FNanchor_5_359"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_359" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> lead: it had +received from God the promise of an[6] authority which +was not to terminate before the old covenant should be +transformed into the new: from it was the seed<a name="FNanchor_6_360" id="FNanchor_6_360"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_360" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> to be +expected, which should be the source of blessing to all +nations, prefigured as they were by the twelve tribes; +the other tribes were bound<a name="FNanchor_7_361" id="FNanchor_7_361"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_361" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> to union with it, and to +the profession of its religion, on pain of falling into +schism, and forfeiting the divine covenant. All this was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>expressed by Jacob in prophetic inspiration, when he +addressed Judah as the head and root of his line: "Judah +(praise) art thou, thy brethren shall praise thee: thy hand +is on the neck of thine enemies: the sons of thy father +shall bow down to thee." It remains, then, to ask, who +was to represent Judah's person in the new kingdom, and +on whom Christ bestowed the prerogative, the type and +image of which had gone before in Judah. It is most +plain that this was Simon Peter, for whom we have, therefore, +to claim a double prerogative, the one of being the +source and origin, from which no one may be separated +without severance from the kingdom and promises of +Christ: the other of being the first-born, as betokening +excellence, by which he was pre-eminent in the possession +of special rights among his brethren, the Apostles.</p> + +<p>The former prerogative was expressed by the Fathers +of Aquileia, when, in the words of S. Ambrose, they +stated their belief in S. Peter's chair, "For thence, as +from a fountain head, the rights of venerable communion +flow unto<a name="FNanchor_8_362" id="FNanchor_8_362"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_362" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> all." The latter is confirmed and illustrated +by the solemn expressions so often recurring in Christian +records, wherein Peter is called, "<a name="FNanchor_9_363" id="FNanchor_9_363"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_363" class="fnanchor">[9]</a>the Bishop of +Bishops," "<a name="FNanchor_10_364" id="FNanchor_10_364"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_364" class="fnanchor">[10]</a>the Pastor of Pastors," "<a name="FNanchor_11_365" id="FNanchor_11_365"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_365" class="fnanchor">[11]</a>first prelate of +the Apostles," "<a name="FNanchor_12_366" id="FNanchor_12_366"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_366" class="fnanchor">[12]</a>Patriarch of the whole world," "<a name="FNanchor_13_367" id="FNanchor_13_367"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_367" class="fnanchor">[13]</a>universal +bishop," "[14]father of fathers," "[14]having the +dignity of pastoral headship," "<a name="FNanchor_14_368" id="FNanchor_14_368"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_368" class="fnanchor">[14]</a>the most divine head +of all heads, arch-pastor of the Church."</p> + +<p>II. To these reasons, which, as we think, may be called +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span><i>typical</i>, succeed the <i>analogical</i>, which prove with equal +evidence the purpose of the Primacy as instituted, and +its inherent powers. If we ask what are these reasons +from analogy, and to what they point, one only answer +can be given commended by any show of truth, that +the Primacy was instituted in order that the Church of +Christ might seem to be moulded after the analogy of +one human body, one house, one kingdom, one city, +and one fold. But whence the need that so very remarkable +and clear an analogy should be obtained by +the institution of the Primacy? Doubtless because the +Primacy was created as a principle, by whose virtue and +efficiency what was various and manifold should be gathered +up into unity, because it was to be a head in which +all the diverse members of the ecclesiastical body should +be joined, the centre of the Church's circle.</p> + +<p>Therefore the reasons drawn from analogy show that +the unity of the Church is to be considered the special +end for which the Primacy was instituted, and the Primacy +itself a principle abundantly provided with all +those means by which so admirable a blessing as unity +may be first produced and then maintained.</p> + +<p>And this is confirmed by another analogy, well worthy +of close attention. This consists in the double and reciprocal +relation in which the universal Church stands to +particular Churches, and the institution of the Primacy +to the institution of bishops, who, by Christ's appointment, +govern those particular Churches: an agreement +which ought to have especial force with those who believe +in the divine institution of bishops. For as the whole +society of true believers, and the particular congregations +of which it is made up, are called in Holy Scripture +and the Christian records by one and the same<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> +name of the Church, so is there the very closest analogy +between the bond which connects the universal Church +and that which connects its several parts.</p> + +<p>Exactly, then, as it is asserted with great truth of all +these particular Churches that they are one house, one +city, and one fold, so must this be repeated of the +whole Church, since it is set forth in Scripture by no +other images, and has no less right to claim the property +of unity. Hence S.<a name="FNanchor_15_369" id="FNanchor_15_369"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_369" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> Chrysostome's golden saying, +"If it is the Church of God, it is united and one, not +at Corinth only, but in the whole world. For <i>the Church</i> +is a name not of division, but of union and harmony;" +and S.<a name="FNanchor_16_370" id="FNanchor_16_370"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_370" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> Gregory calls it, "The tunic without seam, +woven from the top throughout."</p> + +<p>Now the same reason which existed for instituting +particular bishops to govern and preserve in unity particular +flocks, moved Christ to institute an universal +Primate, and to set him over the whole fold. If in the +former case the best description of a particular Church +is that of S. Cyprian, "A people united to its priest, +and a flock adhering to its pastor;"<a name="FNanchor_17_371" id="FNanchor_17_371"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_371" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> in the latter the +<i>form of unity</i>, which Christ established in the universal +Primate, no less imposes on all, both taught and teachers, +the necessity of saying with S. Jerome, "I following none +as the first save Christ, am joined in communion with +your blessedness, that is, with the chair of Peter. Upon +that rock the Church is built, I know. Whoever outside +of this house eateth the lamb, is profane. If any +one was not in the ark of Noah, he shall perish. I +know not Vitalis; I reject Meletius; I am ignorant of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>Paulinus. Whoever gathers not with thee, scatters: +that is, he who is not of Christ is of Antichrist."<a name="FNanchor_18_372" id="FNanchor_18_372"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_372" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></p> + +<p>III. A great accession of evidence will accrue to what +we have said if we attentively consider the reasons +deduced from the texts containing the institution of the +Primacy, and those proceeding from the inherent properties +of the Church. To speak of the texts first:</p> + +<p>1. Either they carry no meaning with them, or they +prove at least this, that Christ, in instituting the Primacy, +intended,<a name="FNanchor_19_373" id="FNanchor_19_373"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_373" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> while exhibiting the whole Church under the +usual image of a house and building, to give it a <i>foundation</i>, +the bond at once of its strength and unity; and, +again, while communicating to one the special gift of unwavering +faith, to make him the channel for establishing +and<a name="FNanchor_20_374" id="FNanchor_20_374"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_374" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> <i>confirming</i> all the faithful; to<a name="FNanchor_21_375" id="FNanchor_21_375"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_375" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> render the fold +which he had gathered out of all nations one by the +unity of a supreme visible <i>pastor</i>, and to<a name="FNanchor_22_376" id="FNanchor_22_376"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_376" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> constitute in +the Lord's family, amid so manifold a distinction of officers, +one of such eminence as to be <i>the Ruler</i> and <i>the Greater</i> +among all.</p> + +<p>But can we, or ought we, to conclude from this as to +the purpose of the Primacy, and as to its constituent +force and principle? Assuredly these texts prove directly +and categorically that the Primacy was set up as +<i>the efficient principle</i>, whereby to mould the Church's +visible unity, and was endowed with all that authority, +without which unity could neither have been produced, +nor maintained in existence.</p> + +<p>2. And in this judgment we shall be confirmed if we +investigate the properties of which the Church cannot +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>be deprived, without taking a form and an appearance +different from that which it received from Christ. The +first which occurs is that <i>identity</i> by which the Church +must always be like itself, and cannot be substantially +different at its beginning and in its growth; one thing +when it had Christ for its visible head, and another +when His words had come to pass, "A little while, and +now you shall not see Me—because I go to the Father." +Now at its first commencement, in the time of our Lord's +mortal life, the Church presented the form of a society +governed by the supreme power of one, and deriving its +visible unity from one supreme visible head. That it +might not subsequently lose this identity, and put on +another form, our Lord chose a Primate to be the principle +of visible unity, and to have the power of a head +over the whole body.</p> + +<p>And indeed this was necessary to maintain the double +character and test of<a name="FNanchor_23_377" id="FNanchor_23_377"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_377" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> <i>unity</i> and<a name="FNanchor_24_378" id="FNanchor_24_378"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_378" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> <i>Catholicity</i>, by which +the Church is distinguished in Holy Scripture and in +the records of Christian antiquity. As to <i>unity</i>, not +only are the expressions in the creeds, and the more +ample explanation of them in the<a name="FNanchor_25_379" id="FNanchor_25_379"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_379" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> Fathers, most clear +and emphatic, but likewise what is said in the Holy +Scriptures of the <i>end</i> for which the Church was founded +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>by Christ. For the<a name="FNanchor_26_380" id="FNanchor_26_380"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_380" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> grace of God our Saviour hath +appeared to all men, instructing those who had<a name="FNanchor_27_381" id="FNanchor_27_381"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_381" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> changed +the truth of God into a lie, and liked not to have God +in their knowledge, that<a name="FNanchor_28_382" id="FNanchor_28_382"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_382" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> denying all these things they +might become an acceptable people, and<a name="FNanchor_29_383" id="FNanchor_29_383"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_383" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> enlightened +by Christ, and sanctified in the truth, might by the profession +of one faith be<a name="FNanchor_30_384" id="FNanchor_30_384"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_384" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> one body and one spirit, in the +same<a name="FNanchor_31_385" id="FNanchor_31_385"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_385" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> manner in which the Father and the Son are +one, and might be<a name="FNanchor_32_386" id="FNanchor_32_386"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_386" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> divided by no sects and dissensions, +which are manifestly the works of the flesh, not of God, +who is not the<a name="FNanchor_33_387" id="FNanchor_33_387"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_387" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> God of dissension but of peace. For +therefore<a name="FNanchor_34_388" id="FNanchor_34_388"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_388" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> Christ, the only-begotten of the Father, gave +His blood for it, to present it to Himself, a glorious +Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, +which would break peace, and disturb the agreement of +faith; but that it should be holy and without blemish,<a name="FNanchor_35_389" id="FNanchor_35_389"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_389" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> +immovable through that rock on which it rests, and +against which not even the gates of hell shall prevail; +wisely ordered as the<a name="FNanchor_36_390" id="FNanchor_36_390"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_390" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> house of God, in which<a name="FNanchor_37_391" id="FNanchor_37_391"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_391" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> all +hear his voice, who is set over as the<a name="FNanchor_38_392" id="FNanchor_38_392"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_392" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> ruler, and has +received his brethren to be<a name="FNanchor_39_393" id="FNanchor_39_393"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_393" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> confirmed, and the<a name="FNanchor_40_394" id="FNanchor_40_394"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_394" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> care +of the whole flock;<a name="FNanchor_41_395" id="FNanchor_41_395"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_395" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> endued with virtue from on high, +and strengthened by the<a name="FNanchor_42_396" id="FNanchor_42_396"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_396" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> Spirit of truth who proceeds +from the Father; possessing the power of<a name="FNanchor_43_397" id="FNanchor_43_397"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_397" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> authoritative +teaching, which if any<a name="FNanchor_44_398" id="FNanchor_44_398"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_398" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> hear not, nor obey, they are to +be accounted as heathens and publicans, by a judgment +which binds both in heaven and on earth. Are there +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>any who do not see that in this description, which sets +forth the Church's pre-ordained end, its proper character +and very lineaments, the Primacy itself is included, and +exhibited as the principal cause which effects the unity +of the whole body? I hardly think that any such can +be, so apparent is the bond which ties these several parts +together.</p> + +<p>Yet perhaps this may be more vividly brought out if +we shortly mention the common opinions among Protestants +on the Church's unity. For, omitting those who +hold an<a name="FNanchor_45_399" id="FNanchor_45_399"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_399" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> invisible Church, and so expunge visible unity +from its attributes, all the other opinions may be reduced +to three.</p> + +<p>A. Anglicans, whose belief has been set forth, besides +Pearson on the Creed, with more than usual care by +Dodwell, (in his Treatise on the Bishop, as the Principle +of Unity, and S. Peter's Primacy among the Apostles as +the Exemplar of Unity,) begin by noting that the question +of visible unity cannot be determined in the same way as +it respects the universal Church, or each particular Church. +But why? Because, they say, it was indeed the will of +Christ, that each particular Church should have a double +unity, inward and outward, but it was not His will that +the whole Church, the sum of these particular Churches, +should have the same mark and test. Because, it was +His will that both unities should characterise the particular +Churches, to use a school phrase, <i>separately</i> and <i>distributively</i>, +but not the whole body, and the sum of these, taken +<i>collectively</i>. Whence they conclude that Bishops were +chosen and made, by the command of Christ, to preside</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span></p> +<p>over particular Churches, and be in them the source and +principle of external unity, but that a Primate was not +chosen, to whom the whole Church should be subject, and +on whom its external unity should depend.</p> + +<p>At this argument one is lost in astonishment, how it +could have suggested itself to learned men, and gained +their assent. For what had they to prove, or how could +they assure themselves, or others, as to either of these two +points, that external unity was necessary to particular +Churches, but not to the whole Church, or that the institution +of Bishops, presiding over particular Churches, came +from Christ, but not that of the Primate, whose charge +was to rule, administer, and maintain in unity the whole +Church. Had they texts wherein to trust? But as often +as the Bible speaks of the Church's unity, it means that +Church, which is called "the kingdom of God," "the kingdom +of Christ," and "the kingdom of heaven," which is +termed "the inheritance of the Gentiles," and embraces +with a mother's bosom, and a mother's love, the whole race +of man, from one end of the earth to the other. Had they +creeds to cite? But in these unity is attributed to that +Church only, which is so termed absolutely, and very often +has the epithet of Catholic.</p> + +<p>Moreover, is the word Church, in its unrestricted application, +of doubtful meaning? On the contrary, it is +specially defined as well in the Holy Scriptures,<a name="FNanchor_46_400" id="FNanchor_46_400"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_400" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> where +it expresses of itself the whole society of believers, as in +the Fathers, such as Irenæus,<a name="FNanchor_47_401" id="FNanchor_47_401"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_401" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> Tertullian,<a name="FNanchor_48_402" id="FNanchor_48_402"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_402" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> Clement<a name="FNanchor_49_403" id="FNanchor_49_403"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_403" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> +of Alexandria, Origen,<a name="FNanchor_50_404" id="FNanchor_50_404"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_404" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> Hilary,<a name="FNanchor_51_405" id="FNanchor_51_405"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_405" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> Jerome,<a name="FNanchor_52_406" id="FNanchor_52_406"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_406" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> and all the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>rest without exception, who, in using it, express the whole +Christian people joined in one sole communion. It is +defined also by Councils, as in the Canons of Laodicea,<a name="FNanchor_53_407" id="FNanchor_53_407"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_407" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> +Carthage,<a name="FNanchor_54_408" id="FNanchor_54_408"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_408" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> and Constantinople,<a name="FNanchor_55_409" id="FNanchor_55_409"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_409" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> where the Church means +the whole assembly of orthodox believers, as distinct from +heretics and schismatics. It is defined in the most ancient +explanation of the creeds, the unanimous meaning of which +Tertullian seems to have rendered in saying: "And, therefore, +so many and so great Churches are that first one +from the Apostles, whence all come. So all are first, and +all Apostolical, while all set forth one unity, while they +have interchange of peace, the appellation of brotherhood +and the common rights of friendship, privileges regulated +by no other principle than the tradition of the same sacrament."<a name="FNanchor_56_410" id="FNanchor_56_410"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_410" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> +Lastly, the very heretics<a name="FNanchor_57_411" id="FNanchor_57_411"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_411" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> defined this term, +who, in order to make themselves understood, could use +the word Church in no other sense than to express the +universal assembly of the faithful.</p> + +<p>After this it is not at all necessary to ask Anglicans +afresh if they have ancient Fathers whose authority they +can quote. What these thought and believed about the +Church's unity is fully shown by those whom we have +quoted, and by the words of Irenæus, "The Church, though +dispersed throughout the whole world, yet as if it were +contained in the same house, carefully preserves the rule of +faith, and holds it as if she had one soul and one heart, +nay, and teaches it with one consent, as if she spoke with +one voice. For although different tongues occupy the +world, yet the force of tradition is one and the same, nor +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>do the Churches of Germany, Spain, Gaul, the East, +Egypt, Libya, and the middle of the world, embrace any +other faith. But as there is one and the same sun shining +over the whole world, so the preaching of the truth shines +everywhere, and enlightens all men who desire its knowledge."<a name="FNanchor_58_412" id="FNanchor_58_412"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_412" class="fnanchor">[58]</a></p> + +<p>What, then, was the motive of Anglicans, in maintaining +the unity of particular churches, and the institution +of bishops cohering with it, to be necessary, while they +denied the necessity of unity in the Church universal, or +of a Primate's institution, to effect universal unity? What +induced them to assert incompatibilities, and defend them +as a matter of life and death? The evidence of the +Scriptures, and the unquestionable belief of all Christian +antiquity, extorted from them the acknowledgment that +unity was a mark of the Church, and the ascription to +Christ of the institution of bishops as necessary for the +forming and maintaining unity. <i>But the fixed purpose +of defending their schism, and their determination to +reject the Primacy, urged them to deny that unity in +the whole Church was ordered and provided for by +Christ.</i> The result of these affirmatives and negatives +was a doctrinal<a name="FNanchor_59_413" id="FNanchor_59_413"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_413" class="fnanchor">[59]</a> monster of incomparable ugliness, an +outrage on the light both of nature and of revelation, as +incapable of defence, as abhorrent from reason and from +grace.</p> + +<p>B. The second Protestant opinion has been set forth +at length by<a name="FNanchor_60_414" id="FNanchor_60_414"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_414" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> Vitringa, and supported with all his ingenuity. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>It is that of those who distinguish a two-fold +unity of the Church, one interior, spiritual, proceeding +from union with one and the same invisible Head, Jesus +Christ, and completed and perfected by the inhabitation of +the Holy Spirit, and the bestowal of heavenly gifts; the +other exterior, visible, depending on profession of the +same faith, participation of the same sacraments, obedience +to the same superiors. Having made this distinction, they +proceed to argue for the purpose of proving that while +the former unity is universal, and absolutely necessary, +the latter is neither universal nor necessary, save hypothetically, +(of which hypothesis Vitringa nowhere explains +the nature,) and so is capable both of extension and restriction. +In a word, they attach simple and absolute necessity +and universality to the spiritual and invisible unity, but by +no means to the external and visible.</p> + +<p>But for this what are their authorities? Can they +allege the most ancient Fathers in unbroken succession +from the Apostles? Nay, they candidly confess that the +Fathers thought external and visible unity simply and +absolutely necessary, and not those only of the fourth and +fifth century, but those of the second and third. Witness +Vitringa,<a name="FNanchor_61_415" id="FNanchor_61_415"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_415" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> who says, "If we consult on this point the +doctors of the ancient Christian Church, they seem on all +hands to have embraced the view that the communion of +believers in holy rites, in the supper of the Lord, and in +reciprocal offices of brotherly love, was maintained absolutely, +not hypothetically. They supposed, and seem to +have persuaded themselves, that all who were joined to +the Christian Church by the due rite of baptism after +previous preparation, were really regenerated by the grace +of the Holy Spirit, and so that the Christian Church was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>an assembly of men, who in far greater part, saving hypocrites, +of whom a few might exist in secret, participated in +the renewing and sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit. +Accordingly, to be joined to the Church was much the +same as being joined to the heavenly city. To have one's +name on the Church's books, much the same as to have +it in God's book of life. On the other hand, to be severed +from Church communion, or to use Tertullian's words, "to +be deprived of the sacrament of the Body and Blood of +the Lord, and to be debarred from all brotherly communion," +was to risk salvation, and incur the danger of eternal +death. That is, they supposed that no one was saved +out of the external communion of the Church, which +they confounded with the mystical and spiritual communion +of the Saints. And again, kindred points to +these, and resting on the same principle, that bishops +represent the office and person of Jesus Christ Himself +in the Christian Church; that those who separated +themselves from them when rightly and duly elected, +separated themselves at the same time from the communion +of Christ Himself. That those who were absolved by the +bishops after penance publicly performed according to the +canons of ecclesiastical discipline, restored to their rank, +and honoured with the kiss of peace, were absolved in the +heavenly court by God Himself, and Christ the Judge. +Lastly, which was the most<a name="FNanchor_62_416" id="FNanchor_62_416"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_416" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> <i>audacious</i> of all such hypotheses, +that it was all over with the salvation of all who +separated themselves in schism from the external communion +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>of the Church and its rites, although hitherto they +had neither been tainted with heresy, nor involved in +crimes destructive of the Christian<a name="FNanchor_63_417" id="FNanchor_63_417"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_417" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> profession. It would +be easy for me to support at length each one of these particulars +by the sentiments and the discipline of the doctors +of the primitive Church, were they unknown to the more +instructed, or did my purpose allow it. I now only appeal +to Cyprian's letter to Magnus, in the whole of which He +supposes and urges the very hypotheses which I have been +enumerating; and amongst the rest, speaking of Novatian's +schism, he writes thus distinctly: "But if there is one +Church, which is beloved by Christ, and alone is cleansed +in His laver, how can he who is not in the Church," (that +is, in communion with that particular external assembly +which makes a part of the external Catholic Church,) +"be loved by Christ, or washed and cleansed in His laver? +Wherefore as the Church alone possesses the water of life, +and the power of baptizing and washing a man, let him +who asserts that any one can be baptized and sanctified +with Novatian, first show and teach that Novatian is in the +Church, or <a name="FNanchor_64_418" id="FNanchor_64_418"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_418" class="fnanchor">[64]</a><i>presides over the Church</i>. For the Church +is one, which, being one, cannot be at once within +and without. For if it is with Novatian, it was not +with Cornelius. But if it was with Cornelius, who succeeded +the Bishop Fabian in regular order, and whom +the Lord hath glorified with martyrdom over and above +the rank of his high priesthood, Novatian is not in the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>Church."<a name="FNanchor_65_419" id="FNanchor_65_419"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_419" class="fnanchor">[65]</a> It is the precise thing which we have been +stating."</p> + +<p>But where did Vitringa and the supporters of his doctrine +get courage to contradict the whole line of Fathers +and their unbroken tradition? You would surely expect +from them decisive arguments, and expressions from Holy +Writ distinctly laying down no other than a <i>hypothetical</i> +necessity of visible and external unity. But you may +search in vain all over the Gospels, the Epistles, and the +Acts, for any such. Not only is there no mention in them +of such a distinction as that invisible unity is absolutely +necessary, while external and visible unity is but hypothetically +so, but this latter is plainly enjoined and set forth +as the note which the mystical body of Christ, the true +Church, cannot be without; and its violation is reckoned +among those works of the flesh which exclude from the +kingdom of God.</p> + +<p>How, besides, can that be deemed necessary only under +hypothesis, without holding and faithfully maintaining +which you cut yourself off from the very fountain of +blessing, and transgress and subvert the order appointed +by God for attaining salvation? Such an assertion +would be senseless. Yet in most of the Protestant confessions,—the +Helvetic, art. xiv., the Galliean, art. xvi., the +Scotch, art. xxvii., the Belgian, art. xxviii., the Saxon, +art. xii., the Bohemian, art. viii., and that of the Remonstrants, +art. xxii.,—it is laid down as an indisputable +principle, "That the heirs of eternal life are only to be +found in the assembly of those called." What then do +those who violate outward and visible unity, and withdraw +from the outward and visible body of the Church? +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>They stop up the very way which Providence has opened +for their obtaining "the inheritance of sons."</p> + +<p>For indeed Christ is the Saviour, but of His mystical +body, which<a name="FNanchor_66_420" id="FNanchor_66_420"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_420" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> is the Church, which therefore He purchased +with His own blood, joined to Himself by that +closest bond of being His spouse, enriched with promises,<a name="FNanchor_67_421" id="FNanchor_67_421"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_421" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> +provided with all manner of graces, and most nobly +dowered with<a name="FNanchor_68_422" id="FNanchor_68_422"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_422" class="fnanchor">[68]</a> truth, charity, and the Holy Spirit, to +give her at last salvation, and<a name="FNanchor_69_423" id="FNanchor_69_423"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_423" class="fnanchor">[69]</a>"the weight of eternal +glory." But have these things reference to a visible or +an invisible Church? To a Church one and coherent, +or rent and torn by factions? It is the Church which +Christ founded, which He made to be<a name="FNanchor_70_424" id="FNanchor_70_424"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_424" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> "the light of the +world," bound together by<a name="FNanchor_71_425" id="FNanchor_71_425"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_425" class="fnanchor">[71]</a> manifold external links, +ordered to be one with the unity of a house, a family, +a city, a kingdom; with that unity wherewith the Father +and the Son are one; in which He placed<a name="FNanchor_72_426" id="FNanchor_72_426"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_426" class="fnanchor">[72]</a> pastors and +doctors to bind and to loose, and to watch over the +agreement of all the parts; which He founded upon +Peter, committed in chief to Peter to rule and to feed +it. Such, then, as fall off from one single visible Church +are of the condition of those whom the Apostles of the +Lord foretold, that "in the last time there should come +mockers, walking according to their own desires in ungodlinesses: +these are they who separate themselves, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>sensual men, having not the<a name="FNanchor_73_427" id="FNanchor_73_427"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_427" class="fnanchor">[73]</a> Spirit:" these tear themselves +from their Saviour, lose the fruit purchased by +His blood, and fall from the inheritance which the Head +obtained for His body and His members.</p> + +<p>Therefore the necessity of union with the one single +visible Church is as great as the necessity of union with +Christ the Head, as the necessity of the remission of +sins, "for<a name="FNanchor_74_428" id="FNanchor_74_428"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_428" class="fnanchor">[74]</a> outside of it they are not remitted: for this +Church has specially received the Holy Spirit in earnest, +without whom no sins are remitted:" as the necessity of +charity, "<a name="FNanchor_75_429" id="FNanchor_75_429"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_429" class="fnanchor">[75]</a>for it is this very charity which those who +are cut off from the communion of the Catholic Church +do not possess," whence "<a name="FNanchor_76_430" id="FNanchor_76_430"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_430" class="fnanchor">[76]</a>whatsoever thing heretics +and schismatics receive, the charity which covers a multitude +of sins is the gift of Catholic unity and peace:" +as great, in fine, as the necessity not to involve oneself +"in<a name="FNanchor_77_431" id="FNanchor_77_431"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_431" class="fnanchor">[77]</a> a horrible crime and sacrilege," "in<a name="FNanchor_78_432" id="FNanchor_78_432"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_432" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> the greatest +of evils," one "by<a name="FNanchor_79_433" id="FNanchor_79_433"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_433" class="fnanchor">[79]</a> which Christ's passion is rendered +of no effect, and His body is rent," by which<a name="FNanchor_80_434" id="FNanchor_80_434"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_434" class="fnanchor">[80]</a> the sin +is committed of which Christ said, "It shall not be forgiven, +neither in this world nor in the world to come:" +by which one is estranged "from the sole Catholic Church, +which retains the true worship, in which is the fountain +of truth, the home of faith, the temple of God, into +which if any one enter not, or from which if any one +go out, he loses the hope of life and eternal salvation. +Let no one flatter himself in the spirit of obstinate contention, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>for life is at issue, and salvation, which without +care and caution will be forfeited."<a name="FNanchor_81_435" id="FNanchor_81_435"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_435" class="fnanchor">[81]</a> Can any necessity +be greater, or less conditional than this? Or what can +be more plain than this statement of the simple and +absolute necessity of visible unity and outward communion?</p> + +<p>Where then are we to find the cause which induced +so many learned and able Protestants first to imagine +this distinction between the necessity of internal and external +communion and unity, and then to deceive themselves +and others with such a mockery? The real cause +was, as I believe, that having denied the institution of +the Primacy, and the authority lodged in it for the purpose +of forming and maintaining unity, they were without +a criterion or proof, in virtue of which, among so +many Christian societies divided from and condemning +each other, they could safely choose the one with which +they were to be joined in communion, and the outward +unity of duty and obedience. For they would readily conclude +that the unity so often commended in Scripture, and +so earnestly enjoined, could not be external, since God, who +does not command impossibilities, had instituted no visible +sign to mark that company of Christians, which alone +among all the rest was the continuation and development +of the Church founded by Christ, and built up by the +Apostles.</p> + +<p>C. From the same source must the third Protestant +doctrine on unity be derived. <a name="FNanchor_82_436" id="FNanchor_82_436"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_436" class="fnanchor">[82]</a>Jurien filled up the +sketch of this, which <a name="FNanchor_83_437" id="FNanchor_83_437"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_437" class="fnanchor">[83]</a>Casaubon, <a name="FNanchor_84_438" id="FNanchor_84_438"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_438" class="fnanchor">[84]</a>Claude, and <a name="FNanchor_85_439" id="FNanchor_85_439"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_439" class="fnanchor">[85]</a>Mestrezat +had drawn, and it became so popular as not only +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>to infect a large number of Protestants, but to exert a +withering influence on certain unstable members of the +Catholic body. It teaches that we must believe not only +in an internal and spiritual, but in a visible and external +unity, for the Scriptures plainly urge its necessity, and +Christian tradition fully describes it, so that there is +not a truth more patent or established on greater authority; +but this unity is restricted within narrow bounds, +and confined to the articles called fundamental, though +as to how many these are no one defender of the system +is agreed with another. For it is sufficient for Christians +not to differ in the profession of such articles for them +to be deemed members of one and the same Church. +Whence they infer that one and the same true Church +is made up out of almost all Christian societies, the +Roman, the Greek, the Nestorian, the Eutychian, the +Waldensian, the Lutheran, the Anglican, and the Calvinist, +for their differences, important as they are, offer +no hindrance to the unity which Christ enjoined, the +Apostles preached, the creeds express, and universal tradition +demands.</p> + +<p>As Bossuet,<a name="FNanchor_86_440" id="FNanchor_86_440"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_440" class="fnanchor">[86]</a> the brothers Walemburg,<a name="FNanchor_87_441" id="FNanchor_87_441"></a><a href="#Footnote_87_441" class="fnanchor">[87]</a> Nicole,<a name="FNanchor_88_442" id="FNanchor_88_442"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_442" class="fnanchor">[88]</a> and +even some Protestants have most fully dealt with this +portentous opinion, there is no need to urge much against +it here. I prefer repeating the question, what <i>occasion</i> +the Protestants had to get up so unheard-of a paradox, +and a system so absurd? It was twofold: one theoretical, +and the other practical.</p> + +<p>The theoretical was this. The crime of heresy, depicted +in Scripture, and Christian antiquity, with colours so dark, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>had gradually lost its foulness and its magnitude in the +minds of Protestants, who had, at length, come to the +pass of reckoning religious, as well as civil, liberty, among +the unquestionable rights of man. As if, all other human +acts being subject to a law, those alone which proceed from +the intellect are exempt: as if the difference between +right and wrong, which embraces the whole range of man's +life, did not relate to its noblest part, in the acts of the +intellect and the reason: as if God had laid down a law +of justice, charity, fortitude, and prudence, but entirely +omitted a <i>law<a name="FNanchor_89_443" id="FNanchor_89_443"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_443" class="fnanchor">[89]</a> of faith</i>: as if the will submitted to a +law of <i>good</i>, but the mind owned no law of <i>truth</i>: or as if +God cared for the boughs and leaves, but took no thought +of the root.<a name="FNanchor_90_444" id="FNanchor_90_444"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_444" class="fnanchor">[90]</a> But what could Protestants do? Having +allowed to all full license of thought, and overthrown the +authority which ruled the mind, they were forced, while +they kept the <i>name</i> of heresy, to give up the <i>thing</i> meant +by it, and the effects springing from that thing: they were +forced to attenuate to the utmost the crime of heresy, and +to reduce to the smallest possible number the articles +necessary to be believed by all; they were forced to extend +beyond all measure the Church's limits, while they +contracted beyond all measure the range of necessary +unity.</p> + +<p>Besides the theoretical, there was a practical occasion +in those schisms which, not merely in later or in mediæval +times, but in the first ages also, rent the Christian society. +Jurien and Pfaff appeal to these, pretentiously enumerating +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>those which arose under Popes Victor, Cornelius, +Stephen, Urban VI., and Clement VII., and those named +from Donatus, Meletius, and Acacius. Then they ask +if the true Church of Christ can be thought to consist in +one single society perfectly at union with itself. They +allege many conjectures against this, but dwell on the +argument, that <i>in defect of a visible external test</i>, such +an assertion could not be maintained without <i>imposing +upon all a most intolerable burden of searching out +where is the true doctrine and the legitimate ministerial +succession</i>: for it is not until those are found, that, at +length, that one single society will be recognised, with +which, as the only true Church, unity of Communion is +to be kept.</p> + +<p>Now, I profess that I do not see how this argument +can be met, if the institution of the Primacy, and its +proper function to form and maintain unity, be rejected. +For, without this, by what visible token among so many +Christian societies, divided by intestine dissension, and +condemning each other, can you distinguish the one which +has the character of the true Church, and the right to +exact communion with itself? There is none to be +found; and so, either all hope of finding the true Church +must be relinquished, or an enquiry must be undertaken +into purity of doctrine, and legitimate ministerial succession, +on the termination of which the only true Church +will at last be found. But as this latter course is to by +far the greater number of men impossible, dangerous<a name="FNanchor_91_445" id="FNanchor_91_445"></a><a href="#Footnote_91_445" class="fnanchor">[91]</a> to +all without exception, and most foreign to the Christian +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>temper, the only conclusion remaining, is, that the selection +of a Primacy with the power of effecting unity impressed +upon it, <i>is most intimately involved and bound up +in the visibility and unity of the true Church</i>.</p> + +<p>And quite as closely is it bound up with that other +test of the Church, its Catholicism. We are not to believe +Voss and King,<a name="FNanchor_92_446" id="FNanchor_92_446"></a><a href="#Footnote_92_446" class="fnanchor">[92]</a> in their assertion that this test began to +be applied first in the fourth century, for the purpose of +distinguishing the genuine company of the orthodox, and +the true body of Christ, from heretics and schismatics. +For we find the Church distinguished by the epithet of +Catholic, not merely in the records of the fourth<a name="FNanchor_93_447" id="FNanchor_93_447"></a><a href="#Footnote_93_447" class="fnanchor">[93]</a> and +fifth<a name="FNanchor_94_448" id="FNanchor_94_448"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_448" class="fnanchor">[94]</a> century, but in those of the third,<a name="FNanchor_95_449" id="FNanchor_95_449"></a><a href="#Footnote_95_449" class="fnanchor">[95]</a> and the +second,<a name="FNanchor_96_450" id="FNanchor_96_450"></a><a href="#Footnote_96_450" class="fnanchor">[96]</a> at the beginning of which S. Ignatius wrote, +"Follow all of you the bishop, as Jesus Christ the Father; +and the body of presbyters, as Apostles. But reverence +deacons, as the command of Christ. Without the bishop +let nothing of what concerns the Church be done by any +one. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist which is +under the bishop, or with his sanction. Where the +bishop is, there also let the multitude be; as, where Christ +Jesus is, <i>there is the Catholic Church</i>."<a name="FNanchor_97_451" id="FNanchor_97_451"></a><a href="#Footnote_97_451" class="fnanchor">[97]</a> As, therefore, +that cannot be the Church of Christ, which is not Catholic, +we ought to investigate the meaning which is given to +this word by the consent of all orthodox believers.</p> + +<p>Now, two points are signified in it, one of which is its +<i>material</i>, the other its <i>formal</i>, or <i>essential</i>, part. Its +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span><i>material</i> part is, that the geographical extension of the +true Church be such that its mass be <i>morally</i><a name="FNanchor_98_452" id="FNanchor_98_452"></a><a href="#Footnote_98_452" class="fnanchor">[98]</a> universal, +<i>absolutely</i> great, and eminently visible, but <i>comparatively</i> +with all heretical and schismatical sects, larger +and more numerous. Of this <i>material</i> meaning attached +to the epithet, Catholic, we find abundant witnesses in all<a name="FNanchor_99_453" id="FNanchor_99_453"></a><a href="#Footnote_99_453" class="fnanchor">[99]</a> +the orthodox writers who defended the cause of the Church +against the Donatists, and again, against the Luciferians,<a name="FNanchor_100_454" id="FNanchor_100_454"></a><a href="#Footnote_100_454" class="fnanchor">[100]</a> +and Novatians; and likewise, in those who have explained +the creeds,<a name="FNanchor_101_455" id="FNanchor_101_455"></a><a href="#Footnote_101_455" class="fnanchor">[101]</a> and, as occasion offered, have touched on +the force of the term Catholic.<a name="FNanchor_102_456" id="FNanchor_102_456"></a><a href="#Footnote_102_456" class="fnanchor">[102]</a> But the same first cited +witnesses tell us that universal diffusion is not sufficient, +and that we require another element to infuse a soul into +this universally extended body, and to bring it to unity.</p> + +<p>For two properties are continually recurring in Christian +records, one of which may be called <i>negative</i>, the +other <i>affirmative</i>. The force of the former is to <i>expel +from the circle of the one true Catholic Church all sects +of heretics and Schismatics</i>: of the latter, that this +Church <i>consist in one single communion and society, +whose members cohere together by hierarchical subordination</i>.</p> + +<p>But is it true that both these points are so plainly and +constantly inculcated? To remove all doubt we will quote +the authors who most distinctly assert the one and the +other. As to the first, there are <a name="FNanchor_103_457" id="FNanchor_103_457"></a><a href="#Footnote_103_457" class="fnanchor">[103]</a>Clement of Alexandria, +<a name="FNanchor_104_458" id="FNanchor_104_458"></a><a href="#Footnote_104_458" class="fnanchor">[104]</a>Tertullian, <a name="FNanchor_105_459" id="FNanchor_105_459"></a><a href="#Footnote_105_459" class="fnanchor">[105]</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>Alexander of Alexandria, +<a name="FNanchor_106_460" id="FNanchor_106_460"></a><a href="#Footnote_106_460" class="fnanchor">[106]</a>Celestine, <a name="FNanchor_107_461" id="FNanchor_107_461"></a><a href="#Footnote_107_461" class="fnanchor">[107]</a>Leander, +the Emperor Justinian;<a name="FNanchor_108_462" id="FNanchor_108_462"></a><a href="#Footnote_108_462" class="fnanchor">[108]</a>then again +the Councils of Nice,<a name="FNanchor_109_463" id="FNanchor_109_463"></a><a href="#Footnote_109_463" class="fnanchor">[109]</a> Sardica,<a name="FNanchor_110_464" id="FNanchor_110_464"></a><a href="#Footnote_110_464" class="fnanchor">[110]</a> and the third of +<a name="FNanchor_111_465" id="FNanchor_111_465"></a><a href="#Footnote_111_465" class="fnanchor">[111]</a>Carthage; nay, the heretics<a name="FNanchor_112_466" id="FNanchor_112_466"></a><a href="#Footnote_112_466" class="fnanchor">[112]</a> themselves; and all these +agree in asserting that <i>there is one only ancient Catholic +Church</i>, outside of which the divine patience endures and +bears with heresies, which are as thorns. Thus in language +ecclesiastical and Christian nothing can be considered as +more certainly proved than that the epithet of Catholic is +<i>distinctive</i>, and shows the communion which rejects from +its bosom all heresies and all schisms. It was with great +reason, therefore, that<a name="FNanchor_113_467" id="FNanchor_113_467"></a><a href="#Footnote_113_467" class="fnanchor">[113]</a>Pacian wrote what<a name="FNanchor_114_468" id="FNanchor_114_468"></a><a href="#Footnote_114_468" class="fnanchor">[114]</a>Cyril of +Jerusalem, and<a name="FNanchor_115_469" id="FNanchor_115_469"></a><a href="#Footnote_115_469" class="fnanchor">[115]</a>Augustine very frequently repeated, +"Our people is divided from the heretical name by this +appellation, that it is called Catholic."</p> + +<p>Moreover this unity, which we have said may be called +<i>negative</i>, is necessary indeed to the understanding of the +Church as Catholic, but is by no means sufficient to complete +the idea of Catholicity. To it therefore must be +added the <i>affirmative</i> unity, by which Catholicism is not +only divided from heretics and schismatics, but becomes in +itself a coherent body with members and articulations. It +is to the assertion and maintenance of this unity, which is +the soul of Catholicity, and without which it cannot even +be conceived, that has reference what we so often read in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>the monuments of antiquity about the <a name="FNanchor_116_470" id="FNanchor_116_470"></a><a href="#Footnote_116_470" class="fnanchor">[116]</a>necessity of communion +among the members of the Church and the <a name="FNanchor_117_471" id="FNanchor_117_471"></a><a href="#Footnote_117_471" class="fnanchor">[117]</a>tokens +and means of that communion. There are very +distinct and innumerable testimonies about it in the ancient +Fathers,<a name="FNanchor_118_472" id="FNanchor_118_472"></a><a href="#Footnote_118_472" class="fnanchor">[118]</a> declaring its <i>necessity</i>, and setting forth its +<i>mode</i> of composition and coherence.</p> + +<p>For to set forth the <i>mode</i> of this is the plain drift of +what <a name="FNanchor_119_473" id="FNanchor_119_473"></a><a href="#Footnote_119_473" class="fnanchor">[119]</a>Irenæus writes in confutation of heretics by the tradition +of the Apostolical churches: "For since it would be +very long in the compass of our present work to enumerate +the successions of all the Churches, taking that Church +which is the greatest, the most ancient, and well known to +all, founded and established at Rome by the two most +glorious Apostles, Peter and Paul, by indicating that tradition +which it has from the Apostles, and the faith which +it announces to men, which has reached even to us by the +succession of bishops, we confound all those, who, in whatsoever +manner, either through self-pleasing, or vain glory, +or blindness and evil intention, <a name="FNanchor_120_474" id="FNanchor_120_474"></a><a href="#Footnote_120_474" class="fnanchor">[120]</a>gather otherwise than +they ought. <i>For</i> to this church on account of its superior +chiefship, it is necessary that every Church should come<a name="FNanchor_121_475" id="FNanchor_121_475"></a><a href="#Footnote_121_475" class="fnanchor">[121]</a> +together, that is, the faithful who are everywhere; for +in this Church the tradition which is from the Apostles +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>has been ever preserved by those who are everywhere. +...By this ordination and succession, the tradition and +preaching of the truth, which is from the Apostles in the +Church, has reached down to us. And this proof is most +complete, that it is one and the same vivifying faith, +which has been preserved, and handed down in truth, in +the Church from the Apostles to the present day."</p> + +<p>The churches, therefore, which are everywhere diffused, +derive that strength and harmony of parts, out of which +the whole body of the Catholic Church is made up, from +the fact of their agreeing in the unity of faith and preaching +with that Church of Peter, which is the greatest, the +chief, and the more powerful. It follows that the Primacy +of Peter, and the authority inherent in it to effect unity, is +that principle which Christ selected, that the Church which +He had set up might be Catholic, and bear the note of +Catholicity on its brow.</p> + +<p>And Cyprian would set forth the same <i>mode</i> of communion, +when he speaks of the <i>coherence of bishops</i>, by +which both the <i>Catholic episcopate</i> is made <i>one, and the +Church one and Catholic</i>. For as the <i>several communities +draw the unity of the body from the unity of the +prelates</i> to whom they are subject; so all prelates, and the +communities subject to them, constitute <i>one Catholic episcopate +and one Catholic Church</i>, because they cohere with +the <i>principal</i> church, <i>the root and matrix</i>, which is the +Church of Peter, <i>upon whom</i> the Lord founded the whole +building, and whom He instituted <i>to be the fountain and +source of Catholic unity</i>.<a name="FNanchor_122_476" id="FNanchor_122_476"></a><a href="#Footnote_122_476" class="fnanchor">[122]</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p> +<p>These words are a clue to understand <a name="FNanchor_123_477" id="FNanchor_123_477"></a><a href="#Footnote_123_477" class="fnanchor">[123]</a>Tertullian's +meaning, when, already become a Montanist, he called +the Catholic Church, whose discipline he was attacking, +<i>the Church near to Peter</i>—"Concerning your opinion, +I now enquire whence you claim this right to the Church. +If because the Lord said to Peter, 'Upon this rock I will +build My Church,' 'to thee will I give the keys of the +kingdom of heaven,' or 'whatsoever thou shalt bind or loose +on earth, shall be bound or loosed in heaven,' you, therefore, +pretend that the power of binding and loosing is +derived to you, that is, to all the Church near to Peter; +how do you overthrow and change the manifest intention +of the Lord in conferring this on Peter<a name="FNanchor_124_478" id="FNanchor_124_478"></a><a href="#Footnote_124_478" class="fnanchor">[124]</a> <i>personally</i>, +'Upon thee I will build My Church,' and 'I will +give to thee the keys,' not to the Church, and 'whatsoever +thou bindest or loosest,' not what they bind or +loose." Now he used this mode of speaking because it +was customary with Catholics, who were wont to exhibit +<i>nearness with Peter</i> as the characteristic of the Church, +and the necessary condition for sharing that power, whose +plenitude and native source Christ had lodged in Peter.</p> + +<p>This certain and undoubting judgment of Catholics, +Tertullian himself, before his error, had clearly expressed +in his book, De Scorpiace, c. x., where he says, "For +if you yet think the heaven shut, remember that the +Lord here (Matt. xvi. 19) left its keys to Peter, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span><i>through him to the Church</i>." Nearness, then, with +Peter, and <a name="FNanchor_125_479" id="FNanchor_125_479"></a><a href="#Footnote_125_479" class="fnanchor">[125]</a><i>consanguinity of doctrine</i> thence proceeding, +are no less necessary to the Church, that it may be +the Catholic Church which Christ founded and built +upon Peter, than that it be partaker in those gifts which, +again, He Himself granted only to unity, as it is effected +in Peter and by Peter.</p> + +<p>Now not only the most ancient Fathers, as Irenæus, +Tertullian, and Cyprian, but the whole body of them, +assign the origin of this to Peter. This they make the +vivifying principle of agreement, society and unity, without +which the Church can neither be intrinsically Catholic, +nor the mind conceive it as such. It is so stated +by <a name="FNanchor_126_480" id="FNanchor_126_480"></a><a href="#Footnote_126_480" class="fnanchor">[126]</a>Pacian, <a name="FNanchor_127_481" id="FNanchor_127_481"></a><a href="#Footnote_127_481" class="fnanchor">[127]</a>Ambrose, the <a name="FNanchor_128_482" id="FNanchor_128_482"></a><a href="#Footnote_128_482" class="fnanchor">[128]</a>Fathers of Aquileia, <a name="FNanchor_129_483" id="FNanchor_129_483"></a><a href="#Footnote_129_483" class="fnanchor">[129]</a> +Optatus, <a name="FNanchor_130_484" id="FNanchor_130_484"></a><a href="#Footnote_130_484" class="fnanchor">[130]</a>Gregory Nazianzen, <a name="FNanchor_131_485" id="FNanchor_131_485"></a><a href="#Footnote_131_485" class="fnanchor">[131]</a>Jerome, <a name="FNanchor_132_486" id="FNanchor_132_486"></a><a href="#Footnote_132_486" class="fnanchor">[132]</a>Augustine, <a name="FNanchor_133_487" id="FNanchor_133_487"></a><a href="#Footnote_133_487" class="fnanchor">[133]</a> +Gelasius, <a name="FNanchor_134_488" id="FNanchor_134_488"></a><a href="#Footnote_134_488" class="fnanchor">[134]</a>Hormisdas, <a name="FNanchor_135_489" id="FNanchor_135_489"></a><a href="#Footnote_135_489" class="fnanchor">[135]</a>Agatho, <a name="FNanchor_136_490" id="FNanchor_136_490"></a><a href="#Footnote_136_490" class="fnanchor">[136]</a>Maximus Martyr, +and, to shorten the list, by Leo<a name="FNanchor_137_491" id="FNanchor_137_491"></a><a href="#Footnote_137_491" class="fnanchor">[137]</a> the Great. It is in +setting forth the unity of the Catholic episcopate that he +writes what ought never to be forgotten by Christian +minds: "For the compactness of our unity cannot remain +firm, unless the bond of charity weld us into an inseparable +whole, because, as we have many members in one +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>body, and all members have not the same office, so we, +being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members +one of another. For it is the connection of the +whole body which makes one soundness and one beauty; +and this connexion, as it requires unanimity in the whole +body, so especially demands concord among bishops. For +though these have a like dignity, yet have they not an +equal jurisdiction; since even among the most blessed +Apostles, as there was a likeness of honour, so was there +a certain distinction of power, and the election of all +being equal, pre-eminence over the rest was given to +one, from which mould, or type, the distinction also between +bishops has arisen, and it was provided by a +great ordering, that all should not claim to themselves +all things, but that in every province there should be +one whose sentence should be considered the first among +his brethren; and others again, seated in the greater +cities, should undertake a larger care, through whom +the direction of the universal Church should converge +to the one See of Peter, and nothing anywhere disagree +from its head."</p> + +<p>And, if I do not deceive myself, the direct drift of all +this is to answer the question, whether the doctrine of +Peter's Primacy, and its virtue, as the constituent of +unity and Catholicity, is contained in the most solemn +standard of faith, the creed. For although there are +unimpeachable testimonies to prove that the creeds were +not published and explained to Catechumens, in order +to convey to them a full and complete Christian instruction; +and though it be proved further to have been the +purpose of the Church's ancient teachers to omit many +points in the creeds which were to be set before the +initiated at a more suitable season afterwards, it may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> +nevertheless be said that the most commonly received +articles of the creed may be regarded as so many most +fruitful germs, from which the remaining doctrines would +spontaneously spring. And so, to keep within our present +point, what is more plain than that the sum of +doctrine concerning Peter's Primacy, contained in the +Bible, illustrated by the Fathers, and defined by Councils, +is involved in that article of the creed in which we +profess that the Church is one and Catholic? No doubt +there nowhere occurs in the creeds, <i>expressed in so many +words</i>, mention of Peter, or of the Primacy bestowed on +him, or of hierarchical subordination; yet it is most distinctly +stated that the Church is one and Catholic. What +meaning, then, were the faithful to give to those epithets? +What were they to intend in the words, I believe one +Catholic Church? What but the meaning of the words +themselves, which they received from the Church's teachers +together with the creeds? But they could not form the +conception of one Church and that Catholic, without +thinking likewise of one Catholic <i>principle</i> of the Church; +nor could they assign the dignity of that one Catholic +principle to any other but Peter, whom alone they had +invariably been taught to have been set over all. For +what S.<a name="FNanchor_138_492" id="FNanchor_138_492"></a><a href="#Footnote_138_492" class="fnanchor">[138]</a> Bernard wrote in mediæval times, "For this +purpose the solicitude of all Churches rests on that +one Apostolic See, that all may be united under it and +in it, and it may be careful in behalf of all to preserve +the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace," must be +considered nothing but a repetition of the faith which +resounded through the whole world, from the very beginning +of the Christian religion.</p> + +<p>Unless, therefore, any can be found who prefer asserting +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span><i>either</i> that true believers <i>never</i> understood what they +believed, in professing the Church to be one and Catholic, +<i>or</i> that they understood this <i>otherwise</i> than it had +been universally and constantly explained by the Church's +teachers; it must be admitted, that faith in Peter's Primacy, +and in the power bestowed upon it for the purpose +of making the visible kingdom of Christ one and Catholic, +is coeval with that profession of the creeds which sets forth +the Church as one and as Catholic.<a name="FNanchor_139_493" id="FNanchor_139_493"></a><a href="#Footnote_139_493" class="fnanchor">[139]</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span></p> +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_355" id="Footnote_1_355"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_355"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> [Greek: hêgoumenos], Luke xxii. 26, the very term still given in the East to the head of a +religious community; and also, as has been said, that which marks our Lord in the great +prophecy of Micah, recorded in Matt. ii. 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_356" id="Footnote_2_356"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_356"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> [Greek: Prôtos, meizôn, hêgoumenos]. See ch. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_357" id="Footnote_3_357"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_357"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> 1 Cor. x. 18; Gal. vi. 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_358" id="Footnote_4_358"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_358"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Matt. xix. 28; Luke xxii. 29.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_359" id="Footnote_5_359"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_359"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> See Num. ii. 3-9; x. 14; Judges i. 1-3; xx. 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_360" id="Footnote_6_360"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_360"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Gen. xlix. 10; and see John iv. 22.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_361" id="Footnote_7_361"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_361"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> 3 Kings, xii.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_362" id="Footnote_8_362"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_362"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> S. Ambrose, Ep. 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_363" id="Footnote_9_363"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_363"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Arnobius Junior in Ps. 138.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_364" id="Footnote_10_364"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_364"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Eucherius of Lyons, hom. in vig. S. Petri.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_365" id="Footnote_11_365"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_365"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Proclus, patriarch of Constantinople, on the Transfiguration.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_366" id="Footnote_12_366"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_366"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> The Archimandrites of Syria to Pope Hormisdas, Mansi 8, 428.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_367" id="Footnote_13_367"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_367"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> S. Bernard, de Cons. Lib. 2, c. 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_368" id="Footnote_14_368"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_368"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> S. Theodore Studites to Pope Leo III., Lib. 1, Ep. 33.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_369" id="Footnote_15_369"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_369"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> In 1 Cor. Hom. 1, n. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_370" id="Footnote_16_370"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_370"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> S. Greg. Naz., Orat. 12, alluding to John xix. 23.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_371" id="Footnote_17_371"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_371"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> S. Cyprian, Ep. 79.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_372" id="Footnote_18_372"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_372"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> S. Jerome, Ep. 57.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_373" id="Footnote_19_373"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_373"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Matt. xvi. 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_374" id="Footnote_20_374"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_374"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Luke xxii. 31-2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_375" id="Footnote_21_375"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_375"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> John xxi. 15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_376" id="Footnote_22_376"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_376"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Luke xxii. 26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_377" id="Footnote_23_377"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_377"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Unity, John x. 16; xvii. 20-23; 1 Cor. xii. 12-31; Ephes. ii. 14-22; iv. 5; 1 Cor. +i. 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_378" id="Footnote_24_378"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_378"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Catholicity. Luke xxiv. 47; Mark xvi. 20; Acts i. 8; ix. 15; Rom. x. 18; Colos. +i. 8-23.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_379" id="Footnote_25_379"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_379"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> For all the fathers hold the doctrine thus expressed by St. Hilary of Poitiers on Ps. +121, n. 5. "The Church is one body, not mixed up by a confusion of bodies, nor by each +of these being united in an indiscriminate heap and shapeless bundle; but we are all one +by the unity of faith, by the society of charity, by concord of works and will, by the one +gift of the sacrament in all." No notion of the Church's unity in England, it may be +remarked, outside of Catholicism, goes beyond "the indiscriminate heap and shapeless +bundle."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_380" id="Footnote_26_380"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_380"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> Tit. ii. 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_381" id="Footnote_27_381"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_381"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Rom. i. 25.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_382" id="Footnote_28_382"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_382"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Tit. ii. 14, with 1 Pet. ii. 25.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_383" id="Footnote_29_383"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_383"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> John xvii. 17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_384" id="Footnote_30_384"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_384"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Eph. iv. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_385" id="Footnote_31_385"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_385"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> John xvii. 21.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_386" id="Footnote_32_386"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_386"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Gal. v. 20, 19.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_387" id="Footnote_33_387"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_387"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> 1 Cor. xiv. 33.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_388" id="Footnote_34_388"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_388"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> Eph. v. 27.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_389" id="Footnote_35_389"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_389"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> Matt. xvi. 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_390" id="Footnote_36_390"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_390"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> 1 Tim. iii. 15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_391" id="Footnote_37_391"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_391"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> Matt. xviii. 17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_392" id="Footnote_38_392"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_392"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> Luke xxii. 26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_393" id="Footnote_39_393"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_393"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> Luke xxii. 31-2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_394" id="Footnote_40_394"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_394"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> John xxi. 15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_395" id="Footnote_41_395"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_395"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> Acts i. 4-8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_396" id="Footnote_42_396"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_396"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> John xv. 26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_397" id="Footnote_43_397"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_397"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> Matt. xxviii. 20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_398" id="Footnote_44_398"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_398"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> Matt. xviii. 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_399" id="Footnote_45_399"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_399"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> The first Reformers fell into this grievous error because they had no other way to +defend their schism. They may be passed over at present, as in most even of the Protestant +confessions visibility is reckoned among the notes of the Church.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46_400" id="Footnote_46_400"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_400"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> 1 Cor. vi. 4; x. 32; xi. 22; xii. 28; Ephes. i. 22; iii. 10-21; v. 23, 24, 25, 27, 29, +32; Colos. i. 18-24; 1 Tim. iii. 15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47_401" id="Footnote_47_401"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_401"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> Irenæus, Lib. 1, c. 3, Lib. 3, c. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48_402" id="Footnote_48_402"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_402"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> Tertullian, de Præsc. c. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49_403" id="Footnote_49_403"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_403"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> Clement. Stromat. Lib. 7, 17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50_404" id="Footnote_50_404"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_404"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> Origen in Cantic, Hom. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_51_405" id="Footnote_51_405"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_405"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> Hilary, De Trin. Lib. 7, c. 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52_406" id="Footnote_52_406"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_406"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> Jerome, adv. Lucifer.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_53_407" id="Footnote_53_407"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_407"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> Concil. Laodic. Can. 9, 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54_408" id="Footnote_54_408"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_408"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> Concil. Carthag. 4, Can. 71.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_55_409" id="Footnote_55_409"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_409"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> Concil. Constant. 2, act 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_56_410" id="Footnote_56_410"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_410"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> De Præsc. c. 20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57_411" id="Footnote_57_411"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_411"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> See in the sixth act of the second Nicene Council the quotations from the iconoclast +synod of Constantinople.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_58_412" id="Footnote_58_412"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_412"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> Adv. hæreæs, Lib. 1, c. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59_413" id="Footnote_59_413"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_413"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> Even the Puritan Cartwright observed, "if it be necessary to the unity of the +Church that an archbishop should preside over other bishops, why not on the same principle +should one archbishop preside over the whole Church of God?" Defence of Whitgift.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_60_414" id="Footnote_60_414"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_414"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> Sacred observations, Lib. 5, c. 7, on the hypothetical external communion of Christians.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_61_415" id="Footnote_61_415"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_415"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> See also the testimony of Mosheim, quoted above p. 197, note.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_62_416" id="Footnote_62_416"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_416"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> Thus the universal belief of the Fathers from the beginning is charged with <i>audacity</i>. +It is difficult not to be struck with the utter antagonism of feeling which separates +Protestants from the whole body of the Fathers. The statements here ascribed, and +truly, by Vitringa to them, would be viewed in modern English society, as the very insanity +of bigotry.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_63_417" id="Footnote_63_417"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_417"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> Because to rend Christ's mystical body, and to subvert that unity for which He had +prayed the Father, was regarded by them as a crime of the deepest dye. In modern England +it would be consecrated by the glorious principle of "civil and religious liberty."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_64_418" id="Footnote_64_418"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_418"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> The unrestricted expression, "to preside over the Church," used by Cyprian of +Novatian, who claimed to be Peter's successor, contains a clear indication that the fold +entrusted to Peter was as wide as the Church itself. It is the same Church in the two +clauses, but in the former it <i>must</i> be understood universally.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_65_419" id="Footnote_65_419"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_419"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> Ep. 69.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_66_420" id="Footnote_66_420"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_420"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> Ephes. v. 23-25.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_67_421" id="Footnote_67_421"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_421"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> Ephes. iv. 15-17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_68_422" id="Footnote_68_422"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_422"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> John xiv. 16-26; xv. 26; xvi. 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_69_423" id="Footnote_69_423"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_423"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> 2 Cor. iv. 17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_70_424" id="Footnote_70_424"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_424"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> Matt. v. 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_71_425" id="Footnote_71_425"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_425"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> Compare Luke xii. 8, 9, with Matt. x. 32; Mark viii. 38; Rom. x. 10; and again, +Mark xvi. 15, with Matt. xxviii. 19; Acts ii. 41; viii. 36; xix. 5; 1 Cor. xii. 13; and Matt. +xxvi. 28, with Luke xxii. 19; 1 Cor. x. 17; xi. 21; and Ephes. iv. 11, with Acts xx. 28; +Tit. i. 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_72_426" id="Footnote_72_426"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_426"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> Compare Ephes. iv. 11-16, with 1 Cor. xii. 13-31; and Matt. xviii. 18, with John +xx. 21; Acts xv. 41; xvi. 4; 2 Cor. x. 6; 1 Tim. v. 20; Tit. i. 13; ii. 15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_73_427" id="Footnote_73_427"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_427"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> Jude 18; 2 Pet. iii. 2, 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_74_428" id="Footnote_74_428"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_428"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> Augustin. in Euchirid. c. 63.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_75_429" id="Footnote_75_429"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_429"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> Aug. In Tract de Symb. c. 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_76_430" id="Footnote_76_430"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_430"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> Aug. De Baptismo Cont. Donat. Lib. 3, c. 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_77_431" id="Footnote_77_431"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_431"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> Aug. Cont. Litt. Petiliani, Lib. 1, c. 21-2, Lib. 2, c. 13-23. Lib. 3, c. 52.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_78_432" id="Footnote_78_432"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_432"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> Optat. Lib. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_79_433" id="Footnote_79_433"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_433"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> Ambros. de Obitu Satyri fratris, Lib. 1, n. 47.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_80_434" id="Footnote_80_434"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_434"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> Idem. de Pœnit. Lib. 2, 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_81_435" id="Footnote_81_435"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_435"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> Lactant. Div. Institut. Lib. 3, c. 30.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_82_436" id="Footnote_82_436"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_436"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> Le vrai Systême de l'Eglise.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_83_437" id="Footnote_83_437"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_437"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> Answer to Cardinal Perron.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_84_438" id="Footnote_84_438"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_438"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> Defense de la Reforme, p. 200.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_85_439" id="Footnote_85_439"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_439"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> Traité de l'Eglise, p. 286.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_86_440" id="Footnote_86_440"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86_440"><span class="label">[86]</span></a> Bossuet, writings against Jurien.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_87_441" id="Footnote_87_441"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87_441"><span class="label">[87]</span></a> The brothers Walemburg, Treatise on Necessary and Fundamental Articles.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_88_442" id="Footnote_88_442"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88_442"><span class="label">[88]</span></a> Nicole, de l'Unité de l'Eglise.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_89_443" id="Footnote_89_443"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89_443"><span class="label">[89]</span></a> See the recognition of this law, Mark xvi. 16; Matt xxviii. 18-20; Luke xii. 8, 9; +Rom. x. 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_90_444" id="Footnote_90_444"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90_444"><span class="label">[90]</span></a> Such the Fathers call Faith, terming it, "the beginning and foundation," "the +greatest mother of virtues," "the principle of salvation," "the prelude of immortality," +"the clear eye of Divine knowledge," "the foundation of all wisdom." See Suicer, art. +[Greek: pistis]</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_91_445" id="Footnote_91_445"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91_445"><span class="label">[91]</span></a> After having gone through this search for ten long years, it may be allowed to express +how great its danger, and how great too the blessedness of those who are not exposed +to it. It is worth the experience of half a life to receive the truth, without personal enquiry, +from a competent authority. Protestantism begins its existence by casting away +one of the greatest blessings which man can have.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_92_446" id="Footnote_92_446"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92_446"><span class="label">[92]</span></a> De Symbolo, Diss. 1, 39, and Hist. Symb. Apostol. cap. 6. 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_93_447" id="Footnote_93_447"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93_447"><span class="label">[93]</span></a> Pacian, Ep. 1, n. 4. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catech. 18, n. 23. Eusebius on Isai. xxxii. +18. Chrysostome on Colos. hom. 1, n. 2, on 1 Cor. hom. 32, n. 1, Jerome on Matt. xxiv. 26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_94_448" id="Footnote_94_448"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94_448"><span class="label">[94]</span></a> Augustine on Ps. 41, n. 7; Epist. 49, n. 3-52, n. 1, and elsewhere.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_95_449" id="Footnote_95_449"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95_449"><span class="label">[95]</span></a> Council of Antioch, quoted by Euseb. Hist. Lib. 7, c. 30. Origen on Romans, Lib. +8, n. 1; Cyprian, Epist. 52; Acts of S. Fructuosus, n. 3, and of S. Pionius. n. 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_96_450" id="Footnote_96_450"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96_450"><span class="label">[96]</span></a> Irenæus, Lib. 3, c. 17, and Epistle on martyrdom of S. Polycarp, n. 19.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_97_451" id="Footnote_97_451"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97_451"><span class="label">[97]</span></a> Epis. to Smyrneans, n. 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_98_452" id="Footnote_98_452"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98_452"><span class="label">[98]</span></a> Augustine, Ep. 52. n. 1, Serm. 238, n. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_99_453" id="Footnote_99_453"></a><a href="#FNanchor_99_453"><span class="label">[99]</span></a> As Optatus, Lib. 2, Aug. de Unitate Ecc. c. 2. &c.; cont. Cresconium, L. 2, c. 63, +Contr. Petilian. L. 2, c. 12-55-58-73; on Ps. 21, 47, 147, and on 1 Ep. John, Tract, 1, 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_100_454" id="Footnote_100_454"></a><a href="#FNanchor_100_454"><span class="label">[100]</span></a> Pacian, Ep. 3, Jerome cont. Luciferianos.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_101_455" id="Footnote_101_455"></a><a href="#FNanchor_101_455"><span class="label">[101]</span></a> Cyril of Jerusalem, Cat. 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_102_456" id="Footnote_102_456"></a><a href="#FNanchor_102_456"><span class="label">[102]</span></a> Irenæus, Lib. 1, c. 10; Lib. 4, c. 19, Tertullian adv. Judæos, c. 7, Bernard in Cantica, +serm. 65.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_103_457" id="Footnote_103_457"></a><a href="#FNanchor_103_457"><span class="label">[103]</span></a> Clement, Stromat. L. 7, § 15-17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_104_458" id="Footnote_104_458"></a><a href="#FNanchor_104_458"><span class="label">[104]</span></a> Tertullian de præsc. c. 30.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_105_459" id="Footnote_105_459"></a><a href="#FNanchor_105_459"><span class="label">[105]</span></a> Alexander, apud Theodoret. H. E. Lib. 1, c. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_106_460" id="Footnote_106_460"></a><a href="#FNanchor_106_460"><span class="label">[106]</span></a> Cœlestinus, homil. in laud. eccles.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_107_461" id="Footnote_107_461"></a><a href="#FNanchor_107_461"><span class="label">[107]</span></a> Leander, Cont. Origenistas in Actis Synodi V.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_108_462" id="Footnote_108_462"></a><a href="#FNanchor_108_462"><span class="label">[108]</span></a> Justinianus, epist. ad Mennam Constantinopolitanum.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_109_463" id="Footnote_109_463"></a><a href="#FNanchor_109_463"><span class="label">[109]</span></a> Council of Nice, in the Creed, and Canon 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_110_464" id="Footnote_110_464"></a><a href="#FNanchor_110_464"><span class="label">[110]</span></a> Sardica in letter to all bishops, quoted by Athanasius, Apol. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_111_465" id="Footnote_111_465"></a><a href="#FNanchor_111_465"><span class="label">[111]</span></a> 22nd Canon of Codex Africanus.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_112_466" id="Footnote_112_466"></a><a href="#FNanchor_112_466"><span class="label">[112]</span></a> The Nestorian profession of faith, in fifth act of Council of Ephesus.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_113_467" id="Footnote_113_467"></a><a href="#FNanchor_113_467"><span class="label">[113]</span></a> Pacian, Ep. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_114_468" id="Footnote_114_468"></a><a href="#FNanchor_114_468"><span class="label">[114]</span></a> Cyril, Catech. 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_115_469" id="Footnote_115_469"></a><a href="#FNanchor_115_469"><span class="label">[115]</span></a> Aug. de vera relig. c .6, de utilit. credendi, c. 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_116_470" id="Footnote_116_470"></a><a href="#FNanchor_116_470"><span class="label">[116]</span></a> Pacian, Ep. 3, "The Church is a full and solid body, diffused already through the +whole world. As a city, I say, whose parts are in unity. Not as you Novatians, an insolent +particle, or a gathered wen, separated from the rest of the body."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_117_471" id="Footnote_117_471"></a><a href="#FNanchor_117_471"><span class="label">[117]</span></a> Such as are [Greek: grammata koinônika], Euseb. H. E. lib. 7, c. 30. [Greek: epistolai koinônikai], +Basil. Ep. 190, or [Greek: kanônikai], Ep. 224, letters of peace commendatory, ecclesiastical, &c.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_118_472" id="Footnote_118_472"></a><a href="#FNanchor_118_472"><span class="label">[118]</span></a> See especially Chrys. Hom. 30 on 1 Cor.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_119_473" id="Footnote_119_473"></a><a href="#FNanchor_119_473"><span class="label">[119]</span></a> Irenæus, Lib. 3, c. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_120_474" id="Footnote_120_474"></a><a href="#FNanchor_120_474"><span class="label">[120]</span></a> Compare Jerome's often-quoted passage, Ep. 15, to Pope Damasus, "Whoso +gathereth not with thee, scattereth; that is, whoso is not of Christ is of antichrist."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_121_475" id="Footnote_121_475"></a><a href="#FNanchor_121_475"><span class="label">[121]</span></a> For the meaning of "come together," see farther on, c. 40. "God hath placed +in the Church Apostles, Prophets, Doctors, and all the rest of the operation of the Spirit, +of which all those are not partakers who do not <i>run together to the Church</i>, but defraud +themselves of life by an evil intention and a very bad conduct. For where the Church is, +there is the Spirit; and where is the Spirit of God, there is the Church and all grace."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_122_476" id="Footnote_122_476"></a><a href="#FNanchor_122_476"><span class="label">[122]</span></a> See S. Cyprian's letters, 69, 55, 45, 70, 73. 40. Consider the force of the words, +"Peter, upon whom the Church had been built by the Lord, speaking one for all, and +<i>answering with the voice of the Church</i>, says, Lord, to whom shall we go?" Ep. 55, on which +Fenelon (de sum. Pontif. auct. c. 12) remarks, "What wonder, then, if Pope Hormisdas +and other ancient fathers says, "the Roman, that is, the Catholic Church," since Peter was +wont to answer <i>with the voice of the Church</i>? What wonder if the body of the Church +speaks by mouth of its head?"</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_123_477" id="Footnote_123_477"></a><a href="#FNanchor_123_477"><span class="label">[123]</span></a> De Pudicitia, c. 21.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_124_478" id="Footnote_124_478"></a><a href="#FNanchor_124_478"><span class="label">[124]</span></a> This Montanist corruption (into which Ambrose on Ps. 38, n. 37, and Pacian in +his three letters to Sempronian, state that the Novatians also fell,) induced some fathers, +and especially Augustine, (Enarrat. on Ps. 108. n. 1, Tract 118 on John, n. 4, and last +Tract n. 7) to teach that the keys were bestowed on Peter so far forth as he represented +the person of the Church in right of his Primacy. By which mode of speaking they meant +this one thing, that the power of the keys, as being necessary to the Church, and instituted +for her good, began indeed in Peter, and was communicated to him in a peculiar manner +but by no means dropt, or could possibly drop, with him.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_125_479" id="Footnote_125_479"></a><a href="#FNanchor_125_479"><span class="label">[125]</span></a> Tertull. De Præsc. c. 32.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_126_480" id="Footnote_126_480"></a><a href="#FNanchor_126_480"><span class="label">[126]</span></a> Pacian, ad Sempronium, Epis. 3, § 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_127_481" id="Footnote_127_481"></a><a href="#FNanchor_127_481"><span class="label">[127]</span></a> Ambrose, de Pœnit. Lib. 1, c. 7, n. 33.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_128_482" id="Footnote_128_482"></a><a href="#FNanchor_128_482"><span class="label">[128]</span></a> Synodical Epistle, among the letters of Ambrose.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_129_483" id="Footnote_129_483"></a><a href="#FNanchor_129_483"><span class="label">[129]</span></a> Optatus, de Schism. Donat. Lib. 2, c. 2, and Lib. 7, c. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_130_484" id="Footnote_130_484"></a><a href="#FNanchor_130_484"><span class="label">[130]</span></a> Gregory, de vita sua, Tom. 2, p. 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_131_485" id="Footnote_131_485"></a><a href="#FNanchor_131_485"><span class="label">[131]</span></a> Jerome, adv. Jovin. Lib. 1, n. 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_132_486" id="Footnote_132_486"></a><a href="#FNanchor_132_486"><span class="label">[132]</span></a> Augustine, in Ps. Cont. partem Donati, cont. Epist. Fundam. c. 4, de utilitate credendi, +c. 17, and Epist. 43.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_133_487" id="Footnote_133_487"></a><a href="#FNanchor_133_487"><span class="label">[133]</span></a> Gelasius, Epis. 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_134_488" id="Footnote_134_488"></a><a href="#FNanchor_134_488"><span class="label">[134]</span></a> Hormisdas, Mansi, Tom. 8, 451, in the conditions on which he readmitted the +Patriarch of Constantinople and the Eastern bishops to communion.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_135_489" id="Footnote_135_489"></a><a href="#FNanchor_135_489"><span class="label">[135]</span></a> Agatho, in a letter to the sixth council, read and accepted at its fourth sitting.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_136_490" id="Footnote_136_490"></a><a href="#FNanchor_136_490"><span class="label">[136]</span></a> Maximus, Bibl. Patr. Tom. 11, p. 76.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_137_491" id="Footnote_137_491"></a><a href="#FNanchor_137_491"><span class="label">[137]</span></a> Leo, Epist. 10, c. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_138_492" id="Footnote_138_492"></a><a href="#FNanchor_138_492"><span class="label">[138]</span></a> Ep. 358, to Pope Celestine.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_139_493" id="Footnote_139_493"></a><a href="#FNanchor_139_493"><span class="label">[139]</span></a> The above chapter is translated from Passaglia, Pp. 298-336.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<h3>THE NATURE, MULTIPLICITY, AND FORCE OF PROOF FOR +S. PETER'S PRIMACY.</h3> + +<p><a name="FNanchor_1_494" id="FNanchor_1_494"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_494" class="fnanchor">[1]</a>As the natural end of all proof is to give assurance, +every kind of it must be considered a mean to persuade and +determine the mind. Not but that there are different +kinds, and that in great variety. If we refer these to +their respective topics, some are <i>internal</i> and <i>artificial</i>, +others <i>external</i> and <i>inartificial</i>; some belong to the philosopher, +others to the theologian, the former having their +source in nature, the latter in revelation; another sort, +again, rests on <i>witnesses</i>, and another on <i>documents</i>. But if +we consider their persuasive force, they may be conveniently +ranged under the two classes of <i>probable</i>, and <i>certain</i> +or <i>demonstrative</i>.</p> + +<p>But if it be asked what sort of proof we have hitherto +used, and drawn out to the best of our ability, we must +distinguish between the <i>principal</i> and prevailing proof, +and this in form is inartificial, theological, and drawn from +the inspired documents; and the proofs <i>occasionally inserted</i> +and confirmatory of the principal: these, it will be +evident, are sometimes artificial and internal, such as those +drawn from analogy, and the harmonious coherence of +doctrines, from the unity and Catholicity of the Church, +and the institution of bishops to rule particular flocks; +and sometimes derived from witnesses, for such we may +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>deem the ancient Fathers, whose importance and force, as +testimonies, no prudent mind will reject. To embrace, +then, the full extent of our proof, it ranges over all forms +and modes, is artificial and inartificial, and rests not only +on documents, but on witnesses. Now two things follow +from this mixed and manifold character of our proof, of +too great importance to be passed over in silence.</p> + +<p>The first of these is, the standard and criterion of resistance +which our proof presents to opponents. For consisting, +as it does, of so many elements, confirmed, as it is, +by the absolute harmony of so many various parts, that +only can be a satisfactory answer, which meets at once +every particular proof, and the whole sum of it. For it +would be to small purpose to give another sense, with some +speciousness, to one or two points, if the great mass of +matter and argument remain untouched. The only valid +answer would be <i>to reject and deny the Primacy of supreme +authority, presenting at the same time a sufficient +cause for all those results of which the proof consists</i>. +For so long as the institution of the Primacy is necessary +to supply a sufficient cause for these results, so long the +force of our proof remains untouched, and the institution +of the Primacy unquestionable. We can therefore demand +of our opponents this alternative, either to acquiesce in our +proof, or, rejecting the Primacy, to find, and when they +have found to establish, an hypothesis equal to the explanation +of all that is contained in our arguments artificial +and inartificial, in our documents and our witnesses.</p> + +<p>The second point is one which all will admit. The proof +we have given is such that <i>unless</i> it be deceptive, the institution +of the Primacy is demonstrated to be not only +<i>true</i>, but also <i>revealed</i>, not only <i>tenable</i>, but matter of +<i>faith</i>. For although we have interwoven testimonies and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> +artificial arguments, this was to confirm what was already +demonstrated, and to shed fresh light on what was already +clear; but the <i>proper</i> source from which we have drawn +our proofs, was the documents of the Holy Scriptures +themselves. Now what is thence drawn is <a name="FNanchor_2_495" id="FNanchor_2_495"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_495" class="fnanchor">[2]</a>revealed, and +enters into the number of things which, being revealed, are +matter of <i>faith</i>.</p> + +<p>These two points are clear, but a third may be +somewhat less so. Many will ask, what <i>is</i> the force of +the proof, its power to persuade, and whether it carry +complete certitude, or be defective. Now to this we shall +reply, that the proof which we have presented is not only +probable, but altogether decisive. It wants nothing to produce +the fullest assurance. This is a subject which I have +judged fit for special and separate investigation, as due both +to myself, my readers, and the cause which I am defending. +For it is not a happiness of our nature to catch the +whole and the pure truth at a single glance. This requires +repeated acts of the mind; we have to make the effort +again and again, and only terminate our examination +when we have submitted our supposed discovery to reiterated +reflection. Thus it is that truth comes out in full +light, imposition is detected, the line drawn between doubt +and certainty, and every point located in its due place. +This enquiry, then, into the proof itself I consider due not +only to myself and my readers, but to a cause, which requires +the utmost attention as being of the highest importance, +and the source of the deepest dissensions; for it is +not too much to say that the origin of all those divisions +which we see and lament in the Christian name, may be +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>referred to the reception or the denial of this doctrine +concerning the Primacy.</p> + +<p>Now we shall best reach the subject by first considering +the inherent force of the proof <i>in itself</i>, and <i>absolutely</i>, +and then <i>comparatively</i> with those arguments to which +the most distinguished Protestant sects ascribe a full and +complete demonstrative power.</p> + +<p>I. First, then, as to the force of proof <i>absolutely</i>. We +must reflect that two conditions complete a proof derived +from documents; <i>first</i>, the authenticity of the document; +<i>secondly</i>, either the immediate and unquestionable evidence +of the testimonies quoted from it, or their meaning being +rendered certain by argument. If these two conspire, nothing +is wanting to produce assurance. Now, as to the +documents, whence our proof is derived, no Christian doubts +their authenticity; and as to the testimonies drawn from +them, part<a name="FNanchor_3_496" id="FNanchor_3_496"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_496" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> belong to a class of such evidence as to admit of +no doubt; and part,<a name="FNanchor_4_497" id="FNanchor_4_497"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_497" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> being equally clear, and marked in +themselves, have had to be defended from false interpretations. +Accordingly, our proof is peremptory in both +particulars.</p> + +<p>Moreover, our proof was not restricted to one or two +passages of holy Scripture, but extended over a great +series, all tending to support and consolidate the argument. +We have set forth, not a naked institution of the +Primacy, but multifold foreshadowings and promises of it, +its daily operation and notoriety. From its first anticipation +we went on to its progressively clearer expression, +its promise, its institution, its exercise, and the everywhere +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>diffused knowledge of it in the primitive Church. +So far, then, as I see, nothing more can, with reason, be +asked, to remove all doubt as to Peter's prerogative of +Primacy; for, when the bestowal of certain privileges can +be proved by documents, all question as to their existence +is terminated. But here we find in documents, not their +bestowal merely, but antecedents and consequences, a +beginning, a progress, and a manifold explanation, which +stand to the Primacy as signs to the thing signified.</p> + +<p>Accordingly, the demonstration which we have given of +the Primacy, considered <i>in itself</i>, and <i>absolutely</i>, needs +nothing to challenge assent.</p> + +<p>For, suppose it disputed whether Cæsar surpassed the +other Roman Senators in honour and power. Could it +be proved by undoubted records, that he so conducted +himself as gradually to smooth his path to the supreme +power; that he next gained from the senate and Roman +people, the title of Emperor and Prince; that he exercised +these powers at home and abroad, and received universal +testimony to the dignity he had acquired; in such case the +judgment would be unanimous that he was emperor, and +head of the Roman Senators. Now, substitute Peter for +Cæsar, the Apostles for the Senators; Christ, the Evangelists, +Luke and Paul, for the senate and people; and you +will see all the proofs enumerated for Cæsar, to square +exactly with Peter. For we learn from Scripture <i>the steps</i> +by which he rose to the Primacy, <i>the time</i> when he received +it, <i>how</i> he exercised it, and the lucid testimonies +to it which he received from Christ, the Evangelists, +the Apostolic Church, and Paul. Accordingly, his Primacy +and supreme authority among the Apostles rests +on a proof which gives complete assurance, and challenges +assent. It is a consequence deduced, not from a single, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> +from manifold inference; not merely drawn from results, +but foreseen in its causes; declared not merely in the +words of institution, but in the very acts of its exercise; +supported not only by sundry texts, but by a cloud of +conspiring witnesses; proved by an interpretation, not +obscure, and far-fetched, but clear and obvious. A thing +of such a nature it is folly to deny and temerity to +doubt.</p> + +<p>But, further, reflect on the other arguments which +come in collaterally to support that from the Holy Scriptures. +Then it will be found that our proof consists in +the harmonious concurrence of these four sources, 1. <i>the +authentic scriptural documents</i> distinctly setting forth +the promises, the bestowal, the exercise, and the everywhere +diffused knowledge of the Primacy: 2. <i>witnesses</i> +the most ancient, well nigh coeval with the Apostles, of +great number, renowned for their holiness, or their martyrdom, +excellent in learning, far removed from each +other in situation, faithful maintainers of the Apostolic +teaching, who, with one mouth, acknowledge the Primacy: +3. <i>the analogy of doctrines</i>, for the Church, which +we profess to be one, and Catholic, can neither exist, +nor even be conceived as such, without the Primacy: 4. <i>the +facts of Christian history</i>, which are so entwined with +the institution of the Primacy, that they cannot be even +contemplated without it. For there are no less than +fourteen distinct classes of facts in Christian history, all +of which bear witness to the Primacy, and which cannot +be studied without coming across that power. Such are, 1. +<i>the history of heresies</i>, where, in ancient times alone, +consider the acts and statutes of Pope Dionysius, in +the causes of Paul of Samosata, and Dionysius of Alexandria; +of Popes Sylvester and Julius, in the cause of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> +Arius; of Pope Damasus in that of Apollinarius; of +Popes Innocent and Zosimus in that of Pelagius; of +Pope Celestine in that of Nestorius; and of Pope Leo +in that of Eutyches; so that Ferrandus<a name="FNanchor_5_498" id="FNanchor_5_498"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_498" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> of Carthage +wrote in the sixth century, "If you desire to hear +aught of truth, ask in the first place the prelate of the +Apostolic See, whose sound doctrine is known by the +judgment of truth, and grounded on the weight of authority." +2. <i>The history of schisms</i>, which have arisen in +the Church, when we consider the unquestionable facts +about Novatian, Fortunatus and Felicissimus, the Donatists, +and Acacius of Constantinople, so that Bede, in +our own country, wrote in the seventh century, commenting +on Matt. xvi. 10, "All believers in the world +understand, that whosoever, in any way separate themselves +from the unity of the faith, or from the society +of Peter, such can neither be absolved from the bonds of +their sins, nor enter the threshold of the heavenly kingdom." +3. <i>The history of the liturgy</i>, as the contests +about the paschal time, and what Eusebius, in the fifth +book of his history, c. 22-5, says about Pope Victor. +4. <i>The history</i> of the <i>summoning</i>, the <i>holding</i>, and +the <i>confirming general councils</i>, wherein the Acts of +Synods, the letters of the supreme Pontiffs, and the +writings of the Fathers, show the entire truth of what +is stated by the ancient Greek historians, Socrates and +Sozomen,<a name="FNanchor_6_499" id="FNanchor_6_499"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_499" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> that an ecclesiastical Canon had always been +in force, "that the Churches should not pass Canons +contrary to the decision of the bishop of Rome," which +Pope Pelagius,<a name="FNanchor_7_500" id="FNanchor_7_500"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_500" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> in the sixth century thus expressed, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>"the right of calling councils is entrusted by a special +power to the Apostolic See, nor do we read that a general +council has been valid, which was not assembled or +supported by its authority. This is attested by the +authority of canons, corroborated by ecclesiastical history, +and confirmed by the holy Fathers." And Ferrandus +says, "Universal councils, more especially those to +which the authority of the Roman Church has been given, +hold the place of second authority after the canonical +books."<a name="FNanchor_8_501" id="FNanchor_8_501"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_501" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> 5. <i>The history of ecclesiastical laws</i>, for the +regulation of discipline, a summary of which, enacted by +the successors of Peter from Victor I. to Gregory II., +may be found in Zaccaria's Antifebronius, Tom. ii., p. +425, and his Antifebronius Vindicatus, Diss. vi., c. 1. +6. <i>The history of judgments</i>, specially the most remarkable +in the Church, of which, if we are to believe history, +we can only repeat what Pope Gelasius wrote at +the end of the fifth century, to the Bishops of Dardania, +"We must not omit that the Apostolic See has +frequently, to use our Roman phrase, more majorum, +even without any council preceding, had the power to +absolve those whom a council had unjustly condemned, +or to condemn, without any council, those who required +condemnation:" and as he wrote to the Greek emperor, +Anastasius, "that the authority of the Apostolic See +has in all Christian ages been set over the Church universal, +is established by the series of the canons of the +Fathers, and by manifold tradition."<a name="FNanchor_9_502" id="FNanchor_9_502"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_502" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> 7. <i>The history +of references</i>, which were wont to be made to the chair +of Peter, in the greater causes of faith, and in those +respecting Catholic unity. Thus, Avitus, bishop of Vienne, +<span class="smcap">A. D.</span> 500, said, "It is a rule of synodical laws, that, in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span>matters relating to the state of the Church, if any doubt +arises, we, as obedient members, recur to the priest +of the Roman Church, who is the greatest, as to our +head."<a name="FNanchor_10_503" id="FNanchor_10_503"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_503" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> To the same effect is the letter of Pope Innocent +I., to S. Victrice, of Rouen, at the beginning of +the fifth century, and again, the African Fathers to Pope +Theodore; or again, S. Bernard, writing to Pope Innocent +II., against the errors of Abelard, "All dangers and +scandals emerging in the kingdom of God, specially those +which concern faith, must be referred to your Apostolate: +for I esteem it fitting that the injuries done to faith +should be repaired there in particular, where faith cannot +fail. That is the prerogative of this See." 8. <i>The history +of appeals</i>, of which a vast number of remarkable +instances exist. Take, as the key, the words of Pope +Gelasius once more: "It is the canons themselves +which have ordered the appeals of the whole Church to +be carried to the examination of this See. But from it +they have allowed of no appeal in any case; and, therefore, +they enjoin that it should judge of the whole Church, +but go itself before the judgment of none: nor do they +allow of appeal from its sentence, but rather require obedience +to its decrees."<a name="FNanchor_11_504" id="FNanchor_11_504"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_504" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> And Pope Agatho, in the Roman +Council, pronouncing on the appeal of our own S. Wilfrid, +of York, the contemporary of Bede, <span class="smcap">A. D.</span> 688, declares +that "Wilfrid the bishop, beloved of God, knowing +himself unjustly deposed from his bishopric, did not <i>contumaciously +resist by means of the secular power</i>, but +with humility of mind sought the canonical aid of our +founder, blessed Peter, prince of the Apostles, and declared +in his supplication that he would accept what by +our mouth, blessed Peter, our founder, whose office we +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>discharge, should determine."<a name="FNanchor_12_505" id="FNanchor_12_505"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_505" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> 9. <i>The history of the +ecclesiastical hierarchy</i>,<a name="FNanchor_13_506" id="FNanchor_13_506"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_506" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> and of the <i>rights possessed by +certain episcopal Sees over others</i>, of which we may +take an instance in the grants of Pope Gregory the +Great, and his successors, to the See of Canterbury, +which alone made it a Primacy. For the bishops of +Canterbury had no power whatever over the other +bishops of this country, save what they derived from S. +Peter's See. And the documents, and original letters +conferring these powers still exist, giving the fullest +proof that Pope Pius only did in 1850, what Pope +Gregory did in 596. 10. <i>The history of the universal +propagation of the Christian religion.</i><a name="FNanchor_14_507" id="FNanchor_14_507"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_507" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> 11. <i>The history +of those tokens and pledges</i>,<a name="FNanchor_15_508" id="FNanchor_15_508"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_508" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> such as letters of +communion, whereby Catholic unity was exhibited and +maintained. 12. <i>The history of Christian archæology</i>,<a name="FNanchor_16_509" id="FNanchor_16_509"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_509" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> +inscriptions, paintings, and other monuments of this kind. +13. <i>The history of the emperors</i>, as, for instance, what +Ammianus Marcellinus<a name="FNanchor_17_510" id="FNanchor_17_510"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_510" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> says of Constantius; the letter +of the Emperor Marcian to Pope Leo, entreating him to +confirm the council of Chalcedon; that of Galla Placidia, +the 130th novel of Justinian, and the remarkable constitution +of Valentinian III., <span class="smcap">A. D.</span> 445. "Since the merit +of S. Peter, who is the chief of the episcopal coronet, +and the dignity of the Roman city, moreover, the authority +of a sacred synod" (that of Sardica, <span class="smcap">A. D.</span> 347) "have +confirmed the Primacy of the Apostolic See, let presumption +not endeavour to attempt anything unlawful, contrary +to the authority of that See: for, then, at length, the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>peace of the Church will everywhere be preserved, if the +whole (universitas) acknowledge its ruler." And, 14. +lastly, <i>the history of codes</i>, in which is contained the +legislation of Christian kingdoms, wherein we may refer +to the capitulars of the Franks, and the laws of the Lombards.</p> + +<p>Now from these concordant proofs thus slightly sketched, +it follows that the institution of the Primacy belongs to +that class of facts which is most certain, and which is +absolutely demonstrated. For would it be possible to +find a concurrence of proofs so various in case it had +never been instituted? Is it possible to imagine so many +various results of a cause which never existed? So many +various tokens of reality in a fiction? What are the chances +for letters thrown at random forming themselves into an +eloquent speech? Or a beautiful portrait coming out +from a mere assemblage of colours? Or a whole discourse +in an unknown tongue being elegantly rendered +by a guess? If these be sheer absurdities, although a +few letters have sometimes tumbled at random into a +word, or a single clause been decyphered, though in +ignorance of the alphabet, then we may be sure that +the Primacy, attested by so vast a variety of convergent +results, can no more be untrue, than effects can exist +without a cause, splendour without light, or vocal harmony +without sound. Accordingly an institution established +by such a union of proof, carries prisoner the +assent. It may indeed be disregarded by a resolution of +the <i>will</i>, but can neither be passed by, nor refuted, by +a judgment of the <i>reason</i>.</p> + +<p>And<a name="FNanchor_18_511" id="FNanchor_18_511"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_511" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> having on the one hand this vast amount of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span><i>positive</i> proof, from sources so various, in its behalf, so +that without it the whole Christian history of eighteen +centuries, in all its manifold blendings with secular history, +becomes unintelligible, a snarl which it is impossible +to arrange, when we come on the other hand to consider +what its opponents allege of <i>positive</i> on their own side, +we find nothing. They content themselves with objections +to this or that detached point, with historical difficulties, +and obscurations of the full proof, such, for +instance, as the conduct of S. Cyprian in one controversy, +the occasional resistance of a metropolitan, the +secular instinct of an imperial government stirring up +eastern bishops to revolt, and fostering an Erastian spirit +in the Church, the ambition of thoroughly bad men, +such as Acacius or Photius, and the like. But what +we may fairly ask of opponents, and what we never +find the most distant approach to in them is, if, as they +say, S. Peter's Primacy be not legitimate, and instituted +by Christ for the government of the Church, what <i>counter +system</i> have they, which they can prove by ancient +documents, and whereby they can solve the manifold facts +of history? In all their arguments against the Primacy they +are so absolutely <i>negative</i>, that the grand result, if they +were successful, would be to reduce the Church to a heap +of ruins, to show that she, who is entrusted with the authoritative +teaching of the world, has no internal coherence +either of government or doctrine, in fact, no message +from God to deliver, and no power to enforce it when +delivered. In the arguments of Greeks and Anglicans, +Lutherans and Calvinists, and all the Protestant sects, +the gates of hell have long ago prevailed against the +Church, and the devil has built up at his ease a city of +confusion on the rock which Christ chose for her foundation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> +If we listen to them, never has victory been +more complete than that of the evil one over the Son +of God: the promised unity he has scattered to the +winds: the doctrine of truth he has utterly corrupted: +the charity wherewith Christians loved one another he +has turned into gall and wormwood. That is, the opponents +of S. Peter's Primacy are one and all simply +<i>destructives</i>; they inspire despair, and are the pioneers +of infidelity, but are utterly powerless to build up. Ask +the Anglican what is the source of spiritual jurisdiction, +and the bond of the episcopate which he affects to defend? +<i>He makes no reply.</i> All he can say is, it is <i>not</i> +S. Peter. Ask the Greek, if bishops and patriarch disagree, +and come to opposite judgments on the faith, or +to schisms in communion, which party make the Church? +<i>He has no solution to offer</i>, save that it is <i>not</i> the party +which sides with S. Peter's successor. Ask the pure +Protestant, who maintains the sole authority of the written +word, if you disagree about the meaning of Scripture +in points which you admit to touch salvation, who is to +determine what is the true meaning of the word of +God? <i>He has nothing to reply</i>, save that he is sure +it is <i>not</i> the Pope. Contrast, then, on the one side, a +complete coherent system, fully delineated and set forth +in the Bible, attested by the Fathers, corroborated by +analogy, and harmonising the history of eighteen hundred +years in its infinitely numerous relations, with, on +the other side, a mere heap of objections and denials, +with shreds of truths held without cohesion, with analogy +violated, history thrown into hopeless confusion, and to +crown the whole, Holy Scripture incessantly appealed to, +yet its plainest declarations recklessly disregarded, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> +its most consoling promises utterly evacuated. Choose, +upon this, between <i>within</i> and <i>without</i>.</p> + +<p>II. But such being the argument for the Primacy <i>of +itself</i> and <i>absolutely</i>, look at it now in a <i>comparative</i> +point of view with other doctrines. Let us ask Anglicans, +Lutherans, and Calvinists, respectively, to compare +it in order with the proofs with which they, each in +behalf of his own sect, defend either the authority of +bishops, and their distinction from presbyters, as instituted +by Christ, or the real presence of the Lord's body +in the Eucharist, or the divine nature of Christ, and His +consubstantiality with the Father. Can they state, upon +a comparison of these, that there are <i>more</i> testimonies of +Holy Scripture in behalf of these latter doctrines than for +the Primacy of Peter? As for the articles of the real +presence, and the superiority of bishops, this cannot be +asserted with any show of truth, since in behalf of both +there are undoubtedly fewer. Certainly there are a great +number for the divinity of Christ, yet not much less are +those which the same Scriptures contain in support of +Peter's Primacy. So that if the force of proof is to be +judged of by the <i>number of texts</i>, that in behalf of the +Primacy will either be preferred to the rest, or at least +yield to none.</p> + +<p>But I anticipate the answer that it is not the number +of texts which will decide the question, but their perspicuity +and evidence, which constitute their force. To +meet which objection I shall merely set these several +parties against each other. What, then, do Lutherans +think of the perspicuity of those texts by which Anglicans +maintain the superiority of bishops over presbyters? +They are unanimous in thinking them not merely most +obscure, but absolutely foreign to the purpose for which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> +they are cited. Just the same is the Calvinist opinion +of the Lutheran proofs for the real presence, and the +Socinian view of the texts alleged by Calvinists in behalf +of Christ's divinity. Both obstinately refuse to admit +that their opponents urge anything decisive. It would +be easy to quote instances of this, if it was not notorious. +It is, then, no unfair inference that Protestants have no +particular reason to boast triumphantly of the perspicuity +and evidence of the texts on which they severally +rely.</p> + +<p>But who, they retort, cannot see that the cause of +the Primacy, which we defend, is far inferior? For our +exposition is opposed not by one or two parties, but by +them all in a mass, Anglicans, Lutherans, Calvinists, and +<i>all who are not Catholics</i>. The addition is significant, +<i>all who are not Catholics</i>, for indeed all these, and +these alone, are our opponents. Yet their very name +creates the gravest prejudice against them, and shows +them to be unworthy of attention. As S. Augustine +said, "The Catholic Church is one, to which different +heresies give various names, they themselves each possessing +their own name, which they dare not refuse. +Whence judges unaffected by partiality can form an +opinion to whom the name of Catholic, which all aim +at, ought to be given."<a name="FNanchor_19_512" id="FNanchor_19_512"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_512" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> If, then, the name of Catholic +is a note of truth, the negation of that name is a +test of error and heresy. But no one will imagine that +heretics, that is, the enemies of Christ and the Apostles, +have a right to be followed in what concerns the doctrine +of Christ, and the Apostolic institutions. Thus +what Tertullian said is to the point, "Though we had +to search still and for ever, yet <i>where</i> are we to search? +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span>Is it among heretics, where all is foreign and opposed +to our own truth, whom we are not allowed to approach?<a name="FNanchor_20_513" id="FNanchor_20_513"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_513" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> +What servant expects food from a stranger, not to say +an enemy of his lord? What soldier takes donative or +pay from confederate, not to say from hostile kings, except +he be an open deserter and rebel? Even the woman +in the Gospel searched for her piece of silver within +her own house. Even he who knocked, struck the door +of a friend.<a name="FNanchor_21_514" id="FNanchor_21_514"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_514" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> Even the widow solicited a judge, who +was hard indeed, but not her enemy. No one can be +built up by the person who destroys him. No one be +enlightened by one who shuts him up in darkness. Let +us search then in our own, and from our own, and about +our own, and only that which can be questioned without +harm to the rule of faith."<a name="FNanchor_22_515" id="FNanchor_22_515"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_515" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p> + +<p>But if we look closer into the matter, we shall find that +even in the interpretation of our texts Protestants are not +so agreed with each other as uniformly to oppose us. Some +of the greatest names amongst them, such as Camero, +Grotius, Hammond, Leclerc, Dodwell, Michaelis, Rosenmüller, +and Kuinoel, differ from the rest and agree with us +in interpreting, "upon this rock I will build My Church," +words of great importance in the controversy about the +Primacy. So that we were not wrong in stating that Protestants +do not entirely agree among each other in their +interpretation, nor disagree with ours.</p> + +<p>But grant that they were one and all opposed to it, it +would not prove much. For, <i>first</i>, it could hardly happen +otherwise, since the whole Protestant cause is so contained +in this matter of the Primacy, that, were they to confess +themselves wrong in it, they would pronounce themselves +guilty of the most groundless schism. Therefore it is a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>matter of life and death with them to resist us. <i>Secondly</i>, as +they dissent from us, so do they desert that doctrine which +the whole Christian body solemnly professed and defined +before the sixteenth century in ecumenical councils, that of +Florence held in 1439, the second of Lyons in 1274, and +the fourth Lateran in 1215. We, then, follow antiquity, +and they take up novelty. And so it follows that while we +have Protestants against us, we have the earlier Christians +for us, whilst Protestants are opposed not only to the present +race of Catholics, but to those whose children these +are, and whose doctrines they have preserved. For as to +the ancient interpretation of these texts take the following +proof, contained in a letter of Pope Agatho to the Greek +emperor Heraclius, read and approved in the sixth general +council, <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 680. "The true confession of Peter was +revealed by the Father from heaven, for which Peter was +pronounced to be blessed by the Lord of all, who likewise +by a triple commendation was entrusted with the feeding of +the spiritual sheep of the Church by the Redeemer of all +Himself; in virtue of whose assistance this his apostolical +church hath never turned aside from the path of truth to +any error whatsoever; whose authority, as of the Prince +of all the Apostles, the whole Catholic Church at all times +and the universal councils faithfully embracing, have in all +respects followed, and all the venerable Fathers have entertained +its apostolic doctrine; through which there have +shone the most approved lights of the Church; which +while the holy orthodox Fathers have venerated and followed, +<i>heretics have pursued with false accusations, and +calumnies inspired by hatred. This is the living tradition +of Christ's Apostles, which His Church everywhere +holds.</i>"<a name="FNanchor_23_516" id="FNanchor_23_516"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_516" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> We might imagine that Sir Thomas More had +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>these words before his eyes when he answered Luther, +"not only all that learned and holy men have collected to +the point moves me to give willing obedience to that See, +but especially what we have so often witnessed, that not +only there never was an enemy to the Christian faith who +did not at the same time declare war against that See, but +also that there never has been one who professed himself +an enemy of that See without shortly after declaring himself +signally a capital foe and traitor of Christ and our +religion. Another thing, too, has great weight with me, +that if, in this manner, the faults of individuals are laid to +the charge of their office, all authority will collapse, and +the people will be without ruler, law, or order. And if +this ever happens, as it seems likely to happen in parts of +Germany, at length they will learn to their cost how much +more it is to the interest of society to have even bad rulers +rather than none."<a name="FNanchor_24_517" id="FNanchor_24_517"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_517" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p> + +<p>Protestants, then, have many more opponents than we; +to which we may add, <i>thirdly</i>, that we assert and maintain +a doctrine which for several ages had no opponents worth +mentioning, and which received a general belief and assent. +Protestants, on the contrary, no sooner brought their +doctrine to light than they roused the whole Catholic +Church against them; that very Church, <i>fourthly</i>, from +which they had rebelled, in which they had been washed +in the laver of regeneration, whose motherly care had +enrolled them as Christians, from which they had received +the Bible and all other Christian blessings, which, before +that fatal schism, alone presented the appearance of the +true Church, and was invested with attributes which inspired +belief and fostered obedience. For such were antiquity, +the hierarchy, unity, the agreement of its members, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>universality; such, again, the splendour of sanctity +and learning; zeal in the guardianship of primeval tradition, +hatred of profane novelties; and, lastly, the renown +of those heavenly gifts, which cannot fail the true Church +of Christ, and were ascribed to no other body.</p> + +<p>But <i>fifthly</i>, it would be very apposite to compare the +Catholic Church with herself, and contrast her state and +condition in the nineteenth century with that same state +and condition in the fourth, the fifth, and the sixth. Now +who, in the fourth century, professed the consubstantiality +of the Trinity? Well nigh Catholics alone, while innumerable +sects of heretics opposed this doctrine. War to the +knife was waged against it by Praxeans, Noetians, Sabellians, +Paulianists, Arians, and their worst portion, the +Anomæans, Macedonians, and those who then made their +appearance, Tritheists. Again, in the fifth and the sixth +centuries, who were they who retained the true faith in +Christ the God-Man, and His dispensation in taking flesh? +Once more the true faith was hardly found outside the +Catholics, while the followers of Theodore of Mopsuestia, +and Diodorus of Tarsus, Nestorius and the Nestorians, +Eutyches, and the Eutychean sects at daggers drawn +with each other, and in fine, the Monothelites and their +sects, who hated one another and the Catholics with equal +bitterness, clubbed all their forces together to oppose it. +Now do any Protestants venture to infer that in the fourth +and following centuries the cause of the Catholic Church +was less certain, on account of this mob of hostile sects? +I should consider such an insinuation an insult to them. +They must accordingly allow my parallel inference, that it +is fair to pass the same judgment on the cause of the +Primacy now for some centuries defended by the Catholics +against the Protestants.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Lastly</i>, to address specially Lutherans and Anglicans. +They are well aware that almost all sects are not more +opposed to the supremacy of Peter than to the superiority +of bishops, and the verity of the Lord's body in the +Eucharist. But are they therefore deterred by the number +of their enemies, or do they distrust the goodness of +their cause, or doubt the perspicuity of those documents on +which they rely for the victory? They can afford to +disdain the tricks of their opponents, as well as repulse +their attacks. They must, accordingly, agree with us that +the assertions or denials of contesting parties ought not to +be, and cannot be, the test of a cause's goodness, and of +documentary evidence.</p> + +<p>But, then, by what standard are we to go? I reply, by +those criteria which are not subject to just exception, and +which must be approved by all who seek the truth, and +obey the dictate of reason. Now four such criteria in +chief I think may be assigned, the two former of which +are <i>immediate</i> and <i>internal</i>, the third <i>internal</i>, but somewhat +more remote; the fourth, <i>external</i>, but of great +weight, and not to be overlooked. To speak of the former +first; one of these is <i>verbal</i>, and belongs to the words +and phrases of which the text consists; the other <i>real</i>, +and regards the meaning of the sentence. Indeed, no +other sources of obscurity or of clearness can be imagined +than either the <i>words</i> which express the <i>matter</i>, or the +<i>matter</i> intended by the <i>words</i>. If both words and matter +are plain, and perspicuous, the discourse will be clear, +and the language distinct; but if either the matter exceed +the power of reason, or the words do not run clear, or both +these conspire, the evidence of the meaning will be more +or less impaired.</p> + +<p>I. Now, to begin with <i>words</i>, I shall not be severe, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> +allow to Anglicans, Lutherans, and Calvinists, that the +texts alleged by each of them in behalf of his own cause +consist of words which are either immediately perspicuous, +or become mediately clear upon definite principles. But +in turn I should ask them repeatedly to consider whether +such a perspicuity can be denied to the words of which the +texts cited for the Primacy of Peter consist. These words +are in general and vulgar use, continually repeated in the +Bible, but so connected together that their certain meaning +is either immediately evident, or fixed with very little +trouble. But are not most of them metaphorical, such as +<i>rock</i>, <i>building</i>, <i>keys</i>, <i>binding</i>, <i>loosing</i>, <i>lambs</i>, <i>sheep</i>, <i>feeding</i>? +Undoubtedly some are such, yet not that words +used in their <i>proper</i> sense are wanting, as when Peter is +called <i>the first</i>, <i>the greater</i>, the <i>superior</i>; also when he is +charged <i>to confirm his brethren</i>; and what we collect from +the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles of S. Paul, and the +evangelists' mode of writing. Not, <i>secondly</i>, that it is not +evident, from the connection of the discourse, what fixed +and established meaning must be given to those metaphorical +expressions. Not, thirdly, that the meaning of those +formulas is not shown by the exercise of the powers conferred +in them. Not, fourthly, that there is any inability, +if you remove the metaphor, to express in <i>proper</i> words +what the metaphor shadows out. Not, fifthly, as if the +literal and immediate sense were therefore wanting; for it +is very plain that the metaphorical<a name="FNanchor_25_518" id="FNanchor_25_518"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_518" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> sense likewise is +literal and immediate. And sixthly, not that <i>metaphorical</i> +can be considered equivalent to <i>obscure</i>, for obscurity is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>most opposed to the very genius of metaphor, and such a +canon would destroy the perspicuity of human language. +For there is no language, ancient or modern, rude or +polished, semitic, chamitic, or japhetic, whose <i>metaphorical</i> +is not much more copious than its <i>proper</i> vocabulary.</p> + +<p>Metaphor, then, and obscurity are very far removed +from each other, and there is nothing to prevent a metaphorical +expression bearing the plainest sense. For such +the sense will be, whenever what is called the <i>foundation</i> +of the metaphor is clear, and the series of the discourse +indicates <i>the point of likeness</i>, and usage of speech unfolds +<i>the force</i> of the metaphor. Now all these conditions, +which ensure perspicuity in the metaphor, are found in +interpreting the metaphors which contain the singular prerogatives +of Peter. For as it is perfectly plain whence the +metaphors of <i>foundation</i>, <i>building</i>, <i>keys</i>, <i>binding</i>, <i>loosing</i>, +<i>sheep</i>, <i>lambs</i>, <i>shepherd</i>, are drawn, so the context defines +the point of similitude, and usage of speech does not allow +ignorance of the force of such metaphors. And thus the +texts on Peter's Primacy have a verbal perspicuity which +will bear a favourable comparison with those texts, on +which Anglicans, Lutherans, and Calvinists rely. For +indeed all the difficulties, in the invention of which Protestants +have shown their ingenuity, are introduced, put +upon the words, not drawn from them. So on the contrary, +the haters of the Primacy evidently wince at their clearness.</p> + +<p>2. <i>Verbal</i> perspicuity is followed by <i>real</i>, or that which +concerns the <i>subject matter</i>. And this, I assert, is far +inferior, far more slender, in the above named Protestant +controversies, than in this of the Catholics. Indeed, both +the controversies, on the real presence and on the divinity +of Christ, have a super-intelligible object, so far exceeding<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> +the natural power of reason, as to admit of the mind's +conceiving it by analogy, but not by a <i>distinct</i> and <i>proper</i> +knowledge. For this is the nature of mysteries, whence +it follows in them that neither single words have distinct +notions, nor a whole proposition distinct sense. Whereas +in the controversy about the Primacy, there is nothing +which is not commensurate with reason, and which +has not the advantage of proper and distinct notions. +For, of revealed truths, some being <i>rational</i>, some <i>beyond</i> +reason, and some <i>above</i> reason, the proper character +of those which are called <i>beyond</i> reason is, that, <i>if</i> +revealed, they are cognizable by reason. Now to such +an order of truths the institution of the Primacy belongs. +Thus its <i>real</i> evidence, that namely which concerns +its <i>subject matter</i>, is much superior to that which +the others admit of. But should we grant as much to +the controversy in which Anglicans defend the superiority +of bishops over presbyters? Grant this, yet still +it remains that in this species of <i>real</i> evidence the cause +of the Primacy is far superior to that of the real presence, +or that of the divinity of Christ. But, in truth, the Anglican +doctrine on bishops may be considered from two points +of view, either as severed from the Catholic dogma on +Peter's Primacy, or as in connexion and coherence with +it. From the latter point of view I should admit it to +be so agreeable to reason, that this power calls for it, +and rests in it, when once illuminated by faith, so as +to know, that is, the purpose of Christ that each particular +Church should present the aspect of an united +family. But sever this superiority of bishops over presbyters +from the dogma of the Primacy, and inveigh as +keenly against Peter's supremacy as you defend their +presidency, which is what Anglicans do, and then I could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> +only conclude that this doctrine is plainly contrary to +reason instead of agreeing with it.</p> + +<p>For whence do Anglicans deduce its agreement with +reason? Hammond, Pearson, Beveridge, Bingham, and +their other greater theologians, tell us that it follows +very plainly, because we know that Christ carefully provided +for the unity of particular Churches, which, they say, +it seems impossible to obtain without the superior power +of bishops. It is a good inference; but did Christ show +less care for the unity of the whole Church than for +that of particular Churches? Who can seriously maintain +this? For what is the unity recommended by Christ and +so earnestly urged by the Apostles, save that of the whole +Church? And when we acknowledge in the creed <i>one</i> +Church, do we mean a particular or the universal Church? +We mean that which we also acknowledge to be Catholic, +and therefore the unity is that of the Catholic Church. +And therefore it was Christ's intention, and His certain +will, that not only particular Churches, but the universal +body of the Church, should possess the test and the dower +of unity. And this Anglican notion, which denies of the +universal Church, what it affirms of particular Churches, +may suit very well an island, holding itself aloof from +the rest of the world, but it is quite incompatible with +the radical idea of the kingdom of Christ.</p> + +<p>Moreover, if it was necessary for the production and +maintenance of unity in particular Churches to set bishops +over them, with authority superior to that of presbyters; +if reason demands that it being Christ's will for particular +Churches to live in unity, He should likewise have instituted +the power which distinguishes bishops from presbyters; +can we suppose either that it was not necessary +for the production and maintenance of unity in the Catholic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> +Church, to commit its government to an universal superior, +or that reason does not <i>equally</i> require, that Christ, +who enjoined the Catholic Church to maintain unity, +should have instituted the universal Pastor? Nay, as +the necessity is not equal on the two sides, but so much +stronger on the side of unity in the <i>Catholic</i> Church, as +it is more difficult to hold together in one an innumerable +than a limited number, men scattered over the globe +than men within a narrow region, nations differing in +genius, habits, and laws, than those who resemble each +other in these; so reason, which for particular Churches +requires their respective bishops, <i>much more</i> requires the +institution of a <i>universal</i> superior, lest the end should +appear to have been devised without the means, and +the divine work of Christ be deficient in wisdom. What, +then, are Anglicans about in dividing these two doctrines, +and contending for the institution of bishops, while they +obstinately deny the institution of the Primacy? They +strip of its authority the very truth which they defend, +and by severing doctrines which derive their consistency +from their cohesion, put weapons in the hands of +presbyterians to assault and even overthrow the very +dogma from which they take their name of episcopalians. +Accordingly the evidence derived from the <i>subject matter</i> +is much clearer in those texts which are alleged for Peter's +Primacy, than in those by which the superiority of bishops +over presbyters, the real presence, and the divine person of +Christ, are proved.</p> + +<p>Now the force of demonstration derived from documents +corresponds to the sum of <i>verbal</i> and <i>real</i> evidence in the +texts, being greater or less as this is stronger or weaker. +In other words, the force of demonstration belongs to that +class of evidence which mathematicians call <i>direct</i>. But<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> +both these sorts of evidence exist in the same, or even in +a fuller degree, in those texts which concern the Primacy, +and set forth its divine institution. Accordingly the force +of demonstration for the Primacy is equal or superior to +that belonging to the arguments which prove the superiority +of bishops, the real presence, and Christ's divine +person. Yet these arguments have such force, that the +articles which they prove cannot, in the opinion of Anglicans, +Lutherans, and Calvinists, be questioned without incurring +the deepest guilt of heresy. We have, then, the same +or even a stronger reason to affirm that the Primacy of +Peter, resting on the same, or even a stronger, evidence, +as <i>revealed</i>, cannot be denied without heresy.</p> + +<p>And this is a corollary which I would entreat Anglicans, +Lutherans, and Calvinists, carefully to consider, and +then say whether they are consistent; for then I feel +assured they would become discontented with themselves, +by reflecting that, in the choice of the articles which +they hold, they are not following the clearness of revelation, +but party spirit and factious prejudices. What +satisfactory answer can they ever return to the Catholic +who asks why they, who on equal or less evidence defend +the superiority of bishops, deny the Primacy which +rests on similar or greater proof? Or why they attack +the Primacy, while they defend the real presence, or +the divinity of Christ, which are supported by no more +evident arguments? And how will they satisfy their +own conscience, should this thought ever cross them, +"Why do I at one time obey, at another time resist, +the same evidence of revelation?" That same faith with +which they severally believe the divine appointment of +bishops, the real presence, and the consubstantiality of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> +Christ, compels them, if they would maintain consistency, +and not repel conviction, to confess the Primacy of Peter.</p> + +<p>And this argument might be carried much further, if +they would reflect how great is the brilliancy of evidence +in behalf of the Primacy, compared with sundry other +capital Christian doctrines, some or all of which they +hold without question: such are the consubstantiality of +the Trinity, the unity of Christ's Person, the propagation +of original sin, the eternity of punishment, regeneration +in baptism, and gratuitous justification. They +will find, on reflection, that they hold these doctrines +not because they are proved by stronger scriptural evidence +than the Primacy, for quite the reverse is the +truth, nor because they are encompassed with less obscurity +in their own character, for the subject matter +of the Primacy is clear and distinct in comparison with +them all, but because the doctrines do not oppose the +particular tradition which they have received, and so +their minds are not set against them. Let them once +come to compare the whole evidence for the Primacy, +scriptural, traditional, analogical, and historical, which +last alone comprehends the fourteen heads above enumerated, +with the same evidence in behalf of any or all of +those, and they cannot but admit its great superiority.</p> + +<p>3. But we must proceed to the <i>third</i> criterion, which +increases not a little the evidence from revelation for +the Primacy. For Catholics and Protestants are agreed +in considering <i>analogy</i> as one of the best helps in interpretation, +and in assigning to it the force of a real +parallelism, a proceeding which rests on the necessity +of the Scripture presenting one whole and harmonious +body of doctrine in its several parts. And in order not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> +to deprive this help of its efficacy, both parties give two +conditions for its exercise, the first, <i>that no sense be put +upon passages of Scripture contrary to analogy</i>; the +second, <i>that no violence be used to the language of +Scripture to conform it with analogy, which would be +imposing on holy writ the sense wanted from it</i>. These +two faults carefully avoided, analogy is of great service, +and throws much light upon interpretation.</p> + +<p>But, now, is there such a sum of doctrine, so remarkable, +and so diffused through all the books of the New +Testament, that the texts expressing the gifts and prerogatives +of Peter, can be tried by the touchstone of this +analogy? Such, indeed, there is, very remarkable, and +threefold in character. The first point is found in the +texts<a name="FNanchor_26_519" id="FNanchor_26_519"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_519" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> which regard the divine institution of bishops: +the other two in those which show the unity,<a name="FNanchor_27_520" id="FNanchor_27_520"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_520" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> and the +Catholicity<a name="FNanchor_28_521" id="FNanchor_28_521"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_521" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> of the Church. For what can stand in closer +connection with these articles of doctrine, than the appointment +of a supreme ruler to discharge over the universal +Church the office which every bishop exercises over +his own particular Church, and his own portion of the flock? +What, again, can be more opposed to them, than the +supposition that provision was made, by the institution of +bishops, for <i>the parts</i>, but none, by the institution of +a supreme pastor, for <i>the whole body</i>, which is to be one +and Catholic? Therefore, that exposition of the texts +concerning Peter, which exhibits him as ruler of the +Church universal, and as made to be the visible cause of +that same Catholic unity, so admirably agrees with +analogy, that it must be considered unquestionable, unless</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span></p><p>texts contradictory to it can be produced. But so +far is it from the case that texts <i>considered in themselves</i> +contradict it, that, on the contrary, they <i>immediately</i> +express it <i>of themselves</i>, and can be distorted from it +only by violating all the laws of interpretation. Accordingly, +that view of the texts about Peter, which establishes +his Primacy, is wonderfully confirmed by analogy, +and by its harmony with what the Scriptures tell us of +the Church, as instituted by Christ.</p> + +<p>4. And nothing will be wanting to give full assurance +to this confirmation, if we add the <i>fourth or external</i> criterion, +that derived from consent of witnesses. I am not +going to urge here the divine force and infallible authority +of Christian tradition: I shall merely allege what no +person of discretion can deny or question. The first +point is, that in the actual controversy the testimony of +the most ancient witnesses cannot be disregarded: and +the second, that it carries the very strongest prejudice in +favour of whichever interpretation it supports.</p> + +<p>Now here we have to do first, with the interpretation +of a series of dogmatic texts; and, secondly, with a +point of doctrine, which, being of the utmost moment, +could not be unknown to any one. But are these matters +on which ancient witnesses, such as the Christian Fathers, +and ecclesiastical writers, can be safely past by unheard? +If it were a matter of geography, chronology, or archæology, +one might allow it, though with regret: but this +is out of the question, in a matter of dogmatic texts, +and those relating to a most important doctrine. For +notorious is the zeal with which the ancient Fathers +laboured to preserve and interpret the dogmatic texts +of Scripture. We know their care to prevent the introduction +of new and false interpretations, and new and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> +false doctrines thence arising. And we know that, +together with the Scriptures, they received from the +Apostolic teaching the kindred power of interpreting +them. For, as Origen remarked, "Since there are +many who think that they believe what is of Christ, +and some of them believe what is different from those +before them, yet, since the preaching of the Church is +preserved, as handed down by the order of succession +from the Apostles, and to the present day abiding in +the Church, that verity alone is to be believed, which +in nothing is discordant from the ecclesiastical and Apostolical +tradition."<a name="FNanchor_29_522" id="FNanchor_29_522"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_522" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></p> + +<p>Moreover, can it seem safe to enter upon a track most +divergent from that which the Apostles marked out, and +the Christian people constantly followed? S. Paul<a name="FNanchor_30_523" id="FNanchor_30_523"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_523" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> taught +us to listen to witnesses, and Christendom, whether assembled +in council, or everywhere diffused, was content to +depend on them. Most clear is what is said on this point +about the Fathers at Nicea<a name="FNanchor_31_524" id="FNanchor_31_524"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_524" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> and Ephesus,<a name="FNanchor_32_525" id="FNanchor_32_525"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_525" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> and no less +so the words of Leontius<a name="FNanchor_33_526" id="FNanchor_33_526"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_526" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> of Byzantium, John Cassian,<a name="FNanchor_34_527" id="FNanchor_34_527"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_527" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> +Theodoret,<a name="FNanchor_35_528" id="FNanchor_35_528"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_528" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> Augustine,<a name="FNanchor_36_529" id="FNanchor_36_529"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_529" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> Jerome,<a name="FNanchor_37_530" id="FNanchor_37_530"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_530" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> Epiphanius,<a name="FNanchor_38_531" id="FNanchor_38_531"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_531" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> Basil,<a name="FNanchor_39_532" id="FNanchor_39_532"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_532" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> +Origen,<a name="FNanchor_40_533" id="FNanchor_40_533"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_533" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> Tertullian,<a name="FNanchor_41_534" id="FNanchor_41_534"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_534" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> Clement<a name="FNanchor_42_535" id="FNanchor_42_535"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_535" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> of Alexandria, and the +oldest of all, Irenæus,<a name="FNanchor_43_536" id="FNanchor_43_536"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_536" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> who says, "The true knowledge is</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span></p><p>the doctrine of the Apostles, and the ancient state of the +Church in the whole world, and the character of the body +of Christ, according to the succession of bishops, by which +they handed down the Church, which is in every place, +which hath reached even to us, being guarded without +fiction, <i>with a most full interpretation of the Scriptures</i>, +admitting neither addition nor subtraction, and the reading +without falsification, and legitimate and diligent exposition +according to the Scriptures, without danger, and +without blasphemy, and the chief gift of charity, which is +more precious than knowledge, more glorious than prophecy, +more eminent than all graces." For, as he says +elsewhere, "We ought to learn the truth, where the gifts +of the Lord are placed; among whom is that succession of +the Church, which is from the Apostles, sound and irreproachable +conversation, and discourse unadulterated and +incorrupt. For these maintain that faith of ours in one +God, who made all things: these increase that love towards +the Son of God, who has made for our sake so great dispositions: +<i>these explain to us the Scriptures without +peril</i>."</p> + +<p>And, besides, where is the Protestant who does not +praise the Hebrew illustrations of Lightfoot, Schoettgen, +and Meuschen? or who does not at least make much of the +commentaries of Aben Ezra, Kimchi, Jarchi, and others, +in the interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures? They all +see the advantage of approaching such sources of information, +and using them for their own purpose. But are we +to refuse to the Fathers, and ancient doctors of the Church +the deference which we allow to Rabbins and Thalmudists? +This is at least a reason for hearing the testimony of the +Fathers.</p> + +<p>And if it be concordant, constant, and universal, it most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> +powerfully recommends that scriptural interpretation, which +agrees with it. In this, all Catholics without exception, +and the most judicious and learned Protestants, are agreed. +In good truth, it would be incredible that an interpretation +could be false, which was adopted unanimously by the +Fathers of every age and country. And it ought to be +as incredible to find any one so conceited, as not to be +greatly moved by the witness and consent of Christian antiquity.</p> + +<p>One point of enquiry remains, whether the Fathers have +given their opinion, and that unanimously, on Peter and +the texts, which relate to him. But their words<a name="FNanchor_44_537" id="FNanchor_44_537"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_537" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> inserted +in the foregoing pages entirely terminate this controversy, +and show that they were all of the mind expressed by +Gregory the Great, in these words, which, it is well to +remember, were directed to the supreme civil authority +of those days, for he tells the emperor:</p> + +<p>"To all who know the Gospel, it is manifest that the +charge of the whole Church was entrusted by the voice +of the Lord to the holy Apostle Peter, Prince of all the +Apostles. For to him it is said, 'Peter, lovest thou Me? +Feed My sheep.' To him is said, 'Behold, Satan hath +desired to sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for thee, +Peter, that thy faith fail not; and do thou, one day, in +turn, confirm thy brethren.' To him is said, 'Thou art +Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church,' &c. +Lo, he hath received the keys of the kingdom of heaven, +the power of binding and loosing is given to him, the care +and the chiefship of the whole Church is committed to +him."<a name="FNanchor_45_538" id="FNanchor_45_538"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_538" class="fnanchor">[45]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span></p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span></p><div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_494" id="Footnote_1_494"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_494"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> The following chapter is translated from Passaglia, Pp. 339-360.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_495" id="Footnote_2_495"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_495"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> This is not said as <i>limiting</i> revelation to such points, but to exhibit the scope of the +present work, which uses testimony merely as a human, though very important, support +of the cause.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_496" id="Footnote_3_496"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_496"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> The texts relating to the primacy, the Evangelists' mode of writing, that of S. Luke +in the first twelve chapters of the Acts, and that of S. Paul.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_497" id="Footnote_4_497"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_497"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> The Apostles' contest about "the greater," the distinction between the founder, and +the visible head of the Church, and for false interpretations, the primacy of mere precedency, +the perversion of John xxi. 15-20, the assertion of Apostolic equality, and Gal. i +18-20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_498" id="Footnote_5_498"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_498"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Interroga igitur, si quid veritatis cupis audire, principaliter sedis +Apostolicæ antistitem, cujus sana doctrina constat judicio veritatis, et +fulcitur munimine auctoritatis. Ferrandus in Epist. ad Severum.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_499" id="Footnote_6_499"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_499"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Socrates, Hist. L. 2, c. 8-17. Sozomen, hist. L. 3, c. 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_500" id="Footnote_7_500"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_500"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> In fragm. epist. apud Baluzium, Miscell. Lib. 5, p. 467.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_501" id="Footnote_8_501"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_501"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Ferrandus in litteris ad Pelagium.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_502" id="Footnote_9_502"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_502"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Mansi. Tom. 8, 54, 34.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_503" id="Footnote_10_503"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_503"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Avitus, Epist. 36.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_504" id="Footnote_11_504"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_504"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Gelasius, Epist. 4, ad Faustum. Mansi. 8, 17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_505" id="Footnote_12_505"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_505"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Mansi. Tom. xi. 184.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_506" id="Footnote_13_506"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_506"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> See Peter Ballerini, de potestate ecclesiastica, cap. 1, § 1-6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_507" id="Footnote_14_507"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_507"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> See Mamachi, origines et antiquitates Christianæ, Tom 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_508" id="Footnote_15_508"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_508"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> See Muzzarelli, de auctoritate Rom. Pontificis in Conciliis generalibus, c. v. § 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_509" id="Footnote_16_509"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_509"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> See Mamachi, as above, Tom. v part. 1, c. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_510" id="Footnote_17_510"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_510"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> Amm. Marcellinus, Lib. 15, c. 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_511" id="Footnote_18_511"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_511"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> The following paragraph, down to "within and without," I have introduced here. +It is not in F. Passaglia.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_512" id="Footnote_19_512"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_512"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Aug. de utilitate credendi, c. 7, n. 19.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_513" id="Footnote_20_513"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_513"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Tit. iii. 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_514" id="Footnote_21_514"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_514"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Luke xv. 9; xi. 5; xviii. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_515" id="Footnote_22_515"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_515"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Tertullian, de Præsc. c. 21.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_516" id="Footnote_23_516"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_516"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Mansi, concilia, Tom. 11, 239.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_517" id="Footnote_24_517"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_517"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Responsis ad Lutheram, c. x.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_518" id="Footnote_25_518"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_518"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> Sense, says John, is the connection or mutual relation of notions intended by the +author in his words, or, according to others, which is the same thing, the conception of the +mind which the author has expressed in words, and wishes to raise in his readers. This +sense, whether it springs from the proper or whether from the improper and metaphorical +meaning of words, or from allegorical language, is immediate, grammatical, and literal.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_519" id="Footnote_26_519"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_519"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> Acts xiv. 22; xx. 28; 1 Tim. v. 19-22; 2 Tim. iv. 2-5; Tit. i. 5; 1 Pet. v. 2, 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_520" id="Footnote_27_520"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_520"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Matt. xvi. 18; xviii. 18; John x. 16; Eph. v. 25; 1 Cor. xii; John xvii. 20-26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_521" id="Footnote_28_521"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_521"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Luke xxiv. 47; Acts i. 8; ix. 15; Coloss. i. 8.; 1 Cor. i. 23; ix. 20; Rom. x. 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_522" id="Footnote_29_522"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_522"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> Origen. preface [Greek: kezi azchôn], n. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_523" id="Footnote_30_523"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_523"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> 2 Tim. ii. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_524" id="Footnote_31_524"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_524"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> See Athanas. de decritis Nic. Synodi, and also Hist. tripartit. Lib. 2, 2-3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_525" id="Footnote_32_525"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_525"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> See Vincent of Lerins. Commonit. c. 32, 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_526" id="Footnote_33_526"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_526"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> Leontius, Contr. Nestorium. Lib. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_527" id="Footnote_34_527"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_527"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> Cassian, De Incarn. Lib. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_528" id="Footnote_35_528"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_528"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> Theodoret, in the three dialogues.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_529" id="Footnote_36_529"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_529"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> Augustine, cont. Cresconium, 1, c. 32-3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_530" id="Footnote_37_530"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_530"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> Jerome, Ep. 126, and dialog. adv. Luciferianos.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_531" id="Footnote_38_531"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_531"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> Epiphanius. bæres. 61, 75, 78.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_532" id="Footnote_39_532"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_532"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> Basil, cont. Eunomium, Lib. 1; de Spiritu S. c. 29.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_533" id="Footnote_40_533"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_533"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> Origen in Matt. Tract. 29.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_534" id="Footnote_41_534"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_534"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> Tertullian, throughout the book De Prescriptionibus.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_535" id="Footnote_42_535"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_535"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> Clement, Stromatum, Lib. 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_536" id="Footnote_43_536"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_536"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> Irenæus, Lib. 4, c. 63 and 45.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_537" id="Footnote_44_537"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_537"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> It may be allowable also to refer to the fifth section of the work mentioned in the +preface, "The See of S. Peter," &c.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_538" id="Footnote_45_538"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_538"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> S. Greg. Ep. Lib. 5, 20.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="INDEX" id="INDEX"></a>INDEX.</h2> + + +<p> +A.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Abraham</i>, parallel between, and Peter, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>-<a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>-<a href="#Page_4">4</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Acts</i>, division of, <a href="#Page_114">114</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">state the accomplishment of Christ's promises, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">history of the mystical body, as the Gospels of the Head, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">elucidate the institution of the Primacy by showing its execution, <a href="#Page_116">116</a> and following.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Africa</i>, Church of, its terms addressing Pope Theodore, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Agatho</i>, Pope, <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, 678-682, referred to, <a href="#Page_254">254</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">states his Primacy in the case of S. Wilfrid, <a href="#Page_254">254</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">to the Emperor Heraclius and the 6th Council <a href="#Page_262">262</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Alexander</i>, of Alexandria, referred to, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Ambrose</i>, St., interprets the name of Peter, <a href="#Page_10">10</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">terms Peter "the Rock of the Church," <a href="#Page_15">15</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"the Apostle in whom is the Church's support," <a href="#Page_15">15</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">affirms and describes his Primacy, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">declares, "where Peter is, there is the Church," <a href="#Page_62">62</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">interprets John xxi. <a href="#Page_15">15</a>-<a href="#Page_17">17</a>, of Peter's Primacy, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">says, "the rights of venerable communion flow from St. Peter's chair as from a fountain head," <a href="#Page_216">216</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">describes schism as rendering Christ's passion of no effect, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and as the unforgiven sin, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">mentions a Novatian error of restricting the keys to Peter personally, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, n.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">assigns the origin of unity to Peter, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Ambrosiaster</i>, makes Paul's visit an acknowledgment of Peter's Primacy, <a href="#Page_164">164</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ranges James and John under Peter, as Barnabas under Paul, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sees in Paul's censure of Peter a proof of Peter's Primacy, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Ammianus Marcellinus</i>, referred to, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Analogy</i>, between universal and particular churches and the Primate and all bishops, <a href="#Page_217">217</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of the body, house, kingdom, city, and fold, with the Church, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>-<a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its force as a proof for the Primacy. <a href="#Page_251">251</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">as a criterion of interpretation, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Anglicanism</i>, the peculiar inconsistency of, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>-<a href="#Page_225">225</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Anglicans</i>, <i>Lutherans</i>, and <i>Calvinists</i>, comparative proof for their doctrines and for the Primacy, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Apostles</i>, their relation to Peter, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>-<a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>-<a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their commission as given in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">exercise of their powers, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">how they <i>sent</i> Peter and John, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">are teachers and judges in controversy, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the spirit of truth promised to them and to their successors, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>-<a href="#Page_189">189</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">inequality in the college of, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">twelve proofs of it, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>-<a href="#Page_209">209</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Aquileia</i>, Fathers of, ascribe the origin of unity to Peter, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Archimandrites of Syria</i>, call Pope Hormisdas das "Patriarch of the whole world," <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Arnobius</i>, calls Peter, the Bishop of Bishops, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Athanasius St.</i>, states the object of the Incarnation, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">referred to, on behalf of the principle of tradition, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Augustine St.</i>, terms Peter "the rock which the proud gates of hell prevail not against," <a href="#Page_15">15</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"the figure of the Church," <a href="#Page_61">61</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"made another self by Christ, and one with Himself," <a href="#Page_110">110</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">states the object of the Incarnation, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">explains the banquet in John, ch. xxi, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">says the order in which the Apostles were called is uncertain, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">mentions Peter's holy humility in being censured by Paul, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">says there is no remission of sins outside the Church, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">that those who are out of the Church have not charity, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">terms schism a horrible crime and sacrilege, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">distinguishes the Church as Catholic, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">referred to as explaining the term Catholic, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and quoted, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">why he teaches that the keys were bestowed on Peter as representing the person of the Church, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, n. 124</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">referred to, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and on tradition, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Avitus, St.</i>, attests the Popes Primacy, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +B.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Ballerini</i>, Peter, his works referred to, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Baronius</i>, explains St. Peter being sent to the circumcision, <a href="#Page_167">167</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">remarks on the distortion of Paul's censure against Peter, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Basil St.</i> calls Peter underlying the building of the Church, <a href="#Page_15">15</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">interprets John, xxi. <a href="#Page_15">15</a>-<a href="#Page_17">17</a>, as a grant of all pastoral authority to the Church in the person of Peter her shepherd, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">referred to, on principle of tradition, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Bede St.</i>, interprets, "Arise, Peter, kill and eat," <a href="#Page_140">140</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">condemns all separation from the society of Peter, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Bernard St.</i> appeals to Pope Innocent II, as holding the Primacy of faith, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">calls the Pope universal Bishop, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">referred to, as explaining the term Catholic, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">speaks of the solicitude of all churches resting on the Apostolic See <a href="#Page_244">244</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +[Greek: Bhoskein], its meaning, contrasted with [Greek: poimahinein], <a href="#Page_103">103</a> note.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> +<i>Bishops</i>, divine institution, of texts for, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, n. 26<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">proof for, compared with that for the Primacy, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Bossuet</i>, explains the relation between Peter and the Apostles, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his writings against Jurien referred to, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +C.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Cœlestinus</i>, referred to, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Calvinists</i>, their proofs for the divinity of Christ compared with those of Catholics for the Primacy, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Canons</i>, the 22nd of the Apostolic, quoted, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Cartwright</i>, the Puritan, observes the inconsistency of Anglicanism, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, n. 59.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Casaubon</i>, referred to, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Cassian John</i>, states the Primacy of St. Peter as continuing in the Church, <a href="#Page_111">111</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">referred to 275.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Catholicity</i>, texts on the Church's referred to, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, n. 28<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in what it consists, material and formal parts, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the formal part as negative and as affirmative, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>-<a href="#Page_241">241</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Cesar</i>, Julius, parallel between proof for his having been emperor, and for Peter's Primacy, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Christ</i>, at His passion commends the Church as His "finished work" to God the Father, <a href="#Page_1">1</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">stands in two relations to the Church while on earth, as Founder and as Ruler, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">selects from His disciples first twelve and then one <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">explains the name of Peter, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">communicates to Peter the gift of being the Foundation, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">educates him for the office of chief ruler, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">associates him in a peculiar manner with Himself, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">designates a chief ruler in His Church, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and that one to be Peter, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">makes a further disposition of power after His resurrection, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">makes Peter the one Shepherd over his fold, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">fulfils His promises to the Twelve, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">and to Peter, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">foretels Peter's crucifixion, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">paraphrase of His promises to Peter in Matt. xvi, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>-<a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the mystical Head of the Church, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the incarnate Word the principle of Unity and Headship in the Church, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>-<a href="#Page_182">182</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">His headship does not dispense with a visible hierarchy, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and cannot be expressed by the unity of a college, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">bestows all spiritual gift, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Chrysostome</i>, St., interprets the name Peter, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">terms Peter "the support of the faith," <a href="#Page_15">15</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"the mouth-piece of the Apostles and teacher of the world," <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Teacher, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a> the Father, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the greater and elder, <a href="#Page_163">163</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">interprets "the keys" to mean power over all things in heaven, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">interprets, "give it to them for me and for thee," <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">interprets John xxi, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>-<a href="#Page_17">17</a>, as the charge of the whole Church given to Peter, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">witnesses to St. Peter's Primacy, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">describes the subject of the Acts, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">says that in Christ the race God and man is become one, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">describes Peter as the first on every occasion, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">says the Acts are those of St. Peter and St. Paul, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">interprets "confirm thy brethren" of St. Peter's supreme authority. <a href="#Page_124">124</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">makes St. John subordinate to St. Peter, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">interprets Acts x, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">likens Peter to the commander of an army, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">says that he anticipates St. Paul's doctrine to the Romans, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">makes St. Paul prefer Peter to himself, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and to the other Apostles, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">considers St. Paul's visit to him a proof of his Primacy, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">explains Gal. ii. <a href="#Page_7">7</a>-<a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">speaks of the dignity of St. Peter's person, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">denies it to have been St. Peter who censured by St. Paul, <a href="#Page_174">174</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">remarks on St. Paul's prudence in the manner of giving this</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">censure, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his remark on the Incarnation, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">describes the unity of the Church all over the world, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">distinguishes the Church as Catholic, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">referred to on necessity of communion between the Church's</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">members, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Church</i>, establishment of,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the "finished work" of God the Word incarnate, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">unity and visibility part of its primary idea, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and a visible headship, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">unchangeable, like her Lord, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">had one ruler from the beginning, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">unity or, fourfold, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of mystical influx, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of charity, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of faith, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>-<a href="#Page_189">189</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of visible headship, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>-<a href="#Page_196">196</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its identity, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its unity, and texts proving it, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its Catholicity, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">these three viewed as reasons for the Primacy, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>-<a href="#Page_241">241</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">means the whole society of believers, <a href="#Page_223">223</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">texts which so define it, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, n. 46</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">as set forth in Scripture, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Claude</i>, the Calvinist, referred to, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Clement</i> of Alexandria referred to<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">as defining the Church, <a href="#Page_223">223</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on the term Catholic, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on the principle of tradition, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Clement</i>, the Pseudo, his epistle St. James quoted, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Confirming</i>, meaning of the term in Luke xxii. 32, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Cornelius</i>, conversion of, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Council</i> of Nicea, referred to, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>.<br /> +<br /> +---- of Sardica, referred to, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.<br /> +<br /> +---- of Ephesus, referred to, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.<br /> +<br /> +---- of Chalcedon, terms Peter, "the rock and foundation of the<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Catholic Church, and the basis of the orthodox faith," <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +---- third of Carthage, referred to, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.<br /> +<br /> +---- second of Constantinople, referred to, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>.<br /> +<br /> +---- of Laodicea, referred to, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>.<br /> +<br /> +---- second Nicene, referred to, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Creed</i>, how it contains St. Peter's Primacy, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Criteria</i> of interpretation, four chief ones, <a href="#Page_265">265</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">verbal, <a href="#Page_266">266</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">real, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">analogical, <a href="#Page_271">271</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">consent of witnesses, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Cyprian</i> St.,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">terms Peter the Rock of the Church that was to be built, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">quotes the confessors out of Novatian's schism, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">says that perfidy cannot approach the Roman faith, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">says that the Church is built on Peter, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">says that the Apostles, as such, are equal, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">but adds the Primacy of St. Peter, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">solution of his phrase, "the episcopate is one, of which apart is</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">held by each without division of the whole," <a href="#Page_100">100</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">how his statements on the unity of the Catholic episcopate cohere with the Primacy, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">makes St. Peter's See the fountain in the Church, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">says the Church is in the bishop, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">compares the unity in the Church to that of the Holy Trinity, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">defines a particular church as a people united to its priest, and a flock adhering to its pastor, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">describes the one Church and its prerogatives, <a href="#Page_228">228</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">distinguishes it by the name Catholic, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Cyril</i>, St., of Alexandria, says the Church is founded on Peter, <a href="#Page_9">9</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">describes the presence of the Holy Spirit in Christians, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">remarks on the Incarnation, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Cyril</i>, St., of Jerusalem, affirms St. Peter's Primacy, <a href="#Page_61">61</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">calls the Church Catholic, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">explains the term, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +D.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Dante</i>, his words on fortune, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Dionysius</i>, the so-called Areopagite, states that the office of the Holy Spirit is the deification of man, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +E.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Ephrem</i>, of Antioch, on the unity produced by the Incarnation, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Ephrem</i>, St. Syrus, calls Peter the candle and tongue of the disciples and the voice of preachers, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Epiphanius</i>, St. terms Peter the immovable rock of the Church, <a href="#Page_15">15</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and says that the charge of bringing the Gentiles into the Church is laid on him, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">referred to, on tradition. <a href="#Page_275">275</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Eucherius</i>, St., of Lyons, calls Peter the Pastor of pastors, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Eusebius</i>, states that St. John visited the Churches of Asia, <a href="#Page_146">146</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">calls the Church by the name of Catholic, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">referred to, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Euthalius</i>, his summary of the Acts, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Evidence</i>, moral, how far intended to be convincing, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +F.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Faith</i>, how called by the Fathers, <a href="#Page_234">234</a> note.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Fathers</i>, the Greek, on Gal. ii. 11<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">unanimously set forth St. Peter's Primacy, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>-<a href="#Page_175">175</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Ferrandus</i>, refers enquirers to the Apostolic See, <a href="#Page_252">252</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">states the authority of Councils confirmed by it, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>First</i>, force of the term, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Fructuosus</i>, St., the church in his Acts called Catholic, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +G.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Gelasius</i>, Pope, <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, 492-6, <br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">referred to, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">states the power of the Apostolic See, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Gnostics</i> and Marcionites, distort Paul's censure of Peter, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Gregory</i>, Thaumaturgus, St. his remark on the Incarnation, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Gregory</i>, Nazianzene, St., terms Peter the rock of the Church, <a href="#Page_15">15</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">remarks on the Incarnation, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">calls the Church the tunic without seam, &c., <a href="#Page_218">218</a>,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">referred to, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Gregory</i>, of Nyssa, St., his remark on the unity produced by the Incarnation, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Gregory</i>, the Great, St. <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, 590-603,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">remarks Peter's humility in defending himself, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">founds the Primacy on the three great texts, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Gregory</i> II, Pope, <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, 715-731, describes the reverence felt to Peter in the eighth century, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +H.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Heresy</i>, why it has lost its foulness in the minds of Protestants, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Hierarchy</i>, the visible, why constituted, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>-<a href="#Page_190">190</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">a head of it necessary, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>-<a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Hilary</i>, of Poitiers, St. terms Peter the rock of the Church, <a href="#Page_15">15</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his remarks on the effect of the Incarnation, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">speaks of the unity produced by the Incarnation and the Eucharist, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sets forth the Church's unity, <a href="#Page_220">220</a> note</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">referred to as defining the Church, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Hippolytus</i>, St., his remark on the fruit of the Incarnation, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>History</i>, Christian, fourteen distinct classes of facts in it attest the Primacy, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>-<a href="#Page_256">256</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Hormisdas</i>, Pope, <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 514-523<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">referred to, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +I.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Ignatius</i>, St., uses the word Catholic of the Church, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Incarnation</i>, the order and gifts of, lost sight of by those without the Church, <a href="#Page_27">27</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the object of, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>-<a href="#Page_181">181</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Innocent</i> I., Pope, <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, 401-417<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">makes the Apostolic See the fountain in the Church, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his letters to S. Victrice, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Irenæus</i>, St., his remarks on the Incarnation, <a href="#Page_179">179</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">referred to as defining the Church, <a href="#Page_223">223</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">describes the Church's unity, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and terms it Catholic, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and explains the term, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sets forth tradition and the chiefship of the Roman Church, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">states the principle of tradition as guarding the faith, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Isidore</i>, St., declares that whoever does not obey Peter is a schismatic, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +J.<br /> +<br /> +<i>James</i>, St., the martyrdom of, how mentioned by S. Luke, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Jerome</i>, St., puts the safety of the Church in the bishop, <a href="#Page_45">45</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">makes the Primacy to be instituted against schism, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">says, it is not a church which has no priest, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ascribes the decision of the Council of Jerusalem to St. Peter, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and makes St. Paul's visit to Peter a token of his Primacy, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">gives the reasons of those who denied it to be St. Peter who was censured, <a href="#Page_173">173</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">describes the necessity of adhering to Peter's See, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, note 120</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">referred to as defining the Church, <a href="#Page_223">223</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">distinguishes it as Catholic, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">referred to, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">referred to on principle of tradition, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>John</i>, St., his sphere distinguished from that of Peter, <a href="#Page_91">91</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">how often mentioned in the New Testament. <a href="#Page_93">93</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">with his brother called Boanerges, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, note, 86</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">makes himself subordinate to Peter, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Judah</i>, among his brethren, a type of Peter among the Apostles, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>-<a href="#Page_215">215</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Julian</i>, the apostate, distorts Paul's censure of Peter, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Jurisdiction</i>, spiritual, derived from the person of Christ to St. Peter, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">creation of, precedes the formation of the Church, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Jurien</i>, referred to, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Justinian</i>, the Emperor, referred to, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +K.<br /> +<br /> +<i>King</i>, on the Creed, referred to, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +L.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Lactantius</i>, describes necessity of belonging to the Church, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Leander</i>, referred to, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Leo St.</i>, Pope 440-461<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">paraphrases the name of Peter, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">states his Primacy and association with Christ, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">explains why our Lord prays specially for Peter, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">says that Peter, rules all by immediate commission, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">that Christ gave to the rest through Peter, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">that he assumed Peter into the participation of His indivisible unity, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">remarks on the unity produced by the Incarnation, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">describes the unity of the Catholic Episcopate as knitted up in the See of St. Peter, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Leontius</i>, referred to, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Luke</i>, St., his purpose in writing the Acts, <a href="#Page_114">114</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">part which he assigns to Peter, in general, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>-<a href="#Page_122">122</a> in particulars, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>-<a href="#Page_153">153</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">slightly mentions the other Apostles, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">exhibits Peter's miracles as John does those of Christ, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">makes him the main figure in the Apostolic college, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Lutherans</i>, their proofs for the real presence compared with those of Catholics for the Primacy, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +M.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Mamachi</i>, his works referred to, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Maximus</i>, St., of Turin, says that Christ gave to Peter His own title, the Rock, <a href="#Page_15">15</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sets forth Peter's Primacy, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Maximus</i>, martyr, referred to, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Marius Victorinus</i>, makes Paul's visit an acknowledgment of Peter's Primacy, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Mastrezat</i>, referred to, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Metaphor</i>, tests of clearness in, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>More</i>, Sir Thomas, his statement to Luther of reasons for maintaining the Primacy, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Mosheim</i>, his admission that the early Fathers set forth a unity which terminates in the Papal See, as the hand does in the fingers, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>-<a href="#Page_198">198</a>, note.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Muzzarelli</i>, his works referred to, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +N.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Names</i>, classes of, given in Scripture, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Nicole</i>, referred to, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +O.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Œcumenius</i>, on the fruit of the Incarnation, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Optatus</i>, St., calls St. Peter's the single chair in which unity was to be observed by all, <a href="#Page_110">110</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">calls schism the greatest of evils, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">referred to, as explaining the term Catholic, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ascribes the origin and maintenance of unity to Peter, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Origen</i>, says that Peter is so called from Christ the Rock, <a href="#Page_10">10</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">calls Peter the great foundation of the Church, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">describes the great honour given by Christ to Peter in the matter of the didrachmna, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">makes Peter the first, as Judas the last, of the Apostles, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">referred to, as defining the Church, <a href="#Page_223">223</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">distinguishes the Church as Catholic, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">states the principle of tradition, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">referred to, on same, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +P.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Pacian</i>, St., calls the Church Catholic, <a href="#Page_236">236</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">explains the term, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">describes the Church's unity, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, note</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ascribes the origin of unity to Peter, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Paul</i>, St., distinguishes St. Peter among the Apostles, <a href="#Page_67">67</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">why so much said of him in the Acts, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his visitatorial power contrasted with St. Peter's, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his epistles incidentally confirm St. Peter's Primacy, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">recognises St. Peter's Primacy, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">by going to visit him, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>-<a href="#Page_165">165</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and in his second visit, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>-<a href="#Page_169">169</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">what is involved in his censure of St. Peter, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>-<a href="#Page_171">171</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its real amount, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">force of his terming the Church "one body," <a href="#Page_193">193</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">how emphatic he is in setting forth visible unity, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Pelagius</i> II., Pope, 578-590<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">states privileges of the Apostolic See, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Petavius</i>, shows that spiritual jurisdiction springs from the direct gift of Christ, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Peter</i>, St., first mention of him in the Gospel, <a href="#Page_8">8</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">meaning of his name, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">a special title of our Lord, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">name first promised, <a href="#Page_8">8</a> conferred, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">explained and promises attached, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>-<a href="#Page_99">99</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">titles of, betokening his association with Christ, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">parallel between, and Abraham, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>-<a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>-<a href="#Page_214">214</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his name explained by St. Chrysostome, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his relation to the Apostles, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>-<a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his instruction in the theology and economy, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">witness of the transfiguration, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of the Lord's prayer in His agony, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of raising the daughter of Jairus, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">associated with Christ in paying of the didrachma, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">designated to be chief ruler of the Church, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">charged to confirm his brethren, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>-<a href="#Page_63">63</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is distinguished in having the resurrection proved to him, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">all our Lord's promises fulfilled to him, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, and following</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">mentioned by the Evangelists differently from the other Apostles., <a href="#Page_84">84</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">named first in every catalogue, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his sphere distinguished from that of John, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his predominance in the sacred history, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">how often mentioned in the Gospels, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and in the Acts, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the type, the origin, and the efficient cause of unity, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">looked up to, as a God upon earth, by the West, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">prominence given to him in the Acts <a href="#Page_116">116</a>-<a href="#Page_122">122</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">directs the election of a new Apostle, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">defends the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">speaks for them the third and fourth time, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">proves his supreme authority by special miracles, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">cures Œneas and raises Dorcas, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">heals with his shadow, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">receives the Samaritans into the Church, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>-<a href="#Page_137">137</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and the Gentiles, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>-<a href="#Page_142">142</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">exercises supreme judicial power, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">visits all churches, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is the first to pronounce decision in the council of Jerusalem, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>-<a href="#Page_151">151</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his imprisonment and that of St. James and St. Paul, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">summary of his conduct in the Acts, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>-<a href="#Page_156">156</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his visible headship quite other than the headship of mystical influx, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">set with James and John parallel to Paul with Barnabas and Titus, <a href="#Page_166">166</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the head, centre, fountain, root, and principle of unity, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is in the episcopate what God the Father is in the divine monarchy, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his office in the Church acknowledged by friend and foe, <a href="#Page_198">198</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">typified in Judith, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>-<a href="#Page_215">215</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Peter</i>, St. Chrysologus, says of Peter that he founds the Church by his firmness, <a href="#Page_15">15</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">advises Eutyches to obey the Pope, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Philip</i>, St., perhaps the first-called Apostle, <a href="#Page_88">88</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Pionius</i>, St., his acts call the Church Catholic, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Polycarp</i>, St., the epistle on his death calls the Church Catholic, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Porphyry</i>, distorts Paul's censure of Peter, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Primacy</i>, the nature of, defined in the three palmary texts, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>-<a href="#Page_110">110</a> shown to consist in superiority of jurisdiction, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>-<a href="#Page_212">212</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">compared to the law of gravitation, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">institution and exercise of, compared, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the controversy on, reduced to one point, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">summary of, as set forth in the Acts, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and generally, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>-<a href="#Page_203">203</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the end and purpose of, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">to which end three classes of reasons guide us,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">i. the typical, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">ii. the analogical, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">iii. the real, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">bound up in the visibility and unity of the Church, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">what is required of those who deny it, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its denial the origin of all actual divisions among Christians, <a href="#Page_248">248</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its proof as considered <i>absolutely</i>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>comparatively</i> with that for the divine institution of bishops, the real presence, and the divinity of Christ, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>-<a href="#Page_274">274</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">multiplicity of proof for it, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>-<a href="#Page_256">256</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the opposition of Greeks, Anglicans, and Protestants to it, merely negative, <a href="#Page_257">257</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">parallel between the opposition to it by sects now, and that to the doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation in the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Primacy</i> and <i>Apostolate</i>, their relation to each other, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>-<a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Proclus</i>, Patriarch of Constantinople, calls Peter first prelate of the Apostles, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Proofs</i>, the different sort of, and their whole sum, to be considered, <a href="#Page_8">8</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">different sorts of, and the principal here used, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">multiplicity of, for the Primacy, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">as considered <i>absolutely</i>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>comparatively</i>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">concurrence of four great proofs for the Primacy, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Prudentius</i>, calls Peter the first disciple of God, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +R.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Reformers</i>, distort Paul's censure of Peter, <a href="#Page_172">172</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">opposition between them and the Fathers as to Peter's Primacy, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">as to Church principles <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, note</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">denied the visibility of the Church, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, note.</span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +S.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Sacraments</i> and <i>Symbols</i> lead from the visible to the invisible, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Sense</i>, in writing, definition of, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, note.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Socrates</i> and <i>Sozomen</i>, their canon respecting the bishop of Rome, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Stephen</i>, bishop of Dora, describes Peter's Primacy, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Stephen</i>, bishop of Larissa, makes all the Churches of the world to rest in Peter's confession, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Symmachus</i>, Pope <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 498-514<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">likens the unity of the Apostolic See to that of the Trinity, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +T.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Tertullian</i>, why our Lord gave Peter a name drawn from figures of Himself, <a href="#Page_11">11</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">says the Church is built on Peter, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">expresses Peter's supreme power, and distinguishes his sphere from that of John, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ascribes the decision in the council of Jerusalem to St. Peter, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">referred to, as defining the Church, <a href="#Page_223">223</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and as explaining the term Catholic, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sets forth Church unity, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">denies that Peter's doctrine was censured, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">calls the Catholic Church <i>near to Peter</i>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">says the Lord left the keys to Peter, and through him to the Church, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his rule not to search for the truth among heretics, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">referred to, on the principle of tradition, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Theodore</i>, Abbot of the Stadium at Constantinople, addresses Pope Pascal I. as Peter, and beseeches him to exert his Primacy, <a href="#Page_56">56</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">calls Pope Leo III. father of fathers, &c., <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Theodoret</i>, says <i>stone</i> a title of our Lord, <a href="#Page_10">10</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">terms Peter the most solid rock, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ascribes the decision in the Council of Jerusalem to St. Peter, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">recognises Peter's Primacy, <a href="#Page_161">161</a> and <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Theophylact</i>, says that Peter confirms not only the Apostles, but all the faithful to the end of the world, <a href="#Page_52">52</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">interprets John xxi. <a href="#Page_15">15</a>-<a href="#Page_17">17</a>, of supreme power over the Church given to Peter, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Thomas</i>, St., of Canterbury, sees in Paul's visit to Peter a proof of his Primacy, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +U.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Unity</i>, that of the Father and the Son the archetype of the Church's unity, <a href="#Page_195">195</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">fourfold in the Church, of mystical influx, charity, faith, visible headship, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>-<a href="#Page_196">196</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">texts on the Church's unity, referred to <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, n. 27</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Protestant notions of the Church's unity, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">that of Anglicans, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">that of distinguishing between internal and external unity, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">that of agreement in fundamentals, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +V.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Valentinian</i> III., his constitution on the Primacy quoted, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Vincent</i> of Lerins, referred to, on principle of tradition, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Vitringa</i>, sets forth a Protestant notion of unity, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>-<a href="#Page_8">8</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Voss</i>, on the Creed, referred to, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +W.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Walemburg</i>, the brothers, referred to, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Z.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Zaccharia</i>, his works, referred to, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Zeno</i>, St., quoted, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.<br /> +</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="INDEX_OF_TEXTS" id="INDEX_OF_TEXTS"></a>INDEX OF TEXTS.</h2> + +<p>THE NUMBER INDICATES THE PAGE.</p> + + +<p> +<span class="smcap">Genesis.</span><br /> + +v. 29 <a href="#Page_17">17</a><br /> +x. 25 <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br /> +xii. 1 <a href="#Page_18">18</a><br /> +— 4 <a href="#Page_18">18</a><br /> +xvii. 5 <a href="#Page_18">18</a><br /> +— 15 <a href="#Page_17">17</a><br /> +— 19 <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br /> +xviii. 17 <a href="#Page_21">21</a><br /> +xxii. 1 <a href="#Page_19">19</a><br /> +— 10 <a href="#Page_19">19</a><br /> +xxv. 25 <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br /> +— 26 <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br /> +— 30 <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br /> +xxvii. 36 <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br /> +xxx. 18 <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br /> +xxxii. 28 <a href="#Page_17">17</a><br /> +xl. 51-2 <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br /> +xlix. 10 <a href="#Page_215">215</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Exodus.</span><br /> +<br /> +ii. 10 <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Numbers.</span><br /> +<br /> +ii. 3-9 <a href="#Page_215">215</a><br /> +x. 14 <a href="#Page_215">215</a><br /> +xii. 2 <a href="#Page_156">156</a><br /> +xiii. 17 <a href="#Page_17">17</a><br /> +xvi. 3 <a href="#Page_155">155</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Judges.</span><br /> +<br /> +i. 1-3 <a href="#Page_215">215</a><br /> +xx. 18 <a href="#Page_215">215</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">1 Paralip.</span><br /> +<br /> +xxvii. 33 <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">2 Paralip.</span><br /> +<br /> +xxvi. 20 <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Nehemiah.</span><br /> +<br /> +xii. 45 <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Psalms.</span><br /> +<br /> +ii. 9 <a href="#Page_75">75</a><br /> +xlvii. 2 <a href="#Page_3">3</a><br /> +lxix. 26 <a href="#Page_123">123</a><br /> +lxxxii. 6 <a href="#Page_25">25</a><br /> +cviii. 8 <a href="#Page_123">123</a><br /> +cxvii. 22 <a href="#Page_9">9</a><br /> +cxxxi. 13, 14 <a href="#Page_4">4</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Wisdom.</span><br /> +<br /> +viii. 1 <a href="#Page_136">136</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Isaiah.</span><br /> +<br /> +vii. 3 <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br /> +ix. 6 <a href="#Page_103">103</a><br /> +xxviii. 16 <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a><br /> +xl. 9-11 <a href="#Page_72">72</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Ezechiel.</span><br /> +<br /> +xxiv. 33 <a href="#Page_72">72</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Daniel.</span><br /> +<br /> +ii. 35 <a href="#Page_9">9</a><br /> +ix. 26 <a href="#Page_5">5</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Osea.</span><br /> +<br /> +i. 4-6-9 <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Micah.</span><br /> +<br /> +v. 2 <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Zachariah.</span><br /> +<br /> +iii. 9 <a href="#Page_9">9</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Malachi.</span><br /> +<br /> +l. 11 <a href="#Page_138">138</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">1. Macc.</span><br /> +<br /> +ii. 2-4 <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Matthew.</span><br /> +<br /> +i. 1 <a href="#Page_23">23</a><br /> +ii. 6 <a href="#Page_42">42</a><br /> +iii. 1 <a href="#Page_17">17</a><br /> +v. 14 <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a><br /> +x. 1 <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a><br /> +— 2 <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br /> +— 5 <a href="#Page_134">134</a><br /> +— 7 <a href="#Page_130">130</a><br /> +xii. 3 <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br /> +xv. 24 <a href="#Page_134">134</a><br /> +— 30 <a href="#Page_133">133</a><br /> +xvi. 13-19 <a href="#Page_12">12</a><br /> +— 15 <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a><br /> +— 16 <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a><br /> +— 17-20 <a href="#Page_95">95</a><br /> +— 18 <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br /> +— 19 <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a><br /> +xvii. 1 <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br /> +— 23 <a href="#Page_34">34</a><br /> +— 24 <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br /> +— 27 <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br /> +xviii. 1 <a href="#Page_100">100</a><br /> +— 2 <a href="#Page_38">38</a><br /> +— 17 <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br /> +— 18 <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br /> +— 21 <a href="#Page_92">92</a><br /> +xix. 23 <a href="#Page_93">93</a><br /> +— 27 <a href="#Page_93">93</a><br /> +— 28 <a href="#Page_215">215</a><br /> +xx. 20 <a href="#Page_100">100</a><br /> +— 27 <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br /> +xxiii. 8 <a href="#Page_44">44</a><br /> +— 9 <a href="#Page_26">26</a><br /> +xxvi. 36 <a href="#Page_34">34</a><br /> +—] 40 <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br /> +— 69 <a href="#Page_85">85</a><br /> +xxviii. 18 <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a><br /> +— 19 <a href="#Page_74">74</a><br /> +— 19, 20 <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Mark.</span><br /> +<br /> +i. 16 <a href="#Page_70">70</a><br /> +— 16, 17 <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a><br /> +— 18 <a href="#Page_18">18</a><br /> +— 36 <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br /> +ii. 25 <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br /> +iii. 11 <a href="#Page_84">84</a><br /> +— 13 <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a><br /> +— 14 <a href="#Page_11">11</a><br /> +— 17 <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br /> +— 16-19 <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br /> +iv. 38 <a href="#Page_71">71</a><br /> +v. 35 <a href="#Page_33">33</a><br /> +— 37 <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br /> +xiii. 3 <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br /> +xiv. 33 <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br /> +xvi. 6 <a href="#Page_66">66</a><br /> +— 7 <a href="#Page_85">85</a><br /> +— 10 <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br /> +— 15 <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a><br /> +— 15-17 <a href="#Page_130">130</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Luke.</span><br /> +<br /> +iv. 40, 41 <a href="#Page_133">133</a><br /> +v. 3 <a href="#Page_71">71</a><br /> +— 10 <a href="#Page_18">18</a><br /> +vi. 4 <a href="#Page_84">84</a><br /> +— 12, 13 <a href="#Page_65">65</a><br /> +— 14 <a href="#Page_11">11</a><br /> +— 14-17 <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br /> +viii. 24 <a href="#Page_71">71</a><br /> +— 45 <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br /> +— 51 <a href="#Page_88">88</a><br /> +ix. 32 <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br /> +xi. 5 <a href="#Page_261">261</a><br /> +xii. 41, 42 <a href="#Page_93">93</a><br /> +xv. 9 <a href="#Page_261">261</a><br /> +— 22 <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br /> +xviii. 2 <a href="#Page_261">261</a><br /> +— 34 <a href="#Page_38">38</a><br /> +xx. 20-23 <a href="#Page_40">40</a><br /> +xxii. 8 <a href="#Page_88">88</a><br /> +— 22 <a href="#Page_57">57</a><br /> +— 24 <a href="#Page_100">100</a><br /> +— 24-30 <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a><br /> +— 26 <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br /> +— 29 <a href="#Page_215">215</a><br /> +— 32 <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br /> +xxiv. 29 <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">John.</span><br /> +<br /> +i. 14 <a href="#Page_178">178</a><br /> +— 35-42 <a href="#Page_8">8</a><br /> +— 42 <a href="#Page_18">18</a><br /> +— 43 <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a><br /> +— 44 <a href="#Page_88">88</a><br /> +iv. 23 <a href="#Page_138">138</a><br /> +v. 5-9 <a href="#Page_131">131</a><br /> +vi. 21 <a href="#Page_71">71</a><br /> +— 67, 68 <a href="#Page_93">93</a><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> +x. 11-14-16 <a href="#Page_72">72</a><br /> +— 11-16 <a href="#Page_4">4</a><br /> +— 16 <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a><br /> +— 34 <a href="#Page_25">25</a><br /> +xi. 16 <a href="#Page_92">92</a><br /> +— 52 <a href="#Page_191">191</a><br /> +xiii. 6 <a href="#Page_92">92</a><br /> +— 13 <a href="#Page_43">43</a><br /> +— 34-36 <a href="#Page_183">183</a><br /> +xiv. 8 <a href="#Page_92">92</a><br /> +— 12 <a href="#Page_26">26</a><br /> +— 16 <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a><br /> +— 16-18 <a href="#Page_183">183</a><br /> +— 16, 26 <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a><br /> +— 20 <a href="#Page_182">182</a><br /> +— 26 <a href="#Page_184">184</a><br /> +xv. 1-2, 5-7 <a href="#Page_182">182</a><br /> +— 9, 15 <a href="#Page_26">26</a><br /> +— 12, 13, 17 <a href="#Page_183">183</a><br /> +— 22-24 <a href="#Page_129">129</a><br /> +— 26 <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br /> +— 27 <a href="#Page_126">126</a><br /> +xvi. 7, 13-15 <a href="#Page_184">184</a><br /> +— 13 <a href="#Page_43">43</a><br /> +xvii. <a href="#Page_1">1</a><br /> +— 11, 21 <a href="#Page_195">195</a><br /> +— 12, 13 <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a><br /> +— 17 <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br /> +— 21 <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br /> +xx. 21 <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a><br /> +— 21-23 <a href="#Page_102">102</a><br /> +— 23 <a href="#Page_26">26</a><br /> +xxi. 1-14 <a href="#Page_71">71</a><br /> +— 2 <a href="#Page_88">88</a><br /> +— 15 <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br /> +— 16, 22 <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a><br /> +— 18 <a href="#Page_82">82</a><br /> +— 21-22 <a href="#Page_91">91</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Acts.</span><br /> +<br /> +i. 4-8 <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br /> +— 8 <a href="#Page_126">126</a><br /> +— 15 <a href="#Page_119">119</a><br /> +— 15, 16, 20, 21, 22 <a href="#Page_123">123</a><br /> +ii. 13 <a href="#Page_119">119</a><br /> +— 14 <a href="#Page_85">85</a><br /> +— 13-16 <a href="#Page_125">125</a><br /> +— 14, 27 <a href="#Page_119">119</a><br /> +— 32 <a href="#Page_126">126</a><br /> +— 36 <a href="#Page_126">126</a><br /> +— 37 <a href="#Page_85">85</a><br /> +— 37, 38 <a href="#Page_119">119</a><br /> +— 37, 38, 40, 41 <a href="#Page_127">127</a><br /> +— 44 <a href="#Page_129">129</a><br /> +iii. 2-8 <a href="#Page_131">131</a><br /> +— 4 <a href="#Page_119">119</a><br /> +— 11, 12 <a href="#Page_119">119</a><br /> +iv. 3 <a href="#Page_85">85</a><br /> +— 4 <a href="#Page_128">128</a><br /> +— 7, 8 <a href="#Page_128">128</a><br /> +— 32 <a href="#Page_129">129</a><br /> +v. 2 <a href="#Page_145">145</a><br /> +— 8, 3, 9 <a href="#Page_144">144</a><br /> +— 12-14 <a href="#Page_133">133</a><br /> +— 15-16 <a href="#Page_133">133</a><br /> +— 29 <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a><br /> +viii. 14 <a href="#Page_137">137</a><br /> +— 14-22 <a href="#Page_135">135</a><br /> +ix. 32 <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a><br /> +— 31-32 <a href="#Page_145">145</a><br /> +— 39-41 <a href="#Page_132">132</a><br /> +x. 1-6 <a href="#Page_138">138</a><br /> +x. 10 <a href="#Page_21">21</a><br /> +— 10-16 <a href="#Page_139">139</a><br /> +— 19 <a href="#Page_141">141</a><br /> +— 28 <a href="#Page_140">140</a><br /> +— 33, 43-47 <a href="#Page_141">141</a><br /> +xi. 1-4 <a href="#Page_142">142</a><br /> +— 3, 17, 18 <a href="#Page_173">173</a><br /> +— 18 <a href="#Page_156">156</a><br /> +xii. 1-5 <a href="#Page_152">152</a><br /> +xv. 6-11 <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a><br /> +— 7 <a href="#Page_21">21</a><br /> +— 12 <a href="#Page_148">148</a><br /> +— 28 <a href="#Page_149">149</a><br /> +— 36 <a href="#Page_146">146</a><br /> +xvi. 4 <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a><br /> +xvii. 28 <a href="#Page_115">115</a><br /> +xx. 28 <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Romans.</span><br /> +<br /> +i. 11 <a href="#Page_54">54</a><br /> +— 25 <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br /> +v. 5 <a href="#Page_183">183</a><br /> +viii. 15 <a href="#Page_26">26</a><br /> +— 17 <a href="#Page_26">26</a><br /> +ix. 4-5 <a href="#Page_167">167</a><br /> +xii. 5 <a href="#Page_178">178</a><br /> +xv. 8 <a href="#Page_167">167</a><br /> +— 9 <a href="#Page_168">168</a><br /> +xvi. 7 <a href="#Page_161">161</a><br /> +— 25 <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">1 Corinthians.</span><br /> +<br /> +i. 7 <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br /> +— 12 <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a><br /> +iii. 11 <a href="#Page_25">25</a><br /> +— 22 <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a><br /> +v. 1-5 <a href="#Page_69">69</a><br /> +ix. 5 <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a><br /> +x. 4 <a href="#Page_112">112</a><br /> +— 17 <a href="#Page_192">192</a><br /> +— 18 <a href="#Page_214">214</a><br /> +xii. 7-13 <a href="#Page_186">186</a><br /> +— 11 <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a><br /> +— 12 <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a><br /> +— 13 <a href="#Page_192">192</a><br /> +— 27 <a href="#Page_115">115</a><br /> +xiii. 12 <a href="#Page_26">26</a><br /> +xiv. 33 <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br /> +xv. 1-9 <a href="#Page_67">67</a><br /> +— 5 <a href="#Page_160">160</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">2 Corinthians.</span><br /> +<br /> +i. 21 <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br /> +iv. 17 <a href="#Page_230">230</a><br /> +viii. 23 <a href="#Page_161">161</a><br /> +x. 6 <a href="#Page_70">70</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Galatians.</span><br /> +<br /> +i. 16-19 <a href="#Page_162">162</a><br /> +— 18 <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a><br /> +ii. 1-2 <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a><br /> +— 7-9 <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a><br /> +— 8-9 <a href="#Page_168">168</a><br /> +— 11-14 <a href="#Page_169">169</a><br /> +iii. 7 <a href="#Page_22">22</a><br /> +— 16 <a href="#Page_23">23</a><br /> +v. 19, 20 <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br /> +vi. 16 <a href="#Page_214">214</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Ephesians.</span><br /> +<br /> +i. 9, 22 <a href="#Page_178">178</a><br /> +— 10 <a href="#Page_29">29</a><br /> +— 22 <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a><br /> +ii. 20 <a href="#Page_9">9</a><br /> +— 21 <a href="#Page_24">24</a><br /> +iii. 5 <a href="#Page_137">137</a><br /> +— 6 <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br /> +— 10 <a href="#Page_198">198</a><br /> +iv. 4 <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br /> +— 7-16 <a href="#Page_186">186</a><br /> +— 8, 11 <a href="#Page_197">197</a><br /> +— 11 <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a><br /> +— 12 <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a><br /> +— 12-13 <a href="#Page_106">106</a><br /> +— 13 <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a><br /> +— 14 <a href="#Page_187">187</a><br /> +— 15 <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a><br /> +— 25 <a href="#Page_181">181</a><br /> +v. 23 <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a><br /> +— 23, 27 <a href="#Page_157">157</a><br /> +— 27 <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br /> +— 30, 32 <a href="#Page_4">4</a><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Colossians.</span><br /> +<br /> +i. 17 <a href="#Page_104">104</a><br /> +— 18 <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a><br /> +ii. 6 <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br /> +— 9 <a href="#Page_188">188</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">2 Thessalonians.</span><br /> +<br /> +ii. 16 <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">1 Timothy.</span><br /> +<br /> +i. 15 <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br /> +iii. 15 <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">2 Timothy.</span><br /> +<br /> +ii. 2 <a href="#Page_275">275</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Titus.</span><br /> +<br /> +i. 5 <a href="#Page_146">146</a><br /> +ii. 11 <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br /> +— 14 <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br /> +iii. 10 <a href="#Page_261">261</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Hebrews.</span><br /> +<br /> +i. 3 <a href="#Page_104">104</a><br /> +xiii. 8 <a href="#Page_44">44</a><br /> +— 20 <a href="#Page_104">104</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">1 Peter.</span><br /> +<br /> +ii. 25 <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br /> +v. 3 <a href="#Page_153">153</a><br /> +— 10 <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">2 Peter.</span><br /> +<br /> +i. 4 <a href="#Page_197">197</a><br /> +— 14 <a href="#Page_31">31</a><br /> +iii. 2, 3 <a href="#Page_230">230</a><br /> +— 16 <a href="#Page_171">171</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">James.</span><br /> +<br /> +i. 17 <a href="#Page_204">204</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">1 John.</span><br /> +<br /> +i. 1 <a href="#Page_6">6</a><br /> +v. 6, 7 <a href="#Page_32">32</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Jude.</span><br /> +<br /> +18 <a href="#Page_230">230</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Apocalypse.</span><br /> +<br /> +ii. 27 <a href="#Page_76">76</a><br /> +iii. 2 <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a><br /> +— 7 <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a><br /> +vii. 9 <a href="#Page_140">140</a><br /> +xvii. 14 <a href="#Page_103">103</a><br /> +xix. 15 <a href="#Page_76">76</a><br /> +xxii. 16 <a href="#Page_13">13</a><br /> +</p> + +<p> +LONDON:<br /> +RICHARDSON AND SON, 172, FLEET STREET;<br /> +9, CAPEL ST., DUBLIN; AND DERBY.<br /> +</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class='tnote'><h3>Transcriber's Notes:</h3><p>Archaic spelling has been retained.<br /> +Punctuation errors corrected without comment.<br /> +Footnote markers in original book are inconsistent. Some come before + the reference cited, some after, some in the middle.<br /> +Apparent typesetting errors corrected as noted below:<br /> +Pg 18 begun changed to began (in the last days He began)<br /> +Pg 43 ensample changed to example (given you an example)<br /></p> +</div> + + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of St. Peter, His Name and His Office, by +Thomas W. Allies + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ST. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: St. Peter, His Name and His Office + As set forth in holy scripture + +Author: Thomas W. Allies + +Release Date: November 27, 2011 [EBook #38147] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ST. PETER, HIS NAME AND HIS OFFICE *** + + + + +Produced by Steven Giacomelli, Dianne Nolan, Jeannie Howse +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian +Libraries) + + + + + + + + ST. PETER, + + HIS NAME AND HIS OFFICE, + + AS SET FORTH IN + + HOLY SCRIPTURE. + + BY + + THOMAS W. ALLIES, M.A. + + AUTHOR OF "THE SEE OF ST. PETER, THE ROCK OF THE CHURCH," + "A JOURNAL IN FRANCE," &c. + + + LONDON: + RICHARDSON AND SON, 172, FLEET STREET; + 9, CAPEL STREET, DUBLIN; AND DERBY. + MDCCCLII. + + TO PETER, + + PRINCE OF THE APOSTLES, + + THE ROCK OF THE CHURCH, + + AGAINST WHICH THE GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL, + + THE BEARER OF THE KEYS, + + THE BINDER AND LOOSER ON EARTH AND IN HEAVEN, + + THE CONFIRMER OF HIS BRETHREN, + + THE SHEPHERD OF THE FOLD. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The present work took its rise, and is largely drawn, from the very +learned Father Passaglia's "Commentary on the Prerogatives of St. +Peter, Prince of the Apostles, as proved by the authority of Holy +Writ," which was published in Latin, in 1850. The eighth and ninth +chapters are, indeed, translations, respectively, of the +twenty-seventh of his first book, and the first of his second book. +And as to the rest, my obligations are more than I can specify. I +owe, on the other hand, many excuses to Father Passaglia, for while +I have only partially observed his order in treating the subject, I +have considered his whole work as a treasure-house of learning, +whence I might draw at my pleasure "things old and new," adapting +them, as I thought good, to the needs of the Protestant mind, as +familiar to me in England. Thus I have not scrupled to translate, to +omit, or to insert matter of my own, according to my judgment. It +seemed to me of paramount importance to present to the English +reader the whole chain of scriptural evidence for the Primacy and +prerogatives of St. Peter. This chain of evidence is so strong, +that, when I first saw it completely drawn out, it struck my own +mind, brought up in the prejudices of Protestantism, with the force +of a new revelation. I put to myself the question; is it possible +that they who specially profess to draw their faith from the written +Word of God, would refuse to acknowledge a doctrine set forth in +Holy Scripture with at least as strong evidence as the Godhead of +our Lord itself, if they could see it not broken up into morsels, +like bits of glass reflecting a distorted and imperfect image, +according to the fashion of citing separate texts without regard to +the proportion of the faith, but presented in a complete picture on +the mirror of God's Word? This picture is thus complete and perfect +in Father Passaglia's work. Yet the form of that work, no less than +its bulk, the scrupulous minuteness with which every opposite +interpretation of so many adversaries in modern times is answered, +as well as the fulness with which every part of the subject is +treated, made me feel that a simple translation would not be +tolerated by the impatience of a population, which has little time +and less mind for studies of this character. I have pursued, +therefore, the humble task of _popularising_, so far as I could, +Father Passaglia's work, omitting, as I trust, no essential part of +the argument, and grouping it under different combinations, each of +which might be in turn presented to the eye, and so more readily +embraced. + +The importance of the argument, as it affects the Papal Supremacy, +which is but a summary of the whole cause at issue between +Protestantism in every shape, and the Church of Christ, cannot be +overrated. If St. Peter be already set forth in Scripture as the +Head and Bond of the Apostolic College, if he be delineated as the +supreme Ruler who succeeds our Lord Himself in the visible +government of His Church on earth, there becomes at once the +strongest ground for expecting that such a Ruler will be continued +as long as the Church herself lasts. Thus a guiding clue is given to +us among all the following records of antiquity. Tradition and +history become illuminated with a light which exhibits all objects +in their due proportion and true grouping, when they are shown to be +but the realisation of what the Incarnate Word, His Church's one +only Lawgiver, decreed from the beginning, set forth not only in +prophetic image, but distinct command, and stored up in words of +such exceeding power, that they bear the whole weight of the kingdom +of God, stretching through all ages and nations, without effort or +pressure. And if ancient writers speak in no doubtful tone of St. +Peter's prerogatives, yet clearer, more emphatic, and soul-piercing, +as we should expect, are the words of God Himself, appealing in +man's form to the mind and heart of man, whom He had created, and +was come to redeem, and to knit into one eternal monarchy. + +A subsequent part of the argument, namely, that the Bishop of Rome +_is_ successor of St. Peter, has been treated by the author in +another work, "The See of St. Peter the Rock of the Church, the +Source of Jurisdiction, and the Centre of Unity," specially in the +fifth section, which ought, logically, to be preceded by this +treatise. It is there proved that not only the Christian Fathers, as +individual writers and witnesses, but the ancient Church in her +universal Councils, did, with one voice, from age to age, regard the +Pope as sitting in St. Peter's chair, which is proof enough, and all +that can in reason be demanded, that the prerogatives given to St +Peter as Head of the Church were, in the belief of the Church, and +in full accordance with our Lord's own promise,[A] continued on to +his successors, and are as imperishable as the life of the Church +herself. + +21, North Bank, Regent's Park, +September, 1852. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[A] Matt. xvi. 18.--"Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build +my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it," _i. +e._, as founded on that rock. The foundation and the superstructure +coexist for ever. + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS. + + PAGE. +CHAPTER I. + +THE NAME OF PETER PROMISED, CONFERRED, AND EXPLAINED. + + The Church the finished work of the Word Incarnate 1 + + Unity and visibility enter into the Church's idea, as set + forth in its several types 2 + + Visible headship also part of this idea 5 + + Christ on earth in two capacities, as founder and + ruler,--Double selection among the disciples, first of + twelve, then of one 6 + + Statement of the question at issue in this treatise 7 + + First mention of Peter, the name promised 8 + + Meaning of the name, stone 9 + + The name conferred 11 + + Name explained, and promises attached 12 + + Classes of names given in Scripture 16 + + Parallel between Abraham and Peter 17 + + Source of pre-eminence in both, association with Christ 23 + + Instances of such association 26 + + Interpretation of S. Chrysostome 27 + + Summary 28 + + +CHAPTER II. + +EDUCATION AND FINAL DESIGNATION OF PETER TO BE THE RULER +WHO SHOULD CONFIRM HIS BRETHREN. + + Education of Peter in the Theology and Economy 29 + + Preference shown to him in witnessing the Transfiguration 30 + + Also in the Agony; and the raising the daughter of Jairus 32 + + The receivers of the didrachma come to Peter 34 + + The answer of Christ, and what is involved in it 35 + + Interpretation of our Lord's action by Origen and S. Chrysostome 36 + + Question of the Apostles to which it leads 37 + + Answer of our Lord, designating a thief 38 + + Our Lord in two capacities; + 1, as Founder, 2, as Ruler of the Church 43 + + The Church unchangeable in her form 44 + + She had one ruler from the beginning.--Immense and + continually growing importance of this our ruler 45 + + The Primacy which He designated, one of real power 47 + + Translation of the discourse to Peter 48 + + Confirming used of the three Divine Persons 51 + + Nature of the charge, Confirm thy brethren 52 + + Meaning of the term confirm 53 + + Scope and harmony of our Lord's discourse in Luke xxii 56 + + Corollaries from the charge to confirm the brethren 59-63 + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE INVESTITURE OF PETER. + + What our Lord had done up to His resurrection 64 + + Further disposition of powers after His resurrection 65 + + Special care to prove the resurrection to Peter 66 + + Fulfilment of the Lord's promises to the Twelve, in the + bestowal of their legislative, judicial, and executive powers 68 + + Subsequent exercise of these powers by the Twelve 69 + + Fulfilment of the special promises to Peter in the bestowal of the + legislative, judicial, and executive powers of the Primacy 70 + + Force of the Lord's title, the Shepherd 72 + + Importance and extent of the charge conveyed by this title 74 + + Force of the circumstances under which it is conveyed 76 + + S. Ambrose, S. Chrysostome, Theophylact, S. Leo, and S. Basil + on the text 79 + + S. Cyprian adds the Primacy to the Apostolic equality 81 + + Force of Follow thou Me 82 + + +CHAPTER IV. + +CORRESPONDENCE AND EQUIVALENCE OF THE GREAT TEXTS CONCERNING PETER. + + Difference in the mode of speaking of persons indicates a + difference of rank--The phrase, a person "and they that were + with him." 84 + + S. Peter first in all the Apostolic catalogues 86 + + Synthetical view of the whole evidence 89 + + Distinct spheres of S. Peter and S. John 91 + + Peter wrought into the whole Gospel history 92 + + The Primacy defined by the three great texts: first, + Matt. xvi. 18 94 + + Paraphrase of Matt. xvi. 18 95 + + Corollaries from it 96 + + Our Lord's answer to the question, who was the greatest? 100 + + The text, confirm thy brethren 101 + + Our Lord's conduct to Peter, after His resurrection, the + counter part to that before it.--Comparison of what is given to + the Apostles, and what to Peter 102 + + The joint force, identity, and reciprocal relations + of the three texts 104 + 1. They are appropriated to Peter only. + 2. Priority of time is assigned to him. + 3. Their equivalence. + 4. They indicate a sovereign and independent authority. + 5. Their definiteness. + 6. The ordinary government of the Church contained in them. + 7. Peter made in them the _continuous_ principle of power. + 8. Peter made the type and efficient cause of visible unity. + + These conclusions borne out by Cassian in Gaul 111 + + By Maximus of Turin, in Italy 112 + + By S. Isidore in Spain, and summed up by Pope Gregory II. 113 + + +CHAPTER V. + +PETER'S PRIMACY AS EXHIBITED IN THE ACTS. + + Division of the Acts into history of the Church universal, and + of S. Paul in particular 114 + + Gospels, history of the Head; Acts, of the Body 115 + + Execution of Christ's promises declaratory of their enactment 116 + + General proof of this as to the Primacy in the Acts 117 + 1. Peter oftener mentioned than all the rest put together. + 2. The leading part assigned to him. + 3. Peter mentioned directly; the rest obliquely 118 + 4. Peter answers for all the Apostles 119 + 5. Luke records Peter's actions and speeches in full. + 6. The first part of the Acts may be called the + history of Peter 120 + + I. Particular proof--Election of a new Apostle 122 + + S. Chrysostome's comment on this 124 + + Peter's conduct in defending the rest on the day of Pentecost 125 + + Third and fourth speech of Peter.--Summary of the first + four chapters 128 + + II. Proof from junction of authoritative teaching and miracles 129 + + Resemblance between Peter's miracles and Christ's 131 + + Peter the chief figure among the Apostles as Christ before 133 + + III. Peter presides over the different steps in propagating + the Church 134 + + Peter's part in the conversion of Samaria 135 + + IV. Peter receiving the Gentiles in the person of Cornelius 137 + + Things to be noted in this reception concerning Peter.--Peter + murmured against by some of the circumcision 142 + + S. Chrysostome and S. Gregory upon his conduct 143 + + V. S. Peter exercising supreme judicial power over Ananias 144 + + VI. S. Peter exercising supreme visitatorial power 145 + + VII. S. Peter's supreme legislative authority in council 147 + + The consent and joint action of others do not impugn the + supremacy 148 + + Tertullian's testimony as to his authority here, and that of + S. Jerome and Theodoret 150 + + VIII. Contrast between the mode in which the imprisonment of + Peter, and that of James and Paul is mentioned 151 + + Summary of the testimony to Peter in the Acts 153 + + His Primacy magisterial, judicial, and legislative.--Its + institution compared with its exercise 154 + + No opposition offered to it 155 + + The mystical headship contrasted with the visible 157 + + +CHAPTER VI. + +TESTIMONY OF S. PAUL TO S. PETER'S PRIMACY. + + Detailed mention of the Primacy not to be expected in S. Paul's + Epistles: but an incidental one occurs often 159 + + Four notices of Peter in 1 Ep. to Cor. 160 + + Paul's visit to Peter Gal. i. 16 162 + + Theodoret, Chrysostome, Tertullian, Mar. Victorinus, + Ambrosiaster, S. Jerome, S. Thomas Cant. on this passage 163 + + Paul's second visit.--Parallel between Peter with James and John + on the one hand, and Paul with Barnabas and Titus on the other 165 + + The censure of Peter by Paul, Gal. ii. 169 + + S. Chrysostome's and S. Jerome's remarks 170 + + Misuse of this passage by ancient and modern heretics 171 + + Contrast of the three ancient interpretations with those of + modern heretics 172 + + Fundamental opposition between the Fathers and the Reformers 176 + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE PRIMACY OF PETER INVOLVED IN THE FOURFOLD UNITY OF CHRIST'S KINGDOM. + + The person of the God-man the principle of headship + in the Church 178 + + Testimony of the Fathers to this 179 + + Fourfold unity resulting from this headship 181 + + First unity of mystical influx 182 + + The second unity of charity, whose efficient principle is the + Holy Spirit.--Third unity of faith, whose efficient principle + is the Holy Spirit acting through the visible hierarchy 183 + + Set forth by S. Paul also 185 + + Headship of mystical influx does not obviate the creation of an + external hierarchy 188 + + Fourth unity of visible headship.--This the root and efficient + principle of the visible hierarchy 190 + + The one body is complete 192 + + The unity of a college not sufficient to express our Lord's + personal unity 193 + + Positive teaching corresponds to the inherent notion of + the Church 194 + + The Father in the holy Trinity what Peter's see is in the + Church 195 + + Summary of this fourfold unity 196 + + Importance of S. Peter's office hence resulting 197 + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +SUMMARY OF THE PROOF GIVEN FOR S. PETER'S PRIMACY. + + Points in question, _generally_, inequality in the Apostolic + College: _specially_, the appointment of one over the rest; + resolution of these tried by four examinations:--1. Into the words + and acts of Christ; which relate to the Apostles.--2. Into those + which seem to mark the institution of a singular authority.--3. Into + the mode of writing used by the evangelists.--4. Into the + history of the rising Church.--A concurrence of these four + points would prove the two questions 200 + + The analysis of what has been written shows this concurrence 201 + + Twelve arguments from what has been written, proving the + inequality of the Apostolic college, and Peter's Primacy 203 + + What is the force and nature of the Primacy.--Six proofs + establishing this to consist in superior jurisdiction 209 + + Enquiry into the end and purpose of the Primacy: for the + knowledge of the intention and purpose equivalent at least to + a _negative_ rule, ascertaining what _must_ be given to it 212 + + Three classes of reasons, typical, analogical, and real, + ascertain for us this purpose.--1. Typical. Parallel of Peter + with Abraham and its results 213 + + Parallel of Peter with Judah and its results 214 + + ii. Analogical. Analogy of body, house, kingdom, city, and fold, + and its results.--And of universal, and each particular Church on + one hand, and Primate and bishops on the other 217 + + iii. Real, whether educed from texts containing the institution + of the Primacy, or from the inherent properties of the Church. + 1. Educed from texts 219 + 2. Educed from properties of the Church; _first_, its + _identity_; _secondly_, its _unity_; _thirdly_, its + _catholicity_; scriptural setting forth of unity 220 + + Further illustration from Protestant opinions of the Church's + unity.-- + + A. First, that of Anglicans, of unity in particular Churches, + but not in the universal Church, represented by Dodwell 222 + + B. Second opinion, set forth by Vitringa, of distinction between + the necessity of internal and that of external unity 225 + + C. Third opinion, of agreement in fundamentals 232 + + Two causes of this being held, one theoretical, the other + practical.--The former stated 233 + + The practical cause 234 + + Reasons educed, _thirdly_, from the _Catholicity_ of the + Church, with which the Primacy is bound up.--Catholicity has + two parts, one _material_ and one _formal_ 236 + + The _material_ part, amplitude and extension.--The _formal_ + part, not only negative, but affirmative.--_Negative_, as + expelling from the one true Church all heretics and schismatics: + testimonies to it 237 + + _Affirmative_, at making a coherent body with members and + articulations 238 + + Testimonies to the _mode_ of this coherence, in Irenaeus, + Cyprian, and Tertullian, and the other Fathers, summed up + in S. Leo 239 + + Hence answers to the question whether the doctrine of + S. Peter's Primacy is contained in the creed.--It is involved + in one Catholic Church 243 + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE NATURE, MULTIPLICITY, AND FORCE OF PROOF FOR S. PETER'S PRIMACY. + + Different sorts of proof.--1. The principal here used, and the + subsidiary.--Their joint force 246 + + Hence, I. The nature of the answer required to it.--2. The + proof, if unanswered, demonstrates the Primacy to be revealed 247 + + 3. Enquiry into the _certitude_ of the proof used 248 + + I. Force of the proof _in itself_ and _absolutely_.--Two + conditions requisite, and here found, authenticity of the + documents, and clearness of their evidence.--Number + and harmony of scriptural testimonies to the Primacy 249 + + The parallel of Julius Caesar 250 + + Collateral proof, supporting that of the holy Scriptures, so + that the whole consists in the harmony of these four:--1. + Scriptural documents.--2. Ancient witnesses.--3. Analogy.--4. + Facts of Christian history, in fourteen distinct classes 251 + + Prodigious force of this compound proof 256 + + No counter religious system producible by Greek, Anglican, + or pure Protestant, but mere negation and objection 257 + + II. Force of the proof _comparatively_ with other doctrines: + comparison with the texts on which Anglicans, Lutherans, + and Calvinists severally rely 259 + + Retort that all but Catholics are opposed to our interpretation; + answer, that from Catholics alone we are to gather the truth 260 + + Yet all protestants not agreed in opposing our interpretation + and reasons why their opposition is of little moment 261 + + Compare, likewise, opposition to the Church in the fourth, + fifth, and sixth centuries 264 + + And again the conduct of Lutherans and Anglicans in maintaining + their own distinctive texts.--But what, then, are the true + criteria of documentary evidence? They are four:-- + + Internal {and immediate {4. Verbal. + { {2. Real. + {and remote 3. Analogical. + External 4. Agreement of witnesses 265 + + 1. Comparison carried through _verbal_ criterion, between the + texts alleged by us, and those of Lutherans, Anglicans, + and Calvinists 266 + + 2. And through the _real_ criterion, or that of the subject + matter, greater in the proofs for Peter's prerogatives than in + those for the real presence, or the Divinity of Christ, on + account of the difficulty of grasping the object in the + latter cases 267 + + As to the superiority of bishops over presbyters, the proof + severed from that of the Primacy sinks into nothing: considered + with it, it is of the same character, but weaker 268 + + Accordingly, the criterion from the subject matter is + stronger for Peter's Primacy, than for the superiority of + bishops over presbyters, for the real presence, and for the + Divinity of Christ.--Sum of both these criteria, verbal and + real, in favour of Peter's Primacy, over these three doctrines 270 + + Appeal hence arising to Lutherans, Anglicans, and + Calvinists.--Comparison with the inferior evidence for other + received doctrines 271 + + 3. The third _criterion_ of analogy: force of this in favour + of Peter's Primacy from three heads:--1. The divine institution + of bishops.--2. The unity of the Church.--3. The Catholicity + of the Church 272 + + 4. Fourth criterion of witnesses.--Immense force of this + criterion, both as stated by the fathers, and shewn by + Protestants in their own conduct 274 + + Witnesses unanimous in favour of the Primacy 277 + + + + + +ST. PETER, + +HIS NAME AND HIS OFFICE, + +AS SET FORTH + +In Holy Scripture. + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE NAME OF PETER PROMISED, CONFERRED, AND EXPLAINED. + + +Our Lord tells us that He came upon earth to "finish a work;" and He +likewise tells us what that work was, the setting up a living +society of men, who should dwell in Him and He in them; on whom His +Spirit should rest, with whom His presence should abide, until the +consummation of all things. For, the evening before His passion, +"lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said: Father, the hour is come. * +* * I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work +which Thou gavest Me to do. * * I have manifested Thy name to the +men whom Thou hast given Me out of the world. Thine they were, and +to Me Thou gavest them; and they have kept Thy word. * Holy Father, +keep them in Thy name, whom Thou has given Me; that they may be one, +as We also are. While I was with them I kept them in Thy name.--And +now I come to Thee.--I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of +the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from evil. * * As Thou +hast sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. +And for them do I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified +in truth. And not for them only do I pray, but for those also who +through their word shall believe in Me; that they all may be one, as +Thou, Father, in Me, and I in Thee; that they also may be one in Us; +that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. And the glory +which Thou hast given to Me, I have given to them, that they may be +one, as We also are one. I in them, and Thou in Me; that they may be +made perfect in one; and the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, +and hast loved them as Thou hast loved Me. * * And I have made known +Thy name to them, and will make it known; that the love wherewith +Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them."[1] + +In these terms the Eternal Word condescends to declare to us that +the fruit of His Incarnation, the "finished work" which His Father +had given Him to do, was the establishment of a society whose unity +in "truth" and "love" should be so perfect, that He exemplifies it +by the indwelling in each other of the Divine Persons; which should +be perpetual and visible for ever, so that the world by it and in it +should recognise His own mission, and believe in the Sender; and +that the dowry of this society, thus perpetually visible, should be +the equally perpetual possession of truth--the revelation of God's +will--and of love, which is conformity to it. And He based these +unexampled promises on no less a guarantee than the Almighty Power +and ineffable Goodness of His Father, witnessed by His own dwelling +amongst us in our flesh. + +Elsewhere He termed this society His Church, declared that He +would [2]"build it on a rock, and that the gates of hell should not +prevail against it." + +He told those whom He had set over it to go forth in His name, and +to teach all nations whatsoever He had commanded them, adding the +solemn engagement on His own part, [3]"Behold, I am with you all +days, even to the consummation of the world." + +His whole teaching is full of reference to it, setting forth its +nature with every variety of illustration, enfolding it, as it were, +with an exuberance of divine charity. + +But two conceptions run through every illustration, and are involved +in its primary idea, nay, as this was the finished work of His +Incarnation, so are they found in His adorable Person, from which +His work springs. These conceptions are Unity and Visibility. + +As the mystery of the Incarnation consists in the union of the +divine and human natures, in one Person, and in the assumption of a +body, that is, matter, by the one uncreated, incomprehensible, and +invisible Being, whereby He becomes visible, so Unity and Visibility +are the unfailing marks of His Church, and enter into every image of +it, in such a manner that without them the image loses its point and +significancy. + +Accordingly He proclaims the Church which He was founding to be "the +Kingdom of God," and "the Kingdom of Heaven," thus bringing before +us the conceptions of order, government, power, headship on the one +hand, dependence on the other, and a host of mutual relations +between the Sovereign and the people, significantly remarking that +"a kingdom which is divided against itself must fall." Now, a +kingdom without unity is a contradiction in terms, and a kingdom of +God on earth, which cannot be seen, would be for spirits and not for +men. + +So He calls it a [4]"city seated on a mountain," which "cannot be +hid," answering to His prophet's words, "the city of the great +King," "His rest, and His habitation for ever." Here again are +embodied the notions of order, government, conspicuous majesty, +impregnable strength. + +Thus He inspires His apostle to call it[ 5]"the house of God, the +pillar and ground of the truth." The house must have its head, the +family their father; the knowledge of that father's will is the +truth which rests upon the family as its support and pillar. Outside +of the family that knowledge may be lost, together with the will to +obey the father and to love him; but within it is a living +tradition, "familiar to the ear as household words." As long as the +Master and the Father is there, a perpetual light from His face is +there too upon His children and His servants. Divide the house, or +corrupt its internal life, and the idea of the house is destroyed; +while an invisible house is an absurdity. + +Again, the Lord, calling Himself [6]"the Good Shepherd, who giveth +His life for the sheep," terms His Church the sheepfold, and +declares that as there is one shepherd, so there must be one fold. + +But, rising yet in nearness to the Divine Person of the Word +Incarnate, from whose side sleeping on the cross she is moulded, the +Church is called His Spouse, as united to Him in eternal wedlock, +[7]"a great Sacrament," or mystery; and even yet more, His Body, as +supported by the continual influx of her Head; and all her members +are called "flesh of His flesh, and bone of His bones." + +It is evident, then, that in these promises and illustrations are +set forth, as belonging to their object, a visible unity, a +perpetual possession and maintenance of the truth, and the closest +union with God, founded upon a most supernatural indwelling of the +Godhead in a society of men on earth, the founding of which was the +"finished work" of God the Word Incarnate. _Were these promises to +fail in any respect_, which is utterly impossible, for while heaven +and earth shall pass away, no word of their Maker can pass away--_it +is plain that our ground for trusting in any promises of Holy Writ +whatsoever would be demolished_. The whole Christian revelation +rests on the imperishable life of the Church; because the corruption +or division of the Church would falsify the written records of our +faith, in which, after the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity, and the +Godhead of our Lord, no truth is so deeply embedded as the perpetual +existence and office of the Church. + +We have seen the idea of King, Lord, Master, Father, Shepherd, +Husband, and Head, running through the delineation of the Church. +And no society is complete without its ruler. Such was our Lord, +while on earth--the _visible_ ruler of a _visible_ Church. "While I +was with them I kept them in Thy name." He went forth from His +baptism to win souls. The water became wine in His presence. He bade +men follow Him, and they followed. Power went forth from Him, and +healed diseases. Grace flowed from His lips and conquered hearts. An +innumerable multitude surrounded Him, of all ages and conditions. +[8]"And going up into a mountain He called unto Him whom He would +Himself; and they came to Him. And He made that twelve should be +with Him, and that He might send them to preach." + +Here, then, the true Israel chooses the future princes of His house, +who should sit with Him on thrones, judging the twelve tribes. +Already, while yet with His Church, He is preparing for her future +government, when His visible presence shall be taken from her. In +three years all should be accomplished, but when [9]"the covenant +should have been confirmed with many in one week, and in the half +of the week the victim and the sacrifice should fail;" when His +Apostles should see Him no longer; was any one ordained to take that +all-important place of supreme ruler which He had filled? For upon +earth He had been in two relations to His Church, her Founder, and +her Ruler. The former office belonged to His single Person; in its +nature it could not pass to another; the work was finished once and +for ever. But the latter office was, in its nature likewise, +perpetual. How, then, should the charge of visible ruler, as man +among men, be executed, when His Person was withdrawn, when He +ascended up on high, when all power in heaven and earth was indeed +given into His hands, and so the headship of spiritual influence and +providential care; but when, nevertheless, that sacred Body was +withdrawn into the tabernacle of God, and the Bridegroom was taken +away for a time, and the voice and visible presence [10]"what they +had seen, and heard, and handled, of the word of life," "was with +them and kept them" no longer. Should His Church, which had been +under one visible ruler from the beginning, now have her government +changed? Or had He marked out any one among the Twelve to succeed to +His own office of visible headship, and to be [11]"the greater," and +"the ruler" among His brethren. His own special representative and +vicar? + +To answer this question, we must carefully observe and distinguish +what is said and what is given to the Apostles _in common_, and what +to any one of their number _in particular_; the former will instruct +us as to their equality, the latter as to the pre-eminence which any +one enjoyed over the rest, and in what it consisted. + +Just, then, as at a certain period of His ministry, our Lord, out +of the multitude who followed Him, selected twelve, to be His +special attendants upon earth, and, when He should be taken up, to +be the heralds of His Gospel among all nations, so out of the twelve +He from the beginning distinguished one, marked him out for a +peculiar and singular office, connected him with Himself in a +special manner, and after having through the whole of His ministry +given him tokens and intimations of his future destination, at last +expressly nominated him to take His own place, and preside among his +brethren. His dealing with this Apostle forms one connected whole, +in which there is nothing abrupt or inharmonious, out of keeping, or +opposed to what He said to others. What is at first obscurely +intimated is afterwards expressly promised, again in fresh terms +corroborated, and at last, in yet other language, but of the like +force, most significantly [12]conveyed, while it is attested by a +number of incidental notices scattered through the whole Gospel +history. Thus [13]it becomes necessary to consider each particular, +as well as the whole sum of things said, _proper_ and _peculiar_ to +this Apostle; to weigh first their _separate_ and then their _joint_ +force, and only at last to form an united judgment upon all. + +We are searching into the will of the Divine Founder of our faith, +which He has not only communicated to His Church in a living +tradition, but in this case likewise ordered to be set forth in +authentic written documents. These alone we are here considering, +and the point in question is whether He decreed that all the Twelve +should share equally in that divine mission and authority which He +had received from the Father, or whether while bestowing on them all +very high and distinctive powers, He yet appointed one, namely +Simon, the son of Jonas, to preside over the rest in His own place. +We have, then, to consider all in these documents which is said +peculiar to such apostle, pointing out singular gifts and +prerogatives, and carrying with it special authority of government. +And we must remember that where proofs are numerous and complex, +some which in themselves are only probable and accessory, yet have +their force on the ultimate result. But this result must be drawn +from a general view of the whole, and will collect in one the sum of +proof both probable and certain. + +Again, where many various causes concur, some more and some less, to +produce a certain effect, the force of such effect is the force of +all these causes put together, not of each by itself alone. Or where +many witnesses are examined, whose evidence differs in value, +although the testimony of some be in itself decisive, yet the +verdict must be given after a consideration and review of all. + +Now the first mention which we have of the Apostle Simon is full of +signification. Our Lord had only just begun His ministry; he had +been lately baptized, and as yet had called no disciples. But two of +John the Baptist's disciples hearing their master name Jesus "the +Lamb of God," follow Him, are kindly received by Him, and one of +them being Andrew, Simon's brother, finds Simon, and says to +him, [14]"we have found the Messias. And he brought him to Jesus. +And Jesus looking on him said, Thou art Simon the son of Jonas; thou +shalt be called Cephas, which is interpreted Peter:" as if He would +say, by birth thou art Simon, son of John; but another and a higher +lot is in store for thee. I will give thee another name which thou +shalt bear, a name in itself signifying the place which thou shalt +hold in my Church. Thou shalt be called, and thou shalt be, the +Rock. + +For why, when a vast multitude of our Lord's words and actions have +been omitted, was this recorded for us, save that a deep meaning lay +in it? Or what could that meaning be when our Lord, for the first +time looking on Peter, promised to him and to him alone, a new name, +and that a name given in prophecy to Himself, a name declaring by +its very sound that he should be laid by the builder, as a +foundation of the structure about to be raised? So in the fourth +century S. Chrysostome comments on the text, calling him "the +foundation of the Church, he that was really Peter" (the Rock) "both +in name and in deed:"[15] and a little after S. Cyril, of +Alexandria, "with allusion to the rock He transferred His name to +Peter, for upon him He was about to found His Church." The Creator +of the world does not give a name for nothing. His word is with +power, and does what it expresses. Of old, "He spake and they were +made; He commanded and they were created." Now, too, He speaks, at +the first dawn of His great spiritual restoration. When as yet +nothing has been done, and not a stone of the divine building +reared, He who determines the end from the beginning looks upon what +seemed a simple fisherman, and at first beholding him, He takes +Simon, the son of Jonas, out of the roll of common men; He marks him +for a future design; He wraps him in a prophetic title; He +associates him with His own immovable power. Of Himself it had been +said,[16] "Behold I will lay a stone in the foundation of Sion, a +tried stone, a corner stone, a precious stone, founded on the +foundation. He that believeth, let him not hasten." And again, "the +stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of +the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is wonderful in our +eyes." And again, "A stone was cut out of a mountain without hands; +and it struck the statue upon the feet thereof that were of iron and +clay, and broke them in pieces. But the stone that struck the statue +became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." And again, +"Behold the stone that I have laid before Jesus: upon one stone +there are seven eyes; behold I will grave the graving thereof, saith +the Lord of Hosts; and I will take away the iniquity of that land in +one day." In reference to which S. Paul said of Christians, that +they are "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, +Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone; in whom all the +building, being framed together, groweth up into a holy temple in +the Lord." It is plain, then, that our Lord "both by the Old and New +Testament,[17] is called a stone." + +But this which He had of Himself, and by virtue of His own divine +power, as the Word of God, He would communicate in a degree, and by +dependence on Himself, to another. This is no modern interpretation, +but the very words of St. Ambrose, "Great is the grace of Christ, +who bestowed almost all His own names on His disciples. I, said He, +am the light of the world, and yet He granted to His disciples the +very name in which He exulted, by the words, Ye are the light of the +world. Christ is the Rock, but yet He did not deny the grace of this +name to His disciple, that he should be Peter, because he has from +the Rock firm constancy, immovable faith."[18] + +In the third century, Origen, on this very text, observes: "He said +he should be called Peter, by allusion to the Rock, which is Christ, +that as a man from wisdom is termed wise, and from holiness holy, so +too Peter from the Rock." And in the fifth, S. Leo paraphrases the +name thus: "While I am the inviolable Rock, the Corner-stone, who +make both one, the foundation beside which no one can lay another; +yet thou also art the rock, because by My virtue thou art +established, so as to enjoy by participation the properties which +are peculiar to Me."[19] + +Here, then, we have three facts: i. That our Lord having twelve +Apostles whom He chose, loved, and honoured, above all His other +disciples, yet promised to one[20] only a new name; and, ii., this a +name in the highest degree significative, and most deeply +prophetical of a particular office; and, iii., a name peculiar to +Himself, as the immovable foundation of the Church. This happened in +the first year of His ministry, before, as it would appear, either +Peter or any other apostle was called. + +The promise thus emphatically made to Simon, "Thou shalt be called +the Rock," our Lord fulfilled in the second year of His ministry, +when He distinguished the twelve Apostles from the rest of His +disciples, giving them authority to teach, and power to heal +sicknesses and to cast out devils. Then, says S. Mark "to[21] Simon +He gave the name of Peter;" and S. Matthew, "the names of the Twelve +Apostles are these; the first, Simon, who is called Peter;" and S. +Luke, "Simon whom also He named Peter." And by this name He marked +Him out from amongst all his brethren, and united him to Himself. +"He changes, too," says Tertullian, "Peter's name from Simon, +because also as Creator He altered the names of Abraham, Sara, and +Oshua, calling the last Jesus, and adding syllables to the others, +but why did He call him Peter? If for the strength of his faith, +many solid substances would lend him a name from themselves. Or was +it because Christ is both the Rock and the Stone? Since we read that +He is set for a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence. I omit the +rest. And so it was His pleasure to communicate to the dearest of +His disciples, in a peculiar manner, a name drawn from the figures +of Himself, I imagine, as being nearer than one drawn from figures +not of Himself."[22] + +It is, then, setting a seal on His former acts, drawing out and +corroborating their meaning, that He once more, and in the most +emphatic way of all, recurs to this name, attaching to it the most +signal promises, and establishing its prophetic power. In the third +year of His ministry our Lord "came into the quarters of Cesarea +Philippi: and He asked His disciples, saying, Whom do men say that +the Son of Man is? But they said, Some John the Baptist, and others +Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. Jesus saith to +them, But whom say ye that I am? Simon Peter answered and said, Thou +art Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answering, said to +him, Blessed art thou Simon Bar Jonas, because flesh and blood hath +not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say +to thee that thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my +Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I +will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever +thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven; and +whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in +heaven." + +When we reflect that the first act of our Lord to Peter was to look +upon him, and to promise him this name, a token of His omnipotence +to Simon yet knowing him not, as that seeing him under the fig-tree +was to Nathaniel of His omniscience; and that when He chose His +twelve apostles, it is said markedly "to Simon He gave the name of +Peter," the force of His reply cannot well be exceeded. The promise +of our Lord answers part by part to the confession of His apostle. +The one says: "Thou art the Christ," that is, the anointed one; the +other, "Thou art Peter," that is, the Rock, the name which I gave +thee myself: my own title with which I invested thee. The one adds, +"the Son of the living God;" the other, "And upon this rock I will +build my Church," that is, as it is true what thou confessest, that +I am "the Son of the living God," so my power as such shall be shown +in building my Church upon thee whom I have long named the Rock, +"and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Not only this, +but I will unfold to thee the full meaning of thy name, and declare +the gifts which accompany it. "And[23] I will give to thee the keys +of the kingdom of heaven." That is, "The root and the offspring of +David," "the holy one and the true one, He that hath the key of +David; He that openeth and no man shutteth; shutteth and no man +openeth;" as He gave to thee to share His name of the Rock, so He +shall give to thee to bear in His name His own symbol of supreme +dominion, the key which opens or shuts the true city of David; all +ages shall own thee, all nations acknowledge thee, as _The Bearer of +the Keys_; as long as my Church shall last, against which the gates +of hell shall not prevail, thy office shall last too; as long as +there are souls to be saved, they shall pass by thy ministry into +the gate of the Church. And further, as long as there need in my +spiritual kingdom laws to be promulgated, precepts issued, sins +forgiven, "whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound +also in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall +be loosed also in heaven." + +Who, indeed, can adequately express the gifts which the world's +Creator and Redeemer here promises to His favoured servant? Thus in +the fourth century S. Chrysostome labours to set them forth. "See +how He raises Peter to a higher opinion of Himself; and reveals and +shews Himself to be the Son of God by these two promises. For what +belongs to God alone, to loose sins, and to render the Church +immovable in such an assault of waves, and to make a fisherman more +solid than any rock, when the whole world was at war with him, these +are what He promises to give him; as the Father addressing Jeremias, +said: 'I have made thee an iron pillar and a wall,' but him to one +nation, whereas the other to the whole world. Willingly would I ask +those who wish to diminish the dignity of the Son, which are the +greatest gifts, those which the Father gave to Peter, or those which +the Son. For the Father bestowed on Peter the revelation of the Son; +but the Son disseminated that of the Father and of Himself through +the whole world; and _put into the hands of a mortal man power over +all things in heaven, when He gave the keys to him_ who extended the +Church through the whole world, and showed it to be firmer than the +heaven."[24] And not many years later S. Leo says, "That which the +Truth ordered remains; and blessed Peter persisting in that strength +of the rock which he received, has not deserted the guidance, once +undertaken, of the Church. For thus was he set before the rest, that +while he is called the Rock, while he is declared to be the +foundation, while he is appointed the door-keeper of the kingdom of +heaven, while he is advanced to be the judge of what shall be bound +and what loosed, with the condition that his sentence shall be +ratified even in heaven, _we might learn through the very mysteries +of the names given to him, how he was associated with Christ_."[25] +This association passed, indeed, into the very mind of the Church, +for among all the titles given by fathers and councils and liturgies +to Peter, and expressing his prerogatives, the one contained in this +name is the most frequent. Thus he is termed, [26]"the rock of the +Church," [27]"the rock of the Church that was to be built," +[28]"underlying the building of the Church," [29]"receiving on +himself the building of the Church," [30]"the immovable rock," +[31]"the rock which the proud gates of hell prevail not against," +[32]"the most solid rock," [33]"he to whom the Lord granted the +participation of His own title, the rock," [34]"the foundation +second from Christ," [35]"the great foundation of the Church," +[36]"the foundation and basis," [37]"founding the Church by his +firmness," [38]"the support of the Church," [39]"the Apostle in whom +is the Church's support," [40]"the support of the faith," [41]"the +pillar of the Church," and by an authority sufficient alone to +terminate all controversy, the great Council of Chalcedon,[42] "the +rock and foundation of the Catholic Church, and the basis of the +orthodox faith."[43] + +Thus, then, we have the name of Peter first promised, next +conferred, then explained. And further light will be shed on this by +the consideration of the purpose for which names in Holy Writ were +bestowed by divine command on individuals, or their former names +changed. + +Now[44] of names imposed in Scripture there would seem to be three +classes. The first and most common are _commemorative_, and are for +the purpose of recording and handing down to posterity remarkable +facts. Such are Peleg, "because in his days the earth was +_divided_;" Isaac, from the _laughter_ of his father and mother; +Issachar, a _reward_; Manasseh, "God hath made me to _forget_ my +labours;" Ephraim, "God hath made me to _grow_;"[45] and a multitude +of others. + +The second class may be termed _significative_, being imposed to +distinguish their bearers from others by some quality. Such are +Jacob, the supplanter; Esau; Edom, the red; Moses, the taken or +saved; Maccabaeus; Boanerges.[46] + +The third and highest class are _prophetic_, and as such evidently +can be imposed by God alone, who foresees the future. They are +two-fold: i. Those which foresignify events concerning not so much +their bearers as others; such are Shear-jashub, "the remnant shall +return;" Jezrael "I will visit;" Lo-ruhamah, "not pitied;" Lo-ammi, +"not my people." ii. Those which point out the office and destiny +of their bearers; such as Noah, rest; Israel, a prince before God; +Joshua, Saviour; Sarah, princess; John, in whom there is grace; and, +after the divine name of Jesus, "who saves His people from their +sins,"[47] Abraham, and Cephas, or Peter, which two neither +commemorate a past event, nor signify a quality or ornament already +possessed, but are wholly prophetic, inasmuch as they shadow out the +dignity to which the leaders of the two covenants are divinely +marked out by the very imposition of their name. + +For it will perhaps bring out the pre-eminence and superior +authority of Peter, if we consider the very close resemblance and +almost identity of the dispensation into which God entered with +Abraham, and that which Christ gave to Peter. But first we must +observe how the more remarkable things occurring in the New +Testament were foretold by types, images, parallelisms, and distinct +prophecies in the Old. How[48] both our Lord, the Evangelists, and +the Apostles, take pains to point out the close agreement between +the two covenants; how the ancient ecclesiastical writers do the +like in their contests with early heretics, or in recommending the +truth of the Christian faith either to Jew or Gentile. They +considered scarcely any proof of the Gospel superior to that which +might be drawn by grave and solid inference from the anticipation of +Christian truths in the old covenant. Now, among such truths, what +concerns Peter is surely of signal importance, as it affects the +whole judgment on the form of government which our Lord instituted +for His Church. + +Again, it may be taken as an axiom that, as a similitude of causes +is inferred from a similitude of effects, so a resemblance of the +divine counsels may be inferred from a resemblance of exterior +manifestations. As effects are so many steps by which we rise to the +knowledge and discernment of causes, so divine manifestations are +tokens which unfold God's eternal decrees. Thus if the series of +dealings which constitute God's dispensation to Abraham be very much +like that other series in which the Scriptures of the New Testament +set forth the dispensation given to Peter, we may conclude, first, +that the two dispensations may be compared, and, secondly, that from +their resemblance, a resemblance in the divine purpose may be +deduced. + +First,[49] then, "God at sundry times, and in divers manners, +speaking to the Fathers" of that covenant of grace, into which He +had already entered with our first parents, said to Abram, "Go forth +out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and out of thy father's +house, and I will make of thee a great nation." But when in the last +days He began to fulfil that covenant, and to declare His will by +His Son, Jesus said to Simon and Andrew, "Follow me, and I will make +you to become fishers of men," and to Simon specially, "Fear not, +for henceforth thou shalt catch men."[50] + +Abram hearkened to God calling him: "So Abram went out as the Lord +had commanded him;" and Simon as readily obeyed Christ's vocation: +"And immediately leaving their nets they followed Him."[51] + +God rewarded Abraham's obedience by the promise of a new name: +"Neither shall thy name be called any more Abram, but thou shalt be +called Abraham." So Christ honoured Simon, saying, "Thou art Simon, +the son of Jonas, thou shalt be called Cephas."[52] + +No sooner had God unfolded the dignity shadowed forth in the +promised name, and bestowed that dignity on Abraham, than He +required of him a signal instance of faith and love: "God tempted +Abraham, and said to him, Take thy son, thine only begotten, whom +thou lovest, and offer him for a holocaust." So Christ required of +Simon a proof of faith and of superior love before He either +unfolded the excellence of the promised name, or adorned him with +that excellency: "He saith to them, Whom say ye that I am?" "Simon, +son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?"[53] + +And both were no less ready to show the fortitude of their faith and +love than they had been ready to follow the divine calling. For, +"Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the sword to sacrifice +his son;" and "Simon Peter answering, said, Thou art the Christ, the +Son of the living God;" and again, "Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I +love Thee."[54] + +Then, as the bestowal of the new name was the reward of the +obedience with which each had followed his vocation, so God, moved +by their remarkable ensuing faith and charity, explained the dignity +contained in that name, and bestowed it when so explained. The +following refers to the explanation; "By myself have I sworn, +because thou hast done this thing," and "Because flesh and blood +hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I +say unto thee." + +But as to the dignity bestowed, it should be remarked that it is +divine, and communicated to each with this resemblance: _First_, +that Abraham thereby becomes the source and parent of all the +faithful, and Peter their base and foundation; the one, the author +of a seed which should equal in number the stars of the heaven and +the sand of the sea; the other, the Rock of the Church, which should +embrace all nations, tribes, and languages. God says to Abraham, +"And multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven and +as the sand which is on the sea-shore." But Christ to Peter, "and +upon this rock I will build my Church." _Secondly_, the blessing +thus bestowed from above upon each was not one which should rest in +their single persons, but from them and through them should be +extended to the universal posterity and society of the faithful; so +that all who should believe, to the consummation of time, should +gain through them blessing, stability, and victory over the assault +of enemies and the gates of hell. The promise to Abraham is clear: +"thy seed shall possess the gate of their enemies, and in thy seed +shall all the nations of the earth be blessed:" nor less so to +Peter, "And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." + +But the high excellence of this dignity, embracing, as it does, the +whole company of the faithful, was presignified in the very meaning +of the name imposed. For of Abraham's name we read, "And thy name +shall be Abraham, for a father of many nations have I made thee." +Exactly resembling is what is said of Peter's appellation, "Thou art +Peter, the Rock, and upon this rock I will build my Church." + +Nay, we may put in parallel columns the two promises, thus-- + + 1. Thy name shall be 1. Thou art Peter, + Abraham, + + 2. For a father of many 2. And upon this rock I + nations have I made thee: will build my Church. + +And just as in the former, the second clause contains the reason of +the first, so in the latter likewise the two clauses cohere, as the +name and its explanation. Again, the dignity of the one is expressed +as that of the Father; of the other as that of the Rock. Further, +those alone can share the blessing of Abraham, who are born of his +spirit: and those alone the stability divinely granted to Peter, who +refuse by any violence, or at any cost, to be separated from him. + +But Abraham was thus raised to be the friend of God, associated in +the divine Fathership, and made the teacher of posterity; and +therefore, as being such, God would show him His counsels, that +through him they might descend to his children. "And the Lord said, +Can I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? for I know that he +will command his children and his household after him to keep the +way of the Lord." In a precisely similar way, when God would call +the Gentiles to the light of the Gospel, He shewed it by a special +revelation to Peter alone: "There came upon him an ecstasy of mind; +and he saw the heaven opened; and this was done thrice." And the +reason of so preferring Peter was God's decree, that through him all +other Christians, even the Apostles themselves, might be informed, +and convinced. "You know that in former days God made choice among +us that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the Gospel +and believe." "And thou, when thou art converted, confirm thy +brethren."[55] + +Finally, as God pronounces Abraham blest, so Christ pronounces +Peter; and as He made Abraham the source and fountain-head of +blessing and strength to all others, so no less did Christ make +Peter. Of the first we read, "I will bless thee, and will make thy +name great, and thou shalt be a blessing;" of the second, "Blessed +art thou, Simon Bar Jonah;--and upon this rock I will build My +Church." + +In one word, the parallel is as follows between Abraham and Peter. +Both receive a remarkable call, and follow it; both are promised and +receive a new, and that a prophetical name; of both signal instances +of faith and love are required; both furnish these, and therefore do +not lose the increase of their reward; to Abraham his prophetical +name is explained, and to Peter likewise; Abraham understands his +destination to be the Father of all nations, and Peter that he is +made the Rock of the universal Church; Abraham is called blest, and +so Peter; to Abraham it is revealed that no one, save from him, and +through him, shall share the heavenly blessing; to Peter that all, +from him, and through him, shall gain strength and stability; it is +only through Abraham that his posterity can promise itself victory +over the enemy, and only through being built on Peter, the Rock, +that the Church will triumph over the gates of hell; in fine, if +Abraham, as the teacher of the faithful, is instructed in the divine +counsels with singular care, not less is shown to Peter, whom Christ +has made the doctor and teacher of all believers. + +The gifts thus bestowed on Abraham and Peter are _peculiar_, for +they are read of no one else in the Holy Scriptures; they are not +only _gifts_, but a _reward_ for singular merit; and in their own +nature they cannot be _general_. As by them Abraham is put into a +relation of _Fathership_, so that all the faithful become his +children, so Peter being called and made the Rock and _Foundation_ +of the Church, all its members have a dependence on him. + +And if these gifts are _peculiar_, no less do they convey a singular +_dignity_ and _pre-eminence_. For it follows that, as S. Paul +says,[56] that all the faithful are children of Abraham, being heirs +not of his flesh, but of his spirit and faith; so no one is, or can +be, a part of the Church's building, who rests not on Peter as the +foundation. For the same God who said to Abraham, "Thy name shall no +longer be called Abram, but Abraham shall be thy name," said also to +Simon, "Thou shalt not be called Simon, but Cephas;" the same God +who said to the former, "In thee shall all families of the earth be +blessed," said to the latter, "Upon this Rock I will build my +Church." + +What is the source of this pre-eminence in both? To both the same +objection may be made, and for both the same defence. + +How should blessing and adoption be propagated from Abraham, as a +sort of head, into the whole body of the faithful? Because Abraham +is considered as joined with that mighty Seed his offspring, whence +_in chief_ and _primarily_ the salvation of all depends; because +Abraham is made by _participation_ partner of that dignity which +_naturally_ and _substantially_ belongs to the Seed that was to +spring from him. God Himself has told us this, and His Apostle S. +Paul explained it. For as we read that it was said to Abraham, "In +thee shall all nations of the earth be blessed," so God Himself has +told us that _in thee, by thee_, means _in, by thy seed_. Hence S. +Paul:[57] "To Abraham were the promises made, and to his seed. He +saith not, seeds, as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which +is Christ." So that the divine words, "In thee shall all nations of +the earth be blessed," give this meaning: "As thou shalt give flesh +to my only begotten Son whom I cherish in my bosom, whence He shall +be called at once 'the Son of God and the Son of Abraham,'[58] so He +makes thee a partner of His dignity and excellence, whence, if not +the source and origin, yet thou shalt be a broad stream of blessing +to be poured out on all nations." + +Now just in the same manner is Peter the Rock of the Church, and the +cause next to Christ of that firmness with which the Church shall +remain impregnable to the end. For therefore is he the Rock and +Foundation of the Church, because he has been called into a sort of +unity with Him of whom it is said, "Behold I lay in Sion a chief +corner stone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on it shall not +be ashamed:" and in whom, as Paul explains, "the whole building +fitly framed together increaseth unto a holy temple in the +Lord."[59] Therefore is he the Church's Rock, because as he, by his +own confession, declared the Godhead of the Foundation in chief, +"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," so from Him, who +is the chief and substantial Foundation, he received the gift of +being made partner in one and the same property: "And I too say unto +thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my +Church;" one with Me by communication of My office and charge, My +dignity and excellency. Hence the stability of Peter is that of +Christ, as the splendour of the ray is that of the sun; Peter's +dignity that of Christ, as the river's abundance is the abundance of +the fountain. Those who diminish Peter's dignity may well be charged +with violating the majesty of Christ; those who are hostile to +Peter, and divorced from him, stand in the like opposition to +Christ. + +Now this parallel is an answer[60] to those who object to Peter's +supereminence as the Foundation, that this dignity is entirely +divine, surpassing by an almost infinite degree the capacity of man. +For is not that a divine dignity which consists in the paternity of +all the faithful? Is not that prerogative beyond man's capacity by +which one becomes the author of a blessing diffused through all +nations? Yet no one denies that such a dignity and such a +prerogative were granted to Abraham. In divine endowments, +therefore, their _full_ and _natural possession_ must be carefully +distinguished from their _limited_ and _analogous participation_. +The one, as inherent, cannot fall to the creature's lot; the other, +as transferable, may be granted as God pleases. For what further +removed from man than the Godhead? Yet it is written, "I have said, +ye are Gods."[61] + +Not weightier is the other objection, that the office of being the +Foundation is too important to be entrusted to human care. Was there +less difficulty in blessing being diffused from one man among all +nations? Rather we must look on man not as he is by, and of, +himself, apart from God, and left to his own weakness, but as +upborne by divine power, according to the promise, "Behold, I am +with you all days, until the consummation of the world." Who can +doubt that man, in union with God, may serve for a foundation, and +discharge those offices in which the unity of a structure consists? +It is confidently and constantly objected, that "other foundation no +man can lay beside that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ."[62] +As if what has been laid by Christ Himself, and consists in the +virtue of Christ alone, can be thought other than Christ; or as if +it were unusual, or unscriptural, for things proper to Christ to be +participated by men. Therefore the chief difficulties against +Peter's pre-eminence, and character as the Foundation, seem to +spring from the mind failing to realise the supernatural order +instituted by God, and the perpetual presence of Christ watching +over His Church. + +Thus it is no derogation to Abraham's being the Father of the +faithful, or to the hierarchy of the Church instituted by Christ +Himself, that our Lord says,[63] "Call none your father upon earth, +for one is your Father who is in heaven;" inasmuch as Scripture +abundantly proves that divine gifts are richly conferred upon men. +What more divine than the Holy Spirit? Yet it is written,[64] "And I +will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, that +He may abide with you for ever." What a higher privilege than filial +adoption? Yet it is said, [65]"Ye have received the spirit of filial +adoption, by which we cry, Abba Father." What a greater treasure +than co-inheritance with Christ? Yet we read, [66]"but if children, +also heirs: heirs of God, but joint heirs with Christ." What higher +than the vision of God? Yet S. Paul bears witness, [67]"We see now +through a glass darkly, but then face to face." What more wonderful +than the power of remitting sins? Yet this very power is granted to +the Apostles, [68]"Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven +them." What further from human weakness than the power of working +miracles? Yet Christ establishes this, [69]"Amen, amen, I say unto +you, he that believeth on Me, the works which I do, shall he do +also, and greater works than these shall he do." Indeed, the +participation and communion of heavenly gifts have the closest +coherence with that supernatural order, which God in creating man +chose, and to which He called fallen man back through His only +begotten Son; with that dispensation of Christ by which He loved the +Apostles as He Himself was loved by the Father, by which He called +them, [70]"not servants, but friends," and gave them that glory +which He had Himself received from the Father. And the tone of mind +which denies Peter's prerogative as the Foundation of the Church, +under pretence that it is an usurpation of divine power, tends to +deny some one or all of the privileges just cited, and, as a fact, +does deny some of them. It is [71]wonderful to see how only common +and vulgar things are discerned by modern eyes, where the Fathers +saw celestial and divine gifts. Those without the Church have fallen +away as well from the several parts and privileges, from what may be +called the standing order, of the Incarnation, as from its final +purpose and scope; and it is much if they would not charge with +blasphemy that glorious saying put forth by the greatest of the +Eastern, as by the greatest of the Western Fathers, "that God became +man, in order that man might become God."[72] + +Was, then, S. Chrysostome wrong when he said that our Lord, in that +passage of Matthew, showed a power equal to God the Father by the +gifts which He bestowed on a poor fisherman? "He who gave to him the +keys of the heavens, and made him Lord of such power, and needed not +prayer for this, for He did not then say, I prayed, but, with +authority, I will build my Church, and I will give to thee the keys +of heaven."[73] Was he wrong when he called him "the chosen of the +Apostles, the mouth-piece of the disciples, the head of the band, +the ruler over the brethren?"[74] Or where he saw these prerogatives +in the very name of Peter, observing, "When I say Peter, I mean the +impregnable rock, the immovable foundation, the great apostle, the +first of the disciples?"[75] + +To sum up, then, what has been hitherto said, we have advanced so +far as this; first the promise, and then the bestowal of a new name, +expressing a singular pre-eminence, and in its _proper_ sense +befitting Christ alone, have distinguished Simon from the rest of +the apostles. But much more the power signified by that name, and +explained by the Lord Himself, carries far higher Peter's privilege, +and indicates him to be the possessor of authority over the +Apostles. For if Simon is the Rock of the Church, and if the +property of Foundation, on which the structure of the Church rests, +belongs to him immediately after Christ, and analogously with +Christ, there arises this relation between Christ and Simon, that as +He is first, and chiefly, and by inherent power, so Simon is +secondarily, by participation and analogy, that which underlies, +holds together, and supports the Apostles and the whole fabric of +the Church. + +Now such a relation carries with it not merely precedency of honour, +but superior authority. The strength of the Apostles lay in their +union with Christ, and subordination to Him. The like necessity of +adhering to Peter is expressed in his new name. Take away that +subordination, and you destroy the very image by which the Lord +chose to express Peter's dignity; and you remove, likewise, Peter's +participation in that property which the Lord communicated to him in +the name of the Rock. For if the Apostles needed not to be joined +with him, he had no title to be called the Foundation; and if he had +no coactive power over the Apostles, he did not share the property +by which Christ is the Rock and Foundation. Thus the name, and the +dignity expressed by the name, show Peter to have been singly +invested by the Lord with both honour and power superior to all the +Apostles.[76] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] John xvii. + +[2] Matt. xvi. 18. + +[3] Matt. xxviii. 19, 20. + +[4] Matt. v. 14; Psalm xlvii. 2; cxxxi. 13, 14. + +[5] 1 Tim. iii. 15. + +[6] John x. 11-16. + +[7] Eph. v. 32, 30. + +[8] Mark iii. 13. + +[9] Dan. ix. 26. + +[10] 1 John i. 1. + +[11] Luke xxii. 26. + +[12] Vid. John i. 42; Mark iii. 16; Matt. xvi. 18; Luke xxii. 32; +John xxi. 15. + +[13] Passaglia, p. 35-7. + +[14] John i. 35-42. + +[15] S. Chrysostome on the text. S. Cyril on John i. 42. + +[16] Isai. xxviii. 16; Ps. cxvii. 22; Dan. ii. 35; Zach. iii. 9; +Eph. ii. 20. + +[17] Theodoret on Dan. ii. 34. + +[18] Ambrose on Luke, Lib. 6, n. 97. + +[19] Serm. iv. 2. + +[20] For the name Boanerges, which in one place is given to the two +sons of Zebedy, is in the first place a joint name; secondly, it is +nowhere else referred to, and does not take the place of their +birth-names; thirdly, it indicates not an official dignity, but an +inward disposition. We cannot doubt that such a name bestowed on the +two brothers was a mark of great distinction, but, for the above +reasons, it cannot come into competition with the name of Peter. See +Passaglia, p. 44, n. 38. + +[21] Mark iii. 14; Matt. x. 1; Luke vi. 14. + +[22] Cont. Marcion. L. 4, c. 13. + +[23] Apoc. xxii. 16; iii. 7. + +[24] S. Chris. on Matt. 16, Hom. 54. + +[25] S. Leo, Serm. 3 on his anniversary. + +[26] Hilary of Poitiers on Matt. xv. n. 6; on Ps. cxxxi. n. 4; on +the Trinity, L. 6, n. 20. Gregory Naz. Orat. 26, p. 453. Ambrose in +his first hymn, referred to also by Augustine, Retract. lib. 1, c. +21, and Epiph. in ancor. n. 9. + +[27] Tertullian de monogam. c. 8. Origen on Ps. 1, quoted by +Eusebius, Hist. I. 6, c. 25. Cyprian, Ep. 71, and Firmilian, among +Cyprian's letters, 75. + +[28] Basil cont. Eunom. lib. 2, n. 4. Zeno. lib. 2, tract. 13, n. 2. + +[29] By the same. + +[30] Epiphan. haer. 59, n. 7. + +[31] August. in Ps. cont. par. Donati. Leo, serm. 98. + +[32] Theodoret, ep. 77. + +[33] Maximus of Turin, serm. pro natali Petri et Pauli. + +[34] Greg. Nazian. in hom. archieratico inserta. + +[35] Origen on Exod. hom. 5, n. 4. + +[36] Gallican sacramentary, edited by Mabillon, T. I. Mus. Ital. p. +343. Synod of Ephesus, act. 3. + +[37] Peter Chrysologus, serm. 154. + +[38] Ambrose on Virginity, c. 16. + +[39] Ambrose on Luke, lib. 4, n. 70. + +[40] Chrysostome, hom. on debtor of ten thousand talents, Tom. 3, p. +4. + +[41] Philip, legate of the Apostolic See, in Act. 3 of Council of +Ephesus. + +[42] Council of Chalcedon, act. 3. in deposing Dioscorus. + +[43] For the above references see Passaglia, p. 400. + +[44] Vid. Passaglia, p. 54, note 47. + +[45] Gen. x. 25; xvii. 19; xxx. 18; xii. 51, 52. + +[46] Gen. xxv. 26; xxvii. 36; xxv. 25; xxv. 30; Exod. ii. 10; 1 +Macc. ii. 4; Mark iii. 17. + +[47] Isai. vii. 3; Os. i. 4, 6, 9; Gen. v. 29; xxxii. 28; Numb. +xiii. 17; Gen. xvii. 15; Matt. iii. 1. + +[48] Passaglia, p. 51. + +[49] Passaglia, p. 52. + +[50] Gen. xii. 1; Mark 1. 16, 17; Luke v. 10. + +[51] Gen. xii. 4; Mark i. 18. + +[52] Gen. xvii. 5; John i. 42. + +[53] Gen. xxii. 1; Matt. xvi. 15; John xxi. 15. + +[54] Gen. xxii. 10; Matt. xvi. 16; John xxi. 15. + +[55] Gen. xviii. 17; Acts x. 10; xv. 7; Luke xxii. 32. + +[56] Gal. iii. 7. + +[57] Gal. iii. 16. + +[58] Matt. i. 1. + +[59] Is. xxviii. 16; Eph. ii. 21. + +[60] Passaglia, p. 58. + +[61] Ps. lxxxii. 6, with John x. 34. + +[62] 1 Cor. iii. 11. + +[63] Matt. xxiii. 9. + +[64] John xiv. 16. + +[65] Rom. viii. 15. + +[66] Rom. viii. 17. + +[67] 1 Cor. xiii. 12. + +[68] John xx. 23. + +[69] John xiv. 12. + +[70] John xv. 9, 15. + +[71] Passaglia, p. 442. n. 38. + +[72] O tou Theou Logos enenthrhopesen hina hemeis +theopoiethomen. St. Athan. de Incarn. Factus est Deus homo, ut homo +fieret deus. St. Aug. Serm. 13, de Temp. + +[73] S. Chrys. Tom. vii. 786. Hom. 82, in Matt. + +[74] Tom. viii. 525. Hom. 88, in Joan. + +[75] Hom. 3, de Poenitentia. Tom. ii. 300. + +[76] Passaglia, p. 48, 9. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +EDUCATION AND FINAL DESIGNATION OF PETER TO BE THE RULER WHO SHOULD +CONFIRM HIS BRETHREN. + + +Having promised[1] and bestowed on Simon a new name, prophetic of +the peculiar position which he was to occupy in the Church, and +having set forth the meaning contained in that name in terms so +large and magnificent, that, as we have seen, the greatest saints +and fathers have felt it impossible to exhaust their force, our Lord +proceeded to _educate_ Peter, so to say, for his especial charge of +supreme ruler. He bestowed upon him, in the course of His ministry, +tokens of preference which agree with the title thus solemnly +conferred; and He instructed him with all the care which we should +expect to be given to one who was to become the chief doctor of +Christians. Such instruction may be said to consist in two things, a +more complete knowledge of the Christian revelation, and a singular +apprehension of its divine proofs. + +Now, innumerable as are the particulars in which the Christian +revelation consists, they may yet be gathered up mainly into two +points, which meet in the Person of our Lord, and are termed by the +ancient fathers who have followed this division, the _Theology_, and +the _Economy_. There is the Divine Nature, that "_form of God_," +which our Lord had from the beginning in the bosom of the Father; +and there is the human nature, that "_form of a servant_," which "in +the economy or dispensation of the fulness of times" He assumed, in +order that He might purchase the Church with His blood, and[2] +"re-establish all things in heaven and on earth." All, therefore, +in the Christian faith which concerns "the form of God" is termed +the Theology; all which contemplates "_the form of a servant_," the +Economy. + +But the heavenly origin and certain truth of both these parts of +Christian faith are proved partly by the fulfilment of prophecy, and +partly by the working of miracles. To both our Lord perpetually +appealed, and His apostles after Him, and those who have followed +them. One, then, who was to be the chief ruler and doctor of +Christians, needed especial instruction in the Theology, and +Economy, especial assurance of the fulfilment of prophecy, and the +working of miraculous power. Now Peter was specially selected for +this instruction and that assurance. + +The whole teaching of our Lord, indeed, and the innumerable acts of +power and words of grace with which it was fraught, were calculated +to convey these to all the Apostles. But while they were witnesses +in common of that teaching in general, some parts of it were +disclosed only to Peter and the two sons of Zebedy. Perhaps there is +no incident in the Gospel history, which set forth in so lively a +manner, and so convincingly proved, the mysteries concerning the +union of "the form of God" and "the form of a servant," as the +Transfiguration. The retreat to the "high mountain apart," and in +the midst of that solitary prayer, "the face shining as the sun," +and "the robes white as light," the presence of Moses and Elias, +conversing with Him on the great sacrifice for sin, "the bright +cloud which encompassed them," and the voice from out of it, +proclaiming "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear +Him;" so impressed themselves on the great Apostle, that after long +years he appealed to them in proof that he and his brethren had not +taught "cunningly devised fables, when they made known the power +and presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, but had been eyewitnesses of +His majesty, when He received from God the Father honour and glory, +this voice coming down to Him from the excellent glory, 'This is my +beloved Son, in whom I have pleased myself: hear ye Him.' And this +voice we heard brought from heaven, when we were with Him in the +holy mount." Among all the Apostle's experience of the three years' +ministry, by the shore and on the waves of the lake of Galilee, in +the cornfields, or on the mountain side, in the noon-day heat, or +midnight storm, even in the throng which cried 'Hosannah!' and +'Crucify Him!' this stood out, until "the laying aside of his +fleshly tabernacle," as "the Lord had signified to Him."[3] For[4] +what indeed was not there? the plurality of persons in the Godhead, +the Father and the Son, the true, and not adopted, Sonship of the +latter, His divine mission unto men; the new order of things +resulting from it, and the summing up under one head of all things +in heaven and in earth; the sealing up and accomplishing of the law +and the prophets, by the presence of their representatives, Moses +and Elias, a most wonderful and transporting miracle; and the +command implicitly to obey Him in whom the Father was well pleased. +Thus the Transfiguration may be termed the summing up of the whole +Christian revelation. + +But now of this we read that "after six days Jesus taketh unto Him +_Peter_, and James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into +a high mountain apart." These three alone of the twelve. Yet does He +not associate the sons of Zebedy with Peter in this privilege? +Needful no doubt it was that so splendid an act should have a +suitable number of witnesses, and that as His future glory should +have[5] three witnesses from heaven, and as many from earth, so +this, its rudimental beginning, should be attested by three as from +heaven, God the Father, Moses, and Elias, and by three from earth, +Peter, James, and John. Dear to Him likewise, next to Peter, and +most privileged after Peter, were the sons of Zebedy; yet a +distinction is seen in the mode in which they are treated even when +joined together in so great a privilege. For in all the three +accounts Peter is named first; "He taketh to Him Peter, and James, +and John." They likewise are called by their birth-name, he by his +prophetic appellation of the Rock; they are silent, but he speaks; +"Peter answering, said;" nor only speaks, but in the name of all; +"It is good _for us_ to be here," as if their leader. And, fifthly, +he is named specially, they as his companions; "but Peter, _and they +that were with him_, were heavy with sleep."[6] Thus even when three +are associated in a special privilege above the Twelve, Peter is +distinguished among the three. + +But if there was one other occasion on which above all "the form of +the servant" was to be set forth in the most awful, and the most +endearing light, it was on that evening, "the hour" of evil men and +"the power of darkness," when "the righteous servant who should +justify many" was about to perform the great, central, crowning act +of His mediation. Then we read that "He said to His disciples, Sit +you here, till I go yonder and pray."[7] And then immediately +"taking with Him Peter, and the two sons of Zebedy, He began to grow +sorrowful and to be sad." Yet here again, even in the association +with the sons of Zebedy, Simon is distinguished, for he is named +first; and by the illustrious name of Peter, the Rock; and as the +leader of the others, for, says Matthew, Christ after His first +prayer, "comes to His disciples, and finds them sleeping, and _says +to Peter_, What, could _ye_ not watch with me one hour?" Why the +change of number, Peter in the singular, _ye_ in the plural? Why the +blame of Peter, involving the blame of the rest? Because the members +are censured in the head. + +In these two signal instances our Lord, while preferring Peter and +the two sons of Zebedy to the rest of the Twelve, yet marks a +gradation likewise between them and Peter. And these two set forth +the Theology and Economy, in the most emphatic manner. + +And as the supreme preceptor must not only be acquainted with the +truth which he has to deliver, but with the evidence on which it +rests, so is Peter specially made a witness of his Lord's "power and +presence" and "the works which no other man did." In that remarkable +miracle of raising to life the ruler of the synagogue's daughter we +read, "He admitted not any man to follow Him, but Peter and James, +and John the brother of James;"[8] where, as before, and always, +Peter is mentioned first, and by the prophetic name of his Primacy. + +From[9] all which we gather four points; 1. Several things are +mentioned in the Gospels which Christ gave to Peter, and not to the +rest of the Apostles: 2. But nothing which He gave to them together, +and not to Peter with them. 3. What He seemed to give to them in +common, yet accrue to Peter in a special manner, who appears among +the Apostles not as one out of the number, but their destined head, +by the name, that is, of Peter, so markedly promised, bestowed, and +wonderfully explained by our Lord, of which, as we have seen, S. +Chrysostome, an eastern Patriarch, as well as a great Saint and +Father, observed, "When I say Peter, I mean the impregnable Rock, +the immovable foundation, the great Apostle, the first of the +disciples." 4. Either we are not to take Christ's dealing as the +standard of Peter's dignity, and destination, or we must admit that +he was preferred to the rest, and made the supreme teacher of the +faithful. + +S. Matthew records the incidents of the officers asking for the +payment of the didrachma which all the children of Israel were bound +to contribute to the temple; and his words show us a fresh instance +of honour done to Peter, and a fresh note of his superiority. "When +they were come to Capharnaum, they that received the didrachma came +to Peter and said to him, Doth not your master pay the didrachma?"[10] +But why should they come to _him_, and ask, not if _his_ master, but +"your" master, the master of all the Apostles, paid the census, save +that it was apparent, even to strangers, that Peter was the first and +most prominent of the company? Why use him rather than any of the +others, for the purpose of approaching Christ? "As Peter seemed to be +first of the disciples," says S. Chrysostome, on the text, "they go to +him." The context naturally suggests this reason, and the ancient +commentators remarked it. But what follows is much more striking. +Peter answered, Yes, that is, that his master observed all the laws of +Moses, and this among the number. As he went home he purposed, no +doubt, to ask our Lord about this payment, but "when he was come +into the house Jesus prevented him," having in His omniscience seen +and heard all that had passed, and He proceeded to speak words +involving His own high dignity, followed by a singular trial of Peter's +faith, and as marked a reward of it when tried. "What thinkest thou, +Simon? The kings of the earth, of whom do they receive tribute or +custom? of their own children or of strangers? And he said, Of +strangers. Jesus said to him, Then the children are free." Slight +words in seeming, yet declaring in fact that most wonderful truth +which had formed so shortly before Peter's confession, and drawn +down upon him the yet unexhausted promise; for they expressed, I am +as truly the natural Son of that God, the Sovereign of the temple, for +whom this tribute is paid, as the children of earthly sovereigns, who +take tribute, are their sons by nature. Therefore by right I am free. +"But that we may not scandalize them, go to the sea and cast in a hook; +and that fish which shall first come up, take; and when thou hast opened +its mouth, thou shalt find a stater; take that and give it to them for +Me and thee." Declaring to His favoured disciple afresh that He is +the true, and not the adopted, Son of God, answering his thoughts by +anticipation, and expressing His knowledge of absent things by the +power of the Son of God, He tries his faith by the promise of a +fresh miracle, which involved a like exercise of divine power. +Peter, in proceeding to execute His command, must make that +confession afresh by deed, which he had made before by word, and +which his Lord had just repeated with His own mouth. How else could +he go to the lake expecting to draw at the first cast a fish in +whose mouth he should find a coin containing the exact amount due to +the temple for two persons? But what followed? What but a most +remarkable reward for the faith which he should show? "Take that and +give it to them for Me and thee." There are looks, there are tones +of the voice, which convey to us more than language. So, too, there +are acts so exceedingly suggestive, that without in any _formal_ way +proving, they carry with them the force of the strongest proof. And +so, perhaps, never did our Lord in a more marked manner _associate_ +Peter with Himself than here. It was a singular distinction which +could not fail to strike every one who heard it. Thus S. Chrysostome +exclaims,[11] "You see the exceeding greatness of the honour;" and +he adds, "wherefore, too, in reward for his faith He connected him +with Himself in the payment of the tribute;" and he remarks on +Peter's modesty, "for Mark, the disciple of Peter, seems not to have +recorded this incident, because it pointed out the great honour +bestowed on him; but he did record his denial, while he was silent +as to the points which made him conspicuous, his Master perhaps +begging him not to say great things about him." Indeed, _how_ could +one of the disciples be more signally pointed out than by this +incident, as "the faithful and wise steward, whom the Lord would set +over His household, to give them their portion of food in due time?" + +Other fathers, as well as S. Chrysostome, did not fail to see such a +meaning in this passage; but let us take the words of Origen as +pointing out the connection of this incident with the important +question following. His words are: "It seems to me that (the +disciples) considering this a very great honour which had been done +to Peter by Jesus, in having put him higher than the rest of His +disciples, they wished to make sure of what they suspected by asking +Jesus and hearing His answer, whether, as they conceived, He judged +Peter to be greater than them; and they also hoped to learn the +cause for which Peter was preferred to the rest of the disciples. +Matthew, then, wishing to signify this by these words, "take that +and give it to them for Me and thee," added, "on that day the +disciples came to Jesus, saying, Who, thinkest thou, is the greater +in the kingdom of heaven?"[12] + +For, indeed, why should they immediately ask this question? The +preceding incident furnishes a natural and sufficient cause. The +Apostles, it seems, were urged by the plainness of Christ's words +and acts to inquire who among them should have the chief authority. +Who will not agree with S. Chrysostome: "The Apostles were touched +with a human infirmity, which the Evangelist too signifies in the +words, 'in that hour,' when He had honoured him (Peter) before them +all. For though of James and John one of the two was the +first-born," (alluding to an opinion that the tax was paid by the +first-born,) "He did nothing like it for them. Hence, being ashamed, +they confessed their excitement of mind, and do not say plainly, Why +hast thou preferred Peter to us? Is he greater than we are? For this +they did not dare; but they ask indefinitely, Who is the greater? +For when they saw three preferred to the rest, they felt nothing +like this; but when one received so great an honour, they were +pained. Nor were they kindled by this alone, but by putting together +many other things. For He had said to him, 'I will give to thee the +keys,' and 'Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona,' and here 'Give it to +them for Me and for thee;' and also they were pricked at seeing his +confidence and freedom of speech."[13] + +Thus their question, if it did not express, at least suggested this +meaning, "Speak more plainly and distinctly whether Peter is to be +the greater and the chief in the Church, and accordingly among us," +and so they seem to have drawn from our Lord's act a conclusion +which they did not see in the promising or bestowing the prophetic +name of Peter, nor even in the promises conveyed in explaining that +name, and were vexed at the preference shown to him. + +And if [14]any be inclined to conclude from hence that our Lord's +words and acts to Peter had not been of any marked significancy, +they should be reminded that the very clearest and plainest things +were sometimes not understood by the Apostles, before the descent of +the Holy Spirit on them. This was specially the case with the things +which they were disinclined to believe. Thus our Lord again and +again foretold to them His passion in express terms, but we are +told, "they understood none of these things."[15] He foretold, too, +His resurrection, yet they did not the least expect it, and they +became at length fully assured of the fact before they remembered +the prediction. Strange as these things seem, yet probably +everyone's private experience will furnish him with similar +instances of a veil being cast upon his eyes, which prevented his +discerning the most evident things, towards which there was +generally some secret disinclination. + +But [16]how did our Lord answer their question? Did He remove at +once the ground of their jealousy by declaring that in the kingdom +of heaven no one should have pre-eminence of dignity, but the +condition of all be equal? On the contrary, He condemns ambition and +enjoins humility, but likewise gives such a turn to His discourse as +to insinuate that there would be one pre-eminent over the +rest.[17] "Jesus calling unto Him a little child, set him in the +midst of them, and said, Amen I say unto you, unless you be +converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into +the kingdom of heaven." Then He adds, "whosoever therefore shall +humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the +kingdom of heaven." Thus He did not exclude the pre-eminence of that +"greater one," about which they asked, but pointed out what his +character ought to be. But this will be much clearer from a like +enquiry, and the answer to it, recorded by S. Luke. + +For even at the last supper, our Lord having told them that He +should be betrayed, and was going to leave them in the way +determined for Him, there was not only an enquiry among them which +of them should do that thing, but also, so keenly were their minds +as yet, before the coming down of the Holy Spirit, alive to the +desire of pre-eminence, and so strongly were they persuaded that +such a superior had not been excluded by Christ, but rather marked +out and ordained, "there was a strife among them which of them +should seem to be greater." Now our Lord meets their contention +thus: "The [18]kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and they +that have power over them are called beneficent. But you not so; but +he that is the greater among you, let him become as the younger; and +he that is the leader, as he that serveth. For which is greater, he +that sitteth at table, or he that serveth? Is not he that sitteth at +table? But I am in the midst of you as he that serveth. And you are +they who have continued with Me in my temptations; and I dispose to +you, as My Father hath disposed to Me, a kingdom; that you may eat +and drink at My table in My kingdom; and may sit upon thrones +judging the twelve tribes of Israel." + +Now [19]in this speech of our Lord we may remark four points:-- + +1. What is omitted, though it would seem most apposite to be said; + +2. What is affirmed, if not expressly, yet by plain consequence; + +3. What comparison is used in illustration; + +4. What meets with censure and rejection. + +1. First, then, though the Apostles had twice before contended about +pre-eminence, yet our Lord neither there, nor here, said openly that +He would not prefer any one over the rest, nor appoint any one to be +their leader. Yet the importance of the subject, His own wisdom, and +His love towards His disciples, as well as His usual mode of acting, +seemed to demand, that had it been His will for no one of them to be +set over the rest, He should plainly declare it, and thus extinguish +all strife. No less a matter was at issue than the harmony of the +Apostles with each other, the peace of the Church, and the success +of the divine counsel for its government. Moreover, the Gospels +represent Him to us as continually removing doubts, clearing up +perplexities, and correcting wrong judgments among His disciples. +Let us recall to remind a very similar occasion, when the mother of +the sons of Zebedy with her children came before Him asking "that +these my two sons may sit the one on thy right hand and the other on +thy left, in thy kingdom." He rejected their prayer at once, saying, +"To sit on My right or My left hand is not mine to give to you, but +to them for whom it is prepared by My Father."[20] The silence, +therefore, of Christ here, under such circumstances, is a proof that +it was not the divine will that all the Apostles should be in such a +sense equal that no one of them should hold a superior authority +over the rest. + +2. But eloquent as this silence is, we are not left to trust to it +alone, for our Lord's words point out, besides, the institution of +one superior. "The kings of the Gentiles," He says, "lord it over +them; and they that have power over them are called benefactors. But +you not so: but he that is the greater among you, let him become as +the younger; and he that is the leader, as he that serveth." _A +greater_ and _a leader_, then, _there was to be_. Our Lord's words +contain two parallel propositions repeated. 1. There is among you +one who is the greater, let him, then, be as the younger. 2. There +is among you one who is the leader, let him be as he that serveth. +Thus our Lord's meaning is most distinct that they should have a +superior. + +But in the very similar passage about the sons of Zebedy, lest any +should conclude that no one of the Apostles was to be superior to +the rest, He called them to Him and said, "You know that the princes +of the Gentiles lord it over them, and they that are the greater +exercise power upon them. It shall not be so among you, but +whosoever will be the greater among you, let him be your minister; +and he that will be the first among you shall be your servant. Even +as the Son of man is not come to be ministered unto, but to +minister, and to give His life a redemption for many." Where He +tells them His will, not that no one of the Apostles should be +"great" and "first," but what the type and model should be which +that "great" and "first" one should imitate, even the Son of man who +came to minister. + +3. For to make this quite certain, there, and here too, He directs +us to a particular comparison, by which He explains and concludes +His discourse, "For who is greater, he that sitteth at table, or he +that serveth? Is not he that sitteth at table? But I am among you as +he that serveth.--And I dispose unto you as My Father disposed unto +Me, a kingdom." Here our Lord sets Himself before His Apostles as +the exemplar both of the rule which the superior was to exercise, +and of the temper and character which he was to shew. As He had been +speaking of the kingdoms of the Gentiles, so He now points out to +them in contrast the true kingdom which He was disposing unto them. +The Church as it had been from the beginning, was to be the model of +what it should be to the end. Now all confess that in that Church +Christ had held the place of "the First," "the Great one," "the +Ruler." And now He explains that one of His Apostles should occupy +that place of His, and occupying it should be of a like temper with +Himself, who had been the minister and servant of all. And it may be +remarked that the same word is here applied to him who should _rule_ +among the disciples, which expresses the dignity of Christ Himself +in the prophecy of Micah, quoted in Matt. ii. 6, "Out of thee shall +go forth[21] _the ruler_, who shall be shepherd over my people +Israel." For Christ says, "He that is the greater among you let him +be as the younger; and _he that ruleth_ as he that serveth. _For_, +who is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he who serveth? But I am +among you as he that serveth." "I dispose to you a kingdom: as My +Father disposed to Me:" let him who follows Me in place, follow Me +in character. + +But, 4, what does our Lord censure and reject from His Church? It is +plain that He compares kingdom with kingdom, and the kingdom of +heaven, which is the Church, with human kingdoms, and, moreover, +that the negative quality as to which, in the clause, "But you not +so," the two are compared, is, _not_ the fact that there is +pre-eminence and rule in both, but a certain _mode_ of exercising +them. This is, the pomp and ambition expressed in the words, +"lording it," "exercising authority," "are called benificent." As +again is shewn in the repeated declaration that what had been most +alien from the spirit of His own ministry, should not appear in the +ministry that He would establish after Him. Now He had shown no pomp +and pride of dominion, but yet He had shown the dominion itself in +the fullest sense, the power of passing laws, enjoining precepts, +defining rites, threatening punishments, governing, in fine, His +Church, so that He had been pre-eminently "the Lord." Lastly, this +is shown in the words recorded by S. John, as said shortly after on +this same occasion. "You call Me Master and Lord, and you say well, +for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, +you also ought to wash one another's feet: _for I have given you an +example_, that as I have done unto you, so you also may do."[22] + +Now nothing can show more strongly than this discourse the +pre-eminence and authority which our Lord was going to establish in +one of His Apostles over the rest. For here we have His intention +disclosed that in His kingdom, which is the Church's, some one there +should be "the Great," "the First," and "the Ruler," who should +discharge, in due proportion and analogy, the office which He +Himself, before He returned to the Father, had held. But before we +consider further who this one was, let us look at the subject from a +somewhat different point of view. + +And [23]here we must lay down three points, the _first_ of which is, +that our Lord, during His life on earth, had acted in two +capacities, the one, as the Author and Founder, the other, as the +Head and Supreme Ruler of His Church. His functions in the former +capacity are too plain to need enlarging upon. He disclosed the +objects of our faith: He instituted rites and sacraments: He +provided by the establishment of a ministry for the perpetual growth +and duration of the Church. It was in this sense that He spoke of +Himself to His apostles, as "the Master," who could share His +prerogatives with no one: "But be not you called Rabbi, for one is +your Master, and all you are brethren."[24] Thus is He, "the +Teacher," "the Master," throughout the Gospel. + +But He likewise acted as the Head of His Church, with the dignity +and authority of the chief visible Ruler. He was the living bond of +His disciples: the person around whom they grouped: whose presence +wrought harmony: whose voice terminated contention among them: who +was ever at hand to solve emergent difficulties. Thus it is that +prophecy distinguished Him as "the Lord," "the King," "the +Shepherd;" "on whose shoulders is the government," "who should +_rule_ His people, Israel." And His Church answers to Him in this +capacity, as the family, the house, the city, the fold, and the +kingdom. + +Thus His relation to the Church was twofold, as Founder, and as +Supreme Pastor. + +_Secondly_, the Church shares her Lord's prerogative of +unchangeableness, and as He is "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, +to-day, and for ever," so She, His mystical Body, in her proportion, +remains like herself from the beginning to the end. The Church and +Christianity are bound to each other in a mutual relation; the +Church is Christianity embodied; Christianity is the Church in +conception: the consistency and identity which belong to +Christianity belong likewise to her; neither can change their +nature, nor put on another form. + +But, _thirdly_, the Church would be unlike herself, if, having been +from her very cradle visibly administered by the rule of One, she +fell subsequently, either under no rule at all, according to the +doctrine of the Independents, or under the rule of the multitude, +according to the Calvinists, or under the rule of an aristocracy, as +Episcopalians imagine. A change of government superinduces a change +of that substantial form which constitutes a society. But this holds +in her case especially, above all other societies, as she came forth +from the creative hand of her Lord, her whole organization instinct +with inward life, her government _directly_ instituted by God +Himself, in which lies her point of distinction from all temporal +polities. + +For imagine, that upon our Lord's departure, no one had been deputed +to take the visible headship and rule over the Church. How, without +ever fresh revelations, and an abiding miraculous power, could that +complex unity of faith, of worship, and of polity, have been +maintained, which the[25] Lord has set forth as the very sign and +token of His Church? A multitude scattered throughout the most +distant regions, and naturally differing in race, in habits, in +temperament, how could it possibly be joined in one, and remain one, +without a powerful bond of unity? Hence, in the fourth century, S. +Jerome[26] observed, "The safety of the Church depends on the +dignity of the supreme Priest, in whom, if all do not recognise a +peculiar and supereminent power, there will arise as many schisms in +the Church as there are priests." And the repentant confessors out +of Novatian's schism, in the middle of the third century, "We know +that Cornelius (the Pope) has been elected Bishop of the most holy +Catholic Church, by Almighty God, and Christ our Lord.--We are not +ignorant that there is one God, one Christ the Lord, whom we +confessed, one Holy Spirit, and that there ought to be one bishop +in the Catholic Church."[27] And these words, both of S. Jerome, and +of the confessors, if they primarily apply to the diocesan bishop +among his priests and people, so do they with far greater force +apply to the chief bishop among his brethren in the whole Church. +Now, as our Lord willed that His Church should do without fresh +revelations, and new miracles, such as at first accredited it, and +that it should preserve unity; and as, when it was a little flock, +which could be assembled in a single room, it had yet one visible +Ruler, how can we doubt that He willed this form of government to +remain, and that there should be one perpetually to rule it in His +name, and preserve it in unity, since it was to become co-extensive +with the earth? + +Again, we may ask, was the condition of fold, house, family, city, +and kingdom, so repeatedly set forth in Holy Scripture, to belong to +the Church only while Christ was yet on earth, or to be the visible +evidence of its truth for ever? Do these terms exhibit a temporary, +or a perpetual state? Each one of these symbols by itself, and all +together, involve one visible Ruler: therefore, so long as the +Church can be called with truth, the one house, the one family, the +one city, the one fold, the one kingdom, so long must it have one +visible and supreme Ruler. + +But once grant that such a one there was after our Lord's departure, +and no one can doubt that one to have been Peter. It is easier to +deny the supreme Ruler altogether, than to make him any one but +Peter. The whole course of the Gospels shows none other marked out +by so many distinctions. Thus, even those who wish to refuse a real +power to his Primacy, are compelled by the force of evidence to +allow him a Primacy of order and honour. + +But nothing did our Lord more pointedly reject than the vain pomp of +titles and honours. In nothing is His own example more marked than +in that He exercised real power and supreme authority without pomp +or show. Nothing did He enjoin more emphatically on the disciple who +should be the "Great one," and "the Ruler," among his brethren, than +that he must follow his Master in being the servant of all. A +Primacy, then, consisting in titles and mere precedency, is of all +things most opposed to the spirit and the precepts of our Lord. And +so the Primacy which He designated must be one of real power and +pre-eminent authority. + +And this brings us back to the passage of S. Luke which we were +considering, where four things prove that Christ had such a headship +in view. First, the occasion, for the Apostles were contending for a +place of real authority. The sons of Zebedy expressed it by sitting +on His right hand and on His left, that is, holding the second and +the third place of dignity in the kingdom. + +Secondly, the double comparison which our Lord used, the one +negative, the other affirmative: in the former, contrasting the +Church's ruler with the kings of the Gentiles, He excluded pomp and +splendour, lordship and ambition; in the latter, referring him to +His own example, who had the most real and true power and +superiority, He taught him to unite these with a meekness and an +attention to the wants of his brethren, of which His own life had +been the model. + +Thirdly, the words "the First," "the Greater," and "the Ruler," +indicate the pre-eminence of the future head, for as they appear in +the context, and according to their Scriptural force, they indicate +not a vain and honorary, but a real authority, one of them being +even the very title given to our Lord. + +And, fourthly, this is proved by the object in view, which is, +maintaining the identity of the Church, and the form which it had +from the beginning, and preserving its manifold unity. As to its +identity, and original form, it is needless to observe that Christ +exercised in it not an honorary but a real supremacy, so that under +Him its government was really in the hands of one, the Ruler. As to +the preservation of its unity--and especially a unity so +complex--the very analogy of human society will sufficiently teach +us that it is impossible to be preserved without a strong central +authority. Contentions can neither be checked as they arise, nor +terminated when they come to a head, without the interference of a +power to which all yield obedience. And the living example of those +religious societies which have not this power is an argument whose +force none can resist. Where Peter is not, there is neither unity of +faith, nor of charity, nor of external regimen. + +No sooner [28]then had our Lord in this manner pointed out that +there should be one hereafter to take His place on earth and to be +the Ruler of his brethren, expressing at the same time the toilsome +nature of the trust, and the duty of exercising it with the spirit +which He, the great model, had shown, than turning His discourse +from the Apostles, whom hitherto He had addressed in common, to +Peter singly, He proceeded to designate Peter as that one, to assure +him of a singular privilege, and to enforce upon him a proportionate +duty. + +And first a break in the hitherto continuous discourse is ushered in +by the words, "And the Lord said," and what follows is fixed to +Peter specially, by the reiteration of his name, "Simon, Simon, +behold Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as +wheat:" to have _you_, that is not Peter alone, but all the +Apostles, the same you, whom in the preceding verses He had so often +repeated, "you not so," "but I am in the midst of you," "but you are +they that have continued with Me," "and I dispose to you a kingdom," +"that you may eat and drink with Me;" and what follows? What was the +resource provided by the Lord against this attack of the great enemy +on all His fold? "But I have prayed for _thee_, that _thy_ faith +fail not: and thou being once converted confirm thy brethren." Not +"I have prayed for _you_," where all were assaulted, "that _your_ +faith fail not," but I have prayed for _thee_, Peter, that _thy_ +faith fail not! Nothing can be more emphatic than this change of +number, when our Lord throughout all His previous discourse had used +the plural, and now continuing the plural to designate the persons +attacked, uses the singular to specify the person for whom He has +prayed, and to whom He assures a singular privilege, the fruit of +that prayer. Nothing could more strongly prove that this address was +special to Peter. + +Nor less evident is the singular dignity of what is here promised to +him. First of all, it is the fruit of the prayer of Christ. Of what +importance must that be which was solicited by our Lord of His +Father, and at a moment when the redemption of the world was being +accomplished, and when His passion may be said to have begun? Of +what importance that which was to be the defence of not Peter only, +but all the disciples, against the most formidable assault of the +great enemy, who had[29] demanded them as it were to deliver them +over to punishment? And this was "that thy faith fail not." How is +it possible to draw any other conclusion here than what S. Leo in +the fifth century expressed so clearly before all the bishops of +Italy? "The danger from the temptation of fear was common to all the +Apostles, and all equally needed the help of the divine protection, +since the devil desired to dismay all, to crush all; and yet a +special care of Peter is undertaken by our Lord, and He prays +peculiarly for the faith of Peter, as if the state of the rest would +be more sure, if the mind of their chief were not conquered. In +Peter, therefore, the fortitude of all is protected, and the help of +divine grace is so ordered, that the firmness which through Christ +is given to Peter, through Peter is conferred on the Apostles."[30] +And if such is the importance of the help secured, no less is the +charge following: "And thou, being once converted, confirm thy +brethren." To confirm others, is to be put in an office of dignity +and authority over them. And his brethren were those whom our Lord +till now had been addressing in common with him; to whom He had just +disclosed "a Greater" and "a Ruler" "among" them; that is, the +Apostles themselves. Among these, then, when our Lord's visible +presence was withdrawn, Peter was to be the principle of stability, +binding and moulding them into one building. For one cannot fail to +see how this great promise and prophecy answer to those in Matthew. +There our Lord, as Architect, promised to lay Peter as the +foundation of the Church, against which the gates of hell should not +prevail: here, being about to leave the world, when His own work was +finished, to ascend unto His Father, and to assume His great power +and reign, He makes Peter as it were the Architect to carry on the +work which was to be completed by _His_ grace and authority, but by +human co-operation. So exact is the resemblance that we may put the +two promises in parallel columns to illustrate each other: + + Thou art Peter, and upon But I have prayed for + this Rock I will build My thee that thy faith fail not; + Church; and the gates of hell and thou, being once converted, + shall not prevail against it. confirm thy brethren. + +But light is thrown on the greatness of this pre-eminence thus +bestowed on Peter of confirming his brethren, if we consider that +the term is applied to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as +bestowing by inherent power what is here granted by participation. +Of the Father it is said, "To Him that is able to _establish_ you +according to my Gospel--the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be +honour and glory." And again, "Now He that _confirmeth us_ with you +in Christ, and that hath anointed us, is God;" and again, "The God +of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory in Christ +Jesus, after you have suffered a little, will Himself perfect you, +_confirm_, establish you."[31] Of Christ likewise: "As therefore you +have received Jesus Christ the Lord, walk ye in Him, rooted and +built up in Him, and _confirmed_ in the faith." And "waiting for the +manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who also will _confirm_ you +unto the end without crime." And again: "Now our Lord Jesus Christ +Himself exhort your hearts, and _confirm_ you in every good word and +work."[32] And the Holy Spirit is continually mentioned as the +author of this gift, when, for instance, to Him is ascribed "the +teaching all truth," "the leading into all truth," "the bringing to +mind" all things which Christ had said. And S. Paul prays "that He +would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be +_strengthened_ by His Spirit with might unto the inward man."[33] + +What, therefore, is proper to the most Holy Trinity, and given in +the highest sense by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, it was +the will of Christ should be shared by Peter, according as man is +capable of it. That is, it was His pleasure that the same man, whom +He had intimately associated with Himself by communicating to him +His prerogative to be the Rock, should be closely joined with the +Blessed Trinity by participating in that privilege, whereby, +together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, He is the confirmation +and stability of the faithful. But if any rule there can be whereby +to measure pre-eminence and dignity, it is surely that which is +derived from participation of divine properties and offices. And the +closer that by these Peter is shown to have approached to God, the +higher his exaltation above the rest of his brethren, who, as it has +been observed, are the Apostles. To them he is the Rock, and them he +is to confirm. Thus Theophylact, in the eleventh century, commenting +on this text, says: "The plain meaning of this is, that, since I +hold thee as the ruler of My disciples, after thou shalt have wept +over thy denial and repented, confirm the rest. For this belongs to +thee as being after Me the rock and support" (literally, +confirmation) "of the Church. Now one may see that this is said not +only of the apostles, that they are confirmed by Peter, but also +concerning all the faithful until the consummation of the world." + +But looking more closely into the nature of this dignity, since +Christ, by the bestowal of heavenly gifts, caused Peter to be +conspicuous through the firmness of his own faith, and through the +charge of confirming the faith of his brethren, we can call it by no +fitter name than a Primacy of faith. For it has these two +qualities: it cannot fail itself; and it confirms others. And for +the authority which it carries, such a Primacy of faith cannot even +be imagined without at the same time imagining the office by which +Peter was bound to watch over the firmness and integrity of the +common faith. In this office two things are involved; first, the +right to, and therefore the possession of, all things necessary for +its fulfilment; and secondly, the duty by which all were bound to +agree in the profession of one faith with Peter. So that Peter's +dignity, rightly termed the Primacy of faith, mainly consists in the +supreme right of demanding from all an agreement in faith with him. + +It[34] remains to explain the proper force of the word _confirm_. +Now this is a term of architecture, and as such is joined with other +terms relating to that art, as by S. Peter, "the God of all +grace--Himself fit you together" (as living spiritual stones,) +"confirm, strengthen, ground you."[35] It means, to make anything +fit so firmly that it cannot be shaken. Thus in Holy Writ it +frequently bears metaphorically a moral signification, such as +encouraging, supporting, as we say, confirming the resolution, as in +the passage just quoted; and again, "Be watchful, and _confirm_ the +things that remain, which are ready to die."[36] Now it cannot be +doubted that the phrase "confirm thy brethren," carries a moral +sense very like that in which the word _confirm_, when applied to +the spiritual building of the Church, is used of God and of +Christ,[37] from whom the Church has both its being and its +perseverance to the end, and again of the Apostles, who strengthen +the flock entrusted to them by the imparting spiritual gifts, as S. +Paul says, "I long to see you that I may impart unto you some +spiritual grace to strengthen you;"[38] or, again, of Bishops, who, +as sent by the Apostles, and charged by the Holy Spirit with the +government of the Church, are bid to be watchful, and see that those +who stand do not fall, and those who are in danger do not +perish.[39] Accordingly, when it is said to Peter, "And thou in thy +turn one day confirm thy brethren," _the charge and office are laid +upon him, as an architect divinely chosen, of holding together, +strengthening, and keeping in their place, the several parts of the +ecclesiastical structure_. + +But what are these _parts_ to be confirmed, and what is the _nature_ +of the confirmation? + +As to the first question there can be no controversy, it being +determined by the words, "confirm _thy brethren_:" and it is plain +from what is said above, that, by brethren, are meant the Apostles. +He had, therefore, the Apostles committed to his charge +_immediately_: but likewise, the rest of all the faithful, +_mediately_. When a person has been named by Christ to confirm the +Apostles expressly, the nature of the case does not allow that the +whole congregation of believers be not in their persons committed to +him. The care of the flock is manifestly involved in the care of the +shepherds: and no one in his senses can doubt that the man who is +charged to support the pillars, is charged to keep in their place +the inferior stones. + +And as to the _nature_ of the confirmation, it is for protection +against the fraud of the great enemy. And the danger lay in losing +the faith. Peter, then, is charged to confirm, in such sense that +neither the pillars of the Church, nor its inferior parts, may, by +the loss of faith, be moved from their place, and so severed from +the Church's structure. No charge can be higher than such an office +of confirmation; nor for any thing need we to be more thankful to +our Saviour; but, particularly, nothing can more distinctly shew the +divinely-appointed relation between Peter on the one hand, and on +the other, the rest of the Apostles, and the whole company of the +faithful; nothing define more clearly the special authority of +Peter; that is, to protect and strengthen the unity of the faith, +and to possess all powers needed for such protection. + +This charge was given after that by the prayer of Christ the +privilege had been gained for Peter's faith, _that it should never +fail_. Hence, that faith is become, in virtue of such prayer, the +infallible standard of evangelical truth: as S. Cyprian expressed it +of old, "that faith of the Romans, which perfidy _cannot_ +approach."[40] It follows that all the faithful owe to it obedience. +And Peter's authority rests on a double title, _external_ of +mission, _internal_ of spiritual gift: the former contained in the +words of Christ the legislator, "And thou,[41] in thy turn, one day +confirm thy brethren:" the latter, in the words of Christ, the +bestower of all gifts, "But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith +fail not." + +More than a thousand years ago two Easterns seem to have expressed +all this, one the Bishop Stephen, suppliantly approaching Pope +Martin I., in the Lateran Synod of A.D. 649, and speaking of "the +blessed Peter, in a manner special and peculiar to himself, having +above all a firm and immutable faith in our Lord God, to consider +with compassion, and confirm his spiritual partners and brethren +when tossed by doubt: inasmuch as he has received power and +sacerdotal authority, according to the dispensation, over all, from +the very God for our sakes incarnate."[42] And Theodore, Abbot of +the Studium, at Constantinople, addressing Pope Paschal I., A.D. +817, in the midst of persecution from the state, as if he were Peter +himself: "Hear, O Apostolic Head, O shepherd of the sheep of Christ, +set over them by God, O door-keeper of the kingdom of heaven, O rock +of the faith, upon which the Catholic Church is built. For Peter art +thou, who adornest and governest the See of Peter. To thee, said +Christ our God, 'and thou, in thy turn, one day confirm thy +brethren.' Behold the time, behold the place, help us, thou who art +ordained by God for this. Stretch forth thy hand as far as may be: +power thou hast from God, because thou art the chief of all."[43] + +Now let us[44] view in its connexion the whole scope of our Lord's +discourse. We shall see how naturally the contest of the Apostles +arose out of what He had told them, and how well the former and the +latter part of His answer harmonize together, and terminate that +contest. We learn from S. John's record of this divine conversation, +that our Lord besought His Father, saying: "While I was with them in +the world, I kept them in Thy name--but now I come to Thee:" that +is, so long as I was with them visibly in the world, (for invisibly +I will always be with them, and nurture them with the spiritual +influx of the Vine,) I kept them united in Thy name: "but now I come +to Thee," I leave the world, I relinquish the office of visible +head. It remains, that by the appointment of another visible head, +Thou shouldst entrust him with My office, provide for the +conspicuous unity of all, and preserve them joined to each other and +to Us. So S. Luke tells us, that no sooner had our Lord declared to +the Apostles, "the Son of man indeed goeth according to that which +is determined," than they began to have a strife among them, "which +of them should seem to be the greater." For they had heard that +Christ would withdraw His visible presence, and they had heard Him +also earnestly entreating of the Father to provide for their visible +unity. Accordingly, the time seemed at hand when another was to take +this office of visible head; hence their questioning, who should be +the greater among them. Now our Lord does not reprove this inference +of theirs, but He does reprove the temper in which they were +coveting pre-eminence. For, engaged as they were in this strife, He +warned them that the person who should be "the Greater and the +Ruler" among them, must follow in the discharge of his office the +rule and the standard which _He_ had set up in His own conduct, and +not that which the kings of the Gentiles follow. Thus, setting these +in sharp contrast, He proceeds. "The kings, indeed, of the nations, +lord it over their subjects, and love high titles, and to be called +benefactors: but I, though Lord and Master amongst you, have dealt +otherwise, as you know. For I have exercised, not a lordship, but a +servitude: I have not sat at table, but waited: I have not cared for +titles, but called you friends and brethren. Let this example then +be before you all, but specially before him who is to be the greater +and the ruler among you. For I appoint unto you, and dispose of you, +as My Father hath disposed of Me; of Me He hath disposed that +through humiliation, emptying of Myself, ignominy, and manifold +temptations, I should gain the kingdom, reach the joys of heaven, +and obtain all power in heaven and on earth. So likewise dispose I +of you, that, through humility, sufferings, reproaches, hunger, +thirst, and all manner of temptations, you may reach whither I have +come, being worthy, after your hunger and your thirst, to eat and +drink at My table in My kingdom; after being despised and +dishonoured, to sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. +Now, hitherto you have trodden with Me this royal way full of +sorrows, and have continued with Me in My temptations. But little +will it profit to begin, if you persevere not to the end. None shall +be crowned, save he who has contended lawfully; none be saved, but +he who perseveres to the end. Will you remain with Me still in your +temptations to come, and when I am no longer present with you visibly, +to protect and exhort, will you preserve your steadfastness? Simon, +Simon, behold! I see Satan exerting all his force to overcome your +purpose, and to destroy the fidelity which you have hitherto shewn Me. +I see the danger to your faith and your salvation approaching. But I, +who, when visibly present with you, left nothing undone to guard, +protect, and strengthen you visibly, so, too, when separated from +your bodily sight, will yet not leave you without a visible support. +Wherefore, Peter, I have prayed for thee, that thou fail not, and +thou, in thy turn, one day confirm thy brethren. Remember that thou +hast to discharge that part visibly towards thy brethren, which I, +while yet mortal, and visible, discharged: remember, that I +therefore had special care of thee, because it was My will, that +thou, confirmed by My prayers, shouldst confirm thy brethren, My +disciples, and My friends."[45] + +Now from[46] what has been said, it appears that Peter in Holy +Scripture is set forth as the source and principle of ecclesiastical +unity under a double but cognate image, as Foundation, and as +Confirmer. Of the former we will here say nothing further, but a few +consequences of the latter it is desirable here to group together. +I. The unity, then, which consists in the profession of one and the +same faith, is conspicuous among those[47] modes of unity by which +Christ has willed that His Church should be distinguished. Now, +first, S. Paul declares that the whole ministerial hierarchy, from +the Apostolate downwards, was instituted by our Lord, for the sake +of obtaining and preserving this unity. "He gave some Apostles, and +some Prophets, and other some Evangelists, and other some pastors +and doctors, for the perfecting" (literally, the fitting in +together, the same word which S. Peter had used in his prayer, ch. +v. 10,) "of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the +edifying of the body of Christ; until we all meet into the unity of +faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, +unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ."[48] To this +living hierarchy he expressly attributes preservation from doctrinal +error, proceeding thus: "That henceforth we be no more children +tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by +the wickedness of men, by cunning craftiness by which they lie in +wait to deceive." And, secondly, this hierarchy itself was knitted +and gathered up into a monarchy, and its whole force and solidity +made to depend on association with Peter, to whom _alone_ was said, +"But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not;" to whom alone +was enjoined, "And thou, in thy turn, one day confirm thy brethren." + +II. Accordingly the pre-eminence of Peter is well expressed by the +words,[49] "Primacy of faith," "chiefship of faith," "chiefship in +the episcopate of faith," meaning thereby a peculiar authority to +prescribe the faith, and determine its profession, and so protect +its unity and purity. This is conveyed in the words of Christ, +confirm thy brethren. Thus[50] S. Bernard addressed Innocent II., +"All emergent dangers and scandals in the kingdom of God, specially +those which concern the faith, are to be referred to your +Apostolate. For I conceive that we should look especially for +reparation of the faith to the spot where faith _cannot_[51] fail. +That indeed is the prerogative of this see. For to whom else was it +once said, 'I have prayed for thee, Peter, that thy faith fail not?' +Therefore what follows is required of Peter's successor: 'And thou +in thy turn one day confirm thy brethren.' And this is now +necessary. It is time for you, most loving father, to recognise your +chiefship, to approve your zeal, and so make your ministry honoured. +In that you clearly fulfil the part of Peter, whose seat you occupy, +if by your admonition you confirm hearts fluctuating in faith, if by +your authority you crush those who corrupt it." + +III. All who have received the ministry of the word, and the charge +of defending the faith and preserving unity, and are "ambassadors in +Christ's name," have a claim to be listened to, but he above all who +holds the chiefship of faith, and who received the charge, "Confirm +thy brethren." He therefore must be the supreme standard of faith, +which is just what S. Peter Chrysologus, in the fifth century, wrote +to Eutyches: "We exhort you in all things, honourable brother, to +pay obedience to what is written by the most blessed Pope of the +Roman city; for S. Peter, who both lives and rules in his own see, +grants to those who ask for it the truth of faith."[52] + +IV. And in this prerogative of Peter, to be heard above all others, +we find the meaning of certain ancient expressions. Thus +[53]Prudentius calls him, "the first disciple of God;" [54]S. +Augustine, "the figure of the Church;" [55]S. Chrysostome, "the +mouthpiece of the disciples, and teacher of the world;" [56]S. +Ephrem Syrus, "the candle, the tongue of the disciples, and the +voice of preachers;" [57]S. Cyril of Jerusalem, "the prince of the +Apostles, and the highest preacher of the truth." In these and such +like continually recurring expressions we recognise his chiefship in +the episcopate of faith, his being the standard of faith, and his +representing the Catholic faith, as the branches are gathered up in +the root, and the streamlets in the fountain. + +V. Our [58]Lord has most solemnly declared, and S. Paul repeated, +that no one shall be saved without maintaining the true and +uncorrupt faith. Of this Peter's faith is the standard and exemplar. +Accordingly by the law of Christ unity with the faith of Peter is +necessary to salvation. This law our Lord set forth in the words, +"Confirm thy brethren." And to this the Fathers in their expressions +above quoted allude. + +VI. The true faith and the true Church are so indivisibly united, +that they cannot even be conceived apart from each other, faith +being to the Church as light to the sun. But the true faith neither +is, nor can be, other than that which Peter, "the first disciple of +God," "the teacher of the world," "the mouthpiece of the disciples," +and "the confirmer of his brethren," holds and proposes to others. +No communion, therefore, called after Christ, which yet differs from +that faith, can claim either the name or dignity of the true Church. + +VII. If any knowledge have a special value, it is surely that by +which we have a safe and ready test of the true faith and the true +Church. It is of the utmost necessity to know and embrace both, and +the means of reaching them are proportionably valuable. Now that +test abides in Peter, by keeping which before us we can neither miss +the true faith nor the true Church. For no other true faith can +there be than that which he delivers, who received the charge of +confirming his brethren, nor other true Church than what Christ +built, and is building still. Hence the expression of S. +Ambrose,[59] "where Peter is, there is the Church;" and of +Stephen[60] of Larissa, to Pope Boniface II. (A.D. 530.) "that all +the churches of the world rest in the confession of Peter." + +VIII. With all these agrees that famous and most early testimony of +S. Cyprian,[61] that men "fall away from the Church into heresy and +schism so long as there is no regard _to the source of truth, no +looking to the head_, nor keeping to the doctrine of our heavenly +Master. If any one consider and weigh this, he will not need length +of comment or argument. It is easy to offer proofs to a faithful +mind, because in that case the truth may be quickly stated." And +then he quotes our Lord's words to Peter, Matt. xvi. 16, and John +xxi. 17, adding, "upon him being one He builds His Church." +Therefore that Church can neither be torn from the one on whom she +is built, nor profess any other faith, save what that one, who is +Peter, proposes. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Passaglia, p. 68. + +[2] Eph. i. 10. + +[3] 2 Pet. i. 14. + +[4] Passaglia, p. 69. + +[5] 1 John v. 6, 7. + +[6] Luke ix. 32. + +[7] Matt. xxviii. 36. + +[8] Mark v. 35. + +[9] Passaglia, p. 72. + +[10] Matt. xvii. 23. + +[11] On Matt. Hom. 58, n. 2. + +[12] Origen on the text, in Matt. Tom. xiii. 14. + +[13] S. Chrysostome on the text, Hom. 58, Tom. 7, p. 587. + +[14] Passaglia, p. 77, note 38. + +[15] Luke xviii. 34. + +[16] Passaglia, p. 78. + +[17] Matt. xviii. 2. + +[18] Luke xxii. 25. + +[19] Passaglia, p. 77. + +[20] Matt, xx. 20. + +[21] Hegoumenos. + +[22] John xiii. 13. + +[23] Passaglia, p. 82. + +[24] Matt. xxiii. 8. + +[25] John chps. x., xiii., xvii. + +[26] Dialog. cont. Lucif. n. 9. + +[27] St. Cyprian, Ep. 46. + +[28] Passaglia, p. 89. + +[29] Exetesato. The word in classic Greek has this force. + +[30] Serm. 4, c. 3. + +[31] Rom. xvi. 25; 2 Cor. i. 21; 1 Pet v. 10. + +[32] Col. ii. 6; 1 Cor. i. 7; 2 Thess. ii. 16. + +[33] John xvi. 13; xiv. 16, 26; Eph. iii. 16. + +[34] Passaglia, p. 563. + +[35] 1 Pet. v. 10. + +[36] Apoc. iii. 2. + +[37] Rom. xvi. 25; 1 Thess. iii. 13; 2 Thess. ii. 17; 1 Pet. v. 10. + +[38] Rom. i. 11. + +[39] Apoc. iii. 2. + +[40] S. Cyprian, Ep. 55. + +[41] As far as the _words_ by themselves go, it is the opinion of +the best commentators that they may be equally well rendered, "And +thou, when thou art converted," or, "And thou, in thy turn, one +day," &c. But as it is impossible to bring a discussion turning on a +Hebrew idiom conveyed in a Greek word before the English reader, we +must here restrict ourselves to the proof arising from the _sense_ +and _context_. And here one thing alone, among several which may be +urged, is sufficient to prove that the sense preferred in the text, +"And thou in thy turn one day confirm thy brethren," is the true +one. For the other rendering supposes that the time of Peter's +conversion would also be the time of his confirming his brethren; +whereas this was far otherwise. He was converted by our Lord looking +on him that same night shortly after his denial, and "immediately +went out and wept bitterly." But he did not succeed to the charge of +confirming his brethren till after our Lord's ascension. It must be +added that the collocation of the original words kai su pote +epistrepsas sterixon is such as absolutely to require that the +joint action indicated by them should belong to the same time, and +that an _indefinite_ time expressed by pote. Now this would +be false according to the rendering, "And thou, when thou art +converted, confirm thy brethren," for the conversion was immediate +and definite, the confirmation distant and indefinite; whereas it +exactly agrees with the rendering, "And thou in thy turn one day +confirm thy brethren." + +Those who wish to see the whole controversy admirably drawn out may +find it in Passaglia, b. 2, ch. 13. + +[42] Mansi. Concilia, x. 894. + +[43] Baronius, Annal. A.D., 817, xxi. + +[44] Passaglia, p. 545. + +[45] Passaglia, p. 547. + +[46] Passaglia, p. 571. + +[47] For which see hereafter, ch. 7. + +[48] Eph. iv. 11. + +[49] Petrus uti audivit, vos autem quid me dicitis? _Statim loci non +immemor sui, primatum egit_; primatum confessionis utique, non +honoris; primatum fidei, non ordinis. Ambros. de Incarn. c. 4, n. +32, Tom. 2, p. 710. + +[50] Ep. 190, vol. 1, p. 649. + +[51] Observe the exact identity with S. Cyprian's expression nine +hundred years earlier, quoted p. 55. + +[52] Twenty-fifth letter among those of St. Leo. + +[53] Con. Symmachum, Lib. 2, v. 1. + +[54] Sermon 76. + +[55] Hom. 88, on John. + +[56] Encom. in Petrum et coeteros Apostolos. + +[57] Cat. xi. n. 3. ho protosthates ton Apostholon kai tes +ekkleshias koryphaios kheryx. + +[58] Mark xvi. 16; John iii. 18; Rom. iii. 3, &c. + +[59] Ambros. in Ps. 1. n. 30. + +[60] Mansi, Tom. viii. 746. + +[61] De unitate Ecclesiae, 3. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE INVESTITURE OF PETER. + + +Our Lord has hitherto, while on earth,[1] ruled as its visible head +that body of disciples which He had chosen out of the world, and +which His Father had given Him. And this body He for the first time +called the Church in that famous prophecy[2] wherein He named the +person, who, by virtue of an intimate association with Himself, the +Rock, should be its foundation, and the duration of which until the +consummation of the world, He pronounced at the same time, in spite +of all the rage of "spiritual wickedness in high places" against it, +because it should be founded upon the rock which He should lay. + +Secondly, He had, at that period of His ministry when He thought it +meet, the second year, selected out of the rest of His disciples, +after ascending into a mountain and continuing the night long in +prayer, twelve whom He named Apostles--as before and above all sent +by Him--for "He called whom He would Himself, and they came to Him," +to whom "He gave authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, +and to heal every disease and every weakness," whom He chose also +"to be with Him," His personal attendants, "and to send them to +preach;" to whom, moreover, He subsequently made a promise that +whatever they should bind on earth, should be bound in heaven, and +whatever they should loose on earth should be loosed in heaven.[3] + +Thirdly, as at a certain time in His ministry, that is the second +year, He had selected twelve to be nearer His person than the rest +of His disciples, so at a yet later time, the third year of His +ministry, He had set apart one out of the twelve, to whom from the +very first, and before either he, or any one, had been called to be +an Apostle, or even, as it would seem, a disciple, He had given a +prophetic name; whom by word and deed, in correspondence with that +name, He designated to be the future Rock of His Church, to be the +Bearer of the keys, which opened or shut the entrance to His +mystical Holy City, to be endued with power _singly_ to bind and to +loose; and whom at last, on the very eve of His being taken away +from His disciples, He pointed out as the future "First one," +"Greater one," or "Ruler," among them, having, as such, had given to +him a _special_ and _singular_ charge, after the departure of the +Head, to "confirm his brethren." + +It is manifest that this was all which, before His offering Himself +up for the sin of the world, and the withdrawal of His visible +presence thereupon ensuing, He could do for the government of His +Church. For as long as He was there, the Son of Man among men, seen, +felt, touched, and handled, the sacred voice in their ears, and the +divine eyes gazing bodily upon them, He was not only the fountain of +all headship and rule, but He exercised in His own person the +highest functions of that headship and visible rule. He daily +encouraged, warned, corrected, taught, united them; in short, to use +His own words, "while He was with them, He kept them in His Father's +name."[4] + +But now another time, and other dangers were approaching. The sword +was drawn which should "strike the shepherd," there was a fear that +"the sheep would be scattered," not only for a moment, but for ever. +To meet this the care of the divine guardian was necessary in a +further disposition of those powers which He received at His +resurrection from the dead. For henceforth His visits, as of a risen +King, were to be few and sudden, when He pleased, and at times they +expected not, "for forty days appearing to them and speaking of the +kingdom of God," and as soon as His final injunctions had been thus +royally given, "the heavens were to receive Him till the time of the +restoration of all things." The Apostles could no longer "be with +Him," as before, nor He "keep them," as in the days of His flesh. + +How, then, does He complete the ministerial hierarchy which sprung +from His own divine Person on earth, and which is to rule His Church +and represent that Person from His first to His second coming? + +Now, first, we must remark, that while great care is taken to make +known to all the Apostles the resurrection of the Lord, yet a +special solicitude is shown with regard to that one who was to be +"the Ruler." Thus the angels, announcing the fact to the holy women +at the sepulchre, "He is risen, He is not here, behold the place +where they laid Him," add, "but go, tell His disciples _and Peter_, +that He goeth before you into Galilee."[5] The expression indicates +his superior place, as when Peter, himself delivered from prison, +recounted to the disciples at the house of Mark his escape, and +added, "Tell these things to James and to the brethren," where no +one fails to see the pre-eminence given to James, by such a mention +of him, that apostle being the Bishop of Jerusalem, and so put over +the brethren, and, with himself, one of those who "seemed to be +pillars." Again, to Peter our Lord appeared first among the +Apostles. S. Paul exhibiting a sort of sum of Christian doctrine, as +he says "the Gospel which I preached unto you," begins, "I +delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how +that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that +He was buried, and that He rose again the third day, according to +the Scriptures; and that He was seen by Cephas, and after that by +the eleven." By him alone, first, then by them in conjunction with +him. And further, St. Paul's words seem to express a sort of +descending ratio, "Then was He seen by more than five hundred +brethren at once, of whom many remain until this present, and some +are fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the +Apostles. And last of all He was seen also by me, as by one born out +of due time. For I am the least of the Apostles."[6] And while they +were yet in doubt, and for joy could not receive the marvellous +tidings, when brought by the women, as soon as our Lord appeared to +Peter, their hesitation was removed, and the two disciples returning +from Emmaus--themselves full of His wonderful conversation with +them--"found the eleven gathered together and those that were with +them, saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon," +as the Church in her exultation repeats, where philologists tell us +that the Greek _and_ bears what is often the Hebrew meaning, and +signifies "for," as if no doubt could remain any longer of their +happiness, when Peter had become a witness of it. + +These are indications of superiority, slight perhaps in themselves, +if they stood alone, but not slight as bearing tacit witness to a +fact otherwise resting on its own explicit evidence. If one of the +Apostles was destined to be the head of the rest, this is what we +should have expected to happen to that one, and this did happen to +Peter, who is elsewhere made the head of the Apostles. + +But now we come to those most important injunctions which our Lord +gave to His Apostles after His resurrection, concerning the +government of His Church. And here it becomes necessary to mark with +the utmost accuracy what He said and what He gave to all the +Apostles in common, and what to Peter in particular. + +First of all, then, we may remark our Lord's care to redeem the +promises which He had made to the Twelve, and to convey to them +their legislative, judicial, and executive powers. These are +mentioned by each of the four Evangelists, in somewhat different +terms, but alike involving the distinctive apostolic powers of +immediate institution by Christ, and universal mission; as Apostles +they are _sent_, and they are sent _by Christ_. The form recorded in +S. Matthew is, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. +Go ye, therefore, and make disciples all nations, baptizing them in +the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, +teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; +and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the +world." + +The form of S. Mark is, "Go ye into the whole world, and preach the +gospel to every creature." + +S. Luke refers specially in two passages to the descent of the Holy +Ghost, as being Himself as well the Divine "Gift," and the immediate +worker of all graces in man, as the principle of the ecclesiastical +hierarchy. "And I send the promise of My Father upon you, but stay +you in the city till you be endued with power from on high." And +again, "Eating together with them, He commanded them that they +should not depart from Jerusalem, but should wait for the promise of +the Father, which you have heard," saith He, "by My mouth; for John, +indeed, baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy +Ghost not many days hence." "You shall receive the power of the Holy +Ghost coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto Me in +Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost +part of the earth." + +The form recorded by S. John is, "As the Father hath sent Me, I also +send you. When He had said this, He breathed on them; and He said to +them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost; whose sins you shall forgive, they +are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are +retained."[7] + +Now, it may be remarked that these passages of the several +evangelists are _identical_ in their force; that is, they each +convey all those powers which constitute the Apostolate. These are +received by all the Apostles in common, and together; and in the +joint possession of them consists that _equality_ which is often +attributed by the ancient writers to the Apostles, as notably by S. +Cyprian, "He gives to all the Apostles an equal power, and says, 'as +the Father sent Me, I also send you.'" And again, "Certainly the +other Apostles also were what Peter was, endued with an equal +fellowship, both of honour and power."[8] + +And these Apostolic powers, legislative, judicial, and executive, +are afterwards referred to as exercised; as in Acts ch. xv., where +the first council passes decrees which bind the Church, nay, which +go forth in the joint name of the Holy Ghost, and the rulers of the +Church, "It hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us;"--which +are delivered by S. Paul to the cities to be kept: Acts xvi. 4--as +in Acts xx. 28, where bishops are charged to rule the Church, each +over his flock, wherein the Holy Ghost has placed him--as in 1 Cor. +v. 1-5, where S. Paul, "in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ," +excommunicates--as in 2 Cor. x. 6, where he sets forth his +apostolic power--as in the Epistles to Titus and Timothy, where he +sets them in authority, enjoins them to ordain priests in every +city, and commands them to "reprove," or "rebuke." + +And all these powers S. Peter, of course, as one of the Twelve, had +received in common with the rest. The limit to them would seem to +lie in their being shared in common by twelve; as, for instance, +universal mission dwelling in such a body must practically be +determined and limited somehow to the different members of that +body, or one would interfere with the other. But there is nothing in +these powers which answers to the images of "the rock," on which the +Church is built, the single "bearer of the keys," and "confirmer" of +his brethren, which Christ had appropriated to one Apostle. + +In like manner, then, as our Lord fulfilled His promises to the +Twelve, so did He those to S. Peter, and we find written the +committal of an authority to him exactly answering to these images; +an authority, which expresses the full legislative, judicial and +executive power of the head, which can be executed by one alone at a +time, and is of its own nature supreme, and responsible to none save +God. It remained for our Lord to find an image setting forth all +this as decisively as that of the Rock, the Bearer of the keys, and +the Confirmer of his brethren. + +Once, as He passed along the shores of the lake of Galilee, He had +seen two fishermen casting their net into the sea, and had "said to +them, Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men, and +immediately leaving their nets, they followed Him." Once again, too, +He had gone into the ship of that same fisherman, and sitting, +taught the multitudes out of it. And then He bade that fisherman, +"who had laboured all the night and taken nothing, to launch out +into the deep," and in faith, "let down his nets for a draught," +whereupon "he enclosed so great a multitude of fishes that the net +brake."[9] And, again, in after times, when the fisherman had become +an Apostle, that same ship waited on His convenience, and carried +Him across the lake. It was there He was asleep when the storm +raged, and His disciples in little faith awoke Him, saying, "Master, +save us, we perish," not yet knowing that the ship which carried the +Lord might be tost, but could not sink.[10] From it they beheld Him +walking on the sea, in the fourth watch of the night, when Peter, in +his fervour, desired to join Him, and going to meet his Lord on the +waves, his faith failed him, and he began to sink, till the Almighty +hand supported him, and drew him with it to the ship, which +"presently was at the land to which they were going."[11] And now, +Peter, and Thomas, and Nathaniel, and the sons of Zebedy, and two +others, were once more on that same ship and sea, but no longer with +Him who had commanded the winds, and walked on the waves. Once more, +too, they[12] toiled all the night, but "caught nothing:" when, lo, +in the morning light, Jesus stood on the shore, but yet unknown to +them, and bade them cast the net on the right side of the ship, "and +now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes." Thus +He revealed Himself to them, and invited them to eat with Him of the +fishes which they had caught. "Then Simon Peter went up, and drew +the net to land, full of great fishes, one hundred fifty-three. And +although there were so many, the net was not broken:" for, indeed, +that draught of great fishes, gathered by Peter at Christ's command, +betokened God's elect, whom the Church is to gather out of the sea +of this world, who cannot break from the net, which net, therefore, +Peter drew to land, even the everlasting shore whereon Christ +welcomes His own. And after that marvellous banquet of the disciples +with their Lord, betokening the never ending marriage feast, wherein +"the roasted fish is Christ in His passion,"[13] our Lord proceeds +to crown all that series of distinctions, wherewith, since imposing +the prophetic name, He had marked out Simon, the son of Jonas, to be +the Leader of His disciples; and thus He fulfils by the side of the +lake of Galilee what He foreshadowed when He first looked upon +Peter, what He promised in the quarters of Cesarea Philippi, and +what He repeated on the eve of His passion. + +It was His will to appoint one to take His place on earth. Now He +had assumed to Himself specially a particular title, under which of +old time His prophets had foretold His advent among men, and which +above all others expressed His tender love for fallen man. It had +been said of Him, "I will set up one shepherd over them, and He +shall feed them, even my servant David: He shall feed them, and He +shall be their shepherd." And again: "Say to the cities of Judah, +behold your God.--He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall +gather together the lambs with His arm, and shall take them up in +His bosom, and He Himself shall carry them that are with young." +And, once more, in the very prophecy by which the chief priests and +scribes declared to Herod that He must be born at Bethlehem, "For +from thee shall go forth the ruler, who shall feed (or shepherd) My +people Israel." Appropriating these predictions to Himself, the Lord +had said: "I am the good shepherd.[14] The good shepherd giveth His +life for His sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this +fold; them also I must bring; and there shall be one fold and one +shepherd." And now it was His pleasure to give this particular +title, so specially His own, to Peter, and to Peter alone, and to +Peter in most marked contrast even with the best beloved of His +other disciples, and to Peter, thrice repeating the charge, and +varying the expression of it so as to include the term in its utmost +force. "When, therefore, they had dined, Jesus said to Simon Peter, +Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me more than these? He saith to Him, +Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith to him, Feed My +lambs. He saith to him again, Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me? He +saith to Him, Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith to +him, Feed My lambs. He saith to him the third time, Simon, son of +John, lovest thou Me? Peter was grieved because He had said to him +the third time, lovest thou Me? And he said to Him, Lord, Thou +knowest all things: Thou knowest that I love Thee. He said to him, +Feed My sheep." + +Our Lord had before addressed the seven disciples present in common, +"Children, have you any meat?" "Cast the net, and you shall find." +"Bring hither of the fishes which you have now caught." "Come and +dine." But now, turning to one in particular, He singles him out in +the most special manner, by his name, by asking of him a love +greater than that of any others towards Himself, by conferring on +him a charge, which, as we shall see, from its extension excludes +its being held in joint possession by any other, and by a prophecy +concerning the manner of his death, which is wholly particular to +Peter. If it is possible by any words to convey a power and a charge +to a particular person, and to exclude the rest of the company from +that special power and charge, it is done here. + +But, secondly, it is a charge of a very high and distinguishing +nature indeed, for our Lord before conferring it demands of Peter, +as a condition, greater love towards His own person than that felt +for Him by any of the Twelve--even by the sons of Zebedy, whom from +their zeal He surnamed Boanerges, sons of thunder--even by the +disciple whom He loved, and who lay on His breast at the last +supper. What must that charge be, the preliminary condition for +which is a greater love for Jesus than that of the beloved disciple? +What shall be a fitting sequel to "Simon, son of John, lovest thou +me _more_ than these?" What, again, the importance of that office, +in bestowing which our Lord thrice repeats the condition, and thrice +inculcates the charge? The words of God are not spoken at random, +nor His repetitions without effect. What, again, are the _subjects_ +of the charge? They are "My lambs," and "My sheep," that is, the +fold itself of the Great Shepherd. As He said, "If I wash thee not, +thou shalt have no part with Me," so those who are not either His +lambs or His sheep, form no part of His fold. Others, too, in Holy +Writ, are addressed as shepherds, but with a limitation, as, "Take +heed to the whole flock _wherein_ the Holy Ghost hath placed you +bishops," or "feed the flock of God _which is among you_." And, more +largely far it was said, "Go ye, therefore, and make disciples all +nations;" and "Go ye into the whole world and preach the Gospel to +every creature."[15] But they to whom this was said were yet +themselves sheep of the Great Shepherd, and in committing the world +to them, He did not commit _them_ to each other. Whereas here, they +too, as His sheep, are committed to one, even Peter; and very +expressly, in the persons of James and John, and the rest present, +"lovest thou Me more than these?" A particular flock is never +termed absolutely and simply "the flock," or "the flock of God," but +"the flock _which is among you_," "_in which the Holy Ghost hath +made you bishops_." And, again, the Apostles are sent in common to +the whole world, to preach to all nations, and to form one flock; +but they are twelve, and "power given to several carries its +restriction in its division, whilst power given to one alone and +over all, and without exception, carries with it plenitude, and, not +having to be divided with any other, it has no bounds save those +which its terms convey."[16] What are the terms here? "Feed," and +"be shepherd over" or "rule" "My lambs and My sheep." The terms have +no limit, save that of salvation itself. Such, then, are the +_persons_ indicated as subjects of this charge. But what is the +nature of the charge? Two different words of unequal extent and +force in the original, but both rendered "feed" in the translation, +convey this. One means "to give food" simply, the other, of far +higher and nobler reach, embraces every act of care and providence +in the government of others, under an image the farthest removed +from the spirit of pride and ambition. Such is even its heathen +meaning, and the first of poets termed Agamemnon by this word, +"Shepherd of the people." By this word, S. Paul, and S. Peter[17] +himself, express the power of the bishop over his own flock. And so +our Lord, here instituting the Bishop of Bishops, the one Shepherd +of the one fold, gives to Peter over all his flock, the very word +given to _Him_ in the famous prophecy, "Thou, Bethlehem, the land of +Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee +shall come forth the captain that shall _rule_ My people Israel:" +the very word, which used of Himself in Psalm ii. to express all His +power and dominion, in His revelation to S. John, is spoken of His +own triumphant career, as the Word of God going forth to battle, "He +shall _rule_ them with a rod of iron;" and, again, in the same book +is applied by Himself to set forth the honour which He will give "to +him that shall overcome and keep My works unto the end."[18] Thus, +just as in the _persons_ pointed out, the _subject_ of this charge +is _universal_, so in the _terms_ by which it is expressed, the +_nature_ of the power is _supreme_. What the bishop is to his own +flock, Peter is made to "the flock of God:" and this at once, in the +most simple, as well as in the most absolute and emphatic manner, by +institution from the chief Shepherd Himself, at the close of His +ministry, and by associating Peter singly with Himself in His most +distinctive title. If the fold of Christ is equivalent to "the +Church of Christ," and "the kingdom of heaven," so to feed and to +rule the lambs and the sheep of that fold is equivalent to being +"the Rock" of that Church, and "the Bearer of the keys," as well as +_the First, the Greater one, and the Ruler_ in that kingdom of +heaven. + +Again, looking at the circumstances under which this charge is +received by Peter, it either conveys that special and singular +honour and power which we have here set forth, or _none at all_. For +Peter had _already_ received the full Apostolic authority: he had +heard together with the rest of the Apostles those words of power, +"As My Father sent Me, I also send you," and the charge following, +to bind and to loose. It could not therefore be this power which was +given him, for he had it already. All which James and John, the sons +of thunder, ever had given them, he also had before these words were +uttered. Besides a power which was to be shared by James and John, +and the rest of the Apostles, could not be given in terms which +distinguished him from them, "lovest thou Me _more than these_?" It +could not be the mere forgiveness of his denial, for not only did +the Apostolate, since conferred, carry that, but when our Lord +appeared to him first of all the Apostles after His resurrection, it +was a token of such forgiveness. There remained nothing else to give +him, but presidency over the Apostles themselves, the reward of +superior love, as was prophesied and promised to him in reward for +superior faith. For these two oracles of our Lord exactly correspond +to each other as promise and performance. Their conditions and their +terms shed a reciprocal light on each other. In the one there is the +great confession, "Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God;" +in the other as singular a declaration, "Lovest thou Me more than +these? Yea, Lord." In the one there follows the reward, "And I say +to thee, that thou art Peter," &c.: and in the other a like reward, +"Feed My lambs, be shepherd over My sheep." The one is future, "I +will build, I will give, thou shalt bind, thou shall loose:" the +other present, "Feed and be shepherd." What concerns "the Church and +the kingdom of heaven" in the one, concerns "the fold" in the other. +And the promise and performance are singularly restricted to +Peter--"I say unto thee, Thou art Peter"--"Simon, son of John, +lovest thou Me more than these?" + +As then Peter received the promise of the supreme episcopate _before +all_ and _by himself_, under the terms that he should be the Rock, +by being built on which the Church should never fall, that he should +be the Bearer of the keys in the kingdom of heaven, and that +_singly_ he should bind and loose in heaven and in earth; so _after_ +his own Apostolate, and that of the rest had been completed, _by +himself_, and as the crown of the divine work, he received the +fulfilment of that supreme episcopate, under the terms, "Feed My +lambs, be shepherd over My sheep." And as a part out of that +magnificent promise made to him _singly_, was afterwards taken and +made to the Apostles _jointly_ with him, for so "it was the design +of Jesus Christ to put first in one alone what afterwards He meant +to put in several; but the sequel does not reverse the beginning, +nor the first lose his place. That first word, 'Whatsoever thou +shalt bind,' said to one alone, has already ranged under his power +each one of those to whom shall be said, 'Whatsoever ye shall +remit;' for the promises of Jesus Christ, as well as His gifts, are +without repentance; and what is once given indefinitely and +universally is irrevocable:"[19] so when Peter and the rest already +possessed the whole Apostolate, the commission to go and preach to +the whole world, and to make disciples of all nations, a power was +added to Peter to make up what was promised to him originally; the +Apostles themselves, with the whole fold, were put under his charge; +he represented the person of the Great Shepherd: and the divine work +was complete. + +Thus the powers of the Apostolate and the Primacy are not +antagonistic, but fit into, and harmonise with each other. In the +college of the Twelve, as before inaugurated, and sent forth into +the whole world, something had been wanting, save that, "by the +appointment of a head, the occasion of schism was taken away:"[20] +and Satan would have shaken the whole fabric, but that there was one +divinely set to "confirm the brethren." He who "kept them" once, +when "with them," by His personal presence, now kept them for +evermore by the word of His power, issued on the shore of the lake +of Galilee, but resounding through every age, clear and decisive, +amid the fall of empires, and the change of races, and heard by all +His flock to the utmost of the isles of the sea, till the day of the +Son of Man comes,--"Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me more than +these? Feed My lambs: Feed My sheep." + +And that the universal and supreme authority over the Church of +Christ, was in these words committed to Peter by the Lord, is the +belief of antiquity. Thus, S. Ambrose, in the west: "It is not +doubtful that Peter believed, and believed because he loved, and +loved because he believed. Whence, too, he is grieved at being asked +a third time, Lovest thou Me? For we ask those of whom we doubt. But +the Lord does not doubt, but asks not to learn, but to teach him +whom, on the point of ascending into heaven, He was leaving, _as it +were, the successor and representative of His love_.[21] It is +because he alone out of all makes a profession, that _he is +preferred to all_. Lastly, for the third time, the Lord asks him, no +longer, _hast_ thou _a regard_ (diligis me) for Me, but _lovest_ +(amas) thou Me: and now he is ordered to feed, not the lambs, as at +first, who need a milk diet, nor the little sheep, as secondly, but +the more perfect sheep, _in order that he who was the more perfect +might have the government_."[22] In the East, S. Chrysostome, "Why, +then, passing by the rest, does He converse with him on these +things? _He was the chosen of the Apostles, and the mouthpiece of +the disciples, and the head of the band._ Therefore, also Paul once +went up to see him rather than the rest. It was, besides, to shew +him, that for the future he must be bold, as his denial was done +away with, that _He puts into his hands the presidency over the +brethren._ And He does not mention the denial, nor reproach him with +what had past; but He says, if thou lovest Me, _rule the brethren_, +and show now that warm affection which on all occasions thou didst +exhibit, and in which thou didst exult, and the life which thou +didst offer to lay down for Me, now spend for My sheep." Again, +"thrice He asks the question, and thrice lays on him the same +command, showing at how high a price He sets _the charge of His own +sheep_." Again, "he was put in charge with the direction of his +brethren." "He made him great promises _and put the world into his +hands_." Thus John and James, and the rest of the Apostles were +committed to Peter, but never Peter to them: and he adds, "But if +any one asks, How then did James receive the throne of Jerusalem? I +would reply that He elected Peter _not to be the teacher of this +throne, but of the whole world_." And in another place, "Why did He +shed His blood to purchase those sheep _which He committed to Peter +and his successors_? With reason then said Christ, 'who is the +faithful and prudent servant whom his Lord hath set over His own[23] +house?'" Theophylact repeated, seven hundred years later, the +perpetual tradition of the East. "He puts into Peter's hands the +headship over the sheep of the whole world, and to no other but to +him gives He this; first, because he was distinguished above all, +and the mouth-piece of the whole band; and secondly, showing to him +that he must be confident, as his denial was put out of account." +And if S. Leo, a Pope, declares that "though there be among the +people of God many priests and many shepherds, yet Peter rules all +by immediate commission, whom Christ also rules by Sovereign +power,"[24] the great Eastern, Saint Basil, assigned an adequate +reason for this near a century before, when he viewed all pastoral +authority in the Church as included in this grant to Peter, +declaring that the spiritual "ruler is none else but one who +represents the person of the Saviour, and offers up to God the +salvation of those who obey him, and this we learn from Christ +Himself _in that He appointed Peter to be the shepherd of His Church +after_[25] _Himself_." + +But especially must we quote S. Cyprian, because to that equality of +the Apostles as such, before referred to by us, by considering which +without regard to the proportion of faith some have been led astray, +he adds the full recognition of the Primacy, and urges its extreme +importance. Thus quoting the promise and the fulfilment, "Thou art +Peter, &c." and "Feed My sheep," he goes on, "Upon him being one He +builds His Church; and _though_ He gives to all the Apostles an +equal power, and says, "As the Father sent Me, I also send you, +&c.," yet in order to manifest unity He has, by His own authority, +so placed the source of the same unity as to begin from one. +Certainly the other Apostles also were what Peter was, endued with +an equal fellowship both of honour and power, but a commencement is +made from unity, that the Church may be set before us as one."[26] +That is, the Apostles were equal as to the powers bestowed in John +xx. 23-5, but as to those given in Matt. xvi. 18-19, Luke xxii. +31-3, and John xxi. 15-18, "the Church was built upon Peter alone," +and he was made the source and ever-living spring of ecclesiastical +unity. + +Yet clearly as our Lord in this charge associates Peter with +Himself, puts him over his brethren, the other Apostles, and fulfils +to him all that He ever promised, as to making him "the first," "the +greater one" and "the ruler or leader," by that one title of "the +Shepherd," in which is summed up all authority over His Church, and +the very purpose of His own divine mission, "to seek and to save +that which was lost," still a touch of tenderness is added by the +Master's hand, which brings out all this more forcibly, and must +have told personally on Peter's feelings and those of his +fellow-disciples, as the highest and most solemn consecration to his +singular office. For when the Lord spoke that parable, "I am the +good shepherd," He added, as the token of the character, "the good +shepherd giveth His life for His sheep." And so now, appointing +Peter to take His place over the flock, He adds to him this token +also: "Amen, amen, I say to thee, when thou wast younger, thou didst +gird thyself, and didst walk where thou wouldst, but when thou shalt +be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird +thee, and lead thee whither thou wouldst not." "When thou wast +younger, thou didst gird thyself," alluding, perhaps, to that +impulse of affection with which, just before, as soon as Peter heard +from John that it was the Lord standing on the shore, "he girt his +coat about him and cast himself into the sea," for his love waited +not for the slowness of the boat. Thus He taught Peter that the +chiefship to which He was appointing him, that "care of all the +Churches," as it required a different spirit to fulfil it from that +which prevailed among "the kings of the nations," so it led to a +different end, the last crowning act of a lifelong self-sacrifice, +which began by being the servant of all, ran through a thousand acts +of humiliation and anxiety, and was to be completed in the martyrdom +of crucifixion. And so in his death, as well as in his charge of +visible head of the Church, he was to be made like his Lord, and +after the manner of the Good Shepherd, whom he succeeded, should lay +down his life for his sheep. For "this He said signifying by what +death he should glorify God. And when He had said this, He saith to +him, Follow Me." With far deeper meaning now than when those words +of power were first uttered to him beside that lake. Then it was, +"Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." Now it is, "Follow +Me, and I will associate thee with My life and with My death, with +My charge and with its reward. This shall be the proof of thy +greater love, to be obedient even to death, and that the death of +the cross." Such was the anointing which the first Primate of the +Church received to the triple crown. "Follow thou Me." Like his +divine Master, he was during the whole of his ministry to have the +cross set before his eyes, and laid upon his heart, as the certain +end of his course. And thus Peter "received power and sacerdotal +authority over all, from the very God for our sakes incarnate:"[27] +thus he followed in the steps of the Good Shepherd, as he succeeded +to His office. And, therefore, having accomplished his mission and +triumphed on the Roman hill, from Rome he speaks through the undying +line of his spiritual heirs, and feeds the flock of Christ. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Passaglia, p. 93. + +[2] Matt. xvi. 16. + +[3] Matt. x. 1; Mark iii. 13-15; Luke vi. 12-13; Matt. xviii, 18. + +[4] John xvii. 12. + +[5] Mark xvi. 6. + +[6] 1 Cor. xv. 1-9. + +[7] Matt. xxviii. 18; Mark xvi. 15; Luke xxiv. 49; Acts i. 4-8; +John. xx. 21. + +[8] De unitate ecclesiae, 3. + +[9] Mark i. 16; Luke v. 3. + +[10] Mark iv. 38; Luke viii. 24. + +[11] John vi. 21. + +[12] John xxi. 1-14. + +[13] St. Augustine's 122nd discourse on St. John, who has thus set +forth this chapter: "Piscis assus Christus est passus." + +[14] Ezech. xxiv. 33; Isai. xl. 9-11; Mich. v. 2; Matt. ii. 6; John +x. 11, 14, 16. + +[15] Acts xx. 28; 1 Pet. v. 10; Matt. xxviii. 19; Mark xvi. 15. + +[16] Bossuet, sermon on unity. + +[17] Acts xx. 28; 1 Pet. v. 10; Ps. ii. 9; Apoc. xix. 15; ii. 27. + +[18] Poimahinein used in the text of John, and in all +these. + +[19] Bossuet, sermon on unity. + +[20] St. Jerome. + +[21] Amoris sui veluti vicarium. + +[22] In Lucam, Lib. 10, n. 175. + +[23] St. Chrys. in Joan. Hom. 88, p. 525-7; and De Sacerdot. Lib. 2, +Tom. 1. p. 372. + +[24] St. Leo. Serm. 4. + +[25] St. Basil, Constit. Monas. xxii. Tom. 2, p. 573. + +[26] St. Cyprian, de unit. 3. + +[27] Stephen of Dora, in the Lateran Synod, A.D., 649. Mansi, x. +893. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE CORRESPONDENCE AND EQUIVALENCE OF THE GREAT TEXTS CONCERNING +PETER. + + +Before we compare together more exactly what was said to the +Apostles in common, and what to Peter in particular, it is desirable +to consider briefly two other points, which will complete the +evidence furnished by the Gospels. + +1. If, then, the[1] question to be decided by documents is, whether +several persons are to be accounted equal in rank, honour, and +authority, or whether one of them is superior to the rest, it will +be an unexceptionable rule to observe whether they are spoken of in +the same manner. For words are signs of ideas, and set forth as in a +mirror the mind's conceptions. A similarity of language, therefore, +will indicate a similarity of rank; a distinction of language, +especially if it be repeated and constant, will show a like +distinction of rank. Let us apply this rule to the mode in which the +Evangelists speak of Peter and of the other Apostles. + +Now to express one of rank and his attendants, the Evangelists often +use the phrase, a person _and those with him_. Thus, Luke vi. 4, +"David and _those that were with him_;" and Matt. xii. 3 with Mark +ii. 25, "Have ye not read what David did, when himself was a +hungered and _those that were with him_?" Of our Lord and the +Apostles it is said, Mark iii. 11, "And He made twelve, _that they +should be with Him_:" and xvi. 10, "She went and told _them that +had been with Him_." And Acts iv. 13, the chief priests "knew them," +Peter and John, "that _they had been with Jesus_." And Matthew xxvi. +69, Peter is reproached, "Thou also _wast with Jesus_." Now just so +the Evangelists speak of Peter. Our Lord having on one occasion left +the Apostles for solitary prayer, S. Mark writes, i. 36, "And Simon +_and they that were with him_ followed after Him." Again, the woman +with the issue of blood having touched the Lord, when He asked, 'Who +is it that touched Me?' S. Luke says, viii. 45, "all denying, Peter +_and they that were with him_ said," &c. And on the occasion of the +Transfiguration, "Peter and _they that were with him_," being James +and John. Just as after the resurrection Luke writes, Acts ii. 14, +"Peter standing up with the eleven;" verse 37, "They said to Peter +and to the rest of the Apostles;" v. 29, "Peter and the Apostles +answering said." And the angels to the holy women, Mark xvi. 7, "Go +tell His disciples and Peter." + +It is then to be remarked that Peter is the _only_ Apostle who is +put in this relation to the rest. _Never_ is it said "James," or +"John and the rest of the Apostles," or, "and those with him." Peter +is named, and the rest are added in a mass, and this happens in his +case continually, never in the case of any other Apostle. + +No adequate cause can be alleged for this but the Primacy and +superior rank of Peter, which was ever in the mind of the +Evangelists, and is sometimes indicated by the prophetic name; for +as often as Simon is called Peter, he is marked as the foundation of +the Church, according to the Lord's prophecy. And long before +contentions about the prerogatives of Peter arose, the ancient +Fathers attributed it to his Primacy, that he was thus named +expressly and first, the others in a mass, or in the second place. + +According, then, to the rule above-mentioned, Peter, by the mode in +which the Evangelists speak of him, is distinguished from the other +Apostles, and his position with regard to the rest is described in +the very same phrase which is used to express the superiority of +David over his men, and even of our Lord over the Twelve. And for +this there seems no adequate cause, but that special association of +Peter with Himself indicated in the name, and the promises +accompanying it in Matt. xvi. + +2. Again, four[2] catalogues of the Apostles exist,[3] and in each +of these Peter is placed first. And in the three which occur in the +Gospels, (that of Luke in the Acts being a more brief repetition of +his former one,) the prophetic name Peter is indicated as the reason +for his being thus placed first. So Mark. "And to Simon He gave the +name Peter. And James the son of Zebedy, and John the brother of +James; and He named them Boanerges, which is, the sons of thunder:" +for which reason, that the Lord had given them a name, though it was +held in common, and not, like that of Peter, expressive of official +rank, but personal qualities, Mark seems to set these two before +Andrew, whom both in Matthew and in Luke they follow. Again, Luke +says, "He chose twelve of them, whom also He named Apostles, Simon +whom He surnamed Peter, and Andrew his brother," &c. "_The first_ of +all, and the chief of them, he that was illiterate and uneducated," +says S. Chrysostome;[4] and Origen long before him, observing that +Peter was always named first in the number of the twelve, asks, What +should be thought the cause of this order? He replies, it was +constantly observed because Peter was "more honoured than the +rest," thus intimating that he no less excelled the rest on account +of the gifts which he had received from heaven, than "Judas through +his wretched disposition was truly the last of all, and worthy to be +put at the end."[5] But much more marked is Matthew in signifying +the superior dignity of Peter, not only naming him at the head in +his catalogue, but calling him simply and absolutely "the first." +"And the names of the twelve Apostles are these, The first, Simon, +who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, James," &c. Now that +_second_ and _third_ do not follow, shows that "first" is not a +numeral here, but designates rank and pre-eminence. Thus in heathen +authors this word "first" by itself indicates the most excellent in +its kind: thus in the Septuagint occur, "first friend of the king," +"first of the singers," "the first priest,"[6] i.e. the chief +priest. So our Lord, "whichever among you will be first;" "Bring +forth the first robe;" and S. Paul, "sinners, of whom I am +first,"[7] i.e. chief. Thus "the first of the island," Acts, xxviii. +7, means the chief magistrate; and "first" generally in Latin +phraseology, the superior, or prince. + +Such, then, is the rank which Matthew gives to Peter, when he +writes, "the first, Simon, who is called Peter." + +It should also be remarked that, whenever the Evangelists have +occasion to mention _some_ of the Apostles, Peter being one, he is +ever put first. Thus Matt., "He taketh unto Him Peter, and James, +and John his brother;" and Mark, "He admitted not any man to follow +Him, but Peter, and James, and John, the brother of James:" and +"Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew asked Him apart:" and "He +taketh Peter, and James, and John with Him:" and Luke, "He suffered +not any man to go in with him, but Peter, and James, and John, and +the father and mother of the maiden:" and "He sent Peter and John:" +and John, "There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas, who is +called Didymus, and Nathaniel, who was of Cana in Galilee, and the +two sons of Zebedy, and two others of His disciples."[8] This rule +would seem to be invariable, though James and John are not always +mentioned next after him. + +An attempt has been made to evade the force of these testimonies, by +giving as a reason for Peter being always thus named first, that he +was the most aged of all the Apostles, and the first called. Even +were it so, such reasons would seem most inadequate, but +unfortunately they are neither of them facts. For as to age, +antiquity bears witness that Andrew was Peter's elder brother. And +as to their calling, S. Augustine has observed, "In what order all +the twelve Apostles were called, does not appear in the narrations +of the Evangelists, since not only not the order of the calling, but +not even the calling itself of all is mentioned, but only of Philip, +and Peter, and Andrew, and of the sons of Zebedy, and of Matthew, +the publican, termed also Levi. But Peter was both the first and the +only one who separately received a name from Him."[9] As it may be +conjectured from the Gospels that Christ said to Philip first of +all, "Follow Me," Joh. i. 44, he has the best right to be considered +the first called. + +Now the two classes of facts just mentioned, as to the mode in which +the Evangelists speak of Peter in combination with the other +Apostles, prove directly and plainly his _Primacy_, while they do +not _directly_ prove, save Matthew's title of _First_, nor are they +here quoted to prove, the _nature_ of that Primacy, which rests, as +we have seen, on other and more decisive texts. + +At length, then, we have before us the whole evidence of the +Gospels, and having considered it piece by piece, may now take a +general view. It is time to gather up the several parts of this +evidence, and, claiming for each its due force, to present the sum +of all before the mind. For distinct and decisive as certain texts +appear, and are, even by themselves, yet when they are seen to fit +into a whole system, and perfectly to harmonise together, they have +much greater power to convince the mind, which really seeks for +truth. But moral evidences generally, and especially that which +results from a study of the Holy Scripture, is not intended to move +a mind in a lower condition than this; a mind, that is, which loves +something else better than the truth. + +Thus, out of the body of His disciples, we see our Lord choosing +Twelve, and again, out of those Twelve, distinguishing One by the +most singular favours. This distinction even begins _before_ the +selection of the Twelve, and has its root in the very commencement +of our Lord's ministry: for, as we have seen, it was when Andrew +first led his brother Simon before Christ, that He "looked upon +him," and promised him the prophetic name which revealed his +Primacy, and his perpetual relation to the Church of God. The name +thus promised is in due time bestowed, and solemnly recorded by the +three Evangelists, at the appointment of the Apostles, as the reason +why he is invariably set at their head; Matthew, still more +distinctly expressing in it his primacy, "_the first_, Simon, who is +called Peter." And their whole mode of mentioning him, and +exhibiting his relation to the other apostles, shews that this +Primacy was, when they wrote, ever in their minds. It comes out in +the most incidental way, as when Mark writes, "Simon, and they that +were with him, followed after" Christ; or Luke, "Peter, and they +that were with him, said;" as naturally as they write, "David, and +those that were with him:" or of our Lord Himself, and the Apostles, +"those that had been with Him."[10] Again this preference of Peter +is shewn by our Lord, both at the Transfiguration and the Agony: +where, even when the two next favoured of the Apostles are +associated with Him as witnesses, yet there is evidence of Peter's +superiority in the mode with which the Evangelists mention him. +Great as the dignity was of the two sons of thunder, they are yet +ranged under Peter by Luke, with that same phrase which we have just +been considering. "Peter, and they that were with him were heavy +with sleep." And our Lord, at the agony, says to Peter, "could not +_you_," that is, all the three, "watch with Me one hour?"[11] Again, +how incidentally, yet markedly, does Matthew shew that this +superiority of Peter over others was apparent even to strangers, +when he writes, that the officers who collected the tribute for the +temple, came to _him_, and said, "does not _your_ master" (the +master of all the Apostles,) "pay the didrachma?"[12] Much more +significant is the incident immediately following, when our Lord +orders him to go to the sea, to cast a hook, and to bring up a fish, +which shall have a stater in his mouth, adding, "take that, and give +it to them for Me, and for thee:" a token of preference so strong, +and of association so singular, that it set the Apostles on the +immediate enquiry, who should be the greater among them: the answer +to which we will revert to presently. + +And this designation of Peter to his high and singular office +becomes even more striking, if we contrast what our Lord did and +said to him with what He did and said to another Apostle, who _in +another way_ is even in some respects preferred to Peter himself. +For "the disciple whom Jesus loved," who lay on His breast at +supper, to whom was committed at the most sorrowful of all moments +the domestic care of the Virgin Mother, has in the affection of our +Lord his own unapproachable sphere. But as Peter does not come into +competition with him here, so neither in another view he with Peter. +His distinction is private, and in the nature of personal affection: +Peter's is public, and in the nature of Church government. To one is +committed the Mother of the Lord, the living symbol of the Church, +the most blessed of all creatures, and that, when her full dignity +and blessedness stood at length revealed in the full Godhead of her +Son, yet whose throne was intercessory, apart from rule on earth: to +the other is committed the Church herself, her championship in the +time of conflict, the rudder of the vessel on the lake, till with +Christ it should reach the shore. Each of these, so eminent and +unapproachable in his way, has that way apart; and when Peter, on +receiving his final commission, turned about and saw his best-loved +friend following, and ventured to ask, "Lord, and what shall this +man do?" our Lord replied with something like a reproof, "what is +that to thee? Follow thou Me." These distinct preferences of the two +Apostles were indicated by Tertullian, when he wrote, "Was anything +concealed from Peter, who was named the rock on which the Church +should be built, who received the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and +the power to bind and loose in heaven and on earth? Was anything, +too, concealed from John, the most beloved of the Lord, who lay +upon His breast, to whom alone the Lord foresignified the traitor +Judas, whom He committed in His own place as Son to Mary?"[13] + +But to return. Our Lord, after encompassing Peter during His whole +ministry with such tokens of preference, and a preference specially +belonging to his office, and designating it, appears to him first of +all the Apostles after His resurrection. And yet all the proofs +which we have been here summing up of Peter's pre-eminence, are but +collateral and subordinate: though by themselves ten-fold more than +any other can claim, yet Peter's authority does not rest _mainly_ on +them. And this likewise is true of another class of facts concerning +Peter, which yet carries with it much force, and when once remarked, +never leaves the thoughtful mind. It is his great predominance in +the sacred history over the rest of the Twelve. A single incident or +expression distinguishing him, is perhaps all that falls to the lot +of another Apostle, as when "Philip saith unto Him, Lord, show us +the Father and it sufficeth us;" and the Lord replies, "Have I been +so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip?" Or +as Thomas, at a moment of danger, "said to his fellow disciples, Let +us also go that we may die with Him."[14] But Peter's name is +wrought into the whole tissue of the Gospel history; he is +perpetually approaching the Lord with questions: "Lord, how oft +shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? until seven +times?" The rest suffer the Lord in silence to wash their feet, but +Peter is overcome at the sight. "Lord, dost Thou wash my feet? Thou +shalt never wash my feet;" "Lord, not my feet only, but also my +hands and my head."[15] Thus in the whole New Testament, John, who +is yet mentioned oftener than the rest, occurs only thirty-eight +times; but in the Gospels alone, omitting the Acts and the Epistles, +Peter is mentioned twenty-three times by Matthew, eighteen by Mark, +twenty by Luke, and thirty by John.[16] More especially it is the +custom of the Evangelists, when they record anything which touches +all the Apostles, almost invariably to exhibit Peter as singly +speaking for all, and representing all. Thus when Christ asked them +all equally, "But whom say ye that I am? Simon Peter answered and +said." He told them all equally "That a rich man shall hardly enter +into the kingdom of heaven,"[17] whereupon "Peter answering said to +Him, Behold, we have left all things, and followed Thee: what +therefore shall we have?" And when "Jesus said to the twelve, Will +you also go away?"[18] at once we hear, "Simon Peter answered and +said, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal +life." And a very remarkable occasion occurs where our Lord had been +telling to His disciples the parable of the watchful servant, upon +which Peter said to Him, "Lord, dost Thou speak this parable to us, +or likewise to all?"[19] And the reply seems by anticipation to +express the very office which Peter was to hold. "Who, then, is the +faithful and wise steward, whom his lord setteth over his family, to +give them their measure of wheat in due season?" Now it looks not +like an equal, but a superior, to anticipate the rest, to represent +them, to speak and act for them. S. Chrysostome drew the conclusion +long ago. "What then says Peter, the mouth-piece of the Apostles? +Everywhere impetuous as he is, the leader of the band of the +Apostles, when a question is asked of all, he replies."[20] No +other cause can be assigned for the care of the Evangelists in +setting before us so continually his words and acts, in bringing him +out, as the second object, after Christ. But though his future place +in the Church is a reason for this, and this again, a token of that +singular pre-eminence, its decisive proof rests on declarations from +our Lord's own mouth, expressly circumscribed to him, of singular +lucidity, and of force which nothing can evade; declarations which +set forth, under different but coincident images, a power supreme +and without equal, and of its own nature belonging to but one at a +time. The proofs which we have hitherto mentioned take away all +abruptness from these declarations, and show that they embody a +great design which runs all through the Gospel; but the office +itself rests upon these, and by these is most clearly and absolutely +defined. + +Thus, when our Lord, in answer to a great confession of His Apostle, +"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," replies, "and I +too, say unto thee, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build +My Church:" every one must feel how it adds to the cogency of the +reply, that the name, which He is explaining, was not the person's +natural name, but first promised, and then given, by that same Lord, +who now attaches other promises and prophecies to it. This fact +serves, among others, to fix the whole which follows to Peter +individually, and to introduce what follows, as part of a design, +which before had been intimated: for what follows no more belongs to +the other Apostles, than the name, Peter, belongs to them: and a +name, on the other hand, so promised, and so given, naturally looks, +as it were, to such a result. To say solemnly of a man, when first +seen, "Thou art called Simon, but thou shall be called The Rock," +and to make nothing of him when so called, would be, if ascribed to +any one, a dull and pointless thing; but what shall we say, when the +speaker is God? It is a new thing for God the Word to speak with +little meaning, or to speak, and not to do: and so now He does what +He had long designed. And what is it that He does? He sets up a +governor who is never to be put down. He inaugurates a Church +against which Hell shall rage, but in vain: He establishes a +government at which the nations shall rage, the kings of the earth +set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, for ever, but +to their own confusion. He does what He alone could do, and so the +answer is worthy of the confession, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of +the living God." + +"Blessed [21]art thou, Simon Bar-Jonas, for flesh and blood hath not +revealed it unto thee, but My Father who is in heaven. _And I, too, +say unto thee_, in return for what thou hast said to Me, and to +shew, like My Father, My good will towards thee, and what I say, as +the Almighty Word of the Father, by My power I fulfil, _that thou +art Peter_, the Rock, and so partaker with Me of that honour whereby +I am the chief Rock and Foundation; _and upon this Rock_, which I +have called thee, _I will build My Church_, which, therefore, with +Me for its architect, shall rest on thee, to thee adhere, and from +thee derive its conspicuous unity: _and the gates of hell_, even all +the powers of the enemy, _shall not prevail against it_, nor take +that, which, by My Godhead, is established upon thee, but rather +yield to it the victory. _And to thee_, whom, as Supreme Architect, +I have marked out for the Rock and Foundation of My Church, as King +and Lord _I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven_, and the +supreme authority over My Church, and will make thee sharer with Me +in that dignity, by which I hold the keys of heaven and of earth, +_and whatsoever_, in virtue of that authority and as associated in +My dignity, _thou shalt bind upon earth, shall be bound in heaven_, +and there shall be no matter relating to My Church, and the kingdom +of heaven, but shall be subject to thy legislative and judicial +power, which shall reach the heaven itself: for it is a power at +once human, and divine; human, as entrusted to a man, and +administered by a man; divine, as a participation of that right by +which I am, in heaven and on earth, Supreme Lawgiver and Judge; _and +whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, shall be loosed in heaven_." + +Thus it is that the most famous Fathers and Bishops, the most +distinguished Councils, the most various nations, have understood +our Lord's words, and this is their meaning, according to the fixed +laws of grammar, of rhetoric, of philosophy, and of logic, as well +as by the testimony of history, and in accordance with the +principles of theology. Let us mention certain consequences which +follow from them. + +These words[22] of Christ are, in the most marked manner, addressed +to Peter _only_ among the Apostles, and are, therefore, with their +meaning, _peculiar_ to him. And they designate pre-eminence in the +government of the Church. They have, therefore, the two qualities +which render them a suitable testimony to establish his Primacy +among the Apostles. + +Now, if persons differ in rank and pre-eminence, they must be +considered not equals, but absolutely unequal. And such pre-eminence +Peter had, deriving from Christ, the Founder, a superior rank in the +Church's ministry. Therefore, the college of the Apostles must be +termed absolutely unequal, and all the Apostles, compared with +Peter, absolutely unequal. + +But as inequality may be manifold, as of age, calling, honour, +order, jurisdiction and power, its nature and its degree must be +sought in that property which belongs to one over the rest. So that +we must determine, by the authority of the Scriptures, from those +gifts which were promised to Peter alone, the nature and the degree +of that inequality which subsisted between him and the other +Apostles. + +The gifts promised to Peter alone, are contained in these words of +Christ, recorded by Matthew: and therefore, from their nature and +inherent qualities, we must judge of the sort, and the extent of +inequality, put by Christ between Peter and the rest. + +These are summed up in the four following: I. That Peter is the +rock, on which the Church was to be built by Christ, the Chief +Architect. II. That the impregnable strength which the Church was to +have against the gates of hell, depended on its union with Peter, as +the divinely laid foundation. III. That by Christ, the King of +kings, and Lord of lords, Peter is marked out as next to Him, and +after Him, the Bearer of the keys in the Church's heavenly kingdom: +IV. And that, accordingly, universal power of binding and loosing is +promised to him, leaving him responsible to Christ alone, the +supreme Lawgiver and Judge. Therefore the nature of the prerogatives +expressed in these four terms must be our standard both of the +character and degree of inequality between the Apostles and Peter, +and of the power of the Primacy promised to Peter. + +But these terms mark authority, and plainly express jurisdiction +and power; the inequality, therefore, is one relating to +jurisdiction and power; and Peter's pre-eminence likewise such. + +That these terms, which contain Peter's prerogatives really do +express jurisdiction and authority, may be thus very briefly shown. +The first, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My +Church," is drawn from architecture, exhibiting between Peter and +the Church, which includes also the Apostles, the relation which +exists between the foundation and the superstructure. This is one of +dependence, by which accordingly the Apostles must maintain an +indivisible union with Peter. Which relation of dependence, again, +cannot be understood without the notion of superior jurisdiction in +Peter, for these are correlative. The second term corroborates this; +for it is a plain duty, and undoubted moral obligation, to be united +to him, if severed from whom, the words of Christ do not entitle you +to expect stability or victory over the gates of hell. Now, "the +gates of hell shall not prevail against it," most plainly express +that perseverance and victory are promised to no one by Christ, who +does not remain joined with Peter. So much for the _duty_ which +binds all Christians, and the Apostles among them, to avoid +separation from Peter as their destruction. But such duty involves +the faculty and authority on Peter's part of enjoining on all +without exception the maintenance of unity, and of keeping from the +whole body the sin of schism, which, again, expresses his superior +jurisdiction. Yet plainer and more striking is the _third_; for in +the words, "And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of +heaven," it is foretold that Peter, in regard to the kingdom of +heaven, and therefore to all Christians, whether teachers or taught, +subjects or prelates, shall discharge the office of the bearer of +the keys; with which jurisdiction and authority are indivisibly +united. But in the _fourth_, there is no matter relating to the +heavenly kingdom, which is not subjected by this promise to Peter's +authority. "Whatsoever thou shalt bind," "whatsoever thou shalt +loose;" but this is in its own kind without limit, a full +legislative and judicial power. Thus these four terms exactly agree +with each other, and express, severally and collectively, +prerogatives by which Peter is admitted to a singular and close +association with Christ; and therefore is pre-eminent among the +Apostles by his Primacy, and his superior authority over the whole +Church. + +They also show, with no less clearness, that Christ in bestowing +these prerogatives and primacy on Peter, designed to produce the +visible unity of His kingdom and Church; and this in two ways, the +first _typically prefiguring_ the Church's own unity in Peter, the +single Foundation, Bearer of the keys, and supreme Legislator and +Judge; the second _efficiently_, as by a principle and cause, +_forming_, _holding together_, and _protecting_, visible unity in +that same Peter, as he discharged these functions. For just as the +building is based on the foundation, and by virtue of it all the +parts are held together, so a kingdom's unity and harmonious +administration are first _moulded out_, and then _preserved_, in the +unity of its supreme authority. + +And this Primacy may be regarded from three different points of +view; as it _is in itself_, and as it regards its _efficient_ and +its _final_ cause. As to the first, it consists in superior +jurisdiction and authority; as to the second, it springs from Christ +Himself, who said to Peter alone, "And I too say unto thee," &c.; as +to the third, it _prefigures_, _forms_, and _protects_ the Church's +visible unity. + +But to prefigure, to form, and to protect the Church's unity being +distinct functions, care must be taken not to confuse them, the +former concerning the Primacy as a type, the two latter as the +origin and efficient cause; and also not to concede the former while +the latter are denied, which latter make up the Primacy as +jurisdictional, and the instrument effecting unity. Now Peter is +both the type of unity, its origin, and its efficient cause. + +A long line[23] of fathers, from the most ancient downwards, regards +Peter as at once the type, and the origin, and efficient cause of +unity; setting it forth as a prerogative of his headship that no +one, whether Apostle, or Prophet, or Evangelist, or Doctor, or +Teacher, might separate from him without the crime of schism. In +this consists his Primacy, and in this the famous phrase of S. +Cyprian finds its solution, that "the Episcopate is one, of which a +part is held by each without division of the whole." + +And, what is like to the preceding, they hold that Peter is the +_continuous_ source of all power in the Church, and that while its +plenitude dwells in his person, a portion of it is derived to the +various prelates under him. No one has set this forth more fully +than S. Leo, in the middle of the fifth century, as where he says, +that "if Christ willed that other rulers should enjoy aught together +with him, (that is, Peter,) yet never did He give, _save through +him_, what He denied not to others."[24] + +There is no one of these consequences but seems to result from the +words of our Lord here solemnly addressed to Peter. + +But, recurring to our general view, we find our Lord three +several[25] times appealed to by the Apostles to declare who should +be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven; and while on neither of +these occasions does He declare to them that there should be no +"greater one" among them, though such a declaration would have +terminated their rivalry, on the last and most urgent, at the very +eve of His departure from them, He sets forth in vivid words what +ought to be the character and deportment of the one so to be placed +over them; and then turning His conversation from them in a body to +Peter in particular, He charges him, at a future time, when He shall +obtain for him the gift of a faith that could not fail, to "confirm +his brethren." Having before dwelt on the full meaning of these +words, we need only remark how marvellously they coincide in force +with the prophecy which we have just been considering, while they +differ from it in expression. They convey as absolutely a supreme +authority as the former; and an authority independent of others, and +exclusive of participation; and one which is given for the +maintenance of the faith, and of visible unity in that faith. Nor +can we imagine a more fitting termination to the whole of our Lord's +dealing with His disciples before His passion, than that, when about +to be taken from them, He should designate, in words so full of +affection and provident care, one who was presently to take His own +place among them. "Simon, Simon, I have prayed for thee, that thy +faith fail not, and thou in thy turn one day confirm thy brethren." + +But if our Lord's preference of Peter, as to rank and dignity in the +Church, was during his lifetime consistent and uniform; if, +moreover, He made to him, twice, promises so large as to include and +go far beyond all that He said to the Apostles in common; and if He +took out, as it were, of what He had first promised to Peter a +portion which He afterwards promised as their common inheritance to +the rest; His dealing with Peter and the Apostles after His +resurrection is the exact counterpart to this. The fulfilment is +equivalent to the promise. In the fourfold prophecy to Peter, in +Matt. xvi. the last member is, "And whatsoever thou shalt bind on +earth, it shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt +loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven." That this is a +grant of full legislative and judicial power, given to one, we have +seen. Now on a later occasion it is repeated to the twelve together, +Matt. xviii. 18. _But the other three members of the prophecy made +to Peter are never repeated to the twelve_. In the fulfilment the +same distinction takes place. To the twelve in common our Lord +communicates the power contained in the fourth member of His +original promise, saying, John xx. 21, "As the Father hath sent Me, +I also send you. Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whose sins ye shall +forgive, they are forgiven them: and whose sins ye shall retain, +they are retained:" to which the other forms contained in Matt. +xxviii. 18, Mark xvi. 15, Luke xxiv. 49, Acts i. 4, 8, of preaching +the Gospel to every creature, of waiting for the power of the Holy +Ghost wherewith they should be endued, of teaching men to observe +all things which He had commanded, are equivalent, though less +definite. _But nowhere are the powers contained in the first three +members of the prophecy to Peter communicated to the twelve_. As the +promises were made to Peter alone originally, so to Peter alone are +they, as we shall see, fulfilled. Indeed, it could not be otherwise, +for the promises to be the rock of the Church, by coherence with +which the Church should be impregnable, and the bearer of the keys, +are in their own nature confined to one, and exclusive of +participants, and once made by the very Truth Himself to one man, +they ranged under his power all his brethren: "For the promises of +Jesus Christ, as well as His gifts, are without repentance; and what +is once given indefinitely and universally is irrevocable."[26] +Besides that, another indisputable principle must be taken into +account, viz., "that power given to several carries its restriction +in its division:" just as if a king before his death bequeaths the +whole administration of his sovereignty to a board of twelve +councillors, though the sum of authority so conveyed be sovereign, +yet the share of each individual in the college will be restricted +by the equal right of his colleagues. Whereas "power given to one +alone, and over all, and without exception, carries with it +plenitude, and, not having to be divided with any other, it has no +bounds save those which its terms convey." Such was the power +originally promised to Peter; and such, no less, that which was +ultimately conveyed. He stands apart and alone no less in the +fulfilment than in the promise. And under another image, but one +equally expressive with the first, the Lord conveys an authority as +absolute and as exclusive. The "bounds which its terms convey" are +the whole fold of Christ: "the sheep" no less than "the lambs:" "to +govern" no less than "to feed."[27] As the great Architect of the +heavenly city said to Peter, "Thou art the Rock;" as "the King of +kings," who "hath the key of David," and "on whose shoulder is the +government," said to Peter, "To thee will I give the keys of the +kingdom of heaven;" as He "who upholdeth all things by the word of +His power," and "in whom all things consist," said to Peter, +"Confirm thy brethren:" so to the same Peter, the same "Great +Shepherd of the sheep," said, "Feed My lambs, be shepherd over My +sheep," thus committing to him the chief Apostles themselves who +heard this charge, and causing there to be for ever "one fold and +one shepherd," on earth as in heaven. + +It remains briefly to consider these three palmary texts in their +reciprocal relations to each other, by which the fullest light is +thrown upon the scriptural prerogatives of S. Peter. + +1. First, then, all these texts are in the most marked manner +circumscribed to Peter _alone_. In all he is addressed by name; in +all he is distinguished by other circumstances from his brethren at +the time present with him; in all a special condition is attached +belonging to him; in the first, superior faith--in the second, +faith, which, by a particular gift, the fruit of Christ's own +prayer, should never fail--in the third, superior love. So that, +without an utter disregard of the meaning of words, and the force of +the context, and every law of grammar and philology, no one of these +texts can be extended from its application to Peter alone, and made +common to the other Apostles. + +2. Secondly, the note of _priority in time_ is secured to Peter by +the first text, to which the other two correspond. Even if the +promise in Matt. xviii. 18, made to all the Apostles, were of equal +latitude with that previously made to Peter, which it is so very far +from being that it contains one point only out of four, yet, the +fact that they had been already ranged by the former under him, and +that he had been promised _singly_ what they afterwards were +promised _in common_, would make a vast difference between them; +indeed, the difference of the Primacy. But, as it is, the very +first mention of the Church is connected with a promise made to +Peter of the highest authority in that Church, and a perpetual +relationship, entering into its inmost constitution, between it and +his person. Before the Church is formed, it is foretold that Peter +shall rule her: before she is set up against the gates of hell, +that, by virtue of her coherence with Him, she should prevail over +them. And the germ of her Episcopate, on which she is to grow, is +sown in His person; just as, in the last act of our Lord, that +Episcopate is delivered over to Him, universal and complete. + +3. Thirdly, those three texts are exactly _equivalent_ to each +other: they each involve and express the other. They could not have +been said of different persons without contradiction and confusion. +He who has one of them must have the rest. There is variation of +image, but identity of meaning. Thus, the relation between Peter and +the Church is in the first, that of Foundation and Superstructure; +of the heaven-built city, and of him who holds its keys: in the +second, it is that of the Architect, who, by skill and authority, +won for him, and given to him, by the Supreme Builder, the Word and +Wisdom of God, maintains every living stone of the structure in its +due place: in the third it is that of the supreme and universal +Pastor and his whole flock. In all of these there is the habit of +dependence between the superior and that over which he is set: in +all the need of close coherence with him. Observe in particular the +identity of the second and third. The special office of the Shepherd +of[28] souls is to lead his flock into suitable pastures, that is, +duly to instruct them in the Divine Word and Will: the pastoral +office is identical with that of teaching: "He gave some Apostles, +some Prophets, some Evangelists, some pastors and teachers," the +former are distinguished, the last united together: where the +Apostle observes, that the whole ministry, from the highest to the +lowest, is organised "to edify the body of Christ into the unity of +faith," and to preserve men from being "carried about by every wind +of doctrine." But if this was the design of Christ as to the whole +ministry, and as to each individual teacher, most of all was it in +instituting one supreme and universal Pastor: in him most of all +would be seen the perfect _fitting in together_[29] of each +individual member: he was set up especially for the compacting of +each spiritual joint, the harmony and cohesion of the whole. Here, +then, the office of the universal Pastor or Teacher is precisely +equivalent to him, who, by another image confirms, strengthens, +consolidates his brethren. Thus, in the second text Christ foretold +the third. But the more we contemplate all the three in their mutual +relations, the more a certain thought suggests itself to the mind. +There is a special doctrine concerning the most Holy Trinity, the +most distinctive of that great mystery, which expresses the +reciprocal indwelling of the Three Persons. Now something analogous +may be said of the way in which these three texts impermeate and +include each other, of their exact equivalence, and distinct, but +inseparable force: of whom one is said, of the same must all. + +4. Fourthly, they all indicate a _sovereign_ authority, +_independent_ itself, but on which all others depend; symbolising +power from above, but claiming obedience from below; immutable in +itself, but by which all the rest are made proof against change; for +it is not to the sheep that the shepherd is responsible, but to +their owner. It has been said throughout that the one special mark +of Peter's distinction was a peculiar association with Christ. It is +not therefore by any infringement of equal rights that this +authority is set up, but as the representative, the vicegerent, of +Him in whom all power dwells: who bore this authority in His own +body, and who committed to another what was first His own, both by +creation and by purchase--"Feed _My_ sheep." In all these texts the +immediate transference of authority from the Person of the God-man +is most striking; in Peter He inaugurates His great theandric +dispensation, and forms the Body which He was to leave on earth. +Thus these texts most clearly express that important doctrine of +antiquity, the keystone of the Church's liberty from the world, +which is the reason why the world so hates it, "The first See is +judged by no man." So entirely have political ideas and jealousies +infected our mode of judging of spiritual things--to such a degree +is our peculiar civil liberty made the standard of Church +government--that it is necessary to insist again and again on what +to Christians ought to be a first principle, viz., that "all power +and jurisdiction in the Church, like the Church herself, ought to +rest not upon natural and human authority, but on the divine +authority of Christ. This is the reason why we may pronounce no +otherwise concerning such jurisdiction, than we know has been handed +down from Christ, its proper author and founder. Now it is certain +that at the same moment at which Christ instituted the community +called the Church, such a power was introduced, and entrusted as +well to Peter singly as the head, as to the Apostles under him. Nay, +that power was fixed and constituted, and its ministers and bishops +marked out, _before_ the Church, that is, the whole body and +commonwealth, had grown into coherence. And so ecclesiastical +jurisdiction did not first dwell in the community itself, and was +then translated by a sort of popular suffrage and consent to its +magistrates; but from the very first origin Peter was destined to be +single chief of the future body, and next to him the other +Apostles."[30] + +5. Fifthly, it must be observed that there is a _definiteness_ about +these texts which belongs in a far less degree to those forms in +which the co-ordinate and co-equal authority of the Apostles, as +such, is expressed. This last is left to be harmonised and brought +into operation by the superior power of the chief. They are indeed +sent into all the world, they are immediately instituted by our +Lord, they have the promise that His power shall be with them, and +that their sentence shall stand good in heaven and on earth; but +this promise, which is the most distinct made to them, has been +already gathered up into the hands of one, and in its practical +issue is limited by the necessity of cooperating with that one; that +is, the authority of Peter includes and embraces theirs, but theirs +is ranged under his. Theirs is modified not only by being shared, +but by having his set over them. Now observe how distinct and clear, +how definite in their meaning, while universal in their range, are +the things said of him alone; 1. That he should be the rock on which +Christ would build His Church; 2. That permanence and victory should +belong to that Church for ever through Him: 3. That he should bear +the keys in the kingdom of heaven: 4. That whatever _singly_ he +should bind and loose, should be bound and loosed in heaven as well +as on earth: 5. That he should confirm his brethren, the Apostles +themselves being the very first so called: 6. That he should be the +Shepherd of the fold. What can constitute inequality between two +parties, if such a series of promises given to one, and not to the +other, does not? + +6. Sixthly, these promises cannot be contemplated without seeing +that the ordinary and regular government of the Church springs from +the person whom they designate, and in whom they are concentrated. +To take the last, all spiritual care is summed up in the word +Pastorship, the office of priest, bishop, metropolitan, patriarch, +and pope, rising in degree, and extending in range, but in its +nature the same. On the contrary Apostles, (with this one exception, +in virtue of the Primacy,) Prophets, and Evangelists, are +extraordinary officers, attending the opening of the dispensation, +but afterwards dropping off. But the Church, as it was to endure for +ever, and the orderly arrangement of the divine ministry, were +summed up in the Primacy, and flowed forth from it as the full +receptacle of the virtue of God the Word Incarnate. And so it is the +head of the ministerial body. All which is set forth as in a picture +to the mind, in that scene upon the shore of the lake of Galilee, +when the Lord said to Peter, "Feed My sheep." + +7. And, again, Peter was thus made the beginning and principle of +spiritual power, as it left the Person of God the Word, not for +once, but for ever. Long as the structure should endure, its +principle of cohesion must bind it. As the law of gravitation binds +all worlds together in the natural kingdom, and is a _continuous_ +source of strength and harmony, so should be in the spiritual +kingdom that force which the same Wisdom of God established; it goes +on with power undiminished; it is the full fountain-head from which +all streams emanate; it is the highest image of God's power as the +centre and source of all things. This idea is dwelt upon by S. +Cyprian and S. Augustine, as well as by Pope S. Innocent,[31] the +contemporary of the latter, and was afresh expressed in a synodical +letter of the three provinces of Africa to Pope Theodore, in A.D. +646, "No one can doubt that there is in the Apostolic See a great +unfailing fountain, pouring forth waters for all Christians, whence +rich streams proceed, bountifully irrigating the whole Christian +world."[32] + +8. And, lastly, in these great promises Peter is specially set forth +as the type and the efficient cause of visible unity in the Church. +Such was the very purpose of Christ, that His disciples might be +one, as He and the Father are one. For this end, in the words of S. +Augustine, "He entrusted His sheep to Peter, as to another self, He +willed to make him one with Himself;" and in the words of S. Leo, +"He assumed him into the participation of His indivisible +unity."[33] But this is seen no less plainly in the words of Christ, +than in the Fathers; for He made _one_ Rock, _one_ Bearer of the +keys, _one_ Confirmer of the brethren, and _one_ Shepherd. The union +of millions of naturally conflicting wills in the profession and +belief of one doctrine is almost the very highest work of divine +power; and as grace, that is, the Holy Spirit diffused in the heart, +is the inward efficient of this, so the outward, both symbol and +instrument, is the Primacy, that "other self" which the Lord left in +the world. And as the Church of God through every succeeding age +grows and expands, the need of this power becomes greater and not +less, and reverence to that "single chair in which unity was to be +observed by all,"[34] a more imperative virtue, or rather an +ever-deepening instinct, of the Christian mind. + +But antiquity itself drew no other conclusions from the +concentration of these great privileges in the person of Peter. We +have but to go back to a time before the present nationalities of +Europe, those jealous foes of Peter's authority, had come into +existence, and we find the chief men of France, and Spain, and +Italy, interpreting the above texts as we have done. Take one whose +testimony from the circumstances of his life ought to be above +suspicion. John Cassian was by birth a Scythian, was educated in a +monastery at Bethlehem, travelled through Egypt, and made himself +acquainted with its most distinguished religious men, went to +Constantinople, and was ordained deacon by S. Chrysostome, and +afterwards at Rome priest by Pope Innocent I. On the capture of Rome +by Alaric, he settled at Marseilles, about the year 410, and there +founded two monasteries. In his work on the Incarnation he says,[35] +"Let us ask him, who is supreme, both as disciple among disciples, +and as teacher among teachers, who, steering the course of the Roman +Church, held the supremacy as well of the faith as of the +priesthood. Tell us, therefore, tell us, we pray, O Peter, Prince of +the Apostles, tell us how the Churches ought to believe. For just it +is that thou, who wast taught of the Lord, shouldst teach us, and +open to us the door whose key thou hast received. Shut out all who +undermine the heavenly house, and turn away those who attempt to +make an entry through treacherous caverns and illicit approaches; +because it is certain that no one shall be able to enter the door of +the kingdom, save he to whom the key placed by thee in the Church +shall open it. Tell us, therefore, how we ought to believe that +Jesus is the Christ, and to confess our common Lord." Again, +fourteen hundred years ago, Maximus, Bishop of Turin in that day, +confessed by his words, what his successor of the present day bears +witness to by his sufferings: for he writes of Peter, "As[36] the +Good Shepherd he received the defence of the flock, so that he, who +before had been weak in his own case, might become the confirmation +to all: and he who had been shaken by the temptation of the question +asked him, might be a foundation to the rest by the stability of his +faith. In fine, for the firmness of his devotion he is called the +Rock of the Churches, as the Lord says, 'Thou art Peter, and upon +this Rock I will build My Church.' For he is called the Rock, +because he was the first to lay the foundations of the faith among +the nations, _and, because, as an immoveable stone, he holds +together the framework and the mass of the whole Christian +structure_. Peter, therefore, for his devotion is called the Rock, +and the Lord is named the Rock by His inherent power, as the Apostle +says, 'and they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and +the rock was Christ.' _Rightly does he merit to share the name, who, +likewise, merits to share the work._" Again, far and wide has the +lying story been spread by false-hearted men, who above all things, +hate the spiritual kingdom which God has set up in the world, that +Peter's power has been the growth of gradual encroachment on the +secular authority. Now, long before Pelayo renewed the Spanish +monarchy in the mountains of the Asturias, and while Augustine, sent +by Pope Gregory, was laying the foundation of the English Church, S. +Isidore, Bishop of Seville, from 598 to 636, the very highest of the +ancient Spanish doctors, wrote thus explicitly to his colleague at +Toledo:[37] "But as to the question of the equality of the Apostles, +Peter is pre-eminent over the rest, who merited to hear from the +Lord, 'Thou shalt be called Cephas--Thou art Peter, and upon this +rock I will build My Church.' And not from any one else, but from +the very Son of God and the Virgin, he was the first to receive the +honour of the pontificate in the Church of Christ, to whom also, +after the resurrection of the Son of God, was said by the same, +'Feed My lambs,' noting by the name of lambs the prelates of the +churches. And although the dignity of this power is derived to all +Catholic bishops, yet in a more special manner it remains for ever +in the Roman bishop, who is by a certain singular privilege set as +the head over the other limbs. Whoso, therefore, renders not +reverently to him due obedience, involves himself, as being severed +from the head, in the schism of the Acephali." + +It would be easy to multiply such authorities of a period prior to +the formation of all the existing European states. It was the will +of God, providing for His Church, that before the old Roman society +was utterly upheaved from its foundations by the deluge of the +Northern tribes, reverence for S. Peter's throne should be fixed as +an immovable rock, on which a new Christian civilization might be +founded. Thus Pope Gregory II., writing to the Emperor Leo the +Isaurian, about the year 717, only sums up the force and effect of +all preceding tradition, when he says: "The whole West turns its +eyes upon us, and, unworthy though we be, puts complete trust in us, +and in that blessed Peter, whose image you threaten to overturn, but +whom all the kingdoms of the West count for a God upon earth."[38] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Passaglia, p. 106. + +[2] Passaglia, p. 109. + +[3] Matt. x. 2-5; Mark iii. 16-19; Luke vi. 14-17; Acts i. 13. + +[4] St. Chrysostome on Matt. Hom. 32. + +[5] Origen on John, Tom. 32, n. 5, T. 4, p. 413. + +[6] 1 Paral. xxvii. 33; Neh. xii. 45; 2 Paral. xxvi. 20. + +[7] Matt. xx. 27; Luke xv. 22; 1 Tim. i. 15. + +[8] Matt. xvii. 1; Mark v. 37; xiii. 3; xiv. 33; Luke viii. 51; +xxii. 8; John xxi. 2. + +[9] De Consensu. Evang. Lib. 2, c. xvii. n. 39. + +[10] Mark i. 36; Luke viii. 45; Matt. xii. 3; Mark ii. 25; xvi. 10. + +[11] Luke ix. 32; Matt. xxvi. 40. + +[12] Matt. xvii. 24. + +[13] De Praesc. c. 22. + +[14] John xiv. 8; xi. 16. + +[15] Matt. xviii. 21; John xiii. 6. + +[16] Passaglia, p. 134. + +[17] Matt. xix. 23. + +[18] John vi. 67. + +[19] Luke xii. 41. + +[20] In Matt. Hom. 54. + +[21] Passaglia, p. 510. + +[22] Passaglia, p. 518. + +[23] These testimonies have been set forth at length in another +work, "The See of St. Peter, the Rock of the Church," &c. Pp. +97-118. + +[24] Serm. 4. + +[25] Matt. xviii. 1; xx. 20; Luke xxii. 24. + +[26] Bossuet, Sermon on unity. + +[27] Poimahinein, gubernare, to govern, the particular word +which our Lord employs to convey His powers to Peter, is also the +particular word which gives such offence to temporal governments, +when acted on by Peter: bhoskein, pascere, to feed, they +find more endurable, and probably they would all be content, from +the heathen Roman emperors to the present day, to allow _the Church_ +to _feed_, so long as _they_ are allowed to _govern_ the faithful. +The objection on the part of the Church is, that our Lord gave +_both_ to Peter. + +[28] Passaglia, p. 591. + +[29] Ho katartismos ton hagion. Eph. iv. 12. + +[30] Petavius, de Ecc. Hier. Lib. 3, c. 14. + +[31] St. Cyprian de unitate, c. 3. St. Aug. to Pope Innocent, Ep. +177, n. 19. Pope Innocent to the Councils of Carthage and Numidia. + +[32] Mansi x. 919. + +[33] St. Aug. Serm. 46. St. Leo, Epistle 10. + +[34] St. Optatus, cont. Parm. Lib. 2, c. 6. + +[35] Lib. 3, c. 12. + +[36] De Petro Apostolo, Hom. 4. + +[37] Ad Eugenium Toletanum. + +[38] Mausi, Concil. T. xii. 972. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +S. PETER'S PRIMACY AS EXHIBITED IN THE ACTS. + + +The [1]purpose of S. Luke in writing the Acts seems to have been to +set before us the labours and sufferings of the Apostles in planting +and propagating the Church. But he has divided the book very +distinctly into two portions; the latter, from the thirteenth +chapter to the end, with one short exception, is wholly occupied +with the labours of S. Paul, "the vessel of election," in spreading +the faith among the Gentiles, and so contains the particular history +of that Apostle, and the churches founded by him. The former, from +the beginning to the end of the twelfth chapter, embraces the +history of the Apostles in common, and of the whole Church, as it +rose at Jerusalem, and was spread first in Judea, then in Samaria, +and finally extended to the Gentiles. The former history, then, is +universal; the latter, particular. + +Moreover, to use the words of [2]S. Chrysostome, "we may here see +the promises which Christ made in the Gospels carried into +execution, and the bright light of truth shining in the very +actions, and a great change in the disciples, arising from the +Spirit that had entered into them.--You will see here Apostles +speeding on the wing over land and sea, and men once timid and +unskilled suddenly changed into despisers of wealth, and conquerors +of glory and all other passions; you will see them united in the +utmost harmony, without jealousy, which once they had, without +contention for the higher place." + +We may say, then, in a word, that the Gospels are a history of the +Head, and the Acts of the mystical Body. Hence both issue forth from +one and the same fountain and source. The history of the Head begins +with the descent of the Holy Ghost, whereby Christ was conceived, +and [3]"the race of God and of man became one. For just as the union +of man with woman joins two families, so upon Christ assuming flesh, +by that flesh the whole Church became of kin with Christ, Paul +became Christ's kinsman, and Peter, each one of the faithful, all +we, every holy person. Therefore, says Paul, [4]'being the offspring +of God,' and again, 'we are the body of Christ and members in +particular,' that is, through the flesh, which He has assumed, we +are His kinsmen." Now the history of the Body, proceeding from the +same fountain-head, sets before us the Holy Spirit, who, by +descending first on the teachers, and afterwards on the disciples, +exalts and advances all, and by imparting Himself, imparts "the +proportional deification of man," that is, "the utmost possible +assimilation and union with God."[5] For "the Spirit works in us by +His proper power, truly sanctifying, and uniting us to Himself into +one frame, and making us partakers of the divine nature:"[6] +"becoming as it were a quality of the Godhead in us, and dwelling in +the saints, and abiding for ever." + +Now it is [7]manifest that if the first twelve chapters of the Acts +contain the history of the Church from its beginning, and what the +Apostles did for its first formation, its growth, and its form of +government, all this has the closest connection with the question as +to Peter's prerogatives. For the historical accounts in the Acts, +which exhibit the _execution_ of Christ's promises and intentions, +naturally tend to set in the fullest light, and to reveal +distinctly, whatever as to the administration of the Church may be +less clearly _foretold_ in the Gospels. For in itself the +_execution_ is declaratory of the _enactment_, and supplies a safe +rule for understanding and determining the words of institution. +Now, if we apply this rule to the present question, it will be +apparent that those expressions of the Gospel, which we assigned to +the divine institution of the Primacy, cannot be otherwise received +without making the _execution_ in the Acts at variance with what the +Gospels record. + +For, take it as a still doubtful hypothesis whether there exist +evangelical testimonies of Peter's _institution_ to be head and +chief of the Apostles. What needs it to turn this hypothesis into +certainty? What should we expect of Peter, if he really had received +from Christ the charge of leading the other Apostles? What but that +he should never follow, but always be at the head; should close +dissensions, weigh and terminate controversies, punish emergent +offences, maintain the general discipline, give the support of his +counsel and authority in need, and leave undone none of those +functions which accompany the office of head and supreme ruler? +Hence it is plain that there are two ways, the one absolute, the +other hypothetical, by which a decisive judgment may be drawn from +the history of the Acts, as to whether Peter's Primacy was +instituted in the Gospels. Critics and philosophers are perpetually +using both these tests. Thus, the former, "if a certain work--say +the epistles of the martyr Ignatius--be genuine, it ought to contain +certain characteristics. But it does contain these, and so is +genuine." Or absolutely, "a certain work, the Epistles of Ignatius, +contains all which we should expect in a genuine work, therefore it +is genuine." The latter infer, "If bodies be moved by the law of +gravitation, they would pass through a certain space under such and +such a condition. But this they do, and accordingly are moved by +gravitation." Or absolutely, "Bodies left to themselves pass through +space under such conditions as they would follow, if impelled by +gravitation. Accordingly they are so impelled." Now in the parallel +case, "If Christ in the Gospels pre-ordained a form of Church +government, which gathered up the supreme power and visible headship +into Peter's hands, the _exercise_ of such _institution_ ought to be +found in the Acts. But it is so found. Therefore," &c.--or again, +"No one would expect certain acts from Peter, unless he were the +head of all the Apostles; and all would fairly expect those acts of +Peter, if they recognised him as so set over all by Christ. Now in +the general history of the Apostles we find such acts recorded of +Peter, and that not partially, here and there, but in a complete +series. Accordingly the history of the rising Church, exhibited in +the first part of the Acts, demands Peter's Primacy for its +explanation; and if we deny that Primacy, and take in another sense +the words recording its institution in the Gospel, the history +becomes unintelligible." + +Now this reasoning is conclusive in either way, provided only that +what we have asserted be really found in the Acts. The proof of this +may be either general, or piecemeal and particular. We will take +both in order, beginning with the former. + +1. First, [8]then, we must repeat, as concerns that whole portion of +the Acts containing the history of the universal Church, and all +the Apostles, viz. the first twelve chapters, a remark before made +as to the Gospels, which is, that Peter simply is more often +mentioned than all the rest put together. For Peter's name occurs +more than fifty times, the others very seldom, and those who are +found the oftenest, John and James, are recorded, the former seven +or eight, the latter three or four times. Yet this is a history of +them all: Luke is recording the common exertions of all the Apostles +in building up the Church. This is the very distinction between the +former and the latter portion of his book, which is confined to the +labours of S. Paul, leaving aside the rest of the Church. What then +is the reason that Peter, in a general history, is so often brought +forward, and the rest, either singly or in conjunction, so seldom? +Because after our Lord's glorious ascension Peter stood to the +eleven in an analogous position to that held by our Lord, so long as +He was visible, towards the whole college: because Peter was become +the head, and the rest, as members, were ranged under him. + +2. Such subordination on their part, such pre-eminence on his,[9] +Luke shows yet more clearly, whenever he groups Peter with the rest, +by assigning to him the leading place. It frequently happens to him +to speak of Peter and the rest together, but on no one occasion does +he give Peter any but the first place, and the leading part. Just as +the evangelists do with regard to Christ, and the Apostles and +disciples, so Luke prefers Peter to the rest, to mark a difference +between the rank and office of Peter, and that of the others. + +3. Luke seems to confirm his readers in such a conclusion by the +form which he follows of mentioning Peter _directly_, and the rest +_obliquely_ or _in a mass_. These are instances: "In those days +Peter, _rising up in the midst of the brethren_, said"--"Peter, +_standing up with the eleven_, lifted up his voice"--"They said _to +Peter and to the rest of the Apostles_"--"Peter _with John_ +fastening his eyes upon him said, Look upon us."--"Peter _and the +Apostles_ answering, said."[10] Now what form of writing could Luke +choose to refute an opinion about the _universal_ equality of the +Apostles? Or to show Peter as set over the rest, and to satisfy in +this even the most unreasonable? Either the form which he did choose +is calculated to do this, or none such can be found. + +4. Add to this that Peter is represented as speaking and answering, +when the occasion would suggest that all the Apostles, equally, +should disclose their mind. The reproaches of the unbelieving Jews +affected not Peter singly, but all alike; but he alone stands forth, +he alone lifts up his voice, and in a long speech brings them to +sound reflection. The multitude, struck with compunction, asked not +Peter only, but the rest likewise, "What shall we do, men and +brethren?" Yet it is forthwith added, "But _Peter_ said to them." +Upon the miracle by which one who had been lame from his mother's +womb was healed, "all the people ran together to them," both Peter +and John, but Peter alone speaks, and takes on himself the defence +of the common cause: "Peter seeing, made answer to the people."[11] +Fresh instances may be found in chs. iv. 6-7, and v. 2-3. The result +of the whole is that Peter is continually "the mouth-piece of the +Apostles,"[12] always takes the lead, and gives his own mind, as +conveying that of the rest. + +On what ground does he do this? Was it from natural fervour of +disposition? But it was the same after he was filled with the Holy +Spirit as before. Was it the result of superior age, or first +calling? but the facts refute this. What other cause can be +suggested save that Primacy which the Gospels record, and the Acts +confirm? + +5. To this we must likewise refer it that Luke, while he amply +describes actions which belong to Peter, rather hints at than +narrates what concerns the other Apostles. Thus he leaves it to be +understood that the others spoke, while he gives Peter's discourses +entire, and seems to have chosen them as the principal material of +his history. He simply suggests that miracles were wrought by the +rest, but records particularly what Peter did for the establishment +of the faith. He relates but very little of those who became +Christians by the exertion of others, but notes at large the +abundant fruit of Peter's teaching. Take an ancient author's summary +of the Acts, "this whole volume is about the ascension of Christ +after the resurrection, and about the descent of the Holy Spirit on +the holy Apostles, and how and where the disciples announced +Christ's religion, and all the wondrous deeds which they did by +prayer and faith in Him, and about Paul's divine calling from +heaven, his apostleship, and fruitful preaching, and in a word about +those many great dangers which the Apostles underwent for +Christ:"[13] follow, out of this, all which concerns the universal +Church in the first twelve chapters, and Peter will be found not +only the principal, but well nigh the only, figure in the +foreground. + +6. Hence as the Gospels may be called the history of Christ, so this +first part of the Acts may be called the history of Peter; for as +Christ occupies each page of the Gospels, so Peter here. Nothing can +be more emphatic or more just than S. Chrysostome's words: "Behold +him making his rounds on every side, and the first to be found; when +an Apostle was to be chosen, he was the first; when the Jews were to +be told that they were not drunken; when the lame man was to be +healed; when the multitude was to be addressed, he is before the +rest; when they had to do with the rulers, it is he; when with +Ananias, when healings took place from the shadow, still it is he. +Where there was danger, it is he, and where there was dispensation; +but when all is tranquil, they act in common. He sought not the +greater honour. But again, when miracles are to be worked, he comes +forth before the rest."[14] What can prove Peter's pre-eminence if +this does not? But his words on another occasion deserve mention. +Alluding to the title "Acts of the Apostles," which seems to promise +their common history, he observes, "Yet if you search accurately, +the first part of the book exhibits Peter's miracles and teaching, +but little on the part of the other Apostles; and after this the +whole account is spent on Paul." But he adds, "How are they the acts +of all the Apostles? Because, according to Paul, when one member is +glorified, all the members are glorified with it, the historian did +not entitle them, the Acts of Peter and of Paul, but the Acts of the +Apostles; the promise of the writer includes them all."[15] Now +every one must feel the very high distinction given to Paul in the +latter part of the book, when the historian turns away from the +general history of the Church to record his particular labours, in +which, no doubt, the object was to show the progress of the Church +among the Gentiles; but with regard to the part which is common to +the whole Church, another thought is suggested. The history of what +Peter taught and did, to build up and extend the Church, is +considered the common history of the Apostles, and so inscribed as +their Acts. But can this be called an _accurate_ expression, unless +Peter had been the head of the Apostles? It is very plain that the +acts of a head are imputed to the whole body; to a college of +brethren, what its chief executes; to a city or kingdom, the deeds +of its prince. But it is not plain how this can be, if the actor be +one of a number, and do not exceed his brethren in honour or +dignity. Therefore the Acts of Peter could be called, generally, the +Acts of the Apostles, only because they were considered the Acts of +their head. + +Now let us pass from the general view to that in detail. + +I. After [16]the Lord's ascension a most important point immediately +arose, whether, that is, the number of the Twelve was to be filled +up by the election of a new Apostle to take the place of Judas. The +will of Christ on this matter was to be learnt; a witness was to be +chosen who should participate in the mission of Christ Himself, +according to the words, "As the Father hath sent Me, I also send +you," and carry the light of the Gospel to the ends of the world; +and one was to be elected to the dignity of the Apostolate, the +highest rank in the Church. It was, therefore, so important a +matter, that no one could undertake it save he who had received the +vicarious headship of our Lord Himself. Now the history in the Acts +tells us that Peter alone spoke on the subject of substituting a +fresh Apostle for Judas; Peter alone proved from Scripture the +necessity of the election, defined the conditions of eligibility, +and appointed the mode of election, and presided over and directed +the whole transaction. + +For Luke begins thus: "In those days," the interval between the +Ascension and Pentecost, "Peter rising up in the midst of the +brethren, said." Here the important prerogative _of initiation_ is +shown to belong to Peter, and by the phrase, "in the midst of the +brethren," or "disciples,"--which is often used of Christ in respect +of the Apostles--his pre-eminence over the disciples is shown. +"Brethren, it behoved that the Scripture should be fulfilled which +the Holy Ghost spoke before by the mouth of David, concerning Judas, +who was the leader of them that apprehended Jesus, who was numbered +with us, and had obtained part of this ministry," that is, of the +Apostolate. Then having mentioned the miserable end of the traitor, +he applies to him the prophecy: "For it is written in the Book of +Psalms, 'Let his habitation become desolate, and let there be none +to dwell therein:' and, adding another prophecy from another Psalm, +'his bishopric let another take.'"[17] Whence he concludes, +"Wherefore of these men who have companied with us all the time that +the Lord Jesus came in and went out among us, beginning from the +baptism of John, until the day wherein He was taken up from us, one +of these _must_ be made a witness with us of His resurrection." In +these words Peter plainly points out the _necessity_ of the matter +in question, confirms it by the Holy Scriptures, speaking in the +character of their highest interpreter, and as the appointed teacher +of all; and, while proposing it to their deliberation, yet requires +their consent; for the phrase, "wherefore, one _must_," means, "I am +not proposing what may be done or left undone, but declaring and +prescribing what is to be done." So he determines the conditions of +eligibility, and the form of election. Whereupon his hearers--"the +number of persons together about an hundred and twenty"--instantly +agree unanimously to Peter's proposition, follow its conditions, and +complete the election. + +No one can reflect on the above without concluding, that if Peter +presided over the rest by the authority of a divinely chosen +headship, no course could be more becoming, both for Peter and for +the disciples, than this; and if, on the contrary, Peter was only +one out of many, not having yet even received the Pentecostal gifts +of the Holy Spirit, and had been entrusted by Christ with no +pre-eminent office in the ministry, nothing could be more unfitting +for both. We have therefore to infer that Peter "stood in the midst +of the disciples," as a superior among inferiors, not as an equal +among equals, and conceived that the charge of supplying an Apostle, +and filling up the Apostolic college, belonged in chief to himself, +because he and they alike were conscious, that he was the steward +set in chief over the Lord's family. + +But, clear as this is on the face of the narration itself, fresh +light is shed on it by the fact that S. Chrysostome observed and +recorded this very conclusion. For why did Peter alone arise? Why +was he the first and the only one to speak? "Both[18] as fervent, +and _as one entrusted by Christ with the flock_, and _as the first +of the choir_, he ever first begins to speak." Why does he allege +prophecy? First, that he might not seem with human counsel "to +attempt a great matter, and one fitted for Christ:" next to imitate +his Master, "he always reasons from the Scriptures." "Why did he not +singly ask of Christ to give him some one in the place of Judas?" +Because "Peter had now improved," and overcome his natural +disposition. But "_might not Peter by himself have elected?_ +Certainly: but he does not so, that he may not seem partial." "Why +does he communicate this to them," the whole number of the +names? "That the matter may not be contested, nor they fall into +strife: for" (he alludes to the contention of the Apostles for the +primacy,) "if this had happened to themselves, much more would it to +the others," that is, the candidates to succeed Judas. Then he +points out to our admiration "Peter doing this with common consent, +nothing[19] with authority, nothing with lordship," where we must +note that the _abuse_ of a power is only to be feared from one who +really has that power. For again he says, "he first acts with[20] +authority in the matter, _as having himself all put into his hands_, +for to him Christ said, 'And thou in thy turn one day confirm thy +brethren.'" + +The college of the Apostles completed, it followed that the head, if +such there were, would on every occasion of danger, be the first to +protect it, and to defend its reputation. Now there ensues the +miracle of the Holy Spirit's descent, and the gift of tongues, +whereupon Luke describes the various opinions of the astonished +multitude, some of whom "mocking,[21] said, These men are full of +new wine." That is, they blasphemed the working of the Spirit, and +by the most monstrous calumny were destroying the good name of the +Apostles. Whereupon, "Peter, standing up with the Eleven, lifted up +his voice and spoke to them: Ye men of Judea, and all you that dwell +in Jerusalem, be this known to you, and with your ears receive my +words. For these are not drunk as you suppose, seeing it is but the +third hour of the day: but this is that which was spoken of by the +prophet Joel." Now here, both the _form of the words_, and the +_matter_, establish Peter's primacy. For the phrase, "Peter standing +up with the Eleven, lifted up his voice and spoke to them," +portrays Peter as the leader of the band, the master of the family. +So S. Chrysostome,[22] "What means _with the Eleven_? They uttered a +common voice, and he was the mouthpiece of all. And the Eleven stand +beside him, bearing witness to his words." And as to the _matter_, +Peter alone fulfils the part of teacher, by interpreting scripture, +and declaring the agreement of both covenants: Peter alone maintains +the common cause: Peter alone, representing all, addresses the +multitude in the name of all. "Observe, too, the harmony of the +Apostles: they give up to him the office of speaking:"[23] that is, +they yielded to him who was the Head, and who, as he says, showed +here "the courage," as before "the providential care" of the Head. + +After refuting the calumny, Peter goes on in a noble discourse to +explain prophecies, and then coming to the dispensation of Jesus, +gives the strongest proofs of His resurrection and exaltation to the +right hand of the Father, and finally sums up with great force and +authority. "Therefore, let all the house of Israel know most +certainly, that God hath made both Lord and Christ this same Jesus +whom you have crucified." + +Now, what[24] is here to our purpose? It is this, that Luke seems +only to dwell on what concerns Peter: that Peter, first of all, and +in the name of all, performs the office of a witness, laid both on +himself and the rest, ("ye shall be witnesses to Me;" "and you shall +give witness,")[25] saying, "this Jesus hath God raised up, of which +we all are witnesses:" that first of all, he publicly and solemnly +discharges the duty of instruction with authority: that, first of +all, he fulfils the charge set by Christ on all the Apostles, "make +disciples--teach:" that, first of all, he promulgates the necessity +of believing in Jesus as the divinely appointed Lord and Christ. Now +these are things which, so far from allowing an equality between +Peter and the rest of the Apostles, point out in him a headship over +them. + +Thereupon, the hearers, struck with compunction for having +crucified, not merely a just man, but the Anointed of the Lord, +"said to Peter and the rest of the Apostles"--here again he alone is +singly named--but of all alike they asked, "Men and brethren, what +shall we do?" Whereupon, S. Chrysostome[26] notes, "here again, +where all are asked, he alone replies." For, as Luke goes on, "Peter +said to them:" As the leader, he performs what belongs to all: he +alone sets forth the law of Christ. "Do penance, and be baptized +every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of +sins:" he alone encourages them with the promised gifts of the Holy +Spirit, "and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost:" he alone +continues at length the instruction of the hearers, "and with very +many other words did he testify and exhort them:" he alone declares +the fruit of Christian profession, "save yourselves from this +perverse generation," and he alone it is, of whose ministry Luke +adds, "They, therefore, that gladly received his word were baptized, +and there were added, in that day, about three thousand souls." + +And here we see how fitting it was that Peter, whom Christ had set +as the foundation and rock of the Church, should labour with all his +might, as the chief architect after Him, to build up the structure. +But what, in the meantime, of the other Apostles? Were not they also +architects? Yes, but _with_ Peter, and _under_ Peter, whom +accordingly, they attend and support. The subsequent additions to +the Church's structure, and the course consistently pursued by +Peter, will bring this out yet more clearly. For, of fresh +accretions, Luke writes, "Many of them who had heard the word, +believed, and the number of the men was made five thousand."[27] +Now, whose word was this? Still the word of Peter, who speaks for +the third[28] and fourth time, as he had for the first and second. + +For, as to the third[29] occasion, Luke, after mentioning Peter and +John together, introduces Peter alone as urging the children of +Abraham to embrace the faith of Christ, and persuading them that +Jesus is the Prophet, promised by God through Moses in Deuteronomy. +And as to the fourth,[30] he writes, "Then Peter, filled with the +Holy Ghost, said to them--" But was he alone present? not so, for +the council "setting them," not him, but John as well as Peter, "in +the midst, they asked," on which Chrysostome[31] observes, "See how +John is on every occasion silent, while Peter defends him likewise." +That is, John was silent, as knowing that the lead belonged to +Peter, and Peter spoke, because the Head defends not himself only, +but the members committed to him. + +Now, reviewing these first four chapters of the Acts, let us ask +these questions. Had Peter held the authority of head among the +Apostles, what would he have done? He would have filled up the +Apostolic college, carefully watched over it, protected its several +members. But this is just what he did. Again, had Christ made him +the supreme teacher and doctor, what would he have done? He would +have disclosed, first to the Apostles themselves, and to the +disciples, and then to the multitude, who were to be converted, the +secrets of the divine will laid up in the Scriptures; he would have +shown the agreement between the dispensation of Christ, and the +oracles of the Old Testament, and so have proved that Jesus was the +Messiah. But this he repeatedly did. Once more, had Christ made him +the chief among the builders of the Church, what would have been his +office? He would have been the very first to set his hand to the +work, and to construct the building with living stones; he would +have held the other workmen under his control, so that the edifice +might rise worthy of Christ, and exactly answering to His promises. +But does not the history give precisely this picture of him, and +does not the Church which Peter raised answer exactly to the +archetype prescribed by the Lord? "All they that believed were +together, and had all things common:" "the multitude of believers +had but one heart and one soul:" what is this but the counterpart of +that divine prayer, "that they all may be one, as Thou, Father, art +in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us, that the +world may believe that Thou hast sent[32] Me." + +II. To take another point. The office of[33] authoritative teaching +is in the New Testament closely connected with the power of working +miracles, so that Christ not only said of Himself, "If I had not +come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have +no excuse for their sin:" but likewise added, "If I had not done +among them the works that no other man hath done, they would not +have sin: but now they have both seen and hated both Me and My +Father:"[34] to shew that, while faith depended on preaching, and +authoritative instruction, these also needed the power of _works_ to +conciliate conviction. In accordance with which, when He first sent +out His Twelve to preach, He not only charged them what to say, "the +kingdom of heaven is at hand,"[35] but added the fullest miraculous +power, "heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out +devils." And when more solemnly sending them, not to one people, but +to all nations, "Go ye into the whole world, and preach the Gospel +to every creature," He adds their warrant, "these signs shall follow +them that believe. In My name they shall cast out devils, they shall +speak with new tongues, they shall take up serpents:" and the +Evangelist subjoins, "They going forth preached everywhere, the Lord +working withal, and confirming the word with signs that +followed."[36] + +Remembering, then, this very close connexion between the authority +of Apostolic teaching and the power of working miracles, we may fix +a criterion for recognising the exercise of the supreme office in +teaching. Suppose any one of the Apostles to have been invested at +the commencement of the Church with this office, how may he be +ascertained? If any one is found invariably the first to announce +the word of truth, and likewise to confirm it with miracles, you may +suppose him to be that one. Suppose, again, that Luke intended to +represent one of the Apostles as the supreme teacher. How may it be +safely inferred? If, in the course of his narration, he continually +exhibits one as eminent above all the rest in preaching the Gospel +and guaranteeing it by signs. These are not tests arbitrarily +chosen, but naturally suggested. And both exactly fit to Peter, and +to Peter alone. For he, in this history of the universal Church, is +the first, nay, well nigh the only one, both to preach and to +support his preaching by miracles. And Luke takes pains to relate no +less his miracles than his discourses, and scarcely describes with +any detail either the one or the other, of any but Peter. + +Nay, his mode of writing suggests a parallel between himself and S. +John in his Gospel, as if it were no less Luke's intention to show +Peter invested with the supreme office, than John's to set forth +Christ as the head and teacher of the Apostolic college; and no less +Luke's purpose to accredit the Church by Peter's miracles, than[37] +John's by the miracles of Christ to establish faith in Him as the +true Son of God. For the circumstances of each narration point to +this similarity of design. As S. John subordinates the group of +Apostles entirely to the figure of Christ, so Luke, very slightly +sketching the rest, is profuse in detail of what concerns Peter, and +marks him as set over all. As John in recording the miracles of +Christ dwells on the points which prove His divine mission and +origin from the Father, so Luke directs his narration to exhibit the +beginning, the growth, and the authority of the Church, as due to +Peter's miracles. We will mark two further resemblances. _First_, +the miracles which Luke records of Peter seem cast in the same type +as those of Christ. Compare the first one with that told by John, +ch. v. + + John v. 5-9. "There was a certain man there that had been eight + and thirty years under his infirmity. Him when Jesus had seen + lying, and knew that he had been now a long time, He saith to + him, Wilt thou be made whole? The infirm man answered Him, Sir, + I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the + pond. For whilst I am coming another goeth down before me. + Jesus said to him, Arise, take up thy bed, and walk. And + immediately the man was made whole, and he took up his bed and + walked." + + Acts iii. 2-8. "And a certain man, who was lame from his + mother's womb, was carried, whom they laid every day at the + gate of the temple, which is called Beautiful. He, when he had + seen Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked to + receive an alms. But Peter, with John, fastening his eyes upon + him, said, Look upon us. But he looked earnestly upon them, + hoping that he should receive something of them. But Peter + said, Silver and gold I have none, but what I have, I give + thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, arise and walk. + And taking him by the right hand, he lifted him up, and + forthwith his feet and soles received strength, and he, leaping + up, stood, and walked." + + +How often had the hand of the Lord--as here that of Peter--healed +the sick, given the blind sight, cured the leper, and raised the +dead! But if Peter's miracle in healing Oeneas of the palsy +carries[38] one back immediately to the poor man let down through +the roof before our Lord, there is a yet more exact identity between +the great miracle of Christ raising Jairus' daughter, and Peter +raising Dorcas. In the one case, the Lord "having put them all out, +taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were +with Him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying, and taking the +damsel by the hand, He said to her, Talitha cumi, which is, Damsel, +arise, and immediately the damsel rose up and walked." In the other +case, Peter came into the upper chamber, "and all the widows stood +about him weeping--and they being all put forth, Peter, kneeling +down, prayed, and turning to the body, he said, Tabitha, arise. And +she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up,[39] and giving +her his hand he lifted her up." But how perfect the resemblance of +the following. + + Luke iv. 40. "And when the sun was down, all they that had any + sick with divers diseases brought them to Him. But He, laying + His hands on every one of them, healed them. And devils went + out from many." + + Acts v. 15. "Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the + streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that, when Peter + came, his shadow, at the least, might overshadow any of them, + and they might be delivered from their infirmities. And there + came also together to Jerusalem a multitude out of the + neighbouring cities, bringing sick persons, and such as were + troubled with unclean spirits, who were all healed." + +The _second_ point of resemblance is, that the multitude regarded +Peter among the Apostles as before they had regarded Christ: for, +putting the rest of the Apostles in the second place, they flocked +to him, and besought his aid. So that Luke, briefly saying of them, +that "by the hands of the Apostles were many signs and wonders +wrought among the people,"[40] goes on to Peter, and of him relates +the unheard-of wonders just described, assigning to the miracles +wrought by him, "that the multitude of men and women who believed in +the Lord was more increased." It is just as when "there came to +Jesus great multitudes, having with them the dumb, the blind, the +lame, the maimed, and many others; and they cast them down at His +feet, and He healed them."[41] And the fuller the resemblance these +incidents shew between Peter and Christ, the more evident their +proof that Peter's ministry must be considered a continuation of +that which Christ begun. + +III. We proceed[42] to the order predetermined by our Lord in the +propagation of His Church. + +Of Himself He had said, though the Redeemer of all, that He was not +sent, that is, as an Apostle, actually to preach, "save to the lost +sheep of the house of Israel:" and on first sending His Apostles, He +gave them this commission, "Go ye not into the way of the Gentiles, +and into the city of the Samaritans enter ye not, but go ye rather +to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But when about to ascend +to the Father, He tells them, "You shall receive the power of the +Holy Ghost coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me in +Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost +part of the earth:"[43] that is, that they should set up His kingdom +through all the world, proceeding by gradual steps, from Jerusalem +to Judea, thence to Samaria, and at length "to every creature" in +the whole world. + +Now the history of the Acts shows the exact accomplishment of this +order, and it likewise shows that Simon Peter was the one elected +chief instrument for carrying out these successive propagations of +the Church. What we have said already shows this as to the mother +Church of Jerusalem, and, before proceeding to the Gentile Churches, +we will trace the same instrumentality as used to bring the +Samaritans into the universal kingdom. + +The persecution ensuing on the proto-martyr Stephen's death caused, +by our Lord's providence, the dissemination of many believers +through Judea and Samaria, while the Apostles alone remained at +Jerusalem. Amongst those who thus "went about preaching the word of +God," Philip the deacon came to Samaria, and many of the people, +hearing his words and seeing his miracles, were converted and +baptized. But the Church thus commenced by the preaching of the +deacon would have dried up without hope of progress, had it not +received the assistance of those whom Christ had set in the place of +fathers, and who could bestow the gifts of the Holy Ghost. For[44] +"the Church is in the bishop," and, as S. Jerome said of a faction +which had a deacon for its author, "With the man the sect also +perished, because a deacon could ordain no clerk after him. But it +is not a Church which has no priest." Accordingly when[45] "the +Apostles, who were in Jerusalem, had heard that Samaria had received +the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John," who "laid +their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Ghost." The +providence of Christ, then, so ordered the propagation of His +kingdom as to choose Peter and John to complete and perfect the +Samaritan Church. But was this on equal terms, or is no superior +dignity and authority apparent in Peter over John? A regard to the +words of Luke, and the series of acts recorded, will prevent such a +misconception. For he mentions Peter and John, but he sets Peter +first, and in his record of what happened to Simon John acts the +second part, and it is Peter alone who teaches, commands, judges, +and condemns, with authority, as the head and supreme ruler. Simon +Magus, tempted by beholding the gifts of the Holy Spirit visibly +bestowed on imposition of the Apostles' hands, "offered them money," +to both Peter and John. But Peter alone replies, and not only so, +but condemns his profaneness, enlarges on his guilt, and solemnly +declares that the gifts of God are not purchaseable with money. +"Keep thy money to thyself to perish with thee, because thou hast +thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money;" he +discloses Simon's secret thoughts, "for thy heart is not right in +the sight of God;" he inflicts on him excommunication, "thou hast no +part nor lot in this matter;" he exhorts him to repent, "do penance +therefore from this thy wickedness, and pray to God, if perhaps this +thought of thy heart may be forgiven thee." Now here John, the next +of the Apostles in rank, is with Peter, yet he does not speak, +teach, or enjoin: Peter does all this singly. He answers Simon's +question, lances and probes the most secret wound of his conscience, +declares how divine gifts are given, proscribes the plague of +simony, orders penance, and inflicts excommunication on a scandalous +public offender. Thus the twenty-second of the Apostolic canons +runs, "If any bishop, priest or deacon, hath obtained this dignity +by money, let him and his ordainer be deposed, and altogether be +deprived of communion, as Simon Magus was by Peter." Nothing but an +inequality of rank between Peter and John will account for Luke's +narration here. But if John was inferior to Peter, much more the +rest. + +But there is another proof of his superiority here, in that God +caused Simon Peter to engage Simon Magus. Thus, by His providence, +"reaching from end to end mightily, and ordering all things +sweetly," the first-born of Christ is brought to conflict with the +"first-born of the devil," the chief of teachers with the earliest +of heretics, and prime of that long brood of the evil one, who are +to persecute "the seed of the woman." Thus ancient writers record +that Peter afterwards went to Rome on purpose to expose the acts of +this same Simon. Thus they mention his engaging with the famous +Alexandrine Apion, the enemy of the Jewish and the Christian faith +alike. And hence, too, probably the very ancient writer (whoever he +was) of the Epistle of Clement to S. James, begins it by recording +how "Simon, for his true faith and his firm grounding in doctrine, +was appointed to be the foundation of the Church, and for this very +reason by Jesus Himself with most true augury had his name changed +to Peter, the first-fruits of our Lord, the first of the Apostles, +to whom first the Father revealed the Son, whom Christ with reason +blessed, the called and the elect, His guest and comrade, the good +and the proved disciple, _he who, as the most able of all, was +commanded to illuminate the West, the darker quarter of the world_, +and who was enabled to succeed." + +But as to what is said that "the Apostles who were in Jerusalem +_sent_ to the Samaritans Peter and John," it must be remembered, +that at the head of those thus _sending_ was Peter himself, and that +next to him John was the most distinguished of the Apostolic +college. And since it is evident from all that we have hitherto +seen, that in whatever concerned the Apostles equally, Peter took +the leading part, and in their common deliberations exercised the +initiative, it must be concluded that he was likewise the first +author of this resolution, to send himself and John to the +Samaritans. And this is confirmed by our seeing that in the +fulfilment of this mission he discharges the offices, and acts with +the authority, of head. To none else could the execution of a fresh +advance in the propagation of the Church be committed; and so great, +besides, were the jealousies between the Jews and Samaritans, that +it needed no less than Peter's authority to induce the Jewish +converts to receive them into the bond of the same society. + +IV. But now we[46] draw nigh to the revelation of that great +"mystery which in other generations was not known to the sons of +men--that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, +and co-partners of His promise in Christ Jesus by the Gospel," +whereby was brought to pass the prophecy, "from the rising of the +sun even to the going down My Name is great among the Gentiles, and +in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to My Name a +clean oblation."[47] The hour was come "when the true adorers were +to adore the Father in spirit and in truth" throughout every region +of the world purchased with the blood of the Son of God, and of this +event, expected during four thousand years, God, by an unexampled +honour, disclosed to Peter, and through Peter, the time and the +manner. This greatest of purposes, after His own ascension, Christ +left to be revealed through him to whom He had committed the feeding +of His sheep. + +While Peter[48] was "passing through all," that is, exercising his +general supervision as primate of the Church, God sent His angel "in +a vision manifestly" to "a certain man in Cesarea named Cornelius, a +centurion of that which is called the Italian band, a religious man, +and fearing God with all his house, giving much alms to the people, +and always praying to God." And the angel says to him: "Thy prayers +and thine alms are ascended for a memorial in the sight of God, and +now send men to Joppa, and call hither one Simon, who is surnamed +Peter; he will tell thee what thou must do." Though God, then, sends +an angel, it is left to _Simon, who is surnamed Peter_, to declare +His counsel, in what affected the salvation of innumerable souls. +Other Apostles there were to whom had been said equally, "Go ye into +the whole world and preach the Gospel to every creature," and "Ye +shall be witnesses to Me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and +Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth;" and "as the +Father hath sent Me, I also send you." Yet putting aside all these, +as on so many other occasions, Peter is preferred, and that because +to him alone was said, "on this rock I will build My Church," and +again, "Feed My lambs, be shepherd over My sheep." Fitting it was +that, when the wall between the Jews and Gentiles should be taken +away, by him specially, all should be collected into one, on whom, +as the divinely-laid foundation, all were to rest. Fitting, again, +that the Lord's prophecy, "Other sheep I have which are not of this +fold; those also I must bring; and they shall hear My voice; and +there shall be one fold and one shepherd," should be fulfilled +chiefly by his ministry to whom the Lord had committed His own +office of universal visible pastor. For the Church, in her very +birth, and in the whole process of her growth, bore this upon her +forehead, that _universality_ as well as _unity_ belonged +substantially to Peter, and that it was no less his function to +gather up all nations into the mould of unity by his ministration as +the one chief shepherd, than to embrace them all in the wide circuit +of his love. Therefore it is a marvellous agreement in which the +_institution_ of the Primacy has a corresponding _execution_; and as +the latter confirms the former, so from the former you might +anticipate the latter before it was recorded in the sacred history. + +But in the meantime, while the messengers of Cornelius were +approaching the house in which Peter was a guest, "there came upon +him an ecstasy of mind, and he saw the heaven opened, and a certain +vessel descending, as it were a great linen sheet let down by the +four corners from heaven to the earth, wherein were all manner of +four-footed beasts, and creeping things of the earth, and fowls of +the air;" and while Peter is fixed in contemplation, "there came a +voice to him, Arise Peter, kill and eat," that he might understand +how "by[49] his preaching he was to make a sacrifice to the Lord of +those who were represented by these animals, bringing them into the +divine service through the mysteries of the Lord's passion," which +he not yet understanding, replies, "Far be it from me, for I never +did eat anything that is common or unclean." Then the heavenly +"voice spoke to him again the second time, That which God hath +cleansed, do not thou call common. And this having been done thrice, +presently the vessel was taken up into heaven." + +Here three things are set forth; first, that as the ark of Noah +contained all sorts of animals, clean and unclean, so the fold of +Christ was to gather from Jews and Greeks and barbarians "a[50] +great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations and +tribes, and peoples, and tongues;" secondly, that the blessings of +Christ concerned all who did not reject the proferred grace; +thirdly, that the elaborate system of Mosaic ordinances concerning +meats, rites, and ceremonies, had fallen to the ground. But to whom +is disclosed, first and immediately, this whole dispensation of the +first principles on which the Church was to be propagated? To none +other but Peter, "to me hath God shown to call no man common or +unclean." Now the undoubted knowledge of this dispensation must +appear of the greatest moment, whether in itself, or as concerns the +Jews, of whom the earliest church consisted, or the Apostles, by +whose ministry it was to be extended. And yet, by that providence +which is ever over His Church, the wisdom of God so ruled it, that +through Peter alone the Apostles should be taught when they were +first to approach the Gentiles, and discharge their office of +witnesses before all nations without distinction. And that because +He had made Peter "the greater one" and "the leader" of all, and put +him in His own place, and constituted him supreme teacher in these +words, "Confirm thy brethren." Thus[51] Epiphanius, in the fourth +century, says that the charge of bringing the Gentiles into the +Church was laid upon all the Apostles, "but most of all on holy +Peter." Why this _most of all_? Because, while He had heard with the +rest, "make disciples of all nations," he had singly and peculiarly +received the charge of the whole fold, and of the Apostles, as part +of it. + +But Peter, still pondering on the vision, hears a fresh voice from +the Spirit, "Behold three men seek thee. Arise, therefore, get thee +down, and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them." He +accompanies the messengers and finds Cornelius, "his kinsman and his +special friends;" he asks why they have sent for him, whereupon +Cornelius informs him of what had past, and concludes, "now +therefore all we are present in thy sight, to hear all things +whatsoever are commanded thee by the Lord." Peter in reply sets +forth to them the heads of Christian doctrine, and as he comes to +the words "to Him all the prophets give testimony, that by His name +all receive remission of sins, who believe in Him," "the Holy Ghost +fell upon all them that heard the word" of life and truth from his +lips. And the Jewish Christians who were with him, being astonished +at this reception of Gentiles into the Church by the Holy Spirit's +visible descent, Peter cries, "Can any man forbid water that these +should not be baptised, who have received the Holy Ghost as well as +we?" "Words," says [52]S. Chrysostome, "of one almost assaulting any +that would forbid, and say that should not be," and so "he +commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus;" for +Peter also, like his Lord,[53] preached in person, but baptized by +the hands of others. + +Are not then the prerogatives of Peter written legibly on this whole +narration? First, among all the Apostles he alone is chosen to +consecrate to God the first fruits of the Gentiles. Again, through +him, as the teacher of all, God makes known to the Apostles +themselves when the door was to be opened to the Gentiles. Thirdly, +without advising with the rest, he enlarges the fold of Christ, +which in Christ's place he ruled, with the accession of the +Gentiles. Fourthly, the building of the Church is thus referred to +him alone. Further, he gathers up to himself the Church which is +made out of Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles; as the foundation he +sustains the whole; and when constructed, he binds it together. +Lastly, Luke, without having recorded a single speech of any other +Apostle, has given five of Peter, thus showing that Peter's words, +as well as his actions, had a higher importance than theirs in the +history of the Church's birth and growth; for, indeed, in the +history of the head that of the body is included. + +On Peter's[54] return to Jerusalem, "the Apostles and brethren who +were in Judea, having heard that the Gentiles also had received the +word of God,"[55] "they that were of the circumcision contended with +him," because he had "gone in to men uncircumcised, and ate with +them." Hereupon Peter set forth to them the whole series of events, +upon which "they held their peace and glorified God, saying, God +then has also to the Gentiles given repentance unto life." Now some +in late times have attempted to derogate from Peter's authority on +the strength of this incident. On the other hand S. Chrysostome, +not satisfied with setting forth Peter's rank, and assigning his +whole apology to a most gracious condescension, continues, "See how +he defends himself, and _will not use his dignity as the Teacher_, +for he knew that the more gently he spoke with them, the surer he +was to win them."[56] And what expression can signify Peter's rank +more markedly than _the_ Teacher? And Gregory the Great sets forth +Peter's distinctions, how he alone had received the keys, walked on +the waters, healed with his shadow, killed with his word, and raised +the dead by his prayer; then he goes on, "and because, warned by the +Spirit, he had gone in to Cornelius, a Gentile, a question was +raised against him by the faithful, as to wherefore he had gone in +to the Gentiles, and eaten with them, and received them in baptism. +And yet the same first of the Apostles, filled with so great a grace +of gifts, supported by so great a power of miracles, answers the +complaint of the faithful by an appeal not to authority but to +reason.... For if, when blamed by the faithful, he had considered +the authority which he held in holy Church, he might have answered, +that the sheep entrusted to the shepherd should not venture to +censure him. But if, in the complaint of the faithful, he had said +anything of his own power, he would not have been the teacher of +meekness. Therefore he quieted them with humble reason, and in the +matter where he was blamed even cited witnesses. If, therefore, _the +Pastor of the Church, the Prince of the Apostles_, having a +_singular_ power to do signs and miracles, did not disdain, when he +was censured, humbly to render account, how much more ought we +sinners, when blamed for anything, to disarm our censurers by a +humble defence."[57] + +Here it occurs to observe with what different eyes Holy Scripture +may be read, for just where persons determined to deny Peter's +authority find an excuse for their foregone conclusion, the Fathers +draw arguments to praise the moderation with which he exercised that +same superior authority. + +V. But [58]founded as we have seen the Church to have hitherto been, +and at each step of its course advanced, mainly by the authority of +Peter, it could not hope to remain in a vigorous and united state +without the continual exercise of _judicial_ and _legislative_ +power, and diligent _inspection_. Nor is there, in fact, one of +these which Peter did not exercise, and that in a manner to indicate +the ruler set over all. For as to the judicial power, do we not hear +him saying, "Tell[59] me whether you sold the land for so much;" +and, "Ananias, why hath Satan tempted thy heart, that thou shouldst +lie to the Holy Ghost, and by fraud keep part of the price of the +land? Whilst it remained did it not remain to thee? And after it was +sold, was it not in thy power? Why hast thou conceived this thing in +thy heart? Thou hast not lied to men but to God." And presently the +sentence comes forth from him who binds in heaven as well as on +earth. "Behold the feet of them who have buried thy husband are at +the door, and they shall carry thee out." Here then we have Peter, +in the midst of the Apostles, yet acting singly as the supreme +judge, and defender of ecclesiastical discipline, on which S. +Chrysostome says, "For Peter was terrible, punishing, and convicting +the thoughts, to whom they adhered the more both for the sign, and +his first speech, and his second, and his third. For he it was who +did the first sign, and the second, and the present, which seems to +me double, one to convict the thoughts, and another to kill with his +command." Then, asking why nobody had announced her husband's death +to Sapphira, "This was fear of the Teacher; this respect of the +disciples; this obedience:"[60] where he is mentioned not as _a_ +teacher, but the supreme and chief one. + +Yet though the other Apostles were judges, with power to bind and to +loose, though they were present, and concerned, for "Ananias +bringing a certain part, laid it at the feet of the Apostles," not +of Peter only, it was not they, but Peter, who entered on the cause +of Ananias and Sapphira, passed sentence, and inflicted punishment. +Why did he judge singly a cause which was brought before the common +tribunal of the Apostles? Because Peter was to have the Primacy in +all things; because from him the model of ecclesiastical judgments +was to be taken; because the charge of maintaining ecclesiastical +discipline belonged in chief to him as the head. + +VI. But no less [61]markedly does Luke represent Peter as everywhere +visiting the Churches, providing for them as universal pastor, and +exercising herein the administrative Primacy. "The Churches," he +says, "throughout all Judea, and Galilee, and Samaria, had peace, +being edified and walking in the fear of the Lord, and were +multiplied by the consolation of the Holy Ghost. And it came to pass +_that Peter, as he passed through, visiting all_, came to the saints +who dwelt at Lydda."[62] In illustration of this we may remember +Paul's charge to Titus:[63] "for this cause I left thee in Crete, +that thou shouldst set in order the things that are wanting, and +shouldst ordain priests in every city, as I also appointed thee." +And again, what Luke writes of Paul himself: "After some days Paul +said to Barnabas, Let us return and visit our brethren in all the +cities wherein we have preached the word of the Lord, to see how +they do."[64] And what[65] Eusebius, from S. Clement, relates of S. +John, that he visited with authority the Churches of Asia, which he +had either founded, or specially attended to. By these passages we +see the nature of Peter's visitation, that it was pastoral, and +likewise the difference between his and these others, for they were +_local_, but his _universal_. Titus acted in Crete, the special +sphere of his labour, to which S. Paul the founder of that Church +had appointed him. Paul and Barnabas propose to visit "our brethren +_in every city in which we have preached the word of the Lord_;" S. +John exerts visitatorial power over the churches of that province +wherein he dwelt, and that too, apparently, when he was the sole +survivor of the Apostolic college, yet did not go into other parts. +But Peter's charge is oecumenical, and therefore his visitation +universal. He inspects the labours of others, as well as his own. +For he was not the only Apostle at Jerusalem, nor had he singly +built up all the churches of Judea, Galileo, and Samaria, yet he +alone makes a progress from Jerusalem to all these churches. Though +not the Bishop of Jerusalem, over which the Apostle James presides, +he goes everywhere, as "the Bishop of Bishops."[66] No other reason +coherent with Scripture can we find for this universal inspection of +Peter; for all the Apostles were indeed pastors, but he alone set +over the whole fold; he alone not limited, like Paul, "to the +brethren in every city wherein he had preached." He differs from +all others as the universal from the particular, and so S. +Chrysostome says of him in this very passage, "like a general he +went round surveying the ranks, seeing what portion was well massed +together, what in order, what needed his presence. Behold him making +his rounds in every direction."[67] + +VII. Further, [68]we may see the deference paid to this supreme +authority of Peter by the Apostles and ancients at Jerusalem, on +occasion of that severest dissension which threatened the unity of +the Church, and kindled the greatest agitation, the question whether +Gentile converts should be bound to obey the Mosaic ritual law. For +"the [69]Apostles and Ancients having assembled to consider of this +matter," after "there had been much disputing, Peter, rising up, +said to them." But why does Peter first rise and decide the cause? +Because he was first of the Apostles, and as such supreme arbiter in +controversy. But consider what he says. "Men and brethren, you know +that in former days God made choice among us, that by my mouth the +Gentiles should hear the word of the Gospel, and believe." _By my +mouth_, he appeals to their knowledge of his election by God to the +singular privilege of receiving the Gentiles: in virtue of that +election he claims and exercises authority. "And God, who knoweth +the hearts, gave testimony, giving unto them the Holy Ghost, as well +as unto us, and put no difference between us and them, purifying +their hearts by faith." God, therefore, has already decided this +controversy, by my ministry, whom He specially called thereunto, and +by the effects which He caused to accompany it. Then, using words +full of force, being, indeed, very like those in which he had +answered Ananias and Sapphira, he continues, "now, therefore, why +tempt you God, to put a yoke upon the necks of the disciples, which +neither our fathers, nor we, have been able to bear? But by the +grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we believe that we shall be saved, in +like manner as they also." "How full of power are these words," is +the comment of S. Chrysostome,[70] "he says here what Paul has said +at great length in the Epistle to the Romans." And then, speaking of +the heads of Paul's doctrine, he adds, "the seeds of all this lie in +Peter's discourse." This, then, is a _decision_, and given in no +hesitating manner, but with severe censure of those who maintained +the opposite, as "tempting God," words suitable for him only to use +who had authority over all. But how did the council receive them? +Though "there had been much disputing before," though the keenest +feelings had been excited, and the point involved the strongest +prepossessions of the Jewish converts, "all the multitude held their +peace." They acquiesced in Peter's judgment, and now readily "heard +Barnabas and Paul telling what great signs and wonders God had +wrought among the Gentiles by them." It follows, then, that on a +capital point, and in the first council of the Church, Peter +occupied a position which befits only the supreme judge of +controversies, so that had we no other evidence but this place +whereby to decide upon his rank and office, his pre-eminence would +be evident. "See," says S. Chrysostome, "he first permits a +discussion to arise in the Church, and then he speaks."[71] + +But is this affected by other persons likewise speaking and voting, +as Paul and Barnabas? or by S. James likewise giving his sentence, +as an Apostle? or by the whole matter being settled by common +consent? As little as to be _head_ involves being _all_; as to +preside over the rest takes from them the power of deliberation, and +resolution. Rather it is the office of the Head and the President to +take the initiative, and point out the course which others are to +follow. + +For those here present were teachers, and had the prerogative of +hearing and judging, as well as Peter; they were bound to weigh the +matter in controversy to the best of their power, and to decide on it +according to the proportion of faith. They stood to Peter in a relation, +not of simple obedience, as the ordinary members of the flock, but of +judges, who, though responsible to his superintendence, yet are really +judges, pass sentence, and decree by inherent authority. It is no part +of the idea of a judge, that he should be supreme and irresponsible: +this is the _special_ privilege of the one supreme judge. Objections +such as these, therefore, do not take from Peter his Primacy, and +quality of Head, but claim for Paul, Barnabas, James, and the other +Apostles, the judicial authority and office, which they undoubtedly +possessed. + +Nor again, that, not Peter only, but all, passed the decree in +common, as it is written: "It seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to +us;" and as Paul and Timothy "delivered to the cities the decrees to +keep that were decreed by the Apostles and Ancients."[72] For a +decree made in common by many shews not an equality of power in +each, but a competent authority to join in that decree. Such acts +proceed, not only from equal, but from unequal assemblies. A +question, therefore, terminated by common decision, and laws +established by common consent, do indeed prove a power to deliberate +and decree common to all participating, but do not prove that all, +and every, of the judges were equal in their privileges, for who +gives to the Ancients the same authority as to the Apostles? + +This inequality is elsewhere established, and rests on its own +proof, but bearing it in mind, we shall see that Peter is the first +and chief author of this common decree, and that laws passed by +common consent depend on him primarily as Head. Most unsuspicious +witnesses of this are the ancient writers, and this is the very +conclusion which they drew from the account of this council. Thus, +Tertullian, in the second century, speaking of Peter's singular +prerogatives, says, "On him the Church was built, that is, through +him: it was he who hanselled the key. This is it. 'Ye men of Israel, +hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among +you, &c.' He, too, first by Christian baptism opened the approach of +the heavenly kingdom, by which offences, heretofore bound, are +loosed, and those not loosed are bound, according to true salvation. +And Ananias he bound with the chain of death: and him that was weak +in his feet he delivered from his disease. But likewise, in that +discussion as to maintaining the law, Peter, first of all, instinct +with the Spirit, and preluding with the vocation of the Gentiles, +says, 'And now why tempt ye the Lord, by imposing a yoke on the +brethren, which neither we, nor our fathers have been able to bear? +But by the grace of Christ we believe that we shall be saved, as +also they.' _This_ SENTENCE _both loosed what was given up of the +law, and kept binding what was reserved_."[73] As clearly, S. +Jerome, in the fourth century, writes, that Peter "used his wonted +freedom, and that the Apostle James _followed his sentence_, and all +the ancients at once _acceded to it, and that the decree was drawn +upon his wording_."[74] A little later Theodoret wrote to S. Leo, +thus: "If Paul, the preacher of the truth, the trumpet of the Holy +Spirit, hastened to the great Peter, to carry from him the solution +to those at Antioch, at issue about living under the law; much more +do we, poor and humble, run to your Apostolic throne, to receive +from you healing for the wounds of the Churches."[75] Why does he +here call Peter, _the great_, or say that Paul hastened to him for +solution of a grave contention? Did not Paul go to all the Apostles? +But Peter was the head among them, and had a power in chief--a power +above the rest, a "more special" power--of binding and loosing. + +VIII. One other [76]instance there is of Peter's superior dignity, +and therefore importance, in the Apostolic college, which if, +perhaps, less direct than some of the foregoing, is even more +persuasive. For there was an Apostle associated, as we have seen, by +our Lord with Peter and John in several favours not granted to the +rest; one who with John received from Him the name Boanerges; the +elder brother of John, who with him had once asked to sit on the +Lord's right hand and on His left in His kingdom. Now Luke is led in +the course of his narrative to mention the martyrdom of this great +and favoured Apostle; the first likewise of the Apostolic choir who +drank, as he had promised, of His Lord's baptism, and sealed his +labours and trials with his blood. The occasion was a great and +striking one. It is thus recorded by Luke. "And at the same time +Herod the king stretched forth his hands to afflict some of the +Church. And he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword." +This is the first and the last time that he is mentioned by himself +in Luke's inspired history of the universal Church. Great as he was, +so eminently favoured by his Lord, the elder brother of John, +nothing is said of the Church's anxiety for his danger, her prayers +for his release, her sorrow at his loss, or her exultation at his +triumph by witnessing unto blood. He passed to his throne in heaven +with this short record. The more emphatic is the contrast following. +"And seeing that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to take up Peter +also. Now it was in the days of the azymes. And when he had +apprehended him, he cast him into prison, delivering him to four +files of soldiers to be kept, intending after the pasch to bring him +forth to the people. Peter therefore was kept in prison. _But prayer +was made without ceasing by the Church unto God for him._" That is, +by the instinct of self-preservation she prayed for her head. A few +years later another Apostle, after glorious labours by land and sea, +and missions of unrivalled success, was seized and imprisoned in +this same city of Jerusalem, and in danger of his life. But we do +not hear of prayers being offered up without ceasing even for Paul, +the doctor of the nations. The Church's safety was not bound up with +his, any more than with that of James, and therefore not even of the +great preacher "in labours more abundant than all," are we told that +in the hour of danger "prayer was made without ceasing by the Church +unto God for him." James and Paul were most distinguished _members_, +but Peter was more. This was an honour reserved for the Head alone, +as the life of the Head was peculiarly precious to the whole body. +Thus S. Chrysostome explains it. "The prayer is a proof of +affection: they all sought for a Father, a kind Father."[77] And +then Luke proceeds to give at length Peter's delivery out of prison +by the angel, and his departure in safety to another place. But +there is no other solution of such a difference in recording what +happened alike to James, to Peter, and to Paul, but that Peter held +the place of father in the Lord's family, of commander in His army, +of steward in His household, delivering to each of His servants +their measure of wheat in due season. + +The result,[78] then, of our particular enquiry in the Acts is to +demonstrate two things, that Peter discharged the office of Father +and Head in the Lord's family, and that the Church received and +admitted him when so acting, with a consciousness that such was the +will of Christ. + +Now this office did not consist in "lording it" over his brethren, +in assuming high titles, and interfering with the ministry of others +when exercised in its due course, in rejecting their assistance, or +impeding the unanimous exercise of their counsel. On the contrary, +the Lord had before prescribed that "the greater" among them should +be as the younger, and "the leader" as he that ministers, proposing +to them Himself as the great model, who had exercised the highest +power with the utmost gentleness, and, being "the Lord," had become +"the servant of all." What, then, did this office of Primate consist +in? We may say that Peter was undoubtedly such, if he constantly +exercised the power of a head in building up the Church, in +maintaining discipline, in reconciling dissensions, and in general +administration. Now it would be doing Peter wrong to suppose that he +usurped as peculiar to himself what equally belonged to all the +Apostles; or that, having received the special power of the Holy +Ghost, he did not fulfil his own advice to others, "not to lord it +over the clergy, but to be made a pattern of the flock."[79] And the +four points just mentioned may be reduced to a triple authority, a +Primacy _magisterial_, _judicial_, and _legislative_. Let us take in +at one glance what has been said of Peter in regard to each of +these. + +As to the _magisterial_, or power of authoritative teaching, and +general administration, Peter is constantly taking the lead, he is +the mouthpiece of the Apostles: he alone, or he first, by teaching +plants the Churches; he alone, or he in chief, completes them when +planted; he it is who by divine revelation given to himself, +discloses to the rest the dispensation of God; and he in words full +of power sets forth to these assembled in council the course which +they are to pursue. + +As to the _judicial_, none other judgments are found in that portion +of the Acts which contains the history of the whole Church, save +those of which he was either the _sole_ or the _chief_ author. Alone +he took cognisance of Ananias and Sapphira, and alone he punished +them. And Simon he censured in chief, and excommunicated. + +As to the _legislative_, Peter alone promulged the law as to +receiving the Gentiles; alone he prescribed that for abrogating the +Mosaic ceremonial ordinances; and he was the chief author of the +decree which expressed in terms his own previous act, and was put +forth in common by the Apostles and Ancients.[80] + +Again, compare the _institution_ of the Primacy with its _exercise_. +Its institution consisted in three things. 1. That Peter was named +by Christ the foundation of the Church, with whom its whole fabric +was most intimately to cohere, and from whom it should derive +visible unity and impregnable strength: 2. That the authority of +universal pastor, and the care of the whole fold, was committed to +him: 3. That to him belonged the confirmation of his brethren, and a +power of the keys to which all were subject. Now consider the +execution. + +As foundation of the Church, he gathers up to himself congregations +from the Jews, the Samaritans, and the Gentiles. + +As universal pastor, he collects from these three the flock, +nourishes, defends, inspects it, and fills up one place of highest +rank in the ministry forfeited by the traitor. + +As confirmer of the brethren, he disclosed to them the heavenly +vision signifying the universal calling of the Gentiles, and the +abrogation of the Mosaic law. He acts in the Lord's household as the +bearer of the keys, going to all parts, defending and inspecting +all. By himself he binds and looses, calling Ananias and Sapphira to +his tribunal, and excommunicating the first heretic. + +So exactly, then, do the institution of the Primacy and the acts of +Peter fit into each other, that from the former you may predict the +latter, and from the latter prove the former. They are like cause +and effect, or an a priori and an a posteriori argument. They are a +reciprocal confirmation to each other; just as if by time you +calculate the sun's rising, and see the diffusion of his light, from +his having risen you infer his light, and from his light conclude +that he has risen. + +Nor in the Apostolic Church does any one appear to resist or +question this office of Peter. Rather upon him all eyes are fixed, +for him all are anxious; no Abiram rises up against him with the +words of rebellion; "Thou takest too much upon thee, seeing all the +congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among +them, wherefore then liftest thou up thyself above the congregation +of the Lord?"[81] No Aaron in a moment of delusion cries, "Did the +Lord speak by Moses only? hath He not spoken also by us?" + +Yet Peter acts not like one out of a number, and occasions of +contention are not wanting, strong prepossessions and keen +feelings.[82] He is everywhere; his pre-eminence and his control are +universal: he can act with severity, and there are some impatient +even of a just control. When Ananias and Sapphira fell dead at his +feet, none murmured. When he exclaimed, in full council, "now, +therefore, why tempt you God?" the whole multitude was silent. When +he explained the reception of the Gentiles, those who had murmured +"held their peace, and glorified God."[83] + +But had Peter not possessed, by divine commission, the authority +which he exercised, it is clear, from the conduct of Paul, that he +would have met with opposition from each in proportion to his +advance in Christian perfection. Paul's censure of his indulgence to +the prejudices of the circumcision, proceeding as it did from +charity, shews this. But what would Paul, and what would the other +Apostles have done, had they seen Peter perpetually taking the lead, +and exercising the power of a head, without any special title +thereto? Would they not have resisted him to the face, and before +all, and declared that there was no difference of authority between +them? Yet, not a trace of such resistance appears, while on +numberless occasions the Apostles, and the whole assembly of the +faithful, yield to him the Primacy, a sign truly that they +recognized in him one who had received the place of Christ as +visible Head among them. + +The place of Christ _as visible Head_, for infinite indeed is the +distance between Christ and Peter, as to the headship of mystical +influx and the source of grace. Neither he nor any creature has part +with Christ as to this latter, of which Paul writes, "that God hath +set all things under His feet, and given Him to be Head over all to +the Church, which is His body, the fulness of Him who filleth all in +all;" of which again, "from whom the whole body, being compacted and +fitly joined together, by what every joint supplieth, according to +the operation in the measure of every part maketh increase of the +body, unto the edifying of itself in charity;" and "the husband is +the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the Church, and He is +the Saviour of His body:" and all this "to present it to Himself a +glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing."[84] +In _this_ sense Headship belongs to Christ, not only first and +chiefly, but absolutely and solely. But, as to the Headship of +external government and visible unity, though here also the same +Apostle calls Him, "the head of the body the Church, who is the +beginning, the first-born from the dead; that in all things He may +hold the primacy,"[85] to this Christ Himself has in a measure +associated Peter by saying to him specially, "Feed My sheep--follow +thou Me." + +And observe how that divine injunction was fulfilled. For as +following our Lord with loving gaze through the Gospels we see every +object grouped about that heavenly figure of His; as our eyes rest +ever upon Him in the synagogue, in the market-place, among the +crowd, before the Pharisees, the elders, the chief priests, healing +the sick, raising the dead, supporting and animating His +disciples--so turning to the Acts we see a human copy indeed of that +Divine portrait, but still one wrought by the Holy Spirit out of our +redeemed flesh and blood. We see the fervent Apostle treading in his +master's steps, the centre and the support of his brethren, the +first before the Council, and before the people, ready with his +words and his deeds, uttering to the dead, as the echo of his Lord, +"Arise," and healing the sick with his shadow. With reason, then, do +the inspired writers use of Peter and of Christ similar forms of +speech, and as they write, "Jesus, and His disciples," "there went +with Him His disciples," "there He abode with His disciples," so +they write, "Peter standing up with the Eleven," "they said to Peter +and to the rest of the Apostles," "Peter and the Apostles +answering." What above all is remarkable is to observe the same +_proportion_ between the figure of Peter and the Apostles in the +first twelve chapters of the Acts, as between the figure of our Lord +and the Apostles in the Gospel. Such was the power and the will of +the Divine Master when He said, "Feed My sheep; follow thou Me." +Such the truth of the disciple, answering, "Lord, Thou knowest all +things, Thou knowest that I love Thee." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Passaglia, p. 138. + +[2] Passaglia, p. 140. St. Chrys. in Acta, Hom. 1. + +[3] St. Chrys. Hom. in Ascens., and on Acts, Tom. 3, p. 773. + +[4] Acts xvii. 28-9, and compare 1 Cor. xii. 12-17 with Eph. iv. 16. + +[5] Dionys. de Coel. Hier. cap. 1, Sec. 3. + +[6] S. Cyril. Thes. lib. 34, p. 352, and lib. 9, on John, p. 810. + +[7] Passaglia, p. 143. + +[8] Passaglia, p. 144. + +[9] Acts i. 13; ii. 14; iii. 1-3; iv. 19; viii. 14. + +[10] Acts i. 15; ii. 14, 37; iii. 4; v. 29. + +[11] Acts ii. 13, 37, 38; iii. 11, 12. + +[12] St. Chrysostome. + +[13] Euthalius, apud Zaccagnium, p. 410. + +[14] On Acts, Hom. 21, n. 2. + +[15] Hom. on beginning of Acts, n. 8. Tom. 3, 764. + +[16] Passaglia, p. 148. + +[17] Ps. lxix. 26; cviii. 8. + +[18] Hom. 3, in Act. n. 1, 2, 3. + +[19] Authentikos. + +[20] Authentei. + +[21] Acts 2. + +[22] On the Acts, Hom. 4, n. 3. + +[23] St. Chrysostome, as before. + +[24] Passaglia, p. 153. + +[25] Acts i. 8; John xv. 27. + +[26] On Acts, Hom. 7, n. 1. + +[27] Acts iv. 4. + +[28] Acts iii. 12-26; iv. 8-19. + +[29] Acts iii. 11, 12-26. + +[30] Acts iv. 7, 8. + +[31] On Acts, Hom. 8, n. 2. + +[32] Acts ii. 44; iv. 32; John xvii. 21. + +[33] Passaglia, p. 157. + +[34] John xv. 22-4. + +[35] Matt. x. 7. + +[36] Mark xvi. 15-17. + +[37] John xx. 21. + +[38] Compare Acts ix. 33, with Mark ii. 3-11. + +[39] Mark v. 40; Acts ix. 39. + +[40] Acts v. 12-14. + +[41] Matt. xv. 30. + +[42] Passaglia, p. 163. + +[43] Matt. xv. 24; x. 5; Acts i. 8. + +[44] St. Cyprian, Ep. 69. St. Jerome, dialogue con. Luciferianos. + +[45] Acts viii. 14. + +[46] Passaglia, p. 174. + +[47] Eph. iii. 5; Mal. i. 11. + +[48] Acts ix. 32. + +[49] Bede on this text. + +[50] Apoc. vii. 9. + +[51] Haer. 28, s. 3. + +[52] Hom. 24 on the Acts, n. 1. + +[53] John iv. 2. + +[54] Passaglia, p. 181. + +[55] Acts xi. 1-4. + +[56] On Acts, Hom. 24, n. 2. + +[57] Lib. 9. Ep. 39. + +[58] Passaglia. p. 188. + +[59] Acts v. 8. 3. + +[60] On Acts, Hom. 12. + +[61] Passaglia, p. 190. + +[62] Acts ix. 31. + +[63] Titus i. 5. + +[64] Acts xv. 36. + +[65] Hist. Ecc. Lib. 3, ch. 23. + +[66] So called by Arnobius, on psalm 138. + +[67] On Acts, Hom. 21, n. 2. + +[68] Passaglia, p. 192. + +[69] Acts xv. 6. + +[70] Hom. 32, n. 1. + +[71] Hom. 32, Tom. 9, p. 250. + +[72] Acts xv. 28; xvi. 4. + +[73] De Pudicitia, c. 21. + +[74] S. Jerome, Ep. 75, inter Augustinianas, Tom. 2, p. 171. + +[75] Theodoret, Ep. 113, Tom. 3, 984. + +[76] Passaglia, p. 197. + +[77] On Acts, Hom. 26, n. 2. + +[78] Passaglia, p. 198. + +[79] 1 Pet. v. 3. + +[80] Princeps hujus fuit decreti, says St. Jerome to St. Augustine, +Ep. 75, n. 8. inter Augustinianas. + +[81] Numbers xvi. 3; xii. 2. + +[82] Acts vi. 1; xv. 2; xi. 2. + +[83] Acts xi. 18. + +[84] Eph. i. 22; iv. 15; v. 23, 27. + +[85] Col. i. 18. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +TESTIMONY OF S. PAUL TO S. PETER'S PRIMACY. + + +In leaving the Gospels and the Acts we quit those writings in which +we should expect, beforehand, that divine government to be set +forth, which it pleased our Lord to establish for His church. In +exact accordance with such expectation we have seen the institution +of the apostolic college, and of S. Peter's Primacy over it, +described in the Gospels, and the history in the Acts of its +execution and practical working. Both institution and execution have +been complete in their parts, and wonderfully harmonise with each +other. But in the other inspired writings of the New Testament, +comprising the letters of various Apostles, and specially of S. +Paul, we had no reason to anticipate any detailed mention of Church +government. The fourteen Epistles of S. Paul were written +incidentally on different subjects, no one of them leading him to +set forth, with any exact specification, that divine hierarchy under +which it was the pleasure of the Lord that His Church should grow +up. Moreover, it so happened that the [1]circumstances of S. Paul's +calling to be an Apostle, and the opposition which he sometimes met +with from those attached to Jewish usages, caused him to be a great +defender of the Apostolic dignity, as bestowed upon himself, and +continually to assert that he received it not of men, but of God. +Had there, then, been no recognition at all of S. Peter's superior +rank in the Apostolic College to be found in his writings, it would +not have caused surprise to those who consider the above reasons. +And proportionably strong and effective is the recognition of that +rank, which, though incidental, does occur, and that several times. +If, then, S. Paul, being so circumstanced, selected expressions +which seem to indicate a distinction of dignity between the Apostles +and S. Peter, they claim a special attention, and carry a double +force. Now on putting these together we shall find that they show +not merely a distinction of dignity, but a superior authority, in +Peter. + +The first are four several passages in the first Epistle to the +Corinthians, in all of which S. Peter holds the higher place, and in +two is moreover mentioned singly, while the rest are mentioned only +in mass. These are the following, "Now this I say, that every one of +you saith: I indeed am of Paul; and I of Apollo; and I of Cephas; +and I of Christ." Again: "All things are yours, whether it be Paul, +or Apollo, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things +present, or things to come, for all are yours, and you are Christ's, +and Christ is God's." Again, "Have we not power to carry about a +woman, a sister, as well as the rest of the Apostles, and the +brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?" And once more: "That He was seen +by Cephas, and after that by the eleven."[2] First, we may remark +that the place of dignity in a sentence varies[3] according to its +nature: if it _descends_, such place is the first; but if it +_ascends_, it is the furthest point from the first. Now in the first +instance the discourse ascends, for what can be plainer than that it +terminates in Christ, as in the supreme point? "Every one of you +saith, I indeed am of Paul, and I of Apollo, and I of Cephas, and I +of Christ;" so S. Chrysostome observes, "It was not to prefer +himself before Peter that he set him last, but to prefer Peter even +greatly before himself. For he speaks in the ascending scale:" and +Theodoret: "They called themselves from different teachers: now he +mentioned his own name and that of Apollo: but he adds also the name +of the chief of the Apostles."[4] As plain is this in the second +instance, where S. Paul, developing his thought, "all things are +yours," adds, "whether Paul, or Apollo, or Cephas," or if that be +not sufficient, "the world" itself, which, carried away in a sort of +transport, he seems to divide into its parts, "or life, or death, or +things present, or things to come, all," I repeat, "are yours:" but +only, you are not your own, "you are Christ's, and Christ is God's." +In all which, from human instruments, who plant and water, he rises +up to God, the ultimate source, the beginning and the end. Stronger +yet is the third passage, for being in the very act of setting forth +the dignity of his own Apostolate, "have we not power," he says, "to +lead about a sister, a woman, as well as the rest of the Apostles, +and the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?" Now, whether "the rest of +the Apostles" here means, those who, in the looser signification are +so called, as "the Apostles of the Churches," and "Andronicus, and +Junias--who are of note among the Apostles,"[5] or the original +Twelve, the ascending scale is equally apparent. For why is Peter +distinguished by name from all the rest? Why alone termed by his +prophetical name? S. Chrysostome, again tells us why. "Look at +Paul's wisdom. _He puts the chief the last. For there he puts that +which was strongest among the principal. For it was not so +remarkable to shew the rest doing this, as him that was chief, and +had been entrusted with the keys of heaven._ But he puts not him +alone, but all, as if he would say, whether you look for inferiors, +or superiors, you have examples of all. For the brethren of the +Lord, being delivered from their first unbelief,[6] were among the +principal, though they had not reached the height of Apostles, and, +therefore, he put them in the middle, with the highest on the two +sides:"[7] words in which he seems to indicate that Peter was as +excellent among the Apostles, as they among the rest of the +disciples, and the Lord's brethren. + +Of the superiority contained in the fourth passage, we have spoken +above, under another head: and, therefore, proceed to much more +remarkable testimonies of S. Paul. + +In the epistle to the Galatians, S. Paul has occasion[8] to defend +his Apostolic authority, and the agreement of the Gospel which he +had preached with that of the original Apostles. After referring to +his marvellous conversion, he continues, "immediately I condescended +not to flesh and blood; neither went I to Jerusalem to the Apostles, +who were before me, but I went into Arabia, and again I returned to +Damascus. Then, after three years, I went to Jerusalem, to visit +Peter, and I tarried with him fifteen days. But other of the +Apostles I saw none, saving James, the brother of the Lord." At +length, then, S. Paul goes to Jerusalem, and that with a fixed +purpose, "to visit Peter." But why Peter only, and not the rest of +the Apostles, and the brethren of the Lord?[9] Why speaks he of +these, and of James himself, besides, as if he would intimate that +he had little care of seeing them? No other answer can be given to +such queries, than is shadowed out in the prophetic name of Peter, +and contained in the explanation of it given by Christ Himself, +"Upon this Rock I will build My Church." + +For, to prove this, let us go back once more to witnesses beyond +suspicion, who wrote a thousand years before the denial of Peter's +Primacy began. The Greek and Latin Fathers see here a recognition of +his chief authority. Thus Theodoret, "Not needing doctrines from +man, as having received it from the God of all, he gives the fitting +honour to the chief." Theodoret follows S. Chrysostome, who had +said, "After so many great deeds, needing nothing of Peter, nor of +his instruction, but being his equal in rank, for I will say no more +here, still he goes up to him as to the greater and elder:" his +equal in the Apostolic dignity, and the immediate reception of his +authority from Christ, but yet his inferior in the range of his +jurisdiction, Peter being "greater and elder." And he goes on, "he +went, but for this alone, to see him and honour him by his presence. +He says, I went up to visit Peter. He said not to see Peter, but to +visit Peter, as they say, in becoming acquainted with great and +illustrious cities. So much pains he thought it worth only to see +the man." And he concludes, "This I repeat, and would have you +remember, lest you should suspect the Apostle, on hearing anything +which seems said against Peter. For it was for this that he so +speaks, correcting by anticipation, that when he shall say, I +resisted Peter, no one may think these words of enmity and +contention. For he honours the man, and loves him more than all. For +he says that he came up for none of the Apostles, save him." +Elsewhere, S. Chrysostome, commenting on the charge, Feed My sheep, +asks, "Why, then, passing by the rest, does He converse with him +(Peter) on these things?" And he replies, Peter "was the one +preferred among the Apostles, and the mouth-piece of the disciples, +and the head of the band: _therefore_, too, Paul then went up to +visit him _rather than the rest_."[10] Tertullian, the most ancient +of the Latins, says, "then, as he relates himself, he went up to +Jerusalem for the purpose of becoming acquainted with Peter, that +is, according to duty, and the claim of their identical faith and +preaching:"[11] the _duty_, which Paul had to Peter; the _claim_ +which Peter had on Paul. In the fourth century, Marius Victorinus +observes: "After three years, says he, I came to Jerusalem; then he +adds the cause, to see Peter. For if the foundation of the Church +was laid in Peter, as is said in the Gospel, Paul, to whom all +things had been revealed, knew that he was _bound_ to see Peter, as +one to whom so great an authority had been given by Christ, not to +learn anything from him."[12] The writer called Ambrosiaster, as his +works are attached to those of S. Ambrose, and contemporary with +Pope Damasus, (A.D. 366-384) remarks, "It was proper that he should +desire to see Peter, because he was first among the Apostles, to +whom the Saviour had committed the care of the Churches." S. Jerome, +more largely, says, "not to behold his eyes, his cheeks, or his +countenance, whether he were thin or stout, with nose straight or +twisted, covered with hair, or as Clement, in the Periods, will have +it, bald. It was not, I conceive, in the gravity of an Apostle, that +after so long as three years' preparation, he could wish to see +anything human in Peter. But he gazed on him with those eyes with +which now he is seen in his own letters. Paul saw Cephas with eyes +such as those with which all wise men now look on Paul. If any one +thinks otherwise, let him join all this with the sense before +indicated, that the Apostles contributed nothing to each other. For +even in that he seemed to go to Jerusalem, in order that he might +see the Apostle, it was not to learn, as having himself too the same +author of his preaching, but _to shew honour to the first +Apostle_."[13] Our own S. Thomas sums up all these in saying, "the +doctor of the Gentiles, who boasts that he had learnt the Gospel, +not of man, nor through man, but instructed by Christ, went up to +Jerusalem, conferred concerning the faith _with the head of the +Churches_, lest perchance he might run, or had run, in vain."[14] + +These last words lead us attentively to consider the passage which +follows in S. Paul. At a subsequent period the zealots of the law +had raised against him a report that the Gospel which he preached +differed from that of the Twelve. At once to meet and silence such a +calumny, he tells us that "after fourteen years, I went up again to +Jerusalem, with Barnabas, taking Titus also with me. And I went up +according to revelation, and," assigning the particular purpose, +"conferred with them the Gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, +but apart with them who seemed to be something; lest, perhaps, I +should run, or had run, in vain." Then, having proved the identity +of his doctrine with that of those who "seemed to be something," +that is, Peter, James, and John, though to him they "added nothing," +he specifies Peter among these, and proceeds to draw a singular +parallel between, on the one hand, Peter, as accompanied by James +and John, and himself, as working with Barnabas and Titus. If we set +the clauses over against each other, this will be more apparent:-- + + When they had seen that As to Peter was that of + to me was committed the Gospel the circumcision, + of the uncircumcision, + + For He who wrought in Wrought in me also among + Peter, to the Apostleship of the Gentiles, + the circumcision, + + [15]James, and Cephas, and Gave to me and Barnabas + John, who seemed to be the right hand of fellowship; + pillars, + +where it would appear that James and John stand in the like relation +to Cephas, as Barnabas and Titus, just before mentioned, to Paul. +And S. Chrysostome, who, it must be remarked, reads Cephas, and not +James, first, as do some manuscripts and many Fathers, observes, +"where it was requisite to compare himself, he mentions Peter only, +but were to call a testimony, he names three together and with +praise, saying, 'Cephas, and James, and John, who seemed to be +pillars.'" And further, Paul "shows himself to be of the same rank +with them, and matches himself not with the rest, but with the +leader, showing that each of them enjoyed the same dignity,"[16] +that is, of the Apostolic commission, and the divine cooperation. +And Ambrosiaster explains the parallel: "Paul names Peter only, and +compares him to himself, as having received the Primacy _for the +founding of the Church_, he being in like manner elected to hold a +Primacy _in founding the Churches of the Gentiles_, yet so that +Peter, if occasion might be, should preach to the Gentiles, and Paul +to the Jews. For both are found to have done both." And presently, +"by the Apostles who were the more illustrious among the rest, whom +for their stability he names pillars, and who were ever in the +Lord's secret council, being worthy to behold His glory on the +mount," (where Ambrosiaster confuses James, the brother of the Lord, +with James the brother of John,) "by these he declares to have been +approved the gift which he received from God, that he should be +worthy to hold the Primacy in the preaching of the Gentiles, as +Peter held it in the preaching of the circumcision. _And as he +assigns to Peter for companions distinguished men among the +Apostles, so he joins Barnabas to himself; yet he claims to himself +alone the grace of the Primacy as granted by God, like as to Peter +alone it was granted among the Apostles_.[17] + +Now Baronius proves that the above words cannot be taken of a +division of jurisdiction, and that the singular dignity of Peter is +marked in them. "For as a mark of his excellence Christ Himself, who +came to save all men, with whom there is no distinction of Jew and +Greek, was yet called 'minister of the circumcision,' by Paul, (Rom. +xv. 8,) a title of dignity, according to Paul's own words, for +theirs was 'the adoption of children, and the glory, and the +testament, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and +the promises,' while 'the Gentiles praise God for His mercy,' But +just as Christ our Lord was so called minister of the circumcision, +as yet to be the Pastor and Saviour of all, so Peter too was called +the minister of the circumcision, in such sense as yet to be by the +Lord constituted (Acts ix. 32,) pastor and ruler of the whole flock. +Whence S. Leo, 'out of the whole world Peter alone is chosen to +preside over the calling of all the Gentiles, and over all the +Apostles, and the collected Fathers of the Church, so that though +there be among the people of God many priests and many shepherds, +yet Peter rules all by immediate commission, whom Christ also rules +by Sovereign power.'"[18] + +The parallel, then, drawn by Paul between himself and Peter, +distinctly conveys that as he was superior to Barnabas and Titus, +and used their cooperation, so was Peter among the Apostles, and +specially the chief ones, James and John, as their leader and head. +For what is the meaning of the words, "He who wrought in Peter to +the Apostleship of the circumcision?" Was the Apostleship of the +circumcision entrusted to Peter only? It needs no proof that it was +also entrusted to James and John, nay, Paul himself immediately says +so, "They gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, +that _we_ should go unto the Gentiles, and _they_ unto the +circumcision." Why then does Paul so express himself as to intimate +that the Gospel of the circumcision was given to Peter only? For the +same reason that he said that to himself "was committed the Gospel +of the uncircumcision," and that God "wrought in me also among the +Gentiles." Now Barnabas likewise had been[19]separated by the Holy +Ghost Himself for the Gentile mission; Barnabas, too, and Titus +were discharging the office of ambassadors for Christ among the +Gentiles: "that _we_," Paul says, not I, "should go to the +Gentiles." The terms, therefore, used by Paul both of himself and +Peter, do not _exclude_ the rest, but express the _superiority_ of +the one named singly before the rest, as if he alone held the +charge. Their fittest interpretation, then, will be, "The Apostles +saw that the Gospel of the uncircumcision was no less given to me +_above_ the rest, than the Gospel of the circumcision to Peter +_above_ the rest; for He who wrought in Peter _above_ the rest in +the Gospel of the circumcision, wrought also in me _above_ the rest +in the Gospel of the uncircumcision." But what can set forth S. +Peter's dignity more remarkably than to exhibit him in the same +light of superiority among the original Apostles, as S. Paul was +among S. Barnabas and his other fellow-workers? + +Further confirmation of this is given by the argument with which he +refutes the calumny urged against him of disagreement with the +Apostles. For while he appeals to them _in general_, and to his +union with them, he likewise _specifies_ the point which favoured +that union. It was the parallel between himself and Peter, as we +have seen; it was the exact resemblance between his mission and that +of Peter, which was the cause of their joining hands: they approve +Paul's Apostleship because they see that it follows the type of +Peter's. + +And other words of Paul which follow, prove not only the point of +his own cause, but the source of Peter's singular privileges. "But +when Cephas was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, +because he was to be blamed: for before that some came from James, +he did eat with the Gentiles; but when they were come he withdrew, +and separated himself, fearing them who were of the circumcision. +And to his dissimulation the rest of the Jews consented, so that +Barnabas also was led by them into that dissimulation. But when I +saw that they walked not uprightly unto the truth of the Gospel, I +said to Cephas before them all, If thou being a Jew livest after the +manner of the Gentiles, and not as the Jews do, how dost thou compel +the Gentiles to live as the Jews?" For why did Paul here censure +Peter _only_? By his own account not only Peter, but the rest, and +Barnabas himself amongst them, set apart as he was by the Holy Ghost +to preach to the Gentiles, did not defend Christian liberty, as they +ought to have done. Why, then, does he single out Peter among all +these, resist him to the face, and so firmly censure all, in his +person? No answer can be given but one: that by this dissembling of +Peter the zealots of the law gathered double courage to press +against Paul their calumny of dissension from Peter, and to infer +that he had run in vain, from the indulgence which Peter showed; +that Peter's authority with all was so great that his example drew +the pastors and their flocks alike to his side, and that it was +requisite to correct the members in the head. From this S. +Chrysostome proves that it was really the Apostle Peter, which some, +as we shall soon see, denied: "For to say, that I resisted him to +the face, and to put this as a great thing, was to show that he had +not reverenced the dignity of his person. But had he said it of +another, that I resisted him to the face, he would not have put it +as a great thing. Again, if it had been another Peter, his change +would have not had such force as to draw the rest of the Jews with +him. For he used no exhortation, nor advice, but merely dissembled, +and separated himself, and that dissembling and separation had +power to draw after him all the disciples, _on account of the +dignity of his person_."[20] Again, another writer of the fourth +century tells us this: "Therefore he inveighs against Peter alone, +in order that the rest might learn in the person of him who is the +first."[21] It was, then, Peter's primacy, and the necessity of +agreeing with him thence arising, which led Paul to resist him +publicly, and, disregarding the conduct of the rest, to direct an +admonition to him alone. "So great," S. Jerome tells us, on these +two passages, "was Peter's authority, that Paul in his epistle +wrote, 'Then after three years I went to Jerusalem to see Peter, and +I tarried with him fifteen days.' And again in what follows, 'After +fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking +Titus also with me. And I went up according to revelation, and +conferred with them the Gospel which I preach among the Gentiles,' +_showing that he had no security in preaching the Gospel, unless it +were confirmed by the sentence of Peter and those who were with +him_."[22] + +But this passage,[23] concerning the reprehension of S. Peter by S. +Paul, has afforded so signal an instance "of the unlearned and +unstable wresting Scripture to their own proper destruction,"[24] +that we must dwell a little longer upon it. First, the Gnostics and +the Marcionites quoted it to accuse the Apostles of ignorance, and +to favour their own claim to a progressive light. In Peter, they +would have it, there was still a taint of Judaism. Next Porphyry, +who "raged against Christ like a mad dog,"[25] tried by this passage +to weaken the authority of the Apostles, and to convict Paul of +ambition and rashness, who censured the first of the Apostles and +the leader of the band, not privately, but openly before all, as S. +Chrysostome and S. Jerome tell us. Julian the apostate succeeded +these, and tried, by means of Paul's contention with Peter, to bring +discredit on the religion itself. For who, he asked, could value a +religion whose chief teachers were guilty of hypocrisy, ignorance, +and ambition? And in complete accordance with the spirit of these, +all, who, since the sixteenth century, have attempted to impugn S. +Peter's prerogatives, have rested their chief effort on the +exaggeration and distortion of this reprehension. "This," says +Baronius, "is the stone of stumbling, and rock of offence, on which +a great number have dashed themselves. For those, who without any +diligent consideration have superficially interpreted a difficult +statement, have gone so far in their folly as either to accuse Paul +of rashness for having inveighed against Peter not merely with +freedom, but wantonness, or to calumniate Peter as a hypocrite, for +acting with dissimulation; or to condemn both, for not agreeing in +the same rule of faith."[26] + +In most remarkable contrast with these stand out three several +interpretations, which prevailed in early times, all differing from +each other in points, but all equally careful to maintain the +dignity of Peter, and to clear up the conduct of Paul. First, from +S. Clement of Alexandria in the second century up to S. Chrysostome +in the fourth, we find a number of Greek writers asserting that it +was not the Apostle Peter, who was here meant, but another; S. +Jerome gives their reasons thus: "there are those who think that +Cephas, whom Paul here writes that he resisted to the face, was not +the Apostle Peter, but another of the seventy disciples so called, +and they allege that Peter could not have withdrawn himself from +eating with the Gentiles, for he had baptized Cornelius the +centurion, and on his ascending to Jerusalem, being opposed by those +of the circumcision who said, 'why hast thou entered in to men +uncircumcised, and eaten with them?' after narrating the vision, he +terminates his answer thus: 'If, then, God hath given to them the +same grace as to us who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I +that I should withstand God?' On hearing which they were silent, and +glorified God, saying: 'Therefore to the Gentiles, also, God hath +given repentance unto life.' Especially as Luke, the writer of the +history, makes no mention of this dissension, nor even says that +Peter was at Antioch with Paul; and occasion would be given to +Porphyry's blasphemies, _if we could believe either that Peter had +erred, or that Paul had impertinently censured the prince of the +Apostles_."[27] + +But this interpretation, contrary both to internal evidence and to +early tradition, and suggested only by the anxiety to defend S. +Peter's dignity, did not prevail. Another succeeded, supported by S. +Chrysostome, S. Cyril, and the greatest Greek commentators, and for +a long time by S. Jerome, even more remarkably opposed to the +apparent sense of the passage, and only, as it would seem, dictated +by the same desire to defend the dignity of S. Peter, and the +conduct of S. Paul. Admitting that it was really Peter who was here +mentioned, they maintained that it was not a real dissension between +the two Apostles, but apparent only, and arranged both by the one +and the other, to terminate the question more decidedly. S. +Chrysostome[28] sets forth at great length this opinion: "Do you +see," says he, "how S. Paul accounts himself the least of all +saints, not of Apostles only? Now he who was so disposed with +respect to all, both knew how great a prerogative Peter ought to +enjoy, and reverenced him most of all men, and was disposed towards +him as he deserved. And this is a proof. The whole earth was looking +to Paul; there rested on his spirit the solicitude for the Churches +of all the world. A thousand matters engaged him every day; he was +besieged with appointments, commands, corrections, counsels, +exhortations, teachings, the administration of endless business; yet +giving up all these, he went to Jerusalem. And there was no other +occasion for this journey save to see Peter, as he says himself: 'I +went up to Jerusalem to visit Peter.' Thus he honoured him, and +preferred him to all men." Suspecting, too, that an accusation +against Peter's unwavering faith, might be brought from the words, +"fearing those of the circumcision," he breaks out, 'What say you? +Peter fearful and unmanly? Was he not for this called Peter, that +his faith was immovable? What are you doing, friend? Reverence the +name given by the Lord to the disciple. Peter fearful and unmanly! +Who will endure you saying such things?'" + +Now compare[29] together these two interpretations of the Greek +Fathers with that of the reformers and their adherents since the +sixteenth century. A more complete antagonism of feelings and +principles cannot be conceived. I. There is not a Greek Father who +does not infer the singular authority of Peter from the first and +second chapter of the epistle to the Galatians. There is not an +adherent of the reformers who does not trust that he can draw from +those same chapters matter to impugn S. Peter's Primacy. II. The +Greek Fathers anxiously search out every point which may conduce to +Peter's praise. The adherent of the reformers suppresses all such, +and seems not to see them. III. If anything in Paul's account seems +at first sight to tell against Peter's special dignity, the Greek +Fathers are studious carefully to remove it; the adherents of the +reformers to exaggerate it. IV. The Greek Fathers prefer slightly to +force the obvious meaning of the words, and to desert the original +interpretation, rather than set Apostles at variance with each +other, or admit that Peter, the chief of the Apostles, was not +treated with due deference. The adherents of the reformers intensify +everything, take it in the worst sense, and are the more at home, +the more bitterly they inveigh against Peter. + +Now turn to the third interpretation, that of the Latin Fathers. +They admit both that it was Peter and that it was a real dissension, +but they are as anxious as the Greek to defend Peter's dignity. Thus +Tertullian:[30] "If Peter was blamed--certainly it was a fault of +_conduct_, not of _preaching_." And Cyprian:[31] "not even Peter, +whom first the Lord chose, and upon whom He built His Church, when +afterwards Paul disagreed with him respecting circumcision, claimed +aught proudly, or assumed aught arrogantly to himself, saying that +he held the Primacy, and that obedience rather was due to him by +those younger and later." And Augustine: "Peter himself received +with the piety of a holy and benignant humility what was with +advantage done by Paul in the freedom of charity. And so he gave to +posterity a rarer and a holier example, that they should not +disdain, if perchance they left the right track, _to be corrected +even by their youngers_, than Paul, that even _inferiors_ might +confidently venture to resist _superiors_, maintaining brotherly +charity, in the defence of evangelical truth. For better as it is on +no occasion to quit the proper path, yet much more wonderful and +praiseworthy is it, willingly to accept correction, than boldly to +correct deviation. Paul then has the praise of just liberty, and +_Peter of holy humility_: which, so far as seems to me according to +my small measure, had been a better defence against the calumnies of +Porphyry, than the giving him greater occasion of finding fault: for +it would be a much more stinging accusation that Christians should +with deceit either write their epistles, or bear the mysteries of +their God."[32] + +Now, to see the[33] fundamental opposition between the Greek and +Latin Fathers, and the reformers, let us observe that, though there +are three ancient interpretations of this passage, differing from +each other, the first denying that the Cephas so reprehended by +Paul, was the chief of the Apostles, the second affirming this, but +reducing the whole contention to an arrangement of prudence between +the two Apostles, and the third maintaining the reality of the +reprehension, yet all three have in common the reconciling Peter's +chief dignity with the reprehension of him, and the two latter, +besides, are much more careful to admire his modesty, than Paul's +liberty, and make the most of every point in the narration setting +forth Peter's Primacy. On the other hand the reformers use this +reprehension as their sharpest weapon against his authority, praise +Paul's liberty to the utmost in order to depress that authority, +hunt out everything against Peter, and pass over everything for him. +It is equally evident that their motive in this runs counter to the +faith universal in the Church during the first four centuries; and +that their inference cannot be accepted without rejecting all +Christian antiquity, and the very sentiments expressed by Paul +himself, as we have seen, towards Peter. + +But as to the reprehension itself, it would seem to have been not on +a point of _doctrine_ at all, but of _conduct_. S. Peter had long +ago both admitted the Gentiles into the Church, and declared that +they were not bound to the Jewish law. But out of regard to the +feelings of the circumcised converts, he pursued a line of conduct +at Antioch, which they mistook to mean an approval of their error, +and which needed, therefore, to be publicly cleared up. Accordingly, +Peter's fault, if any there were, amounted to this, that having, +with the best intention, done what was not forbidden, he had not +sufficiently foreseen what others would thence infer contrary to his +own intention. Can this be esteemed either a dogmatic error, or a +proof of his not holding supreme authority? But the _event_ being +injurious, and contrary to the truth of the Gospel, why should not +Paul admonish Peter concerning it? But very remarkable it is, that +he quotes S. Peter's own example and authority, opposes the +antecedent to the consequent fact, and maintains Gospel liberty by +Peter's own conduct. S. Chrysostome remarked this. "Observe his +prudence. He said not to him, Thou dost wrong, in living as a Jew, +but he alleges his former mode of living, that the admonition and +the counsel may seem to come not from Paul's mind, but from the +judgment of Peter already expressed. For had he said, Thou dost +wrong to keep the law, Peter's disciples would have blamed him, but +now, hearing that this admonition and correction came not from +Paul's judgment, but that Peter himself so lived, and held in his +mind this belief, whether they would, or would not, they were +obliged to be quiet."[34] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Passaglia, p. 206. + +[2] 1 Cor. i. 12; iii. 22; ix. 5: xv. 5. + +[3] Passaglia, p. 124-6. + +[4] S. Chrys. in 1 Cor. Hom. 3, n. 2. Theodoret on text. + +[5] 2 Cor. viii. 23; Rom. xvi. 7. + +[6] John vii. 5. + +[7] In 1 Cor. Hom. 21. n. 2. + +[8] Passaglia, p. 208. + +[9] Gal. i. 16-19. + +[10] Theodoret and Chrysostome on the text, and on John, Hom. 88. + +[11] De Praesc. c. 23. + +[12] Comm. in Gal. i. 18. Mai nova collectio. Tom. 3. + +[13] Ambrosiaster and S. Jerome on the text. + +[14] S. Thomas Cant. Epist. Lib. i, 97. + +[15] An argument has been drawn by some against S. Peter's primacy +from S. Paul here placing S. James first. Now as to this we must +remark that some most ancient manuscripts, and the original Latin +version, read "Peter, and James, and John," and that this is +followed by Tertullian, Chrysostome, Ambrose, Ambrosiaster, +Augustine, Theodoret, Jerome, Irenaeus, Gregory of Nyssa, and +Cassiodorus, of whom Jerome is the more important, in that he had +studied so many ancient commentaries before writing his own. But +supposing that the vulgar reading is the true one, Peter's being +once placed by S. Paul between S. James and S. John will not +counterbalance the vast positive evidence for his primacy. Those who +wish to see the probable reasons why S. James was here placed first, +may consult Passaglia, b. 1, c. 14, who treats of the question at +length. Perhaps S. Paul, narrating historically a past incident, +recalled them to his recollection _in the order of time_, in which +they received him: and S. James, residing constantly at Jerusalem, +might very probably have seen him first. + +[16] S. Chrys. in Gal. c. 2. + +[17] Comm. on Gal. ii. 7, 8. + +[18] Baron. Ann. A.D. 51. Sec. 29. S. Leo. Serm. 4. + +[19] Acts xiii. 2. + +[20] Hom. on, I resisted Him to the face, n. 15. + +[21] Ambrosiaster on Gal. ii. 14. + +[22] Epist. inter. Augustin. 75, n. 8. + +[23] Passaglia, p. 217. + +[24] 2 Pet. iii. 16. + +[25] S. Jerome. + +[26] Ad. Ann. 51, Sec. 32. + +[27] S. Jerome on Gal. ch. 2. + +[28] Homily on the text, I resisted him to the face, n. 8, Tom. 3, +p. 368. + +[29] Passaglia, p. 232. + +[30] De Praese. c. 24. + +[31] Cyprian, Ep. 71. + +[32] Ep. 82, n. 22. + +[33] Passaglia, p. 240. + +[34] Hom. on text, n. 17. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +S. PETER'S PRIMACY INVOLVED IN THE FOURFOLD UNITY OF CHRIST'S +KINGDOM. + + +The doctrine[1] of S. Paul has brought us to a most interesting +point of the subject, what, namely, is the principle of unity in the +Church. A short consideration of this will shew us how the office of +S. Peter enters into and forms part of the radical idea of the +Church, so that the moment we profess our belief in one holy +Catholic Church, the belief is likewise involved in that Primacy of +teaching and authority which makes and keeps it one. + +The principle of unity, then, is no other than "the Word made +flesh:" that divine Person who has for ever joined together the +Godhead and the Manhood. Thus, S. Paul speaks to us of God "having +made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good +pleasure, which He purposed in Himself, in the dispensation of the +fulness of times, _to gather together under one head all things in +Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth_:" at whose +resurrection, "He set all things under His feet, and gave Him to be +head over all to the Church, which is His body, the fulness of Him +who filleth all in all." And again, "the head of every man is +Christ;--and the head of Christ is God." "And we being many are one +body in Christ, and every one members one of another:"[2] as, again, +he sets forth at length in the 12th chapter of the First Epistle to +the Corinthians, calling that one body by the very name of Christ. + +With one voice the ancient Fathers[3] exult in this as the great +purpose of His Incarnation. "The work," says S. Hippolytus,[4] "of +His taking a body, is the gathering up into one head of all things +unto Him." "The Word Man," says S. Irenaeus,[5] "gathering all things +up into Himself, that as in super-celestial, and spiritual, and +invisible things, the Word of God is the chief, so also in visible +and corporeal things He may hold the chiefship, assuming the Primacy +to Himself, and joining Himself as Head to the Church, may draw all +things to Himself, at the fitting time." And again, "The Son of God +was made Man among men, to join the end to the beginning, that is, +man to God;" or, as Tertullian says,[6] "that God might shew that in +Himself was the evolution of the beginning to the end, and the +return of the end to the beginning." And Oecumenius, "Angels and +men were rent asunder; God then joined them, and made them one +through Christ." S. Gregory Thaumaturgus breaks out, "Thou art He +that didst bridge over heaven and earth by Thy sacred body." And +Augustine,[7] "Far off He was from us, and very far. What, so far +off as the creature and the Creator? What, so far off as God and +man? What, so far off as justice and iniquity? What, so far off as +eternity and mortality? See how far off was 'the Word in the +beginning, God with God, by whom all things were made.' How, then, +was He made nigh, that He might be as we, and we in Him? 'The Word +was made flesh.'" "Man, being assumed, was taken into the nature of +the Godhead," says S. Hilary:[8] and S. Chrysostome,[9] "He puts on +flesh, that He who cannot be held may be holden:" "dwelling with +us," says Gregory[10] of Nazianzum, "by interposing His flesh as a +veil, that the incomprehensible may be comprehended." "For since," +adds S. Cyril,[11] "man's nature was not capable of approaching the +pure and unmixed glory of the Godhead, because of its inherent +weakness, for our use the only-begotten one put on our likeness." +"In the assumption of our nature," says S. Leo,[12] "He became to us +the step, by which through Him we may be able to mount unto Him:" +"the descent of the Creator to the creature is the advance of +believers to things eternal:" and, "it is not doubtful that man's +nature has been taken into such connection by the Son of God, that, +not only in that Man who is the first-born of all creation, but even +in all His saints, there is one and the same Christ: and as the Head +cannot be divided from the limbs, so neither the limbs from the +Head. For though it belong not to this life, but to that of +eternity, that God be all in all, yet even now He is the undivided +inhabitant of His temple, which is the Church." For all the above is +contained in our Lord's own words, "that they all may be one, as +Thou, Father, in Me, and I in Thee," on which S. Athanasius[13] +says, "that all, being carried by Me, may be all one body and one +spirit, and reach the perfect man:"--"for, as the Lord having +clothed Himself in a body, became man, so we men are deified by the +Word, being assumed through His flesh." S. Gregory,[14] of Nyssa, +has unfolded this idea thus: "since from no other source but from +our lump was the flesh which received God, which, by the +resurrection, was together with the Godhead exalted; just as in our +own body the action of one organ of sense communicates sympathy to +all that which is united with the part, so, just as if the whole +nature (of man) were one living creature, the resurrection of a part +passes throughout the whole, being communicated from the part to the +whole, according to the nature's continuity and union." And +another,[15] interpreting the words, "that they all may be one," +"thus I will, that they being drawn into unity, may be blended with +each other, and becoming as one body, may all be in Me, who carry +all in that one temple which I have assumed; the temple, namely, of +His Body." And lastly, S. Hilary[16] deduces this not only from the +Incarnation, but from the Blessed Eucharist. "For, if the Word be +really made flesh, and we really receive the Word as flesh, in the +food of the Lord, how is He not to be thought to remain in us +naturally, since, both in being born a man, He assumed the nature of +our flesh, never to be severed from Him, and has joined the nature +of His flesh to the eternal nature under the sacrament of the flesh +to be communicated to us." + +So deep in the junction of the divine and human natures in our +Lord's adorable Person lies the root of unity for that humanity +which He purchased with His blood. It is in virtue of this headship +that the whole mystical body is one, and "we all members one of +another." By this headship our Lord nourishes and cherishes the +Church, and communicates to her incessantly that stream of grace by +which she lives. And as this headship flows from the union of the +Godhead and Manhood, so it is inseparable from His Person, and +incommunicable. But He has Himself, in His parting discourse, +recorded by S. John, dwelt upon the great sacrament of unity, the +result of this headship, and set it forth as the sign and seal of +His own divine mission, and the one convincing proof of His +religion's superhuman origin. By following His words we shall see +that this unity is not simple but fourfold, and we shall trace the +mutual relation and subordination to the divine Headship of its +several kinds. + +1. And first, "In[17] that day," says He, that is, after His own +resurrection, "ye shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, +and I in you," whereby He declares that, in the completion of the +dispensation, the union between Himself and the faithful shall be +such as to image out the mutual indwelling of the Father and the +Son. Which again is further expressed, "I[18] am the true vine, and +My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in Me that beareth not +fruit He will take away: and every one that beareth fruit, He will +purge it, that it may bring forth more fruit.... I am the vine; you +the branches: he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same beareth +much fruit: for without Me you can do nothing. If any one abide not +in Me, he shall be cast forth as a branch, and shall wither, and +they shall gather him up and cast him into the fire, and he burneth. +If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you shall ask +whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you." In these words He +sets forth that union of mystical influx, by cooperation with which +His disciples keep His words and abide in His love, and of which He +is Himself the immediate principle. + +2. But He does not stop at this interior and invisible union between +His disciples and Himself: He speaks likewise of a new and special +command, and of a special gift, by which their union with each other +should be known. "A[19] new command I give unto you, that you love +one another: as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By +this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love +one to another." And again, "This[20] is My command, that you love +one another, as I have loved you. Greater love than this hath no +man, that any one lay down his life for his friends.--These things I +command you, that you love one another." But the Holy Spirit, whom +our Lord was about to send forth, is the efficient principle of the +love here enjoined, by His substantial indwelling, as we are told, +"The[21] charity of God is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy +Ghost who is given to us." From Him, therefore, bestowed by the Head +of the Church, springs that unity of charity, which, being itself +internal, is shown in outward signs, and constitutes that +distinctive spirit of the Christian people, the spirit characterising +it, and analogous to the national spirit in civil organization. + +3. But our Lord likewise speaks of a third unity, springing from the +direction of one and the same divine Spirit. "And[22] I will ask the +Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, that He may abide +with you for ever: the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot +receive, because it seeth Him not, nor knoweth Him: but you shall +know Him, because He shall abide with you, and shall be in you." +"The Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My +name, He will teach you all things, and bring all things to your +mind whatsoever I shall have said to you." "It[23] is expedient to +you that I go: for if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you; +but if I go, I will send Him to you." "But when He, the Spirit of +truth, is come, He will teach you all truth. For He shall not speak +of Himself, but what things soever He shall hear, He shall speak; +and the things that are to come, He shall show you. He shall glorify +Me, because He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it to you." Of +the nature of this unity we may judge by the gifts and offices +assigned to that Spirit and Paraclete from whom it springs. Now He +is repeatedly termed "the Spirit of truth," and His office, to +_suggest_, to _announce_, to _teach_, and _to lead into all truth_. +This unity, therefore, is opposed to the division produced by +ignorance and error, and so is the unity of faith, or Christian +profession. Thus our Lord promises, besides the unity of charity, +that of faith, the efficient principle of which, as well as of the +former, is contained in the communication of the Holy Spirit. But it +is no less true in the supernatural order of divine gifts, than in +the order of nature, that the first cause produces its effects by +means of second causes. And here, as often as the Lord promises the +Spirit of truth, He promises Him _to the Apostles_, and assures His +perpetual abidance with them and the successors in their charge, +thus, "That He may abide with you for ever:" "He shall abide with +you, and shall be in you:" "He shall teach you all things, and bring +all things to your mind which I have said unto you:" "Whom I will +send unto you from the Father:" "I will send Him unto you:" "He +shall lead you into all truth:" "He shall show you the things that +are to come." And so the unity of faith may be expected from its +_supreme_ cause, the Holy Spirit the Paraclete, _through the medium_ +of the Apostles and their legitimate successors: the Holy Spirit in +its _ultimate_, but they its _subordinate_ principle: He is the +_source_, but they the _channel_. Thus to trust to the invisible +action of the Spirit, but to despise the office and direction of the +teachers ordained by Christ, in the very virtue of that Spirit, is +to reject His divine institution, and to risk a shipwreck of the +promised gift of faith and truth. + +For in exact accordance with our Lord's words here, S. Paul has set +forth not only the institution, but the source, as well as the end +and purpose, of the whole visible hierarchy. It is instituted by our +Lord, as an act of His divine headship; its source is in "one and +the same Spirit dividing to every one according as He will;" its end +and purpose is, "the edifying the body of Christ, until we all meet +into the unity of faith."[24] + +Each of these points is important. Our Lord's divine headship over +the Church, all encompassing, as it is, and the spring of all +blessing and unity, does not dispense with the establishment of a +visible hierarchy, but rather is specially shown therein. And again, +the Holy Spirit is the source and superior principle of all +spiritual gifts to all, but yet He acts _through_ this hierarchy. He +is the spirit who maintains faith and truth, but it is by the +instruments of His own appointing. + +Now these three points, the bestowal of all spiritual gifts and +offices by Christ in virtue of His mystical headship, the Holy +Spirit being the one superior principle of such gifts and offices, +and His manifold operation therein through the visible hierarchy, +are set forth most distinctly in two passages of S. Paul, the +twelfth chapter of the First to the Corinthians, and the fourth +chapter to the Ephesians. "To every one of us is given grace, +according to the measure of the giving of Christ. Wherefore he +saith, Ascending on high He led captivity captive; He gave gifts to +men. Now that He ascended, what is it but because He also descended +first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the +same also that ascended above all the heavens, that He might fill +all things. And He gave some Apostles, and some prophets, and other +some evangelists, and other some pastors and doctors, for the +perfecting of the saints, unto the work of the ministry, unto the +edifying of the body of Christ, until we all meet into the unity of +faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, +unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ; that +henceforth we be no more children tossed to and fro, and carried +about with every wind of doctrine by the wickedness of men, by +cunning craftiness by which they lie in wait to deceive. But doing +the truth in charity, we may in all things grow up in Him who is the +Head, even Christ; from whom the whole body, being compacted and +fitly joined together, by what every joint supplieth, according to +the operation in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the +body, unto the edifying of itself in charity." "And the +manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man unto profit. To +one indeed by the Spirit is given the word of wisdom; and to another +the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit; to another, +faith, in the same Spirit; to another, the grace of healing, in one +Spirit; to another, the working of miracles; to another, prophecy; +to another, the discerning of spirits; to another, divers kinds of +tongues; to another interpretation of speeches. But all these things +one and the same Spirit worketh, dividing to every one according as +He will. For as the body is one, and hath many members; and all the +members of the body, whereas they are many, yet are one body, so +also is Christ. For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one +body, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether bond or free, and in one +Spirit we have all been made to drink."[25] + +Thus, then, we have been brought by the words both of our Lord and +of S. Paul, through an inward invisible unity, that of mystical +influx from the vine to its branches, and again, that of charity, +and that of faith and truth, to an outward and visible unity, one of +social organization, called forth by the great Head for the purpose +of exhibiting, defending, maintaining, and conveying the former, +since it is expressly said that He gave it "for the perfecting of +the saints, unto the work of the ministry, unto the edifying of the +body of Christ," and in order that "we may be no more children +tossed to and fro, and carried about by every wind of doctrine." And +the inward source and cause of this unity are indeed invisible, +being the Holy Spirit of God, sent down by Christ, when He ascended +up on high, to dwell permanently among men, but its effects are +external and most visible, even the growth of a body "unto a perfect +man, unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ," a body +which has an orderly arrangement of all its parts, and a hierarchy +of officers to continue till the end of all. And the function of +this hierarchy is one never to be superseded, and which none but +itself, the organ of the Holy Spirit, can perform, namely, to bring +its members "to meet in the unity of the faith, and of the +knowledge of the Son of God." As our Lord says, in the promise, +before His passion, "I will ask the Father, and He shall give you +(the Apostles) another Paraclete, that He may abide with you for +ever, the Spirit of truth," so S. Paul of the accomplishment after +His ascension, "He gave some Apostles and some prophets, and other +some evangelists, and other some pastors and doctors," yet "all +these things worketh one and the same Spirit." For as the divine +Head took to Himself a body, bridging thereby the worlds of matter +and of spirit, and as "in Him dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead +_corporally_," so in His Church, in perfect analogy with the +Archetype, the visible is the channel of the invisible, and the +outward organization is instinct with inward life, and the hierarchy +is the gift of the mystical Head, and the instrument of the one +sanctifying Spirit. To think otherwise, to disregard the external +framework, under a pretence of exalting the inward spirit, is to +undo so far the work of the Incarnation, and to renew the insanity +of those early heretics who in one way or another would "dissolve" +Christ; for there is no less "one Body," than there is "one Spirit." + +But if His headship of mystical influx is _alone_ and _immediately_ +sufficient, as is so often objected, for the maintenance of external +unity, to what end is the creation of this visible hierarchy? For +the objection that the invisible headship of Christ renders a +visible headship unnecessary, and indeed an infringement on His sole +divine prerogative, whatever force it may have, tells not more +against an oecumenical head of the Church, than against every order +and officer of the hierarchy. These all, and with them the whole +system of sacraments as well as symbols, become alike unnecessary +and even injurious, if each member of the mystical body be knit to +Christ _immediately_ without any outward framework. And with what +face especially can those maintain that the bishop is the visible +head of each diocese, and in being such does not contradict, but +illustrate, the headship of Christ, who yet deny that there is one +in the whole Church put in the like place over bishops, and see in +such an appointment an infringement on the office of Christ? Such an +argument is so profoundly illogical and inconsistent, that one has +difficulty in believing it to be seriously held, or is hopeless of +bringing conviction to those who cannot see an absurdity. + +Let those, then, who confound together the supreme Headship of +Christ over His Church, whereby He communicates to it life and +grace, with the inferior and subordinate headship of external unity, +see to what their objection tends. It stops at nothing short of +destroying the whole visible hierarchy, and the sacramental grace of +which it is the channel. Holy Scripture, on the contrary, tells us +in these passages that the providence by which the Church is +governed resembles that by which this outward universe is ruled, in +the subordination of second causes to the supreme cause. Christ +repeats as Redeemer His work as Creator, to give life and force to +these second causes, and while He works in the members of His body +both "to will and to do," bestows on them the privilege of +cooperating with Him. Thus the dignity of supreme Head which belongs +to Christ, and is incommunicable, no more takes away the ministry of +the external head who is charged with the office of effecting and +maintaining unity, than it impedes the ministry of "apostles, +prophets, evangelists, pastors, and doctors," to whom Christ +entrusted the Church, that by their means it might be brought to +sanctity and perfection. + +4. And these words bring us to the fourth unity mentioned by our +Lord. For not until "He ascended up on high" did "He give gifts to +men." And this visible hierarchy, the sign and token of His mystical +Headship, and fostering care, is by Him quickened and informed with +the Holy Spirit, when He is Himself invisible at the right hand of +the majesty of God. This absence, too, is what He foretold, saying, +"And now I am not in the world, and these are in the world, and I +come to thee; Holy Father, keep them in Thy name whom Thou hast +given Me; that they may be one, as we also are. While I was with +them, I kept them in Thy name.--And now I come to Thee."--These +words of our Lord show that it was His will that His believers +should be no less one among each other, by an outward and visible +union, than they were one by the internal bond of charity, the +guidance of one Spirit of truth, and the influx of the one Vine. And +so far we have seen that, to guard and maintain that unity under the +guidance of the Spirit of truth, He called forth the visible +hierarchy, in all its degrees. But what, then, was the external root +and efficient principle of this visible hierarchy, when He was gone +to the Father? Did He not likewise provide for the loss occasioned +by His own absence, which He had foretold? The argument of S. Paul +proves that He did so provide, as well as His own words. For S. Paul +declares the Church to be "one Body." Was it then a body without a +head, or a body with a head invisible? Or did the Lord of all, +having with complete wisdom framed His mystical body in all its +parts and proportions, and having set _first_ Apostles, and then in +their various degree, doctors and pastors, in one single, and that +the main point, reverse the analogy of all His doings? Did He +appoint every officer in His household, except the one who should +rule all? Did He construct the entire arch, save only the keystone? +Did He make a bishop to represent His person, and be the centre of +visible unity in every diocese, but none to represent that person in +the highest degree and to be the centre of unity to the whole +Church? Was it the end of His whole design "to gather together in +one the children of God, that were dispersed," in order that there +might be "One Fold," and did He fail to add, "One Shepherd?" Yet S. +Paul declares that "there are many members, but one body." How can +the distinct and diverse members be reduced to the unity of a body, +but by the unity of the head, as the efficient principle? In +accordance with which we may observe that never is the image of a +body used in Scripture to represent the Church, but it is thereby +shown to be visible; and never is it compared with a body as a type, +but that body is shown complete with its head. Such are the +well-known images of one House, Kingdom, City, Fold, and Temple, to +which we have had so often to appeal. Even the unity of things in +themselves dissimilar is derived in Scripture from the unity of the +Head. Thus the man and the woman are said in marriage to be one, and +that in a great mystery, representing Christ and the Church, but +this, because "the husband is the head of the wife." And Christ is +said to be one with the faithful, because "the head of every man is +Christ:" and God one with Christ, because "the head of Christ is +God." If, then,[26] the Church is one body, it receives, according +to the reasoning of Holy Scripture, that property from the unity of +its head. + +But such a one body, while yet militant upon earth, S. Paul declares +it to be, setting forth at the same time the various orders of its +hierarchy. Is it then a body complete, or incomplete? With a head or +without one? For it is no reply to say that it has indeed a head, +but one invisible. That invisible headship did not obviate, as we +have seen, the necessity of a visible hierarchy: why then does it +obviate the like and even more striking necessity, that the +hierarchy too must have its visible head? If it was, so to say, the +very first act of our Lord's supreme headship over all to the +Church--the very token that He had led captivity captive--to quicken +the visible ministry which He had established by sending down the +Holy Spirit to abide with it for ever, is the one place most +necessary in that ministry to be the only one left vacant by Him? Is +the one officer most fully representing Himself to be alone omitted? +"The _perfecting_ of the saints" (a metaphor taken as we have seen, +from the exact fitting together of the stones in a building,) and +"the edifying of the body of Christ," are described as the end to be +reached by those to whom "the work of the ministry" is committed, +but as this applies in a higher degree to the Bishop than to the +priest, so it applies in the highest of all to the Bishop of +bishops. + +Again, God's method of teaching by symbols, which runs through the +whole Scripture, and the institution of Sacraments, proves to us His +will to lead us on from the visible to the invisible, and to make +the former a channel to the latter. For "we are all baptized into +one body," and the outward act both images and conveys the inward +privilege. And again in the highest conceivable instance, "because +the head is one, we being many are one body, who all partake of +that one bread."[27] In like manner the outward unity of the Church +must accurately represent, and answer to the inward, which, we know, +is derived from the Person of Christ, who is its head. And so that +Person must be specially represented in the outward unity. + +And this is one reason why no unity of a college, whether of +Apostles, or of Bishops, will adequately express that visible +headship of which our Lord's Person is the exemplar. For the root of +all lies in a personal unity, that of the Godhead and Manhood, and +therefore a merely collective or representative unity cannot express +it. And if the Apostle wrote, "God hath set in the Church _first_ +Apostles," yet he also wrote that the grand result, "the perfecting +of the saints, and the edifying of the body of Christ," was due to +the ministry, not only of Apostles, but of prophets, evangelists, +pastors, and doctors, each in their degree; they all conspire to a +joint action, which does not impede the existence of distinct orders +in the hierarchy. And his expression that the Apostles are _first_ +in this hierarchy, without defining their mutual relations to each +other, does not exclude those other passages of Scripture which _do_ +define those relations, and which make Peter among the Apostles "the +first," "the ruler," "the greater," the Judah among his brethren, +the foundation of the whole building, and the one shepherd in the +universal fold. And the more so because S. Paul uses three +expressions of the Church, two of which are _relative_, but one +_absolute_. He calls it "the body of Christ," and "Christ," which +are relative; but he also calls it "one body," which is absolute. +Now, these expressions are not to be severed from each other, as if +each by itself would convey the whole idea of the Church, which +rather is to be drawn from them all together. In answer to what the +Church is, we must not say that it is _either_ "the body of Christ," +_or_ mystically called "Christ," _or_ set before us as "one body," +for it is _all_ of these at once, relatively "Christ," and "the body +of Christ," and absolutely "one body." + +As, then, the former expressions show that the Church is one _in +reference to Christ_, so the latter shows that it is so _in itself_, +and _simply_. For as the Church is called "Christ," and "the Body of +Christ," because it is one with Christ by mystical union, drawing +its supernatural life from Christ its head, so it is called "one +body," because in the variety of members and parts, of which it +consists, no one is wanting to its being one body in itself, and to +its being seen to be such. But it would neither be so, nor seem to +be so, if it were without a visible head, the origin and principle +of its inherent visible unity. And so where the Church is called by +S. Paul "one Body," he declares that it has a visible head. + +Thus it is that the inherent notion of the Church, as one visible +body, and the whole dispensation by which visible things answer to +invisible, as their archetypes, demand one visible head. Now to this +_inherent_ necessity let us add the force of _positive_ teaching. +When our Lord in almost His last words to His Church prays to His +Father, "while I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy +name--but now I come to Thee," what does He but suggest the +appointment of another visible head to take that place which He was +leaving? and further, what does He but name one to that high +dignity, when He calls him "the greater" and "the ruler" among his +brethren, commits them to him to be confirmed by him, and makes him +the shepherd of the whole flock? What else had He done but prepare +them for such a nomination, when He promised _one_ that he should +be the foundation of His Church, and the bearer of the keys? What +else did Christians from the beginning see in such an one, when they +called him the _head_, the _centre_, the _fountain_, the _root_, the +_principle_ of ecclesiastical unity? + +Let us remark, once more, as a confirmation of the above, that the +archetype of visible unity in the Church, which our Lord sets before +us in His prayer to the Father, is no other than that most high and +solemn of all things conceivable, the mutual indwelling of the +Father and the Son. "Holy Father, keep them in Thy name whom Thou +hast given Me, that they may be one, as We also are;" and again, for +all successive generations of the faithful, "that they all may be +one, as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may +be one in Us, that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me." +Now the relation established by our Lord between Peter and the rest +of the Apostles, by appointing him the visible head of the Church, +and between Peter's successor and all bishops, does represent, so +far as earthly things may, and in a degree which nothing else on +earth reaches to, the mutual relation of the three divine Persons to +each other. For as these are distinct, but inseparable, so, too, are +the Apostles. As the fulness of the Godhead is _first_ in the Father +and _then_ in the Son and in the Holy Spirit, so the fulness of +power _first_ promised and given to Peter, is _then_ propagated to +the other Apostles united with him. As in the Father the economy of +the divine Persons is summed up under one head, and gathered into a +monarchy, so in Peter is gathered up the fulness of ecclesiastical +power, which, through union with him, is one in all, as the Church +is one, and the Episcopate one. Moreover, as it is the dignity of +the Father to be the exemplar, principle, root, and fountain of +unity in the Trinity, so is it the dignity of Peter to be the +exemplar, principle, root, and fountain of visible unity in the +kingdom of God, which is the Church. This is alluded to by Pope +Symmachus, thirteen hundred and fifty years ago: "There is one +single priesthood in the different prelates, (of the Apostolic See) +after the example of the Trinity, whose power is one and +indivisible."[28] And long before him S. Cyprian: "The Lord says, 'I +and the Father are one.' And again it is written of the Father and +the Son and the Holy Spirit, 'And these three are one.' Is there a +man who believes that this unity, coming from the divine solidity, +cohering by heavenly sacraments, can possibly be broken in the +Church, and torn asunder by the collision of adverse wills? This +unity he who holds not, holds not the law of God, holds not the +faith of the Father and the Son, holds not the truth unto +salvation."[29] + +Whereas, then, all unity in the Body of Christ, the Church, is +derived ultimately from the person of its Head, the Word Incarnate, +that unity is yet four-fold in its operation, and the efficient +principle of one sort is not to be confounded with that of another. +There is the _mystical_ unity, which consists in the perpetual +divine influx from the great invisible Head to His members; there is +the _moral_ or _spiritual_ unity of charity, consisting in the +presence of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of believers, and these +two are internal, and in closest correspondence. There are two +likewise external, which may be called the _civil_ or _political_ +unity, consisting in the public profession of the same faith, the +same truth, for what the _law_ is to temporal states, the _faith_ is +to the great spiritual kingdom of Christ; and this unity is indeed +inspired by the Holy Spirit, but is maintained by Him through the +visible hierarchy; and lastly, correspondent to the unity of faith, +there is the _visible_ unity of external organization, the immediate +or efficient principle of which lies in the visible headship over +the Church attached by the Lord to S. Peter's chair. The latter two, +while they correspond to each other, are indeed subordinate to the +former, the unity of faith to that of charity, as the unity of the +visible headship to that of the invisible; yet the very truth of the +Body which the Lord has assumed, and in which He reigns, and the +whole analogy of His dealings with men, and the sacraments whereby +He makes us "partakers of the divine nature," warn us that it is of +the highest importance for us to see how external unity is the +channel of internal, and the visible the road to the invisible. No +words can be more emphatic to this effect than those with which the +Apostle introduces the description of the visible hierarchy, and the +divine headship which called it forth. "There is _one Body_ and one +Spirit, as you are called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one +faith, one baptism. One God and Father of all, who is above all, and +through all, and in us all." From which he goes on to say, +"Ascending up on high, He gave gifts to men--some Apostles, and some +prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors, and teachers." And +lastly, "the Head over all things to the Church," is "the Saviour +_of the Body_."[30] + +But if this be so, we can say nothing more highly to exalt S. +Peter's office in the Church, for he is the great bond and stay of +this outward unity, as even[31] enemies confess. As surely as in a +real monarchy the person of the sovereign ties together every part +of the political edifice, and is endued with majesty because he is +at once the type of God, and concentrates in one the power and +dignity of the whole community, so it is in that divine structure in +which "the manifold wisdom of God" is disclosed to all creation. The +point of strength is felt alike by friend and foe. On the Rock of +Peter has fallen every storm which the enmity of the evil one has +raised for eighteen hundred years; but yet the gates of hell have +not prevailed against it. In the Rock of Peter, and the divine +promise attached to it, every heart faithful to God and the Church +trusts now, as it trusted from the beginning. Many temporal monarchs +in their hour of pride have risen against S. Peter's See, but the +greatest of them all[32] declared that no one had ever gained honour +or victory in that conflict, and he lived to be the most signal +instance of his own observation. "God is patient, because He is +eternal," and the Holy See prevails in its weakness over power, and +in its justice over cupidity, because while temporal dominion passes +from hand to hand, and stays not with any nation, following the +gift of God which the poet calls fortune, + + Perche una gente impera, e l'altra langue, + Seguendo lo giudizio di costei + Che e occulta, come in l'erba l'angue,--(DANTE, _Inferno_.) + +the visible kingdom of Christ, which is His Church, lasts for ever, +and is built upon the rock of Peter. The long line of descendants, +from Constantine and from Charlemagne, have in their turn impugned +and illustrated this glorious privilege of the Papal See. What is +there so stable in an empire of commerce, or so solid in the +nicely-balanced and delicate machinery of a constitutional monarchy, +as to exempt them from the action of an universal law, or to ensure +their victory in the doomed contest with the Vicar of Christ? +Mightier things than they have done their worst, have oppressed, +triumphed, and become extinct, and if it be allowed them in the +crisis of their trial to crucify Christ afresh, He will yet reign +from the cross, and "draw all men unto Him." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] In this chapter I have availed myself of Passaglia, b. 1, c. 25, +and b. 2, c. 11. + +[2] Eph. i. 9, 22; 1 Cor. xi. 2; Rom. xii. 5. + +[3] See Petavius, De Incarn. Lib. 2, c. 7 and 8, for the following +quotations. + +[4] Hippolytus, quoted by Anastasius, p. 216. + +[5] Irenaeus, Lib. iii. 18, and iv. 37. + +[6] De Monogamia, c. 5. + +[7] Augustine, 21 Tract. in Joannem. + +[8] Hilary on Psalm 68. + +[9] S. Chrys. Tom. 5, (Savile) Hom. 106. + +[10] Greg. Naz. Orat. 36. + +[11] S. Cyril, Dialog. 1, De Trin. p. 399. + +[12] S. Leo. 5 Serm. on Nativity, c. 4 and 5, 12th Serm. on Passion, +c. 3. + +[13] S. Athanasius, Orat. 3, Contr. Arian. Tom. 1, p. 572. Oxf. +Trans. p. 403. + +[14] Greg. Nyss. Tom. 2, p. 524. Catechet Oratio, c. 32. + +[15] Ephrem, Patriarch of Antioch, quoted by Photius, cod. 229. + +[16] S. Hilary, de Trin. Lib. 8. n. 13. + +[17] John xiv. 20. + +[18] John xv. 1-2, 5-7. + +[19] John xiii. 34-6. + +[20] John xv. 12. + +[21] Rom. v. 5. + +[22] John xiv. 16-18. 26. + +[23] John xvi. 7. 13-15. + +[24] 1 Cor. xii. 11; Eph. iv. 13. + +[25] Eph. iv. 7-16; 1 Cor. xii. 7-13. + +[26] Passaglia, p. 254. + +[27] 1 Cor. x. 17. + +[28] Mansi, Concil. Tom. 8, 208. + +[29] S. Cyprian, de Unitate. + +[30] Eph. iv. 4. 8. 11; i. 22; v. 23. + +[31] That such was the belief of the most ancient fathers, Ignatius, +Irenaeus, Tertullian, Cyprian, and others, see a most curious +admission of the Lutheran Mosheim, in his dissertation, De Gallorum +appellationibus, &c. s. 13. And his way of extricating himself is at +least as curious as the admission. His words are, "Cyprian and the +rest cannot have known the corollaries which follow from their +precepts about the Church. For no one is so dull as not to see that +between a certain unity of the universal Church, terminating in the +Roman pontiff, and such a community as we have described out of +Irenaeus and Cyprian, there is scarcely so much room as between hall +and chamber, or between hand and fingers. If the _innocence_ of the +first ages stood in the way of their anticipating the snares which +ignorantly and unintentionally they were laying against sacred +liberty, those succeeding at least were more sharp-sighted, and it +was not long in becoming clear to the pontiffs what force in +establishing their own power and authority such tenets possessed." +So the ancient fathers were not intelligent enough to see that _the +hand was joined to the fingers_. But the other alternative was still +harder to Mosheim, that Lutheranism was fundamentally heretical and +schismatical. + +[32] Napoleon. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +SUMMARY OF PROOF GIVEN FOR S. PETER'S PRIMACY. + + +It would now seem to be made clear to all that the controversy on S. +Peter's Primacy relates _generally_ to the question of inequality in +the Apostolic college, and _specially_ to the question, whether +Christ, the Founder of the Church, set any one of the Apostles, and +whom of them in particular, over the rest. For as, on the one hand, +there would have been no room for the superior dignity of the +Primacy, had all the Apostles been completely equal, and +undistinguished in honour and authority from each other; so, on the +other hand, it is the nature of the Primacy to be incapable of even +being contemplated, save as fixed on some certain definite subject. + +But to determine the two questions, whether the Apostles stood, or +did not stand, on a complete equality, and whether one of them was +superior to the rest in honour and dignity, it seemed requisite to +examine chiefly four points. + +First, the words and the acts of Christ respecting the Apostles. + +Secondly, His expressions which seemed to mark the institution of a +_singular_ authority. + +Thirdly, the mode of writing and speaking usually and constantly +employed by the Evangelists and other inspired writers. + +Lastly, the history of the Church, from its beginning, from which +might be drawn conjectures, or even certain proofs, of the power +which either all the Apostles had exercised equally, or one had held +above the rest. + +For should it become plain, from the agreement of these four +sources, that a certain one of the Apostles, and that one Simon +Peter, had been distinguished from the rest by the acts and words of +Christ, and set over the Apostles; had been invariably described by +the inspired writers, as the Head and supreme authority; and in the +history of the rising Church, been portrayed in a way which could +only befit the universal ruler, no difficulty would remain, and +there would be arguments abundant to prove that Christ was the +author both of the inequality among the Apostles, and of Peter's +Primacy. + +Now we seem to have proved _absolutely_, what we proposed +_hypothetically_. For we have shewn that Christ declared by His +whole method of acting, and by solemn words and deeds, that He did +not account Peter as one of the rest, but as their Leader, Chief, +and Head. + +We have shown it to have been the will of Christ to concentrate in +Peter the distinctions which belong to Himself, as Supreme Ruler of +the Church. For such must be deemed the properties of being the +Foundation, the Bearer of the keys, the Holder of universal +authority, the Supporter, and lastly, the Chief Shepherd. Of these +there is no one which He did not promise to Peter singly, and confer +on Peter singly: no one, with which He did not associate Peter, and +Peter only, in making him the foundation of His Church, bestowing on +him the keys, and universal power of binding and loosing, in +setting him over his brethren to confirm them, and over His fold as +universal Pastor. + +We have shown that the Evangelists place almost the same distinction +between the Apostles and Peter, as between Peter and Christ, while +still among us. For as they set forth Peter as second after Christ, +so do they subject the Apostles to Peter; as the acts and words of +Christ occupy the foreground in respect to those of Peter, so do his +in respect to those of the Apostles; as Christ, in their histories, +is pre-eminent above Peter, so is Peter more conspicuous than the +Apostles; and as the Gospels cannot be read without seeing in them +Christ as the prototype, so neither can they without seeing that +Peter approaches the nearest to Christ. + +We have shown that S. Paul spoke of S. Peter in no other way than +the Evangelists, and that his pre-eminence is evident in S. Paul's +Epistles, as well as in the Gospels. + +Lastly, we have shown that Peter shines as the superior luminary in +the history of the rising Church. The lustre of his deeds in the +Acts recalls that of Christ in the Gospels. In the Gospels Christ is +named by far most frequently; in the Acts no one occurs so often as +Peter. The discourses, the acts, the miracles of Christ occupy every +page of the Gospels; and in that portion of the Acts which embraces +the history of the whole Church, a very large part has reference to +the discourses, the acts, and the miracles of Peter. In the Gospels, +Christ leads, the Apostles follow; in the Acts, Peter takes the +precedence, the Apostles attend him. In the Gospels, Christ teaches, +and the Apostles, in silence, consent; in the Acts Peter alone makes +speeches, and explains the doctrine of salvation; the Apostles by +their silence consent. In the Gospels, Christ provides for the +Apostolic college, guards it from injury, defends it when attacked; +in the Acts, Peter provides for filling up the place of Judas, +determines the conditions of eligibility, enjoins the election, and +defends the Apostles before people, rulers, and chief priests, in +quality of their head. + +Moreover, he alone is pre-eminent in exercising the triple power of +_authoritative Teacher, Judge, and Legislator_. _Of authoritative +Teacher_, not only towards Jews and Gentiles, whom he is the first +to join to Christ, so that the same person who was the Church's rock +and foundation, also became its chief architect; but towards the +Apostles likewise, who are taught by his ministry, that the time was +come for the blessing of redemption to be extended no less to +Gentiles than to Jews, and that the burden of legal rites could not +be laid on the Gentile converts without tempting God. _Of Judge_, +because, while the Apostles are silent, he is the first to hear the +causes of the faithful, to erect a tribunal, to examine the accused, +to issue sentence, and to support and confirm it by inflicting +excommunication. Of _Head and Supreme Legislator_, both when he +singly visits Christians in all parts, and provides for their needs, +or when he uses the prerogative of first voting, and draws with +authority the wording of the law to which the rest are to give an +unanimous consent. + +From this compendious enumeration we draw a multifold proof, both of +inequality in the Apostolic college, and of Peter's superiority at +once in rank and in real government. + +I. For, _first_, a college cannot be considered equal, out of which +Christ chose one, Simon Peter, whom, by His words and His actions, +He showed to be set over all. Now Christ's whole course of speaking +and acting, of which the Gospels give us the picture, tends to +exhibit Peter as chosen out from the rest, and set over them. +Accordingly, neither is the college of the Apostles equal, nor can +Peter be accounted as one of the rest. + +II. Again, one who has received all in common with the rest, but +much besides peculiar to himself, special and distinguishing, must +seem to be taken out of the common number. Now such must Peter have +been among the Apostles, since Christ granted nothing to them which +He denied to Peter, but did grant to Peter many most distinguishing +gifts which He gave not to the rest. + +III. And, further, it is apparent that the Foundation and the +Superstructure, the Bearer of the keys, and those who inhabit the +house or city whose keys he bears, the Confirmer, and those whom he +is to confirm, the universal Pastor and the sheep committed to his +charge, cannot be comprehended under the same order and rank. Now +the distinctions expressed by the terms Foundation, Bearer of the +keys, Confirmer, and universal Pastor, are Peter's official insignia +in reference to, and over, the Apostles themselves. His distinction +from them, therefore, and the inequality of the apostolic college, +are plain. + +Perhaps this may be put somewhat otherwise even more clearly. And +so, IV. Let it first be considered, what is plain in itself, that a +distinction carrying pre-eminence depends on distinction in +perfection and gifts, and follows in a greater or less degree from +the greater or less inequality of these, or in case of their parity +exists not at all. Next, be what we hold both of reason and of faith +remembered, that "every best gift and every perfect gift, is from +above, coming down from the Father of lights," that God is the +fountain head of all good, and that all gifts whatsoever flow over +from Him to His creatures. From both points it follows that the +amount of the creature's dignity and perfection lies in the +participation of divine goods, and is greater or less in proportion +to the participation and association with divine goods. So, then, +the controversy on Peter's Primacy and the inequality of the +Apostolic college, comes ultimately to this: _whether Christ, the +God-man, associated Peter singly, above all, with Himself, in the +possession of those properties on account of which He stands Himself +related to the Church as its supreme Ruler_. For let it be once +evident that Christ did so, and it will of necessity be evident +also, not only that Peter was preferred to all, but wherein his +leadership and headship consisted. And since we have made the +inquiry, there is abundant evidence to prove that Christ really did +associate Peter singly in five properties, which, belonging to +Himself _primarily_ and _chiefly_, contain the special cause for +which He is the Prince and Supreme Head of the Church. + +For, in truth, it is specially due to the properties and +distinctions of _Foundation, Bearer of the keys, Establisher, Chief +Shepherd_, and _Lord_, who has received all authority from the +Father, that the Church has an entire dependence on Christ, is +subject to Him, and that He enjoys over the Church the right and +authority of Supreme Lord and Ruler. But which of these properties +did He not choose to communicate to Peter, according to the degree +in which they were communicable? He bestowed them all upon Peter, +and upon Peter alone, so that Peter also is termed _the Foundation, +the Bearer of the keys, the Confirmer, the universal Pastor_, and +_the_[1] _Chief of the whole Church_. We see, therefore, a +remarkable proof of Peter being distinguished from the rest of the +Apostles, and set over them, in his singular and special association +with these gifts. + +Again, V., to this tends that disposition of divine wisdom which +provides that Peter holds in the Church, and among the Apostles, a +rank of dignity greatly resembling that which Abraham among the +Patriarchs, and Judah among his brethren, received from God. The +former of these relations has been exhibited, and shown not to be +arbitrarily conceived, but grounded on due proof. The latter will be +presently farther touched upon. Now who shall deny Abraham that +superiority whereby he was made the Father and Teacher of all the +faithful, or strip Judah of the dignity in which he excelled his +brethren, and was in many points preferred to them? As little may +any one strip Peter of his authority as supreme teacher, and take +from him those singular endowments, which make him "the greater one" +among his brethren the Apostles. + +Especially as, VI., this authority of Peter is clearly confirmed by +the mode of writing usual to the Evangelists. For it is monstrous +and preposterous to confound with the rest one whom the Evangelists +constantly distinguish and prefer to all. For what more could they +do to show their purpose to distinguish Peter, select him from the +rest, and place him at all times before all the Apostles? We may +venture to say that they omitted nothing to this end. And so it is +absurd to doubt of Peter's prerogatives, or set him on the same +footing with the rest. + +For, indeed, VII., no one would endure it to be denied, from the +usual mode of writing of the Evangelists, that Christ was +pre-eminent among the Apostles as their Supreme Head, and was +removed from them in dignity by an infinite interval. Now though the +Evangelists do not give Peter all things, nor in the same degree, +yet they do give him much, and in a degree not dissimilar, to +distinguish him from the rest, showing him, as in a nearer relation +to Christ, so proportionally exalted above the other Apostles. + +And this proof, VIII., is the more persuasive because S. Paul +follows the very same mode of speaking as the Evangelists. For in +repeatedly mentioning S. Peter in his epistles, he always gives him +the place of honour, and joins him as near as may be with Christ. +Who then can doubt that Peter held a certain pre-eminent rank? + +And the more, IX., because what is read in the Acts, and the view of +primitive history therein contained, looks the same way, and seems +set forth with the same purpose. For if you compare together the +Acts and the Gospels, the mind at once suggests that the position of +Prototype which Christ holds in the Gospels, belongs to Peter in the +Acts, and that Peter seems distinguished above the rest of the +Apostles in the Acts, as Christ is pre-eminent far above all in the +Gospels. Now what is the result of so apparent a likeness? What is +it fair to deduce from such a bearing in the Evangelical and +Apostolical history? Those who are obedient to reasoning, and follow +the bright torch of the Scriptures, must confess with us that in +this parallelism of both histories, and so of Christ and Peter, is +contained a mark and sign, proving that Peter follows next after +Christ in dignity and authority. + +In authority, X., I repeat, and, therefore, that kind of superiority +which very far surpasses the limits of precedence and order. For +what are the grounds on which we see Peter's eminence in the Acts, +or a resemblance between the Acts, when speaking of Peter, and the +Gospels when speaking of Christ? Chiefly these, that Peter is set +forth as remarkable, singly, above all, for the use and exercise of +the triple power, of Judge, Legislator, and authoritative Teacher. +Now, the superiority herein asserted, not merely distinguishes Peter +from the rest, but attaches to him a greater authority over the +rest. + +XI. And, indeed, propose an hypothesis which is necessary to solve a +complex and undoubted series of facts: is such an hypothesis thereby +made a certainty. At least these are the principles of philosophy, +from which the laws of reasoning will not allow us to depart. Now, +Peter's pre-eminence and supremacy are such an hypothesis, without +which you can render no sufficient cause of the facts narrated in +the first twelve chapters of the Acts. Accordingly, this supremacy +of Peter may be considered as proved. + +XII. Or to put the argument somewhat differently, thus: As the +existence of causes is deduced, _a posteriori_, from effects, so it +is perfectly established, _a priori_, whenever the series and sum of +effects, of which the senses are cognisant, are foretold from it +with certainty. We deduce the force of gravity necessarily from its +effects, a posteriori, but we likewise determine it to exist, with a +judgment no less invariable, a priori, when it is such that we do +not merely guess at, but certainly anticipate, its sensible +effects. Now Peter's supremacy is not inaptly compared with this +very force of gravity. For it is a characteristic of each to be, in +its proper order of things, the source and principle in which +effects are involved, which afterwards become apparent, whether in +this physical universe, or in the supernatural region of the Church. + +Suppose, then, Peter to have held the dignity which we claim for +him. What happens in the Acts which might not, nay, which should +not, have been anticipated? Is it his being mentioned above all, his +speaking in the name of all, his constantly taking the lead, and his +eminence, as if he were the head? But it could not be otherwise if +he alone received from Christ a higher dignity than all the rest. Is +it his discharging the office of supreme Judge, Legislator, Teacher, +and Doctor? Is not this just what was to be expected from the rank +of Head and universal Pastor? The Primacy, then, the larger +authority, and the unshared majesty of Peter, belong to that class +of truths which are indubitably believed on the strength of +deduction, and rational anticipation. + +Having noted, if not all, at least the greater number of those +arguments which we have alleged hitherto in favour of our cause, we +approach the question which was secondly to be cleared up, what, +namely, is _the force and nature of that Primacy_, which the same +arguments prove to belong to Peter. For I know that all Protestants +are possessed with the notion that no other pre-eminence should be +ascribed to Peter, on scriptural authority, than one limited to a +certain precedency of honour and order. That _precedency_ should be +granted Peter they are not unwilling to admit, but _supremacy_, they +stoutly maintain, must not and cannot be allowed him. As to which +their opinion I consider, that it would be much the shorter way to +strip Peter utterly of every prerogative, than to attenuate the +distinctions applied to him in Scripture to a sort of shadowy +precedency. I consider that nothing is so foreign to truth and the +Scriptures, as on their testimony to allow that Peter was +distinguished from the rest of the Apostles, but to confine that +superiority within the very narrow bounds of honour and order. + +For, _first_, whence do we most evidently and chiefly draw the +greater dignity which Peter clearly possessed above the others? We +draw it from the endowments separately bestowed upon him, whereby he +became the Foundation of the Church, the Supreme Bearer of the keys, +the Confirmer of his brethren, and the universal Pastor. But are +these names, images, signs, expressing a naked superiority of honour +and order, or rather designating an authority of jurisdiction and +power? I cannot hesitate to assert either that these forms are most +fitted of all to express a singular authority, or that none such +exist in language. For, _secondly_, their force is to ascribe to +Peter the main sway, and to mark him as set for the head and leader +of all. Who that hears them can, without perverting the natural +force of words, or disregarding the laws of interpretation, imagine +anything merely honorary, or figure to himself Peter with a mere +grant of precedency? + +Especially as, _thirdly_, he is named in Scripture not only _the +First_, but, comparatively, the _Greater_, and absolutely, the +_Superior_.[2] Now these terms do, of themselves, and far more if +you consider the context of the discourse in which they occur, +express a singular authority, and one without rival. An authority, +_fourthly_, kindred to that with which Christ, while yet in His +mortal life, presided over the Apostolic college, and administered +as supreme Head, the company which He had formed. For we can never +sufficiently urge a point which, being in itself most true, is of +itself abundantly sufficient completely to set at rest the present +controversy. It is this, that Peter's Primacy proceeds from a +singular association with those distinctions, in virtue of which +Christ is considered the Head and Chief, and Supreme Ruler of the +Church. So that the more his Primacy is depressed, the more Christ's +prerogatives and dignity are lowered; nor can he be confined to a +precedency of honour and order, without Christ's superiority being +shut within well nigh the same limits. + +Besides, _fifthly_, are tokens wanting in Scripture which disclose +the nature of Peter's Primacy? Are there not effects which unfold +the force and quality of the cause from which they spring? Such +tokens there are in abundance, and such effects manifold. These are, +the care with which Peter guarded the Apostolic college; the +authority with which he visited Christians in every part; the +singular exercise of judicial power, by which he established Church +discipline, and provided for its maintenance; his acts of +authoritative teaching; his drawing the form of laws which were to +rule the universal Church; and, in short, the wonderful regard with +which that Church followed Peter as its Head, and the Steward of all +the Lord's family. What Primacy is it which these tokens set forth? +What cause which these effects demonstrate? Is it one limited to a +precedency of honour and order? or one pre-eminent by an inherent +jurisdiction and authority? It is a point which needs no further +words. For if any there be whose minds are not struck by a candid +and sincere exposition of facts, you will in vain attempt to +persuade them by arguments. + +Unless, indeed, _sixthly_, they allow themselves to be forced out +of their prejudice by the Scriptures exhibiting such a Primacy of +Peter as compels all others to profess one and the same faith with +him, and to maintain one and the same society. For such an +obligation could proceed neither from titles of honour, nor from +precedency. It demanded a stronger cause--none other, in fact, but +that supreme authority by which Peter is made head of all. + +But we shall feel much more at home in the truth of this deduction, +if we enquire a little more deeply into the reasons for selecting +one among the rest, namely Peter, and instituting the Primacy. For +the purpose, and end proposed in a work, have the force of a +_negative_ rule by which we may judge with certainty what ought to +be done, or could not be left undone. I know well that it does not +follow, if anything has been instituted for a certain purpose, that +it ought to be endowed _only_ with those properties which appear +necessary for the end to be gained; for it may be much more +munificently established than the absolute need required. But at the +same time I know that there would be a failure in prudence and +wisdom in one who, desiring a certain work for a specific end, did +not provide it with everything that could be deemed necessary. Thus +the _knowledge of the intention and purpose_ is equivalent, if not +to a _positive_ rule, determining all and singular the powers +bestowed on any institution, at least to a _negative_, ascertaining +what must be given to it, and what cannot be denied to it. + +Now is the purpose for which Christ instituted the Primacy, and +honoured Peter with its dignity, unknown, or is it most truly +ascertained? The end which moved Christ to make the college of +Apostles unequal, and to set Peter as head over it, is it secret, or +very conspicuous? There are in all three _classes of reasons_ which +enable us to form, not a mere guess, but an ascertained judgment, as +to the purpose of Christ in instituting the Primacy. There are +_typical_ reasons, drawn from previous shadowings forth of it: there +are _analogical_, derived from relations of resemblance; and there +are _real_, inherent in the testimonies themselves, and the Church's +endowments. Let us briefly exhibit these in order. + +I. By, then, that signal agreement wherewith the two dispensations, +the old and the new, correspond to each other, the first in outline, +and the last as filled up, this rudimental, and that complete, we +are plainly instructed that it was Christ's purpose for Peter, in +the new dispensation, to bear the character, whose lineaments had +been traced before in Abraham, and to be eminent among the Apostles, +for the prerogative which Abraham had possessed among the +Patriarchs. Now Abraham's special prerogative, and pre-eminence, was +this, that no one could share either promise, whether carnal or +spiritual, which is expressed in Scripture, by "the Blessing," who +was not joined with Abraham by a double, that is, a carnal and +spiritual, a physical and moral, bond. For to him and to his seed +were the promises made, with the condition, that only by conjunction +with him, and with his seed, they could flow over to the rest. +Since, then, in the new dispensation, Peter was to sustain the +character of Abraham in the old, and since the only-begotten Son of +the Father, having put on the form of a servant, granted to Peter +the prerogative which, in prelude of His future order, He had given +to Abraham, it is plain that Simon was chosen, honoured with the +name of Cephas, and preferred above all, in order that from him as +supreme minister of Christ, and by union with him as visible head, +all the members of the Church's body might enjoy the blessings and +fruits of the Christian institution. + +The deductions from this are easy to see. For two things chiefly +follow, specially declarative of the nature of the Primacy, and +shewing its intent, to be the cause and efficient principle of that +unity by which the Church of Christ is one visible body. First, +there follows the _duty_ laid upon all the faithful, of being joined +with Peter, if they would not fall from those promises with which +Christ has most bountifully enriched His mystical Body, being no +other than that which reverences Peter as its visible head. +Secondly, there follows Peter's _jurisdiction_, in virtue of which +he enjoins all to form one communion and society with him, as well +as effects, defends, and maintains it. Now, nothing can be stronger +than this ordinance of Christ, either to prove a Primacy of supreme +jurisdiction, or to unfold its purpose of effecting and maintaining +unity. + +The same is the bearing of another type no less remarkable, and no +less adopted to explain the whole matter. For, as Israel, "according +to the flesh," was the shadow of the "Israel of God," which was +"according to promise:"[3] and as the kingdom of Israel was a type +and ensample of the kingdom of heaven, the approach of which Christ +proclaimed in these words, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom +of heaven is at hand:" so the twelve sons of Israel, the heads of +the Israelitish race, represented and imaged out those Twelve whom +Christ chose, made princes in His Church, and endowed with supreme +authority to build up that Church's structure, and enrich it day by +day with new accessions of spiritual children. Of this type our +Lord's words are the strongest guarantee: "Amen, I say unto you, +that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration, when the Son of +Man shall sit on the throne of His Majesty, you also shall sit on +twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." And, again, in +the very discourse where He sets forth the future Superior, "I +dispose to you, as My Father disposed to Me, a kingdom; that you may +eat and drink at My table, in My kingdom; and may sit upon thrones, +judging the twelve tribes of Israel."[4] + +But now, though all the sons of Israel in the former typical kingdom +were chiefs, and heads of tribes, yet one of them, that is Judah, +had a special prerogative, which the Scriptures set forth, and which +was called the _right of the first-born_. In virtue of this, on the +one hand, Judah was esteemed the Lord of his brethren, whom they +were to reverence as the parent of the whole family, and on the +other, it was only by union with him, and with the seed that was to +spring from him, that the other chiefs could promise to themselves +the divine blessing. And so the tribe of Judah had a great +pre-eminence over the other eleven. It was its prerogative to take +the[5] lead: it had received from God the promise of an[6] authority +which was not to terminate before the old covenant should be +transformed into the new: from it was the seed[6] to be expected, +which should be the source of blessing to all nations, prefigured as +they were by the twelve tribes; the other tribes were bound[7] to +union with it, and to the profession of its religion, on pain of +falling into schism, and forfeiting the divine covenant. All this +was expressed by Jacob in prophetic inspiration, when he addressed +Judah as the head and root of his line: "Judah (praise) art thou, +thy brethren shall praise thee: thy hand is on the neck of thine +enemies: the sons of thy father shall bow down to thee." It remains, +then, to ask, who was to represent Judah's person in the new +kingdom, and on whom Christ bestowed the prerogative, the type and +image of which had gone before in Judah. It is most plain that this +was Simon Peter, for whom we have, therefore, to claim a double +prerogative, the one of being the source and origin, from which no +one may be separated without severance from the kingdom and promises +of Christ: the other of being the first-born, as betokening +excellence, by which he was pre-eminent in the possession of special +rights among his brethren, the Apostles. + +The former prerogative was expressed by the Fathers of Aquileia, +when, in the words of S. Ambrose, they stated their belief in S. +Peter's chair, "For thence, as from a fountain head, the rights of +venerable communion flow unto[8] all." The latter is confirmed and +illustrated by the solemn expressions so often recurring in +Christian records, wherein Peter is called, "[9]the Bishop of +Bishops," "[10]the Pastor of Pastors," "[11]first prelate of the +Apostles," "[12]Patriarch of the whole world," "[13]universal +bishop," "[14]father of fathers," "[14]having the dignity of +pastoral headship," "[14]the most divine head of all heads, +arch-pastor of the Church." + +II. To these reasons, which, as we think, may be called _typical_, +succeed the _analogical_, which prove with equal evidence the +purpose of the Primacy as instituted, and its inherent powers. If we +ask what are these reasons from analogy, and to what they point, one +only answer can be given commended by any show of truth, that the +Primacy was instituted in order that the Church of Christ might seem +to be moulded after the analogy of one human body, one house, one +kingdom, one city, and one fold. But whence the need that so very +remarkable and clear an analogy should be obtained by the +institution of the Primacy? Doubtless because the Primacy was +created as a principle, by whose virtue and efficiency what was +various and manifold should be gathered up into unity, because it +was to be a head in which all the diverse members of the +ecclesiastical body should be joined, the centre of the Church's +circle. + +Therefore the reasons drawn from analogy show that the unity of the +Church is to be considered the special end for which the Primacy was +instituted, and the Primacy itself a principle abundantly provided +with all those means by which so admirable a blessing as unity may +be first produced and then maintained. + +And this is confirmed by another analogy, well worthy of close +attention. This consists in the double and reciprocal relation in +which the universal Church stands to particular Churches, and the +institution of the Primacy to the institution of bishops, who, by +Christ's appointment, govern those particular Churches: an agreement +which ought to have especial force with those who believe in the +divine institution of bishops. For as the whole society of true +believers, and the particular congregations of which it is made up, +are called in Holy Scripture and the Christian records by one and +the same name of the Church, so is there the very closest analogy +between the bond which connects the universal Church and that which +connects its several parts. + +Exactly, then, as it is asserted with great truth of all these +particular Churches that they are one house, one city, and one fold, +so must this be repeated of the whole Church, since it is set forth +in Scripture by no other images, and has no less right to claim the +property of unity. Hence S.[15] Chrysostome's golden saying, "If it +is the Church of God, it is united and one, not at Corinth only, but +in the whole world. For _the Church_ is a name not of division, but +of union and harmony;" and S.[16] Gregory calls it, "The tunic +without seam, woven from the top throughout." + +Now the same reason which existed for instituting particular bishops +to govern and preserve in unity particular flocks, moved Christ to +institute an universal Primate, and to set him over the whole fold. +If in the former case the best description of a particular Church is +that of S. Cyprian, "A people united to its priest, and a flock +adhering to its pastor;"[17] in the latter the _form of unity_, +which Christ established in the universal Primate, no less imposes +on all, both taught and teachers, the necessity of saying with S. +Jerome, "I following none as the first save Christ, am joined in +communion with your blessedness, that is, with the chair of Peter. +Upon that rock the Church is built, I know. Whoever outside of this +house eateth the lamb, is profane. If any one was not in the ark of +Noah, he shall perish. I know not Vitalis; I reject Meletius; I am +ignorant of Paulinus. Whoever gathers not with thee, scatters: that +is, he who is not of Christ is of Antichrist."[18] + +III. A great accession of evidence will accrue to what we have said +if we attentively consider the reasons deduced from the texts +containing the institution of the Primacy, and those proceeding from +the inherent properties of the Church. To speak of the texts first: + +1. Either they carry no meaning with them, or they prove at least +this, that Christ, in instituting the Primacy, intended,[19] while +exhibiting the whole Church under the usual image of a house and +building, to give it a _foundation_, the bond at once of its +strength and unity; and, again, while communicating to one the +special gift of unwavering faith, to make him the channel for +establishing and[20] _confirming_ all the faithful; to[21] render +the fold which he had gathered out of all nations one by the unity +of a supreme visible _pastor_, and to[22] constitute in the Lord's +family, amid so manifold a distinction of officers, one of such +eminence as to be _the Ruler_ and _the Greater_ among all. + +But can we, or ought we, to conclude from this as to the purpose of +the Primacy, and as to its constituent force and principle? +Assuredly these texts prove directly and categorically that the +Primacy was set up as _the efficient principle_, whereby to mould +the Church's visible unity, and was endowed with all that authority, +without which unity could neither have been produced, nor maintained +in existence. + +2. And in this judgment we shall be confirmed if we investigate the +properties of which the Church cannot be deprived, without taking a +form and an appearance different from that which it received from +Christ. The first which occurs is that _identity_ by which the +Church must always be like itself, and cannot be substantially +different at its beginning and in its growth; one thing when it had +Christ for its visible head, and another when His words had come to +pass, "A little while, and now you shall not see Me--because I go to +the Father." Now at its first commencement, in the time of our +Lord's mortal life, the Church presented the form of a society +governed by the supreme power of one, and deriving its visible unity +from one supreme visible head. That it might not subsequently lose +this identity, and put on another form, our Lord chose a Primate to +be the principle of visible unity, and to have the power of a head +over the whole body. + +And indeed this was necessary to maintain the double character and +test of[23] _unity_ and[24] _Catholicity_, by which the Church is +distinguished in Holy Scripture and in the records of Christian +antiquity. As to _unity_, not only are the expressions in the +creeds, and the more ample explanation of them in the[25] Fathers, +most clear and emphatic, but likewise what is said in the Holy +Scriptures of the _end_ for which the Church was founded by Christ. +For the[26] grace of God our Saviour hath appeared to all men, +instructing those who had[27] changed the truth of God into a lie, +and liked not to have God in their knowledge, that[28] denying all +these things they might become an acceptable people, and[29] +enlightened by Christ, and sanctified in the truth, might by the +profession of one faith be[30] one body and one spirit, in the +same[31] manner in which the Father and the Son are one, and might +be[32] divided by no sects and dissensions, which are manifestly the +works of the flesh, not of God, who is not the[33] God of dissension +but of peace. For therefore[34] Christ, the only-begotten of the +Father, gave His blood for it, to present it to Himself, a glorious +Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, which would +break peace, and disturb the agreement of faith; but that it should +be holy and without blemish,[35] immovable through that rock on +which it rests, and against which not even the gates of hell shall +prevail; wisely ordered as the[36] house of God, in which[37] all +hear his voice, who is set over as the[38] ruler, and has received +his brethren to be[39] confirmed, and the[40] care of the whole +flock;[41] endued with virtue from on high, and strengthened by +the[42] Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father; possessing the +power of[43] authoritative teaching, which if any[44] hear not, nor +obey, they are to be accounted as heathens and publicans, by a +judgment which binds both in heaven and on earth. Are there any who +do not see that in this description, which sets forth the Church's +pre-ordained end, its proper character and very lineaments, the +Primacy itself is included, and exhibited as the principal cause +which effects the unity of the whole body? I hardly think that any +such can be, so apparent is the bond which ties these several parts +together. + +Yet perhaps this may be more vividly brought out if we shortly +mention the common opinions among Protestants on the Church's unity. +For, omitting those who hold an[45] invisible Church, and so expunge +visible unity from its attributes, all the other opinions may be +reduced to three. + +A. Anglicans, whose belief has been set forth, besides Pearson on +the Creed, with more than usual care by Dodwell, (in his Treatise on +the Bishop, as the Principle of Unity, and S. Peter's Primacy among +the Apostles as the Exemplar of Unity,) begin by noting that the +question of visible unity cannot be determined in the same way as it +respects the universal Church, or each particular Church. But why? +Because, they say, it was indeed the will of Christ, that each +particular Church should have a double unity, inward and outward, +but it was not His will that the whole Church, the sum of these +particular Churches, should have the same mark and test. Because, it +was His will that both unities should characterise the particular +Churches, to use a school phrase, _separately_ and _distributively_, +but not the whole body, and the sum of these, taken _collectively_. +Whence they conclude that Bishops were chosen and made, by the +command of Christ, to preside over particular Churches, and be in +them the source and principle of external unity, but that a Primate +was not chosen, to whom the whole Church should be subject, and on +whom its external unity should depend. + +At this argument one is lost in astonishment, how it could have +suggested itself to learned men, and gained their assent. For what +had they to prove, or how could they assure themselves, or others, +as to either of these two points, that external unity was necessary +to particular Churches, but not to the whole Church, or that the +institution of Bishops, presiding over particular Churches, came +from Christ, but not that of the Primate, whose charge was to rule, +administer, and maintain in unity the whole Church. Had they texts +wherein to trust? But as often as the Bible speaks of the Church's +unity, it means that Church, which is called "the kingdom of God," +"the kingdom of Christ," and "the kingdom of heaven," which is +termed "the inheritance of the Gentiles," and embraces with a +mother's bosom, and a mother's love, the whole race of man, from one +end of the earth to the other. Had they creeds to cite? But in these +unity is attributed to that Church only, which is so termed +absolutely, and very often has the epithet of Catholic. + +Moreover, is the word Church, in its unrestricted application, of +doubtful meaning? On the contrary, it is specially defined as well +in the Holy Scriptures,[46] where it expresses of itself the whole +society of believers, as in the Fathers, such as Irenaeus,[47] +Tertullian,[48] Clement[49] of Alexandria, Origen,[50] Hilary,[51] +Jerome,[52] and all the rest without exception, who, in using it, +express the whole Christian people joined in one sole communion. It +is defined also by Councils, as in the Canons of Laodicea,[53] +Carthage,[54] and Constantinople,[55] where the Church means the +whole assembly of orthodox believers, as distinct from heretics and +schismatics. It is defined in the most ancient explanation of the +creeds, the unanimous meaning of which Tertullian seems to have +rendered in saying: "And, therefore, so many and so great Churches +are that first one from the Apostles, whence all come. So all are +first, and all Apostolical, while all set forth one unity, while +they have interchange of peace, the appellation of brotherhood and +the common rights of friendship, privileges regulated by no other +principle than the tradition of the same sacrament."[56] Lastly, the +very heretics[57] defined this term, who, in order to make +themselves understood, could use the word Church in no other sense +than to express the universal assembly of the faithful. + +After this it is not at all necessary to ask Anglicans afresh if +they have ancient Fathers whose authority they can quote. What these +thought and believed about the Church's unity is fully shown by +those whom we have quoted, and by the words of Irenaeus, "The Church, +though dispersed throughout the whole world, yet as if it were +contained in the same house, carefully preserves the rule of faith, +and holds it as if she had one soul and one heart, nay, and teaches +it with one consent, as if she spoke with one voice. For although +different tongues occupy the world, yet the force of tradition is +one and the same, nor do the Churches of Germany, Spain, Gaul, the +East, Egypt, Libya, and the middle of the world, embrace any other +faith. But as there is one and the same sun shining over the whole +world, so the preaching of the truth shines everywhere, and +enlightens all men who desire its knowledge."[58] + +What, then, was the motive of Anglicans, in maintaining the unity of +particular churches, and the institution of bishops cohering with +it, to be necessary, while they denied the necessity of unity in the +Church universal, or of a Primate's institution, to effect universal +unity? What induced them to assert incompatibilities, and defend +them as a matter of life and death? The evidence of the Scriptures, +and the unquestionable belief of all Christian antiquity, extorted +from them the acknowledgment that unity was a mark of the Church, +and the ascription to Christ of the institution of bishops as +necessary for the forming and maintaining unity. _But the fixed +purpose of defending their schism, and their determination to reject +the Primacy, urged them to deny that unity in the whole Church was +ordered and provided for by Christ._ The result of these +affirmatives and negatives was a doctrinal[59] monster of +incomparable ugliness, an outrage on the light both of nature and of +revelation, as incapable of defence, as abhorrent from reason and +from grace. + +B. The second Protestant opinion has been set forth at length by[60] +Vitringa, and supported with all his ingenuity. It is that of those +who distinguish a two-fold unity of the Church, one interior, +spiritual, proceeding from union with one and the same invisible +Head, Jesus Christ, and completed and perfected by the inhabitation +of the Holy Spirit, and the bestowal of heavenly gifts; the other +exterior, visible, depending on profession of the same faith, +participation of the same sacraments, obedience to the same +superiors. Having made this distinction, they proceed to argue for +the purpose of proving that while the former unity is universal, and +absolutely necessary, the latter is neither universal nor necessary, +save hypothetically, (of which hypothesis Vitringa nowhere explains +the nature,) and so is capable both of extension and restriction. In +a word, they attach simple and absolute necessity and universality +to the spiritual and invisible unity, but by no means to the +external and visible. + +But for this what are their authorities? Can they allege the most +ancient Fathers in unbroken succession from the Apostles? Nay, they +candidly confess that the Fathers thought external and visible unity +simply and absolutely necessary, and not those only of the fourth +and fifth century, but those of the second and third. Witness +Vitringa,[61] who says, "If we consult on this point the doctors of +the ancient Christian Church, they seem on all hands to have +embraced the view that the communion of believers in holy rites, in +the supper of the Lord, and in reciprocal offices of brotherly love, +was maintained absolutely, not hypothetically. They supposed, and +seem to have persuaded themselves, that all who were joined to the +Christian Church by the due rite of baptism after previous +preparation, were really regenerated by the grace of the Holy +Spirit, and so that the Christian Church was an assembly of men, +who in far greater part, saving hypocrites, of whom a few might +exist in secret, participated in the renewing and sanctifying grace +of the Holy Spirit. Accordingly, to be joined to the Church was much +the same as being joined to the heavenly city. To have one's name on +the Church's books, much the same as to have it in God's book of +life. On the other hand, to be severed from Church communion, or to +use Tertullian's words, "to be deprived of the sacrament of the Body +and Blood of the Lord, and to be debarred from all brotherly +communion," was to risk salvation, and incur the danger of eternal +death. That is, they supposed that no one was saved out of the +external communion of the Church, which they confounded with the +mystical and spiritual communion of the Saints. And again, kindred +points to these, and resting on the same principle, that bishops +represent the office and person of Jesus Christ Himself in the +Christian Church; that those who separated themselves from them when +rightly and duly elected, separated themselves at the same time from +the communion of Christ Himself. That those who were absolved by the +bishops after penance publicly performed according to the canons of +ecclesiastical discipline, restored to their rank, and honoured with +the kiss of peace, were absolved in the heavenly court by God +Himself, and Christ the Judge. Lastly, which was the most[62] +_audacious_ of all such hypotheses, that it was all over with the +salvation of all who separated themselves in schism from the +external communion of the Church and its rites, although hitherto +they had neither been tainted with heresy, nor involved in crimes +destructive of the Christian[63] profession. It would be easy for me +to support at length each one of these particulars by the sentiments +and the discipline of the doctors of the primitive Church, were they +unknown to the more instructed, or did my purpose allow it. I now +only appeal to Cyprian's letter to Magnus, in the whole of which He +supposes and urges the very hypotheses which I have been +enumerating; and amongst the rest, speaking of Novatian's schism, he +writes thus distinctly: "But if there is one Church, which is +beloved by Christ, and alone is cleansed in His laver, how can he +who is not in the Church," (that is, in communion with that +particular external assembly which makes a part of the external +Catholic Church,) "be loved by Christ, or washed and cleansed in His +laver? Wherefore as the Church alone possesses the water of life, +and the power of baptizing and washing a man, let him who asserts +that any one can be baptized and sanctified with Novatian, first +show and teach that Novatian is in the Church, or [64]_presides over +the Church_. For the Church is one, which, being one, cannot be at +once within and without. For if it is with Novatian, it was not with +Cornelius. But if it was with Cornelius, who succeeded the Bishop +Fabian in regular order, and whom the Lord hath glorified with +martyrdom over and above the rank of his high priesthood, Novatian +is not in the Church."[65] It is the precise thing which we have +been stating." + +But where did Vitringa and the supporters of his doctrine get +courage to contradict the whole line of Fathers and their unbroken +tradition? You would surely expect from them decisive arguments, and +expressions from Holy Writ distinctly laying down no other than a +_hypothetical_ necessity of visible and external unity. But you may +search in vain all over the Gospels, the Epistles, and the Acts, for +any such. Not only is there no mention in them of such a distinction +as that invisible unity is absolutely necessary, while external and +visible unity is but hypothetically so, but this latter is plainly +enjoined and set forth as the note which the mystical body of +Christ, the true Church, cannot be without; and its violation is +reckoned among those works of the flesh which exclude from the +kingdom of God. + +How, besides, can that be deemed necessary only under hypothesis, +without holding and faithfully maintaining which you cut yourself +off from the very fountain of blessing, and transgress and subvert +the order appointed by God for attaining salvation? Such an +assertion would be senseless. Yet in most of the Protestant +confessions,--the Helvetic, art. xiv., the Galliean, art. xvi., the +Scotch, art. xxvii., the Belgian, art. xxviii., the Saxon, art. +xii., the Bohemian, art. viii., and that of the Remonstrants, art. +xxii.,--it is laid down as an indisputable principle, "That the +heirs of eternal life are only to be found in the assembly of those +called." What then do those who violate outward and visible unity, +and withdraw from the outward and visible body of the Church? They +stop up the very way which Providence has opened for their obtaining +"the inheritance of sons." + +For indeed Christ is the Saviour, but of His mystical body, +which[66] is the Church, which therefore He purchased with His own +blood, joined to Himself by that closest bond of being His spouse, +enriched with promises,[67] provided with all manner of graces, and +most nobly dowered with[68] truth, charity, and the Holy Spirit, to +give her at last salvation, and[69] "the weight of eternal glory." +But have these things reference to a visible or an invisible Church? +To a Church one and coherent, or rent and torn by factions? It is +the Church which Christ founded, which He made to be[70] "the light +of the world," bound together by[71] manifold external links, +ordered to be one with the unity of a house, a family, a city, a +kingdom; with that unity wherewith the Father and the Son are one; +in which He placed[72] pastors and doctors to bind and to loose, and +to watch over the agreement of all the parts; which He founded upon +Peter, committed in chief to Peter to rule and to feed it. Such, +then, as fall off from one single visible Church are of the +condition of those whom the Apostles of the Lord foretold, that "in +the last time there should come mockers, walking according to their +own desires in ungodlinesses: these are they who separate +themselves, sensual men, having not the[73] Spirit:" these tear +themselves from their Saviour, lose the fruit purchased by His +blood, and fall from the inheritance which the Head obtained for His +body and His members. + +Therefore the necessity of union with the one single visible Church +is as great as the necessity of union with Christ the Head, as the +necessity of the remission of sins, "for[74] outside of it they are +not remitted: for this Church has specially received the Holy Spirit +in earnest, without whom no sins are remitted:" as the necessity of +charity, "[75]for it is this very charity which those who are cut +off from the communion of the Catholic Church do not possess," +whence "[76]whatsoever thing heretics and schismatics receive, the +charity which covers a multitude of sins is the gift of Catholic +unity and peace:" as great, in fine, as the necessity not to involve +oneself "in[77] a horrible crime and sacrilege," "in[78] the +greatest of evils," one "by[79] which Christ's passion is rendered +of no effect, and His body is rent," by which[80] the sin is +committed of which Christ said, "It shall not be forgiven, neither +in this world nor in the world to come:" by which one is estranged +"from the sole Catholic Church, which retains the true worship, in +which is the fountain of truth, the home of faith, the temple of +God, into which if any one enter not, or from which if any one go +out, he loses the hope of life and eternal salvation. Let no one +flatter himself in the spirit of obstinate contention, for life is +at issue, and salvation, which without care and caution will be +forfeited."[81] Can any necessity be greater, or less conditional +than this? Or what can be more plain than this statement of the +simple and absolute necessity of visible unity and outward +communion? + +Where then are we to find the cause which induced so many learned +and able Protestants first to imagine this distinction between the +necessity of internal and external communion and unity, and then to +deceive themselves and others with such a mockery? The real cause +was, as I believe, that having denied the institution of the +Primacy, and the authority lodged in it for the purpose of forming +and maintaining unity, they were without a criterion or proof, in +virtue of which, among so many Christian societies divided from and +condemning each other, they could safely choose the one with which +they were to be joined in communion, and the outward unity of duty +and obedience. For they would readily conclude that the unity so +often commended in Scripture, and so earnestly enjoined, could not +be external, since God, who does not command impossibilities, had +instituted no visible sign to mark that company of Christians, which +alone among all the rest was the continuation and development of the +Church founded by Christ, and built up by the Apostles. + +C. From the same source must the third Protestant doctrine on unity +be derived. [82]Jurien filled up the sketch of this, which +[83]Casaubon, [84]Claude, and [85]Mestrezat had drawn, and it became +so popular as not only to infect a large number of Protestants, but +to exert a withering influence on certain unstable members of the +Catholic body. It teaches that we must believe not only in an +internal and spiritual, but in a visible and external unity, for the +Scriptures plainly urge its necessity, and Christian tradition fully +describes it, so that there is not a truth more patent or +established on greater authority; but this unity is restricted +within narrow bounds, and confined to the articles called +fundamental, though as to how many these are no one defender of the +system is agreed with another. For it is sufficient for Christians +not to differ in the profession of such articles for them to be +deemed members of one and the same Church. Whence they infer that +one and the same true Church is made up out of almost all Christian +societies, the Roman, the Greek, the Nestorian, the Eutychian, the +Waldensian, the Lutheran, the Anglican, and the Calvinist, for their +differences, important as they are, offer no hindrance to the unity +which Christ enjoined, the Apostles preached, the creeds express, +and universal tradition demands. + +As Bossuet,[86] the brothers Walemburg,[87] Nicole,[88] and even +some Protestants have most fully dealt with this portentous opinion, +there is no need to urge much against it here. I prefer repeating +the question, what _occasion_ the Protestants had to get up so +unheard-of a paradox, and a system so absurd? It was twofold: one +theoretical, and the other practical. + +The theoretical was this. The crime of heresy, depicted in +Scripture, and Christian antiquity, with colours so dark, had +gradually lost its foulness and its magnitude in the minds of +Protestants, who had, at length, come to the pass of reckoning +religious, as well as civil, liberty, among the unquestionable +rights of man. As if, all other human acts being subject to a law, +those alone which proceed from the intellect are exempt: as if the +difference between right and wrong, which embraces the whole range +of man's life, did not relate to its noblest part, in the acts of +the intellect and the reason: as if God had laid down a law of +justice, charity, fortitude, and prudence, but entirely omitted a +_law[89] of faith_: as if the will submitted to a law of _good_, but +the mind owned no law of _truth_: or as if God cared for the boughs +and leaves, but took no thought of the root.[90] But what could +Protestants do? Having allowed to all full license of thought, and +overthrown the authority which ruled the mind, they were forced, +while they kept the _name_ of heresy, to give up the _thing_ meant +by it, and the effects springing from that thing: they were forced +to attenuate to the utmost the crime of heresy, and to reduce to the +smallest possible number the articles necessary to be believed by +all; they were forced to extend beyond all measure the Church's +limits, while they contracted beyond all measure the range of +necessary unity. + +Besides the theoretical, there was a practical occasion in those +schisms which, not merely in later or in mediaeval times, but in the +first ages also, rent the Christian society. Jurien and Pfaff appeal +to these, pretentiously enumerating those which arose under Popes +Victor, Cornelius, Stephen, Urban VI., and Clement VII., and those +named from Donatus, Meletius, and Acacius. Then they ask if the true +Church of Christ can be thought to consist in one single society +perfectly at union with itself. They allege many conjectures against +this, but dwell on the argument, that _in defect of a visible +external test_, such an assertion could not be maintained without +_imposing upon all a most intolerable burden of searching out where +is the true doctrine and the legitimate ministerial succession_: for +it is not until those are found, that, at length, that one single +society will be recognised, with which, as the only true Church, +unity of Communion is to be kept. + +Now, I profess that I do not see how this argument can be met, if +the institution of the Primacy, and its proper function to form and +maintain unity, be rejected. For, without this, by what visible +token among so many Christian societies, divided by intestine +dissension, and condemning each other, can you distinguish the one +which has the character of the true Church, and the right to exact +communion with itself? There is none to be found; and so, either all +hope of finding the true Church must be relinquished, or an enquiry +must be undertaken into purity of doctrine, and legitimate +ministerial succession, on the termination of which the only true +Church will at last be found. But as this latter course is to by far +the greater number of men impossible, dangerous[91] to all without +exception, and most foreign to the Christian temper, the only +conclusion remaining, is, that the selection of a Primacy with the +power of effecting unity impressed upon it, _is most intimately +involved and bound up in the visibility and unity of the true +Church_. + +And quite as closely is it bound up with that other test of the +Church, its Catholicism. We are not to believe Voss and King,[92] in +their assertion that this test began to be applied first in the +fourth century, for the purpose of distinguishing the genuine +company of the orthodox, and the true body of Christ, from heretics +and schismatics. For we find the Church distinguished by the epithet +of Catholic, not merely in the records of the fourth[93] and +fifth[94] century, but in those of the third,[95] and the +second,[96] at the beginning of which S. Ignatius wrote, "Follow all +of you the bishop, as Jesus Christ the Father; and the body of +presbyters, as Apostles. But reverence deacons, as the command of +Christ. Without the bishop let nothing of what concerns the Church +be done by any one. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist which is +under the bishop, or with his sanction. Where the bishop is, there +also let the multitude be; as, where Christ Jesus is, _there is the +Catholic Church_."[97] As, therefore, that cannot be the Church of +Christ, which is not Catholic, we ought to investigate the meaning +which is given to this word by the consent of all orthodox +believers. + +Now, two points are signified in it, one of which is its _material_, +the other its _formal_, or _essential_, part. Its _material_ part +is, that the geographical extension of the true Church be such that +its mass be _morally_[98] universal, _absolutely_ great, and +eminently visible, but _comparatively_ with all heretical and +schismatical sects, larger and more numerous. Of this _material_ +meaning attached to the epithet, Catholic, we find abundant +witnesses in all[99] the orthodox writers who defended the cause of +the Church against the Donatists, and again, against the +Luciferians,[100] and Novatians; and likewise, in those who have +explained the creeds,[101] and, as occasion offered, have touched on +the force of the term Catholic.[102] But the same first cited +witnesses tell us that universal diffusion is not sufficient, and +that we require another element to infuse a soul into this +universally extended body, and to bring it to unity. + +For two properties are continually recurring in Christian records, one +of which may be called _negative_, the other _affirmative_. The force +of the former is to _expel from the circle of the one true Catholic +Church all sects of heretics and Schismatics_: of the latter, that +this Church _consist in one single communion and society, whose +members cohere together by hierarchical subordination_. + +But is it true that both these points are so plainly and constantly +inculcated? To remove all doubt we will quote the authors who most +distinctly assert the one and the other. As to the first, there are +[103]Clement of Alexandria, [104]Tertullian, [105]Alexander of +Alexandria, [106]Celestine, [107]Leander, the Emperor Justinian;[108] +then again the Councils of Nice,[109] Sardica,[110] and the +third of [111]Carthage; nay, the heretics[112] themselves; and all +these agree in asserting that _there is one only ancient Catholic +Church_, outside of which the divine patience endures and bears with +heresies, which are as thorns. Thus in language ecclesiastical and +Christian nothing can be considered as more certainly proved than +that the epithet of Catholic is _distinctive_, and shows the +communion which rejects from its bosom all heresies and all schisms. +It was with great reason, therefore, that [113]Pacian wrote what +[114]Cyril of Jerusalem, and [115]Augustine very frequently +repeated, "Our people is divided from the heretical name by this +appellation, that it is called Catholic." + +Moreover this unity, which we have said may be called _negative_, is +necessary indeed to the understanding of the Church as Catholic, but +is by no means sufficient to complete the idea of Catholicity. To it +therefore must be added the _affirmative_ unity, by which +Catholicism is not only divided from heretics and schismatics, but +becomes in itself a coherent body with members and articulations. It +is to the assertion and maintenance of this unity, which is the soul +of Catholicity, and without which it cannot even be conceived, that +has reference what we so often read in the monuments of antiquity +about the [116]necessity of communion among the members of the +Church and the [117]tokens and means of that communion. There are +very distinct and innumerable testimonies about it in the ancient +Fathers,[118] declaring its _necessity_, and setting forth its +_mode_ of composition and coherence. + +For to set forth the _mode_ of this is the plain drift of what +[119]Irenaeus writes in confutation of heretics by the tradition of +the Apostolical churches: "For since it would be very long in the +compass of our present work to enumerate the successions of all the +Churches, taking that Church which is the greatest, the most +ancient, and well known to all, founded and established at Rome by +the two most glorious Apostles, Peter and Paul, by indicating that +tradition which it has from the Apostles, and the faith which it +announces to men, which has reached even to us by the succession of +bishops, we confound all those, who, in whatsoever manner, either +through self-pleasing, or vain glory, or blindness and evil +intention, [120]gather otherwise than they ought. _For_ to this +church on account of its superior chiefship, it is necessary that +every Church should come[121] together, that is, the faithful who +are everywhere; for in this Church the tradition which is from the +Apostles has been ever preserved by those who are everywhere. +...By this ordination and succession, the tradition and preaching of the +truth, which is from the Apostles in the Church, has reached down to +us. And this proof is most complete, that it is one and the same +vivifying faith, which has been preserved, and handed down in truth, +in the Church from the Apostles to the present day." + +The churches, therefore, which are everywhere diffused, derive that +strength and harmony of parts, out of which the whole body of the +Catholic Church is made up, from the fact of their agreeing in the +unity of faith and preaching with that Church of Peter, which is the +greatest, the chief, and the more powerful. It follows that the +Primacy of Peter, and the authority inherent in it to effect unity, +is that principle which Christ selected, that the Church which He +had set up might be Catholic, and bear the note of Catholicity on +its brow. + +And Cyprian would set forth the same _mode_ of communion, when he +speaks of the _coherence of bishops_, by which both the _Catholic +episcopate_ is made _one, and the Church one and Catholic_. For as +the _several communities draw the unity of the body from the unity +of the prelates_ to whom they are subject; so all prelates, and the +communities subject to them, constitute _one Catholic episcopate and +one Catholic Church_, because they cohere with the _principal_ +church, _the root and matrix_, which is the Church of Peter, _upon +whom_ the Lord founded the whole building, and whom He instituted +_to be the fountain and source of Catholic unity_.[122] + +These words are a clue to understand [123]Tertullian's meaning, when, +already become a Montanist, he called the Catholic Church, whose +discipline he was attacking, _the Church near to Peter_--"Concerning +your opinion, I now enquire whence you claim this right to the +Church. If because the Lord said to Peter, 'Upon this rock I will +build My Church,' 'to thee will I give the keys of the kingdom of +heaven,' or 'whatsoever thou shalt bind or loose on earth, shall be +bound or loosed in heaven,' you, therefore, pretend that the power +of binding and loosing is derived to you, that is, to all the Church +near to Peter; how do you overthrow and change the manifest +intention of the Lord in conferring this on Peter[124] _personally_, +'Upon thee I will build My Church,' and 'I will give to thee the +keys,' not to the Church, and 'whatsoever thou bindest or loosest,' +not what they bind or loose." Now he used this mode of speaking +because it was customary with Catholics, who were wont to exhibit +_nearness with Peter_ as the characteristic of the Church, and the +necessary condition for sharing that power, whose plenitude and +native source Christ had lodged in Peter. + +This certain and undoubting judgment of Catholics, Tertullian +himself, before his error, had clearly expressed in his book, De +Scorpiace, c. x., where he says, "For if you yet think the heaven +shut, remember that the Lord here (Matt. xvi. 19) left its keys to +Peter, and _through him to the Church_." Nearness, then, with +Peter, and [125]_consanguinity of doctrine_ thence proceeding, are no +less necessary to the Church, that it may be the Catholic Church +which Christ founded and built upon Peter, than that it be partaker +in those gifts which, again, He Himself granted only to unity, as it +is effected in Peter and by Peter. + +Now not only the most ancient Fathers, as Irenaeus, Tertullian, and +Cyprian, but the whole body of them, assign the origin of this to +Peter. This they make the vivifying principle of agreement, society +and unity, without which the Church can neither be intrinsically +Catholic, nor the mind conceive it as such. It is so stated by +[126]Pacian, [127]Ambrose, the [128]Fathers of Aquileia, [129] +Optatus, [130]Gregory Nazianzen, [131]Jerome, [132]Augustine, [133] +Gelasius, [134]Hormisdas, [135]Agatho, [136]Maximus Martyr, and, to +shorten the list, by Leo[137] the Great. It is in setting forth the +unity of the Catholic episcopate that he writes what ought never to +be forgotten by Christian minds: "For the compactness of our unity +cannot remain firm, unless the bond of charity weld us into an +inseparable whole, because, as we have many members in one body, +and all members have not the same office, so we, being many, are one +body in Christ, and every one members one of another. For it is the +connection of the whole body which makes one soundness and one +beauty; and this connexion, as it requires unanimity in the whole +body, so especially demands concord among bishops. For though these +have a like dignity, yet have they not an equal jurisdiction; since +even among the most blessed Apostles, as there was a likeness of +honour, so was there a certain distinction of power, and the +election of all being equal, pre-eminence over the rest was given to +one, from which mould, or type, the distinction also between bishops +has arisen, and it was provided by a great ordering, that all should +not claim to themselves all things, but that in every province there +should be one whose sentence should be considered the first among +his brethren; and others again, seated in the greater cities, should +undertake a larger care, through whom the direction of the universal +Church should converge to the one See of Peter, and nothing anywhere +disagree from its head." + +And, if I do not deceive myself, the direct drift of all this is to +answer the question, whether the doctrine of Peter's Primacy, and +its virtue, as the constituent of unity and Catholicity, is +contained in the most solemn standard of faith, the creed. For +although there are unimpeachable testimonies to prove that the +creeds were not published and explained to Catechumens, in order to +convey to them a full and complete Christian instruction; and though +it be proved further to have been the purpose of the Church's +ancient teachers to omit many points in the creeds which were to be +set before the initiated at a more suitable season afterwards, it +may nevertheless be said that the most commonly received articles +of the creed may be regarded as so many most fruitful germs, from +which the remaining doctrines would spontaneously spring. And so, to +keep within our present point, what is more plain than that the sum +of doctrine concerning Peter's Primacy, contained in the Bible, +illustrated by the Fathers, and defined by Councils, is involved in +that article of the creed in which we profess that the Church is one +and Catholic? No doubt there nowhere occurs in the creeds, +_expressed in so many words_, mention of Peter, or of the Primacy +bestowed on him, or of hierarchical subordination; yet it is most +distinctly stated that the Church is one and Catholic. What meaning, +then, were the faithful to give to those epithets? What were they to +intend in the words, I believe one Catholic Church? What but the +meaning of the words themselves, which they received from the +Church's teachers together with the creeds? But they could not form +the conception of one Church and that Catholic, without thinking +likewise of one Catholic _principle_ of the Church; nor could they +assign the dignity of that one Catholic principle to any other but +Peter, whom alone they had invariably been taught to have been set +over all. For what S.[138] Bernard wrote in mediaeval times, "For +this purpose the solicitude of all Churches rests on that one +Apostolic See, that all may be united under it and in it, and it may +be careful in behalf of all to preserve the unity of the Spirit in +the bond of peace," must be considered nothing but a repetition of +the faith which resounded through the whole world, from the very +beginning of the Christian religion. + +Unless, therefore, any can be found who prefer asserting _either_ +that true believers _never_ understood what they believed, in +professing the Church to be one and Catholic, _or_ that they +understood this _otherwise_ than it had been universally and +constantly explained by the Church's teachers; it must be admitted, +that faith in Peter's Primacy, and in the power bestowed upon it for +the purpose of making the visible kingdom of Christ one and +Catholic, is coeval with that profession of the creeds which sets +forth the Church as one and as Catholic.[139] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Hegoumenos, Luke xxii. 26, the very term still given in +the East to the head of a religious community; and also, as has been +said, that which marks our Lord in the great prophecy of Micah, +recorded in Matt. ii. 6. + +[2] Protos, meizon, hegoumenos. See ch. 2. + +[3] 1 Cor. x. 18; Gal. vi. 16. + +[4] Matt. xix. 28; Luke xxii. 29. + +[5] See Num. ii. 3-9; x. 14; Judges i. 1-3; xx. 18. + +[6] Gen. xlix. 10; and see John iv. 22. + +[7] 3 Kings, xii. + +[8] S. Ambrose, Ep. 11. + +[9] Arnobius Junior in Ps. 138. + +[10] Eucherius of Lyons, hom. in vig. S. Petri. + +[11] Proclus, patriarch of Constantinople, on the Transfiguration. + +[12] The Archimandrites of Syria to Pope Hormisdas, Mansi 8, 428. + +[13] S. Bernard, de Cons. Lib. 2, c. 8. + +[14] S. Theodore Studites to Pope Leo III., Lib. 1, Ep. 33. + +[15] In 1 Cor. Hom. 1, n. 1. + +[16] S. Greg. Naz., Orat. 12, alluding to John xix. 23. + +[17] S. Cyprian, Ep. 79. + +[18] S. Jerome, Ep. 57. + +[19] Matt. xvi. 18. + +[20] Luke xxii. 31-2. + +[21] John xxi. 15. + +[22] Luke xxii. 26. + +[23] Unity, John x. 16; xvii. 20-23; 1 Cor. xii. 12-31; Ephes. ii. +14-22; iv. 5; 1 Cor. i. 10. + +[24] Catholicity. Luke xxiv. 47; Mark xvi. 20; Acts i. 8; ix. 15; +Rom. x. 18; Colos. i. 8-23. + +[25] For all the fathers hold the doctrine thus expressed by St. +Hilary of Poitiers on Ps. 121, n. 5. "The Church is one body, not +mixed up by a confusion of bodies, nor by each of these being united +in an indiscriminate heap and shapeless bundle; but we are all one +by the unity of faith, by the society of charity, by concord of +works and will, by the one gift of the sacrament in all." No notion +of the Church's unity in England, it may be remarked, outside of +Catholicism, goes beyond "the indiscriminate heap and shapeless +bundle." + +[26] Tit. ii. 11. + +[27] Rom. i. 25. + +[28] Tit. ii. 14, with 1 Pet. ii. 25. + +[29] John xvii. 17. + +[30] Eph. iv. 4. + +[31] John xvii. 21. + +[32] Gal. v. 20, 19. + +[33] 1 Cor. xiv. 33. + +[34] Eph. v. 27. + +[35] Matt. xvi. 18. + +[36] 1 Tim. iii. 15. + +[37] Matt. xviii. 17. + +[38] Luke xxii. 26. + +[39] Luke xxii. 31-2. + +[40] John xxi. 15. + +[41] Acts i. 4-8. + +[42] John xv. 26. + +[43] Matt. xxviii. 20. + +[44] Matt. xviii. 18. + +[45] The first Reformers fell into this grievous error because they +had no other way to defend their schism. They may be passed over at +present, as in most even of the Protestant confessions visibility is +reckoned among the notes of the Church. + +[46] 1 Cor. vi. 4; x. 32; xi. 22; xii. 28; Ephes. i. 22; iii. 10-21; +v. 23, 24, 25, 27, 29, 32; Colos. i. 18-24; 1 Tim. iii. 15. + +[47] Irenaeus, Lib. 1, c. 3, Lib. 3, c. 4. + +[48] Tertullian, de Praesc. c. 4. + +[49] Clement. Stromat. Lib. 7, 17. + +[50] Origen in Cantic, Hom. 3. + +[51] Hilary, De Trin. Lib. 7, c. 12. + +[52] Jerome, adv. Lucifer. + +[53] Concil. Laodic. Can. 9, 10. + +[54] Concil. Carthag. 4, Can. 71. + +[55] Concil. Constant. 2, act 3. + +[56] De Praesc. c. 20. + +[57] See in the sixth act of the second Nicene Council the +quotations from the iconoclast synod of Constantinople. + +[58] Adv. haereaes, Lib. 1, c. 3. + +[59] Even the Puritan Cartwright observed, "if it be necessary to +the unity of the Church that an archbishop should preside over other +bishops, why not on the same principle should one archbishop preside +over the whole Church of God?" Defence of Whitgift. + +[60] Sacred observations, Lib. 5, c. 7, on the hypothetical external +communion of Christians. + +[61] See also the testimony of Mosheim, quoted above p. 197, note. + +[62] Thus the universal belief of the Fathers from the beginning is +charged with _audacity_. It is difficult not to be struck with the +utter antagonism of feeling which separates Protestants from the +whole body of the Fathers. The statements here ascribed, and truly, +by Vitringa to them, would be viewed in modern English society, as +the very insanity of bigotry. + +[63] Because to rend Christ's mystical body, and to subvert that +unity for which He had prayed the Father, was regarded by them as a +crime of the deepest dye. In modern England it would be consecrated +by the glorious principle of "civil and religious liberty." + +[64] The unrestricted expression, "to preside over the Church," used +by Cyprian of Novatian, who claimed to be Peter's successor, +contains a clear indication that the fold entrusted to Peter was as +wide as the Church itself. It is the same Church in the two clauses, +but in the former it _must_ be understood universally. + +[65] Ep. 69. + +[66] Ephes. v. 23-25. + +[67] Ephes. iv. 15-17. + +[68] John xiv. 16-26; xv. 26; xvi. 7. + +[69] 2 Cor. iv. 17. + +[70] Matt. v. 14. + +[71] Compare Luke xii. 8, 9, with Matt. x. 32; Mark viii. 38; Rom. +x. 10; and again, Mark xvi. 15, with Matt. xxviii. 19; Acts ii. 41; +viii. 36; xix. 5; 1 Cor. xii. 13; and Matt. xxvi. 28, with Luke +xxii. 19; 1 Cor. x. 17; xi. 21; and Ephes. iv. 11, with Acts xx. 28; +Tit. i. 5. + +[72] Compare Ephes. iv. 11-16, with 1 Cor. xii. 13-31; and Matt. +xviii. 18, with John xx. 21; Acts xv. 41; xvi. 4; 2 Cor. x. 6; 1 +Tim. v. 20; Tit. i. 13; ii. 15. + +[73] Jude 18; 2 Pet. iii. 2, 3. + +[74] Augustin. in Euchirid. c. 63. + +[75] Aug. In Tract de Symb. c. 11. + +[76] Aug. De Baptismo Cont. Donat. Lib. 3, c. 16. + +[77] Aug. Cont. Litt. Petiliani, Lib. 1, c. 21-2, Lib. 2, c. 13-23. +Lib. 3, c. 52. + +[78] Optat. Lib. 1. + +[79] Ambros. de Obitu Satyri fratris, Lib. 1, n. 47. + +[80] Idem. de Poenit. Lib. 2, 4. + +[81] Lactant. Div. Institut. Lib. 3, c. 30. + +[82] Le vrai Systeme de l'Eglise. + +[83] Answer to Cardinal Perron. + +[84] Defense de la Reforme, p. 200. + +[85] Traite de l'Eglise, p. 286. + +[86] Bossuet, writings against Jurien. + +[87] The brothers Walemburg, Treatise on Necessary and Fundamental +Articles. + +[88] Nicole, de l'Unite de l'Eglise. + +[89] See the recognition of this law, Mark xvi. 16; Matt xxviii. +18-20; Luke xii. 8, 9; Rom. x. 10. + +[90] Such the Fathers call Faith, terming it, "the beginning and +foundation," "the greatest mother of virtues," "the principle of +salvation," "the prelude of immortality," "the clear eye of Divine +knowledge," "the foundation of all wisdom." See Suicer, art. +pistis. + +[91] After having gone through this search for ten long years, it +may be allowed to express how great its danger, and how great too +the blessedness of those who are not exposed to it. It is worth the +experience of half a life to receive the truth, without personal +enquiry, from a competent authority. Protestantism begins its +existence by casting away one of the greatest blessings which man +can have. + +[92] De Symbolo, Diss. 1, 39, and Hist. Symb. Apostol. cap. 6. 16. + +[93] Pacian, Ep. 1, n. 4. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catech. 18, n. 23. +Eusebius on Isai. xxxii. 18. Chrysostome on Colos. hom. 1, n. 2, on +1 Cor. hom. 32, n. 1, Jerome on Matt. xxiv. 26. + +[94] Augustine on Ps. 41, n. 7; Epist. 49, n. 3-52, n. 1, and +elsewhere. + +[95] Council of Antioch, quoted by Euseb. Hist. Lib. 7, c. 30. +Origen on Romans, Lib. 8, n. 1; Cyprian, Epist. 52; Acts of S. +Fructuosus, n. 3, and of S. Pionius. n. 9. + +[96] Irenaeus, Lib. 3, c. 17, and Epistle on martyrdom of S. +Polycarp, n. 19. + +[97] Epis. to Smyrneans, n. 8. + +[98] Augustine, Ep. 52. n. 1, Serm. 238, n. 3. + +[99] As Optatus, Lib. 2, Aug. de Unitate Ecc. c. 2. &c.; cont. +Cresconium, L. 2, c. 63, Contr. Petilian. L. 2, c. 12-55-58-73; on +Ps. 21, 47, 147, and on 1 Ep. John, Tract, 1, 2. + +[100] Pacian, Ep. 3, Jerome cont. Luciferianos. + +[101] Cyril of Jerusalem, Cat. 18. + +[102] Irenaeus, Lib. 1, c. 10; Lib. 4, c. 19, Tertullian adv. Judaeos, +c. 7, Bernard in Cantica, serm. 65. + +[103] Clement, Stromat. L. 7, Sec. 15-17. + +[104] Tertullian de praesc. c. 30. + +[105] Alexander, apud Theodoret. H. E. Lib. 1, c. 4. + +[106] Coelestinus, homil. in laud. eccles. + +[107] Leander, Cont. Origenistas in Actis Synodi V. + +[108] Justinianus, epist. ad Mennam Constantinopolitanum. + +[109] Council of Nice, in the Creed, and Canon 8. + +[110] Sardica in letter to all bishops, quoted by Athanasius, Apol. +2. + +[111] 22nd Canon of Codex Africanus. + +[112] The Nestorian profession of faith, in fifth act of Council of +Ephesus. + +[113] Pacian, Ep. 1. + +[114] Cyril, Catech. 18. + +[115] Aug. de vera relig. c .6, de utilit. credendi, c. 7. + +[116] Pacian, Ep. 3, "The Church is a full and solid body, diffused +already through the whole world. As a city, I say, whose parts are +in unity. Not as you Novatians, an insolent particle, or a gathered +wen, separated from the rest of the body." + +[117] Such as are grammata koinonika, Euseb. H. E. lib. 7, c. 30. +epistolai koinonikai, Basil. Ep. 190, or kanonikai, Ep. 224, +letters of peace commendatory, ecclesiastical, &c. + +[118] See especially Chrys. Hom. 30 on 1 Cor. + +[119] Irenaeus, Lib. 3, c. 3. + +[120] Compare Jerome's often-quoted passage, Ep. 15, to Pope +Damasus, "Whoso gathereth not with thee, scattereth; that is, whoso +is not of Christ is of antichrist." + +[121] For the meaning of "come together," see farther on, c. 40. +"God hath placed in the Church Apostles, Prophets, Doctors, and all +the rest of the operation of the Spirit, of which all those are not +partakers who do not _run together to the Church_, but defraud +themselves of life by an evil intention and a very bad conduct. For +where the Church is, there is the Spirit; and where is the Spirit of +God, there is the Church and all grace." + +[122] See S. Cyprian's letters, 69, 55, 45, 70, 73. 40. Consider the +force of the words, "Peter, upon whom the Church had been built by +the Lord, speaking one for all, and _answering with the voice of the +Church_, says, Lord, to whom shall we go?" Ep. 55, on which Fenelon +(de sum. Pontif. auct. c. 12) remarks, "What wonder, then, if Pope +Hormisdas and other ancient fathers says, "the Roman, that is, the +Catholic Church," since Peter was wont to answer _with the voice of +the Church_? What wonder if the body of the Church speaks by mouth +of its head?" + +[123] De Pudicitia, c. 21. + +[124] This Montanist corruption (into which Ambrose on Ps. 38, n. +37, and Pacian in his three letters to Sempronian, state that the +Novatians also fell,) induced some fathers, and especially +Augustine, (Enarrat. on Ps. 108. n. 1, Tract 118 on John, n. 4, and +last Tract n. 7) to teach that the keys were bestowed on Peter so +far forth as he represented the person of the Church in right of his +Primacy. By which mode of speaking they meant this one thing, that +the power of the keys, as being necessary to the Church, and +instituted for her good, began indeed in Peter, and was communicated +to him in a peculiar manner but by no means dropt, or could possibly +drop, with him. + +[125] Tertull. De Praesc. c. 32. + +[126] Pacian, ad Sempronium, Epis. 3, Sec. 11. + +[127] Ambrose, de Poenit. Lib. 1, c. 7, n. 33. + +[128] Synodical Epistle, among the letters of Ambrose. + +[129] Optatus, de Schism. Donat. Lib. 2, c. 2, and Lib. 7, c. 3. + +[130] Gregory, de vita sua, Tom. 2, p. 9. + +[131] Jerome, adv. Jovin. Lib. 1, n. 14. + +[132] Augustine, in Ps. Cont. partem Donati, cont. Epist. Fundam. c. +4, de utilitate credendi, c. 17, and Epist. 43. + +[133] Gelasius, Epis. 14. + +[134] Hormisdas, Mansi, Tom. 8, 451, in the conditions on which he +readmitted the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Eastern bishops +to communion. + +[135] Agatho, in a letter to the sixth council, read and accepted at +its fourth sitting. + +[136] Maximus, Bibl. Patr. Tom. 11, p. 76. + +[137] Leo, Epist. 10, c. 1. + +[138] Ep. 358, to Pope Celestine. + +[139] The above chapter is translated from Passaglia, Pp. 298-336. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + THE NATURE, MULTIPLICITY, AND FORCE OF PROOF FOR S. PETER'S + PRIMACY. + +[1]As the natural end of all proof is to give assurance, every kind +of it must be considered a mean to persuade and determine the mind. +Not but that there are different kinds, and that in great variety. If +we refer these to their respective topics, some are _internal_ and +_artificial_, others _external_ and _inartificial_; some belong to +the philosopher, others to the theologian, the former having their +source in nature, the latter in revelation; another sort, again, rests +on _witnesses_, and another on _documents_. But if we consider +their persuasive force, they may be conveniently ranged under the +two classes of _probable_, and _certain_ or _demonstrative_. + +But if it be asked what sort of proof we have hitherto used, and +drawn out to the best of our ability, we must distinguish between +the _principal_ and prevailing proof, and this in form is +inartificial, theological, and drawn from the inspired documents; +and the proofs _occasionally inserted_ and confirmatory of the +principal: these, it will be evident, are sometimes artificial and +internal, such as those drawn from analogy, and the harmonious +coherence of doctrines, from the unity and Catholicity of the +Church, and the institution of bishops to rule particular flocks; +and sometimes derived from witnesses, for such we may deem the +ancient Fathers, whose importance and force, as testimonies, no +prudent mind will reject. To embrace, then, the full extent of our +proof, it ranges over all forms and modes, is artificial and +inartificial, and rests not only on documents, but on witnesses. Now +two things follow from this mixed and manifold character of our +proof, of too great importance to be passed over in silence. + +The first of these is, the standard and criterion of resistance +which our proof presents to opponents. For consisting, as it does, +of so many elements, confirmed, as it is, by the absolute harmony of +so many various parts, that only can be a satisfactory answer, which +meets at once every particular proof, and the whole sum of it. For +it would be to small purpose to give another sense, with some +speciousness, to one or two points, if the great mass of matter and +argument remain untouched. The only valid answer would be _to reject +and deny the Primacy of supreme authority, presenting at the same +time a sufficient cause for all those results of which the proof +consists_. For so long as the institution of the Primacy is +necessary to supply a sufficient cause for these results, so long +the force of our proof remains untouched, and the institution of the +Primacy unquestionable. We can therefore demand of our opponents +this alternative, either to acquiesce in our proof, or, rejecting +the Primacy, to find, and when they have found to establish, an +hypothesis equal to the explanation of all that is contained in our +arguments artificial and inartificial, in our documents and our +witnesses. + +The second point is one which all will admit. The proof we have +given is such that _unless_ it be deceptive, the institution of the +Primacy is demonstrated to be not only _true_, but also _revealed_, +not only _tenable_, but matter of _faith_. For although we have +interwoven testimonies and artificial arguments, this was to +confirm what was already demonstrated, and to shed fresh light on +what was already clear; but the _proper_ source from which we have +drawn our proofs, was the documents of the Holy Scriptures +themselves. Now what is thence drawn is [2]revealed, and enters into +the number of things which, being revealed, are matter of _faith_. + +These two points are clear, but a third may be somewhat less so. +Many will ask, what _is_ the force of the proof, its power to +persuade, and whether it carry complete certitude, or be defective. +Now to this we shall reply, that the proof which we have presented +is not only probable, but altogether decisive. It wants nothing to +produce the fullest assurance. This is a subject which I have judged +fit for special and separate investigation, as due both to myself, +my readers, and the cause which I am defending. For it is not a +happiness of our nature to catch the whole and the pure truth at a +single glance. This requires repeated acts of the mind; we have to +make the effort again and again, and only terminate our examination +when we have submitted our supposed discovery to reiterated +reflection. Thus it is that truth comes out in full light, +imposition is detected, the line drawn between doubt and certainty, +and every point located in its due place. This enquiry, then, into +the proof itself I consider due not only to myself and my readers, +but to a cause, which requires the utmost attention as being of the +highest importance, and the source of the deepest dissensions; for +it is not too much to say that the origin of all those divisions +which we see and lament in the Christian name, may be referred to +the reception or the denial of this doctrine concerning the Primacy. + +Now we shall best reach the subject by first considering the +inherent force of the proof _in itself_, and _absolutely_, and then +_comparatively_ with those arguments to which the most distinguished +Protestant sects ascribe a full and complete demonstrative power. + +I. First, then, as to the force of proof _absolutely_. We must +reflect that two conditions complete a proof derived from documents; +_first_, the authenticity of the document; _secondly_, either the +immediate and unquestionable evidence of the testimonies quoted from +it, or their meaning being rendered certain by argument. If these +two conspire, nothing is wanting to produce assurance. Now, as to +the documents, whence our proof is derived, no Christian doubts +their authenticity; and as to the testimonies drawn from them, +part[3] belong to a class of such evidence as to admit of no doubt; +and part,[4] being equally clear, and marked in themselves, have had +to be defended from false interpretations. Accordingly, our proof is +peremptory in both particulars. + +Moreover, our proof was not restricted to one or two passages of +holy Scripture, but extended over a great series, all tending to +support and consolidate the argument. We have set forth, not a naked +institution of the Primacy, but multifold foreshadowings and +promises of it, its daily operation and notoriety. From its first +anticipation we went on to its progressively clearer expression, its +promise, its institution, its exercise, and the everywhere diffused +knowledge of it in the primitive Church. So far, then, as I see, +nothing more can, with reason, be asked, to remove all doubt as to +Peter's prerogative of Primacy; for, when the bestowal of certain +privileges can be proved by documents, all question as to their +existence is terminated. But here we find in documents, not their +bestowal merely, but antecedents and consequences, a beginning, a +progress, and a manifold explanation, which stand to the Primacy as +signs to the thing signified. + +Accordingly, the demonstration which we have given of the Primacy, +considered _in itself_, and _absolutely_, needs nothing to challenge +assent. + +For, suppose it disputed whether Caesar surpassed the other Roman +Senators in honour and power. Could it be proved by undoubted +records, that he so conducted himself as gradually to smooth his +path to the supreme power; that he next gained from the senate and +Roman people, the title of Emperor and Prince; that he exercised +these powers at home and abroad, and received universal testimony to +the dignity he had acquired; in such case the judgment would be +unanimous that he was emperor, and head of the Roman Senators. Now, +substitute Peter for Caesar, the Apostles for the Senators; Christ, +the Evangelists, Luke and Paul, for the senate and people; and you +will see all the proofs enumerated for Caesar, to square exactly with +Peter. For we learn from Scripture _the steps_ by which he rose to +the Primacy, _the time_ when he received it, _how_ he exercised it, +and the lucid testimonies to it which he received from Christ, the +Evangelists, the Apostolic Church, and Paul. Accordingly, his +Primacy and supreme authority among the Apostles rests on a proof +which gives complete assurance, and challenges assent. It is a +consequence deduced, not from a single, but from manifold +inference; not merely drawn from results, but foreseen in its +causes; declared not merely in the words of institution, but in the +very acts of its exercise; supported not only by sundry texts, but +by a cloud of conspiring witnesses; proved by an interpretation, not +obscure, and far-fetched, but clear and obvious. A thing of such a +nature it is folly to deny and temerity to doubt. + +But, further, reflect on the other arguments which come in +collaterally to support that from the Holy Scriptures. Then it will +be found that our proof consists in the harmonious concurrence of +these four sources, 1. _the authentic scriptural documents_ +distinctly setting forth the promises, the bestowal, the exercise, +and the everywhere diffused knowledge of the Primacy: 2. _witnesses_ +the most ancient, well nigh coeval with the Apostles, of great +number, renowned for their holiness, or their martyrdom, excellent +in learning, far removed from each other in situation, faithful +maintainers of the Apostolic teaching, who, with one mouth, +acknowledge the Primacy: 3. _the analogy of doctrines_, for the +Church, which we profess to be one, and Catholic, can neither exist, +nor even be conceived as such, without the Primacy: 4. _the facts of +Christian history_, which are so entwined with the institution of +the Primacy, that they cannot be even contemplated without it. For +there are no less than fourteen distinct classes of facts in +Christian history, all of which bear witness to the Primacy, and +which cannot be studied without coming across that power. Such are, +1. _the history of heresies_, where, in ancient times alone, +consider the acts and statutes of Pope Dionysius, in the causes of +Paul of Samosata, and Dionysius of Alexandria; of Popes Sylvester +and Julius, in the cause of Arius; of Pope Damasus in that of +Apollinarius; of Popes Innocent and Zosimus in that of Pelagius; of +Pope Celestine in that of Nestorius; and of Pope Leo in that of +Eutyches; so that Ferrandus[5] of Carthage wrote in the sixth +century, "If you desire to hear aught of truth, ask in the first +place the prelate of the Apostolic See, whose sound doctrine is +known by the judgment of truth, and grounded on the weight of +authority." 2. _The history of schisms_, which have arisen in the +Church, when we consider the unquestionable facts about Novatian, +Fortunatus and Felicissimus, the Donatists, and Acacius of +Constantinople, so that Bede, in our own country, wrote in the +seventh century, commenting on Matt. xvi. 10, "All believers in the +world understand, that whosoever, in any way separate themselves +from the unity of the faith, or from the society of Peter, such can +neither be absolved from the bonds of their sins, nor enter the +threshold of the heavenly kingdom." 3. _The history of the liturgy_, +as the contests about the paschal time, and what Eusebius, in the +fifth book of his history, c. 22-5, says about Pope Victor. 4. _The +history_ of the _summoning_, the _holding_, and the _confirming +general councils_, wherein the Acts of Synods, the letters of the +supreme Pontiffs, and the writings of the Fathers, show the entire +truth of what is stated by the ancient Greek historians, Socrates +and Sozomen,[6] that an ecclesiastical Canon had always been in +force, "that the Churches should not pass Canons contrary to the +decision of the bishop of Rome," which Pope Pelagius,[7] in the +sixth century thus expressed, "the right of calling councils is +entrusted by a special power to the Apostolic See, nor do we read +that a general council has been valid, which was not assembled or +supported by its authority. This is attested by the authority of +canons, corroborated by ecclesiastical history, and confirmed by the +holy Fathers." And Ferrandus says, "Universal councils, more +especially those to which the authority of the Roman Church has been +given, hold the place of second authority after the canonical +books."[8] 5. _The history of ecclesiastical laws_, for the +regulation of discipline, a summary of which, enacted by the +successors of Peter from Victor I. to Gregory II., may be found in +Zaccaria's Antifebronius, Tom. ii., p. 425, and his Antifebronius +Vindicatus, Diss. vi., c. 1. 6. _The history of judgments_, +specially the most remarkable in the Church, of which, if we are to +believe history, we can only repeat what Pope Gelasius wrote at the +end of the fifth century, to the Bishops of Dardania, "We must not +omit that the Apostolic See has frequently, to use our Roman phrase, +more majorum, even without any council preceding, had the power to +absolve those whom a council had unjustly condemned, or to condemn, +without any council, those who required condemnation:" and as he +wrote to the Greek emperor, Anastasius, "that the authority of the +Apostolic See has in all Christian ages been set over the Church +universal, is established by the series of the canons of the +Fathers, and by manifold tradition."[9] 7. _The history of +references_, which were wont to be made to the chair of Peter, in +the greater causes of faith, and in those respecting Catholic unity. +Thus, Avitus, bishop of Vienne, A.D. 500, said, "It is a rule of +synodical laws, that, in matters relating to the state of the +Church, if any doubt arises, we, as obedient members, recur to the +priest of the Roman Church, who is the greatest, as to our +head."[10] To the same effect is the letter of Pope Innocent I., to +S. Victrice, of Rouen, at the beginning of the fifth century, and +again, the African Fathers to Pope Theodore; or again, S. Bernard, +writing to Pope Innocent II., against the errors of Abelard, "All +dangers and scandals emerging in the kingdom of God, specially those +which concern faith, must be referred to your Apostolate: for I +esteem it fitting that the injuries done to faith should be repaired +there in particular, where faith cannot fail. That is the +prerogative of this See." 8. _The history of appeals_, of which a +vast number of remarkable instances exist. Take, as the key, the +words of Pope Gelasius once more: "It is the canons themselves which +have ordered the appeals of the whole Church to be carried to the +examination of this See. But from it they have allowed of no appeal +in any case; and, therefore, they enjoin that it should judge of the +whole Church, but go itself before the judgment of none: nor do they +allow of appeal from its sentence, but rather require obedience to +its decrees."[11] And Pope Agatho, in the Roman Council, pronouncing +on the appeal of our own S. Wilfrid, of York, the contemporary of +Bede, A.D. 688, declares that "Wilfrid the bishop, beloved of God, +knowing himself unjustly deposed from his bishopric, did not +_contumaciously resist by means of the secular power_, but with +humility of mind sought the canonical aid of our founder, blessed +Peter, prince of the Apostles, and declared in his supplication that +he would accept what by our mouth, blessed Peter, our founder, whose +office we discharge, should determine."[12] 9. _The history of the +ecclesiastical hierarchy_,[13] and of the _rights possessed by +certain episcopal Sees over others_, of which we may take an +instance in the grants of Pope Gregory the Great, and his +successors, to the See of Canterbury, which alone made it a Primacy. +For the bishops of Canterbury had no power whatever over the other +bishops of this country, save what they derived from S. Peter's See. +And the documents, and original letters conferring these powers +still exist, giving the fullest proof that Pope Pius only did in +1850, what Pope Gregory did in 596. 10. _The history of the +universal propagation of the Christian religion._[14] 11. _The +history of those tokens and pledges_,[15] such as letters of +communion, whereby Catholic unity was exhibited and maintained. 12. +_The history of Christian archaeology_,[16] inscriptions, paintings, +and other monuments of this kind. 13. _The history of the emperors_, +as, for instance, what Ammianus Marcellinus[17] says of Constantius; +the letter of the Emperor Marcian to Pope Leo, entreating him to +confirm the council of Chalcedon; that of Galla Placidia, the 130th +novel of Justinian, and the remarkable constitution of Valentinian +III., A.D. 445. "Since the merit of S. Peter, who is the chief of +the episcopal coronet, and the dignity of the Roman city, moreover, +the authority of a sacred synod" (that of Sardica, A.D. 347) "have +confirmed the Primacy of the Apostolic See, let presumption not +endeavour to attempt anything unlawful, contrary to the authority of +that See: for, then, at length, the peace of the Church will +everywhere be preserved, if the whole (universitas) acknowledge its +ruler." And, 14. lastly, _the history of codes_, in which is +contained the legislation of Christian kingdoms, wherein we may +refer to the capitulars of the Franks, and the laws of the Lombards. + +Now from these concordant proofs thus slightly sketched, it follows +that the institution of the Primacy belongs to that class of facts +which is most certain, and which is absolutely demonstrated. For +would it be possible to find a concurrence of proofs so various in +case it had never been instituted? Is it possible to imagine so many +various results of a cause which never existed? So many various +tokens of reality in a fiction? What are the chances for letters +thrown at random forming themselves into an eloquent speech? Or a +beautiful portrait coming out from a mere assemblage of colours? Or +a whole discourse in an unknown tongue being elegantly rendered by a +guess? If these be sheer absurdities, although a few letters have +sometimes tumbled at random into a word, or a single clause been +decyphered, though in ignorance of the alphabet, then we may be sure +that the Primacy, attested by so vast a variety of convergent +results, can no more be untrue, than effects can exist without a +cause, splendour without light, or vocal harmony without sound. +Accordingly an institution established by such a union of proof, +carries prisoner the assent. It may indeed be disregarded by a +resolution of the _will_, but can neither be passed by, nor refuted, +by a judgment of the _reason_. + +And[18] having on the one hand this vast amount of _positive_ +proof, from sources so various, in its behalf, so that without it +the whole Christian history of eighteen centuries, in all its +manifold blendings with secular history, becomes unintelligible, a +snarl which it is impossible to arrange, when we come on the other +hand to consider what its opponents allege of _positive_ on their +own side, we find nothing. They content themselves with objections +to this or that detached point, with historical difficulties, and +obscurations of the full proof, such, for instance, as the conduct +of S. Cyprian in one controversy, the occasional resistance of a +metropolitan, the secular instinct of an imperial government +stirring up eastern bishops to revolt, and fostering an Erastian +spirit in the Church, the ambition of thoroughly bad men, such as +Acacius or Photius, and the like. But what we may fairly ask of +opponents, and what we never find the most distant approach to in +them is, if, as they say, S. Peter's Primacy be not legitimate, and +instituted by Christ for the government of the Church, what _counter +system_ have they, which they can prove by ancient documents, and +whereby they can solve the manifold facts of history? In all their +arguments against the Primacy they are so absolutely _negative_, +that the grand result, if they were successful, would be to reduce +the Church to a heap of ruins, to show that she, who is entrusted +with the authoritative teaching of the world, has no internal +coherence either of government or doctrine, in fact, no message from +God to deliver, and no power to enforce it when delivered. In the +arguments of Greeks and Anglicans, Lutherans and Calvinists, and all +the Protestant sects, the gates of hell have long ago prevailed +against the Church, and the devil has built up at his ease a city of +confusion on the rock which Christ chose for her foundation. If we +listen to them, never has victory been more complete than that of +the evil one over the Son of God: the promised unity he has +scattered to the winds: the doctrine of truth he has utterly +corrupted: the charity wherewith Christians loved one another he has +turned into gall and wormwood. That is, the opponents of S. Peter's +Primacy are one and all simply _destructives_; they inspire despair, +and are the pioneers of infidelity, but are utterly powerless to +build up. Ask the Anglican what is the source of spiritual +jurisdiction, and the bond of the episcopate which he affects to +defend? _He makes no reply._ All he can say is, it is _not_ S. +Peter. Ask the Greek, if bishops and patriarch disagree, and come to +opposite judgments on the faith, or to schisms in communion, which +party make the Church? _He has no solution to offer_, save that it +is _not_ the party which sides with S. Peter's successor. Ask the +pure Protestant, who maintains the sole authority of the written +word, if you disagree about the meaning of Scripture in points which +you admit to touch salvation, who is to determine what is the true +meaning of the word of God? _He has nothing to reply_, save that he +is sure it is _not_ the Pope. Contrast, then, on the one side, a +complete coherent system, fully delineated and set forth in the +Bible, attested by the Fathers, corroborated by analogy, and +harmonising the history of eighteen hundred years in its infinitely +numerous relations, with, on the other side, a mere heap of +objections and denials, with shreds of truths held without cohesion, +with analogy violated, history thrown into hopeless confusion, and +to crown the whole, Holy Scripture incessantly appealed to, yet its +plainest declarations recklessly disregarded, and its most +consoling promises utterly evacuated. Choose, upon this, between +_within_ and _without_. + +II. But such being the argument for the Primacy _of itself_ and +_absolutely_, look at it now in a _comparative_ point of view with +other doctrines. Let us ask Anglicans, Lutherans, and Calvinists, +respectively, to compare it in order with the proofs with which +they, each in behalf of his own sect, defend either the authority of +bishops, and their distinction from presbyters, as instituted by +Christ, or the real presence of the Lord's body in the Eucharist, or +the divine nature of Christ, and His consubstantiality with the +Father. Can they state, upon a comparison of these, that there are +_more_ testimonies of Holy Scripture in behalf of these latter +doctrines than for the Primacy of Peter? As for the articles of the +real presence, and the superiority of bishops, this cannot be +asserted with any show of truth, since in behalf of both there are +undoubtedly fewer. Certainly there are a great number for the +divinity of Christ, yet not much less are those which the same +Scriptures contain in support of Peter's Primacy. So that if the +force of proof is to be judged of by the _number of texts_, that in +behalf of the Primacy will either be preferred to the rest, or at +least yield to none. + +But I anticipate the answer that it is not the number of texts which +will decide the question, but their perspicuity and evidence, which +constitute their force. To meet which objection I shall merely set +these several parties against each other. What, then, do Lutherans +think of the perspicuity of those texts by which Anglicans maintain +the superiority of bishops over presbyters? They are unanimous in +thinking them not merely most obscure, but absolutely foreign to the +purpose for which they are cited. Just the same is the Calvinist +opinion of the Lutheran proofs for the real presence, and the +Socinian view of the texts alleged by Calvinists in behalf of +Christ's divinity. Both obstinately refuse to admit that their +opponents urge anything decisive. It would be easy to quote +instances of this, if it was not notorious. It is, then, no unfair +inference that Protestants have no particular reason to boast +triumphantly of the perspicuity and evidence of the texts on which +they severally rely. + +But who, they retort, cannot see that the cause of the Primacy, +which we defend, is far inferior? For our exposition is opposed not +by one or two parties, but by them all in a mass, Anglicans, +Lutherans, Calvinists, and _all who are not Catholics_. The addition +is significant, _all who are not Catholics_, for indeed all these, +and these alone, are our opponents. Yet their very name creates the +gravest prejudice against them, and shows them to be unworthy of +attention. As S. Augustine said, "The Catholic Church is one, to +which different heresies give various names, they themselves each +possessing their own name, which they dare not refuse. Whence judges +unaffected by partiality can form an opinion to whom the name of +Catholic, which all aim at, ought to be given."[19] If, then, the +name of Catholic is a note of truth, the negation of that name is a +test of error and heresy. But no one will imagine that heretics, +that is, the enemies of Christ and the Apostles, have a right to be +followed in what concerns the doctrine of Christ, and the Apostolic +institutions. Thus what Tertullian said is to the point, "Though we +had to search still and for ever, yet _where_ are we to search? Is +it among heretics, where all is foreign and opposed to our own +truth, whom we are not allowed to approach?[20] What servant expects +food from a stranger, not to say an enemy of his lord? What soldier +takes donative or pay from confederate, not to say from hostile +kings, except he be an open deserter and rebel? Even the woman in +the Gospel searched for her piece of silver within her own house. +Even he who knocked, struck the door of a friend.[21] Even the widow +solicited a judge, who was hard indeed, but not her enemy. No one +can be built up by the person who destroys him. No one be +enlightened by one who shuts him up in darkness. Let us search then +in our own, and from our own, and about our own, and only that which +can be questioned without harm to the rule of faith."[22] + +But if we look closer into the matter, we shall find that even in +the interpretation of our texts Protestants are not so agreed with +each other as uniformly to oppose us. Some of the greatest names +amongst them, such as Camero, Grotius, Hammond, Leclerc, Dodwell, +Michaelis, Rosenmueller, and Kuinoel, differ from the rest and agree +with us in interpreting, "upon this rock I will build My Church," +words of great importance in the controversy about the Primacy. So +that we were not wrong in stating that Protestants do not entirely +agree among each other in their interpretation, nor disagree with +ours. + +But grant that they were one and all opposed to it, it would not +prove much. For, _first_, it could hardly happen otherwise, since +the whole Protestant cause is so contained in this matter of the +Primacy, that, were they to confess themselves wrong in it, they +would pronounce themselves guilty of the most groundless schism. +Therefore it is a matter of life and death with them to resist us. +_Secondly_, as they dissent from us, so do they desert that doctrine +which the whole Christian body solemnly professed and defined before +the sixteenth century in ecumenical councils, that of Florence held +in 1439, the second of Lyons in 1274, and the fourth Lateran in +1215. We, then, follow antiquity, and they take up novelty. And so +it follows that while we have Protestants against us, we have the +earlier Christians for us, whilst Protestants are opposed not only +to the present race of Catholics, but to those whose children these +are, and whose doctrines they have preserved. For as to the ancient +interpretation of these texts take the following proof, contained in +a letter of Pope Agatho to the Greek emperor Heraclius, read and +approved in the sixth general council, A.D. 680. "The true +confession of Peter was revealed by the Father from heaven, for +which Peter was pronounced to be blessed by the Lord of all, who +likewise by a triple commendation was entrusted with the feeding of +the spiritual sheep of the Church by the Redeemer of all Himself; in +virtue of whose assistance this his apostolical church hath never +turned aside from the path of truth to any error whatsoever; whose +authority, as of the Prince of all the Apostles, the whole Catholic +Church at all times and the universal councils faithfully embracing, +have in all respects followed, and all the venerable Fathers have +entertained its apostolic doctrine; through which there have shone +the most approved lights of the Church; which while the holy +orthodox Fathers have venerated and followed, _heretics have pursued +with false accusations, and calumnies inspired by hatred. This is +the living tradition of Christ's Apostles, which His Church +everywhere holds._"[23] We might imagine that Sir Thomas More had +these words before his eyes when he answered Luther, "not only all +that learned and holy men have collected to the point moves me to +give willing obedience to that See, but especially what we have so +often witnessed, that not only there never was an enemy to the +Christian faith who did not at the same time declare war against +that See, but also that there never has been one who professed +himself an enemy of that See without shortly after declaring himself +signally a capital foe and traitor of Christ and our religion. +Another thing, too, has great weight with me, that if, in this +manner, the faults of individuals are laid to the charge of their +office, all authority will collapse, and the people will be without +ruler, law, or order. And if this ever happens, as it seems likely +to happen in parts of Germany, at length they will learn to their +cost how much more it is to the interest of society to have even bad +rulers rather than none."[24] + +Protestants, then, have many more opponents than we; to which we may +add, _thirdly_, that we assert and maintain a doctrine which for +several ages had no opponents worth mentioning, and which received a +general belief and assent. Protestants, on the contrary, no sooner +brought their doctrine to light than they roused the whole Catholic +Church against them; that very Church, _fourthly_, from which they +had rebelled, in which they had been washed in the laver of +regeneration, whose motherly care had enrolled them as Christians, +from which they had received the Bible and all other Christian +blessings, which, before that fatal schism, alone presented the +appearance of the true Church, and was invested with attributes +which inspired belief and fostered obedience. For such were +antiquity, the hierarchy, unity, the agreement of its members, +universality; such, again, the splendour of sanctity and learning; +zeal in the guardianship of primeval tradition, hatred of profane +novelties; and, lastly, the renown of those heavenly gifts, which +cannot fail the true Church of Christ, and were ascribed to no other +body. + +But _fifthly_, it would be very apposite to compare the Catholic +Church with herself, and contrast her state and condition in the +nineteenth century with that same state and condition in the fourth, +the fifth, and the sixth. Now who, in the fourth century, professed +the consubstantiality of the Trinity? Well nigh Catholics alone, +while innumerable sects of heretics opposed this doctrine. War to +the knife was waged against it by Praxeans, Noetians, Sabellians, +Paulianists, Arians, and their worst portion, the Anomaeans, +Macedonians, and those who then made their appearance, Tritheists. +Again, in the fifth and the sixth centuries, who were they who +retained the true faith in Christ the God-Man, and His dispensation +in taking flesh? Once more the true faith was hardly found outside +the Catholics, while the followers of Theodore of Mopsuestia, and +Diodorus of Tarsus, Nestorius and the Nestorians, Eutyches, and the +Eutychean sects at daggers drawn with each other, and in fine, the +Monothelites and their sects, who hated one another and the +Catholics with equal bitterness, clubbed all their forces together +to oppose it. Now do any Protestants venture to infer that in the +fourth and following centuries the cause of the Catholic Church was +less certain, on account of this mob of hostile sects? I should +consider such an insinuation an insult to them. They must +accordingly allow my parallel inference, that it is fair to pass the +same judgment on the cause of the Primacy now for some centuries +defended by the Catholics against the Protestants. + +_Lastly_, to address specially Lutherans and Anglicans. They are +well aware that almost all sects are not more opposed to the +supremacy of Peter than to the superiority of bishops, and the +verity of the Lord's body in the Eucharist. But are they therefore +deterred by the number of their enemies, or do they distrust the +goodness of their cause, or doubt the perspicuity of those documents +on which they rely for the victory? They can afford to disdain the +tricks of their opponents, as well as repulse their attacks. They +must, accordingly, agree with us that the assertions or denials of +contesting parties ought not to be, and cannot be, the test of a +cause's goodness, and of documentary evidence. + +But, then, by what standard are we to go? I reply, by those criteria +which are not subject to just exception, and which must be approved +by all who seek the truth, and obey the dictate of reason. Now four +such criteria in chief I think may be assigned, the two former of +which are _immediate_ and _internal_, the third _internal_, but +somewhat more remote; the fourth, _external_, but of great weight, +and not to be overlooked. To speak of the former first; one of these +is _verbal_, and belongs to the words and phrases of which the text +consists; the other _real_, and regards the meaning of the sentence. +Indeed, no other sources of obscurity or of clearness can be +imagined than either the _words_ which express the _matter_, or the +_matter_ intended by the _words_. If both words and matter are +plain, and perspicuous, the discourse will be clear, and the +language distinct; but if either the matter exceed the power of +reason, or the words do not run clear, or both these conspire, the +evidence of the meaning will be more or less impaired. + +I. Now, to begin with _words_, I shall not be severe, but allow to +Anglicans, Lutherans, and Calvinists, that the texts alleged by each +of them in behalf of his own cause consist of words which are either +immediately perspicuous, or become mediately clear upon definite +principles. But in turn I should ask them repeatedly to consider +whether such a perspicuity can be denied to the words of which the +texts cited for the Primacy of Peter consist. These words are in +general and vulgar use, continually repeated in the Bible, but so +connected together that their certain meaning is either immediately +evident, or fixed with very little trouble. But are not most of them +metaphorical, such as _rock_, _building_, _keys_, _binding_, +_loosing_, _lambs_, _sheep_, _feeding_? Undoubtedly some are such, +yet not that words used in their _proper_ sense are wanting, as when +Peter is called _the first_, _the greater_, the _superior_; also +when he is charged _to confirm his brethren_; and what we collect +from the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles of S. Paul, and the +evangelists' mode of writing. Not, _secondly_, that it is not +evident, from the connection of the discourse, what fixed and +established meaning must be given to those metaphorical expressions. +Not, thirdly, that the meaning of those formulas is not shown by the +exercise of the powers conferred in them. Not, fourthly, that there +is any inability, if you remove the metaphor, to express in _proper_ +words what the metaphor shadows out. Not, fifthly, as if the literal +and immediate sense were therefore wanting; for it is very plain +that the metaphorical[25] sense likewise is literal and immediate. +And sixthly, not that _metaphorical_ can be considered equivalent to +_obscure_, for obscurity is most opposed to the very genius of +metaphor, and such a canon would destroy the perspicuity of human +language. For there is no language, ancient or modern, rude or +polished, semitic, chamitic, or japhetic, whose _metaphorical_ is +not much more copious than its _proper_ vocabulary. + +Metaphor, then, and obscurity are very far removed from each other, +and there is nothing to prevent a metaphorical expression bearing +the plainest sense. For such the sense will be, whenever what is +called the _foundation_ of the metaphor is clear, and the series of +the discourse indicates _the point of likeness_, and usage of speech +unfolds _the force_ of the metaphor. Now all these conditions, which +ensure perspicuity in the metaphor, are found in interpreting the +metaphors which contain the singular prerogatives of Peter. For as +it is perfectly plain whence the metaphors of _foundation_, +_building_, _keys_, _binding_, _loosing_, _sheep_, _lambs_, +_shepherd_, are drawn, so the context defines the point of +similitude, and usage of speech does not allow ignorance of the +force of such metaphors. And thus the texts on Peter's Primacy have +a verbal perspicuity which will bear a favourable comparison with +those texts, on which Anglicans, Lutherans, and Calvinists rely. For +indeed all the difficulties, in the invention of which Protestants +have shown their ingenuity, are introduced, put upon the words, not +drawn from them. So on the contrary, the haters of the Primacy +evidently wince at their clearness. + +2. _Verbal_ perspicuity is followed by _real_, or that which concerns +the _subject matter_. And this, I assert, is far inferior, far more +slender, in the above named Protestant controversies, than in this +of the Catholics. Indeed, both the controversies, on the real +presence and on the divinity of Christ, have a super-intelligible +object, so far exceeding the natural power of reason, as to admit +of the mind's conceiving it by analogy, but not by a _distinct_ and + _proper_ knowledge. For this is the nature of mysteries, whence it +follows in them that neither single words have distinct notions, +nor a whole proposition distinct sense. Whereas in the controversy +about the Primacy, there is nothing which is not commensurate with +reason, and which has not the advantage of proper and distinct +notions. For, of revealed truths, some being _rational_, some +_beyond_ reason, and some _above_ reason, the proper character of +those which are called _beyond_ reason is, that, _if_ revealed, they +are cognizable by reason. Now to such an order of truths the +institution of the Primacy belongs. Thus its _real_ evidence, that +namely which concerns its _subject matter_, is much superior to that +which the others admit of. But should we grant as much to the +controversy in which Anglicans defend the superiority of bishops +over presbyters? Grant this, yet still it remains that in this +species of _real_ evidence the cause of the Primacy is far superior +to that of the real presence, or that of the divinity of Christ. +But, in truth, the Anglican doctrine on bishops may be considered +from two points of view, either as severed from the Catholic dogma +on Peter's Primacy, or as in connexion and coherence with it. From +the latter point of view I should admit it to be so agreeable to +reason, that this power calls for it, and rests in it, when once +illuminated by faith, so as to know, that is, the purpose of Christ +that each particular Church should present the aspect of an united +family. But sever this superiority of bishops over presbyters from +the dogma of the Primacy, and inveigh as keenly against Peter's +supremacy as you defend their presidency, which is what Anglicans +do, and then I could only conclude that this doctrine is plainly +contrary to reason instead of agreeing with it. + +For whence do Anglicans deduce its agreement with reason? Hammond, +Pearson, Beveridge, Bingham, and their other greater theologians, +tell us that it follows very plainly, because we know that Christ +carefully provided for the unity of particular Churches, which, they +say, it seems impossible to obtain without the superior power of +bishops. It is a good inference; but did Christ show less care for +the unity of the whole Church than for that of particular Churches? +Who can seriously maintain this? For what is the unity recommended +by Christ and so earnestly urged by the Apostles, save that of the +whole Church? And when we acknowledge in the creed _one_ Church, do +we mean a particular or the universal Church? We mean that which we +also acknowledge to be Catholic, and therefore the unity is that of +the Catholic Church. And therefore it was Christ's intention, and +His certain will, that not only particular Churches, but the +universal body of the Church, should possess the test and the dower +of unity. And this Anglican notion, which denies of the universal +Church, what it affirms of particular Churches, may suit very well +an island, holding itself aloof from the rest of the world, but it +is quite incompatible with the radical idea of the kingdom of +Christ. + +Moreover, if it was necessary for the production and maintenance of +unity in particular Churches to set bishops over them, with +authority superior to that of presbyters; if reason demands that it +being Christ's will for particular Churches to live in unity, He +should likewise have instituted the power which distinguishes +bishops from presbyters; can we suppose either that it was not +necessary for the production and maintenance of unity in the +Catholic Church, to commit its government to an universal superior, +or that reason does not _equally_ require, that Christ, who enjoined +the Catholic Church to maintain unity, should have instituted the +universal Pastor? Nay, as the necessity is not equal on the two +sides, but so much stronger on the side of unity in the _Catholic_ +Church, as it is more difficult to hold together in one an +innumerable than a limited number, men scattered over the globe than +men within a narrow region, nations differing in genius, habits, and +laws, than those who resemble each other in these; so reason, which +for particular Churches requires their respective bishops, _much +more_ requires the institution of a _universal_ superior, lest the +end should appear to have been devised without the means, and the +divine work of Christ be deficient in wisdom. What, then, are +Anglicans about in dividing these two doctrines, and contending for +the institution of bishops, while they obstinately deny the +institution of the Primacy? They strip of its authority the very +truth which they defend, and by severing doctrines which derive +their consistency from their cohesion, put weapons in the hands of +presbyterians to assault and even overthrow the very dogma from +which they take their name of episcopalians. Accordingly the +evidence derived from the _subject matter_ is much clearer in those +texts which are alleged for Peter's Primacy, than in those by which +the superiority of bishops over presbyters, the real presence, and +the divine person of Christ, are proved. + +Now the force of demonstration derived from documents corresponds to +the sum of _verbal_ and _real_ evidence in the texts, being greater +or less as this is stronger or weaker. In other words, the force of +demonstration belongs to that class of evidence which mathematicians +call _direct_. But both these sorts of evidence exist in the same, +or even in a fuller degree, in those texts which concern the +Primacy, and set forth its divine institution. Accordingly the force +of demonstration for the Primacy is equal or superior to that +belonging to the arguments which prove the superiority of bishops, +the real presence, and Christ's divine person. Yet these arguments +have such force, that the articles which they prove cannot, in the +opinion of Anglicans, Lutherans, and Calvinists, be questioned +without incurring the deepest guilt of heresy. We have, then, the +same or even a stronger reason to affirm that the Primacy of Peter, +resting on the same, or even a stronger, evidence, as _revealed_, +cannot be denied without heresy. + +And this is a corollary which I would entreat Anglicans, Lutherans, +and Calvinists, carefully to consider, and then say whether they are +consistent; for then I feel assured they would become discontented +with themselves, by reflecting that, in the choice of the articles +which they hold, they are not following the clearness of revelation, +but party spirit and factious prejudices. What satisfactory answer +can they ever return to the Catholic who asks why they, who on equal +or less evidence defend the superiority of bishops, deny the Primacy +which rests on similar or greater proof? Or why they attack the +Primacy, while they defend the real presence, or the divinity of +Christ, which are supported by no more evident arguments? And how +will they satisfy their own conscience, should this thought ever +cross them, "Why do I at one time obey, at another time resist, the +same evidence of revelation?" That same faith with which they +severally believe the divine appointment of bishops, the real +presence, and the consubstantiality of Christ, compels them, if +they would maintain consistency, and not repel conviction, to +confess the Primacy of Peter. + +And this argument might be carried much further, if they would +reflect how great is the brilliancy of evidence in behalf of the +Primacy, compared with sundry other capital Christian doctrines, +some or all of which they hold without question: such are the +consubstantiality of the Trinity, the unity of Christ's Person, the +propagation of original sin, the eternity of punishment, +regeneration in baptism, and gratuitous justification. They will +find, on reflection, that they hold these doctrines not because they +are proved by stronger scriptural evidence than the Primacy, for +quite the reverse is the truth, nor because they are encompassed +with less obscurity in their own character, for the subject matter +of the Primacy is clear and distinct in comparison with them all, +but because the doctrines do not oppose the particular tradition +which they have received, and so their minds are not set against +them. Let them once come to compare the whole evidence for the +Primacy, scriptural, traditional, analogical, and historical, which +last alone comprehends the fourteen heads above enumerated, with the +same evidence in behalf of any or all of those, and they cannot but +admit its great superiority. + +3. But we must proceed to the _third_ criterion, which increases not +a little the evidence from revelation for the Primacy. For Catholics +and Protestants are agreed in considering _analogy_ as one of the +best helps in interpretation, and in assigning to it the force of a +real parallelism, a proceeding which rests on the necessity of the +Scripture presenting one whole and harmonious body of doctrine in +its several parts. And in order not to deprive this help of its +efficacy, both parties give two conditions for its exercise, the +first, _that no sense be put upon passages of Scripture contrary to +analogy_; the second, _that no violence be used to the language of +Scripture to conform it with analogy, which would be imposing on +holy writ the sense wanted from it_. These two faults carefully +avoided, analogy is of great service, and throws much light upon +interpretation. + +But, now, is there such a sum of doctrine, so remarkable, and so +diffused through all the books of the New Testament, that the texts +expressing the gifts and prerogatives of Peter, can be tried by the +touchstone of this analogy? Such, indeed, there is, very remarkable, +and threefold in character. The first point is found in the +texts[26] which regard the divine institution of bishops: the other +two in those which show the unity,[27] and the Catholicity[28] of +the Church. For what can stand in closer connection with these +articles of doctrine, than the appointment of a supreme ruler to +discharge over the universal Church the office which every bishop +exercises over his own particular Church, and his own portion of the +flock? What, again, can be more opposed to them, than the +supposition that provision was made, by the institution of bishops, +for _the parts_, but none, by the institution of a supreme pastor, +for _the whole body_, which is to be one and Catholic? Therefore, +that exposition of the texts concerning Peter, which exhibits him as +ruler of the Church universal, and as made to be the visible cause +of that same Catholic unity, so admirably agrees with analogy, that +it must be considered unquestionable, unless texts contradictory to +it can be produced. But so far is it from the case that texts +_considered in themselves_ contradict it, that, on the contrary, +they _immediately_ express it _of themselves_, and can be distorted +from it only by violating all the laws of interpretation. Accordingly, +that view of the texts about Peter, which establishes his Primacy, +is wonderfully confirmed by analogy, and by its harmony with what +the Scriptures tell us of the Church, as instituted by Christ. + +4. And nothing will be wanting to give full assurance to this +confirmation, if we add the _fourth or external_ criterion, that +derived from consent of witnesses. I am not going to urge here the +divine force and infallible authority of Christian tradition: I +shall merely allege what no person of discretion can deny or +question. The first point is, that in the actual controversy the +testimony of the most ancient witnesses cannot be disregarded: and +the second, that it carries the very strongest prejudice in favour +of whichever interpretation it supports. + +Now here we have to do first, with the interpretation of a series of +dogmatic texts; and, secondly, with a point of doctrine, which, +being of the utmost moment, could not be unknown to any one. But are +these matters on which ancient witnesses, such as the Christian +Fathers, and ecclesiastical writers, can be safely past by unheard? +If it were a matter of geography, chronology, or archaeology, one +might allow it, though with regret: but this is out of the question, +in a matter of dogmatic texts, and those relating to a most +important doctrine. For notorious is the zeal with which the ancient +Fathers laboured to preserve and interpret the dogmatic texts of +Scripture. We know their care to prevent the introduction of new and +false interpretations, and new and false doctrines thence arising. +And we know that, together with the Scriptures, they received from +the Apostolic teaching the kindred power of interpreting them. For, +as Origen remarked, "Since there are many who think that they +believe what is of Christ, and some of them believe what is +different from those before them, yet, since the preaching of the +Church is preserved, as handed down by the order of succession from +the Apostles, and to the present day abiding in the Church, that +verity alone is to be believed, which in nothing is discordant from +the ecclesiastical and Apostolical tradition."[29] + +Moreover, can it seem safe to enter upon a track most divergent from +that which the Apostles marked out, and the Christian people +constantly followed? S. Paul[30] taught us to listen to witnesses, +and Christendom, whether assembled in council, or everywhere +diffused, was content to depend on them. Most clear is what is said +on this point about the Fathers at Nicea[31] and Ephesus,[32] and no +less so the words of Leontius[33] of Byzantium, John Cassian,[34] +Theodoret,[35] Augustine,[36] Jerome,[37] Epiphanius,[38] Basil,[39] +Origen,[40] Tertullian,[41] Clement[42] of Alexandria, and the +oldest of all, Irenaeus,[43] who says, "The true knowledge is +the doctrine of the Apostles, and the ancient state of the Church +in the whole world, and the character of the body of Christ, +according to the succession of bishops, by which they handed down +the Church, which is in every place, which hath reached even to us, +being guarded without fiction, _with a most full interpretation of +the Scriptures_, admitting neither addition nor subtraction, and the +reading without falsification, and legitimate and diligent +exposition according to the Scriptures, without danger, and without +blasphemy, and the chief gift of charity, which is more precious +than knowledge, more glorious than prophecy, more eminent than all +graces." For, as he says elsewhere, "We ought to learn the truth, +where the gifts of the Lord are placed; among whom is that +succession of the Church, which is from the Apostles, sound and +irreproachable conversation, and discourse unadulterated and +incorrupt. For these maintain that faith of ours in one God, who +made all things: these increase that love towards the Son of God, +who has made for our sake so great dispositions: _these explain to +us the Scriptures without peril_." + +And, besides, where is the Protestant who does not praise the Hebrew +illustrations of Lightfoot, Schoettgen, and Meuschen? or who does +not at least make much of the commentaries of Aben Ezra, Kimchi, +Jarchi, and others, in the interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures? +They all see the advantage of approaching such sources of +information, and using them for their own purpose. But are we to +refuse to the Fathers, and ancient doctors of the Church the +deference which we allow to Rabbins and Thalmudists? This is at +least a reason for hearing the testimony of the Fathers. + +And if it be concordant, constant, and universal, it most +powerfully recommends that scriptural interpretation, which agrees +with it. In this, all Catholics without exception, and the most +judicious and learned Protestants, are agreed. In good truth, it +would be incredible that an interpretation could be false, which was +adopted unanimously by the Fathers of every age and country. And it +ought to be as incredible to find any one so conceited, as not to be +greatly moved by the witness and consent of Christian antiquity. + +One point of enquiry remains, whether the Fathers have given their +opinion, and that unanimously, on Peter and the texts, which relate +to him. But their words[44] inserted in the foregoing pages entirely +terminate this controversy, and show that they were all of the mind +expressed by Gregory the Great, in these words, which, it is well to +remember, were directed to the supreme civil authority of those +days, for he tells the emperor: + +"To all who know the Gospel, it is manifest that the charge of the +whole Church was entrusted by the voice of the Lord to the holy +Apostle Peter, Prince of all the Apostles. For to him it is said, +'Peter, lovest thou Me? Feed My sheep.' To him is said, 'Behold, +Satan hath desired to sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for thee, +Peter, that thy faith fail not; and do thou, one day, in turn, +confirm thy brethren.' To him is said, 'Thou art Peter, and upon +this rock I will build My Church,' &c. Lo, he hath received the keys +of the kingdom of heaven, the power of binding and loosing is given +to him, the care and the chiefship of the whole Church is committed +to him."[45] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The following chapter is translated from Passaglia, Pp. 339-360. + +[2] This is not said as _limiting_ revelation to such points, but to +exhibit the scope of the present work, which uses testimony merely +as a human, though very important, support of the cause. + +[3] The texts relating to the primacy, the Evangelists' mode of +writing, that of S. Luke in the first twelve chapters of the Acts, +and that of S. Paul. + +[4] The Apostles' contest about "the greater," the distinction +between the founder, and the visible head of the Church, and for +false interpretations, the primacy of mere precedency, the +perversion of John xxi. 15-20, the assertion of Apostolic equality, +and Gal. i 18-20. + +[5] Interroga igitur, si quid veritatis cupis audire, principaliter +sedis Apostolicae antistitem, cujus sana doctrina constat judicio +veritatis, et fulcitur munimine auctoritatis. Ferrandus in Epist. ad +Severum. + +[6] Socrates, Hist. L. 2, c. 8-17. Sozomen, hist. L. 3, c. 10. + +[7] In fragm. epist. apud Baluzium, Miscell. Lib. 5, p. 467. + +[8] Ferrandus in litteris ad Pelagium. + +[9] Mansi. Tom. 8, 54, 34. + +[10] Avitus, Epist. 36. + +[11] Gelasius, Epist. 4, ad Faustum. Mansi. 8, 17. + +[12] Mansi. Tom. xi. 184. + +[13] See Peter Ballerini, de potestate ecclesiastica, cap. 1, Sec. 1-6. + +[14] See Mamachi, origines et antiquitates Christianae, Tom 2. + +[15] See Muzzarelli, de auctoritate Rom. Pontificis in Conciliis +generalibus, c. v. Sec. 9. + +[16] See Mamachi, as above, Tom. v part. 1, c. 2. + +[17] Amm. Marcellinus, Lib. 15, c. 7. + +[18] The following paragraph, down to "within and without," I have +introduced here. It is not in F. Passaglia. + +[19] Aug. de utilitate credendi, c. 7, n. 19. + +[20] Tit. iii. 10. + +[21] Luke xv. 9; xi. 5; xviii. 2. + +[22] Tertullian, de Praesc. c. 21. + +[23] Mansi, concilia, Tom. 11, 239. + +[24] Responsis ad Lutheram, c. x. + +[25] Sense, says John, is the connection or mutual relation of +notions intended by the author in his words, or, according to +others, which is the same thing, the conception of the mind which +the author has expressed in words, and wishes to raise in his +readers. This sense, whether it springs from the proper or whether +from the improper and metaphorical meaning of words, or from +allegorical language, is immediate, grammatical, and literal. + +[26] Acts xiv. 22; xx. 28; 1 Tim. v. 19-22; 2 Tim. iv. 2-5; Tit. i. +5; 1 Pet. v. 2, 3. + +[27] Matt. xvi. 18; xviii. 18; John x. 16; Eph. v. 25; 1 Cor. xii; +John xvii. 20-26. + +[28] Luke xxiv. 47; Acts i. 8; ix. 15; Coloss. i. 8.; 1 Cor. i. 23; +ix. 20; Rom. x. 18. + +[29] Origen. preface kezi azchon, n. 2. + +[30] 2 Tim. ii. 2. + +[31] See Athanas. de decritis Nic. Synodi, and also Hist. tripartit. +Lib. 2, 2-3. + +[32] See Vincent of Lerins. Commonit. c. 32, 3. + +[33] Leontius, Contr. Nestorium. Lib. 1. + +[34] Cassian, De Incarn. Lib. 1. + +[35] Theodoret, in the three dialogues. + +[36] Augustine, cont. Cresconium, 1, c. 32-3. + +[37] Jerome, Ep. 126, and dialog. adv. Luciferianos. + +[38] Epiphanius. baeres. 61, 75, 78. + +[39] Basil, cont. Eunomium, Lib. 1; de Spiritu S. c. 29. + +[40] Origen in Matt. Tract. 29. + +[41] Tertullian, throughout the book De Prescriptionibus. + +[42] Clement, Stromatum, Lib. 7. + +[43] Irenaeus, Lib. 4, c. 63 and 45. + +[44] It may be allowable also to refer to the fifth section of the +work mentioned in the preface, "The See of S. Peter," &c. + +[45] S. Greg. Ep. Lib. 5, 20. + + + + +INDEX. + + +A. + +_Abraham_, parallel between, and Peter, 17-25, 206, 213-4 + +_Acts_, division of, 114 + state the accomplishment of Christ's promises, 114, 116 + history of the mystical body, as the Gospels of the Head, 115 + elucidate the institution of the Primacy by showing its + execution, 116 and following. + +_Africa_, Church of, its terms addressing Pope Theodore, 110, 254. + +_Agatho_, Pope, A.D., 678-682, referred to, 254 + states his Primacy in the case of S. Wilfrid, 254 + to the Emperor Heraclius and the 6th Council 262. + +_Alexander_, of Alexandria, referred to, 238. + +_Ambrose_, St., interprets the name of Peter, 10 + terms Peter "the Rock of the Church," 15 + "the Apostle in whom is the Church's support," 15 + affirms and describes his Primacy, 60 + declares, "where Peter is, there is the Church," 62 + interprets John xxi. 15-17, of Peter's Primacy, 79 + says, "the rights of venerable communion flow from St. Peter's chair + as from a fountain head," 216 + describes schism as rendering Christ's passion of no effect, 231 + and as the unforgiven sin, 231 + mentions a Novatian error of restricting the keys to Peter + personally, 241, n. + assigns the origin of unity to Peter, 242. + +_Ambrosiaster_, + makes Paul's visit an acknowledgment of Peter's Primacy, 164 + ranges James and John under Peter, as Barnabas under Paul, 167 + sees in Paul's censure of Peter a proof of Peter's Primacy, 171. + +_Ammianus Marcellinus_, referred to, 255. + +_Analogy_, between universal and particular churches and the + Primate and all bishops, 217 + of the body, house, kingdom, city, and fold, with the Church, 2-5, 217 + its force as a proof for the Primacy. 251 + as a criterion of interpretation, 272. + +_Anglicanism_, the peculiar inconsistency of, 222-5. + +_Anglicans_, _Lutherans_, and _Calvinists_, + comparative proof for their doctrines and for the Primacy, 259, 274. + +_Apostles_, their relation to Peter, 28, 70, 75-7, 97-9, 102, 104, 108 + their commission as given in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, 68 + exercise of their powers, 69, 149 + how they _sent_ Peter and John, 137 + are teachers and judges in controversy, 149 + the spirit of truth promised to them and to their successors, 184-189 + inequality in the college of, 200 + twelve proofs of it, 204-9. + +_Aquileia_, Fathers of, ascribe the origin of unity to Peter, 242. + +_Archimandrites of Syria_, + call Pope Hormisdas das "Patriarch of the whole world," 216. + +_Arnobius_, calls Peter, the Bishop of Bishops, 146, 216. + +_Athanasius St._, states the object of the Incarnation, 27, 180 + referred to, on behalf of the principle of tradition, 275. + +_Augustine St._, terms Peter + "the rock which the proud gates of hell prevail not against," 15 + "the figure of the Church," 61 + "made another self by Christ, and one with Himself," 110 + states the object of the Incarnation, 27, 179 + explains the banquet in John, ch. xxi, 72 + says the order in which the Apostles were called is uncertain, 88 + mentions Peter's holy humility in being censured by Paul, 176 + says there is no remission of sins outside the Church, 231 + that those who are out of the Church have not charity, 231 + terms schism a horrible crime and sacrilege, 231 + distinguishes the Church as Catholic, 236 + referred to as explaining the term Catholic, 237, 238 + and quoted, 260 + why he teaches that the keys were bestowed on Peter + as representing the person of the Church, 241, n. 124 + referred to, 242 + and on tradition, 295. + +_Avitus, St._, attests the Popes Primacy, 253. + + +B. + +_Ballerini_, Peter, his works referred to, 255. + +_Baronius_, explains St. Peter being sent to the circumcision, 167 + remarks on the distortion of Paul's censure against Peter, 172. + +_Basil St._ calls Peter underlying the building of the Church, 15 + interprets John, xxi. 15-17, as a grant of all pastoral authority to + the Church in the person of Peter her shepherd, 81 + referred to, on principle of tradition, 275. + +_Bede St._, interprets, "Arise, Peter, kill and eat," 140 + condemns all separation from the society of Peter, 252. + +_Bernard St._ + appeals to Pope Innocent II, as holding the Primacy of faith, 60, 254 + calls the Pope universal Bishop, 216 + referred to, as explaining the term Catholic, 237 + speaks of the solicitude of all churches resting on the + Apostolic See 244. + +_Bhoskein_, its meaning, contrasted with _poimahinein_, 103 note. + +_Bishops_, divine institution, of texts for, 273, n. 26 + proof for, compared with that for the Primacy, 268, 270. + +_Bossuet_, + explains the relation between Peter and the Apostles, 75, 78, 103 + his writings against Jurien referred to, 233. + + +C. + +_Coelestinus_, referred to, 238. + +_Calvinists_, their proofs for the divinity of Christ compared with + those of Catholics for the Primacy, 259. + +_Canons_, the 22nd of the Apostolic, quoted, 136. + +_Cartwright_, the Puritan, observes the inconsistency of + Anglicanism, 225, n. 59. + +_Casaubon_, referred to, 232. + +_Cassian John_, + states the Primacy of St. Peter as continuing in the Church, 111 + referred to 275. + +_Catholicity_, texts on the Church's referred to, 220, 273, n. 28 + in what it consists, material and formal parts, 236 + the formal part as negative and as affirmative, 237-241. + +_Cesar_, Julius, parallel between proof for his having been emperor, + and for Peter's Primacy, 250. + +_Christ_, at His passion commends the Church as His "finished work" + to God the Father, 1 + stands in two relations to the Church while on earth, as Founder + and as Ruler, 6, 43 + selects from His disciples first twelve and then one 7, 89 + explains the name of Peter, 12 + communicates to Peter the gift of being the Foundation, 24 + educates him for the office of chief ruler, 29 + associates him in a peculiar manner with Himself, 35 + designates a chief ruler in His Church, 38, 43 + and that one to be Peter, 48 + makes a further disposition of power after His resurrection, 65 + makes Peter the one Shepherd over his fold, 72, 83 + fulfils His promises to the Twelve, 68 + and to Peter, 70 + foretels Peter's crucifixion, 82 + paraphrase of His promises to Peter in Matt. xvi, 17-20, 95 + the mystical Head of the Church, 157 + the incarnate Word the principle of Unity and Headship in + the Church, 178-182 + His headship does not dispense with a visible hierarchy, 185 + and cannot be expressed by the unity of a college, 193 + bestows all spiritual gift, 186, 188. + +_Chrysostome_, St., interprets the name Peter, 9, 27 + terms Peter "the support of the faith," 15 + "the mouth-piece of the Apostles and teacher of the world," 61, 119 + the Teacher, 143, 145 + the Father, 152 + the greater and elder, 163 + interprets "the keys" to mean power over all things in heaven, 14 + interprets, "give it to them for me and for thee," 36, 37 + interprets John xxi, 15-17, as the charge of the whole + Church given to Peter, 79, 80 + witnesses to St. Peter's Primacy, 86, 93, 124, 126, 127 + describes the subject of the Acts, 114 + says that in Christ the race God and man is become one, 115 + describes Peter as the first on every occasion, 121 + says the Acts are those of St. Peter and St. Paul, 121 + interprets "confirm thy brethren" of St. Peter's supreme authority. 124 + makes St. John subordinate to St. Peter, 128 + interprets Acts x, 47, 141 + likens Peter to the commander of an army, 147 + says that he anticipates St. Paul's doctrine to the Romans, 148 + makes St. Paul prefer Peter to himself, 161 + and to the other Apostles, 162 + considers St. Paul's visit to him a proof of his Primacy, 164 + explains Gal. ii. 7-9, 166 + speaks of the dignity of St. Peter's person, 171 + denies it to have been St. Peter who censured by St. Paul, 174 + remarks on St. Paul's prudence in the manner of giving this + censure, 177 + his remark on the Incarnation, 180 + describes the unity of the Church all over the world, 218 + distinguishes the Church as Catholic, 236 + referred to on necessity of communion between the Church's + members, 239. + +_Church_, establishment of, + the "finished work" of God the Word incarnate, 1, 4 + unity and visibility part of its primary idea, 3 + and a visible headship, 5 + unchangeable, like her Lord, 44 + had one ruler from the beginning, 45 + unity or, fourfold, 182 + of mystical influx, 182 + of charity, 183 + of faith, 183-189 + of visible headship, 190-196 + its identity, 220 + its unity, and texts proving it, 220 + its Catholicity, 236 + these three viewed as reasons for the Primacy, 236-241 + means the whole society of believers, 223 + texts which so define it, 223, n. 46 + as set forth in Scripture, 230. + +_Claude_, the Calvinist, referred to, 232. + +_Clement_ of Alexandria referred to + as defining the Church, 223 + on the term Catholic, 237 + on the principle of tradition, 275. + +_Clement_, the Pseudo, his epistle St. James quoted, 137. + +_Confirming_, meaning of the term in Luke xxii. 32, 53. + +_Cornelius_, conversion of, 138. + +_Council_ of Nicea, referred to, 238, 275. + + ---- of Sardica, referred to, 238. + + ---- of Ephesus, referred to, 238. + + ---- of Chalcedon, terms Peter, "the rock and foundation of the + Catholic Church, and the basis of the orthodox faith," 16. + + ---- third of Carthage, referred to, 224, 238. + + ---- second of Constantinople, referred to, 224. + + ---- of Laodicea, referred to, 224. + + ---- second Nicene, referred to, 224. + +_Creed_, how it contains St. Peter's Primacy, 243. + +_Criteria_ of interpretation, four chief ones, 265 + verbal, 266 + real, 267 + analogical, 271 + consent of witnesses, 274. + +_Cyprian_ St., + terms Peter the Rock of the Church that was to be built, 15 + quotes the confessors out of Novatian's schism, 45 + says that perfidy cannot approach the Roman faith, 55 + says that the Church is built on Peter, 62, 175 + says that the Apostles, as such, are equal, 69 + but adds the Primacy of St. Peter, 81 + solution of his phrase, "the episcopate is one, of which apart is + held by each without division of the whole," 100 + how his statements on the unity of the Catholic episcopate cohere + with the Primacy, 240 + makes St. Peter's See the fountain in the Church, 110 + says the Church is in the bishop, 135 + compares the unity in the Church to that of the Holy Trinity, 196 + defines a particular church as a people united to its priest, + and a flock adhering to its pastor, 218 + describes the one Church and its prerogatives, 228 + distinguishes it by the name Catholic, 236. + +_Cyril_, St., of Alexandria, says the Church is founded on Peter, 9 + describes the presence of the Holy Spirit in Christians, 115 + remarks on the Incarnation, 180. + +_Cyril_, St., of Jerusalem, affirms St. Peter's Primacy, 61 + calls the Church Catholic, 236 + explains the term, 237. + + +D. + +_Dante_, his words on fortune, 199. + +_Dionysius_, the so-called Areopagite, states that the office of the + Holy Spirit is the deification of man, 115. + + +E. + +_Ephrem_, of Antioch, on the unity produced by the Incarnation, 181. + +_Ephrem_, St. Syrus, calls Peter the candle and tongue of the + disciples and the voice of preachers, 61. + +_Epiphanius_, St. terms Peter the immovable rock of the Church, 15 + and says that the charge of bringing the Gentiles into the Church + is laid on him, 141 + referred to, on tradition. 275. + +_Eucherius_, St., of Lyons, calls Peter the Pastor of pastors, 216. + +_Eusebius_, states that St. John visited the Churches of Asia, 146 + calls the Church by the name of Catholic, 236 + referred to, 252. + +_Euthalius_, his summary of the Acts, 120. + +_Evidence_, moral, how far intended to be convincing, 89. + + +F. + +_Faith_, how called by the Fathers, 234 note. + +_Fathers_, the Greek, on Gal. ii. 11 + unanimously set forth St. Peter's Primacy, 174-5. + +_Ferrandus_, refers enquirers to the Apostolic See, 252 + states the authority of Councils confirmed by it, 253. + +_First_, force of the term, 87. + +_Fructuosus_, St., the church in his Acts called Catholic, 236. + + +G. + +_Gelasius_, Pope, A.D., 492-6, referred to, 242 + states the power of the Apostolic See, 253, 254. + +_Gnostics_ and Marcionites, distort Paul's censure of Peter, 171. + +_Gregory_, Thaumaturgus, St. his remark on the Incarnation, 179. + +_Gregory_, Nazianzene, St., terms Peter the rock of the Church, 15 + remarks on the Incarnation, 180 + calls the Church the tunic without seam, &c., 218, + referred to, 242. + +_Gregory_, of Nyssa, St., his remark on the unity produced by + the Incarnation, 181. + +_Gregory_, the Great, St. A.D., 590-603, + remarks Peter's humility in defending himself, 143 + founds the Primacy on the three great texts, 277. + +_Gregory_ II, Pope, A.D., 715-731, describes the reverence felt to + Peter in the eighth century, 113. + + +H. + +_Heresy_, why it has lost its foulness in the minds of Protestants, 234. + +_Hierarchy_, the visible, why constituted, 185-190 + a head of it necessary, 190-6. + +_Hilary_, of Poitiers, St. terms Peter the rock of the Church, 15 + his remarks on the effect of the Incarnation, 180 + speaks of the unity produced by the Incarnation and the Eucharist, 181 + sets forth the Church's unity, 220 note + referred to as defining the Church, 223. + +_Hippolytus_, St., his remark on the fruit of the Incarnation, 179. + +_History_, Christian, fourteen distinct classes of facts in it + attest the Primacy, 251-6. + +_Hormisdas_, Pope, A.D. 514-523 + referred to, 242. + + +I. + +_Ignatius_, St., uses the word Catholic of the Church, 236. + +_Incarnation_, the order and gifts of, + lost sight of by those without the Church, 27 + the object of, 27, 178-181. + +_Innocent_ I., Pope, A.D., 401-417 + makes the Apostolic See the fountain in the Church, 110 + his letters to S. Victrice, 254. + +_Irenaeus_, St., his remarks on the Incarnation, 179 + referred to as defining the Church, 223 + describes the Church's unity, 224 + and terms it Catholic, 236 + and explains the term, 237 + sets forth tradition and the chiefship of the Roman Church, 239 + states the principle of tradition as guarding the faith, 276. + +_Isidore_, St., declares that whoever does not obey Peter is a + schismatic, 113. + + +J. + +_James_, St., the martyrdom of, how mentioned by S. Luke, 151. + +_Jerome_, St., puts the safety of the Church in the bishop, 45 + makes the Primacy to be instituted against schism, 78 + says, it is not a church which has no priest, 135 + ascribes the decision of the Council of Jerusalem to St. Peter, 150 + and makes St. Paul's visit to Peter a token of his + Primacy, 165, 171 + gives the reasons of those who denied it to be St. Peter who was + censured, 173 + describes the necessity of adhering to Peter's See, 218, 239, note 120 + referred to as defining the Church, 223 + distinguishes it as Catholic, 236 + referred to, 242 + referred to on principle of tradition, 275. + +_John_, St., his sphere distinguished from that of Peter, 91 + how often mentioned in the New Testament. 93 + with his brother called Boanerges, 8, note, 86 + makes himself subordinate to Peter, 128, 135, 137. + +_Judah_, among his brethren, + a type of Peter among the Apostles, 206, 214-5. + +_Julian_, the apostate, distorts Paul's censure of Peter, 172. + +_Jurisdiction_, spiritual, derived from the person of Christ to + St. Peter, 99, 107, 109 + creation of, precedes the formation of the Church, 105, 107. + +_Jurien_, referred to, 232. + +_Justinian_, the Emperor, referred to, 238. + + +K. + +_King_, on the Creed, referred to, 236. + + +L. + +_Lactantius_, describes necessity of belonging to the Church, 231. + +_Leander_, referred to, 238. + +_Leo St._, Pope 440-461 + paraphrases the name of Peter, 11 + states his Primacy and association with Christ, 14 + explains why our Lord prays specially for Peter, 50 + says that Peter, rules all by immediate commission, 80, 168 + that Christ gave to the rest through Peter, 100 + that he assumed Peter into the participation of His indivisible + unity, 110 + remarks on the unity produced by the Incarnation, 180 + describes the unity of the Catholic Episcopate as knitted up + in the See of St. Peter, 242. + +_Leontius_, referred to, 275. + +_Luke_, St., his purpose in writing the Acts, 114 + part which he assigns to Peter, in general, 117-122 + in particulars, 122-153 + slightly mentions the other Apostles, 120 + exhibits Peter's miracles as John does those of Christ, 131 + makes him the main figure in the Apostolic college, 133. + +_Lutherans_, their proofs for the real presence compared with those + of Catholics for the Primacy, 259. + + +M. + +_Mamachi_, his works referred to, 255. + +_Maximus_, St., of Turin, + says that Christ gave to Peter His own title, the Rock, 15 + sets forth Peter's Primacy, 112. + +_Maximus_, martyr, referred to, 242. + +_Marius Victorinus_, makes Paul's visit an acknowledgment of + Peter's Primacy, 164. + +_Mastrezat_, referred to, 232. + +_Metaphor_, tests of clearness in, 267. + +_More_, Sir Thomas, his statement to Luther of reasons for maintaining + the Primacy, 263. + +_Mosheim_, his admission that the early Fathers set forth a unity which + terminates in the Papal See, as the hand does in the fingers, 197-8, note. + +_Muzzarelli_, his works referred to, 255. + + +N. + +_Names_, classes of, given in Scripture, 16. + +_Nicole_, referred to, 232. + + +O. + +_Oecumenius_, on the fruit of the Incarnation, 179. + +_Optatus_, St., calls St. Peter's the single chair in which unity + was to be observed by all, 110 + calls schism the greatest of evils, 231 + referred to, as explaining the term Catholic, 237 + ascribes the origin and maintenance of unity to Peter, 242. + +_Origen_, says that Peter is so called from Christ the Rock, 10 + calls Peter the great foundation of the Church, 15 + describes the great honour given by Christ to Peter in the matter + of the didrachmna, 36 + makes Peter the first, as Judas the last, of the Apostles, 89 + referred to, as defining the Church, 223 + distinguishes the Church as Catholic, 236 + states the principle of tradition, 275 + referred to, on same, 275. + + +P. + +_Pacian_, St., calls the Church Catholic, 236 + explains the term, 237, 238 + describes the Church's unity, 239, note + ascribes the origin of unity to Peter, 242. + +_Paul_, St., distinguishes St. Peter among the Apostles, 67 + why so much said of him in the Acts, 121 + his visitatorial power contrasted with St. Peter's, 146 + his epistles incidentally confirm St. Peter's Primacy, 160 + recognises St. Peter's Primacy, 161 + by going to visit him, 162-165 + and in his second visit, 166-169 + what is involved in his censure of St. Peter, 169-171 + its real amount, 177 + force of his terming the Church "one body," 193 + how emphatic he is in setting forth visible unity, 197. + +_Pelagius_ II., Pope, 578-590 + states privileges of the Apostolic See, 253. + +_Petavius_, shows that spiritual jurisdiction springs from the direct + gift of Christ, 107. + +_Peter_, St., first mention of him in the Gospel, 8 + meaning of his name, 9 + a special title of our Lord, 9 + name first promised, 8 + conferred, 11 + explained and promises attached, 12, 97-99 + titles of, betokening his association with Christ, 15 + parallel between, and Abraham, 17-25, 206, 213-4 + his name explained by St. Chrysostome, 27 + his relation to the Apostles, 28, 98-9, 102, 104, 108 + his instruction in the theology and economy, 30 + witness of the transfiguration, 30 + of the Lord's prayer in His agony, 32 + of raising the daughter of Jairus, 33 + associated with Christ in paying of the didrachma, 34 + designated to be chief ruler of the Church, 48 + charged to confirm his brethren, 49-63 + is distinguished in having the resurrection proved to him, 66 + all our Lord's promises fulfilled to him, 70, and following + mentioned by the Evangelists differently from the other Apostles., 84 + named first in every catalogue, 86 + his sphere distinguished from that of John, 91 + his predominance in the sacred history, 92 + how often mentioned in the Gospels, 93 + and in the Acts, 118 + the type, the origin, and the efficient cause of unity, 100, 108 + looked up to, as a God upon earth, by the West, 113 + prominence given to him in the Acts 116-122 + directs the election of a new Apostle, 122 + defends the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, 125 + speaks for them the third and fourth time, 128 + proves his supreme authority by special miracles, 129 + cures Oeneas and raises Dorcas, 132 + heals with his shadow, 133 + receives the Samaritans into the Church, 133-7 + and the Gentiles, 138-42 + exercises supreme judicial power, 144 + visits all churches, 145 + is the first to pronounce decision in the council of Jerusalem, 147-151 + his imprisonment and that of St. James and St. Paul, 151 + summary of his conduct in the Acts, 153-6 + his visible headship quite other than the headship of mystical + influx, 157 + set with James and John parallel to Paul with Barnabas and Titus, 166 + the head, centre, fountain, root, and principle of unity, 195 + is in the episcopate what God the Father is in the divine monarchy, 195 + his office in the Church acknowledged by friend and foe, 198 + typified in Judith, 206, 214-5. + +_Peter_, St. Chrysologus, + says of Peter that he founds the Church by his firmness, 15 + advises Eutyches to obey the Pope, 61. + +_Philip_, St., perhaps the first-called Apostle, 88 + +_Pionius_, St., his acts call the Church Catholic, 236. + +_Polycarp_, St., the epistle on his death calls the Church Catholic, 236. + +_Porphyry_, distorts Paul's censure of Peter, 171. + +_Primacy_, the nature of, defined in the three palmary texts, 104-110 + shown to consist in superiority of jurisdiction, 209-212 + compared to the law of gravitation, 109, 209 + institution and exercise of, compared, 155 + the controversy on, reduced to one point, 205 + summary of, as set forth in the Acts, 153 + and generally, 200-203 + the end and purpose of, 212 + to which end three classes of reasons guide us, + i. the typical, 213 + ii. the analogical, 217 + iii. the real, 219 + bound up in the visibility and unity of the Church, 235 + what is required of those who deny it, 247 + its denial the origin of all actual divisions among Christians, 248 + its proof as considered _absolutely_, 249 + _comparatively_ with that for the divine institution of bishops, the + real presence, and the divinity of Christ, 259-274 + multiplicity of proof for it, 251-6 + the opposition of Greeks, Anglicans, and Protestants to it, merely + negative, 257 + parallel between the opposition to it by sects now, and that to the + doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation in the fourth, fifth, + and sixth centuries, 264. + +_Primacy_ and _Apostolate_, + their relation to each other, 78, 98-9, 102, 104. + +_Proclus_, Patriarch of Constantinople, + calls Peter first prelate of the Apostles, 216. + +_Proofs_, the different sort of, and their whole sum, to be considered, 8 + different sorts of, and the principal here used, 246 + multiplicity of, for the Primacy, 247 + as considered _absolutely_, 249 + _comparatively_, 259 + concurrence of four great proofs for the Primacy, 250. + +_Prudentius_, calls Peter the first disciple of God, 61. + + +R. + +_Reformers_, distort Paul's censure of Peter, 172 + opposition between them and the Fathers as to Peter's Primacy, 176 + as to Church principles 227, note + denied the visibility of the Church, 222, note. + + +S. + +_Sacraments_ and _Symbols_ lead from the visible to the invisible, 192. + +_Sense_, in writing, definition of, 266, note. + +_Socrates_ and _Sozomen_, their canon respecting the bishop of Rome, 252. + +_Stephen_, bishop of Dora, describes Peter's Primacy, 56, 83. + +_Stephen_, bishop of Larissa, + makes all the Churches of the world to rest in Peter's confession, 62. + +_Symmachus_, Pope A.D. 498-514 + likens the unity of the Apostolic See to that of the Trinity, 196. + + +T. + +_Tertullian_, + why our Lord gave Peter a name drawn from figures of Himself, 11 + says the Church is built on Peter, 15 + expresses Peter's supreme power, and distinguishes his sphere from + that of John, 91 + ascribes the decision in the council of Jerusalem to St. Peter, 150, 164 + referred to, as defining the Church, 223 + and as explaining the term Catholic, 237, 238 + sets forth Church unity, 224 + denies that Peter's doctrine was censured, 175 + calls the Catholic Church _near to Peter_, 241 + says the Lord left the keys to Peter, and through him to the Church, 241 + his rule not to search for the truth among heretics, 261 + referred to, on the principle of tradition, 275. + +_Theodore_, Abbot of the Stadium at Constantinople, addresses Pope + Pascal I. as Peter, and beseeches him to exert his Primacy, 56 + calls Pope Leo III. father of fathers, &c., 216. + +_Theodoret_, says _stone_ a title of our Lord, 10 + terms Peter the most solid rock, 15 + ascribes the decision in the Council of + Jerusalem to St. Peter, 151 + recognises Peter's Primacy, 161 and 163. + +_Theophylact_, says that Peter confirms not only the Apostles, but + all the faithful to the end of the world, 52 + interprets John xxi. 15-17, of supreme power over the Church given + to Peter, 80. + +_Thomas_, St., of Canterbury, sees in Paul's visit to Peter a proof + of his Primacy, 165. + + +U. + +_Unity_, + that of the Father and the Son the archetype of the Church's unity, 195 + fourfold in the Church, of mystical influx, charity, faith, + visible headship, 181-196 + texts on the Church's unity, referred to 220, 273, n. 27 + Protestant notions of the Church's unity, 222 + that of Anglicans, 222 + that of distinguishing between internal and external unity, 225 + that of agreement in fundamentals, 232. + + +V. + +_Valentinian_ III., his constitution on the Primacy quoted, 255. + +_Vincent_ of Lerins, referred to, on principle of tradition, 275. + +_Vitringa_, sets forth a Protestant notion of unity, 225-8. + +_Voss_, on the Creed, referred to, 236. + + +W. + +_Walemburg_, the brothers, referred to, 233. + + +Z. + +_Zaccharia_, his works, referred to, 253. + +_Zeno_, St., quoted, 15. + + + + +INDEX OF TEXTS. + +THE NUMBER INDICATES THE PAGE. + + +GENESIS. + PAGE + v. 29 17 + x. 25 16 + xii. 1 18 + -- 4 18 + xvii. 5 18 + -- 15 17 + -- 19 16 + xviii. 17 21 + xxii. 1 19 + -- 10 19 + xxv. 25 16 + -- 26 16 + -- 30 16 + xxvii. 36 16 + xxx. 18 16 + xxxii. 28 17 + xl. 51-2 16 + xlix. 10 215 + + +EXODUS. + + ii. 10 16 + + +NUMBERS. + + ii. 3-9 215 + x. 14 215 + xii. 2 156 + xiii. 17 17 + xvi. 3 155 + + +JUDGES. + + i. 1-3 215 + xx. 18 215 + + +1 PARALIP. + + xxvii. 33 87 + + +2 PARALIP. + + xxvi. 20 87 + + +NEHEMIAH. + + xii. 45 87 + + +PSALMS. + + ii. 9 75 + xlvii. 2 3 + lxix. 26 123 + lxxxii. 6 25 + cviii. 8 123 + cxvii. 22 9 + cxxxi. 13, 14 4 + + +WISDOM. + + viii. 1 136 + + +ISAIAH. + + vii. 3 16 + ix. 6 103 + xxviii. 16 9, 24 + xl. 9-11 72 + + +EZECHIEL. + + xxiv. 33 72 + + +DANIEL. + + ii. 35 9 + ix. 26 5 + + +OSEA. + + i. 4-6-9 16 + + +MICAH. + + v. 2 42, 72 + + +ZACHARIAH. + + iii. 9 9 + + +MALACHI. + + l. 11 138 + + +1. MACC. + + ii. 2-4 16 + + +MATTHEW. + + i. 1 23 + ii. 6 42 + iii. 1 17 + v. 14 3, 230 + x. 1 11, 65 + -- 2 87, 89 + -- 5 134 + -- 7 130 + xii. 3 84, 90 + xv. 24 134 + -- 30 133 + xvi. 13-19 12 + -- 15 19, 93 + -- 16 19, 64, 93, 94, 112 + -- 17-20 95 + -- 18 2, 94, 98, 103, 139, 163, 219, 221 + -- 19 102, 103 + xvii. 1 87 + -- 23 34 + -- 24 34, 90 + -- 27 35, 90 + xviii. 1 100 + -- 2 38 + -- 17 221 + -- 18 65, 102, 221 + -- 21 92 + xix. 23 93 + -- 27 93 + -- 28 215 + xx. 20 100 + -- 27 87 + xxiii. 8 44 + -- 9 26 + xxvi. 36 34 + -- 40 90 + -- 69 85 + xxviii. 18 68, 102 + -- 19 74 + -- 19, 20 3, 221 + + +MARK. + + i. 16 70 + -- 16, 17 18, 28 + -- 18 18 + -- 36 85, 90 + ii. 25 84, 90 + iii. 11 84 + -- 13 5, 65 + -- 14 11 + -- 17 16 + -- 16-19 86 + iv. 38 71 + v. 35 33 + -- 37 87 + xiii. 3 87 + xiv. 33 87 + xvi. 6 66 + -- 7 85 + -- 10 84, 90 + -- 15 68, 74, 102, 138 + -- 15-17 130 + + +LUKE. + + iv. 40, 41 133 + v. 3 71 + -- 10 18 + vi. 4 84 + -- 12, 13 65 + -- 14 11 + -- 14-17 86 + viii. 24 71 + -- 45 85, 90 + -- 51 88 + ix. 32 85, 90 + xi. 5 261 + xii. 41, 42 93 + xv. 9 261 + -- 22 87 + xviii. 2 261 + -- 34 38 + xx. 20-23 40 + xxii. 8 88 + -- 22 57 + -- 24 100 + -- 24-30 39, 41, 57, 58, 59 + -- 26 6, 141, 193, 194, 206, 210, 219, 221 + -- 29 215 + -- 32 21, 49, 51, 54, 55, 101, 104, 141, 219, 221 + xxiv. 29 68, 102 + + +JOHN. + + i. 14 178 + -- 35-42 8 + -- 42 18 + -- 43 89, 94 + -- 44 88 + iv. 23 138 + v. 5-9 131 + vi. 21 71 + -- 67, 68 93 + x. 11-14-16 72 + -- 11-16 4 + -- 16 104, 139 + -- 34 25 + xi. 16 92 + -- 52 191 + xiii. 6 92 + -- 13 43 + -- 34-36 183 + xiv. 8 92 + -- 12 26 + -- 16 26, 188 + -- 16-18 183 + -- 16, 26 184, 230 + -- 20 182 + -- 26 184 + xv. 1-2, 5-7 182 + -- 9, 15 26 + -- 12, 13, 17 183 + -- 22-24 129 + -- 26 221 + -- 27 126 + xvi. 7, 13-15 184 + -- 13 43 + xvii. 1 + -- 11, 21 195 + -- 12, 13 57, 65, 190, 194 + -- 17 221 + -- 21 129, 180, 221 + xx. 21 122, 139 + -- 21-23 102 + -- 23 26 + xxi. 1-14 71 + -- 2 88 + -- 15 19, 73, 104, 139, 219, 221 + -- 16, 22 157, 158 + -- 18 82 + -- 21-22 91 + + +ACTS. + + i. 4-8 69, 102, 221 + -- 8 126 + -- 15 119 + -- 15, 16, 20, 21, 22 123 + ii. 13 119 + -- 14 85 + -- 13-16 125 + -- 14, 27 119 + -- 32 126 + -- 36 126 + -- 37 85 + -- 37, 38 119 + -- 37, 38, 40, 41 127 + -- 44 129 + iii. 2-8 131 + -- 4 119 + -- 11, 12 119 + iv. 3 85 + -- 4 128 + -- 7, 8 128 + -- 32 129 + v. 2 145 + -- 8, 3, 9 144 + -- 12-14 133 + -- 15-16 133 + -- 29 85, 119 + viii. 14 137 + -- 14-22 135 + ix. 32 138, 168 + -- 31-32 145 + -- 39-41 132 + x. 1-6 138 + x. 10 21 + -- 10-16 139 + -- 19 141 + -- 28 140 + -- 33, 43-47 141 + xi. 1-4 142 + -- 3, 17, 18 173 + -- 18 156 + xii. 1-5 152 + xv. 6-11 69, 147 + -- 7 21 + -- 12 148 + -- 28 149 + -- 36 146 + xvi. 4 69, 149 + xvii. 28 115 + xx. 28 69, 74, 75 + + +ROMANS. + + i. 11 54 + -- 25 221 + v. 5 183 + viii. 15 26 + -- 17 26 + ix. 4-5 167 + xii. 5 178 + xv. 8 167 + -- 9 168 + xvi. 7 161 + -- 25 51 + + +1 CORINTHIANS. + + i. 7 51 + -- 12 160, 161 + iii. 11 25 + -- 22 160, 161 + v. 1-5 69 + ix. 5 160, 161 + x. 4 112 + -- 17 192 + -- 18 214 + xii. 7-13 186 + -- 11 185, 188 + -- 12 191, 194 + -- 13 192 + -- 27 115 + xiii. 12 26 + xiv. 33 221 + xv. 1-9 67 + -- 5 160 + + +2 CORINTHIANS. + + i. 21 51 + iv. 17 230 + viii. 23 161 + x. 6 70 + + +GALATIANS. + + i. 16-19 162 + -- 18 171, 174 + ii. 1-2 165, 171 + -- 7-9 166, 168 + -- 8-9 168 + -- 11-14 169 + iii. 7 22 + -- 16 23 + v. 19, 20 221 + vi. 16 214 + + +EPHESIANS. + + i. 9, 22 178 + -- 10 29 + -- 22 157, 197 + ii. 20 9 + -- 21 24 + iii. 5 137 + -- 6 51 + -- 10 198 + iv. 4 194, 197, 221 + -- 7-16 186 + -- 8, 11 197 + -- 11 59, 105, 188, 193 + -- 12 187, 193 + -- 12-13 106 + -- 13 185, 187 + -- 14 187 + -- 15 157, 230 + -- 25 181 + v. 23 191, 197, 230 + -- 23, 27 157 + -- 27 221 + -- 30, 32 4 + +COLOSSIANS. + + i. 17 104 + -- 18 157, 194 + ii. 6 51 + -- 9 188 + + +2 THESSALONIANS. + + ii. 16 51 + + +1 TIMOTHY. + + i. 15 87 + iii. 15 4, 221 + + +2 TIMOTHY. + + ii. 2 275 + + +TITUS. + + i. 5 146 + ii. 11 221 + -- 14 221 + iii. 10 261 + + +HEBREWS. + + i. 3 104 + xiii. 8 44 + -- 20 104 + + +1 PETER. + + ii. 25 221 + v. 3 153 + -- 10 51, 53, 74, 75 + + +2 PETER. + + i. 4 197 + -- 14 31 + iii. 2, 3 230 + -- 16 171 + + +JAMES. + + i. 17 204 + + +1 JOHN. + + i. 1 6 + v. 6, 7 32 + + +JUDE. + + 18 230 + + +APOCALYPSE. + + ii. 27 76 + iii. 2 53, 54 + -- 7 13, 103 + vii. 9 140 + xvii. 14 103 + xix. 15 76 + xxii. 16 13 + +LONDON: +RICHARDSON AND SON, 172, FLEET STREET; +9, CAPEL ST., DUBLIN; AND DERBY. + + * * * * * +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES: + +Archaic spelling has been retained. +Punctuation errors corrected without comment. +Footnote markers in original book are inconsistent. Some come before + the reference cited, some after, some in the middle. +oe ligature not in latin-1 character set, replaced with oe +Apparent typesetting errors corrected as noted below: +Pg 18 begun changed to began (in the last days He began) +Pg 43 ensample changed to example (given you an example) + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of St. Peter, His Name and His Office, by +Thomas W. Allies + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ST. 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