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+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: 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
+
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