The national Republican. [volume] (Washington City [D.C.]) 1866-1870, 1869-12-18

be called Petra, just as they are CIVILIZED the !
iS Sni light q o. he world. and ansiiy Ssssu.e
Peter himself 10 called Petra b. the Lord |
when n Is said to him, Thou art Peter Ae. |
,Sa i whom the gates q he'll shall not pre-.
vail, who have In themselves the substanoe OF
the Petrai that IL, the prophets and apostles
are n sna are N: sasas
cording to the aaying Of the apostle In Ephe.
SLAMS II, 2o.n Now, from these citations, one
thing Is eyldent. that Peter I. pot regarded a.
fact, as a foundation Ia AM, sense different
from the other apostles and believers.
The next witness In order is Cypriao, bishop
of Carthage, born about the year 300, who 10
quoted as sayipE OF the Church, Herself WAS
Lord upoa Pster.n Aud sgain, There IL one
icuoded By Christ the Lord upon Peter az the
origin and ground Of unity" Thus far for the
Papsoyj but what clsoi This same Cyprisn,
apostles were, Ia truth, what Peter was-en.
Titled to an equal share with him ofdiGnity and
powet,m To this unity, therefore, we
should firmly adhere, and be careful to main.
tain It; especially we bishops who govern the
Uhureh.s In the year 225 Cyprian wrote to
stephen, bishop OF Rome, Up. l2oD as follows
to lsy before G You, dearest Brother, ssreestIy
to that mutual affection and respect which we
owe one another, hoping and believing that
the rules OF our faith and religion, will be no
less Agreeable to a,person so devoted to both
their Interests. We are aware, however, that
are 10 asSS to the nS, ssy
change themi and yet, though they are for
abiding by the usages to which they have been
peculiarly accustomed, they keep up ,till their
colleagues; and In this polot we are perfectly
OF their opinion, to obtrude nothing upon any
one, nor to prescribe any law, since every
bishop 10 the government Of the Church COM
mitted to him hsth diseret iooary powers, and
IL accountable TO God only for the use Of
them" Here again we see that " the doc
trine Of the Roman Catholic Church at the
present day was the doc rinc OF the apostles
rs to the ptimacy OF Peter, st. Cyptiso, only
In the beginning OF the third century, had
strangely departed from the faith.
The next witness In order 10 James Of Nisi.
his, who hourished about the years 3Ot-33o at
the seat Of his Episeopatc In the East, From
wit. speaking OF Simon among the Apostles
"Our Lord received him and made him the
foundation, and called him the rock OF the Eii.
hce { the Church" Add yet this sane wit.
ness further tcstihes, y. 8 OF his sermons
rOuF Lord Jesus Christ 10 the firm aud true
foundation OF all our faith, and upon this rock
faith Is estAblishedj and upon faith Ia the
building even TO Its contamination. But he
is this very foundation and principle OF the
whole building, so that when any one accepts
| the faith he is set upon firm rock, which 10
| our Lord Jesus Christ himself" Agaiu he
| says (p, l6)-"Simon, who 10 called Petra, is
| deseryedly called Petra on account OF his
| JdW' tthsOu VI
| Again (p. 2s5l he ssys! HE chose aud endued
with power the worthy apostles aud gave all
the iocks into their hands, oh, pastors,
| Of the whole nockn And again he ssys, (p.
43T,) aseribing to alt ministers the following
powers, I'VE are the building ofthe roek"-.ye
having the EsysS-"isitstai aessensefs,"Sc
There certainly is not much primary OF Peter
10 this.
The next in order Is Cyril OF Jerusalem,
| 10 unmFiahRI ahOut the 1b0 and In
quoted AS calling Peter, the foremost Of tn g
apostles, and the key.bearer OF the kingdo IN
Gs'ysS A al Ay st 10 ssS .. .So the
that the fourth beast OF Daniel 10 the Roman
| Empire, and that Anti.Uhirst rises from tn e
ss na..a the 2, Gss viii BE-
| usurping the Roman Empire by the support
| OF magic art" He gives long description oil
the rise OF Anti.Christ aud characterized II 10
such manner as to leave no doubt that Pa
| pal Rome 10 designated. What a awift wit.
| ness for the pretensions OF the Papacy 10 ST.
The next in order is ST. Hilary, bi.hop OF
Poictiers, In the latter part ofthe tth century.
| He Is quoted rs saying the son OF God too
up Peter, 70 whom he ha Just before give n
the keys OF the kingdom OF heaven, and upo u
| whom he was about to build his Ohurch,aga insi
| which the gates OF hell should never prevail
| SO. This passage occurs where he 10 speak
| ing OF the reproof which Christ gave to Peter
| for his arrogance. But on D. 9Ot OF his work,
| ST. Hilary, commenting on this passage. In
Matt. xvi, Is, says OF the faith which Peter
confessed, this faith is the foundation Of the
| Church, through this faith the gates Of hell are
| weak against IT. This taith was the keys OF the
heavenly kingdom whatever this faith looses
| or binds on earth shall be loosed or bound In
| heaven. This faith 10 the gift Of the Father'i
| revelations, that Christ should not be falsel )
regarded as created from nothing, but shout
be acknowledged the Son of God, according tc
| the nature OF the relationship So we see
| 1t is the truth which Peter confessed, and mol
Peter himself, according to st. Hilary, that
| constitutes the foundation OF the Church,
| The next In order 10 Gregory, Of Nyssa, IL
Cappadocia, born about the year 33i, at Ca
ssrea, Of the same province: lie 10 quoted n,
saying "the memory Of st. Peter, head Of the
apostles, is celebrated, for he Is, agrceably tt
the gift conferred on him by our Lord, tina
unbroken and most firm rock upon which tn,
that this passage Is cited correctly, though NJ
reference is given, we put over against 4
what the same Gregory says In his works
vol. 2, page lO2i and, Indeed, he Is called thu
rock OF faith Rs q foundation, since the Lort
had said TO the chief OF the apostles, thou ar
Peter and upon this rock will ! build m,
Christ, because he GFsterj had said, Tho,
art Christ, the Son oil the living Godpn Cai
anything be more distinct or more specific thar
The next witness In order Is Gregory, o
Nsziantum, Cappadocia, born about the yea
325. lie Is quoted AS saying, "Seest thou thai
great and deserving OF his holce, one 10 calle
rock, aud 10 entrusted with the foundation
Of the Church" This passage Is mistranslated
as any Latin scholar may see who will ponde
the words, "iH 6den suam dccipiatn The pas
sage literary reads as follows Thou sees
how Of the disciples OF Christ, that whilst al
were undoubtedly great and exalted and worth
OF prefer ent, this one 10 called Petra, and take
into his faith the foundations OF the Church
that one 10 more dearly loved, and rcpose
upon the breast OF Jesus, and the other disc
, pies with equanimity bear these to be pr,
feIfed to themselvesn Instead OF reading
I "as being entrusted with the foundations Of tn
sab E..N f..lfa IaNI aaa al
ject OF faith, which signifies, literally, IAN
! accepts into his faith or his belief the found,
/, tions Of the Church," that Is, 'conceiyes o
{ comprchends the foundations Of the Church.
4, Again, passage cited from the twenty.sixt
sermon OF Gregory 10 not to be found ther,
! but rather In the Carm ina, (yolume 2, p. 325
J where he says, "Petcr became the unbroke
G rock and had the keys delivered to him" An
Q yet this same father, In his thirty-seventh d
course on Matthew, xix' ], and In volume ], :
$50, arguing for the true nature OF Christ, say
. III worship the creature, certainly may nc
! be called a ChristiAn-for why 10 the name =,
! Christian yenerablel IL II not because Chrii
' 10 Godf Unless psrhsps act after this huma
!. custom and combine too much Of friendshi
= with u, But also honor Peter neyerthlei
= am not called a PetrlcAn and Paul, nor u
an ! named Psulisn. l. who am created
a God, do not permit myself to derive my nam
! from men. Wherefore II because you consid,
Z him Gud you are therefore called ChristiA
. you are truly called and you remain In nam
as indeed you are III fact, But II you derry
J your name from Christ for no other reaso
than that you embrsce him with love you a
D tribute to him nothing more than to oths
: names, which are adopted from any attaci
meDt aud institution or for any other reason,
"fhe force OF this passage 10 to mark tho di
ference between Christ, the divine head OF N
D Church, who gives his ow n name to his peopl
q aud those who are mere men, like Peter an
. Paul, whom we may honor, but who have n
I right to occupy any such place In the Christia
Church rs to assume or TO usurp N
authority Of Christ over the noek. Such
, then, being the nature OF the evidenc
= from the early Christian fathers, we can col
clude this portion of the examination by
I statement Of Launay, \ doctor OF the So
> bOnne, who shys that out Of the sayings OF
J OF the mOst famous Church sthers and write
, ! throughout the earlier periods Of the Churcl
l u understand the Petra OF this passage as Z,
; | IeTflng to the faith which Peter confessed,
/ refer II to Christ himself, and we take leave
: add that the remaining IT, while they eNplai
! | Peter himselftO he The rock, are not ag rec
. that this makes him the foundation OF III
b | Church In any such sense as to give him of
cial authority over the college OF Apostles
!, So far then, the voice of the earlier tradition
Y aud now for the testimony OF later witnesse
Q In the discourse to which l have over al
: over alluded, there are citations from a nun
2 Der Of more modern commentators and ~
o thors, Aiduced for the purpose of shOwiI
4 that It Ia conceded even by the most emineT
. scholars outaide tho pale Of the Roman CAt
h ole Church, that the Interpretation n
9 Church glyos TO this passage, aud the ConclI
q sions she derives from 1t are both entiie
. correct So that again, AS before, It will
n necessary to examine these witnesses thu
a hKANI .Fl.N 10. a 49,. ..