Daily national Republican. (Washington City [D.C.]) 1870-1872, 1870-01-29


lite Interpretation ia other words, that thsy
isny and condemn the primaoy, The prImaoy |
sxlats ~ faeti the Pope, who Il recognised
~ s9sss,,GF o. Pstsr me great majority q
fact might atill exist even n no Scripture or
patrietie writings had ever appeared. The
iSs% or uoGsr Ssn f foss re re sGS 'S%
pointment OF Christ Hence, II follows that
the texts quoted from the fathers
claimed by me, the title to the primaey would
still remain lndiAputAble; Firtt because this
tltle u .omething prior to all horlpturai or
depreciation which my opponents have given
Of the patristis authorities cited, ia petisotly
reeoneilahle with the Catholic view OF the
A 9siS,S sSs sss ne E0% ~
from which The belief Of the fathers il regard
70 ths primasy 4, 20 be aseertained, but there
which prove that they admitted a supremacy
OF rank and Jurisdiction 10 Peter, and his sue.
es,sors the eishogs Of Rome. The nTst Of
estaellshed, in treating the ssrfptural Atsu.
ment on the subject. I will now proceed to
the proof q the second and third propositions,
ouIsion, 70 under TIE necessity Of impeaehinE
or rejecting the Witnesses that have been put
NH the stand. oae q my oPponents hA, ssidi,
mony OF their own Witnesaep with Itself, 20 a.
TO support the Romlsh The means the Uatholio)
, ,SS,GrIFs 81 q ne passage 10
patrihtio testimony Adduosd by our Adveraarles
L. not irreconollable with the Catholic sense
o. the seriptutAl text, Thou art Peter 40,
thea We have gained our point. Very well, 1
accept the task.
All the Fathers thatI quoted IN defence Of
Peters primsoy, ds.ignats him a. the rock or
foundation on which Christ built his Church,
or Aaeribe to him titles which suppose = head
ship In the government Of the Church. How
DO nv opponsntn attempt to answer these Au-
Fathers which siiads 70 cATiI a. the rock or
ioundAtion Of the Church, or which afirm
that this rock or foundation is Peters oonfrs-
plsineu, 90 Catholic donies tina. ohriSt Il the
sole foundation OF the Church In the primary
aud absolute sense, for He IL the source OF ali
P Ro Sss and ~ al .s TIKI 9Sssys S,l BY
been Appolnted lite foundation In q secondary
and viearial sense. The patristio authorities
quoted by ny opPonen,a DO not deny this:
upon rertullian merely says that Peter was
built upon Christ, and hot Christ upon Peter.
Most AIsuredlyI who questions this Assertioni
very process BY which he obtained q suproma.
cy Of Jurisdiction, That this was the real
sentiment OF Augultin 10 plain nom many
stance, he calls PetSrthe "Hrst Of the Apos-
tleai" trom. Ill Tract, 50, In Joantl "the hrSt
In the apostolic ordor,n Tom. V, Berm 10, No,
the apostles" tIbld, col, SoI.l And again,
when alludlng 20 the Church he sAys; "of this
Church Peter the apostle, on account Of the
which sprsiSntes the Who'll. Church" from
III TrsSs e. IL 5oIn 9Ssa < sl'sd
But SS Is sSid.Stiy iGd III SsT s 10 %y.ti
cal or allegorieal Interpretation, and II his
words avail anythinE against the primary Of
~, pSstsT, they are Equally IonClnsiye sgsn,0.t
pei; II every Christian IL a rock or foun-
all other particular foundations, why do
and without any certainty ln regard to the
dogmas OF OhflstiAnity, affect TO be gps
oial foundatlons, By preaching, a9d palmi,S 1i
tude their own private opinions for the gospel
OF Christi NY opponent, therefore, must
Istraet hts citation from oSlgen or u Will mil.
Christian 10 = foundation Of the Church In a
general sense, BY the support which his ex-
5ps sP PscS fSaSSssiSps sosSrsuH Is n:
once and ministry which they have received.
Shfl.l was tbs light q meat yet he said to
a Is ,po.iilG' YSg are The light q the world"
command, Let your light go shine before
men that thOy may see your good works. ke,
Here We have three grades Of light. Were
the disciples IN general, ADD was not Christ !
| light In = still higher senssi
The adFeraAriei Of Catholicity are not more
| Fortunate In endeAvoring to explain AWAY thu
indLsputsble evidence Of 81, OypTiAn, 10 fayoi
/ OF Peters primary. They represent this IA.
theE as saying that all the apostles were To-
Peter had, but what does CyprfSn mean
They were equal 10 the dignity aud powel
which belonged to the apostleShipi that is' In
me once Of presenting the word and admins
equal in the govern ment Of the Church, fdsny
| That this 10 the meaning Of OypriAn, 70 mani.
s't us TS% the SSHs'st hsr S;lns The TSId
other words Of Christ to Peter, "Feed ny
Sheep" he adds, upon that one He build
His Church, and to him He assigns His sheer
| to be fed. And, although to all the apostles
after His resurrection, He gives an equs
power, and says; As the Father sent Ne,
ny so placed the origin Of that same unity, Al
that lt begins from one, Certainly, the Other
| apostleA were what PeteT was, endowed with
an equal fellowship, both OF honor and power
but the commencement proceeds from unity
| and the pflmaoy IL Elven to Peter that TIT
Church OF Christ may be set forth AZ one, ant
land quotes a letter OF UypfIan to pope
| stephen, and makes him say that each bIahoI
10 his particular diocese, ID accountable onl j
IN the Church to which he owed submiS1ioS
| But, would beg leave to state that ST. Cy.
prian says nothing OF the sort; the Rev. doetoI
ny inserting Nno W0fQA Oufu IN the text, hal
used a license which IL altogether unjustiG
able. tEpist. lib. 2, oplBt l.
some OF the Fathers whom have Adduoet
As Designating Peter the rock on which Chris
built bis Church, have also on other occasions
termed Peters profession OF faith the founda.
tion OF the Church, Launay, referred to By
one 81 my opPonents, enumeratea at leASl
They do not reject the literal sense OF tn
text, Thou art Peter and upon this rock
willbuild ny Ohurohp but In order to shoN
that one may preserve uaity and not become .
heretlc, they have recourse to Ahgurative eE
planHti9s, and By metonymy transferring the
tsr's confession Of faith the fouadAtlon OF thS
Church. But whoever examines the subject
tion, far itom dstTaeting in The ioaSt rom lin m,
evidence In favor OF the primary, on the con
,TaTy support. and sttenEthenn IL: when tn
upon Peters faith, they 10 not understand |
confession OF faith distinct from Peter him
selt, or a mere abstraotioni but they mean
G pn,n, o. faith eomi1s from the lips o
heylng and oonlessing, or as st. AmbroS
remarks: 1.-THE Church was not built upol
i ps,eIs e bon ,! and ne,e bat upon Peter CO..
.. SAL Now, what follows from thisI A
P5Snl;sl are never to PTsystt ss.lHst d,
faith could notin any intellisibie OF praotiea
sense be the foundation OF the Church, unles
| u were the rule or test by which the faith o
other Christians was to be judged, 1t IL plain
10 the tirst place, that all who wish TO be me N
beTa OF the Church founded by Christ mus
hold the faith which 10 taught by Peter AMI
his successors secondly, that Petsr was In
vested with superior auth GRITTY, In order "a
declare his faith AZ a rule. and to requir,
conformity to iti thirdly, that he still lives IL
| his sueeessora, In order 70 perpetuato thu
| work OF promulg atinE the true faith.
From these remarks 1 think II lawful tc
conclude, that the witnesses Addueed by nj
from among the early Fathers still hold goot
! Tor the primary Of Peter but they have ex
hiblted their belief on this poiat still more
emphAtloAlly, by their living and dying IN com
munlon with the See Of Peter. ThiG Il true Of
all whom have cited, N we except TeFtullIan
| towards the close Of his life, when he loinet
the MontAnist sect, which denied that the
Church had the power Of foTgiVlnE certain
srleVous sins. But even then, he bears wit.
ness to the fact that the bishop OF Rome ex.
oFeiaed a primary OF Jurisdiction, for he says
VI hear that an ediot has been published, aud
| Indeed = peTemptofy ohei the bishop OF biah
| ops which 10 equlValent to the Sovereign ron
TIM proolaims: VI pardon the sins OF AdulteTy
| aud fornleation TO those who have done peh.
aneo." tDe Pudieii,l Mr. FAber, ono OF the
nereest ensmiea Of the OAtholia Church, doeI
not hesitate to Infer from this passage that ia
the days Of TsrtulllAn, /" con siderable advance
had been made BY the See OF Rome 10 the claim
o. the primaoy.n lDinleulties OF Rom, D. 500.
~ was no advance at all, II Wal nothing more
Than the authority which Pope Clement, or