Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-04-08
the entire tradition Of centures my auditors

the entire tradition of centuries, my auditors
will not fail to perceive.
Open now, for a brief moment, the pages of
the New Testament, and you will read Christ,s
own words, giving to His church this centre of
unity, OF which all history speaks. The Pontiffs
OF Rome ruled the church as the successors of
SIMON 81 petsr In Matthew XVI, Christ says to
simon Blessed art thou, Simon Bar iona,
anu - say 70 thee;. That thou art Peter, and
upon this rock 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 heay
en- and whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth
shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever thou
shalt loose upon the earth shall be loosed in
heaven. Our Lord spoke in Syriac-(Mr.
Thomas quotation from the Greek is entirely
out Of place. S'Thou art 'chipha' (rock) and M
on this schipha' (rock) will build nv church ),
In both clauses the word rock applies to
Simon; the rules of language demand it: the
Fathers with one voice assert it; Protestant
scholars, Rosenmuller Kuinoel, Ben
gel, Bloomfield, Afford, Dean, Stan
ley tolerate no other Interpretation.
Some fathers strengthen the literal meaning by
explaining that Simon could not of himself be
rock, but that he is associated with the first
rock, Christ, and Mr.. Thomas seizes upon this
explanation to exclude all other meaning; a
proceeding as unjust to the fathers as it is to
simple grammar.
Peter, then, by Divine appointment. is the
foundation stone of the building-the centre of
unity for the faithful. The stone that does not
rest, at least mediately, upon the foundation.
cling to Peter is no member of Christ's church.
The church draws her support from Christ
through Peter; she is built upon him, land the
gates of hell shall not prevail against herr he
is her guide and defender. He has the KEYS of
the kingdom-the symbol of supreme power
exercise of his authority. whatsoever thou
shalt bind upon earth shall be bound in
heaven"
In Luke xii we read: Simon, Simon. be-
hold satan hath desired to have YOU that ne
may sift you as wheat. But have prayed for
commissioned to strengthen, guide.
and direct the other apostles; for him
alone, Christ prays, although all are to be
tempted, because under his guidance they will
find salvation. To confirm them, he must have
authority; he must be the chief of the apostles.
In John XXI, the same commission is repeated
in other words. Peter is told to feed the flock.
lambs and sheep. ..Feed My lambs + feed NV
sheep The Greek word. poimaine, yet better
than the word Of our vulgate, expresses the
idea of authority. Poinaaiae-be the shepherd
the ruler of my lambs and my sheep. Among
ancient peoples, Hebrew and Greek this word
conveyed regal power. Kings were called the
shepherds Of nations.
In numerous other places of the New Tesla
ment, allusion is made to Peter, and the allu-
sion indicates usually dignity precedence
belonging to him in keeping with the powers
which the direct words of our Lord convey to
him. Four lists are given of the apostles: in
all the name of Peter occurs first. Peter is
usually the spokesman of the apostles; strang-
ers address him as the representative of all;
where other apostles are mentioned in col
lective form, Peters name is specified. The
Savior Himself marks him out as special
object of attention. He works miracle to paw
&hnk f~n III n
multitude from Peters bark. He bestows a
special blessing upon Peters nets; at the last
supper Peter first has his feet washed. After
the resurrection Simon, first among the apos-
ties beheld the master.
After Christ's ascension, in the apostolic
assembly, Peter was first to tell of the need to
I'LL the place of Judas, and he authoritatively
fixed the conditions of election. On pentecost
he was first to preach to the Jews. He speaks
for all the apostles before the sanhedrim. works
the first miracle, and first admits the Gentiles
to the church. In the council of Jerusalem.
Peter was first to speak. Before he rose up,
there had been much disputing; when he had
other apostles only repeated and ratified his
doctrine. Paul, chosen by Heaven to be an
apostle, before preaching, went up to Jerusalem
to see Peter.
Mr.. Thomas overlooks Christ's words to
Peter, and the various circumstances in which
seeks out;a few occasions where Peters name
IS not specially mentioned. The argument at
best would be merely negative and the sole
conclusion which the whole contest of the
New Testament permits, is that St. Peter as
usually acted the part of first shepherd, al
though the fact in the particular case was not
speclhed. MIR. Thomas shows no breadth of
mind IN his Interpretation Of scripture and
tradition; he lays hold of one slight fact, or
word, and denies all that is not made positively
clear by that one fact or word, however numer-
GUS testimony to the contrary might elsewhere
be found.
The centre Of unity in Christ's church is Pc
ter authority, and we can now easily distin-
gulsh His church from sects and schisms,
Where Peter is there is the church," In time
of civil war; the loyal citizens are those who re-
main with the national flag, with the recognized
government of the nation. Those who set up
chieftains of their own are secessionists and
schismatics.
The answer can now be given to Mr.. Thomas,
why the Greek church is in schism and not the
church which adheres to the Pontiff of Rome
He who communicated the Greeks was
Peters successor, Christs vicar upon
earth. 1t was in the ninth century
Michael deposed the patriarch Ignatius and
raised to the SEE of Constantinople Photius a
layman and soldier. The Eastern church was
then, as it had been at Ephesus and Chalcedon,
IN full union with Peters see. Pope Nicholas
communicated the usurper, and forced the
emperor to restore Ignatius. The sentence of
the Pope was obeyed in Constantinople, and
the schism for the time being arrested. After
the death of .Ignatius, the Pope allowed Pho
tlus to occupy the see, and no one was more
outspoken than the new patriarch in favor of
the claims Of Rome.
The Greek church continued in union with
Rome until, some centuries later, the patriarch
Michael Cerularius, through servility to the
civil ruler, rebelled against the Roman Pom
tiff, and was with his adherents solemnly ex-
communicated
need not tell you of the sad circumstances
amid which England was separated from
Gods church; brutal king issued his mandate
to crafty his pride and lust, and a servile
| clergy, in fear for their lives obeyed.
Henry Will, by act of Parliament, became
| the head of the English church. appointed
laynan, Thomas Cromwell, his vicar-general,
appointing him to preside at synods and their
ecclesiastical assemblies, to reform places and
persons, to disorders in the church and to
decree censures. Paul LII was then Pontiff
Supreme, and would he have been Christ's SER
vant did he not protest against the crimes of
the royal tyrant, and the vile servitude of the
English people? The anathema was pro-
nounced. The rebellion continued; under Ed
ward, new articles of religion were decreed
by Parliament, and the English church
became entangled in countless here
sizes. The church of England, according to
| Mr.. Ten Brock is not in schis,n hecausa there