Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-07-30
THEOLOGICAL VIEWS.
LGyDtdh Continues His RecEeLc Of Bishop
Aretands Lectures on Pdpdt SUI

prensacy.
To the Editor of the Globe.
In my communication OF last Sunday,
L insisted that the very fact, sturdily
maintained by Bishop Ireland, as well as
by the great majority of Christendom,
that orr Lord while on earth established
and organized corporation consisting OF
the eleven apostles and their associates and
successors to the end of the world, and
made to this corporation plenary grant
of power and authority in the premises
disposed effectually and completely of
the claim for the supremacy Of st. Peter
and the bishops Of Rome.
l pointed out that in the nature OF
things there could not be two parallel and
contemporaneous lines of plenary power
and authority respecting the same SUBJ
ject matter.
If this corporation established and
organized by our Lord was the supreme
ruler and teacher, an individual member
of this corporation was clearly not such
ruler and teacher.
If the supreme power and authority to
rule and to teach infallibly was COM
mitted by our Lord to the apostolic col
lege, or qldtur0 rel, this power and author
itv could not have been committed to St.
Peter. or, after him, to the bishops of
Rome.
That the reader may have no
doubt as to Bishop Ireland's
position IN this matter / make the follow
ing quotation from his first lecture page
nine of the pamphlet), to-wit:
SIN institutlng the apostolic church
Christ, in the self same breath, in words
as lucid as other words of the commits
sion, fixed the time of its existence.
Teach all nations and behold
I am with you all days, even unto the
consummatiOn of the world The spirit
of truth had he elsewhere said, will
abide with you forever The words have
no meaning if they are limited to the
apostles personally. They must be I'M
derstOod as applying to them corporate
". The commission was to corporate
body of teachers; only IN this sense, as
body corporate, destined to hive beyond
the life time of the first members, could
the apostles teach all nations and lndi-
viduals; only with such body corpor-
ate could Christ dwell until the end of
the world; only for such body corpo-
rate was there need ofthe indweliing for
ever of the spirit Of truth"
I heartily concur in every word of the
above quotation.
If the position taken by Bishop Ire
land in this extract be correct, as it I'M
dou5tedly is, it necessarily demolishes
completely the claim for either Petrine
or papal supremacy.
OF course the reader at once perceives
that the leadership, or headship, or pri-
macy of st. Peter among the apostles, if
such there was, does not in the least tend
to prove his supremacy over them or the
Christian church.
The president of the apostolic college
would be the servant rather than the
ruler of that body. The primati of the
apostles would be their leader, but not
their sovereign-pramuS1 inter pares, not
2]75ncepS inter Su0S.
But while l am satisfied that Bishop
Ireland's own position as to the nature,
extent and manner of the commission
and grant from our Lord to the apostles
does foreclose any further discussion of
the question of papal supremacy, L will
nevertheless proceed now to the further
examination of the learned prelate's ar
gument,
Let us first consider what Bishop Ire
land adduces from the books of the New
Testament in support of his claim for
papal supremacy
OF course the good bishop confronts US,
in5ine5nC, with that celebrated passage from
the gospel by st. Matthew which for ages
past has been summoned to do duty in
behalf of Petrine supremacy, viz:
''When Jesus came into the coasts of
Cesarea Phillip. He asked His disciples,
saying: Whom do met say that /, the
Son of Man, ann And they said: Some
say that Thou art John the Baptist; some,
Elias; and others, Jeremias or one of the
prophets He saith unto them: But
whom say ye that l amY'
And Simon Peter answered and said:
''Th0u art the Christ, the son of the living
God"
And Jesus answered and said unto him:
''Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona; for
flesh and blood hath not revealed it
unto thee, but my Father, which is in
heaven.
"And I say unto thee, that thou art
Peter and upon this work l will build my
church; ard the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it.
-"And will give unto thee the keys of
The kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever
thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound
III uSdNCB, anu WHdUSOtvtE GllOu SIldlj
loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven -
: Matthew xvi, 1919 King James
Translationl.
We shall be better able to apprehend
and understand the above memorable
words of our Lord, if we call to mind the
occasion on which and circumstances IN
der which they were spoken.
Our Lord had come into the world on
mission from the Father. for the re-
dcmption OF man from his fallen estate and
his restoration to everlasting life, and to
establish his kingdom which was to trl-
umph over all obstacles and adversaries,
and to be an everlasting kingdom in
which he with his followers should reign
forever. His coming had been abund.
antly foretold by the prophets.
The Jews were expecting the Messiah
and the restoration by him of the king
dom of Israel, but it was temporal
kingdom which they were looking for.
They also expected Elijah to come as the
forerunner of the Messiah There had
evidently been much discussion and di-
verse opinions expressed among the peo-
pie, as to the nature and character of our
Lords mission and as to his identity
Our Lord was nearing the close of his
mission, and the time had arrived when
all doubt as to it and as to himself
should be removed.