The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-02-07

read it,
NV reply to this extraordinary interpreta-
ton was to warn DR.. Wendte not to mix his
metaphors
mixed the metaphors and that he made no
such objection. To show where the RESPONSE
bility lies let me quote DR.. Wendte's hrst letter.
uJesus no doubt depended greatly Peter to
spread his gospel and build up his cause on earth
This Is not only shown by his indicating him as
the rock on which his church was to be founded"
etc.
TT This IS not a mixture of metaphors do
not know what is. Moreover, DR.. Wendte has
not the excuse of Irish blood unless, indeed,
he borrowed the objection from his theological
cook.
To explain away Christs words, "Thou art
Peter and upon this rock will | build my
church., by saying that st. Peter spread the
church is to turn the apostle into rolilng
stone.
DR.. wendte did not try to justify his inter
probation.
l. Peter was not the rock.
DR.. Wendte objected that Peter was not the
Rock when he denied his master and when his
master rebuked him.
In answer admitted the objection and drew
DR.. Wendte's attention to the fact that the
words of Christ only promised to make Peter
the Rock. That promise was not fulfilled until
after the Resurrection, and therefore DR..
Wendte's objection is worth nothing.
DR.. Wendte replies by saying thatI am prelu-
diced.
NEW DIRECTIONS.
Though DR.. Wendte did not attempt to sub
stantiate his old objections, he brought tor
ward in his reply two new objections. One
that the rock meant Peters faith and the other
that Doellinger is authority for the statement
that none of the early church writers in
terpreted the text as implying the primacy of
Peter.
OBJECTION NO. 1.
Let us now see what Dr. Wendte's first OBJ
lection amounts to. He says the more ne
dc 4ha in orf q
rock, and upon this rock will l build my
church"-the more firmly he is convinced that
Christ referred to st. Peters faith. Let us sup
pose he did. When we say that the courage Of
II general won a battle, do we separate the gen.
eral from his courage? If we declare that
such and such building is monument TO
the skill of an engineer, do we divide the man
from his ability?
So, if we admit that Peters faith was the
rock foundation on which Christ would build
the church, what warrant have we for Separat-
ing Peter from his faith? 1t was on Peter as
endowed with that faith which fails mott; it
was on Peter the confrmer of the brethren;
il was on Peter the shepherd of the sheep and
lambs; it was on Peter in the concrete that
Christ founded his church in such wise that
the gates of he'll should not prevail against it.
DR.. Wendte seemed to. be laboring under
lamentable confusion of ideas in interpreting
this text. He completely forgets that Christ
does not hand over the building of the church
to Peter He himself is the architect and mas
ter builder. He, not Peter, lays the founda-
tons; he, not Peter. makes it strong, to resist
death and hell. His power, not Peters faith,
erects the building on the solid rock.
The Office of Peter or the rock is not to spread
the faith, but to sustain it. He is the center of
unity. He holds the building together though
winds blow and rain beats and floods surge
around. When, in the course of time, ideas
clash with ideas and truth seems to be set
against truth the office OF Peter is to declare
the faith. For that is he set by his master.
DR.. Wendte of course believes that the Mas
ter was mere man, and he may deride the
idea that Christ could preserve his church
from the fate OF all human institutions, schism
and decay But Christians believe otherwise.
To them Christ WAS God and he possessed the
wisdom and power of God. If therefore he
wished to preserve his truth intact he could do
so. If he wished to keep his church one he
overcame all obstacles. That he willed his
church to be one and to be indefectible is the
only rational conclusion the unparalleled
mind can draw from the words ''Thou art
Rock, and upon this Rock will 1 build my
church, and the gates OF he'll shall not prevail
against it."
build a church on foundation other than
this rock has met with disaster Let DR..
Wendte look at the history of all the reformed
churches, his own included. He speaks about
them being founded on ideas, on truth, on
virtue, on faith: He might as we'll recon-
mend our Harbor Commissioners to build the
new ferry depot on wind. Ideas are like the
shifting sands and DR.. Wendte knows the fate
of the house which was built upon the sand.
Already that fate has come upon the churches
which would not build upon Peters rock.
Sects, heresies, divisions-an the. evils of the
latter days are rampant among them and faith
is dead.
There is only one church which knows the
truth and is not afraid to proclaim it. The
church in which Peter still lives and teaches
never falters in her declaration of Christs
revelation. No matter how the gates of hell
may rage, her faith fails not, and all through
the centuries she confirms the brethren.
OBJECTION NO. 2.
DR.. Wendte next quotes from Janus, and
ascribes the quotation to Doellinger. I have
already. explained that there is absolutely no
evidence TO connect Doellinger with Janus, and
! that there is every reason to believe that the
! book was not written by Catholics at all. Any
| how, let us see how much the objection is
worth:
l'of all the fathers who interpret these passages
| in the Gospels Matthew xvI:18. John xxi:ID
not single one applies them to the Roman
| Bishops as Peters successors. How many fathers
| have busIed themselves with these texts, yet not
| one of them whose commentaries we possess
Theodoret, and those whose interpretations are
collected in catenas-has dropped the fainest hint
| that the primacy OF Rome is the consequence OF
| the commission and promise to Peter; not one OF
| them has explained the rock or foundation on
which Christ would build his church if the Office
given Peter to be transmitted to his successors
but they understood by t either Christ himself OF
Peters confession of faith in Christi often both
| gether. Or else they thought Peter was the
foundation equally with all the other apostles the
twelve being together the foundation stones of tn
| church Revelations xxi:14). The fathers could
the less recognize the power of the keys and the
power of binding and 1oosiDg any special preroga-
| tive or lOrQS0lp OF the Roman BISHOP, 1naSmuch
| what is obvious to any one at first sght-they
did not regard power first given to Peter and
afterward conferred In precisely the same words
ON all the apostles anything peculiar to him OF
4 hereditary in the line of Roman Bishops. and they
held the symbol of the keys as meaning just the
| same as the fgurative expression of binding and
/ loosing'
In order to show how far different were the
| sentiments of Doellinger from those of James
| let me quote from his First Age of Chris
tianity, etc." vol. l. p. AT:
! sAt the turning point, when his ministry
was closing and his suffering about to begin
| Peter made confession that Jesus Christ was
| the son of the living God. For this
he was repaid by four closely allied prom.
| Uses of future power and pre-eminence in
| the church. First, he should be. the
rock wherein Christ would build it; secondly,
| tile church built on him should never fail
! thirdly, Christ would give him the keys of his
kingdom, or church; fourthly, what he bound
| or loosed on earth would be bound or loosed in
/ heaven.
"Peter alone spoke here; he was not com.
missioned by the other apostles, but he stood
| foremost among them through the faith given
| him by his heavenly Father. That faith, firm
| as rock fitted him to be the foundation Of
| the church which Christ had compared &c
| house, Now, first, Simon Bar iona
| perceived why the Lord originally named
| him Cephas, the rock. And thus Christ
1 like st. Paul afterward. has combined the two
SMILES of home and of family life. He wills
| to build his house, the 1mperishable church
| M 20 ha byf ba Of dao !,