Primacy of Peter in the Fathers St. Clement of Alexandria ...the blessed Peter, the chosen, the pre-eminent, the first among the disciples ... (Who Is the Rich Man That is Saved? 21:3-5 [AD 200]). St. Cyprian of Carthage The Lord says to Peter: I say to you, he says, that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church . . . On him [Peter] he builds the Church, and to him he gives the command to feed the sheep [John 21:17], and although he assigns a like power to all the apostles, yet he founded a single chair [cathedra], and he established by his own authority a source and an intrinsic reason for that unity. Indeed, the others were that also which Peter was [i.e. apostles],but a primacy is given to Peter, whereby it is made clear that there is but one Church and one chair. So too, all [the apostles] are shepherds, and the flock is shown to be one, fed by all the apostles in single-minded accord. If someone does not hold fast to this unity of Peter, can he imagine that he still holds the faith? If he [should] desert the chair of Peter upon whom the Church was built, can he still be confident that he is in the Church? (The Unity of the Catholic Church 4; first edition [AD 251]). See John Chapman on Cyprian and the Papacy for much greater detail. St. Cyril of Jerusalem The Lord is loving toward men, swift to pardon but slow to punish. Let no man despair of his own salvation. Peter, the first and foremost of the apostles, denied the Lord three times before a little servant girl, but he repented and wept bitterly. (Catechetical Lectures 2:19 [AD 350]) St. Ephraim the Syrian [Jesus said:] Simon, my follower, I have made you the foundation of the holy Church. I betimes called you Peter, because you will support all its buildings. You are the inspector of those who will build on Earth a Church for me. If they should wish to build what is false, you, the foundation, will condemn them. You are the head of the fountain from which my teaching flows; you are the chief of my disciples. Through you I will give drink to all peoples. Yours is that life-giving sweetness which I dispense. I have chosen you to be, as it were, the first-born in my institution [the Church] so that, as the heir, you may be executor of my treasures. I have given you the keys of my kingdom. Behold, I have given you authority over all my treasures. (Homilies 4:1 [AD 351]) St. Ambrose of Milan [Christ] made answer: You are Peter, and upon this rock will I build my Church... Could he not, then, strengthen the faith of the man to whom, acting on his own authority, he gave the kingdom, whom he called the rock, thereby declaring him to be the foundation of the Church [Matt. 16:18]? (The Faith 4:5 [AD 379]). St. Jerome But, you [Jovinian] will say, it was on Peter that the Church was founded [Matt. 16:18]. Well... one among the twelve is chosen to be their head in order to remove any occasion for division. (Against Jovinian 1:26 [AD 393]) St. Augustine of Hippo Some things are said which seem to relate especially to the apostle Peter, and yet are not clear in their meaning unless referred to the Church, which he is acknowledged to have represented in a figure on account of the primacy which he bore among the disciples. Such is I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and other similar passages. In the same way, Judas represents those Jews who were Christs enemies. (Commentary on Psalm 108 1 [AD 415])
Posted on: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 05:12:04 +0000
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