Bible Question:
Okay, I was hoping for something a milennium and a half closer to the events themselves. Someone in the eighteenth century claiming that such a "papal senate" was formed carries no more weight than you telling it to me. What were HIS sources for making this statement? Thanks. --Joe! |
Bible Answer: 1st installment. The closest thing I've found to answer this is from Halley's Bible Handbook, excerts from pp. 768-771. I'm leaving out names and dates that don't pertain to any talk of " special authority". Everything below is quoted from the book except for a small insert listed as "ME:". Clement the Bishop of Rome from 91-100 A.D wrote a letter to the Corinthian church, in the name of the Roman Church, NOT in his own name, and made no hint of papal authority such as popes later assumed. Clement was the 3rd bishop of Rome (Linus, Cletus, then Clement) Victor I (190-202), threatened to excomunicate the Eastern churches for celebrating Easter of the 14th of Nisan. Polycrates, Bishop of Ephesus, replied that he was not afraid of Victor's threats, and asserted his independent authority. Iranaeus, of Lyons, though a western bishop, and in sympathy with the western viewpoint on Easter observance, that is the weekday rather than the month day, rebuked Victor for trying to dictate to the eastern churches. Calixtus (218-223) was the first to base his claim on Matthew 16:18. Tertullian of Carthage, called him a "ursurper" in speaking as if Bishop of Bishops. Stephen I (253-267) objected to certain baptismal practices in the North African church. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage in North Africa, answered that each Bishop was supreme in his own diocese, and refused to yield to Stephen. Nevertheless, the feeling grew that Rome, the capital city, should be head of the church, even as it was head of the empire. Silvester I (314-335) was bishop of Rome when, under Constantine, Christianity was virtually made the State Religion of the Roman Empire. The church immediately became an institution of vast importance in world politics. Constantine regarded himself as Head of Church. He called the Council of Nicaea (AD 325), and presided over it, the First World Council of the church. This council accorded the Bishops of Alexandria and Antioch FULL jurisdiction over their Provinces, as the Roman Bishop had over his, with NOT EVEN A HINT that they were subject to Rome. Julius I (33-352). The Council of Sardica (AD 343) of Western churchmen only, not an ecumenical council, was the first council to recognize the authority of the Roman bishop. By the end of the 4th century the churches and bishops of christiandom had come to be largely dominated from FIVE great centers, Rome, Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Alexandria, whose bishops had come to be called PATRIARCHS, of equal authority one with another, each having full control in his own Province. After the division of the Empire (AD 395), into the East and the West, the Patriarchs of Antioch, Jerusalem, and Alexandria, gradually came to acknowledge the leadership of Constantinople; and henceforth the struggle for the leadership of christiandom was between Rome and Constantinople. Siricius (385-398), bishop of Rome, in his lust for worldly power, claimed universal jurisdiction over the church. But unfortunately for him, in his day the Empire divided (AD 395), into two separate Empires, East and West, which made it all the more difficult for the Roman Bishop to get the East to recognize his authority. Sixtus III (432-440). The Western Empire was now rapidly dissolving amid the storms of the Barbarian Migration and , in the distress and anxiety of the times, Augustine wrote his monumental work, "The City of God", in which he envisioned a Universal Christian Empire. This book had vast influence in molding opinion favorable to a Universal Church Hierarchy under ONE head. This promoted Rome's claim for lordship. Thus the church was changing its nature, making itself over ito the image of the Roman Empire. Leo I (440-461), called by some historians the First Pope. The misfortunes of the Empire were his opportunity. The East was rent with controversies. The West, under weak Emperors, was breaking up before the Barbarians. Leo was the one strong man of the hour. He claimed that he was, by divine appointment, Primate of All Bishops; and (445), he obtained from Emperor Valentinian III Imperial Recognition for his claim. |