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A64463 The texts examined which papists cite out of the Bible to prove the supremacy of St. Peter and of the Pope over the whole church. Scott, John, 1639-1695. 1688 (1688) Wing T826; ESTC R6438 34,807 58

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The TEXTS examined which Papists cite out of the Bible TO PROVE The Supremacy of St. PETER and of the POPE over the whole Church IMPRIMATUR Guil. Needham Febr. 14. 1687. THE Question to be debated in this Paper is Whether the Apostle St. Peter was constituted by Christ himself to be in his stead the Head and supreme Governour of the whole Church This we deny having undeniable Proofs that all the Apostles were placed by Christ in equal Power and Authority over his Church But the Doctors of the Roman Church affirm this with so much Confidence as to say that to deny it is not a simple Error but a pernicious Heresy They are the words of Bellarmine * L. 1. de Rom. Pontif. c. 10 11. who earnestly contends that the Government of the whole Church was committed to Peter especially about Matters of Faith. Which bold Assertion he labours to support three ways First By some places of Holy Scriptures Secondly By many Privileges and Prerogatives of St. Peter Thirdly By Testimonies of Greek and Latin Fathers I am concerned only in the first of these Ways in which if this Cause find no true support we need not trouble our selves about the other two which are so weak that some ingenuous Persons in their Communion have acknowledged the Prerogatives are either feigned at pleasure or no more to the purpose of his Supremacy than the pretended Testimonies of Ancient Fathers which are against it Now the Scriptures which they alledg for the proof of it are two places in the holy Gospels The one in St. Matthew xvi 18 19. the other in St. John xxi 17. In the former of these this Supreme Authority they say is promised to St. Peter in the latter it is conferred I begin with the first Matth. xvi 18 19. And I say unto thee that thou art Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church c. And I will give unto thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and whatsoever thou shalt bind o● Earth shall be bound in Heaven and whatsoever thou shalt loose on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven The Sense of which words says Bellarmine is plain and obvious giving us to understand the Soveraignty over the whole Church to be here promised unto Peter in two Metaphors The one is a Metaphor of a Foundation and a Building the other is a Metaphor of Keys For what a Foundation is in the Building that the Head is in the Body the Governour in the City the King in his Kingdom and the Father of the Family in the House and to whom the Keys of a City are delivered he is appointed the King or at least the Governour of that City to admit and shut out whom he pleaseth Unto which I have this to say before I give the true Sense of these words That to call this a plain and obvious Sense of the words which is wrapt up in a couple of Metaphors is to stumble at the very Threshold and to contradict himself in the terms as they ordinarily speak For what is metaphorical is not plain and obvious but needs Explanation by putting it into common words Into which if these Metaphors be reduced we shall find there is no such Sense contained in them as is pretended I shall explain them distinctly and begin with the former part of this Promise Thou art Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church which we may call the first Proof they bring of St. Peter's being the Monarch of the Church I. Which Sense is so far from being plain and obvious that having considered both the words and all the ancient Expositors upon them I can find nothing plainer than these two things First That there is no certainty St. Peter is here meant by the Rock upon which Christ saith he will build his Church Nor Secondly If he were that Christ intended by calling him a Rock to make him the Lord of his Church First I say there is no Evidence that St. Peter is here meant by the Rock but quite contrary we are led by the general stream of Ancient Interpreters to understand by the Rock upon which the Church is built that Faith concerning Christ which Peter had newly confessed There are more than two that thus expound the words for one that expounds them otherwise as may be seen in a Sermon lately printed on this Subject * Sermon on St. Peter's day 1686. which shows also that the other Expositions do not really differ from this but even they who apply these words to St. Peter had respect in calling him the Rock to his preaching the Doctrine of Christ and having the honour to be the first Preacher of it to the Gentiles Which is all the Priviledg that can be thought to be peculiarly intended to him in these words For excepting this whatsoever was said to him was directed to all the Apostles because Peter as their Mouth spake the Sense of them all when he said Thou art Christ the Son of the Living God and therefore Christ's Answer was returned to them all when he said Thou art Peter and upon this Rock will I build my Church As much as to say Thou art what thy Name imports which I have given thee with respect to this solid Faith thou hast now confessed upon which as upon a Rock I will build my Church by your Ministry and particularly by thine who shalt have the Honour to lay the first Stone of it in the Gentile World. Thus St. Austin † Tract exxiv in Joh. Serm. xiii de verbis Dom c. expounds the words in many places where he observes Peter had his Name from Petra the Rock viz. That Faith which he confessed upon which Christ told him he would build his Church For he doth not say Thou art Peter and upon thee will I build my Church but upon this Rock which plainly relates to another thing viz. that immoveable Foundation confessed by Peter that he was Christ the Son of God. Whence those known words of the same Father I will build thee upon me not me upon thee If it were the intention of this Paper to quote Testimonies I could name a great multitude even the ordinary Gloss which speak to the same purpose But it is wholly needless since the other Exposition which makes St. Peter the Rock here spoken of is against the most unanimous consent of the Fathers of the Church which they of the Church of Rome are bound to follow both by the Doctrine of the Council of Trent * Sess iv and by the form of that Oath of Profession of Faith which Pope Pius IV. drew up and enjoined according to the Mind of that Council And yet so vilely are some addicted to regard nothing but their Interest there are those who to make these words sound as if Christ promised to build his Church upon Peter himself have not blush'd thus to translate them Thou art Peter and upon this PETER will
to reply but only this whch is meerly a bold Affirmation and as absurd as all the rest they were indeed all of them the Heads Governors and Pastors of the Church universal but not after the same manner as Peter was of * Bellarm. l. 1. de Pontif. Rom. cap. xi Why so For they had the highest and most ample Power as Apostles and Ambassadors but Peter also as an ordinary Pastor As much as to say They had indeed the highest Power in the Church and as large as he but not so high a Power as his Let any Man try if he can make any other Sense of those words that is find any Sense at all in them For was this Power of being an ordinary Pastor greater than that of the Apostles or no If it were greater then it is not true which he affirms that the Apostles had the highest Power † Habuerunt summam Potestatem If it were less than the Power of the Apostles then they were all greater than he as he was an ordinary Pastor and then it is non-sense to say they so had a plenitude of Power as that St. Peter was notwithstanding the Head of them and they all depended on him For he rather depended on them as an ordinary Pastor if that was less than the Power of the Apostleship and if it were not but greater than it then as I said it is false that the Apostles had the highest Power This is sufficient to shew into what Absurdities Men run when they go about to maintain a Falshood and what wretched shifts they devise to obscure the clear Truth which shines in their Eyes Which when they have done they walk as in Darkness and cannot be perswaded to see or acknowledg their Error Nay one Error grows out of another and having begun to wrest the Holy Scripture they go on to strain it so far as to extend it to any purpose they have to serve by it For having presumed that Peter and he alone is promised to be made the Governour of the whole Church by these Words of our Saviour they immediately presume without the shew of a proof that the Bishops of Rome succeed him in this Authority Which is a very large Step or rather Leap from Peter to the Popes of Rome between whom there is such a vast distance that it is impossible to make out the Claim to which they pretend from him For there is no evidence that St. Peter was Bishop of Rome but only that he founded that Church and setled a Bishop there For if he was Bishop of Antioch it was against all antient Rules to leave that and go to another See. The truth is he was properly Bishop of neither but planted a Church in each and first at Antioch before he came to Rome And who can think he did not settle one to take care of that Church of Antioch when he left it who may be called his Successor as well as he whom he is supposed to have placed afterwards in Rome Which two things being allowed as unquestionable Matters of Fact there is no reason can be given why all the Power and Jurisdiction which is claimed upon the account of Succession should not devolve by the Right of Primogeniture upon the Bishop of Antioch since it is confessed he first fat there and sat there seven Years which is more than can be proved he did at Rome where he was not when St. Paul came thither Act. xxviii nor when he first answered before Nero nor when he was ready to be offered 2 Tim. iv 6 11 16. nor can any certain time be assigned when he was there as we are sure St. Paul was who is acknowledged to be a Founder of that Church and had as much or rather more right to leave a Bishop to succeed him there as St. Peter who could transfer to no body neither there nor any where else what was personally vested in him as all the Priviledg here granted him was Or if he was to have any Successor in his supposed Dominion there were others had a better Title to it than the Bishop of Rome particularly St. John who it is certain survived St. Peter L. 1. de Pont. Rom. c. ix Therefore all that Bellarmine dare say in this matter is that the Apostles being dead the Apostolical Authority remained in Peter 's Successor alone For which he gives us not one word of proof but only this notorious Falshood that the Roman Bishop alone is called by all the Apostolical Bishop and his See simply the Apostolical See. When all the World knows Jerusalem Constantinople and divers other Places are called by the same Name of Apostolical Sees or Churches and their Bishops called not only Apostolical but Catholick and said to be Bishops of the Catholick Church The meaning of all which is nothing else but that they held the Catholick Religion and Faith Epist pars 1. ad Franciscum Bonum as Launoy most ingenuously confesses and maintains the Roman Bishops themselves intended no more when they subscribed themselves Bishops of the Catholick Church Nay Bellarmine himself in the place now named is constrained to acknowledg that the Supreme Ecclesiastical Power was given not only to Peter but to other Apostles also For they might all say that of St. Paul 2 Cor. xi 28. My daily business the Care of all the Churches But it was given to Peter as an ordinary Pastor who should have perpetual Successors to others as Delegates who should have no Successors Which is a meer Invention a pure Figment of his own brain without the shadow of a ground for it in the Book of God or any ancient Authority and against his own Confession that all the Apostles had the highest Power which includes all Power both ordinary and extraordinary and a Power to appoint their Successors in the Places they converted There have abundance of other things been said by our Writers to shew that whatsoever may be supposed to have been promised in these Words the Bishops of Rome can thence derive no lawful Claim to the like Authority And yet as if there were nothing plainer than that Christ spake to the Roman Bishops when he said these Words to St. Peter they have the confidence from hence to entitle the Pope to the Priviledg of Infallibility as well as to a Supreme Dominion over the Church So Bellarmine who elsewhere alledges these Words L. iv de Rom. Pontific c. 3. to prove that the chief Bishop i. e. theirs when he teacheth the whole Church in things belonging to Faith can in no case err But this depends upon his former Suppositions that Peter is the Rock of the Church as its Supreme Governour and therefore every one of his Successors in like manner is the same which having no Foundation all his Superstructure upon them falls to the Ground And indeed it is so sandy that honest Men among themselves are ashamed to build any thing of this nature
they have this wise Note Peter saith St. Bernard walking upon the Waters as Christ did DECLARED himself the ONLY VICAR of Christ which should be Ruler not over one People but over ALL For many Waters are many People And from hence he deduceth the like Authority and Jurisdiction to his Successors the Bishops of Rome And a goodly Deduction it is for which they are mightily beholden to St. Bernard who could spy such a notable Declaration of St. Peter's sole Vicarship and draw from thence such a fine Argument for the Pope's Authority as no ancient Doctor besides himself was able to find in this place But must his Fancies pass for substantial Proofs of the Bishop of Rome's Supremacy which was raised to a great height in his days At this rate no body need want Proofs for the most detestable Heresies which he shall please to devise if such Conceits as these be allowed for Arguments And their second Annotation is like to this of which for ought I know they may have the honour to be the Inventors without the help of St. Bernard For because our Saviour when there were two Ships went in that which was Simon 's Luke v. 3. and thence taught the People they gravely conclude that undoubtedly he taught out of that Ship and not the other on purpose to signify the Church resembled by Peter's Ship and that in it is the Chair of Christ and only true preaching By which it is evident they intended the Reader should understand that as Peter was Owner of that Ship so he and his Successors are Rulers of the whole Church For upon the following Verses ver 7 10. they observe how Peter had so much work that he was fain to call for help and joyned those who were in the other Ship as Co-partners in the Preaching of the Gospel As much as to say the Work was committed to him alone who took in such help as he needed He was the only Pastor and all the rest as was said before his Curates For they tell us all this aforesaid did properly mean his Travels in the Conversion of the World and his Prerogative therein before all Men as is evident by Christ's special Promise made to him SEVERALLY and APART in this place that he should be made the TAKER OF MEN. What then became of all the rest Were they to sit still in their Ship and do nothing O no by no means He giveth to other say these Annotators the like Office as to Peter 's Co-operators and Coadjutors Before they said that Peter called them and joyned them to himself as Co-partners in the preaching of the Gospel but now having better it seems bethought themselves they say Christ appointed them to this Office yet still they are but as Peter's Co-operators and Assistants He was the Taker of Men and converted the World they only came in to his help and brought all the Fish into his Net. Their Ship signified nothing it was Peter alone that signified all Their Ship stands for a meer Cypher his Ship is the Figure of the whole Church where he governs and they are but helps in Government meer Co-adjutors unto him the great and indeed only Bishop over all Who can endure such Annotations as these in which Men play with the Holy Scriptures as they please and play with them in so saucy a manner as to interpret them directly against the Scriptures In which the Apostles call themselves Workers together with Christ 2 Cor. vi 1. imployed by him to be his Co-operators not St. Peter's who was so far from being the Converter of the World that his Travels and Pains were most bestowed in the least part of it Which Bellarmine I suppose saw well enough and therefore was so wise as not to mention such Allegories Which may serve to entertain the Fancies of silly People but are the just scorn of those that have any measure of Spiritual Understanding Who have heard perhaps that the Fathers sometimes resembled the Church of Christ to Peter's Ship but not that they ever dream'd of making him and the Bishop of Rome after him the Governour of the whole Church because he was Master of that Ship. There is nothing more unaccountable than such a Conclusion unless it be their pretence to Infallibility who are meer Triflers when they meddle with the Holy Scriptures which is the next thing I would have observed Secondly If the danger of wresting the Scriptures be a good reason why the common People should not read them then no body at all should look into them for their most learned Priests have wrested them more than the common People And that against their Oath whereby they are bound to interpret Scripture according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers who all agree that what was said to Peter in these three places belonged to all the Apostles whose Writings as the rest of the Scriptures have by none been more foully abused than by the Popes of Rome whose Interpretations and Applications of them should they be collected in a Book would make one of the most shameful pieces that hath been yet extant in the World. Thirdly And let the Reader observe once more how ill they of that Church are agreed about the Interpretation of these three places of Scripture which are the Subject of this Discourse There are four Interpretations of the first place Thou art Peter c. as hath been else-where observed which have had great Authors in the Roman Church as well as others Some by Rock understand Peter's FAITH in the Confession he had newly made which by the way Joh. Ekius * L. 1. contra Luther de Petri Primatu c. 13. says in the Age before us no body denied to be the sense and bids Luther name the Man that said otherways Others CHRIST himself whom Peter had confessed to be the Son of God others PETER and others ALL the APOSTLES which last is the Exposition of Paschasius Radbertus the famous Broacher of Transubstantiation whose words are these * L. iv in Matthaeum The Church of God is built not only upon Peter but upon all the Apostles Now they who follow the first and second sense can find no Prerogative here for St. Peter above the rest of the Apostles and they that adhere only to the third in opposition to the other as they now commonly do are confuted by those who assert the fourth that these words were spoken to all the Apostles And indeed they are all forced to confess that nothing is here promised which is not contained in the next words And I will give thee the Keys c. But what this is none of them can certainly tell For one sort such as Cajetan hold the Keys contain more than binding and loosing which Bellarmine says is false nay a thing never heard of in the Church And consequently this Power of binding and loosing being promised to them all Matth. xviii 18. the Power of the Keys was promised to
I build my Church So Dr. Allen would have had the Translation run in the Rhemish Testament and so Hart alledges them in his Conference with Dr. Reynolds † Chap. 2. Divis 1. And now lately the Catholick Scripturist translates them after this manner according to the Language which Christ spoke Thou art a Rock and upon this Rock will I build my Church As if it will be lawful for them to do any thing even contradict that very Council whose Decrees they are sworn to observe that they may make the Scripture seem to be on their side For the Council of Trent hath decreed the old Latin Translation to be authentical with a prohibition that no Man dare or presume under any pretence to reject it Notwithstanding which here are Men that presume to reform it and to make a new Translation of their own Heads as different from that authentick vulgar Translation as from ours for in this ours and that are the same as every body may know that understands the Latin Tongue This is a Presumption with a Witness to make their own Translation depart so far from the Language which Christ spoke as to put tu es Petrus instead of tu es Petra For so Christ's words should have been translated if they signified thou art a Rock unless they can shew us that Petrus in any Author is latin for a Rock Till this be done we must say that such Men contrary to their Faith solemnly sworn depart not only from Antiquity but from themselves And when they have done all they can it will evidently appear that the Church was not built by his Hands alone tho he began as I said and laid the first Stone among the Gentiles but by them all and more especially by St. Paul who was called late into this Office 1 Cor. xv 10. iii. 10 11. but laboured more abundantly than they all and as a wise Master-builder laid the Foundation upon which others built Which Foundation he tells us is Jesus Christ himself who he likewise says is the only Foundation and that no Man can lay other Foundation besides him Which shews this Promise I am treating of had respect to all that had the Office of Apostles and wholly ruines the Authority of St. Peter upon which they would have the Church to be built For if Jesus Christ be the only Foundation that can be laid then Peter cannot be the Foundation but only as a Minister of Jesus Christ who help'd to lay the Foundation which is Christ himself and his Faith. In which Ministry he was no more imployed than other Apostles but St. Paul who came last into this Ministry was as wise a Master-builder as himself and took more Pains than he or any of the rest laying the Foundation where neither St. Peter nor any Body else had ever been lest he should build upon another Man's Foundation as he tells the Roman Church Rom. xv 20. Which words uttterly overthrow their vain distinction of a first and a secondary Foundation whereby they endeavour to elude those words of St. Paul in the place before-named 1 Cor. iii. 11. For it appears by this other place that St. Paul was a secondary or ministerial Foundation if we may so speak that is speak improperly meaning thereby one that laid the Foundation Which he did as much as St. Peter or any other Apostle nay a great deal more as he himself tells us when he saith he laboured more abundantly than they all In exact speaking there is no Foundation on which the Church is built but Christ alone as St. Paul assures us in whom all the Building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy Temple in the Lord Ephes ii 21. But Faith in Christ being that whereby we are joyned to him it may be called by the same Name and accordingly the Colossians are said to be grounded * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Col. 1.23 in the Faith as upon a Foundation the Greek word signifies from which he would have them not to be moved And the Apostles as he there saith being the Preachers of this Faith and the Instruments whereby Men were brought to believe on Christ and so joyned to him as Living Stones are called by the Name of Foundation in the place before-named Ephes ii 20. Built upon the Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets c. But then it is evident that Peter alone is not this Foundation but all the Apostles For there are XII Foundations of this sort as we read in Rev. xxi 14. by whose Ministry the Church was built upon Christ the sole Foundation in proper speaking that was laid for all to build upon Finally the Apostles understand no such Preheminence as is now pretended to be promised to St. Peter in these words nor did he himself so understand them when the Holy Ghost was come upon them to lead them into all Truth For then St. Paul could not have said that he came not a whit behind the very chiefest Apostles and that he was behind them in nothing 2 Cor. xi 5. xii 11. nor could he have undertaken to correct St. Peter Gal. ii 11 12 c. nor would St. Peter have born his Censure if he had known he was the Head of the Church but have bidden St. Paul know his distance and remember that he ought not to controul him but be controuled by him as his Better Secondly After all this that hath been said to shew there is nothing here promised to Peter but what belongs to all the Apostles except only that of his being imployed in laying the first Foundation of Faith among the Gentiles It remains that I shew there is nothing in the word Rock which implies any Superiority of Power and Authority over the rest of his Brethren and the whole Church if we should suppose this Promise to have been made to him alone for it denotes nothing of Government but hath respect to the support and stability of that Structure which is firmly laid upon it And therefore the ancient Doctors as may be seen in the Sermon before-mentioned give other Reasons of his being called a Rock and not this because to him was committed the Government of the whole Church especially about Faith. Which is the Explanation Bellarmine gives of this word affirming it to be the signification of this Metaphor for it is proper to a fundamental Rock to govern and sustain the whole Edifice This is perfectly new Language never heard of in the World before that it is proper to a Foundation to govern for it is altogether improper and no body thinks of any such thing when he reads of a Foundation But if it be proper then all the Apostles were Governours of the whole Church as well as he because they were all Foundations as was before observed having the very same Power given to them by Christ which we now suppose was here promised to him alone Unto which they of the Church of Rome have nothing
13. If any Power or degree of Power was here promised to Peter more than to the rest of the Apostles it must be gathered either from the force of the Substance of the Promise or from the Circumstances wherewith it was delivered The Substantial part is nothing else but that of a Steward in the Church set forth by the Emblem of Keys and more explicitly declared by the Power of binding and loosing which carries in it no intimation of such a thing as a Supremacy over the whole Church but only of a ruling Power in some Family that is in that part of the Universal Church where his lot should fall For this very thing being presently after promised to all the Apostles it makes it evident there was no Supremacy here promised for then there must be not one but twelve Supremes As for the Circumstances wherein this part and the former of our Saviour's Promise was delivered which some are pleased to urge as very considerable they are of no strength to support so great a weight as they lay upon them For first It is very unreasonable that Circumstances should be thought of greater force to declare the meaning of this Promise than the very Substance it self is And secondly All these Circumstances save only that of his own Name and his Fathers joyned together are not peculiar to him but common to others who confessed Christ's Divinity and had it revealed from God and were blessed and designed for Stones in the Fabrick of the Church as well as Peter And further even that Circumstance of calling him Simon Bar-jona had a visible reason for it to distinguish this Simon from Simon Zelotes So that there is nothing left but the small Circumstance of calling him by his Name to be the grand Foundation of St. Peter's Supremacy Can any one be satisfied with such poor Proofs Which are no better than if we should argue in this manner our Lord said to Peter Follow me and so he did to the other eleven and by this made them his Disciples in common But had he said Simon Barjona Follow thou me as he might very well if any other Simon were then present he alone according to this way of discoursing had been taken into Discipleship and none after him enjoyed this Honour But I have said enough if not too much upon these Texts and must here end this Paper for fear of swelling it beyond the intended bulk The rest shall soon follow ERRATA PAge 81. line 21. for will be read were P. 83. l. 31. r. understood P. 85. l. 10. del of l. ult r. walk on P. 88. penult r. falsified P. 93. l. 29. del of before Peter's LONDON Printed by J. D. for Richard Chiswel at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1688. The Second Part. The TEXTS examined which Papists cite out of the Bible TO PROVE The Supremacy of St. PETER and of the POPE over the whole Church IMPRIMATUR Guil. Needham Febr. 14. 1687. III. NOw we are come to the last reserve of the Roman Church for the support of this Cause which lies in those Words of Christ to Peter John xxi 15 16 17. Feed my Lambs and feed my Sheep They are sensible of the truth of that which hath been oft repeated that in neither of the former places Christ gave any thing to Peter but only promised he would give him such things as are there mentioned Now they are hard put to it to find when he did perform this Promise and not find with all that he performed it to all the Apostles and therefore as I have said made it to them all Here is the only Place they rely upon here they would fain find what is no where else to be found something peculiarly granted to Peter which was conferred upon none of the rest Read the words say they and observe how they are peculiarly spoken to Peter So when they had dined Jesus said to Simon Peter Simon Son of Jonas lovest thou these me more than these He saith unto him Yea Lord thou knowest I love thee He saith unto him FEED MY LAMBS He saith to him again the second time Simon Son of Jonas lovest thou me He saith unto him Yea Lord thou knowest that I love thee He saith unto him FEED MY SHEEP He saith unto him the third time Simon Son of Jonas lovest thou me Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time Lovest thou me And he said unto him Lord thou knowest all things thou knowest that I love thee Jesus saith unto him FEED MY SHEEP See say they with what Solemnity our Lord here speaks to Peter and to him alone calling him three times particularly by his Name and Relation and bidding him as oft feed his Lambs or Sheep whereby he instated him in the Office he had promised him and made him in a particular manner to be a Pastor even the Pastor of the whole Church with a Supreme Power over it First To which we reply That having seen and considered all this we can see nothing here that looks like a Grant or Commission nothing given to St. Peter by these words which are a plain Charge or Command requiring him to do his Office which was therefore conferred upon him before together with the rest of the Apostles when our Lord said As my Father hath sent me so I send you c. Receive ye the Holy Ghost c. Secondly And as here is no Commission no Conveyance of any thing made to him but a bare Precept to do his Duty So the Duty doth not concern him alone but belongs to them all as much as him It is at this time required in a Precept directed to him alone that 's true and Bellarmine might have spared all his Labour to prove that these words were spoken to Peter alone They were so if we understand thereby that he only by Name is now admonished of his Duty the reason of which we shall see presently but the Duty of which he was admonished was not peculiar to him and so the words do not belong to him alone as appears by many Arguments 1. From St. Peter himself who seems to have interpreted the Mind of Christ in this Speech to him in his words to the Elders of the Church to whom he wrote 1 Pet. v. 1. The Elders which are among you I exhort who am What the Monarch of the Church the Vicar of Christ Or Pastor of Pastors The Chief Apostle Or Supreme Bishop No such thing but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 your fellow Elder c. Feed the Flock of God which is among you c. And from whom did these Elders receive their Power and Authority From St. Peter No such matter but from the chief Shepherd or Pastor from whom he bids them expect their Reward ver 4. 2. In like manner St. Paul gives the very same Charge to the Elders of Ephesus to take heed to themselves and to all the Flock over which the Holy