cause some rupture with the Pope Into what confusion and disorder might not so unfortunate an accident cast us †Greg. Naz. Orat. 12. Were we not better to Sacrifice somewhat to the good of our peace which is the greatest Legacy that our Saviour left to his Apostles * Joh. 14.27 Pacem meam do vobis What is there more precious than Union and Concord since that Jesus Christ gave so great a Character of it to his Disciples †Joh. 13.35 In hoc cognoscent omnes quia mei Discipuli estis si dilectionem habueritis ad invicem What is there more prejudicial than disunion and discord which destroy the most flourishing States Omne regnum divisum contra se desolabitur domus divisa contra se non stabit Matt. 12.25 Phila. I agree with you that we ought to do our utmost to obtain Peace that we ought to sacrifice our own Interests nay that for so great a good we ought to relinquish things that seem to us of importance Ipsum enim nomen pacis amabille says St. Austin but you must own too that we ought to do nothing for Peace to the prejudice of Truth St. Paul joyns these one with the other ‖ Eph. 4.15 Veritatem facientes in Charitate And God who calls himself Charity calls himself also Truth I know also that the Fathers of the Church exhort us greatly to avoid Schism as a mortal poison but a Peace made against the interest of Truth is not a real Peace and when we cannot make it and maintain it but at the prejudice of this Trurh it were better that a Scandal should arise than that Truth should be abandoned Satius est says St. Bernard ut scandalum oriatur quam ut veritas disceratur Philér How My dear Philal. Do you think that the Propositions of the Clergies Declaration and of Father Buhi's Thesis contain such essential and such important Truths that it would be a crime not to defend them tho it were to the disturbance of the Publick Peace Phila. Yes Dear Sir I am very well perswaded that all these Propositions are founded upon Texts of Scripture upon the Canons of Councils and upon the perpetual and constant Tradition of the Church principally of the Gallican Church and by consequence I believe that we ought not to depart from them any ways and that we cannot do it without danger But because it will be a matter of long Discourse I shall defer the examining of it to another walk The Second Dialogue PHilalethe and Phileréné who were no less desirous to entertain each other upon the subject whereon they had begun than to enjoy the fine weather of the Spring came the next day to the place appointed for their Conversation Scarce had they walked a turn or two talking of indifferent matters but Philalethe to make good the promise he had made the day before to his dear Friend began thus I told you yesterday says he that the Propositions contained in the Declaration of my Lords the Bishops and in the Thesis maintained by Father Buhi are of greater importance than you thought of and that they contained in them Truths too evident and too necessary to be let go for the motives of a deluding Peace To convince you of it we will make it the subject of our present Discourse I believe that the first and chief of these Questions and which ought to serve as a foundation to all the rest is that which concerns the Authority of Councils which hath ever been most venerable among Christians and which I believe to be of Divine Right and above the Authority of the Pope And in this I rely upon the Scripture and the perpetual and constant Tradition of the Church I believe answered Philéréne as you do That the Authority of Councils is of Divine Right and no Christian that ever I heard of hath yet disputed it But I know not whether you can so clearly prove as you hope for that this Authority of Councils is above that of the Pope for that many Learned men hold the contrary and there seems to be nothing in Antiquity decisive upon this matter The Council of Constance was the first that in this case pronounced in favour of Councils and what that Council declared about it was not in an absolute sence but in some certain respects and for some certain occasions Phila. I acknowledg that there are some famous Doctors who are of this opinion That the Pope is above the Council but it cannot also be denied but that the number of Learned men who hold the contrary Opinion is much the greater and you shall scarce find a Man of Learning in all France but he adheres to their Party Philér I am not for entring upon this particular discourse but you will oblige me to shew me by good Reasons that the Authority of Councils is the supream Authority in the Church and that Believers ought not to acknowledg any other upon Earth in things which relate to Faith and Discipline Phila. To be as good as my word to you then in what I promised you I suppose you know the Original of Councils A Man of your reading in the Divine History cannot be ignorant that God himself established them when he commanded Moses to take to him Seventy Elders for the Government and Conduct of his Ancient people and you know without doubt that the Jews had not only their Council of Twenty three which they called the Lesser House of Judgment but also their Council of Seventy wherein presided their Anaci which Council was composed of Sacrificers Priests and Scribes of the Law and was called the Greater House of Judgmen Our Councils have been formed after this Model and the Apostles began them at Jerusalem But to remove all difficulty our Question seems to be clearly decided by our Saviour in the 18th of St. Matthew when he referreth them who had any difference to the Church if they could not decide it by another way Dic Ecclesiae you see our Saviour referreth his Disciples to the Church without excepting St. Peter himself for which reason St. Augustin says very pertinently * Ep. 112. Tra. 118. in don lib. 1. pebapt con Donat. cap. 51. That the Church is the last and supreme Judgment that St. Peter signified the Church when our Saviour said to him That whatsoever he should bind on Earth should be bound in Heaven and whatsoever he should loose on Earth should be loosed in Heaven that it is the Church which received the power of the Keys and that if any one despiseth her when she correcteth he ought to be looked upon as a Publican and a Sinner It is furthermore the Church which is called the Support and Pillar of Truth * 1 Tim. 3.15 Columna firmamentum veritatis If you take good heed to this expression of St. Paul and to the Reasons whereon he grounds it you will agree that the Church is
the depositary of Truth and that she hath the supream jurisdiction over her Children for their behaviour for it is certain in this Text that St. Paul alludes either to the Pillars which were erected in the Heathen Temples upon which were fixed the Statues and the Deities which were there worshipped or to the Two Pillars of Solomon's Temple one of which was called Jakin and the other Bohas and that he would have us understand by it that it is the Churches Office to declare to establish and to maintain the Truth Philér I see very well that the Church being the Spouse of Jesus Christ she is made partaker of the advantages and privileges which Marriage endoweth her with and that she being his Body is as it were clothed with his Majesty But St. Peter Was not he made the Head of this Church Did not Jesus Christ make him his Lieutenant and Vicar when he said to him that upon him he would build his Church †Matt. 16.18 19. Tu es Petrus super hanc Petram c. Was it not to St. Peter that he gave the Soveraign Authority when he said to him Dabo tibi claves Regni Coelorum quodcunq ligaveris super Petram c. Phila. It is true that all Catholick Divines do acknowledg St. Peter as the Ministerial head of the Church and Prince of the Society of the Apostles but this was not a principality of Dominion which our Saviour expresly forbiddeth his Apostles ‖ Matt. 16.18 19. Luke 22.25 Item Matt. 20.25 Reges gentium Dominantur eorum vos autem non sic For which reason St. Bernard says in the 3d Book of his Considerations to Eugenius Imperium interdicitur Ministerium indicitur But this is only a Primacy of Order ₠Lib. de unit Eccl. Propter bonum unitatis says St. Cyprian who assures us furthermore that all the Apostles Erant pari consortio Honoris Authoritatis praediti Besides Was not St. Peter a Member of the Church St. Augustine and St. Cyprian says he was and that with a great deal of reason since that all Believers compose but one body to whom Jesus Christ as the Head doth communicate the spirit of Life It is then manifest that the Member dependeth upon the Body and not the Body upon the Member Also St. Ambrose says upon this Subject in his Commentary upon St. Luke That the Church is above St. Peter Ecclesia est super Petrum This evidently appears by what St. Luke says in the 15th of the Acts concerning the first Council that was held among Christians in which Assembly of the Apostles and Ministers of the Church at Jerusalem the question which St. Paul and St. Barnabas related to them on the behalf of the Church of Antioch was decided but they decide it not by the Authority of St. Peter but by that of the Holy Ghost and of themselves Visum est spiritui sancto nobis c. Also in the 21st of the same Book St. James and St. Paul say that they had made this Ordinance St. Jude and St. Silas are sent not on the behalf of St. Peter but of the whole College of the Apostles Add to this That St. Peter himself was sent with St. John by the Apostles to those of Samaria after they had received the Word of God as it is related in the 8th Chapter of the same Book which proves invincibly that St. Peter was not the Soveraign Master of the Society of the Apostles but that he was in some degree their inferior whatsoever the place were that he held amongst them not unlike the first Senator in the Body of a Senate it being the right of a Superior to send an Envoy Philér I apprehend very well what you say But can it be denied but that Jesus Christ promised somewhat particularly to St. Peter in the 16th of St. Matthew when he said to him in particular Ego vero dico tibi c. Phila. I could tell you as a great many Catholick Divines do That St. Peter having answered in the name of all the Apostles Jesus Christ gave him nothing in particular but what he received he received in the name of all the Apostles and of the whole Church of which he was then the Type as St. Austin says in the 1st Book of his Retractations Cap. 21. speaking of St. Peter Typum gerebat Ecclesiae cui sunt traditae claves which is founded upon the Text of the 20th of St. John where Jesus Christ gives equally to all his Apostles the power of forgiving and of retaining Sins I could say with St. Chrisostome upon this passage and with (a) De Verb. Dom. Serm. 13. Tract in Joh. 12.4 Serm. de divers 118. in Psal 86.97 c. St. Augustine That this Rock whereon Christ promiseth to build his Church was that firm and solid Confession of Faith which St. Peter had just then made or else Jesus Christ himself who was this Corner-stone whereon was placed the mystical building of the Church Et super hanc Petram quam cognovisti says St. Augustin dicens tu es Christus Filius Dei viventis edificabo Ecclesiam meam id est super me ipsum Filium Dei edificabo Ecclesiam meam super me edificabo te non me super te (a) Cyril lib. 4. de Trinit St. Cyril (b) Hil. lib. 2. 6. de Trin. St. Hilary (c) Amb. in c. 2. de Episto St. Ambrose and (d) Hiero. lib. cont Jov. c. 19. St. Hierom are of this opinion but to deal freely with you it is none of mine For I had rather take this Text as (e) Tert. lib. 1. de pud cap. 21. Tertullian and St. Cyprian and say with these other Doctors That Jesus Christ spoke in particular to St. Peter and promised him some Prerogatives above his Colleagues And to justify my Opinion I observe first That St. Peter answers in particular concerning his Faith. Now Faith is so internal a thing that nothing but the Conscience of each particular person can answer for it and by consequence we cannot say that this Apostle answered in the name of the whole Society of the Apostles When it concerned some outward thing which was obvious to the senses this Apostle might answer in the name of all his Brethren as when he says to our Saviour We have left all to follow thee Omnia c. But when the question was concerning a motion of the heart he could not answer for any but himself Secondly You must observe that our Saviour promiseth a particular recompence to the Faith of Peter for which after that the Apostle had said Tu es Christus Filius Dei vivi He Answers him Ego vero dico tibi quia tu es Petrus beatus es Simon Barjona to make him know that he would reward particularly the strength of his Faith and the fervency of his Zeal For this reason he puts him in mind of the new name he had
Theoctistus Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine invited Dyonisius of Alexandria chief of the Diocess of Egypt and Firmilian of Caesaria in Cappadocia chief of the Diocess of Pontus to the Convocation of a Council which was at length holden at Antioch without the order of Faelix Bishop of Rome and they did proceed against Paulus Samosatenus tho it doth not appear that any body I won't say presided but so much as assisted on the behalf of that Bishop and at length they ended the Assembly by a Synodal Letter which they sent to Dionysius whom they thought yet in possession of the Roman Chair tho he were dead in the Month of September the year before to Maternus Bishop of Alexandria and to all their fellow Bishops Priests and Deacons throughout the whole Earth and to the whole Catholick Church under Heaven This had been a very irregular proceeding if the Bishop of Rome had been the supreme Magistrate of the Church We may add to this what the Council of Alexandria did in regard of Origen under Demetrius for they condemned this Doctor whilst he was yet living and also under Theodosius in whose Reign they Anathematized his Doctrine and his Memory and all this without the Order Intention or Authority of the Bishop of Rome which they had not dared to have undertaken had they believed that this Bisop had had the supreme Authority in the Church From all this Truth which I have told you thus at large may be gathered That in these Primitive Ages of Christianity the See of Rome was really considered as the first in place as the Chair of St. Peter and the Center of Priestly Unity as St. Cyprian calls it in his Epistle to Cornelius but that it was not looked upon as the supreme Tribunal of things that concerned Religion Philér I gather from this Discourse that you have now made that in these Primitive Ages wherein the Holy Bishops of Rome aspired to no other Crown than that of Martyrdom and shared nothing amongst them but the Cross before the Spirit of Ambition and of Dominion had entred into the heads of any of these Prelates That the Spirit of Charity and of Humility which is the spirit of the Gospel did perfectly animate them and that all the Bishops living in this good understanding and in this union which Jesus Christ recommends so strictly to his Disciples they did communicate from one to the other the exigencies and necessities of their Churches that to heal the evils which molested them they chose out themselves the remedies which they judged most convenient and the most effectual means and that which they oftenest made use of was the Convocation of Synods to whom the Grace of the Holy Spirit as St. Cyprian says was never wanting for the good and edification of their Flocks And this which you have now related brings into my memory many such like methods of our Ancient Bishops of France which I think I have read in St. Gregory of Tours But can you shew me in the following Ages this same method of acting and this Tradition of the Church which you have called perpetual and constant Phila. I hope I shall make good my Promise I own that the Heathen Emperors having embraced Christianity the Church having been enriched by their liberality and her Ministers raised to a degree of Honour more considerable in the World by the effects of these Princes Piety things began to put on another face and the Bishops to take place according to the dignity of the Cities wherein they exercised their Ministry and to change that deference and honour that was given them before into a sort of jurisdiction as many people have own'd and among others * In Anno 39. Cardinal Baronius and as may be gathered out of the 17th Canon of the Council of Calcedon But whatever alteration the Conversion of Emperors and of Kings might have caused in the condition of the Prelates and in the Government of the Church it cannot be denied but that the Church Government remained still the same in substance and in what was essenrial to it and that they were always vigorously opposed who endeavoured to innovate and to introduce in the Church a Monarchical Government so that the Soveraign Authority remained always in the Councils who in these latter Ages have openly declared themselves against those who would have robbed them of this privilege The first example that I remember which justifieth the Soveraign Authority of the Church and which proves that the Bishops of Rome were dependants on it is that of the Council of Arles assembled if I am not mistaken by the Emperor Constantine in the year 314 and composed of 200 Bishops called together from divers Provinces of the Empire You know that the Causes of this Councils being called were the differences that happened between Donatus of Casanigra and Cecilian Bishop of Carthage who had been deposed by an Assembly of Bishops wherein Secundus the Bishop of Tigifis and Primate of Numidia presided these differences having divided Africa some Synodal Assemblies having established Cecilian and others Donatus I will not pretend to give an account of this History which you may have read in divers Authors †Euseb lib. 15. Optat. Mil. cont advers Parin lib. 1. and particularly in St. Austin in his Epistles 68. and 162 where you may see how Constantine commanded the Proconsul Aelius to hear all Parties and to give judgment and that the Donatists were were there condemned by the Sentance of the Proconsul The Schismaticks then applied themselves to the Emperor who to put an end to their differences named first of all Matronus Bishop of Cologne Delicius Bishop of Autun and Marinus Bishop of Arles and to these three he at length joyned Melciades Bishop of Rome and Fifteen other Italian Bishops of which number was the Bishop of Milan these Nineteen Bishops gave their judgments in favour of Cecilian the Donatists being condemned Appealed from this judgment and accused their Judges of being too precipitate What now did the Emperor Constantine He did not tell these Sectaries that the judgment that had condemned them had been given by the Soveraign Judge of the Church but he called a General Council in the City of Arles to examin the matter over again which had been judged by the Bishop of Rome and the other Eighteen Bishops which was done in the presence of two Priests and two Deacons whom Sylvester that succeeded Melciades had sent thither who sat also no higher than in the 5th place The condemnation of the Donatists was confirmed in this Assembly they also decided the question concerning the Baptism of Hereticks and gave it otherwise rhan the Bishop of Rome had adjudged it or St. Cyprian explained it which decision held the just medium between these two Opinions From hence it appeareth clearly enough That the Bishop of Rome did not believe himself above the Council since that he suffered what he had already adjudged