given than the Synodical Epistle of the Council of Constantinople to the
Pope and the Western Bishops. This was a Synod of purely Eastern Bishops,
held in 381, which afterwards, by the consent of the Western Church, became
Ecumenical. This Council "arranged, without any reference to the West, the
affairs of the Oriental Church, and was even quite openly on the side of
the party of Meletius, rejected by the Westerns; just so the interference
attempted by the Italian Bishops in the matter of Maximus, the
counter-Bishop of Constantinople, remained quite disregarded."[79] They
write thus: "To our most honoured Lords and pious brethren and
fellow-ministers, Damasus," of Rome, "Ambrosius," of Milan, "Britton,
Valerianus, Ascholius, Anemius, Basilius, and the other holy Bishops
assembled in the great city of Rome, the holy Synod of orthodox Bishops
assembled in the great city of Constantinople greeting in the Lord."[80]
Then after informing them what they had decreed concerning the highest
matters of the faith, they go on--"But as to the management of particular
matters in the Churches, both an ancient fundamental principle, ([Greek:
thesmos],) as ye know, hath prevailed, and the rule of the holy Fathers at
Nicea, that in each province those of the province," _i.e._ the Bishops,
"and if they be willing, their neighbours also, should make the elections
according as they judge meet. In accordance with which know ye both that
the rest of the Churches are administered by us, and that Priests of the
most distinguished Churches have been appointed. Whence in the, so to say,
newly-founded Church of Constantinople, which by the mercy of God we have
snatched as it were out of the jaws of the lion, from subjection to the
blasphemy of the heretics, we have elected Bishop the most reverend and
pious Nectarius, in an Ecumenical[81] Council, with common agreement, in
the sight both of the most religious emperor Theodosius, and with the
consent of all the Clergy and the whole city. And those," the Bishops,
"both of the province and of the diocese[82] of the East, being canonically
assembled, the whole accordant Church as with one voice honouring the man,
have elected the most reverend and religious Bishop Flavian to the most
ancient and truly apostolical Church of Antioch in Syria, where first the
venerable name of Christian became known: which legitimate election the
whole Synod hath received." (And this notwithstanding the Bishop Paulinus,
who was received by Rome and the West, had survived St. Meletius, and was
then alive. So that they would not, even when such an opportunity occurred,
accept the Bishop in communion with Rome--a fact on the one side, which I
suppose may weigh against those words of St. Jerome on the other, "I know
not Vitalis; Meletius I reject; I am ignorant of Paulinus." Quoted, p. 26.
It seems that though the test of communion with Rome satisfied St. Jerome,
it did not satisfy an Ecumenical Council.) "But of the Church in Jerusalem,
_the mother of all Churches_, we declare that the most reverend and
religious Cyril is Bishop, both as long since canonically elected by those
of his province, and as having struggled much against the Arians in
different places. Whom, as being lawfully and canonically established by
us, we invite your piety also to congratulate, through spiritual love, and
the fear of the Lord, which represses all human affection, and accounts the
edification of the Churches more precious than sympathy with, or favour of,
individuals. For thus, by agreement in the word of faith, and by the
establishment of Christian love in us, we shall cease to say what the
Apostle has condemned--I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas. For
all being shown to be Christ's, who in us is not divided, by the help of
God we shall keep the body of the Church unrent, and shall stand with
confidence before the tribunal of the Lord."
Here is the whole East, in the year 381, long before the schism, announcing
to the Bishops of Rome, Milan, Aquilea, and the West, the election of its
Patriarchs, and exercising as an ancient incontestable right that liberty
of self-government, according to the canons, for continuing to do which
very thing, and for nothing else, the Latin Church accounts both the Greek
and English Church schismatic. Now the Eastern Church, as its own rituals
to this day declare, always acknowledged St. Peter's primacy, and that his
primacy was inherited by the Bishop of Rome; but it is apparent at once
that it never received, nay most strongly abhorred, that system of
centralization of all power in Rome, which St. Leo seems to have had before
his eyes. Its most holy and illustrious Fathers never submitted to this
domination. St. Basil had already complained of the Western pride, ([Greek:
dutike ophrus].)[83] St. Gregory of Nazianzum is that very Archbishop by
whose voluntary cession and advice Nectarius is elected. St. Gregory of
Nyssa, and Peter, brothers of St. Basil, are in this council, and so St.
Cyril of Jerusalem. And yet Bellarmine will have it that Bishops who so
wrote and so acted received their jurisdiction from Rome; and what is far
more important, if they did not, the present Papal theory falls to the
ground.
When Gieseler speaks of "the principle of the mutual independence of the
Western and Eastern Church being firmly held in the East generally,"[84] of
course it must be understood that there can be no independence, strictly so
called, in the Church and Body of Christ. Independence annihilates
membership and coherence. Accordingly, I am fully prepared to admit that
the Primacy of the Roman See, even among the Patriarchs, was a real thing;
not a mere title of honour. The power of the First See was really exerted
in difficult conjunctures to keep the whole body together. I am quite aware
that the Bishop of Rome could do, what the Bishop of Alexandria, or of
Antioch, or of Constantinople, or of Jerusalem, could not do. Even merely
as standing at the head of the whole West he counterbalanced all the four.
But I accept _bona fide_ what Socrates and Sozomen tell us. I believe they
had before them neither the Papal Empire of St. Gregory the Seventh, nor
the maxims of the Reformation. They are unbiassed witnesses. Sozomen then
tells us, that when St. Athanasius, unjustly deposed, fled to Rome for
justice, together with Paul of Constantinople, Marcellus of Ancyra, and
Asclepas of Gaza, "the Bishop of the Romans, having inquired into the
accusations against each, when he found them all agreeing with the doctrine
of the Nicene Synod, admitted them to communion as agreeing with him. _And
inasmuch as the care of all belonged to him on account of the rank of his
See, he restored to each his Church_. And he wrote to the Bishops
throughout the East, &c., which they took very ill;"[85] so ill, indeed,
that they afterwards pronounced a sentence of deposition against the Pope
himself. Again, Pope Julius "wrote to them, accusing them of secretly
undermining the doctrine of the Nicene Synod, and that, contrary to the
laws of the Church, they had not called him to their Council. _For that it
was an hierarchical law to declare null what was done against the sentence
of the Bishop of the Romans._"[86] That is, in matters concerning the state
of the whole Church, as was this cause of Athanasius. So Socrates says, in
reference to the same matter, that Pope Julius asserted to the Bishops of
the East, that "they were breaking the Canons in not having called him to
their Council, _the ecclesiastical Canon ordering that the Churches should
not make Canons contrary to the sentence of the Bishop of Rome_."[87] These
passages mark the prerogative of the First See: yet are they quite
compatible with the general self-government of the Eastern Church. No
doubt, when the Patriarchs of the East were at variance, all would look for
support to him who was both the first of their number, and stood alone with
the whole West to back him.
And thus again in St. Leo's time a very extraordinary emergency arose,
which still further raised the credit of the Roman Patriarch. Dioscorus of
Alexandria, supporting the heretic Eutyches, had, by help of the Emperor,
deposed and murdered St. Flavian of Constantinople: Juvenal of Jerusalem
was greatly involved in this transaction. Dioscorus had then consecrated
Anatolius to be the successor of St. Flavian, and Anatolius had consecrated
Maximus to Antioch, instead of Domnus, who, too, had been irregularly
deposed after St. Flavian. Now, had Dioscorus been otherwise blameless, his
consecrating Anatolius, of his own authority, to Constantinople, and
Anatolius then consecrating Maximus to Antioch, without the participation
of Rome, was an infringement of the just rights of the Primacy; as a
Patriarch could not be deposed without the concurrence of the First See.
Thus the whole East was in confusion. A heretic had been absolved; one
Patriarch murdered, two deposed; and of the other two, one was chief agent,
and the other not clear, in these transactions. No wonder that at the
Council of Chalcedon, the Bishop of Rome appeared at the head of the West,
both to vindicate his own violated rights, for Dioscorus had even deposed
him, and as the restorer of true doctrine, and the deliverer of the Church.
But I must now quote, at considerable length, the argument of Bossuet, and
his statement as to where the sovereign power in the Church resides. We
have already seen what he has said respecting the Council of Ephesus; and
his observations on that of Chalcedon and the four succeeding Councils are
equally important. His argument, which was intended for the justification
of the Gallican Church, really reaches to that of the Greek and English
Church also; and it is of the very utmost value, as it rests upon
authorities which are sacrosanct in the eyes of every Catholic--the
proceedings and decrees of Ecumenical Councils. Let it only be remembered,
that I quote no German rationalist, no one who denies either the doctrine
or hierarchy of the Church; but a Catholic prelate, the most strenuous
defender of the faith, and one who, in the great assembly of his brethren,
cried out, "If I forget thee, Church of Rome, may I forget myself; may my
tongue dry, and remain motionless in my mouth, if thou art not always the
first in my remembrance, if I place thee not at the beginning of all my
songs of joy."[88]
The question then at issue is, whether the Bishop of Rome be the first of
the Patriarchs, and first Bishop of the whole world, the head of the
Apostolic college, and holding among them the place which Peter held, all
which I freely acknowledge, as the testimony of antiquity; or whether he
be, further, not only this, but the source of all jurisdiction, uniting in
his single person all those powers which belonged to Peter and the Apostles
collectively: an idea which, however extravagant, is actually maintained at
present in the Church of Rome, is moreover absolutely necessary to justify
its acts, and to condemn the position of the Greek and English Church.
Bossuet, who fought for the Gallican liberties, fought for the Anglican
likewise.
"Let[89] us now review the Acts of the General Council of Chalcedon. The
previous facts were these. The two natures of Christ were confounded by
Eutyches, an Archimandrite and Abbot of Constantinople, an old man no less
obstinate than out of his senses. He then was condemned by his own Bishop,
St. Flavian of Constantinople, and appealed to all the Patriarchs, but
chiefly to the Roman Pontiff. Leo writes to Flavian, and 'orders everything
to be laid before him.' Flavian answers and requests of Leo 'that, making
his own the common cause and the discipline of the holy Churches, he
should, at the same time, decree that the condemnation of Eutyches was
regularly passed, and by his own words should strengthen the faith of the
Emperor.' He added, 'For the cause only needs your support and definition;
and you should, by your own determination, bring it to peace.' This means,
it is plain and clear, it has yet few followers, and those obscure, and of
no great name. He ends, 'For so the heresy which has arisen will be most
easily destroyed, by the cooperation of God, through your letters; and the
Council, of which there are rumours, be given up, that the holy Churches be
not disturbed.' This, too, is in accordance with discipline, for heresies
to be immediately suppressed, first by the Bishop's care, then by that of
the Apostolic See: nor is it forthwith necessary that an universal Council
be assembled, and the peace of all Churches troubled.
"After the proceedings had been sent to Leo, he writes to Flavian, most
fully and clearly setting forth the mystery of the Lord's incarnation, as
he says himself, and as all Churches bear witness; at the same time he
praises the acts of Flavian, and condemns Eutyches, yet with the grant of
indulgence, should he make amends. This is that noble and divine letter
which was afterwards so warmly celebrated through the whole Church, and
which I wish to be understood so often as I name simply Leo's letter.
"And here the question might have been terminated, but for those incidents
which induced the Emperor Theodosius the younger to call the Synod of
Ephesus. He was the same who had appointed the First Council of Ephesus,
under Coelestine and Cyril.
"Of this Synod St. Leo writes to Theodosius, at first, 'that the matter was
so evident, that for reasonable causes the calling of a Synod should be
abstained from.' And Flavian likewise seemed to have been against this. But
after the Emperor, with good intentions, had convoked the Synod, Leo gives
his consent, and sends the letter to the Synod, in which he praises the
Emperor for being willing to hold an assembly of Bishops, 'that by a fuller
judgment all error may be done away with.' He mentions that he had sent
Legates, who, says he, 'in my stead shall be present at the sacred assembly
of your Brotherhood, and determine, by a joint sentence with you, what
shall please the Lord.'
"Here are three points: first, that in questions of faith it is not always
necessary for an Ecumenical Council to be assembled. Secondly, that Leo,
great Pontiff as he was, did not decline a judgment, if the cause required
it, after the matter had been judged by himself. Thirdly, that, if a Synod
were held, it behoved that all error should be done away with by a fuller
judgment, and the question be terminated by the Apostolic See, by a joint
sentence with the Bishops, in which he acknowledges that full force of
consent, so often mentioned by me.
"But after Dioscorus, Bishop of Alexandria, the protector of Eutyches, had
done every thing with violence and crime, and not a Council, but an
assembly of robbers downright, had been held at Ephesus, then, when the
Episcopal order had been divided, and the whole Church thrown into
confusion, under the name of the Second Ecumenical Council of Ephesus, Leo
himself admits that a new general Council must be held, which should either
remove or mitigate all offences, so that there should no longer be either
any doubt as to faith, or division in charity. Therefore he perceived that
schisms, and such a fluctuation of minds respecting the faith itself, could
not be sufficiently removed by his own judgment. And the Pontiff, no less
wise and good than resolute, demanded a fuller, firmer, greater judgment,
by the authority of a General Council, by which, that is, all doubt might
be removed.
"But the Emperor Theodosius would not hear of a new Council, so long as he
thought that due order had been preserved at Ephesus. 'For the matter was
settled at Ephesus by the deposition of those who deserved it; and a
decision having been once passed, nothing else can be determined after it.'
Here the difference between the judgments of Roman Pontiffs and of General
Councils is very evident; the judgment of the Roman Pontiff being
reconsidered in a Council, whereas after a Council, so long as it is held a
lawful one, nothing can be reconsidered, nothing heard.
"But as Theodosius shortly afterwards died, the Emperor Marcian, upon
understanding that the Ephesine assembly had used violence, and acted
otherwise against the Canons, and was therefore refused the name and
authority of an Ecumenical Council by most Bishops, but chiefly by the
Roman Pontiff, could not deny the calling of a new Council to Leo's
request. So the Council of Chalcedon took place, and all admitted that
there were certain dissensions on matter of faith so grave, that they can
only be settled by the authority of an Ecumenical Council.
"All know that more than six hundred Bishops assembled at Chalcedon. The
Bishops Paschasinus and Lucentius presided over the holy Council in Leo's
stead. Magistrates were assigned by the Emperor to direct the proceedings,
and restrain disorder; but to leave the question of faith and all
ecclesiastical matters to the power and judgment of the Council.
"But in this Council two things make for us: first, the deposition of
Dioscorus; secondly, the sentence of the Council respecting the approval of
Leo's letter.
"With Dioscorus they thus proceeded: when, upon being cited, he refused to
present himself to judgment, and his crimes were notorious to all,
Paschasinus, Legate of the Apostolic See, asks the Fathers,--'We desire to
know what your Holiness determines:' the holy Synod replied, 'What the
Canons order.' The Bishop Lucentius said, 'Certain proceedings took place
in the holy Council of Ephesus by our most blessed Father Cyril; look into
their form, and assign what form you determine on.' The Bishop Paschasinus
said, 'Does your piety command us to use Ecclesiastical punishment? Do you
consent?' The holy Council said, 'We all consent.' The Bishop Paschasinus
said, 'Again I ask, what is the pleasure of your blessedness?' Maximus,
Bishop of the great city of Antioch, said, 'We are conformable to whatever
seems good to your Holiness.' Thus the initiative, and form, as it was
called, was to be given by the Apostolic See. And so the Legates, after
recounting the crimes of Dioscorus, thus pronounced: 'Wherefore, holy Leo,
by us and this present Council, together with the most blessed Apostle
Peter, who is the rock and ground of the Church, and the foundation of the
right faith, hath declared him cut off from all sacerdotal power.'
Anatolius, Bishop of Constantinople, said, 'As our most blessed Archbishop
and Father Leo, so Anatolius.' The rest to the same effect: 'I agree; I am
of the same mind; I agree to the condemnation made by the Council; I
declare, I decree the same:' and the subscription, 'I, Paschasinus, declare
and subscribe;' 'I, Anatolius, declare and subscribe;' and so the rest.
"Thus from Peter the head and source of Unity the sentence began, and then
became of full force by common agreement of the Bishops, just as that first
Council of the Apostles is always represented.
"By this is understood the letter of the Emperor Valentinian to the Emperor
Theodosius: 'We ought to defend with all devotion, and preserve in our
times uninjured, the dignity of the veneration due to the blessed Apostle
Peter: so that the most blessed Bishop of the Roman city may have power to
judge concerning the faith and Bishops.' Not, however, alone, but with the
condition added by the Emperor, 'That the aforesaid Bishop,' at least, in
those causes which touch the faith and the universal state of the Church,
'may give sentence after assembling the Priests from the whole world.' That
is, by a common decree, as both Leo himself had demanded, and as we have
seen done in the Council itself.
"With the same view, the Empress Pulcheria writes to Leo concerning
assembling the Bishops, 'who,' she says, 'when the Council is made, shall
decree, at your instance, concerning the Catholic confession, and
concerning Bishops.'
"The Emperors Valentinian and Marcian write the same to Leo: that, 'by the
Council to be held,' every thing should be done at his instance: first
laying this down, that he 'possessed the first rank in the Episcopate, as
to faith.'
"Hence it is very plainly evident, that, in the usual order, both the Pope
should have the initiative, and the Bishops sitting with him should be
judges; and that the force of an irreversible decree lies in agreement: the
very thing to which the Empress Pulcheria bears witness, in her letter to
Strategus the Consular, who was ordered to protect the Council from all
violence: 'that the holy Council, holding its sittings with all discipline,
what has been revealed by the Lord Christ should be confirmed in common by
all, without any disturbance, and with agreement.'
"Meanwhile, it is evident that proceedings are at the instance of the
Pontiff, yet so that the force of the decree lies, not in the sole
authority of the Pontiff, which no one then imagined, but in the consent
itself and approval of the Council: and that the Fathers and the Council
decree together, judge together, and the sentence of the Council is the
sentence of the Pope; which, when the consent of the Churches is added, is
then held to be irreversible and final, which is all I demand.
"Another important point treated in the Council of Chalcedon, that is, the
establishing of the faith, and the approval of Leo's letter, is as follows.
Already almost the whole West, and most of the Easterns, with Anatolius
himself, Bishop of Constantinople, had gone so far as to confirm by
subscription that letter, before the Council took place; and in the Council
itself the Fathers had often cried out, 'We believe, as Leo: Peter hath
spoken by Leo: we have all subscribed the letter: what has been set forth
is sufficient for the faith: no other exposition may be made.' Things went
so far, that they would hardly permit a definition to be made by the
Council. But neither subscriptions privately made before the Council, nor
these vehement cries of the Fathers in the Council, were thought sufficient
to tranquillize minds in so unsettled a state of the Church, for fear that
a matter so important might seem determined rather by outcries than by fair
and legitimate discussion. And the Clergy of Constantinople exclaimed, 'It
is a few who cry out, not the whole Council which speaks.' So it was
determined that the letter of Leo should be lawfully examined by the
Council, and a definition of faith be written by the Synod itself. So the
acts of foregoing Councils being previously read, the magistrates proposed
concerning Leo's letter, 'As the Gospels lie before you, let every one of
the most reverend Bishops declare whether the exposition of the 318
Fathers, and, after that, of the 150 Fathers, agrees with the letter of
holy Leo.'
"Since the question as to examining the letter of Leo was put in this form,
it will be worth while to weigh the sentences, and, as they are called, the
votes of the Fathers, in order to understand from the beginning why they
approved of the letter; why they afterwards defended it with so much zeal;
why, finally, it was ratified after so exact an examination of the Council.
Anatolius first gives his sentence. 'The letter of the most holy Leo agrees
with the Creed of the 318 and the 150 Fathers; as also with what was done
at Ephesus under Coelestine and Cyril; therefore I agree and willingly
subscribe to it.' These are the words of one plainly deliberating, not
blindly subscribing out of mere obedience. The rest say to the same effect:
'It agrees, and I subscribe.' Many plainly and expressly, 'It agrees, and I
therefore subscribe.' Some add, 'It agrees, and I subscribe, as it is
correct.' Others, 'I am sure that it agrees.' Others, 'As it is concordant,
and has the same aim, we embrace it, and subscribe.' Others, 'This is the
faith we have long held: this we hold: in this we were baptized: in this we
baptize.' Others, and a great part, 'As I see, as I feel, as I have proved,
as I find that it agrees, I subscribe.' Others, 'As I am persuaded,
instructed, informed, that all agrees, I subscribe.' Many set forth their
difficulties, mostly arising from a foreign language; others from the
subject matter, saying, that they had heard the letter, 'and in very many
points were assured it was right: some few words stood in their way, which
seemed to point at a certain division in the person of Christ.' They add,
that they had been informed by Paschasinus and the Legates 'that there is
no division, but one Christ; therefore,' they say, 'we agree and
subscribe.' Others, after mentioning what Paschasinus and Lucentius had
said, thus conclude: 'By this we have been satisfied, and, considering that
it agrees in all things with the holy Fathers, we agree and subscribe.'
Where the Illyrian Bishops, and others who before that examination had
expressed their acclamations to the letter, again cry out, 'We all say the
same thing, and agree with this.' So that, indeed, it is evident that, in
the Council itself, and before it, their agreement is based on this, that,
after weighing the matter, they considered, they judged, they were
persuaded, that all agreed with the Fathers, and perceived that the common
faith of all and each had been set forth by Leo.
"This was done at Chalcedon; but likewise before that Council our Gallic
Bishops, at a synod held in Gaul, wrote thus to Leo himself, concerning
receiving his letter: 'Many in that letter of Leo to Flavian with joy and
exultation have recognised what their faith was assured of, and are with
reason delighted that, by tradition from their fathers, they have always
held just what your Apostleship has set forth. Some rendered more careful,
congratulate themselves every way on being instructed by receiving the
admonition of your blessedness, and rejoice that an occasion is given them,
in which they may speak out freely and confidently, and each one assert
what he believes, supported by the authority of the Apostolic See.'
"The Italian (Bishops) agree, at the instance of Eusebius, Bishop of Milan,
'for it was evident that that (letter of Leo to Flavian) had the full and
vigorous simplicity of the faith; was illuminated likewise by statements
from the Prophets, by authorities from the Gospels, and by testimonies of
Apostolic teaching, and in every point agreed with what the holy Ambrose,
moved by the Holy Spirit, put in his books concerning the mystery of the
Lord's incarnation. And inasmuch as all the statements agree with the faith
of our ancestors delivered down to us from antiquity, all determined that
whoever hold impious opinions concerning the mystery of the Lord's
incarnation, are to be visited with fitting condemnation, as they
themselves agree, according to the sentence of your authority.'
"See here an authoritative sentence in the Roman Pontiff; and also the
agreement of the Bishops to the instance of the Roman Pontiff, and that
granted after inquiry into the truth. On these terms they gave their
approval, and their subscription, and decreed that a letter, agreeing with
the apprehensions of their common faith, and found and judged to be such by
them, was of universal authority by the union of their sentences with the
Apostolic See. Which wonderfully accords with what we have just read in the
sentences of the Fathers of Chalcedon.