S. PETER'S PRIMACY INVOLVED IN THE FOURFOLD UNITY OF CHRIST'S
KINGDOM.
The doctrine[1] of S. Paul has brought us to a most interesting
point of the subject, what, namely, is the principle of unity in the
Church. A short consideration of this will shew us how the office of
S. Peter enters into and forms part of the radical idea of the
Church, so that the moment we profess our belief in one holy
Catholic Church, the belief is likewise involved in that Primacy of
teaching and authority which makes and keeps it one.
The principle of unity, then, is no other than "the Word made
flesh:" that divine Person who has for ever joined together the
Godhead and the Manhood. Thus, S. Paul speaks to us of God "having
made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good
pleasure, which He purposed in Himself, in the dispensation of the
fulness of times, _to gather together under one head all things in
Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth_:" at whose
resurrection, "He set all things under His feet, and gave Him to be
head over all to the Church, which is His body, the fulness of Him
who filleth all in all." And again, "the head of every man is
Christ;--and the head of Christ is God." "And we being many are one
body in Christ, and every one members one of another:"[2] as, again,
he sets forth at length in the 12th chapter of the First Epistle to
the Corinthians, calling that one body by the very name of Christ.
With one voice the ancient Fathers[3] exult in this as the great
purpose of His Incarnation. "The work," says S. Hippolytus,[4] "of
His taking a body, is the gathering up into one head of all things
unto Him." "The Word Man," says S. Irenaeus,[5] "gathering all things
up into Himself, that as in super-celestial, and spiritual, and
invisible things, the Word of God is the chief, so also in visible
and corporeal things He may hold the chiefship, assuming the Primacy
to Himself, and joining Himself as Head to the Church, may draw all
things to Himself, at the fitting time." And again, "The Son of God
was made Man among men, to join the end to the beginning, that is,
man to God;" or, as Tertullian says,[6] "that God might shew that in
Himself was the evolution of the beginning to the end, and the
return of the end to the beginning." And Oecumenius, "Angels and
men were rent asunder; God then joined them, and made them one
through Christ." S. Gregory Thaumaturgus breaks out, "Thou art He
that didst bridge over heaven and earth by Thy sacred body." And
Augustine,[7] "Far off He was from us, and very far. What, so far
off as the creature and the Creator? What, so far off as God and
man? What, so far off as justice and iniquity? What, so far off as
eternity and mortality? See how far off was 'the Word in the
beginning, God with God, by whom all things were made.' How, then,
was He made nigh, that He might be as we, and we in Him? 'The Word
was made flesh.'" "Man, being assumed, was taken into the nature of
the Godhead," says S. Hilary:[8] and S. Chrysostome,[9] "He puts on
flesh, that He who cannot be held may be holden:" "dwelling with
us," says Gregory[10] of Nazianzum, "by interposing His flesh as a
veil, that the incomprehensible may be comprehended." "For since,"
adds S. Cyril,[11] "man's nature was not capable of approaching the
pure and unmixed glory of the Godhead, because of its inherent
weakness, for our use the only-begotten one put on our likeness."
"In the assumption of our nature," says S. Leo,[12] "He became to us
the step, by which through Him we may be able to mount unto Him:"
"the descent of the Creator to the creature is the advance of
believers to things eternal:" and, "it is not doubtful that man's
nature has been taken into such connection by the Son of God, that,
not only in that Man who is the first-born of all creation, but even
in all His saints, there is one and the same Christ: and as the Head
cannot be divided from the limbs, so neither the limbs from the
Head. For though it belong not to this life, but to that of
eternity, that God be all in all, yet even now He is the undivided
inhabitant of His temple, which is the Church." For all the above is
contained in our Lord's own words, "that they all may be one, as
Thou, Father, in Me, and I in Thee," on which S. Athanasius[13]
says, "that all, being carried by Me, may be all one body and one
spirit, and reach the perfect man:"--"for, as the Lord having
clothed Himself in a body, became man, so we men are deified by the
Word, being assumed through His flesh." S. Gregory,[14] of Nyssa,
has unfolded this idea thus: "since from no other source but from
our lump was the flesh which received God, which, by the
resurrection, was together with the Godhead exalted; just as in our
own body the action of one organ of sense communicates sympathy to
all that which is united with the part, so, just as if the whole
nature (of man) were one living creature, the resurrection of a part
passes throughout the whole, being communicated from the part to the
whole, according to the nature's continuity and union." And
another,[15] interpreting the words, "that they all may be one,"
"thus I will, that they being drawn into unity, may be blended with
each other, and becoming as one body, may all be in Me, who carry
all in that one temple which I have assumed; the temple, namely, of
His Body." And lastly, S. Hilary[16] deduces this not only from the
Incarnation, but from the Blessed Eucharist. "For, if the Word be
really made flesh, and we really receive the Word as flesh, in the
food of the Lord, how is He not to be thought to remain in us
naturally, since, both in being born a man, He assumed the nature of
our flesh, never to be severed from Him, and has joined the nature
of His flesh to the eternal nature under the sacrament of the flesh
to be communicated to us."
So deep in the junction of the divine and human natures in our
Lord's adorable Person lies the root of unity for that humanity
which He purchased with His blood. It is in virtue of this headship
that the whole mystical body is one, and "we all members one of
another." By this headship our Lord nourishes and cherishes the
Church, and communicates to her incessantly that stream of grace by
which she lives. And as this headship flows from the union of the
Godhead and Manhood, so it is inseparable from His Person, and
incommunicable. But He has Himself, in His parting discourse,
recorded by S. John, dwelt upon the great sacrament of unity, the
result of this headship, and set it forth as the sign and seal of
His own divine mission, and the one convincing proof of His
religion's superhuman origin. By following His words we shall see
that this unity is not simple but fourfold, and we shall trace the
mutual relation and subordination to the divine Headship of its
several kinds.
1. And first, "In[17] that day," says He, that is, after His own
resurrection, "ye shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me,
and I in you," whereby He declares that, in the completion of the
dispensation, the union between Himself and the faithful shall be
such as to image out the mutual indwelling of the Father and the
Son. Which again is further expressed, "I[18] am the true vine, and
My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in Me that beareth not
fruit He will take away: and every one that beareth fruit, He will
purge it, that it may bring forth more fruit.... I am the vine; you
the branches: he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same beareth
much fruit: for without Me you can do nothing. If any one abide not
in Me, he shall be cast forth as a branch, and shall wither, and
they shall gather him up and cast him into the fire, and he burneth.
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you shall ask
whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you." In these words He
sets forth that union of mystical influx, by cooperation with which
His disciples keep His words and abide in His love, and of which He
is Himself the immediate principle.
2. But He does not stop at this interior and invisible union between
His disciples and Himself: He speaks likewise of a new and special
command, and of a special gift, by which their union with each other
should be known. "A[19] new command I give unto you, that you love
one another: as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By
this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love
one to another." And again, "This[20] is My command, that you love
one another, as I have loved you. Greater love than this hath no
man, that any one lay down his life for his friends.--These things I
command you, that you love one another." But the Holy Spirit, whom
our Lord was about to send forth, is the efficient principle of the
love here enjoined, by His substantial indwelling, as we are told,
"The[21] charity of God is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy
Ghost who is given to us." From Him, therefore, bestowed by the Head
of the Church, springs that unity of charity, which, being itself
internal, is shown in outward signs, and constitutes that
distinctive spirit of the Christian people, the spirit characterising
it, and analogous to the national spirit in civil organization.
3. But our Lord likewise speaks of a third unity, springing from the
direction of one and the same divine Spirit. "And[22] I will ask the
Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, that He may abide
with you for ever: the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot
receive, because it seeth Him not, nor knoweth Him: but you shall
know Him, because He shall abide with you, and shall be in you."
"The Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My
name, He will teach you all things, and bring all things to your
mind whatsoever I shall have said to you." "It[23] is expedient to
you that I go: for if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you;
but if I go, I will send Him to you." "But when He, the Spirit of
truth, is come, He will teach you all truth. For He shall not speak
of Himself, but what things soever He shall hear, He shall speak;
and the things that are to come, He shall show you. He shall glorify
Me, because He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it to you." Of
the nature of this unity we may judge by the gifts and offices
assigned to that Spirit and Paraclete from whom it springs. Now He
is repeatedly termed "the Spirit of truth," and His office, to
_suggest_, to _announce_, to _teach_, and _to lead into all truth_.
This unity, therefore, is opposed to the division produced by
ignorance and error, and so is the unity of faith, or Christian
profession. Thus our Lord promises, besides the unity of charity,
that of faith, the efficient principle of which, as well as of the
former, is contained in the communication of the Holy Spirit. But it
is no less true in the supernatural order of divine gifts, than in
the order of nature, that the first cause produces its effects by
means of second causes. And here, as often as the Lord promises the
Spirit of truth, He promises Him _to the Apostles_, and assures His
perpetual abidance with them and the successors in their charge,
thus, "That He may abide with you for ever:" "He shall abide with
you, and shall be in you:" "He shall teach you all things, and bring
all things to your mind which I have said unto you:" "Whom I will
send unto you from the Father:" "I will send Him unto you:" "He
shall lead you into all truth:" "He shall show you the things that
are to come." And so the unity of faith may be expected from its
_supreme_ cause, the Holy Spirit the Paraclete, _through the medium_
of the Apostles and their legitimate successors: the Holy Spirit in
its _ultimate_, but they its _subordinate_ principle: He is the
_source_, but they the _channel_. Thus to trust to the invisible
action of the Spirit, but to despise the office and direction of the
teachers ordained by Christ, in the very virtue of that Spirit, is
to reject His divine institution, and to risk a shipwreck of the
promised gift of faith and truth.
For in exact accordance with our Lord's words here, S. Paul has set
forth not only the institution, but the source, as well as the end
and purpose, of the whole visible hierarchy. It is instituted by our
Lord, as an act of His divine headship; its source is in "one and
the same Spirit dividing to every one according as He will;" its end
and purpose is, "the edifying the body of Christ, until we all meet
into the unity of faith."[24]
Each of these points is important. Our Lord's divine headship over
the Church, all encompassing, as it is, and the spring of all
blessing and unity, does not dispense with the establishment of a
visible hierarchy, but rather is specially shown therein. And again,
the Holy Spirit is the source and superior principle of all
spiritual gifts to all, but yet He acts _through_ this hierarchy. He
is the spirit who maintains faith and truth, but it is by the
instruments of His own appointing.
Now these three points, the bestowal of all spiritual gifts and
offices by Christ in virtue of His mystical headship, the Holy
Spirit being the one superior principle of such gifts and offices,
and His manifold operation therein through the visible hierarchy,
are set forth most distinctly in two passages of S. Paul, the
twelfth chapter of the First to the Corinthians, and the fourth
chapter to the Ephesians. "To every one of us is given grace,
according to the measure of the giving of Christ. Wherefore he
saith, Ascending on high He led captivity captive; He gave gifts to
men. Now that He ascended, what is it but because He also descended
first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the
same also that ascended above all the heavens, that He might fill
all things. And He gave some Apostles, and some prophets, and other
some evangelists, and other some pastors and doctors, for the
perfecting of the saints, unto the work of the ministry, unto the
edifying of the body of Christ, until we all meet into the unity of
faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man,
unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ; that
henceforth we be no more children tossed to and fro, and carried
about with every wind of doctrine by the wickedness of men, by
cunning craftiness by which they lie in wait to deceive. But doing
the truth in charity, we may in all things grow up in Him who is the
Head, even Christ; from whom the whole body, being compacted and
fitly joined together, by what every joint supplieth, according to
the operation in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the
body, unto the edifying of itself in charity." "And the
manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man unto profit. To
one indeed by the Spirit is given the word of wisdom; and to another
the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit; to another,
faith, in the same Spirit; to another, the grace of healing, in one
Spirit; to another, the working of miracles; to another, prophecy;
to another, the discerning of spirits; to another, divers kinds of
tongues; to another interpretation of speeches. But all these things
one and the same Spirit worketh, dividing to every one according as
He will. For as the body is one, and hath many members; and all the
members of the body, whereas they are many, yet are one body, so
also is Christ. For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one
body, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether bond or free, and in one
Spirit we have all been made to drink."[25]
Thus, then, we have been brought by the words both of our Lord and
of S. Paul, through an inward invisible unity, that of mystical
influx from the vine to its branches, and again, that of charity,
and that of faith and truth, to an outward and visible unity, one of
social organization, called forth by the great Head for the purpose
of exhibiting, defending, maintaining, and conveying the former,
since it is expressly said that He gave it "for the perfecting of
the saints, unto the work of the ministry, unto the edifying of the
body of Christ," and in order that "we may be no more children
tossed to and fro, and carried about by every wind of doctrine." And
the inward source and cause of this unity are indeed invisible,
being the Holy Spirit of God, sent down by Christ, when He ascended
up on high, to dwell permanently among men, but its effects are
external and most visible, even the growth of a body "unto a perfect
man, unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ," a body
which has an orderly arrangement of all its parts, and a hierarchy
of officers to continue till the end of all. And the function of
this hierarchy is one never to be superseded, and which none but
itself, the organ of the Holy Spirit, can perform, namely, to bring
its members "to meet in the unity of the faith, and of the
knowledge of the Son of God." As our Lord says, in the promise,
before His passion, "I will ask the Father, and He shall give you
(the Apostles) another Paraclete, that He may abide with you for
ever, the Spirit of truth," so S. Paul of the accomplishment after
His ascension, "He gave some Apostles and some prophets, and other
some evangelists, and other some pastors and doctors," yet "all
these things worketh one and the same Spirit." For as the divine
Head took to Himself a body, bridging thereby the worlds of matter
and of spirit, and as "in Him dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead
_corporally_," so in His Church, in perfect analogy with the
Archetype, the visible is the channel of the invisible, and the
outward organization is instinct with inward life, and the hierarchy
is the gift of the mystical Head, and the instrument of the one
sanctifying Spirit. To think otherwise, to disregard the external
framework, under a pretence of exalting the inward spirit, is to
undo so far the work of the Incarnation, and to renew the insanity
of those early heretics who in one way or another would "dissolve"
Christ; for there is no less "one Body," than there is "one Spirit."
But if His headship of mystical influx is _alone_ and _immediately_
sufficient, as is so often objected, for the maintenance of external
unity, to what end is the creation of this visible hierarchy? For
the objection that the invisible headship of Christ renders a
visible headship unnecessary, and indeed an infringement on His sole
divine prerogative, whatever force it may have, tells not more
against an oecumenical head of the Church, than against every order
and officer of the hierarchy. These all, and with them the whole
system of sacraments as well as symbols, become alike unnecessary
and even injurious, if each member of the mystical body be knit to
Christ _immediately_ without any outward framework. And with what
face especially can those maintain that the bishop is the visible
head of each diocese, and in being such does not contradict, but
illustrate, the headship of Christ, who yet deny that there is one
in the whole Church put in the like place over bishops, and see in
such an appointment an infringement on the office of Christ? Such an
argument is so profoundly illogical and inconsistent, that one has
difficulty in believing it to be seriously held, or is hopeless of
bringing conviction to those who cannot see an absurdity.
Let those, then, who confound together the supreme Headship of
Christ over His Church, whereby He communicates to it life and
grace, with the inferior and subordinate headship of external unity,
see to what their objection tends. It stops at nothing short of
destroying the whole visible hierarchy, and the sacramental grace of
which it is the channel. Holy Scripture, on the contrary, tells us
in these passages that the providence by which the Church is
governed resembles that by which this outward universe is ruled, in
the subordination of second causes to the supreme cause. Christ
repeats as Redeemer His work as Creator, to give life and force to
these second causes, and while He works in the members of His body
both "to will and to do," bestows on them the privilege of
cooperating with Him. Thus the dignity of supreme Head which belongs
to Christ, and is incommunicable, no more takes away the ministry of
the external head who is charged with the office of effecting and
maintaining unity, than it impedes the ministry of "apostles,
prophets, evangelists, pastors, and doctors," to whom Christ
entrusted the Church, that by their means it might be brought to
sanctity and perfection.
4. And these words bring us to the fourth unity mentioned by our
Lord. For not until "He ascended up on high" did "He give gifts to
men." And this visible hierarchy, the sign and token of His mystical
Headship, and fostering care, is by Him quickened and informed with
the Holy Spirit, when He is Himself invisible at the right hand of
the majesty of God. This absence, too, is what He foretold, saying,
"And now I am not in the world, and these are in the world, and I
come to thee; Holy Father, keep them in Thy name whom Thou hast
given Me; that they may be one, as we also are. While I was with
them, I kept them in Thy name.--And now I come to Thee."--These
words of our Lord show that it was His will that His believers
should be no less one among each other, by an outward and visible
union, than they were one by the internal bond of charity, the
guidance of one Spirit of truth, and the influx of the one Vine. And
so far we have seen that, to guard and maintain that unity under the
guidance of the Spirit of truth, He called forth the visible
hierarchy, in all its degrees. But what, then, was the external root
and efficient principle of this visible hierarchy, when He was gone
to the Father? Did He not likewise provide for the loss occasioned
by His own absence, which He had foretold? The argument of S. Paul
proves that He did so provide, as well as His own words. For S. Paul
declares the Church to be "one Body." Was it then a body without a
head, or a body with a head invisible? Or did the Lord of all,
having with complete wisdom framed His mystical body in all its
parts and proportions, and having set _first_ Apostles, and then in
their various degree, doctors and pastors, in one single, and that
the main point, reverse the analogy of all His doings? Did He
appoint every officer in His household, except the one who should
rule all? Did He construct the entire arch, save only the keystone?
Did He make a bishop to represent His person, and be the centre of
visible unity in every diocese, but none to represent that person in
the highest degree and to be the centre of unity to the whole
Church? Was it the end of His whole design "to gather together in
one the children of God, that were dispersed," in order that there
might be "One Fold," and did He fail to add, "One Shepherd?" Yet S.
Paul declares that "there are many members, but one body." How can
the distinct and diverse members be reduced to the unity of a body,
but by the unity of the head, as the efficient principle? In
accordance with which we may observe that never is the image of a
body used in Scripture to represent the Church, but it is thereby
shown to be visible; and never is it compared with a body as a type,
but that body is shown complete with its head. Such are the
well-known images of one House, Kingdom, City, Fold, and Temple, to
which we have had so often to appeal. Even the unity of things in
themselves dissimilar is derived in Scripture from the unity of the
Head. Thus the man and the woman are said in marriage to be one, and
that in a great mystery, representing Christ and the Church, but
this, because "the husband is the head of the wife." And Christ is
said to be one with the faithful, because "the head of every man is
Christ:" and God one with Christ, because "the head of Christ is
God." If, then,[26] the Church is one body, it receives, according
to the reasoning of Holy Scripture, that property from the unity of
its head.
But such a one body, while yet militant upon earth, S. Paul declares
it to be, setting forth at the same time the various orders of its
hierarchy. Is it then a body complete, or incomplete? With a head or
without one? For it is no reply to say that it has indeed a head,
but one invisible. That invisible headship did not obviate, as we
have seen, the necessity of a visible hierarchy: why then does it
obviate the like and even more striking necessity, that the
hierarchy too must have its visible head? If it was, so to say, the
very first act of our Lord's supreme headship over all to the
Church--the very token that He had led captivity captive--to quicken
the visible ministry which He had established by sending down the
Holy Spirit to abide with it for ever, is the one place most
necessary in that ministry to be the only one left vacant by Him? Is
the one officer most fully representing Himself to be alone omitted?
"The _perfecting_ of the saints" (a metaphor taken as we have seen,
from the exact fitting together of the stones in a building,) and
"the edifying of the body of Christ," are described as the end to be
reached by those to whom "the work of the ministry" is committed,
but as this applies in a higher degree to the Bishop than to the
priest, so it applies in the highest of all to the Bishop of
bishops.
Again, God's method of teaching by symbols, which runs through the
whole Scripture, and the institution of Sacraments, proves to us His
will to lead us on from the visible to the invisible, and to make
the former a channel to the latter. For "we are all baptized into
one body," and the outward act both images and conveys the inward
privilege. And again in the highest conceivable instance, "because
the head is one, we being many are one body, who all partake of
that one bread."[27] In like manner the outward unity of the Church
must accurately represent, and answer to the inward, which, we know,
is derived from the Person of Christ, who is its head. And so that
Person must be specially represented in the outward unity.
And this is one reason why no unity of a college, whether of
Apostles, or of Bishops, will adequately express that visible
headship of which our Lord's Person is the exemplar. For the root of
all lies in a personal unity, that of the Godhead and Manhood, and
therefore a merely collective or representative unity cannot express
it. And if the Apostle wrote, "God hath set in the Church _first_
Apostles," yet he also wrote that the grand result, "the perfecting
of the saints, and the edifying of the body of Christ," was due to
the ministry, not only of Apostles, but of prophets, evangelists,
pastors, and doctors, each in their degree; they all conspire to a
joint action, which does not impede the existence of distinct orders
in the hierarchy. And his expression that the Apostles are _first_
in this hierarchy, without defining their mutual relations to each
other, does not exclude those other passages of Scripture which _do_
define those relations, and which make Peter among the Apostles "the
first," "the ruler," "the greater," the Judah among his brethren,
the foundation of the whole building, and the one shepherd in the
universal fold. And the more so because S. Paul uses three
expressions of the Church, two of which are _relative_, but one
_absolute_. He calls it "the body of Christ," and "Christ," which
are relative; but he also calls it "one body," which is absolute.
Now, these expressions are not to be severed from each other, as if
each by itself would convey the whole idea of the Church, which
rather is to be drawn from them all together. In answer to what the
Church is, we must not say that it is _either_ "the body of Christ,"
_or_ mystically called "Christ," _or_ set before us as "one body,"
for it is _all_ of these at once, relatively "Christ," and "the body
of Christ," and absolutely "one body."
As, then, the former expressions show that the Church is one _in
reference to Christ_, so the latter shows that it is so _in itself_,
and _simply_. For as the Church is called "Christ," and "the Body of
Christ," because it is one with Christ by mystical union, drawing
its supernatural life from Christ its head, so it is called "one
body," because in the variety of members and parts, of which it
consists, no one is wanting to its being one body in itself, and to
its being seen to be such. But it would neither be so, nor seem to
be so, if it were without a visible head, the origin and principle
of its inherent visible unity. And so where the Church is called by
S. Paul "one Body," he declares that it has a visible head.
Thus it is that the inherent notion of the Church, as one visible
body, and the whole dispensation by which visible things answer to
invisible, as their archetypes, demand one visible head. Now to this
_inherent_ necessity let us add the force of _positive_ teaching.
When our Lord in almost His last words to His Church prays to His
Father, "while I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy
name--but now I come to Thee," what does He but suggest the
appointment of another visible head to take that place which He was
leaving? and further, what does He but name one to that high
dignity, when He calls him "the greater" and "the ruler" among his
brethren, commits them to him to be confirmed by him, and makes him
the shepherd of the whole flock? What else had He done but prepare
them for such a nomination, when He promised _one_ that he should
be the foundation of His Church, and the bearer of the keys? What
else did Christians from the beginning see in such an one, when they
called him the _head_, the _centre_, the _fountain_, the _root_, the
_principle_ of ecclesiastical unity?
Let us remark, once more, as a confirmation of the above, that the
archetype of visible unity in the Church, which our Lord sets before
us in His prayer to the Father, is no other than that most high and
solemn of all things conceivable, the mutual indwelling of the
Father and the Son. "Holy Father, keep them in Thy name whom Thou
hast given Me, that they may be one, as We also are;" and again, for
all successive generations of the faithful, "that they all may be
one, as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may
be one in Us, that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me."
Now the relation established by our Lord between Peter and the rest
of the Apostles, by appointing him the visible head of the Church,
and between Peter's successor and all bishops, does represent, so
far as earthly things may, and in a degree which nothing else on
earth reaches to, the mutual relation of the three divine Persons to
each other. For as these are distinct, but inseparable, so, too, are
the Apostles. As the fulness of the Godhead is _first_ in the Father
and _then_ in the Son and in the Holy Spirit, so the fulness of
power _first_ promised and given to Peter, is _then_ propagated to
the other Apostles united with him. As in the Father the economy of
the divine Persons is summed up under one head, and gathered into a
monarchy, so in Peter is gathered up the fulness of ecclesiastical
power, which, through union with him, is one in all, as the Church
is one, and the Episcopate one. Moreover, as it is the dignity of
the Father to be the exemplar, principle, root, and fountain of
unity in the Trinity, so is it the dignity of Peter to be the
exemplar, principle, root, and fountain of visible unity in the
kingdom of God, which is the Church. This is alluded to by Pope
Symmachus, thirteen hundred and fifty years ago: "There is one
single priesthood in the different prelates, (of the Apostolic See)
after the example of the Trinity, whose power is one and
indivisible."[28] And long before him S. Cyprian: "The Lord says, 'I
and the Father are one.' And again it is written of the Father and
the Son and the Holy Spirit, 'And these three are one.' Is there a
man who believes that this unity, coming from the divine solidity,
cohering by heavenly sacraments, can possibly be broken in the
Church, and torn asunder by the collision of adverse wills? This
unity he who holds not, holds not the law of God, holds not the
faith of the Father and the Son, holds not the truth unto
salvation."[29]
Whereas, then, all unity in the Body of Christ, the Church, is
derived ultimately from the person of its Head, the Word Incarnate,
that unity is yet four-fold in its operation, and the efficient
principle of one sort is not to be confounded with that of another.
There is the _mystical_ unity, which consists in the perpetual
divine influx from the great invisible Head to His members; there is
the _moral_ or _spiritual_ unity of charity, consisting in the
presence of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of believers, and these
two are internal, and in closest correspondence. There are two
likewise external, which may be called the _civil_ or _political_
unity, consisting in the public profession of the same faith, the
same truth, for what the _law_ is to temporal states, the _faith_ is
to the great spiritual kingdom of Christ; and this unity is indeed
inspired by the Holy Spirit, but is maintained by Him through the
visible hierarchy; and lastly, correspondent to the unity of faith,
there is the _visible_ unity of external organization, the immediate
or efficient principle of which lies in the visible headship over
the Church attached by the Lord to S. Peter's chair. The latter two,
while they correspond to each other, are indeed subordinate to the
former, the unity of faith to that of charity, as the unity of the
visible headship to that of the invisible; yet the very truth of the
Body which the Lord has assumed, and in which He reigns, and the
whole analogy of His dealings with men, and the sacraments whereby
He makes us "partakers of the divine nature," warn us that it is of
the highest importance for us to see how external unity is the
channel of internal, and the visible the road to the invisible. No
words can be more emphatic to this effect than those with which the
Apostle introduces the description of the visible hierarchy, and the
divine headship which called it forth. "There is _one Body_ and one
Spirit, as you are called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one
faith, one baptism. One God and Father of all, who is above all, and
through all, and in us all." From which he goes on to say,
"Ascending up on high, He gave gifts to men--some Apostles, and some
prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors, and teachers." And
lastly, "the Head over all things to the Church," is "the Saviour
_of the Body_."[30]
But if this be so, we can say nothing more highly to exalt S.
Peter's office in the Church, for he is the great bond and stay of
this outward unity, as even[31] enemies confess. As surely as in a
real monarchy the person of the sovereign ties together every part
of the political edifice, and is endued with majesty because he is
at once the type of God, and concentrates in one the power and
dignity of the whole community, so it is in that divine structure in
which "the manifold wisdom of God" is disclosed to all creation. The
point of strength is felt alike by friend and foe. On the Rock of
Peter has fallen every storm which the enmity of the evil one has
raised for eighteen hundred years; but yet the gates of hell have
not prevailed against it. In the Rock of Peter, and the divine
promise attached to it, every heart faithful to God and the Church
trusts now, as it trusted from the beginning. Many temporal monarchs
in their hour of pride have risen against S. Peter's See, but the
greatest of them all[32] declared that no one had ever gained honour
or victory in that conflict, and he lived to be the most signal
instance of his own observation. "God is patient, because He is
eternal," and the Holy See prevails in its weakness over power, and
in its justice over cupidity, because while temporal dominion passes
from hand to hand, and stays not with any nation, following the
gift of God which the poet calls fortune,
Perche una gente impera, e l'altra langue,
Seguendo lo giudizio di costei
Che e occulta, come in l'erba l'angue,--(DANTE, _Inferno_.)
the visible kingdom of Christ, which is His Church, lasts for ever,
and is built upon the rock of Peter. The long line of descendants,
from Constantine and from Charlemagne, have in their turn impugned
and illustrated this glorious privilege of the Papal See. What is
there so stable in an empire of commerce, or so solid in the
nicely-balanced and delicate machinery of a constitutional monarchy,
as to exempt them from the action of an universal law, or to ensure
their victory in the doomed contest with the Vicar of Christ?
Mightier things than they have done their worst, have oppressed,
triumphed, and become extinct, and if it be allowed them in the
crisis of their trial to crucify Christ afresh, He will yet reign
from the cross, and "draw all men unto Him."
FOOTNOTES:
[1] In this chapter I have availed myself of Passaglia, b. 1, c. 25,
and b. 2, c. 11.
[2] Eph. i. 9, 22; 1 Cor. xi. 2; Rom. xii. 5.
[3] See Petavius, De Incarn. Lib. 2, c. 7 and 8, for the following
quotations.
[4] Hippolytus, quoted by Anastasius, p. 216.
[5] Irenaeus, Lib. iii. 18, and iv. 37.
[6] De Monogamia, c. 5.
[7] Augustine, 21 Tract. in Joannem.
[8] Hilary on Psalm 68.
[9] S. Chrys. Tom. 5, (Savile) Hom. 106.
[10] Greg. Naz. Orat. 36.
[11] S. Cyril, Dialog. 1, De Trin. p. 399.
[12] S. Leo. 5 Serm. on Nativity, c. 4 and 5, 12th Serm. on Passion,
c. 3.
[13] S. Athanasius, Orat. 3, Contr. Arian. Tom. 1, p. 572. Oxf.
Trans. p. 403.
[14] Greg. Nyss. Tom. 2, p. 524. Catechet Oratio, c. 32.
[15] Ephrem, Patriarch of Antioch, quoted by Photius, cod. 229.
[16] S. Hilary, de Trin. Lib. 8. n. 13.
[17] John xiv. 20.
[18] John xv. 1-2, 5-7.
[19] John xiii. 34-6.
[20] John xv. 12.
[21] Rom. v. 5.
[22] John xiv. 16-18. 26.
[23] John xvi. 7. 13-15.
[24] 1 Cor. xii. 11; Eph. iv. 13.
[25] Eph. iv. 7-16; 1 Cor. xii. 7-13.
[26] Passaglia, p. 254.
[27] 1 Cor. x. 17.
[28] Mansi, Concil. Tom. 8, 208.
[29] S. Cyprian, de Unitate.
[30] Eph. iv. 4. 8. 11; i. 22; v. 23.
[31] That such was the belief of the most ancient fathers, Ignatius,
Irenaeus, Tertullian, Cyprian, and others, see a most curious
admission of the Lutheran Mosheim, in his dissertation, De Gallorum
appellationibus, &c. s. 13. And his way of extricating himself is at
least as curious as the admission. His words are, "Cyprian and the
rest cannot have known the corollaries which follow from their
precepts about the Church. For no one is so dull as not to see that
between a certain unity of the universal Church, terminating in the
Roman pontiff, and such a community as we have described out of
Irenaeus and Cyprian, there is scarcely so much room as between hall
and chamber, or between hand and fingers. If the _innocence_ of the
first ages stood in the way of their anticipating the snares which
ignorantly and unintentionally they were laying against sacred
liberty, those succeeding at least were more sharp-sighted, and it
was not long in becoming clear to the pontiffs what force in
establishing their own power and authority such tenets possessed."
So the ancient fathers were not intelligent enough to see that _the
hand was joined to the fingers_. But the other alternative was still
harder to Mosheim, that Lutheranism was fundamentally heretical and
schismatical.
[32] Napoleon.