(2.) Tertullian flourished about the

year 200. If thou thinkest heaven to be still closed, remember, that the Lord left here the keys of it to Peter and through him to the Church'.

Let heretics, then, produce the origins of their Churches: let them evolve the order of their Bishops, so running through successions from the beginning,

habemus annumerare eos, qui ab Apostolis instituti sunt Episcopi in Ecclesiis, et successores eorum usque ad nos-Sed quoniam valde longum est, in hoc tali volumine, omnium Ecclesiarum enumerare successiones; maximæ et antiquissimæ et omnibus cognitæ, a gloriosissimis duobus Apostolis Petro et Paulo Romæ fundatæ et constitutæ, Ecclesiæ, eam quam habet ab Apostolis traditionem et annunciatam hominibus fidem, per successiones Episcoporum pervenientem usque ad nos, indicantes, confundimus omnes eos, qui, quoquo modo, vel per sui placentiam malam vel vanam gloriam, vel per cæcitatem et malam sententiam, præterquam oportet colligunt. Ad hanc enim Ecclesiam, propter potentiorem principalitatem, necesse est omnem convenire Ecclesiam; hoc est, eos qui sunt undique fideles: in qua semper, ab his qui sunt undique, conservata est ea quæ est ab Apostolis traditio. Fundantes, igitur, et instruentes, beati Apostoli, Ecclesiam, Lino Episcopatum administrandæ Ecclesiæ tradiderunt-Succedit autem ei Anacletus: post eum, tertio loco ab Apostolis, Episcopatum sortitur Clemens-Huic autem Clementi succedit Euaristus: et, Euaristo, Alexander. Ac deinceps, sextus ab Apostolis, constitutus est Sixtus: et, ab hoc, Telesphorus: ac, deinceps, Hyginus post, Pius: post quem, Anicetus. Cum autem successisset Aniceto Soter: nunc, duodecimo loco, Episcopatum, ab Apostolis, habet Eleutherius. Iren. adv. hær. lib. iii. c. 3. p. 170, 171.

1 Nam, et si adhuc clausum putas cœlum, memento claves ejus hic Dominum Petro et per eum Ecclesiæ reliquisse. Tertull. Scorpiac. adv. Gnost. Oper. p. 722.

that the first Bishop should have, for his author and predecessor, some one either of the Apostles themselves or of apostolical men their contemporaries. For, in this manner, the apostolical Churches carry down their enrolments. Thus the Church of the Smyrnèans relates itself to have Polycarp, there placed by John: thus the Church of the Romans adduces Clement, ordained by Peter: thus likewise other Churches exhibit those, whom, being appointed by the Apostles to the Episcopate, they have as the channels of the apostolic seed-Come now, thou who shalt wish better to exercise thy curiosity in the business of thy salvation; run through the apostolic Churches, in which the very chairs of the Apostles are still in their own places occupied, in which their identical authentic letters are recited sounding forth the voice and representing the face of each one. Is Achaia near to thee? Thou hast Corinth. If thou art not far from Macedonia: thou hast Philippi; thou hast Thessalonica. If thou canst go into Asia: thou hast Ephesus. Or, if thou art adjacent to Italy: thou hast Rome; whence also, to us Africans, there is an authority near at hand. Happy Church, to which the Apostles, along with their own blood, poured out their whole doctrine'!

1 Edant ergo origines Ecclesiarum suarum: evolvant ordinem Episcoporum suorum, ita per successiones ab initio decurrentem, ut primus ille Episcopus aliquem ex Apostolis, vel apostolicis viris, qui tamen cum Apostolis perseveraverit, habuerit autorem et antecessorem. Hoc enim modo Ecclesiæ Apostolicæ census suos deferunt: sicut Smyrnæorum Ecclesia

(3.) Origen wrote during the first half of the third century.

What, in a former passage', was granted to Peter alone, seems here to be granted to all, who to all sinners shall have addressed three admonitions: in order that, unless they shall be listened to, they may, as a heathen and a publican, bind upon earth the person condemned, since such an one is bound also in heaven. But, as it was fit, even though a matter in common was spoken both of Peter and of those who should thrice admonish the brethren, that Peter should have something preëxcellent above those who should thrice admonish: that matter was first peculiarly ordained respecting Peter, namely, I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; before it was said, Whatsoever ye shall bind upon earth, and so forth. And truly, if we shall dili

habens Polycarpum ab Joanne conlocatum refert; sicut Romanorum Clementem a Petro ordinatum edit; proinde utique et cæteræ exhibent, quos, ab Apostolis in Episcopatum constitutos, apostolici seminis traduces habeant-Age jam, qui voles curiositatem melius exercere in negocio salutis tuæ, percurre Ecclesias Apostolicas, apud quas ipsæ adhuc cathedræ Apostolorum suis locis præsidentur, apud quas ipsæ authenticæ literæ eorum recitantur, sonantes vocem et repræsentantes faciem uniuscujusque. Proxima est tibi Achaia? Habes Corinthum. Si non longe es a Macedonia: habes Philippos; habes Thessalonicenses. Si potes in Asiam tendere: habes Ephesum. Si autem Italiæ adjaces: habes Romam; unde nobis quoque autoritas præsto est. Felix Ecclesia, cui totam doctrinam Apostoli cum sanguine suo profuderunt. Tertull. præscript. adv. hæret. § 11, 14. Oper. p. 107, 108, 109. 2 Matt. xviii. 18.

1 Matt. xvi. 19.

gently attend to the evangelical Scriptures, even in them we shall find, that the matters, which seem to be in common both to Peter and to those who thrice admonish the brethren, bear a more elevated sense when spoken to Peter than when spoken to the second1.

(4.) Cyprian flourished about the middle of the third century.

The Lord says to Peter: I say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it—And, again, he says to the same person after his resurrection: Feed my sheep. Upon one he builds his Church. And, although to all the Apostles he gives an equal power and says; As the Father sent me, I also send you, receive the Holy Ghost; to whomsoever ye shall remit sins, they shall

1 Πλὴν τὰ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω μόνῳ τῷ Πέτρῳ δεδομένα ἔοικε δηλοῦσθαι δεδωκέναι πᾶσι τοῖς τὰς τρεῖς νουθεσίας προσαγαγοῦσι πᾶσι τοῖς ἡμαρτηκόσιν, ἵν', ἐὰν μὴ ἀκουσθῶσι, δήσωσιν ἐπὶ γῆς τὸν κριθέντα εἶναι ὡς ἐθνικὸν καὶ τελώνην, ὡς δεδεμένου τοῦ τοιούτου ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ· αλλ', ἐπεὶ ἐχρῆν, εἰ καὶ κοινόν τι ἐπὶ τοῦ Πέτρου καὶ τῶν νουθετησάντων τρὶς τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς λέλεκται, ἐξαίρετον, ἔχειν τὸν Πέτρον παρὰ τοὺς τρὶς νουθετήσαντας, ἰδίᾳ τοῦτο προτέτακται ἐπὶ τοῦ Πέτρου, τὸ, Δώσω σοι τὰς κλεῖς τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν, τοῦ, Καὶ ὅσα ἐὰν δήσητε ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Καὶ τοίγε, εἰ ἐπιμελῶς προσέχομεν τοῖς εὐαγγελικοῖς γράμμασι, καὶ ἐν τούτοις εὕροιμεν ἂν καὶ κατὰ ταῦτα τὰ δοκοῦντα εἶναι κοινὰ πρὸς τὸν Πέτρον καὶ τοὺς τρὶς νουθετήσαντας τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς, πολλὴν διαφορὰν καὶ ὑπεροχὴν ἐκ τῶν πρὸς τὸν Πέτρον εἰρημένων παρὰ τοὺς δευτέρους. Orig. Comment. in Matt. tom. xiii. Oper. vol. i. p. 336. Huet. Rothomag. 1668.

be remitted to him; and, to whomsoever ye shall retain them, they shall be retained: yet, that he might manifest unity, he by his authority disposed the origin of the same unity beginning from one. The other Apostles, indeed, were, what Peter was; that is to say, they were endowed with an equal partnership both of honour and of power: but the beginning proceeds from unity, that the Church might be shewn to be one Church'.

For first to Peter, upon whom he built the Church and whence he instituted and shewed the origin of unity, the Lord gave the power, that, whatsoever he should have loosed upon earth, should be loosed in heaven. And, after his resurrection, he also speaks to the Apostles, saying: As the Father sent me, I likewise send you. When he had thus spoken, he breathed upon them, and said unto them: Whosesoever sins ye shall remit, they shall be remitted unto

1

Loquitur Dominus ad Petrum: Ego tibi dico, inquit, quia tu es Petrus, et super istam petram ædificabo Ecclesiam meam ; et portæ inferorum non vincent eam— -Et iterum eidem, post resurrectionem suam, dicit: Pasce oves meas. Super unum ædificat Ecclesiam suam. Et quamvis Apostolis omnibus parem potestatem tribuat et dicat; Sicut misit me Pater, et ego mitto vos, accipite Spiritum Sanctum; si cui remiseritis peccata, remittentur illi; si cui tenueritis, tenebuntur: tamen, ut unitatem manifestaret, unitatis ejusdem originem ab uno incipientem sua auctoritate disposuit. Hoc erant utique et cæteri Apostoli, quod fuit Petrus, pari consortio præditi et honoris et potestatis sed exordium ab unitate proficiscitur, ut Ecclesia una monstretur. Cyprian. de Unit. Eccles. Oper. vol. i. p.

-108.

106