him and on them too he may be the Rock and they also in the same sense that it is meant of him And this appears to be true from a great many things that may be fit here to be observed 1. First the Apostles never thought themselves to be excluded but by their behaviour declared they took themselves to be equal to him Which Alphonsus Tostatus * In Matth. XVIII qu. VII and in Matth. XX. qu. 83. no longer ago than in the Fifteenth Century asserts most earnestly and with great concern alledges many undeniable arguments to prove they did not understand any supremacy to have been given to Peter by these words For after this saith he they contended for superiority disputing who should be the greatest Matth. XVIII 1. Mark IX 33. And again the two Sons of Zebedee who always seemed to be equal with him in our Saviour's favour have their desire of preference promoted by their Mother Matth. XX. 10. c. Nay this dispute was renewed at his last Supper as he understands Luke XXII 24 25. concerning which his words are remarkable Every Apostle saith he doubted which of them should be the greater and that doubt remained until the day of Christ's death for in the last Supper of Christ they began to inquire among themselves which of them should seem the greater and yet they would not have made this dispute publickly if they had thought Peter by the collating of the Keys to have been preferred above them Thus far then they thought themselves equal when they could not resolve which should be the greater 2. And after our Lords Resurrection and the coming of the Holy Ghost when they cannot be supposed ignorant of any thing concerning his Kingdom they still took themselves as much concerned in these words as Peter For not only S. Paul but S. John a Man exceedingly beloved of our Saviour and his bosome Disciple thought all the Apostles to be the Foundation on which the Church is built Read at your leisure Ephes II. 20. and Revel XXI 14. where you will find the Wall of the New Jerusalem that is the Christian Church had twelve Foundations and in them the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb Not one Foundation and on that the name of Peter but twelve Foundations bearing the name of the twelve Apostles Peter was unum sed non unicum fundamentum one Foundation but not the only one He was one of the next stones which lay immediately upon the Rock Christ and so may be called a Foundation but so was S. John also another of those stones which immediately rely upon Christ and so were all the rest of the Apostles None of which were built upon S. Peter nor he on them but all on Christ Whom S. Austin †In Psalm LXXXVII calls fundamentum fundamentorum the Foundation of the Foundations that is of the very Apostles and Prophets upon whom the Church is said to be built because by their Ministry it was erected In this sense Peter was a Rock and so were all the rest of the Apostles as much as he equal in power alike intrusted with this great work of raising a Church upon him the living Stone 3. Whence it is that St. Paul giving an account of the several Orders and Ranks of Men which God hath placed in his Church makes the highest Power in it to be that which belongs unto them all For he saith God hath set these in the Church first Apostles c. 1. Cor. 12. 28. He doth not say first Peter as he should have done if by these words Thou art Peter c. he was set higher than the rest but the Apostles in general who were all the prime Ministers of Christ of equal Dignity among themselves without any one set over them in Superiority above the rest 4. Which appears farther from the Promise of bestowing the Keys upon him which here immediately follows Vers 19. and is acknowledged on all sides to be the highest Power conferred upon him which is promised to all the Apostles in the very next Chapter Matth. 18. 18. in the very same words without any alteration but only a change of the singular into the plural Here it is said Whatsoever thou shalt bind on Earth c. there Whatsoever ye shall bind on Earth c. What reason then to fancy any difference between them Which the ancient Christians did not but look'd upon them all as having a joynt share in this Power Which is so evident that a Learned Man l Joh. Lanoi◠Epist ad Hadrianum Vallantium p. 27 c. Pa. 2. in the Roman Communion hath shown at large even by the Confession of Popes themselves that in Peter Christ gave the Keys or rather promised them to the whole Church 5 And the truth is Nothing was here given to him by these words of Christ Thou art Peter with respect to the Apostles but with respect to the Church only which was raised by the joynt Labour and Pains of the whole Number To whom another being afterwards added he laboured more abundantly than they all 1 Cor. 15. 10. 6. And was so far from thinking he had any Superiour though he was chosen last of all and look'd upon himself as a kind of Abortive 1 Cor. 15. 8. that he doubted not to say He was not a whit in nothing behind the very chiefest of the Apostles 2 Cor. 11. 5. 12. 11. The words are very significant in the Greek m 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 implying there were more very eminent or super-excellent Apostles than one called in other places Pillars Gal. 2. 9. and Chiefs n 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ib. vers 2 6. Peter no doubt was one of these but there were others as eminent and neither he nor they had a Preheminence of Power and Authority among them there being nothing wanting in St. Paul to make him equal to the most Eminent Apostles 7. Particularly to St. Peter with whom he contended openly opposing and reprehending his Error Gal. 2. 11. which he durst not have done if he had known any Superiority in Power and Authority to have been in St. Peter Nay here had been a fit occasion for St. Peter to have asserted his Authority if he had known any to have been in him which was not in St. Paul and not have suffered himself to be thus corrected by him for his Error Of which we have not one word nor did he tho our Lord chose him first and built his Church upon him challenge to himself any thing insolently or arrogantly so as to say he had the Primacy and therefore ought rather to be obeyed by those who were novel and later Persons They are the words of St. Cyprian o Epist lxxi edit Rigal whose Notes there a. f. are worth perusing who plainly hereby declares his sense to have been that these words of our Lord to St. Peter gave him no such Primacy as set him above Correction that
is no Supremacy or Dominion and that it had been an insolent and arrogant thing if he had assumed to himself any such Primacy 8. For the Fathers it must be next observed never understood these words exclusively but call all the Apostles by the very same names of Honour and Dignity that they do Peter and other Bishops afterwards by the same Names that they do the Bishop of Rome For Example I find one called Father of Fathers another Bishop of Bishops nay all of them called Vicarios Christi the Vicars of Christ whose place they here supplied Which Eminent Title the Popes of Rome heretofore were so far from appropriating to themselves that as their common Title was Vicars of St. Peter not Vicars of Christ to this last they themselves have honoured other Bishops withal as whole Councils have also done who exhort the People to honour the Governours and Pastors of Churches as Fathers and Christ's Vicars p V. Joh. Lanoii par 3. Epistol ad Michaelem Marollium p. 21 c. n. 36. But that perhaps which will be thought most to the purpose is this That as St. Chrysostome q Tom. v. p 992. 995. Edit Savil. in his Sermon upon those blessed pair as he calls them St. Peter and St. Paul gives them alike Titles and says God trusted them with the Souls of the whole World so speaking of all the Twelve Apostles he calls them expresly in the singular Number the Rock or Foundation of the Church Thus I show'd before St. Cyprian also discourses when he saith from these words of our Saviour is derived all the Power of Bishops and Governours in the Church who successively ordain Pastors that the Church may be constituted upon Bishops To whom I will only add Theodoret upon that known place in the Psalms lxxxvii 1. His Foundation is in the Holy Mountains which in the spiritual Sense being meant of the New Jerusalem he thus expounds The Foundations of Piety are the Divine Instructions which Christ hath given us the Holy Mountains upon whom he hath laid these Foundations are the Apostles of our Savioar Who are thence called themselves Foundations because they laid the Foundation of Christianity by the Divine Instructions which they gave from Christ according to that of St. Paul which he immediately adds Ye are built upon the Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Christ himself being the chief Corner-Stone 9. And therefore when the Fathers treat of this very matter they give other reasons why Christ named Peter only when he spake these words not to give him any Prerogative much less Monarchy but to signifie the Unity he would have in his Church This St. Cyprian discourses of at large in words as express as can be desired Christ said to Peter Upon this Rock I will build my Church and tho he gave to all his Apostles after his Resurrection parem Potestatem equal Power yet ut Vnitatem manifestaret that he might declare the Unity he would have he spake first to him alone that on him he would build his Church Not making him by these words it is plain the Imperial Head of the Church but only a representative Type of its Unity For he immediately adds The rest of the Apostles were the very same that Peter was endued with equal Co-partnership both of Honour and of Power but the beginning proceeds from Vnity that the Church of Christ may be shewed to be one r De Unite Ecclesiae Cathol edit Rigalt p. 180. Episcopatus unus est cujus à singulis in solidum pars tenetur And a little after he considers all the Bishopricks in the World as one Mass or Lump whereof every Bishop in the World hath an intire part The like I might add out of Pope Symmachus himself in a Letter to the Bishop of Arles s Baron ad An. 499. num xxxvi where he acknowledges that as the power of the Holy Trinity is one and undivided so there is one Bishoprick amongst divers Bishops But I have not room for more Authorities of this kind I will rather observe That there is another plainer reason of Christ's speaking thus to St. Peter which is that he was chosen by Christ to begin the glorious Work of gathering a Catholick Church and therefore he directed his Speech particularly to him as the Person who should be first imployed in this business telling him I will give thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven because he was first to open the Gate or Door of Faith to the Gentiles and let them into the Church of Christ This appears from the memorable History of Cornelius upon which he reflects when he tells the Apostles in the Council at Jerusalem Ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us that the Gentiles by my Mouth should hear the Word of the Gospel and believe Acts 15. 7. The words are more significant in the Greek which we translate a good while ago 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the ancient days or the first times God made choice of me from among the rest which may well refer to those of our Saviour whose times are the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mark 1. 1. the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God which St. Peter first published among the Gentiles This was an Honour peculiar to him and bestowed on him it 's likely because of the forwardness of his Faith in Christ and the vehemency of his Affection to him as well as because he was first chosen to be an Apostle And with respect to this we readily acknowledg Christ promised something singular to him in these words which was that he should first lay the Foundation of the Church among the Gentiles Some add among the Jews also because we read he was the first Speaker upon the day of Pentecost Acts 1. 14. But those words sufficiently intimate that the rest of the Apostles then spake as well as he especially if we compare them with what goes before Vers 7 8 9. where it is said The Multitude heard them speak every Man in his own Language c. Tertullian s De Pudicitia C. xxi adds other instances of his first exercising the Power of the Keys but none of them prove more than that he had the Honour to be primus non supremus first not supream Princeps post quem alii deinceps the chief or beginning whom all the rest followed in equal Power and Authority For he was chief only in Order and Place not in Dominion or Jurisdiction 10. No We must after all this consider that our Lord when he spake these words did not lay the Foundation of the Church but only promises he would hereafter build his Church upon this Rock and give him the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven For so the words are in the future Time I will build and I will give thee c. Now as he makes this Promise to them all I shewed
before in the next Chapter so when he actually gives this Power which he saith here he will give he bestows it upon every one of them which was after his Resurrection John 20. 21. As my Father hath sent me even so I send you Here he speaks in the present Time and gives them in this Commission the Power which they had not before making them to be what they were ever after In token of which he breathed on them and said unto them Receive ye the Holy Ghost Whose soever Sins ye remit they are remitted c. Vers 22 23. Can any one who reads these words think that Peter was only sent and made the only Foundation and the only Gate to let Men into the Church when he hears such an Authority as this granted and sealed to them all He hath lost then the ancient sense of the Church which Theophylact * Mat. 16. 19. represents in these words Though it was said to Peter only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will give thee yet it was given to all the Apostles When Then when he said Whose soever Sins ye remit they are remitted to them For I will give denotes the future Time that is after the Resurrection Hear also how St. Austin t Enarratio in Psal 87. discourses upon these words of the Psalmist before-mentioned Why are they called the Foundations of the Apostles and Prophets Because their Authority supports our weakness And why are they Gates Because by them we enter into the Kingdom of Heaven For they preach to us and when we enter by them we enter by Christ Is it not plain by this that they did not think St. Peter to be the only Man that stands at the Gate as it were and with his Keys le ts Men into Heaven To say this is as much as to say he only preached Did not St. John preach also and St. James As for St. Paul he laboured more than them all Therefore I may truly say according to St. Austin's meaning by John and by James as well as Peter but especially by Paul we have an entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven They all had equal Power they were all equally Gates whereby Men entred into the New Jerusalem they were all equally Foundations of the Church of Christ St. Peter laid the first Stone as he let in the first of the Gentiles but St. Paul let in more than he afterwards as appears by the whole Story of his preaching the Gospel of Christ To conclude this St. Peter himself it is manifest did not know of any such Authority as is now claimed residing in him For writing two Catholick Epistles he gives not the least intimation of any such Universal Pastorship as is now pretended to be derived from him but quite contrary calls himself Fellow Elder with the Pastors of the Church to whom he gives the same Exhortation that Christ did to him Feed the Flock of God 1 Pet. v. 1 2. which doth not differ in sense from Feed my Sheep or Feed my Lambs Joh. xxi 15 16. Nay more than this in the Gospel which the ancient Fathers say St. Mark wrote by St. Peter's direction he doth not so much as mention this Speech of Christ to him but only his own Confession Mark viii 29. which we may look upon as an Argument that he did not think it contained any Power peculiar to him which we may be sure he would not have forgotten Against so many weighty Reasons some think Object 1. it sufficient to argue for his Supremacy meerly from his being constantly named first when there is occasion to speak of him Five places are alledged for this purpose Matth. x. 2. Mark iii. 17. Luke vi 14. Acts i. 13. John xxi 2. Unto which I think fit to make a short Reply First That this is not such exact Truth as Answ to admit of no Exception For there are no less than four places where he is named with other Apostles and not set the first 1 Cor. iii. 22. ix 9. Gal. ii 9. Joh. i. 45. Secondly Supposing it was done designedly in those places where there is a Catalogue given of the Apostles the meer placing of a Name first will prove no Superiority of Power over those who are named after him as might be shown from a great many instances For any little advantage of Age Service Affection or the like may well be a Reason for such Precedence Thirdly The exact truth is when they were together as a Colledge it was necessary some one should be first in order but afterward when they were scattered abroad all over the World there was no such Precedence thought of For others I have shown are named before him and sometimes took place of him as St. James did at Jerusalem where he presided in the Council held there Peter indeed spake and delivered his Opinion first but the Decree is made by James who saith after he had taken notice of what Simeon had spoken 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I determine or judg my Sentence is as we translate it That we trouble not them which from among the Gentiles are turned unto God but write to them that they abstain from Pollutions if Idols c. Acts xv 19 20. And accordingly it was drawn up in his very words in that Letter which was written in the name of them all to the Gentile Christians Vers 28 29. This is no novel Criticism of Protestants but acknowledged heretofore by eminent Writers in the Roman Communion Alphonsus Tostatus r In Mat. 17. for instance observes that in this Council Peter did not produce the definition of the Church but James alone spake definitively as the Organ of the whole Church and greater than any of the Assessors And later than this Lorinus * Comment in Acta C. xv fol. 645. the Jesuite here notes that James seems to speak authentically and as a Judge when Peter is said simply to have spoken his mind How easie were it here if I durst take the liberty to strain several Observations beyond their true intention to bid you mark and observe how St. James declares himself in this Council the Head of the Church set over all his Brethren For first he being Bishop of Jerusalem the Mother-Church of the whole World thus begins his Speech Men and Brethren hearken unto me ver 13. as if he were the Successor of Christ of whom it was said Hear ye Him. Next ver 14. he calls him who had spoken before him bare Simeon not Peter now as if that Name signified Nothing to him who sate above him For he adds as I have said his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I judge or give this sentence And lastly when Peter had pleaded for an absolute and indefinite liberty from the burden of all Legal Rites ver 10. James thinks fit not to grant them an entire freedom but to tie them still to some necessary Observances ver 19 28. But we have not thus learned