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A11443
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The rocke of the Churche wherein the primacy of S. Peter and of his successours the Bishops of Rome is proued out of Gods worde. By Nicholas Sander D. of diuinity.
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Sander, Nicholas, 1530?-1581.
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1567
(1567)
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STC 21692; ESTC S102389
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211,885
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679
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power I beseche the discreete Reader neither to vse cauils himself nor to geue care to them who loue to wraÌgle Here would M. Iewel straight way shew that Christ gaue manie pastours and teachers to his Church Ephes 4. 1. Pet. 5. and that euery Apostle did feede of which things I deny no one But I say there was beside the Apostleship a kind of feeding so peculiar to Peter that no Apostle toke so specially as S. Peter did either the name thereof or the thing meant by the name Which thing the holy scripture doth insinuate when it sheweth Peter to haue loued more then other and consequentlie according to the measure of his loue to haue taken the measure of feeding In which sense Saint Chrysostom S. Augustine Leo and Arnobius doe euideÌtly agree We must therfore confesse a supereminent power of the pastoral office in Peter that preeminence say I consisted in the ordinarie power of being the chief shepherd He that denieth my interpretation must bring a better which I marueile how he shall come by But lette vs also consyder the mind of S. Ambrose in this behalf Ambros in 24. ca. Lucae Who hauing said by S. Peter that he was vbique aut solus aut primus euery where either alone or chiefe at the last he cometh to speake of these woordes of Christ spoken to Peter amas me doest thou loue me Dominus interrogabat non vt disceret sed vt doceret quem eleuandus in coelum amoris sui nobis velut Vicarium relinquebat Sic enim habes Simon Ioannis diligis me vtique tu scis Domine quia amo te Dicit ei Iesus pasce agnos meos bene conscius sui noÌ ad tempus assumptum sed iamdudum Deo cognitum Petrus testificatur affectum Quis est enim alius qui de se hoc facilè profiteri possit Et ideo quia solus profitetur ex omnibus oiÌbus antefertur Our Lord asked not to lerne but to teache him whoÌ he being to be assumpted into heauen The Vicar of Christes loue did leaue to vs as the Vicar of his loue For so thou readest Simon the Son of Ion doest thou loue me Yea Lord thou knowest that I loue thee Iesus said to him feede mie lambs Peter being priuy of a good conscience doth testifie his own affection not taken for the time but already wel knowen to God For who els were able to professe this thing of himself And because he alone among all professeth he is preferred before all First note well that S. Ambrose compareth the loue with the feeding For he reasoneth alwaies from the one to the other Secondlie he saieth that Christ in consideration that he shoulde ascend into heauen Vicare taught him whome he left the Vicar of his loue Behold if Peter be the Vicar of Christ it is no wonder that the Pope sitting in Peters chaire is called also the Vicar of Christ. Yea but say you he is the Vicare of his loue and not of his pastoral office Yeas Syr of both For now S. Ambrose speaketh of that loue which consisted in hauing authority to fede the flock For it foloweth in S. Ambrose Sic enim habes for thus thou readest And immediatly he commeth to the power of feeding which Christ gaue vnto Peter in the highest degree of any mortall pastour because Peter loued more then other Christ left to vs a Vicar of his loue who was that Peter when was he leaft a Vicar When Christ said feede mie lambs The loue then left to vs was the power of feeding which Peter had ouer vs and the Vicar of Christes loue was the Vicare of Christes power which he had to feede vs. Although Christ our euerlasting meate fede vs alwayes by his mightie power Ioan. 6. yet when he should goe corporallie into heauen he leaft vs a Vicar of his corporall kinde of feeding His woordes doe not nowe sound in our eares as they did whiles he liued in preaching in teaching in administring the Sacraments in gouerning the Churche and in sending other to preache Christ hath a Vicar whome to that effect he loueth aboue all other and who loueth him aboue all other to that effect I saye of feeding his flocke Moreouer S. Ambrose noteth that Peter omnibus antefertur is preferred before al why so Quia solus profitetur ex omnibus Because he alone of them al doth professe But why saith S. Ambrose that he alone doth professe Might any other man professe when Peter alone was asked No verilie And so dooth S. Ambrose meane that Peter alone professeth his loue because he alone is asked whether he loued more theÌ these otherwise if S. Iohn who stoode by had ben asked I thinke he was not giltie of any lack of louing Christ But Christ intended to geue vnto Peter more loue then the other had euen for this purpose that he might receiue a higher power to feed then other had Last of al S. Ambrose noteth as it were three degrees in the commissioÌ of Peters autority of feeding and that accordiÌg to the power of feeding thrise repeated Agnus IaÌ non agnos vt primo quodam lacte vescendos Cuicula Ouis. nec ouiculas vt secundo sed oues pascere iubetur perfectiores vt perfectior gubernaret At the third time wherein our Lord said to Peter pasce feed he was not now bid to feede as it were with milke the lambes as at the first time nor the smaller sheep as at the second time but the sheep to th' end he being more perfit might gouern the more perfit It is now also to be noted that S. Ambrose putteth the worde gubernare to gouerne in steed of pascere to feed For in deed the shepheard hath authoritie to rule and gouerne his sheepe Peter then hath autority not only ouer the lambes which are as it were the childern and the vnlearned ChristiaÌs nor only ouer the smaller sheep which yet are elder then the lambes as the Christian lawyers the learned physicions the Iudges and Princes of Christendom but also he hath power to gouern euen the sheep which are of most perfit age Verely the ewes Oues the weathers yea the rams themselues which in diuers places are capitaines of diuers flocks So that parissh Priests Bisshops Archebisshoppes and Patriarches are committed to the gouernement of Peter alone He is the vicar of Christe in loue and power of feeding therefore as none was without the cumpasse of Christes folde no more may he be without the cumpasse of Peters fold who wil be reckened in Christes fold De consid ad Eugen. lib. 2. S. Bernard writing to Eugenius the Pope of Rome whose bookes he that readeth may wel perceue he spake it for no flatterie hath these wordes Alij Pastores habent sibi assignatos greges singuli singulos tibi vniuersi crediti vni vnus Nec modò ouium sed Pastorum tu vnus omnium pastor Ex
man in himselfe so hath euery Bishop for his part the whole nature of a bisshop in hiÌself This equalitie of bishoply order and office notwithstanding the Apostles were in their bishoply prelateshippe and Iurisdiction a great way behiÌd S. Peter because he had a higher and larger power of gouerning geuen to him ouer Christes shepe then any of the other had in that behalfe Touching then the superiority of S. Peters iurisdiction for asmuch as all the power he had was either Apostolike or bishoply seing he could not easily haue more coÌmitted to hiÌ ouer the rest of the shepe by his Apostolike office Math. 2â then the other Apostles had for ech of theÌ had charge ouer the whole Church and the gouerment of their owne persons excepted what greater power could S. Peter haue if this notwithstandig I proue euideÌtly that Christ committed to S. Peter more Ecclesiastical power eueÌ ouer his shepe then to anie other it must needes be rather meant of more bishoply then of more Apostolike power And so albeit the power and iurisdictioÌ of the Apostles ouer the rest of the shepe be equal yet the power of bishops euen ouer the same shepe is not equal How proue I theÌ that S. Peter had more coÌmitted to his charge theÌ the other Apostles Verily because Christ in the presence of S. Iohn S. Iames aÌd S. Thomas the Apostles aÌd of other three disciples said to Peter SimoÌ IoaÌnis diligis me plê° his Ioan. 21. Simon the son of Iohn doest thou loue me more then these And surely seing S. Iohn was among them who was so tenderly beloued of Christ that he was knowen by the name of the Disciple whom Iesus loued Ibidem when Peter is asked whether he loue more theÌ they he is in effect asked whether he loue more then any other Apostle or Disciple Neither doth our Lord demaunde this question as a thing whereof he doubted but to instruct vs that Peter loued him more then the other Wherevpon S. Augustine concludeth In Ioan. Tract 24. Sciebat igitur Dominus noÌ soluÌ quôd diligeret verumetiam quôd plus illis diligeret eum Petrus Therefore our Lord did know that Peter did not onely loue him but also that he loued him more then they And yet seing Peter could not loue Christ more then the other did except Christ had first loued Peter more then he loued the other for Peters excelleÌt loue towards Christ must nedes come of the former exceding loue of Christ toward Peter as the scripture it selfe doth teache vs it is out of all controuersie that Christ first loued S. Peter 1. Ioan. 4. Prior dilexit nos more then he loued any other man in the whole world What The question more then he loued S. Iohn Or more then he loued his own Mother I answere An exaÌple that there are diuerse coÌsiderations of loue Alexander the great had two frindes who loued him for diuerse respects The one called Craterus loued him as king and loked to his honour in matters belonging therevnto The other called Hephestion loued his êson and diligently êcured his health aÌd priuate wel doing WhereupoÌ King Alexander was wont to saie that Craterus loued the King but Hephestion loued Alexander EueÌ so Christ loued his Morther aboue all creatures in the respect of that loue which it pleased him as her Sonne to owe vnto his Mother by the Law of nature Exod. 20. And therein he loued her almost incoÌparablie aboue S. Peter Likewise he loued personally S. Iohn the Euangelist August in Ioan. Tractat 124. and S. Iohn loued him more then other in that he was a virgin by Christes gift as who had dedicated his bodie and soule to Christ alone But in respect of Christes flock which was to be fed aÌd gouerned in the earth in that respect Christ loued S. Peter and S. Peter him more theÌ others The which distinction being kept we maie well say that our Lady loued Christ as the Sonne of God taking flesh of her own bodie more then any other and that S. Iohn loued Christ as the cause of his virginitie and the Athour of his chast loue more then any other and that S. Peter loued Christ as the prince of pastours more then anie other 1. Pet. 5. of which last kind of loue Christ now speaketh as it may wel appeare by his owne words For wheÌ S. Peter had answered yea Lord thou knowest that I loue thee Iesus said to hiÌ fede my laÌbs As who should saie for asmuch as thou in respect of my pastoral power louest me more then these take more power then they to feede my lambs For now sith Peters loue is the cause why Christ geueth him power to feede his lambs according to the measure of the loue the measure of the feeding must be vnderstanded De temp serm 149. Dominus Iesus saith S. Augustine respondenti amoreÌ commendat agnos suos dicit pasce oues meas tanquam diceret quid retribues quia diliges me dilectionem ostende in omnibus To Peter answering that he loueth our Lord Iesus commendeth his lambs and saith Feede my shepe as if he should say what wilt thou render to me because thou louest me Shew thy loue toward the shepe The same verie sense S. Chrysostom geueth In Ioan. Hom. 87. Si amas me fratruÌ curaÌ susci pias If thou louest me or seing thou louest me take the care of thy brethern Yf then the authority of feeding be the reward of Peters loue for asmuch as accordiÌg to S. Augustines iudgemeÌt grouÌded vpoÌ the expresse word of God Peter loued more theÌ the other Peter is now bid to shew more loue in taking cure of his brethern then any other Which thing because he can not doe except he receiue more power and authoritie to feed his brethern Iacob 1. then other haue for Peter can doe no more in that behalfe then is from heaueÌ committed to him it doth inuinciblie follow that Christ at this time geueth to Peter alone more povver and authority to feede his sheepe then any other had or can haue For the literal meaning of Christes whole discourse is none other thing then to say for as muche as thou louest me more then these feede my sheepe In the cumpasse or meaning of which wordes it is not possible for any other Apostle to be comprehended aequallie with S. Peter Note this reason For if any other may feed aequallie with him by the force of this commission the same cause of feeding must be in him which is named in this commission That is to say More theÌ these he must loue more then these But if any other doe so then hath Peter no commission to feed Christes sheepe because he then doth not loue more then they seing they must loue more then he or els no coÌmissioÌ of feeding is geueÌ theÌ Who so euer hath this commission to feed