Victor R. Claveau, MJ
Saint Cyprian of Carthage (d. 258 A.D.)
In his letter to Cornelius of Rome (c. 251 A.D.) Saint Cyprian speaks of the Church of Rome as the “chair of Peter (cathedra Petri)” and “the principle Church in which sacerdotal unity has its source.”[1] Saint Ambrose (d. 397 A.D.) states that “where Peter is, there is the Church.”’[2]… Saint Augustine’s recognition of the authority of the Pope is manifested by the famous words with which he welcomes the decision made by the Pope: Roma locuta est; causa finita est—Rome has spoken; the case is concluded.[3] Why does Augustine believe the Bishop of Rome has the final word? The answer is that the Pope is the successor of Saint Peter—a fact clearly recognized by Augustine in his Letter to Generosus (c. 400 A.D.) in which he names all 34 of the bishops of Rome from Peter to Anastasius.[4]
The Letter of Pope Saint Clement[5] to James[6]
“Be it known to you, my lord, that Simon [Peter], who, for the sake of the true faith, and the most sure foundation of his doctrine, was set apart to be the foundation of the Church, and for this end was by Jesus himself, with his truthful mouth, named Peter, the first fruits of our Lord, the first of the apostles; to whom first the Father revealed the Son; whom the Christ, with good reason, blessed; the called, and elect.”[7]
Tertullian (155/160—240/250 A.D.)
Tertullian was born in Carthage in North Africa and practiced law before his conversion to Christianity ca. A.D.193. As a Christian he was a prolific writer and has been called the “Father of Latin Christianity.” He was most likely a layman whose writings were widely read. He had a great influence upon the Church fathers of subsequent generations, especially Saint Cyprian. He is the first of the Western fathers to comment on Matthew 16. In one of his writings Tertullian identifies the rock with the person of Peter on whom the Church would be built: “Was anything withheld from the knowledge of Peter, who is called the ‘rock on which the church should be built’ who also obtained ‘the keys of the kingdom of heaven,’ with the power of ‘loosing and binding in heaven and earth?’” [8]
Origen (185—232/254 A.D.)
Origen was the administrator of the catechetical school at Alexandria during the first half of the third century. He was an individual of enormous intellect and he was by far the most prolific writer of the patristic age. Eusebius states that Origen’s writings numbered in the neighborhood of six thousand. He has been called the greatest scholar of Christian antiquity. He had an immense influence upon early church fathers in both the East and West in subsequent centuries. Origen is the first father to give a detailed exposition of the meaning of the rock of Matthew 16:18. His interpretation became normative for the Eastern fathers and for many in the West. Apart from the specific passage of Matthew 16, he states that Peter is the rock:
“Look at the great foundation of that Church and at the very solid rock upon which Christ has founded the Church. Wherefore the Lord says: ‘Ye of little faith, why have you doubted?’” [9]
Saint Cyprian, Bishop and Martyr (200–210—c. 258 A.D.)
Cyprian was a bishop of Carthage in North Africa in the mid–third century. He was one of the most influential theologians and bishops of the Church in his day, and he gave his life in martyrdom for his faith. He was greatly influenced by the writings of Tertullian, the North African father who preceded him. Cyprian is often cited by Roman Catholic apologists as a witness for papal primacy. In his treatise On the Unity of the Church Cyprian gives the following interpretation of the rock of Matthew 16:18-19: And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”[10]
To Peter, after His resurrection, Christ said, “Feed My sheep.” Cyprian went on to say, “Upon him (Peter), He built His Church; and although He later bestowed on all the Apostles an equal power, Christ said, ‘As My Father sent Me, even so I send you; receive ye the Holy Spirit: whosoever sins ye remit, they shall be remitted to him, and whosoever sins ye shall retain, they shall be retained;’[11]—yet in order to manifest unity, He has by His own authority so placed the source of the same unity, as to begin from one.”[12]
Eusebius, Bishop of Cæsarea (260/265 – 339/340 A.D.)
Eusebius was born in Caesarea in Palestine circa 263 A.D. He took the name Eusebius Pamphilus after his mentor Pamphilus. He was consecrated the Bishop of Caesarea in 313 A.D. and he was a participant at the Council of Nicaea. He is known as the father of ecclesiastical history for his work on the history of the Church. He has very clearly expressed his views on the meaning of the rock of Matthew 16:
“And he sent out arrows, and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings, and routed them. Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare, at thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of thy nostrils’ (Psalm 18:14)… By ‘the foundations of the world,’ we shall understand the strength of God’s wisdom, by which, first, the order of the universe was established, and then, the world itself was founded—a world which will not be shaken. Yet you will not in any way err from the scope of the truth if you suppose that ‘the world’ is actually the Church of God, and that its ‘foundation’ is in the first place, that unspeakably solid rock on which it is founded, as Scripture says: ‘Upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it’; and elsewhere: ‘The rock, moreover, was Christ.’ For, as the Apostle indicates with these words: ‘No other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus.’ Then, too, after the Savior himself, you may rightly judge the foundations of the Church to be the words of the prophets and apostles, in accordance with the statement of the Apostle: ‘Built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.’ These foundations of the world have been laid bare because the enemies of God, who once darkened the eyes of our mind, lest we gaze upon divine things, have been routed and put to flight—scattered by the arrows sent from God and put to flight by the rebuke of the Lord and by the blast from his nostrils. As a result, having been saved from these enemies and having received the use of our eyes, we have seen the channels of the sea and have looked upon the foundations of the world. This has happened in our lifetime in many parts of the world.” [13]
Saint Augustine (Numidia, now Algeria, 354 – 430 A.D.)
“For, if the order of succession of Bishops is to be considered, how much more surely, truly and safely do we number them from Peter, to whom, as representing the whole Church, the Lord said: “Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.[14] For, to Peter succeeded Linus, to Linus Clement, to Clement Anacletus, to Anacletus Evaristus…”[15]
[1] Epistle 59, 14.
[2] Commentary on the Psalms 40, 30.
[3] Sermon 131, 6:10.
[4] Letter 53, 1, 2.
[5] Pope Saint Clement I, also known as Saint Clement of Rome.
[6] According to Tertullian, writing c. 199, Pope Saint Clement was ordained by Saint Peter (De Praescript., 32), and Saint Jerome tells us that in his time “most of the Latins” held that Clement was the third successor of the Apostle (Illustrious Men 15). Saint Jerome himself in several other places follows this opinion, but here he correctly states that Clement was the fourth Pope.
[7] Letter of Clement to James 2 (221 A.D.).
[8] Roberts, Alexander, and Donaldson, James, Ante-Nicene Fathers (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1951), Volume III, Tertullian, Prescription Against Heretics, p.22.
[9] Exodus, Homily 5.4. Cited by Karlfried Froehlich, Formen der Auslegung von Matthaus 16,13-18 im lateinischen Mittelaiter, Dissertation (Tubingen, 1963), p. 100.
[10] Matthew 16:18-19
[11] John 20:21
[12] A Library of the Fathers of the Holy Catholic Church (Oxford: Parker, 1844), Cyprian, On The Unity of the Church 3-4, pp. 133-135.
[13] Commentary on the Psalms, J.P. Migne, Patrologia Graeca, Vol. 23, Col. 173, 176.
[14] Matthew 16:18
[15] Letters, No 53.