East Orthodox Quoting Church Fathers

[Quis_UtDeus]

Hello!

So there are some Church father quotes I’m having trouble with and would like some insight regarding the papacy. These argue either that Peter and his successors hold no authority and are not the only one with the keys:

St. John Chrysostom

“[Referring to John] For the Son of thunder the beloved of Christ, the pillar of the Churches throughout the world, who holds the keys of heaven, who drank the cup of Christ, and was baptized with His baptism, who lay upon his Master’s bosom, with much confidence, this man now comes forward to us now…”
-St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of John

St. Bede

“Although it may seem that this power of loosing and binding was given by the Lord only to Peter, we must nevertheless know without any doubt that it was given to the other apostles…Indeed even now the same office is committed to the whole Church in her bishops and priests.”
-Bede the Venerable, Homilies on the Gospels: Book One: Advent to Lent

St. Cyprian

“Certainly the other Apostles also were what Peter was, endued with an equal fellowship both of honor and power; but a commencement is made from unity, that the Church may be set before as one; which one Church, in the Song of Songs…”
-St. Cyprian, On the Unity of the Church

St. Isidore

“So Peter first received the power of binding and loosing, and he first led people to faith by the power of his preaching. Still, the other Apostles have been made equal with Peter in a fellowship of dignity and power. They also, having been sent out into all the world, preached the Gospel. Having descended from these apostles, the bishops have succeeded them, and through all the world they have been established in the seats of the apostles”
-St. Isidore of Seville, De Ecclesiasticus II.5

Origen

"But if you think the whole church to be built by God upon that one Peter only, what would you say of John the son of thunder or each of the Apostles? Are we to venture to say that the gates of Hades do not prevail against Peter by a special privilege, but prevail against the other Apostles and the perfect? What is said surely belongs to each and all of them, since all are ‘Peter’ and the ‘Rock,’ and the church of God has been built upon them all, and against none who are such do the gates of Hades prevail. Is it to Peter alone that the Lord gives the keys of the kingdom of Heaven, and will no other of the blessed receive them? But if this privilege, ‘I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven,’ is common to the others, so also are all the preceding words addressed as it were to Peter "
-Origen on Matthew XII

 

[Wesrock]

Catholics do not believe that the powers of binding and loosing were given to Peter only. We also do not believe that the keys were given to Peter only. All Bishops are entrusted with Petrine authority. The keys, and binding and loosing, were however, entrusted to Peter first, then to the other apostles. We recognize that the Bishop of Rome is the archetype of Bishops in general, that he is the head of the college of Bishops, and that, as archetype, the Petrine authority of Bishops find its supreme example and unifying point in the Bishop of Rome.

Vatican II really makes the role and Petrine authority of all bishops quite clear, following and clarifying Vatican I.

 

[Quis_UtDeus]

Catholics do not believe that the powers of binding and loosing were given to Peter only.

As I understood it I thought the powers of binding and loosing given to the other apostles were only local powers and not that over the Church

We also do not believe that the keys were given to Peter only.

Is that true? As I understood it I thought the keys were the office of the steward of Christ the King and it was given to Peter and his successors as argued in Upon this Rock
Do we have catholic teaching to back this up and if so how can that justify Peter having authority as steward of the king?

 

[Dan_Defender]

Clement of Alexandria
“[T]he blessed Peter, the chosen, the preeminent, the first among the disciples, for whom alone with himself the Savior paid the tribute [Matt. 17:27], quickly gasped and understood their meaning. And what does he say? ‘Behold, we have left all and have followed you’ [Matt. 19:27; Mark 10:28]” (Who Is the Rich Man That Is Saved?

Tertullian
“For though you think that heaven is still shut up, remember that the Lord left the keys of it to Peter here, and through him to the Church, which keys everyone will carry with him if he has been questioned and made a confession [of faith]” (Antidote Against the Scorpion 10).

The Letter of Clement to James
“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” (Letter of Clement to James 2 ).

Origen
“f we were to attend carefully to the Gospels, we should also find, in relation to those things which seem to be common to Peter . . . a great difference and a preeminence in the things [Jesus] said to Peter, compared with the second class [of apostles]. For it is no small difference that Peter received the keys not of one heaven but of more, and in order that whatsoever things he binds on earth may be bound not in one heaven but in them all, as compared with the many who bind on earth and loose on earth, so that these things are bound and loosed not in [all] the heavens, as in the case of Peter, but in one only; for they do not reach so high a stage with power as Peter to bind and loose in all the heavens” (Commentary on Matthew 13:31).

Cyprian of Carthage
“The Lord says to Peter: ‘I say to you,’ he says, ‘that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.’ . . . On him [Peter] he builds the Church, and to him he gives the command to feed the sheep [John 21:17], and although he assigns a like power to all the apostles, yet he founded a single chair [cathedra], and he established by his own authority a source and an intrinsic reason for that unity. Indeed, the others were that also which Peter was [i.e., apostles], but a primacy is given to Peter, whereby it is made clear that there is but one Church and one chair. So too, all [the apostles] are shepherds, and the flock is shown to be one, fed by all the apostles in single-minded accord. If someone does not hold fast to this unity of Peter, can he imagine that he still holds the faith? If he [should] desert the chair of Peter upon whom the Church was built, can he still be confident that he is in the Church?” (The Unity of the Catholic Church 4; 1st edition).

 

[Quis_UtDeus]

Clement of Alexandria
…

Thank you for this but I’m asking specifically for insight on the quotes I provided. EO claims these quotes support their position for a First among Equals kind of primacy but not that of authority.

Tertullian
…

Wouldn’t this support the EO position that Peter doesn’t have the keys himself but everyone else?

Origen
…

Yes but what about the quote I provided? Wouldn’t they say that with the quote I gave it just shows that Peter’s power were given to the rest of the apostles?

Cyprian of Carthage
…

This quote comes right before the quote I gave, which they would say that thus all the apostles have “equal power” described here

 

[Wesrock]

Wesrock:

We also do not believe that the keys were given to Peter only.

Is that true? As I understood it I thought the keys were the office of the steward of Christ the King and it was given to Peter and his successors as argued in Upon this Rock

I’d look at the Summa Theologica, Supplement, Q19.

http://www.newadvent.org/summa/5019.htm

There’s multiple mentions of priests exercising the authority of the keys.

 

[Wesrock]

This quote comes right before the quote I gave, which they would say that thus all the apostles have “equal power” described here

Also from the Summa Theologica (Supplement, Q40, A6):

On the contrary, We read in the council of Constantinople: “In accordance with the Scriptures and the statutes and definitions of the canons, we venerate the most holy bishop of ancient Rome the first and greatest of bishops, and after him the bishop of Constantinople.” Therefore one bishop is above another.

Further, the blessed Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, says: “That we may remain members of our apostolic head, the throne of the Roman Pontiffs, of whom it is our duty to seek what we are to believe and what we are to hold, venerating him, beseeching him above others; for his it is to reprove, to correct, to appoint, to loose, and to bind in place of Him Who set up that very throne, and Who gave the fulness of His own to no other, but to him alone, to whom by divine right all bow the head, and the primates of the world are obedient as to our Lord Jesus Christ Himself.” Therefore bishops are subject to someone even by divine right.

I answer that, Wherever there are several authorities directed to one purpose, there must needs be one universal authority over the particular authorities, because in all virtues and acts the order is according to the order of their ends (Ethic. i, 1,2). Now the common good is more Godlike than the particular good. Wherefore above the governing power which aims at a particular good there must be a universal governing power in respect of the common good, otherwise there would be no cohesion towards the one object. Hence since the whole Church is one body, it behooves, if this oneness is to be preserved, that there be a governing power in respect of the whole Church, above the episcopal power whereby each particular Church is governed, and this is the power of the Pope. Consequently those who deny this power are called schismatics as causing a division in the unity of the Church. Again, between a simple bishop and the Pope there are other degrees of rank corresponding to the degrees of union, in respect of which one congregation or community includes another; thus the community of a province includes the community of a city, and the community of a kingdom includes the community of one province, and the community of the whole world includes the community of one kingdom.

Reply to Objection 1. Although the power of binding and loosing was given to all the apostles in common, nevertheless in order to indicate some order in this power, it was given first of all to Peter alone, to show that this power must come down from him to the others. For this reason He said to him in the singular: “Confirm thy brethren” (Luke 22:32), and: “Feed My sheep” (John 21:17), i.e. according to Chrysostom: “Be thou the president and head of thy brethren in My stead, that they, putting thee in My place, may preach and confirm thee throughout the world whilst thou sittest on thy throne.”

 

[Wesrock]

I want to quote the broader passage of Cyprian’s:

If any one consider and examine these things, there is no need for lengthened discussion and arguments. There is easy proof for faith in a short summary of the truth. The Lord speaks to Peter, saying, I say unto you, that you are Peter; and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hellshall not prevail against it. And I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven, and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. And again to the same He says, after His resurrection, Feed my sheep. And although to all the apostles, after His resurrection, He gives an equal power, and says, As the Father has sent me, even so send I you: Receive the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins you remit, they shall be remitted unto him; and whose soever sins you retain, they shall be retained; John 20:21 yet, that He might set forth unity, He arranged by His authority the origin of that unity, as beginning from one. Assuredly the rest of the apostles were also the same as was Peter, endowed with a like partnership both of honour and power; but the beginning proceeds from unity. Which one Church, also, the Holy Spirit in the Song of Songs designated in the person of our Lord, and says, My dove, my spotless one, is but one. She is the only one of her mother, elect of her that bare her.Song of Songs 6:9 Does he who does not hold this unity of the Church think that he holds the faith?

Emphasis mine, of course.

The origin of that unity begins with Peter. Cyprian presents Peter as the archetype, the origin of the unity, and admonishes the Church to hold to this unity (for, in context, what other unity would he be referring to at this point when he says “this unity” a couple sentences later?), originating from one.

One doesn’t need to search hard in the early church councils to see numerous references to the Pope as the successor of Peter and of the Pope speaking as the mouth of Peter.

 

[po18guy]

Why does the Letter of First Clement exist? That demolishes all such fabricated and cherry-picked assertions.

 

[Quis_UtDeus]

There’s multiple mentions of priests exercising the authority of the keys.

Yes but what about the keys regarding to the Petrine office as steward of the kingdom of heaven? Wouldn’t that argument get thrown out the window if it was given to the other apostles as well?

 

[Quis_UtDeus]

Yes I understand that helps our side but I need at least some explanation for the quotes I provided

 

[Wesrock]

Wesrock:

There’s multiple mentions of priests exercising the authority of the keys.

Yes but what about the keys regarding to the Petrine office as steward of the kingdom of heaven? Wouldn’t that argument get thrown out the window if it was given to the other apostles as well?

I would go with what Aquinas said in one of the replies above:

Although the power of binding and loosing was given to all the apostles in common, nevertheless in order to indicate some order in this power, it was given first of all to Peter alone, to show that this power must come down from him to the others.

The Church has multiple stewards, but the Pope is the “prime” steward (minister).

 

[Genesis315]

St. John Chrysostom, in his homily on John 21:15-17:

And why, having passed by the others, does He speak with Peter on these matters? He was the chosen one of the Apostles, the mouth of the disciples, the leader of the band; on this account also Paul went up upon a time to enquire of him rather than the others. And at the same time to show him that he must now be of good cheer, since the denial was done away, Jesus puts into his hands the chief authority among the brethren; and He brings not forward the denial, nor reproaches him with what had taken place, but says, If you love Me, preside over your brethren, and the warm love which you ever manifested, and in which you rejoiced, show thou now; and the life which you said you would lay down for Me, now give for My sheep.

http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/240188.htm

St. Bede–we have no problem with that statement. We believe all the bishops together have the power to bind and loose over the whole Church and each one has this power over his own Church. The Roman Pontiff is the only individual with this power over the whole Church. Here are some other quotes from St. Bede:

https://erickybarra.org/2018/10/29/st-bede-the-venerable-historian-universal-papal-primacy-of-the-roman-see/

The same applies to what St. Isadore said. His relationship with St. Gregory the Great is evidence enough as to how he viewed their respective offices.

Origen is kind of all over the place on this question.
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/101612.htm

He equates the keys with the breath of the spirit given for the forgivness of sins (in John)–clearly, this does not only apply to Peter. Likewise, he says the Gates of Hades will not prevail against Peter alone, but also will not prevail against the Church in general (again, no disagreement there). he then says this applies to all Christians–we are all Peters. He seems unique in this regard.

It’s good to remember, the Pope is a bishop like any other with the same sacramental dignity and power. But, like Peter, he has a special place among his brothers for the sake of the unity of the Church.