More Schism in the East (2018)

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St. Cyprian says this:

“Let no one deceive the brotherhood by a falsehood: let no one corrupt the truth of the faith by perfidious prevarication. The episcopate is one, each part of which is held by each one for the whole.”

Cyprian qualifies that.

“With a false bishop appointed for themselves by heretics, they dare even to set sail and carry letters from schismatics and blasphemers to the chair of Peter and to the principal Church [at Rome], in which sacerdotal unity has its source; nor did they take thought that these are Romans, whose faith was praised by the preaching Apostle, and among whom it is not possible for perfidy to have entrance.” Cyprian, Epistle 54 to Cornelius of Rome, c. AD 252

“[After quoting Matthew 16:18f; John 21:15ff]…On him [Peter] He builds the Church, and to him He gives the command to feed the sheep; and although He assigned a like power to all the Apostles, yet he founded a single Chair, 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; but a primacy is given to Peter, whereby it is made clear that there is but one Church and one Chair. So too, all 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 desert the chair of Peter upon whom the Church was built, can he still be confident that he is in the Church?” Cyprian, The Unity of the Catholic Church [first edition] Treatise I v 4, c. AD 251

“They who have not peace themselves now offer peace to others. They who have withdrawn from the Church promise to lead back and to recall the lapsed to the Church. There is one God and one Christ, and one Church, and one Chair founded on Peter by the word of the Lord. It is not possible to set up another altar or for there to be another priesthood besides that one altar and that one priesthood. Whoever has gathered elsewehre is scattering.” Cyprian, Letter 43 (40), 5, c. AD 251)

“There speaks Peter, upon whom the Church would be built, teaching in the name of the Church and showing that even if a stubborn and proud multitude withdraws because it does not wish to obey, yet the Church does not withdraw from Christ. The people joined to the priest and the flock clinging to their shepherd are the Church. You ought to know, then, that the bishop is in the Church and the Church in the bishop, and if someone is not with the bishop, he is not in the Church. They vainly flatter themselves who creep up, not having peace with the priests of God, believing that they are secretly in communion with certain individuals. For the Church, which is One and Catholic, is not split nor divided, but is indeed united and joined by the cement of priests who adhere one to another.” Cyprian, Epistle 68 v 8 to Florentius Pupianus, c. AD 254

 

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steve-b:

That’s NOT how Jesus set it up. Show me where every bishop is a successor to Peter in scripture. When Judas was replaced, and his office was to be filled they voted for Mathias. Was Mathias a successor then to Peter?

Matthew 16:18. Here Peter is the rock not just in his person but his faith. Don’t mistake me, I am not saying Peter isn’t in the definition of rock like Protestants say. No, it’s specifically Peter’s faith that is important here because it is the rock which all Bishops must have. The pun here demands it. This is confirmed by Jesus later in Matthew 18:18 when all the apostles are given the authority to bind and loose because they are all standing on the rock of specifically Peter and his faith, therefore they are given to right to be successors to Peter in Matthew 18:18.

Also, the unanimous consent of the Fathers confirm this. Especially St. Cyprian who tells us all Bishops are successors to Peter. St. Cyprian directly ties the promise of Christ to St. Peter to the office of the episcopacy.

Our Lord, whose precepts and warnings we ought to observe, determining the honour of a Bishop and to the ordering of His own Church, speaks in the Gospel, and says to Peter, I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and on this rock will I build My Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Matt. 16:18-19). Thence the ordination of Bishops, and the ordering of the Church, runs down along the course of time and line of succession, so that the Church is settled upon her Bishops; and every act of the Church is regulated by these same Prelates.

Interestingly St. Cyprian also says this which effectively refutes Papal Supremacy:

For no one [of us ] has set himself up to be bishop of bishops, or attempted with tyrannical dread to force his colleagues to obedience to him, since every bishop has, for the license of liberty and power, his own will, and as he cannot be judged by another, so neither can he judge another. But we await the judgment of our universal Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ, who one and alone has the power, both of advancing us in the governance of his Church, and of judging of our actions in that position.

answered here and properly referenced.