steve-b:
Are you referring to his label Preeminent authority for the Church of Rome?
Yes, the text that Schaff said was not easy to interpret and cause of " much discussion".
No doubt, It was tough for Schaff, a Protestant, to accept the teaching. The fact he said he tried to interpret it differently, but couldn’t , speaks volumes.
Schaff knew
Irenaeus was one man away from an apostle. He knew and was taught by Polycarp, a direct disciple of John. Irenaeus wrote what was passed onto him, till his day, (a.d. 180) going back to Peter and Paul, in Rome, through the succession of bishops from Peter in Rome, (which Irenaeus named). Peter was the bishop of Rome, and Rome as a result, all had to agree with THAT Church on account of it’s preeminent authority.
That understanding of Peter in Rome, ergo the preeminent authority of THAT Church in Rome, didn’t go away with time.
200 yrs later St Ambrose wrote
Where Peter is, there is the Church. And where the Church is, no death is there, but life eternal”
(Commentary on Twelve Psalms of David 40:30) [A.D. 389]).
Phillip Schaff (January 1, 1819 – October 20, 1893) would have known THAT quote also, as he would have known the following quotes of the 1st 450 yrs, of the Catholic Church as well
What the Early Church Believed: Peter as Pope | Catholic Answers.
and continuing 126 yrs past Schaff
2019, Pope Francis, 266th successor to Peter in Rome.
People can go to their grave arguing against this. I wouldn’t suggest it, but free will has consequences