ECFs on the Primacy of Peter
**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 grasped 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? *21:3–5 [A.D. 200]).
All very nice and up to your usual standard!
That petr was pre-eminent, who has denied it? I haven’t!
Wheree does it all fall in to Rome’s hand?
**Tertullian **
“[T]he Lord said to Peter, ‘On this rock I will build my Church, I have given you the keys of the kingdom of heaven [and] whatever you shall have bound or loosed on earth will be bound or loosed in heaven’ [Matt. 16:18–19]. . . . Upon you, he says, I will build my Church; and I will give to *you *the keys, not to the Church; and whatever *you *shall have bound or *you *shall have loosed, not what they shall have bound or they shall have loosed” (Modesty 21:9–10 [A.D. 220]).
These things were given to all Apostles.
**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 [A.D. 221]).
Nothing alters does it, did you go to the joseph Stalin school for Apologetics? Repeat it oft enough and someone will listen!
Origen (248 A.D.)
“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 [A.D. 248]).
**Ephraim **
“[Jesus said:] Simon, my follower, I have made you the foundation of the holy Church. I betimes called you Peter, because you will support all its buildings. You are the inspector of those who will build on earth a Church for me. If they should wish to build what is false, you, the foundation, will condemn them. You are the head of the fountain from which my teaching flows; you are the chief of my disciples. Through you I will give drink to all peoples. Yours is that life-giving sweetness which I dispense. I have chosen you to be, as it were, the first-born in my institution so that, as the heir, you may be executor of my treasures. I have given you the keys of my kingdom. Behold, I have given you authority over all my treasures” (Homilies 4:1 [A.D. 351]).
**Ambrose **
“[Christ] made answer: ‘You are Peter, and upon this rock will I build my Church . . .’ Could he not, then, strengthen the faith of the man to whom, acting on his own authority, he gave the kingdom, whom he called the rock, thereby declaring him to be the foundation of the Church [Matt. 16:18]?” (The Faith 4:5 [A.D. 379]).
**With all your sterling work on tthese boards, you have learnt very little except you’ve become some sort of a human photocopier.
All these excerpts go to bolster our image of Peter from the fathers! Well and good as far as it goes, though no one is attacking Peter!
Neither the Holy fathers or anyone on this board!
No doubt it makes you feel virtuous, but in fact it reveals just how little you know! The Holy father’s have to be consulted, and you’ve **undoubtedly worked at in the Forum Library! Has no one told you that the fathers have a wider audience? They were a College,[in the most part,] of Bishops. After Christ and tthe Apostles this is what makes the Catholic Church tick. For the defence of the Church against wrong doing, they met in Councils. These are the human base of the Church,Seven Ecumenical Councils and they, through the medium of the fathers , guided by the Hoily Ghost are what you should be looking to! We’ve done the quotes! Look beyond it and at the [official,] Christian world at that time See just what the Bishops, of the first thousand years, say through the Councils!! They do not support your claim, that is why your Church doesn’t refer to them, unless it can’t help doing so.The traditional Catholic Church, that is the Church of the first 500 years doesn’t support the idea of the Papacy.