登陆注册
15365600000170

第170章 OF POWER ECCLESIASTICAL(20)

Of five books he hath written of this subject,the first containeth three questions:one,which is simply the best government,monarchy,aristocracy,or democracy,and concludeth for neither,but for a government mixed of all three;another,which of these is the best government of the Church,and concludeth for the mixed,but which should most participate of monarchy;the third,whether in this mixed monarchy,St.Peter had the place of monarch.

Concerning his first conclusion,I have already sufficiently proved (Chapter eighteen)that all governments,which men are bound to obey,are simple and absolute.In monarchy there is but one man supreme,and all other men that have any kind of power in the state have it by his commission,during his pleasure,and execute it in his name;and in aristocracy and democracy,but one supreme assembly,with the same power that in monarchy belongeth to the monarch,which is not a mixed,but an absolute sovereignty.And of the three sorts,which is the best is not to be disputed where any one of them is already established;but the present ought always to be preferred,maintained,and accounted best,because it is against both the law of nature and the divine positive law to do anything tending to the subversion thereof.Besides,it maketh nothing to the power of any pastor (unless he have the civil sovereignty)what kind of government is the best,because their calling is not to govern men by commandment,but to teach them and persuade them by arguments,and leave it to them to consider whether they shall embrace or reject the doctrine taught.For monarchy,aristocracy,and democracy do mark out unto us three sorts of sovereigns,not of pastors;or,as we may say,three sorts of masters of families,not three sorts of schoolmasters for their children.

And therefore the second conclusion,concerning the best form of government of the Church,is nothing to the question of the Pope's power without his own dominions:for in all other Commonwealths his power,if he have any at all,is that of the schoolmaster only,and not of the master of the family.

For the third conclusion,which is that St.Peter was monarch of the Church,he bringeth for his chief argument the place of St.Matthew,"Thou art Peter,and upon this rock I will build my church,"etc."And I will give thee the keys of heaven;whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."Which place,well considered,proveth no more but that the Church of Christ hath for foundation one only article;namely,that which Peter,in the name of all the Apostles professing,gave occasion to our Saviour to speak the words here cited.Which that we may clearly understand,we are to consider,that our Saviour preached by himself,by John Baptist,and by his Apostles,nothing but this article of faith,"that he was the Christ";all other articles requiring faith no otherwise than as founded on that.John began first,preaching only this,"The kingdom of God is at hand."Then our Saviour himself preached the same:and to his twelve Apostles,when he gave them their commission,there is no mention of preaching any other article but that.This was the fundamental article,that is the foundation of the Church's faith.Afterwards the Apostles being returned to him,he asketh them all,not Peter only,who men said he was;and they answered that some said he was John the Baptist,some Elias,and others Jeremias,or one of the Prophets;then he asked them all again,not Peter only,"Whom say ye that I am?"Therefore St.

Peter answered for them all,"Thou art Christ,the Son of the living God";which I said is the foundation of the faith of the whole Church;from which our Saviour takes the occasion of saying,"upon this stone I will build my Church":by which it is manifest that by the foundation-stone of the Church was meant the fundamental article of the Church's faith.But why then,will some object,doth our Saviour interpose these words,"Thou art Peter"?If the original of this text had been rigidly the reason would easily have appeared.We are therefore to consider that the Apostle Simon was surnamed Stone (which is the signification of the Syriac word cephas,and of the Greek word petrus).Our Saviour therefore after the confession of that fundamental article,alluding to his name,said (as if it were in English)thus,"Thou art Stone,and upon this Stone I will build my Church":which is as much as to say,"This article,that I am the Christ,is the foundation of all the faith I require in those that are to be members my Church."Neither is this allusion to a name an unusual thing in common speech:but it had been a strange and obscure speech,if our Saviour,intending to build his Church on the person of St.Peter,had said,"Thou art a stone,and upon this stone I will build my Church,"when it was so obvious,without ambiguity,to have said,"I will build my Church on thee";and yet there had been still the same allusion to his name.

And for the following words,"I will give thee the keys of heaven,"etc.,it is no more than what our Saviour gave also to all the rest of his Disciples,"Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.And whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."But howsoever this be interpreted,there is no doubt but the power here granted belongs to all supreme pastors;such as are all Christian civil sovereigns in their own dominions.

Insomuch as if St.Peter,or our Saviour himself,had converted any of them to believe him and to acknowledge his kingdom;yet because his kingdom is not of this world,he had left the supreme care of converting his subjects to none but him;or else he must have deprived him of the sovereignty to which the right of teaching is inseparably annexed.And thus much in refutation of his first book,wherein he would prove St.Peter to have been the monarch universal of the Church,that is to say,of all the Christians in the world.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 锦衣卫大大帮帮忙

    锦衣卫大大帮帮忙

    霸气侧漏的锦衣卫副千户大大为了升千户踏上了搜查破案的道路,皇帝还是很有人性的,给了她一个不靠谱但是头脑超好的帮手和随时出兵的机会。大大全程靠自己的脑力和与别人不一样的逻辑思维破掉重重案件。在伪娘花魁、失忆少女、暴力美学、友谊小船以及一系列破事的阻挠下,副千户大大能否和身边身份不详姓名不详的小公举一起勇往直前登上人生顶峰迎娶……娶就算啦……反正就是升上千户嘞?看完你就知道啦!一起和副千户大大浪吧~
  • 星际圣域之圣灵

    星际圣域之圣灵

    一艘独一无二的母舰,一名穿越的少年。为了亲人,为了生存,毅然放弃了人类的身份,成为一名高贵的圣灵,统领圣灵建立了宇宙中强大的星空帝国。
  • 逆武承天

    逆武承天

    大千世界,位面交汇,万族林立,群英荟萃,一位位来自下位面的天之至尊,在这无尽世界,演绎着令人向往的传奇,追求着那主宰之路。
  • 重生之盛世无悔

    重生之盛世无悔

    重生回过去,改变自己。那就在这盛世变得无悔就好。
  • 蓝鸢情诫

    蓝鸢情诫

    也许我写的剧情很老套,只希望我的文字,能带来感动。第一卷,虐恋情殇风。第二卷开始,轻松逗趣风。不喜欢看太悲的童鞋,建议从第二卷开始看。【淅遥小语】这是淅遥第一次写文!还有很多需要改善的地方,只希望大家多多支持!多多关注!不胜感激!
  • 源代码

    源代码

    叶瑜,男,39岁,无业,目前闲置在家,坐拥不可估量的财富,住在城中村,与房东老板的女儿,过着悠闲自得的生活。十年前,这位驰骋于世界各地的传奇飞盗,完成了人生中的最后一次表演,将他魔术大师“夜鸦”这个艺名,与他的神偷之名一起葬在了悉尼最大的舞台,从此隐姓埋名。十年后的今天,昔日的怪盗魔术师,又一次开始了新的传奇之旅。他将化作一段源代码,穿梭回到二十年前,以另一个人的身份醒来,重新认识这个令他熟悉而陌生的世界。(每一个收藏,每一张推荐票,都是对作者最大的支持,如果喜欢这本书,请把它加入书架)
  • 综漫之是非黑白

    综漫之是非黑白

    爱好扶老人与动漫的姬修在圣诞节收到了来自圣诞老人的馈赠,通过无限系统来到无数动漫世界中,发现等待着他的是一个深不见底的坑,其他的无限者抢起妹子来简直如狼似虎。本书虽然是无限流,但女主不会超过三个。另附:男主是挂b,但是有其他人比男主开挂更厉害,所以男主混的一般,大概最后几个世界能让他装会b。
  • 有个故事,相伴青春

    有个故事,相伴青春

    岁月已逝去,你曾经的微笑,在回忆里却散不开。我忘了哪年哪月的哪一日,我在哪面墙上刻下永远在一起的美丽愿望。
  • 混沌漂流

    混沌漂流

    混混沌沌,不知所云,莫名其妙的一个故事。
  • 别谈情:多伤钱呐!

    别谈情:多伤钱呐!

    “还钱……还钱……还钱……“到底上辈子做了什么缺德事?竟然刮坏了贪财鬼的布加迪威龙?120万的巨额赔偿?天啊,死翘翘了。冤家路窄,面试居然碰到那个贪财鬼,还扣留自己的工资来还钱?这样也就算了,没有必要天天用还钱来威胁人吧!什么?挂名妻子?你把我当成什么人?……唔,有钱的呀!介个……那个……好吧好吧!人为财死,鸟为食亡。哈哈!