Thoughts on the Infallibility of the Church; With Especial Reference to the Creed of Pope Pius IV (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1861. Excerpt: ... Bishops) or forces his Colleagues to a necessity of obeying him by a tyrannical terror, since every Bishop has full power to determine for himself, and can no more be judged by others than he can judge them." And further, tie denounces the Pope as "a friend of heretics, and an enemy of Christians." It is evident that St. Gyprian did not regard the See of Rome e.s the divinely appointed centre of unity, and her Bishop as the infallible Judge of controversy. Firmilian writes still more strongly, and complains of the "open and manifest folly of Stephen," and of his "dissension with so many Bishops throughout the whole world," while he plainly tells the Pope that he was " worse than: all heretics," and thus addresses him--"What a great sin you have heaped on yourself, when yon have cut off yourself from so many flocks For you have cut yourself off. Do not-deceive yourself. Since he is truly the schismatic, who makes himself an apostate from the communion of ecclesiastical unity; for while you think that all are excluded from you, you have only excluded yourself from all."f These ancient Bishops, then, regarded the Pope as guilty of schism by his intolerant conduct-; and they certainly did not think that communion with the Church of Rome was necessary to communion with the Catholic Church. Nor is there any evidence to be produced on the other side, in order to prove that these Prelates were singular in their opinions, or that their conduct was viewed with disapprobation by their brethren, in their opposition to the Bishop of Rome. In the following Century, we find the first steps towards the Supremacy laid by the Council of Sardica, in 347, which gave the Bishop of Rome a species of appellate S. Cypr. Opp. p. 329. + InicrS. Cypr. Opp. p. 150. jurisdiction, "i...