Page:Readings in European History Vol 1.djvu/99

 The Rise of the Papacy 63 after Peter's death, which probably occurred during the persecution of the Christians under Nero (A.D. 64) or not long after. 1 Irenaeus, who became bishop of Lyons in 177 and is. irenams who died about 202, in a work directed against the vari- gVes a 2) ous heresies which prevailed, emphasizes the purity and u . stof the authority of the beliefs handed down in the Roman Rome. Church. He would put to confusion all those who dis- sented from the orthodox belief by bringing forward that tradition derived from the apos- tles of the very great, the very ancient, and universally known church, founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul. This is the faith preached to men which comes down to our own times through the succession of the bishops. . . . And it is a matter of neces- sity that every church should agree with this church, on account of its preeminent authority. 2 . . . 1 About the year 95 a letter, ascribed to Clement who, according to later tradition, was bishop of Rome was dispatched from the Roman Church to that at Corinth. This speaks of the martyrdom of Peter and Paul, in enumerating the noble examples of Christian heroes "furnished in our own generation." It also reproves the Corinthian Church for deposing certain churchmen, and so seems to assume a species of supe- riority. A few years later (probably in 107) Ignatius of Antioch wrote to the Church at Rome that he was on his way to the capital to suffer martyrdom. His letter begins : " To the church which is beloved and enlightened by the will of Him that willeth all things, . . . which presides in the place of the region of the Romans, worthy of God, worthy of honor, worthy of the highest happiness, worthy of praise, worthy of obtaining her every desire, worthy of being deemed holy, presiding in love, is named from Christ, and from the Father," etc. To some scholars these passages seem to indicate the early supremacy of the Roman Church. To others they appear too vague to prove more than a natural preeminence of the Christian community of the capital, which had num- bered Peter and Paul among its many martyrs. 2 This rather vague and much discussed passage reads, Ad hanc enim ecclesiam propter potiorcm principalitatem necesse est omnem con- venire ecclesiam.