Page:The Church, by John Huss.pdf/116

64 and at the close of the chapter it is stated how Barnabas led Paul to Antioch and they were together for a whole year in the church and taught great multitudes, so that "the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch," Acts 11:1, 26.

In the second sense, the Roman church is taken to mean any pope together with any cardinals, wherever they may happen to reside, whether their lives are good or evil. And in the third sense, it is taken for the pope. These two last senses are wrested by scholars. For there is no good reason for calling the Roman church our mother either (1) on account of its pride or (2) on account of the emperor's clement goodness in endowing the church or on account of the pope's haughtiness and self-assertion because of imperial rule drawn from the pope's primacy or dominion, (3) or, again, is this a good reason that men should believe that it is incumbent upon every Christian to have recourse to the pope and that it is of necessity for salvation to recognize him as the head and as the most holy father, but for other reasons than this. For since the term Roman church was established aside from any foundation in sacred Scripture, it is enough to give a probable reason. For the holy church of Christ flourished first in Jerusalem during the days of the apostles, who companied with Christ, and afterwards in Antioch at the time of Peter's incumbence as bishop—cathedrationis—and afterwards in Rome at the time of the preaching and martyrdom of Peter and Paul. And so is to be understood the Saviour's saying, Matt. 12:28, "Finally is the kingdom of God come unto you," and also Luke 17:21, 37, "The kingdom of God is within you for where the body is, thither will the eagles also be gathered together." For, although the Christian church began in Judea and Christ suffered martyrdom in Jerusalem, nevertheless with reason Christ's church is called the Roman church in view of a certain pre-eminence and for three causes: (1) Christ knew that the peoples under the Roman empire would be brought in in the place of the unbe-