Page:The Church, by John Huss.pdf/181

Rh standing in the holy place," Matt. 24:15. The apostle also says: "Let no man beguile you in any wise, for it will not be except the falling away come first and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; he that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God or is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God setting himself forth as God," II Thess. 2: 3–4. And it is apparent from the Chronicles how the papal dignity has sunk.

For the emperor Constantine, about A. D. 301, thought and commanded that the highest bishop should be called by all pope and in his dotation that name also sprang up. The emperor Phocas likewise, about the year 600, at the instance of the clergy confirmed this same thing, as may be read in his Annals. Therefore, Castrensis, 4 : 14, describes how the excellency of the Roman empire helped the papacy of the Roman pontiff above others. He says: "The Nicene council conferred this prerogative on the Roman pontiff, that, just as Augustus had rank above other kings, so the Roman pontiff should be held as bishop, and the pope be called chief father—principalis pater." The origin, however, of this name and this excellency is to be found in the dotation of the church, as is indicated in the Decretum, 96, Dist. Constant..