Page:The Church, by John Huss.pdf/264

212 For as by one hinge only one door is ruled, so it would be a good thing if by their doctrine and authority they were ruled well themselves, so that afterwards other churches should be well ruled. For in what manner do they rule our church of Prague except by distributing benefices to the covetous and collecting monies? But what has become of teaching and the other ministrations of power?

Thirdly, the seat is conceived of as power, and in this way it is conceived in Dist. Inferior. [21: 4, Friedberg, 1: 70], where Pope Nicolas says, "an inferior seat is not competent to absolve a superior," and he draws the conclusion but unfittingly enough from Isaiah 10:15, "Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth? Shall the saw magnify itself against him that wieldeth it?" when he says: "Seeing these things are set forth in divine Scripture, we have shown more clearly than the sun that no one who is of lesser authority is competent to condemn by his judgments one who is of greater power, or subject him by definitions of his own." See how he here calls the inferior seat the man of lesser authority and the superior seat the man of greater authority. But how is the seat to be understood? This Pelagius [a mistake for Gelasius] answers, when he says: Dist. 21 [Friedberg, 1:70]: "The first seat of the apostle Peter is the Roman church, which has neither spot nor wrinkle nor any such thing." See how the seat of Peter is here called the Roman church. But by this is it verified, that it is "without spot and wrinkle"? Since neither is the pope that seat nor that church, nor is the pope in conjunction with the cardinals, for they are not "without spot." Nor is that seat the stone church. Of a truth, I am not able otherwise to think of that seat except as it is all those who imitate the life of Peter, measured finally by the law of Christ. For these will be "without spot and wrinkle" in the heavenly country. But whether this is the meaning of that pope or not, I do not know.