Page:The Church, by John Huss.pdf/266

214 tles are heaven, then they are themselves made God's seat; they are God's throne. In another place it is said: 'The soul of the righteous man is the throne of wisdom.' This is a great thing which is said, namely, in the soul of the righteous man wisdom sits as on its throne and from there it judges whatever it judges. Therefore, there will be thrones of wisdom, and so the Lord said to them: 'Ye shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.' So also they will sit on twelve seats; and they are themselves the seats of God. Of them, indeed, it was said: 'For there the seats sat.' How will the seats sit there? And who are the seats of whom it is said, ‘The soul of the righteous man is the seat of wisdom'? And who are the seats of heaven? The heavens. Who are the heavens? Heaven. What is heaven, of which the Lord says, 'Heaven is my seat'? The righteous themselves are the seats, and have seats; and in that Jerusalem the seats will sit. For what purpose? 'For judgment, ye shall sit,' he says, 'on twelve seats, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.' Judging whom? Those who are below on the earth. Who will judge? Those who are made heaven." Thus much Augustine, showing from Scripture that the righteous are God's seats and they it is who will judge.

Fourthly, seat is understood of the place in which any apostle remains for a given period, ruling the people according to Christ's law, and, in this sense, Jerusalem was not the bare city, but with its people it was the seat of James the apostle who, elected by the apostles, was there constituted by the Lord its first bishop. And Antioch was the first seat of the apostle Peter, and so Pope Marcellus says, 24:1 (Friedberg, 1: 970]: "We beseech you brethren that ye teach and think nothing else than what was taught by St. Peter the apostle and the remaining apostles and Fathers." And further on: "His seat, that is, Peter's, was the primary one among you, and it was afterwards, at God's bidding,