Thomas Allies - St. Peter, His Name and His Office, as Set Forth in Holy Scripture

But looking more closely into the nature of this dignity, since Christ, by the bestowal of heavenly gifts, caused Peter to be conspicuous through the firmness of his own faith, and through the charge of confirming the faith of his brethren, we can call it by no fitter name than a Primacy of faith. For it has these two qualities: it cannot fail itself; and it confirms others. And for the authority which it carries, such a Primacy of faith cannot even be imagined without at the same time imagining the office by which Peter was bound to watch over the firmness and integrity of the common faith. In this office two things are involved; first, the right to, and therefore the possession of, all things necessary for its fulfilment; and secondly, the duty by which all were bound to agree in the profession of one faith with Peter. So that Peter's dignity, rightly termed the Primacy of faith, mainly consists in the supreme right of demanding from all an agreement in faith with him.

It 111 111 Passaglia, p. 563. remains to explain the proper force of the word confirm . Now this is a term of architecture, and as such is joined with other terms relating to that art, as by S. Peter, "the God of all grace – Himself fit you together" (as living spiritual stones,) "confirm, strengthen, ground you." 112 112 1 Pet. v. 10. It means, to make anything fit so firmly that it cannot be shaken. Thus in Holy Writ it frequently bears metaphorically a moral signification, such as encouraging, supporting, as we say, confirming the resolution, as in the passage just quoted; and again, "Be watchful, and confirm the things that remain, which are ready to die." 113 113 Apoc. iii. 2. Now it cannot be doubted that the phrase "confirm thy brethren," carries a moral sense very like that in which the word confirm , when applied to the spiritual building of the Church, is used of God and of Christ, 114 114 Rom. xvi. 25; 1 Thess. iii. 13; 2 Thess. ii. 17; 1 Pet. v. 10. from whom the Church has both its being and its perseverance to the end, and again of the Apostles, who strengthen the flock entrusted to them by the imparting spiritual gifts, as S. Paul says, "I long to see you that I may impart unto you some spiritual grace to strengthen you;" 115 115 Rom. i. 11. or, again, of Bishops, who, as sent by the Apostles, and charged by the Holy Spirit with the government of the Church, are bid to be watchful, and see that those who stand do not fall, and those who are in danger do not perish. 116 116 Apoc. iii. 2. Accordingly, when it is said to Peter, "And thou in thy turn one day confirm thy brethren," the charge and office are laid upon him, as an architect divinely chosen, of holding together, strengthening, and keeping in their place, the several parts of the ecclesiastical structure .

But what are these parts to be confirmed, and what is the nature of the confirmation?

As to the first question there can be no controversy, it being determined by the words, "confirm thy brethren :" and it is plain from what is said above, that, by brethren, are meant the Apostles. He had, therefore, the Apostles committed to his charge immediately : but likewise, the rest of all the faithful, mediately . When a person has been named by Christ to confirm the Apostles expressly, the nature of the case does not allow that the whole congregation of believers be not in their persons committed to him. The care of the flock is manifestly involved in the care of the shepherds: and no one in his senses can doubt that the man who is charged to support the pillars, is charged to keep in their place the inferior stones.

And as to the nature of the confirmation, it is for protection against the fraud of the great enemy. And the danger lay in losing the faith. Peter, then, is charged to confirm, in such sense that neither the pillars of the Church, nor its inferior parts, may, by the loss of faith, be moved from their place, and so severed from the Church's structure. No charge can be higher than such an office of confirmation; nor for any thing need we to be more thankful to our Saviour; but, particularly, nothing can more distinctly shew the divinely-appointed relation between Peter on the one hand, and on the other, the rest of the Apostles, and the whole company of the faithful; nothing define more clearly the special authority of Peter; that is, to protect and strengthen the unity of the faith, and to possess all powers needed for such protection.

This charge was given after that by the prayer of Christ the privilege had been gained for Peter's faith, that it should never fail . Hence, that faith is become, in virtue of such prayer, the infallible standard of evangelical truth: as S. Cyprian expressed it of old, "that faith of the Romans, which perfidy cannot approach." 117 117 S. Cyprian, Ep. 55. It follows that all the faithful owe to it obedience. And Peter's authority rests on a double title, external of mission, internal of spiritual gift: the former contained in the words of Christ the legislator, "And thou, 118 118 As far as the words by themselves go, it is the opinion of the best commentators that they may be equally well rendered, "And thou, when thou art converted," or, "And thou, in thy turn, one day," &c. But as it is impossible to bring a discussion turning on a Hebrew idiom conveyed in a Greek word before the English reader, we must here restrict ourselves to the proof arising from the sense and context . And here one thing alone, among several which may be urged, is sufficient to prove that the sense preferred in the text, "And thou in thy turn one day confirm thy brethren," is the true one. For the other rendering supposes that the time of Peter's conversion would also be the time of his confirming his brethren; whereas this was far otherwise. He was converted by our Lord looking on him that same night shortly after his denial, and "immediately went out and wept bitterly." But he did not succeed to the charge of confirming his brethren till after our Lord's ascension. It must be added that the collocation of the original words [Greek: kai su pote epistrepsas stêrixon] is such as absolutely to require that the joint action indicated by them should belong to the same time, and that an indefinite time expressed by [Greek: pote]. Now this would be false according to the rendering, "And thou, when thou art converted, confirm thy brethren," for the conversion was immediate and definite, the confirmation distant and indefinite; whereas it exactly agrees with the rendering, "And thou in thy turn one day confirm thy brethren." Those who wish to see the whole controversy admirably drawn out may find it in Passaglia, b. 2, ch. 13. in thy turn, one day confirm thy brethren: " the latter, in the words of Christ, the bestower of all gifts, "But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not."

More than a thousand years ago two Easterns seem to have expressed all this, one the Bishop Stephen, suppliantly approaching Pope Martin I., in the Lateran Synod of a. d. 649, and speaking of "the blessed Peter, in a manner special and peculiar to himself, having above all a firm and immutable faith in our Lord God, to consider with compassion, and confirm his spiritual partners and brethren when tossed by doubt: inasmuch as he has received power and sacerdotal authority, according to the dispensation, over all, from the very God for our sakes incarnate." 119 119 Mansi. Concilia, x. 894. And Theodore, Abbot of the Studium, at Constantinople, addressing Pope Paschal I., a. d. 817, in the midst of persecution from the state, as if he were Peter himself: "Hear, O Apostolic Head, O shepherd of the sheep of Christ, set over them by God, O door-keeper of the kingdom of heaven, O rock of the faith, upon which the Catholic Church is built. For Peter art thou, who adornest and governest the See of Peter. To thee, said Christ our God, 'and thou, in thy turn, one day confirm thy brethren.' Behold the time, behold the place, help us, thou who art ordained by God for this. Stretch forth thy hand as far as may be: power thou hast from God, because thou art the chief of all." 120 120 Baronius, Annal. a. d., 817, xxi.