Illllllllllllllllimmmmiimmim 
 
B E R K E L E lT\ 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
Peter's IRame 
 
 or 
 a SHvine Crebential in a IRame 
 
or 
 
 A Divine Credential in a Name 
 
 BY T. SMYTH-VAUDRY, C.PR., 
 of the Archdiocese of Chicago 
 
LOAN STACK 
 
 NIHIL OBSTAT. 
 
 JOANNES PINNEL, 
 
 Censor deputatus. 
 
 IMPRIMATUR. 
 
 f JOANNES ANTONIUS, 
 
 Ep. Sti. Antonii. 
 
 In festo Cathedrae S. Petri Romae, A. D. 1909. 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY T. SMYTH-VAUDRY. 
 
GENERAL DIVISIONS 
 
 First Part,- 
 
 Peter's name proclaims him possessor of all 
 Church-power, under Christ. 
 
 Second Part, 
 
 Peter's name proclaims him the source of all 
 Church-power, under Christ. 
 
 699 
 
FIRST PART 
 
 Peter's name proclaims him possessor of all Church-power 
 under Christ 13 
 
 NOTE I 
 Peter's name means, scripturally, Christ's other self 13 
 
 NOTE II 
 
 Peter's name is the scriptural equivalent of the Catholic 
 
 term "Pope" 24 
 
 NOTE III 
 
 Peter's name means, scripturally, the sovereign Ruler, 
 infallible Teacher, and High Priest of the Church. ... 28 
 
 NOTE IV 
 
 Scriptural meaning of Peter's name according to the 
 Fathers 34 
 
 NOTE V 
 
 Peter's name means, scripturally and patristically, the 
 Church's Foundation, Bulwark, Capstone, and fining 
 Mark 41 
 
 SECOND PART 
 
 Peter's name proclaims him the source of all Church- 
 power, under Christ 51 
 
 NOTE VI 
 A glance at the names of Jesus and Peter 51 
 
Table of Contents 9 
 
 NOTE VII 
 
 Peter's name means, scripturally, that Peter is, under 
 and with Christ, the alpha or co-beginning of the 
 Church 56 
 
 NOTE VIII 
 
 Peter's name means, scripturally, the visible Rock or 
 perennial source of the entity of the Church 66 
 
 NOTE IX 
 
 Peter's name means, scripturally, the visible Rock or 
 perennial source of Church authority 68 
 
 NOTE X 
 
 Peter's name means, scripturally, the visible Rock or 
 
 perennial source of the infallibility of the Church 71 
 
 NOTE XI 
 
 Peter's name means, scripturally, the visible Rock or 
 
 perennial source of the indefectibility of the Church 75 
 
 NOTE XII 
 
 Peter's name means, scripturally, the visible Rock or 
 perennial source of the Church's compactness and 
 solidity 76 
 
 NOTE XIII 
 
 Peter's name means, scripturally, the visible Rock or 
 perennial source of the one-ness and unicity of the 
 Church 77 
 
 NOTE XIV 
 
 Peter's name means, scripturally, the visible Rock or 
 ministerial source of the holiness of the Church 81 
 
 NOTE XV 
 
 Peter's name means, scripturally, the visible Rock or 
 perennial source of the Catholicity or universality of 
 the Church . 83 
 
io Table of Contents 
 
 NOTE XVI 
 
 Peter's name means, scripturally, the visible Rock or 
 perennial source of the Apostolicity of the Church 86 
 
 NOTE XVII 
 
 Peter's name means, scripturally, the Apostle more deeply 
 beloved of the L,ord than any other Apostle 99 
 
 NOTE XVIII 
 
 Peter's name means, scripturally, the Rock or perennial 
 source of anti-pharisaism, i. e. of the restoration of 
 the fallen the uplifter of the down-trodden and 
 of the fallen 103 
 
 NOTE XIX 
 
 Comparative view of the threefold power vested in the 
 Church 125 
 
 NOTE XX 
 
 Did all the Apostles receive their jurisdiction from Christ 
 exclusively ? 134 
 
 NOTE XXI 
 
 Comparative powers of Peter and of the other Apostles 138 
 
 NOTE XXII 
 
 How can it be known that the extraordinary jurisdiction 
 and the personal infallibility of each of the Apostles 
 do not endure in their successors ? 147 
 
 NOTE XXIII 
 
 Comparative Church-powers of Christ and of Peter.... 150 
 
 NOTE XXIV 
 
 The alternative: either Peter or Atheism . . 154 
 
, 
 
 
 
 Peter's Name Proclaims Him 
 
 POSSESSOR 
 of all Church-power, Under Christ 
 
Peter's name proclaims him possessor of 
 all Church-power, under Christ. 
 
 (By Church-power we understand the threefold 
 power vested in the Church by our divine Lord, viz., 
 the ruling, teaching, and sanctifying power: the royal, 
 prophetic, and sacerdotal office.) 
 
 NOTE I 
 
 Peter's name means, scripturally, Christ's other self 
 A startling similarity 
 
 In our notes on the Names of Jesus and Peter 
 in Holy Writ, we have seen that these two names, by 
 reason of the startling similarity of treatment which 
 they receive in the Scriptures, forcibly suggest a cor- 
 responding similarity or identity of office in their 
 respective bearers. In fact, the Word of God af- 
 firms such identity of office (viz., the papal office) in 
 Jesus and Peter, by applying the papal title of the Rock 
 to the Master as well as to His Chief Apostle : Matt. 7. 
 24; 16. 18; John i. 42; i Cor. 10. 4. 
 
 Let us glance, once more, at the marvelous simi- 
 larity of treatment and the sovereign pre-eminence 
 bestowed by Holy Writ on the names of Jesus and 
 Peter. 
 
14 Peter's Name; 
 
 (a) The New Testament invariably ranges the 
 Apostles under Jesus in its every mention of them 
 in connection with the Master. 
 
 The New Testament likewise systematically ranges 
 all the Apostles under Peter in its four catalogs of 
 the Apostles, and in its every mention by name of a 
 fraction or group of the Apostolic College in con- 
 nection with him. 
 
 (b) The New Testament groups the Apostles even 
 anonymously under the head-name of Jesus. 
 
 In precisely the same manner, does it group 
 the Apostles even anonymously under the head- 
 name of Peter as the future or actual successor of 
 Christ in the visible headship of the Church thus 
 putting Peter on a relative level of authority with 
 Christ Himself not only by ranging all under him 
 but by suppressing all names except Christ's and 
 Peter's. 
 
 (c) The New Testament makes more frequent 
 mention of Jesus by name than of all the Apostles 
 and disciples. 
 
 The new Testament likewise makes more frequent 
 mention of, and consequently devotes more attention 
 to, Peter, by name, singly and individually than to 
 any other Apostle, not excepting St. Paul and the two 
 other leading Apostles, St. John and St. James. 
 
 In short, the names of Jesus and Peter hold the 
 first, the most conspicuous and the most commanding 
 position in Holy Writ. 
 
 A Triple Scale of ever-ascending grandeur 
 
 It is now our purpose, in this series of Notes, to 
 take a closer view of the scriptural meaning and im- 
 port of the name of Peter, j 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 15 
 
 It is a name which is very far from receiving its 
 due meed of praise and admiration. Who ever adverts 
 to its triple force and import? For, Peter's name is 
 a triple scale of ever ascending grandeur a triple 
 firmament superposed one over the other and rising 
 up to heights which angel wings can never mount. 
 
 First, it alone is scripturally, and all in one, a title 
 of office, a personal proper name, and a God-given 
 name. 
 
 Second, it alone is scripturally and all in one, a 
 title of office, a personal proper name, a God-given 
 name, and a Divine name besides i. e., one of God's 
 own scriptural names and titles. 
 
 Third, it is a name which God shares with none, 
 except Christ and Simon Barjona to the exclusion 
 of all the rest of creation. 
 
 (First) Peter's name alone is scripturally, and all 
 in one, a title of office, a personal proper name, and a 
 God-given name. 
 
 It is a God-given name; not conferred by an 
 Angel, like Israel's (Gen. 32. 28), or by a prophet, 
 but by the Lord Incarnate in person: (John i. 42; 
 Mark 3. 16.) 
 
 The surname of Boanerges was indeed conferred 
 on James and John by our Lord himself (Mark 3. 17). 
 not however as an essential, but as a purely incident- 
 al, addition to their names. It was not a substitute for 
 the same. Much less was it a title of office. Hence, 
 they are, ever after, designated in Holy Writ as James 
 and John, never under the appellation of Boanerges. 
 
1 6 Peter's Name; 
 
 But Peter's name was given him both as an es- 
 sential and perpetual addition to, and substitute for, 
 that of Simon Barjona, and as an essential perpetual 
 title of office. Therefore does Holy Writ almost 
 constantly call him by that Divine name over one 
 hundred and sixty times. 
 
 Note again that Abraham's name, though God-given 
 (Gen. 17. 5) is not, like Peter's, a Divine title of 
 office. 
 
 Peter, then, it may be objected, was more favored 
 of heaven, in one respect at least, than Jesus Himself 
 since Jesus received his name through the ministry 
 of an angel (Matt. i. 21 ; Luke i. 31). The answer 
 suggests itself at once, that, if Jesus did, outwardly, 
 receive his name through an angel, He received it in- 
 wardly, in the sanctuary of his soul, not only directly 
 but with infinite directness, from the Father in the 
 threefold embrace of his eternal generation, of his 
 temporal filiation, and of the face-to-face vision. 
 
 (Second) Peter's name alone is scripturally, and 
 all in one, a title of office, a personal proper name, a 
 God-given name and a Divine name besides, it be- 
 ing one of God's own scriptural names and titles. 
 
 No such distinction attaches to the names of Abra- 
 ham and Boanerges. They are God-given, but they 
 are not God's own personal names and titles. 
 
 True, God has been pleased to share some of his 
 own scriptural names with men and with the heavenly 
 spirits above. With myriads of the latter, for instance, 
 does he share the beautiful title of Angel; for, He 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 17 
 
 calls himself the Angel, the Angel of the Covenant: 
 Mai. 3. i ; Matt. n. 10; Mark i. 2; Luke I. 76; and 
 7.27. 
 
 The Creator shares his very name of God with 
 us, as an earnest of eternal glory as well as of the 
 super-human, super-angelic, divine nature and dignity 
 which we receive in baptism. Thus, for instance, 
 speaketh the Lord to his deified children, in the book 
 of Psalms : "I have said, Ye are gods and all of you 
 the sons of the Most High:" Psalm 81. 6; John 10. 34. 
 
 He also shares with us His title of Father, as a 
 title of love. "For this cause," says St. Paul, "I bow 
 my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 of whom all paternity in heaven and earth is named." 
 Eph. 3. 15. 
 
 We should, however, carefully note that God does 
 not bestow these names of His Angel, God, Father 
 upon any creature as proper individual names, but 
 only as common names or titles either of office, or 
 of honor. 
 
 On the other hand, Peter's name, which is one 
 of God's own names and titles, has been conferred 
 upon Simon Barjona not only as Simon's Divine title 
 of office but as Simon's own perpetual proper name. 
 Now, to no other mere creature has God said, as He 
 did virtually to Peter: "Behold, one of my own 
 personal names shall be thine own individual proper 
 name." 
 
 For, remember that the Holy Spirit gives the name 
 of Rock or Peter to Jehovah, to the Redeemer and 
 
 PETER'S NAME 2 
 
1 8 Peter's Name; 
 
 Saviour, to the Christ, to God Incarnate and manifest 
 in the flesh, and finally to Simon Barjona.' 
 
 a. THE HoivY SPIRIT CALIFS JEHOVAH "ROCK/' i. e., 
 Peter. 
 
 And note, in this connection, that, according to the 
 divine tradition of the old Synagogue, the name "Je- 
 hovah," considered as a unit, signifies the absolute 
 oneness of God whilst, viewed in its four component 
 Hebrew letters, it signifies God the Father, the Son, 
 the Holy Ghost, and God Incarnate. Therefore, in 
 applying the name of Rock to Jehovah, the Holy Spirit 
 applies it to the blessed Trinity and to the sacred 
 Humanity of the Redeemer. (See our Notes on the 
 Church and the Synagogue.) 
 
 The Holy Spirit calls Jehovah "Rock," or Peter, 
 for instance, in Deut..32. 4: "Ascribe ye greatness un- 
 to our God, the Rock." 
 
 i Sam. 2. 2 : Neither is there any rock like our 
 God. 
 
 i Sam. 23. 3 : The God of Israel said, the Rock 
 of Israel spake . 
 
 Ps. 17. 2, 31: Jehovah is my Rock and my fort- 
 ress .... Who is a rock, save our God ? 
 
 Ps. 29. i : Unto thee will I cry, O Jehovah, my 
 Rock, 
 
 Ps. 72. 26: God is the Rock of my heart. 
 
 Is. 26. 4: Trust ye in the Lord forever: for in 
 the Lord Jehovah is the Rock of ages. 
 
or, a Divine Credential In a Name 19 
 
 b. THE: HOLY SPIRIT GIVES THE NAME OF ROCK 
 OR PETER TO THE REDEEMER AND SAVIOUR: for in- 
 stance, in Gen. 49. 24 : And the arms of his hands were 
 made strong by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob 
 from thence is the Shepherd, the (Stone or) Rock 
 of Israel. 
 
 Deut. 32. 15: Then he forsook God who made 
 him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. 
 
 2 Sam. 22. 47. Jehovah liveth, and blessed be my 
 Rock; and exalted be the God of the Rock of my 
 salvation. 
 
 Ps. 18. 15. O Jehovah, my Rock and my Re- 
 deemer ! 
 
 P. 88. 27: Rock of my salvation. 
 
 Ps. 94. i : Make a joyful noise to the Rock of 
 our salvation. 
 
 Note, in connection with Gen. 49. 24, "from thence 
 is the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel," that Messiah 
 calls himself the Good Shepherd (John 10. 14) and 
 the Rock: Matt. 7. 24; and 21. 42. 
 
 c. THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES THE NAME OF ROCK, OR 
 PETER, TO THE CHRIST for instance, in i Cor. 10.4: 
 For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed 
 them, and that Rock was Christ. 
 
 d. THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES THE NAME OF ROCK, 
 OR PETER, To GOD INCARNATE and manifest in the flesh 
 for instance, in Matt. 7. 24, our Lord praises the 
 
2O Peter's Name; 
 
 wisdom of the man who builds his house on the Rock, 
 i. e., on the Christ himself. 
 
 God Incarnate and manifest in the flesh calls Him- 
 self the Rock or the Stone, in Matt. 7. 24; 21. 42; 21. 
 44; Luke 20. 17, 18. See also Acts. 4. n ; Eph. 2. 20; 
 i. Pet. 2.4,6,7,8. 
 
 Many centuries before His advent, THE SYNAGOGUE 
 HERSELF HAILED MESSIAH AS THE ROCK and as Jeho- 
 vah, thereby proclaiming him God by nature and by 
 essence ; for, such is the rabbinical as well as the bibli- 
 cal import of the term "Jehovah." We could multiply 
 citations from authorised Jewish sources, but our lim- 
 ited space restricts us to a few. 
 
 Medrasch-Rabba on Lamentations, fol. 68, col. 2, 
 ed. Amsterdam says : "What is the name of Messiah ? 
 Rabbi Abba, son of Cahana, answers : Jehovah is his 
 Name." 
 
 Through Rabbi Solomon Yarhhi, the Synagogue 
 teaches that "the Rock is King Messiah." (On. Is. 28. 
 
 !6.) 
 
 The same Rabbi sums up the witness of the ancient 
 Fathers of the Synagogue in the following sentence, 
 which he puts in the mouth of Jehovah : "I am he 
 who has laid that foundation (Is. 28. 16). From of 
 old have I resolved this thing, and I have raised King 
 Messiah to be in Sion a tried stone," or rock. (Drach: 
 Harmonic entre 1'Eglise et la Synagogue, vol. 2, p. 
 421.) 
 
 How beautiful the prayer of the Synagogue through 
 the royal prophet David: "O Jehovah, my Rock and 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 21 
 
 my Redeemer" (Ps. 18. 15). It is a cry of infinite 
 yearning that rends the heavens and haunts the ages. 
 How pathetic the testimony of the Synagogue 
 through one of her sons, the well-known Jewish writer 
 Philo. Listen to words of profound sublimity, echo- 
 ing the purest traditions of the old Jewish Church of 
 God. Philo (B. c. 30) writes: "The law -giver says: 
 'Jehovah hath made His people suck honey out of the 
 rock and oil out of the hardest rock.' (Deut. 32. 13) 
 the solid Rock, the indissoluble Rock that none can 
 break. Moses designates, by that Rock, the Wisdom 
 of God, who tenderly feedeth, nurseth and reareth 
 those who aspire to the incorruptible life. This Rock, 
 become as it were the mother of all men in the world, 
 presents to her children a food which she drazvs from 
 her own substance. . . But all are not found worthy of 
 that Divine food . . . The inspired writer, employing 
 somewhere else an equivalent expression, calls that 
 Rock MANNA, The Divine Word more Spent than 
 all beings." "The Rock is King Messiah," says the 
 Synagogue. (See our Notes on the Church and the 
 Synagogue, pp. 78, 106, etc. and Drach's Harmonic 
 entre 1'Eglise et la Synagogue, 2d. vol. pp. 395, 477 
 478, etc.) 
 
 (Third) Rock, or Peter, is a name of God which 
 He shares with none except Christ and Simon Barjona, 
 to the exclusion of all the rest of creation. 
 
 So jealous is Jehovah of the name and title of Rock 
 that He will not share it with any being in heaven and 
 on earth, except Jesus Christ and Peter. 
 
22 Peter's Name; 
 
 Holy Writ indeed compares Abraham to a quarry 
 or rock, but confers not that name upon him. The 
 term is simply applied to him by way of comparison, 
 not as a proper name. His first name, Abram, was 
 changed into Abraham, not into Peter. His title was 
 Father of a multitude, not the Rock, not Cephas. 
 
 Inasmuch as Christ's person pertains to the God- 
 head, Peter is the one and sole personality in all 
 creation zvith whom God shares His name and title of 
 Rock. As a human person, Peter alone among all the 
 sons of Adam, Peter alone, Peter continued in his suc- 
 cession, enjoys such a unique prerogative. 
 
 Behold a wonder of surpassing magnitude and 
 significance: Jehovah proclaims Jesus Christ, "Rock," 
 or "Peter," and He proclaims Simon, "Rock," or 
 Peter." 
 
 What a divine proclamation of Simon Barjona's 
 office as Christ's "other self" (St. Augustin) : Jeho- 
 vah-the-Rock, Jesus-the-Rock, Christ-the-Rock, and 
 Simon-the-Rock ! 
 
 What a truly divine proclamation of a truly divine 
 office ! Hear : Jehovah-Peter, Jesus-Peter, Christ- 
 Peter, and Simon-Peter! 
 
 Christ Jesus is the vicarious Rock of Jehovah, and 
 Peter is the vicarious Rock of God Incarnate Christ's 
 "other self," says St. Augustin: Serm. 46. 
 
 (See our Notes on the Names of Jesus and Peter 
 in Holy Writ, page 10, etc.) 
 
 "Thou art Peter (or Rock) and upon this Rock 
 I will build My Church" Matt. 16. 18. 
 
 Beza, the heresiarch, who calls the pope "Anti- 
 christ," is compelled to say of our text: 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 23 
 
 "The Lord speaking in Syriac said Kepha 
 
 in both places:" i. e., our Lord said, "Thou art 
 Kepha and upon this Kepha I will build my Church: 
 Thou art Rock and upon this Rock I will build my 
 Church." 
 
 Of the Greek translation of this same passage of 
 S. Matthew, Beza says: "In Greek likewise, petros and 
 petra differ only in their termination, not in their mean- 
 ing :" i. e., in Greek as well as in Syriac the meaning 
 is: "Thou art Rock and upon this Rock I will build 
 my Church." (Cfr. C. a Lap. in loco.) 
 
 "The writer of the Greek simply gave to the term, 
 when used as a surname of Simon, a masculine ending 
 [Petr-o^] for the sake of the grace of language, since 
 both terms mean a rock." (Breen.) 
 
 The ripest Protestant scholarship holds with Dr. 
 Briggs, of the Protestant Episcopal Church, that "all 
 attempts to explain the Rock in any other way but 
 as referring to Peter have ignominiously failed." 
 (North Amer. Rev., Feb. 15, 1907.) 
 
 Another Protestant writer, Dr. Marsh, rightly re- 
 marks : "It seems a desperate undertaking to prove 
 that our Saviour alluded to any other person than to 
 St. Peter, for the words of the passage can indicate 
 no one else." (Comparative View, app. n. D.) 
 
 A third Protestant divine, Rev. J. S. Thompson, 
 
 is not less emphatic : "Protestants have used all 
 
 the hardihood of lawless criticism in their attempts to 
 reason away the Catholic interpretation." (Monotes- 
 saron, p. 194, Baltimore, 1829: ap. Brandi's Why am 
 I a Catholic.) 
 
24 Peter's Name; 
 
 NOTE II 
 
 Peter's name is the scriptural equivalent of the Catholic term 
 "Pope" 
 
 We can never lay too much stress on a fact of 
 incalculable importance, which is quite commonly over- 
 looked and neglected: the fact that, both in its scrip- 
 tural and in its traditional meaning, the term "Peter" 
 is the exact equivalent of the Catholic term "Pope." 
 
 Simon Peter, as a compound name, meant from the 
 first with the Apostles and their followers Simon the 
 Rock, Simon the Head, Simon the Confirmer of the 
 Faith, the Supreme Ruler, the Vicegerent of Jesus 
 Christ in a word, Simon the Pope, as we would say 
 now-a-days. 
 
 We have frequently adverted to this beautiful 
 and prolific truth; but it is inexhaustible and suscepti- 
 ble of additional proof. 
 
 As "Jesus" is not merely a personal name but a 
 title of office, so "Peter" is not merely the name of a 
 person otherwise called Simon; it is moreover a mo- 
 mentous title of office. As the name of Jesus is ex- 
 pressive, declarative and commemorative of the Mes- 
 siahship of Christ, and means literally and really "the 
 Saviour:" so, by the express will of Christ, the name 
 of Peter is expressive, declarative and commemorative 
 of the headship of Simon, and means Simon the Rock, 
 the Head, the Supreme Ruler. It is the name of the 
 very office of Christ given to Peter to indicate that 
 Peter inherits the office of the Master. Christ in- 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 25 
 
 vests Peter with his own glorious title of "Rock," the 
 better to show that Peter is Christ's other self, to use 
 once more the language of St. Augustin. 
 
 Jesus says to Simon, not in so many words, but by 
 clear implication: ''What more can I do, O Simon, 
 to proclaim my solemn appointment of thee as my suc- 
 cessor in office? Behold, as some of the kings of the 
 earth who have the good of their kingdom at heart most 
 wisely crown their successors with their own hand be- 
 fore departing from this life so do I now myself 
 crown thee as my successor before I lay down my life 
 for my beloved kingdom. Yea, as some of the crowned 
 heads of this world put their crown upon the brow of 
 their intended successor so do I now put on thy brow, 
 O Simon, more than a diadem : I crown thee with my 
 own royal name and title of office, the most momentous 
 name and title in the sphere of Church-government, 
 after that of Jesus. Therefore, even as I am the 
 Rock or Cephas the First, or Peter the First so do I 
 appoint thee Cephas or Peter the Second ; mark, Peter 
 the Second, not Peter the last. For, as thou art my 
 official self visibly continued, so wilt thou thyself be 
 officially and visibly continued in thy succession which, 
 being, as thou art, the foundation of the Church, must 
 needs last as long as the Church in order to protect her 
 from the gates of hell. 
 
 I am the one Foundation, and thou, O Peter, art no 
 other foundation indeed, but the visible force, the 
 visible effluence, the visible continance of the one 
 Foundation. 
 
 I am the Rock by nature and by right, whilst thou, 
 O Peter, art the Rock by participation and by grace. 
 
26 Peter's Name; 
 
 Thou shalt bear my name, as being personally incor- 
 porated into my own royal dynasty and the visible 
 continuance thereof. My Apostles and disciples must 
 revere thee as such, thy very name being to them all 
 a perpetual reminder of thy divine vicegerency." 
 
 Now, the Apostles and the disciples knew that 
 Christ's strictly personal office, as the Redeemer of the 
 world and the Founder of Christianity and the author 
 of its doctrines, sacraments and essential polity was 
 absolutely untransferable, such transference being, 
 moreover, uncalled for and unnecessary. But they 
 also knew, from the very name of Peter, that Christ's 
 visible office as the Rock goes with the bearer of the 
 name of the Rock and must needs continue here below ; 
 for, without such a Rock (Christ avers) his Church 
 would collapse under the powers or gates of hell, Matt. 
 16. 18: i. e., falsehood or heresy, and internal dis- 
 ruption or schism. 
 
 Peter's name, then, tells the Apostles and the 
 Church, with Christ's own lips, as it were, that Peter 
 has inherited the threefold office of the Rock : that he 
 is the Rock of Authority, the Rock of infallible Truth 
 and the Rock of the legitimate Priesthood the Rock 
 of authority that binds and keeps the Church in the 
 indivisible unity of the one compact mystic Body of 
 Jesus Christ. Eph. 4. 16; 
 
 Peter is the Rock of authority: for, he is the 
 Foundation, and as the whole structure follows the 
 foundation, so does the whole Church follow Peter 
 as her Christ-appointed ruler. 
 
 Peter is the Rock of infallible Truth that binds 
 and keeps the Church in the indivisible unity of the 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 27 
 
 one Faith or doctrine of Jesus Christ, Eph. 4. 5 ; the 
 Rock or sacrificial Stone of the one legitimate Priest- 
 hood, that binds and keeps the Church in the indivisible 
 unity of sacrificial worship and sacramental communion 
 in Jesus Christ. Eph. 4. 5. 
 
 , Yes, Peter is the Rock of the priesthood: for 
 Christ founded on Peter his zvhole Church apostolate 
 and priesthood and laity. Therefore, a priesthood 
 severed from the foundation (Peter), is out of the 
 Christ-established order is unlawful and illegitimate. 
 
 Christ's other self, supreme ruler, infallible teacher, 
 sovereign pontiff holding the visible place and office 
 of Jesus Christ over the Church : such is the scriptural 
 face-value and face-meaning of the name of Peter. 
 
 Even the Synagogue, though prophetically and his- 
 torically a mere preparatory school for the universal 
 or Catholic Church, was nevertheless endowed with an 
 infallible oracle in her sovereign Pontificate. Was 
 the type better equipped than the reality? Was the 
 shadow more solid than the substance? Was a purely 
 local and national organism better safeguarded against 
 error and division than the world-embracing organi- 
 sation founded by God Incarnate in Person? 
 
28 Peter's Name; 
 
 NOTE III 
 
 Peter's name means, scripturally, the sovereign Ruler, infallible 
 Teacher, and High Priest of the Church. 
 
 That our Lord himself wrote on the very face of 
 Peter's name the Divine proof of its bearer's supre- 
 macy, is evident from the text itself and from the 
 scriptural explanation vouchsafed by the Master of 
 Wisdom (first) on the occasion of the bestowal of the 
 name, and (second) on subsequent occasions. 
 
 (a) Our Lord explains to his Apostles the original 
 and divine meaning of the name of Peter as signifying 
 (Matt. 1 6. 19.) the Key-bearer-in-chief of the King- 
 dom of God on earth, whose binding and loosing power 
 is independent and supreme it being conceded to him 
 singly, individually and independently, whilst it is only 
 later on conceded to the other Apostles collectively, 
 and by consequence, limitedly, in perfect subordination 
 to the visible head under whom our Lord had already 
 placed them. 
 
 (b) Again, our Lord explains the original and di- 
 vine meaning of the name of Peter as signifying 
 (Luke 22. 31) the Confirmer of the Brethren of all 
 the Brethren without restriction or exception the Con- 
 firmer of the whole Church, the Confirmer whose Faith 
 can never fail because Christ has prayed to that effect, 
 and His prayer cannot remain unheard (John n. 42). 
 
 (c) Our Lord explains the original and divine 
 meaning of the name of Peter as signifying (John 21. 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 29 
 
 15 17) the Pastor of the lambs and of the sheep, 
 i. e., the infallible Guide and supreme Ruler of the 
 whole flock. 
 
 All the above explanations are obviously included 
 in the Petrine name and the accompanying text itself, 
 and are regarded in that light by all ancient com- 
 mentators. 
 
 In short, the very name of Peter was conferred 
 of set purpose by our Lord as being in itself, and by 
 itself alone, both the best reminder and the most ob- 
 vious proof of Peter's divine commission and office 
 as the Christ or the Rock officially continued as 
 supreme ruler, infallible teacher and sovereign pon- 
 tiff of the Christian brotherhood. 
 
 Infallibility. 
 
 A glance at the central Petrine text will suffice 
 to convince the reader. 
 
 "And I say to thee : that thou art Rock and upon 
 this Rock I will build my Church, and the gates of 
 hell shall not prevail against it:" Matt. 16. 18. 
 
 Our Lord begins by reminding his hearers of the 
 essential veracity of Him who addresses them: "And 
 / say to thee" i. e., I, who am Truth itself (John 14. 
 6) I, who am the Eternal Word of God (John i. i) 
 I, whose word shall abide whilst heaven and earth 
 shall pass away (Matt. 24. 35) I say that my Church 
 shall be built on Peter. 
 
 Therefore, according to our Lord, His Church has 
 no existence outside of Peter. Or, to put our Lord's 
 teaching in a still more intelligible form, out of Peter 
 there is no Church of Christ and, consequently, no 
 
30 Peter's Name; 
 
 salvation. Every church not built on Peter shall 
 fall a prey to the powers of hell. 
 
 Now, a living and divine Foundation out of which 
 there can be no divine Church, no "pillar and ground 
 of the truth" (i Tim. 3. 15) a living and divine 
 Foundation which, according to the Lord's promise, 
 shall ever prevent the gates of hell from prevailing 
 against the Church, i. e., from seducing her into heresy, 
 schism, and apostasy such a living and divine Founda- 
 dation (it is evident) must of necessity be an infallible 
 Guide to heaven. Else we would have the monstrous 
 anomaly of an infallible Church built on a fallible 
 foundation and yet vitally inseparable therefrom. Or, 
 in the hypothesis of a fallible Church built on an 
 equally fallible foundation, if the Foundation which 
 our Lord Himself declares essentially inseparable from 
 His Church, is at the same time officially fallible and 
 liable to err then it follows that the divine Church 
 must, willing or nilling, cling to a false and mislead- 
 ing Foundation under pain of ceasing to be the Church 
 of God and of being eternally lost! 
 
 Surely, the living and divine Foundation out of 
 which there can be no Church of Christ and from 
 which the Church is perpetually drawing her immunity 
 from the destructive errors signified by the gates of 
 hell must be able to discern infallibly truth and error : 
 else it would unwittingly lend itself to deceivers and 
 would thus become the unconscious prop or inept abet- 
 tor of falsehood, the prop of heresy and wickedness. 
 Thus, the Christ-established Foundation would be- 
 come the most dreadful underminer, dissolvent and 
 disrupter of the very Church which it was divinely 
 and explicitly intended to perpetuate. 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 31 
 
 Supremacy 
 
 It is not enough for the Foundation of the Church 
 to be inerrant and infallible i. e., to be able to dis- 
 tinguish between truth and error, between true and 
 false teachers; in a word, between those who should 
 and those who should not be allowed to rest in peace on 
 the Rock of the Church. The living Foundation must, 
 moreover, wield adequate authority on each and every 
 member that claims its recognition, as implied in 
 Church membership. The living Foundation must 
 have direct and continuous control over the sheep as 
 well as over the lambs, in order to eliminate the bad 
 or dangerous and watch over the good members of the 
 Flock. 
 
 Shorn of that adequate control over every member, 
 the living Foundation becomes a mere stage-potentate, 
 a solemn manikin, a King Log, and must passively 
 lend itself to numberless heresy-breeders or schism- 
 mongers, who would remain upon the unwilling Foun- 
 dation in spite and in defiance of the Foundation itself, 
 and could boldly reply to all opponents: "We are 
 grounded on the Foundation of the Rock established 
 by Christ Jesus, and we are therefore members of the 
 Church the express will of the living Foundation 
 to the contrary notwithstanding!" 
 
 Thus left at the mercy of all heretics and schis- 
 matics, the Church would be compelled to harbor them 
 all compelled to foster a brood of serpents in her 
 bosom and to die eventually the ignominious death of 
 a moral suicide. In a word, shorn of infallibility, the 
 living foundation would unwittingly lend its counte- 
 nance to error; shorn of supremacy, the living Foun- 
 
32 Peter's Name; 
 
 dation would be compelled to lie ignominiously and 
 groan helplessly (like the sects) under every form of 
 error and falsehood. In either case, instead of being 
 a boon and a blessing, the living Foundation would 
 be "a scandal in your brother's way" (Rom. 14. 13) 
 instead of being a guiding light, it would be "a stumb- 
 ling block.... before the blind:" (Levit. 19. 14.) 
 
 Therefore, either the living Foundation of the 
 Church is a stumbling block and a scandal, or it is in- 
 fallible in doctrine and supreme in authority. 
 
 And this is precisely the lesson which the word 
 of God spells out in the name of Peter or Cephas 
 
 Peter is infallible: why? His very name tells you 
 why, viz., because he is the Rock that can never be 
 blown about, "tossed to and fro and carried about," 
 like shifting sands, "by every wind of doctrine." 
 Eph. 4. 14. 
 
 Peter is supreme Ruler : why ? His very name tells 
 you why, viz., because he is the Rock that makes the 
 Church hell-proof and invincible (Matt. 16. 18) by 
 the virtue and force he imparts to her members by 
 means of his full adequate control and authority over 
 each and every one of them. 
 
 Without the sceptre of supremacy how could he 
 protect the Church against the gates of hell? How 
 could he confirm, strengthen, compact together and 
 energize a body whose members are exempt from and 
 elude his beneficial control and sovereignty? 
 
 Therefore it is that Christ made His own funda- 
 mental office as teacher, ruler and priest, so absolutely 
 inseparable from his successor Simon Peter, that He 
 made it impossible to name Peter without naming, 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 33 
 
 in the same word and in the same breath, the funda- 
 mental office bequeathed to the same august person- 
 age. 
 
 The East and the West unite in acknowledging 
 that the Word of God proclaims, in and through the 
 name itself of Peter, the latter's inheritance of Christ's 
 divine office as the infallible guide and supreme Shep- 
 herd of the Fold. 
 
 PETER'S NAME 
 
34 Peter's Name; 
 
 NOTE IV 
 
 Scriptural meaning of Peter's name according to the Fathers 
 
 Scriptural meaning of Peter's name according to 
 ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM : 
 
 "When I name Peter, I name that unbroken Rock, 
 that firm Foundation, the great Apostle, the First of 
 the Disciples." (Horn, de Poenitentia. ) 
 
 "He that was really Peter both in name and in 
 deed!' (Id. on text.) 
 
 "The support of the Faith." (Horn, on the Ten 
 Thousand Talents.) 
 
 "The Leader of that Choir." viz., the Apostolic 
 College "the Mouth of the Apostles, the Head of 
 that Family, the Governor of the whole world, the 
 Foundation of the Church." (Horn, in illud: Hoc 
 scitote.) 
 
 "The basis of the Church." (Horn, in illud: Vidi 
 Dominum.) 
 
 "The basis of the Faith!' (Contra Lud. et theat.) 
 
 Speaking of the same blessed Apostle, St. Chry- 
 sostom still more emphatically remarks : "Christ in- 
 serted in His name a guarantee and a sign of solidity 
 of Faith." (In illud: Paulus vocatus.) 
 
 Scriptural meaning of Peter's name according to 
 ORIGIN : 
 
 "That great Foundation of the Church and most 
 solid Rock on which Christ founded His Church." 
 (In Exod., Horn. 5. n. 4.) 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 35 
 
 According to the COUNCIL, OF CHALCEDON (A. D. 
 451) ''St. Peter is the Rock and foundation of the 
 Catholic Church and the Basis of the orthodox Faith." 
 (Act. 3 etc. in deposing Dioscorus.) 
 
 Scriptural meaning of Peter's name according to 
 SERGIUS, Metropolitan of Cyprus, A. D. 643 : 
 
 "O holy Head, Christ our God hath destined the 
 Apostolic See to be an immovable foundation: pillar 
 of the Faith! For, thou art, as the Divine Word 
 truly said, PETER, and on thee as on a foundation- 
 stone have the pillars of the Church been fixed" 
 (Lat. i, Sess. 2., Labbe t. 7., p. 125.) 
 
 Scriptural meaning of Peter's name according to 
 ST. THEODORE of Studium, A. D. 826: 
 
 "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 thou 
 art." 
 
 According to ST. EPIPHANIUS 'Peter' means "the 
 immovable Rock." (Haer. 59, n. 7.) 
 
 According to ST. GREGORY NAZIANZEN, 'Peter' 
 means "the second Foundation from Christ." (In 
 horn, archier. inserta.) 
 
 Scriptural meaning of Peter's name according to 
 ST. AMBROSE: 
 
 "The Apostle in whom is the Church support" 
 i. e., against the gates of hell. (On Luke 1. 4, n. 70.) 
 
 "Christ is the Rock, but yet He did not deny the 
 grace of this name to His disciple that He should be 
 
36 Peter's Name; 
 
 Peter, because he has from the Rock firm constancy, 
 immovable Faith." (On Luke, 1. 6, n. 97.) 
 
 Scriptural meaning of Peter's name according to 
 ST. LEO THE; GREAT, A. D. 461 : 
 
 "For thou art Peter, that is, whereas I am the 
 inviolable Rock; I the corner-stone who made both 
 one; I the foundation besides which no one can lav 
 another; yet thou also art a Rock, because thou art 
 consolidated by my might, that what things alone 
 are mine by mine power may be common to thee by 
 participation with me." (Serm. 4 in Natal. Ordin., 
 c. 2, ed. Ballerini.) 
 
 St. Leo tells us here that St. Peter's name means 
 scripturally the Rock "by participation," the sharer, 
 by participation, in "the things" that are Christ's in His 
 own right the sharer in Christ's fundamental office as 
 sovereign ruler, and sovereign teacher, and sovereign 
 pontiff of the Church. 
 
 Still more striking is the language of the saint in 
 the following sentence : 
 
 "That which the Truth ordered remains : and 
 blessed Peter, persisting in that strength of the Rock 
 which he received, has not deserted the guidance, once 
 undertaken, of the Church. For, thus was he set be- 
 fore the rest that while he is called the Rock that is, 
 while he is declared to be the Foundation ; while 
 he is appointed the Door-Keeper of the Kingdom of 
 heaven ; while he is promoted to be the Judge of what 
 shall be bound and what loosed, with the assurance 
 that his sentence shall be ratified even in heaven 
 we might learn through the very mystery of the name 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 37 
 
 given to him how he was associated ivith Christ! 3 
 (Serm. 3 on Anniv.) 
 
 It is with profound reason, therefore, that the 
 Church reads in St. Peter's name a great object-lesson 
 teaching his intimate association and co-partnership 
 with Christ he being Christ's visible associate and 
 co-ad jutor and holding by grace and visibly the three- 
 fold office which Christ holds by nature and invisibly, 
 viz., the kingly or ruling office, the prophetic or 
 teaching office, and the deific or priestly office. 
 
 Scriptural meaning of Peter's name according to 
 ST. AUGUSTIN: 
 
 "The Rock which the proud gates of hell pre- 
 vail not against." i. e., the Rock endowed with in- 
 fallibility and indefectibility. (In Ps. contra par. Do- 
 nati.) 
 
 According to ST. MAXIMUS: of Turin (7th Cen- 
 tury), Christ shares with Peter not his office alone 
 but His very name and title: 
 
 "He to whom the Lord granted the participation 
 of His own title, the Rock." (Serm. pro Natal. SS. 
 Petri and Pauli.) 
 
 Scriptural meaning of Peter's name according to 
 ST. EPHREM, one of the purest glories of the Oriental 
 Church, the most faithful echo of the Church of Anti- 
 och founded by St. Peter himself : 
 
 "O my disciple, Simon, I have constituted thee 
 the Foundation of the holy Church and have already 
 named thee the Rock, because thou shalt support my 
 edifice in its entirety [Apostles and all]. Thou art 
 the Inspector of those who build up my Church upon 
 
38 Peter's Name; 
 
 earth. If they attempt to build amiss, do thou, O 
 Foundation, repress them. Thou art the Head of 
 the fountain whence flows the stream of my doc- 
 trine. Thou art the Head of my disciples." (Serm. 4 
 in hebd. sancta, n. i Hymns and Serm. of S. Ephrem 
 edited by Lamy, Mechlin 1882, vol. i, p. 412.) 
 
 Most eloquently, according to St. Ephrem, does 
 St. Peter's name proclaim both his supremacy and 
 his infallibility. 
 
 His supremacy : The authority of the Rock must be 
 commensurate with his responsibility and since he is 
 bound to "support" the Christian "Edifice in its entire- 
 ty," he must in simple fairness and justice have control 
 over every part thereof. He is, by virtue of his office, 
 the "Inspector" and "Head of the Disciples" and must 
 have power to correct 'and to "repress." He must, in 
 short, be supreme in authority as well as in responsi- 
 bility. 
 
 His infallibility: "The head of the foundation 
 whence flows Christ's doctrine" must be inerrant. The 
 fountain-head whence flows infallibility itself, truth it- 
 self, viz., Christ's doctrine must surely be infallible, 
 for can an infallible stream flow from a fallible source? 
 
 Scriptural meaning of Peter's name according to 
 ST. MAXIM us, Martyr (7th Century) : 
 
 "As the good Shepherd, Peter received the de- 
 fense of the Flock, so that he who before had been 
 weak in his own case might become the confirmation 
 to all (the Apostles not excepted), and he who had 
 been shaken by the temptation of the question asked 
 him, might be a Foundation to the rest by the stability 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 39 
 
 of his Faith. . . . For, he is called the Rock (a) be- 
 cause he was the first to lay the foundation of the 
 Faith, and (b) because, as an immovable Stone, he 
 holds together the frame-work and the mass of the 
 whole Christian structure. Peter, therefore, for his 
 devotion is called the Rock, and the Lord is named the 
 Rock by his inherent power, as the Apostle says : 'And 
 they drank of the spiritual Rock that followed them 
 and the Rock was Christ.' Rightly does he merit to 
 share the name who, likewise, merits to share the 
 work." (De Petro Ap., horn. 4.) 
 
 The holy martyr could not tell us in more forcible 
 language that Peter's name scripturally imports the 
 infallibility and supremacy of its bearer signifies 
 scripturally one who is "a Foundation to the rest by 
 the stability of his Faith" one who "holds together the 
 framework and the mass of the whole Christian struc- 
 ture" one who, in a word, "shares the name and 
 the work" or office of the great invisible Head of 
 the Church. 
 
 Again, Peter's name means: 
 
 In the estimation of Ignatius of Constantinople 
 (A. D. 869), "Supreme chief; Most Powerful Word." 
 
 According to a Roman Council held in 494, it 
 means, "Vicar of Christ." 
 
 According to the Council of Chalcedon (A. D. 
 451), "Sovereign Bishop of Bishops." "Sovereign 
 Priest." "Guardian of the Vine of the Lord." 
 
 According to the Bishops of Dardania (A. D. 495), 
 "Apostolic Lord and 'Father of Fathers." 
 
4O Peter's Name; 
 
 According to St. Cyprian, writing to Pope Cor- 
 nelius, martyred in 252: "The Bishop of the most 
 holy Catholic Church." 
 
 According to the Eastern Clergy, writing to Pope 
 Hormisdas (A. D. 514) : "Chief Pastor and teacher and 
 Physician of souls." "True Pastor and Doctor." 
 
 (See Library of St. Francis de Sales: Catholic 
 Controversy, ed. 1886, p. 291 and Ryder's Contro- 
 versy, 10 ed., pp. 12 20.) 
 
 The ancients as well as the moderns, then, saw 
 in the name of Peter a name which caused them to 
 "recognize him as Chief" and as the "infallible con- 
 firmer" of the Faith to borrow the language of St. 
 Francis de Sales. (Cath. Controv., Eng. ed. pp. 239 
 and 297.) 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 41 
 
 NOTE V 
 
 Peter's name means, scripturally and patristically, the Church's 
 Foundation, Bulwark, Capstone and shining Mark 
 
 The divine name of Peter reveals another wonder- 
 ful prerogative of his, hardly ever adverted to by 
 modern Catholic divines and writers. As we have 
 seen, by the name of Peter Holy Writ designates the 
 office as well as the title of our Lord, the Rock par 
 excellence. Now, Christ was not only the Head of 
 the Church of God: He was, by office, the most 
 shining mark thereof. He was both the visible Head 
 and the visible, fundamental, unmistakable mark of 
 the Church. Consequently, the name of Peter sig- 
 nifying, as it does scripturally, the office of Jesus 
 Christ, signifies no less obviously the fundamental 
 mark of the true Church. Where the visible Christ 
 was there also was the Church of God : such was 
 the test-sign of the true Church in the earthly days 
 of our blessed Lord. The same test-sign remains and 
 endures for ever : where Christ's visible "other self" 
 is where His visible Vicegerent is, there the one 
 true Church is. 
 
 The words of the text leave no room for equivoca- 
 tion. "Thou art Rock," says our Lord, "and upon this 
 Rock I will build my Church," not temporarily but for 
 ever, so that "the gates of hell shall not prevail a- 
 gainst it:" Matt. 16. 18. 
 
 The Church being built on the Rock, it follows 
 that where the Rock is there the Church is. Christ 
 
42 Peter's Name; 
 
 virtually says to Peter: "I myself, the Rock, so long 
 as I remained the visible Rock, i. e., during my whole 
 mortal life, was personally and by office the most 
 shining mark of the Church: so thou also, O Peter, 
 thou the visible Rock, shalt be, as such and by office, 
 my visible continuation as the fundamental mark of 
 my Church." 
 
 Peter is therefore the highest and most shining 
 mark of the Church the zenith-mark, the earth-com- 
 manding mark that gives conspicuity to the Church. 
 Wherefore does Christ remind us that the Rock on 
 which His Church is built is not an underground Rock 
 but "a mountain." Matt. 5. 14. 
 
 The Church is not so founded upon THE MOUN- 
 TAIN-ROCK as to conceal it from sight. She is built 
 as our Lord, addressing her as His Spouse, tells 
 us "in the clifts of the Rock:" Cant. 2. 14. 
 
 The Word of God emphasizes three features of 
 the Rock, viz., its loftiness, its hardness or solidity, 
 and its refreshing honeyed sweetness. 
 
 So solid is it (Wisd. n. 4) that the combined 
 powers of hell and of this world can never break it: 
 Matt. 1 6. 1 8. 
 
 So lofty is it that it is called "the most highest 
 Rock" (Wisd. ii. 4), and can be seen of the further- 
 most extremities of the earth, towering above the tide 
 of ages. 
 
 According to Holy Writ, "the first" Apostolic 
 Foundation (Peter) "is jasper" and "the wall" of 
 the Holy City "is jasper," i. e. Peter. 
 
 The Rock is therefore both a foundation and a bul- 
 wark thrown round about the Church the foundation 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 43 
 
 rising up all around the Church, encompassing her, 
 spreading itself as a dome over her and terminating 
 in a sign or mark, or pinnacle, as visible to all as the 
 face of the sky. 
 
 The Rock is, all in one, the foundation that under- 
 lies the encircling wall that protects the cap-stone y 
 the PINNACLE that surmounts, i. e., the divine mark 
 that singles out, or the divine index-finger that infall- 
 ibly points out the Church of the living God to the 
 continents and to "the isles of the sea." Is. 24. 15. 
 
 It is not enough to say, then, that Peter (or the 
 Papacy) "is the first proof of the truth of the 
 Church;" the Word of God goes further and compels 
 us to add that Peter is the first mark of the true 
 Church. 
 
 CATHOUC TRADITION inosculates with Holy Writ. 
 For instance, St. Optatus of Milevis (A. D. 370) writes : 
 "In that our chair which is the first endowment, Peter 
 sat first... "This mark" i. e., the Chair of Peter, 
 "carries with it the Angel" i. e., the one legitimate 
 succession or authority: therefore, outside the Chair 
 of Peter there exists no Church and no succession in 
 the Apostolic line. (De schism. Donat, 1. 2, c. 2, and 1. 
 
 3, c. 9)- 
 
 St. Maximus Martyr compares the Chair of Peter 
 to "a sun of everlasting light." (Opusc. theol., ed. 
 Combefis, t. 2, p. 72. See Ryder's Controv., Qth ed., 
 p. 16). 
 
 St. Chrysostom calls Peter "the Firmament of the 
 Faith" (On parable of ten talents), "the Firmament 
 
44 Peter's Name; 
 
 of the Church" (In illud: Vidi Dominum, horn. 4, 
 n. 3). So does St. Ambrose (de Virginitate, c. 16). 
 From which it appears that, in the common estimation 
 of the East and of the West, Peter is a mark of the 
 true Church as conspicuous as the sun and the firma- 
 ment itself. Therefore, according to the same 
 unimpeachable witnesses, the comprehensive term 
 "Peter" designates the most prominent mark of the 
 Church, and is, in itself, as profoundly observed by 
 St. Chrysostom, both "the guarantee and the mark" 
 of the infallible Church. (See Wilmers' De Christi 
 Eccl., p. 180). 
 
 Enough has been said to prove that, according to 
 the witness of Holy Writ and Tradition, the name of 
 Peter is both the title of our Lord himself and the 
 God-devised one- word- formula converted by the 
 Saviour into a proper name to promulgate to all ages, 
 in one single word, the manifold prerogatives of the 
 visible Head of the Church. No briefer, or more 
 comprehensive formula could be devised and no bet- 
 ter way of popularising the formula could be adopted 
 than the making it, as Christ did, the perpetual name 
 of the greatest historical personage, after Jesus Christ, 
 in the sphere of Church-government. 
 
 It is the one term a term divine in its origin, scrip- 
 tural in its import, and traditional in its continuity 
 it is the one term that comprises all the titles of Simon 
 Barjona. If you call him the supreme ruler, or the 
 infallible teacher, or the sovereign pontiff, or the fun- 
 damental mark of the Church you enumerate but 
 one of his titles. But you enumerate them all when- 
 ever you name "Peter"; for, you then, ipso facto, 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 45 
 
 name scripturally the successor of Jesus Christ, the 
 visible Head of the Church, her supreme ruler, her in- 
 fallible teacher, her sovereign pontiff, and her funda- 
 mental mark. 
 
 We can draw but one CONCLUSION from the evi- 
 dence already adduced: The name of Simon Peter is 
 unquestionably the scriptural and traditional synonym 
 for "Simon Christ's successor in office." Conse- 
 quently, Peter literally affixes to his two Epistles what 
 is naw known as the Papal signature. When he com- 
 pendiously signs himself "Peter," or "Simon-Peter", 
 he thereby scripturally signs himself : Simon the Vicar 
 of Jesus Christ as the visible head and foundation of 
 the Church Simon the supreme ruler Simon the in- 
 fallible teacher Simon the sovereign pontiff Simon 
 the first and fundamental mark of the Church in 
 short, Simon the Pope. 
 
 Who could exhaust the comprehensiveness of 
 Peter's name? Not all the Councils, not all the Fath- 
 ers, not all the Doctors of the Church can fathom its 
 supernatural depths. Not only is it a wondrous verbal 
 condensation of all the prerogatives lavished on Peter, 
 but it is his Divine credential, for it bears, as a scrip- 
 tural warranty of the manifold prerogatives it signi- 
 fies, the royal seal and the sign manual of its Divine 
 inventor, Jesus the Christ. 
 
 If we ask: By what right, O Simon, dost thou, a 
 poor fisherman, presume to command the princes of 
 tfye Church, thy fellow-Apostles and their successors' 
 l?y what right dost thou rebuke the arrogant prelate c 
 
46 Peter's Name; 
 
 "lordmg it over the clergy" (i Pet. 5.3)? Show thy 
 credentials. Where are they? The humble Fisher- 
 man instantly replies : "My credentials are in my name. 
 Christ named me and made me what He named me, 
 viz., Peter, the Rock i. e., Christ's "other self" in 
 office. My name is the Christ-accredited herald of 
 my Vicegerency the Christ-appointed teacher and 
 preacher thereof the Christ-issued certificate and pro- 
 clamation thereof." 
 
 Our brief commentary shall not be looked upon as 
 mere rhetoric but as having ample justification in 
 Scripture and tradition, in the eyes of those conversant 
 with patristic literature. Nor need we fall back upon 
 the Western Fathers exclusively for the proof of our 
 assertions. The foremost of the Greek Fathers will 
 again be our favorite authority. Ponder the sublime 
 wonders which St. John Chrysostom finds in the Divine 
 name of Peter. The Saint has already told us that 
 Christ "inserted in Peter's name a guarantee and a 
 mark of solidity of Faith." If you now ask why 
 Christ attached such a guarantee and sign of infallible 
 Faith to the very name of Peter, St. Chrysostom an- 
 swers : "In order that he" Peter, "may use his perpe- 
 tual name as a special authoritative teacher of this 
 rock-solidity of his." (In illud: Paulus vocatus etc. 
 See Wilmers' De Christi Eccl., p. 180). 
 
 In other words, Christ's obvious and specific in- 
 tention, in giving this name and title to Peter, was to 
 enable him to 4mploy it constantly as a God-chosen 
 reminder and mark of the Christ-office vested in its 
 bearer. 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 47 
 
 The name of Peter is the Christ-given credential, 
 the Christ-signed Letters Patent accrediting Peter to 
 all mankind and to all ages as Christ's successor in 
 office. 
 
 Such is the name that Simon Barjona attaches 
 and signs to his Epistles: it is (we repeat) nothing 
 less than the Papal signature of the Fisherman: "Sim- 
 on Peter" and "Simon the Pope," are perfectly inter- 
 changeable terms. 
 
 What A SHORT AND ROYAL ROAD to the truth as 
 it is in Christ Jesus ! Let us repeat with endless 
 thanksgiving: Peter, ever living in his successor, is 
 the Christ-appointed, unmistakable fundamental mark 
 of the one true Church of God. 
 
 Now, where is Peter, or his successor? History 
 replies, says the Protestant thinker Leibnitz, at one 
 with Protestant scholarship : The Roman Pontiff alone 
 is the successsor of Peter, the one contemporaneous 
 link in the historic line of succession from Peter to 
 Pius X. He is Peter historically and lineally con- 
 tinued for nineteen centuries. Yet more, Peter, as the 
 fundamental mark of the Church of God, is the more 
 unmistakably identified in his successor in the See 
 of Rome because no bishop on earth but that of Rome 
 ever dared to claim the Petrine succession in the queen 
 city of the universe. 
 
 Wherefore the holy Fathers call the See of Rome 
 "the first of the marks of the Church." "Peter there- 
 fore," says St. Optatus, "first filled that pre-eminent 
 Chair" or Bishopric of Rome "which is the first of 
 the marks of the Church." (De Schism. Donat., 1. 2, 
 c. 2, 3, 4). 
 
Peter's name proclaims him the 
 
 SOURCE 
 of all Church-power Under Christ 
 
 PETER'S NAME 
 
Peter's name proclaims him the source 
 of all Church-power under Christ. 
 
 By Church-power we understand the threefold 
 power vested in the Church by our Divine Lord, viz., 
 the ruling, teaching, and sanctifying power the royal, 
 prophetic, and deific or priestly power. 
 
 NOTE VI 
 
 A glance at the names of Jesus and Peter 
 Over nine hundred times does the New Testament, 
 by means of the very name of Jesus, proclaim the one 
 Saviour of the world. In like manner Holy Writ, by 
 means of the very name of Peter, again and again 
 proclaims the successor of Christ in the office of the 
 Rock in the headship of the Church. For, in the 
 case of Jesus and Peter above all others, does the name 
 itself express the office they exercise ; and, consequent- 
 ly, every mention of the name is a scriptural designa- 
 tion and proclamation of the office attached thereunto. 
 Holy Writ itself furnishes a full definition of the 
 above names as expressive of a great and unique office, 
 respectively i. e., Holy Writ teaches us how to regard 
 and use each of the two names referred to not merely 
 as the name of a person but as God's own definition of 
 a jptcial office. 
 
 The term "Jesus" is therefore a divine definition 
 as well as a divine name and so is the term "Peter" 
 or "Cephas". 
 
52 Peter's Name; 
 
 Meaning of the name of Jesus defined by Holy Writ 
 
 (a) ''Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall 
 save His people from their sins." Matt. 1.21. 
 
 Etymologically, "Jesus" means one who saves, a 
 satfiour. 
 
 Scripturally, it means the Saviour par excellence 
 the one only Saviour from the evil par excellence, viz., 
 sin and its consequences. We say the only Saviour, 
 for Holy Writ affirms that "He shall save,'.' i. e., He 
 and no one else, He alone can and shall save. 
 
 (b) "This day is born to you a Saviour, who is 
 Christ the Lord:" Luke 2. 10. 
 
 Holy Writ defines still further the name of Jesus 
 as signifying the promised Saviour, i. e., the Christ or 
 Messiah, nay, "the Lord" who, "born" in the flesh, is 
 literally God Incarnate and manifest in the flesh : 
 i Tim. 3. 16. 
 
 (c) "John saw Jesus coming to him and he saith : 
 behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who taketh 
 away the sins of the world." John i. 29. 
 
 St. John completes the definition of the adorable 
 Name by telling us how He shall take away the sin 
 of the world : namely, by being immolated as "the 
 Lamb of God." "Jesus", then, scripturally means 
 Saviour and victim Saviour through the effusion of 
 his own blood. 
 
 The Evangelist intimates plainly enough that, scrip- 
 turally, the name of Jesus signifies "the Lamb of God 
 who taketh away the sin of the world ;" the Lamb of 
 God, i. e., the Lamb of infinite worth who substitutes 
 His own divine life for our infinite guilt : the. true 
 paschal Lamb who, by being eaten, substitutes the life 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 53 
 
 of God in man for the death of sin in man. "Jesus", 
 therefore, means, scripturally, the vivifying Lamb, 
 the deifying Lamb as well as the atoning Lamb of God. 
 
 Does not the Lamb Himself say, in the same Gos- 
 pel of St. John 6. 58: "As. . .1 live by the Father, so 
 he that eateth me the same shall live by me." That is, 
 those who receive me worthily are made, not figurative- 
 ly but really, "partakers of the divine nature :" 2. Pet. 
 i. 4. 
 
 Therefore, according to Holy Scripture, the name 
 of Jesus is, truly and strictly speaking, God's own de- 
 finition of the office of God Incarnate as the Saviour, 
 Vivifier and Deifier of mankind at the cost of the last 
 drop of His blood. 
 
 Nor does Holy Writ come to a sudden halt after 
 thus beautifully defining the meaning of the adorable 
 Name. On the contrary, the thrilling import of the 
 divine definition is sunk deeper and deeper into the 
 soul by the scriptural process of iteration. For, inas- 
 much as the name of Jesus, as defined by Holy Script- 
 ure, means God Incarnate redeeming us, deifying us 
 with His precious blood, it follows that, every time 
 the Name is repeated in the sacred record, the reader 
 is virtually admonished as follows : 
 
 "Remember, O man, that God Incarnate has re- 
 deemed thee and deified thee with His own blood." 
 
 The constant and multiplied iteration of the Name 
 impresses and sinks not only the sound thereof but its 
 divine definition and significance into the heart of the 
 thoughtful reader. Nine hundred and twenty-five iter- 
 ations of the Name mean nine hundred and twenty-five 
 burning ejaculations from the adorable heart of Jesus. 
 
54 Peter's Name; 
 
 Nine hundred and twenty-five times therefore does the 
 Word- of God cry out: "Remember thou, O reader 
 of the Word : remember thou, O hearer of the Word, 
 that God Incarnate has redeemed thee and deified thee 
 with his own blood." 
 
 Viewed in the light of Holy Scripture, the nine 
 hundred /and twenty-five iterations \of the blessed 
 Name become, as it were, nine hundred and twenty- 
 five celestial aqueducts the handiwork of the Holy 
 Spirit spanning the infinite immensities to bring the 
 waters of eternal life, clear through, from the everlast- 
 ing hills and all the way down to the thirsty deserts of 
 the human soul, converting the barren desolate wastes 
 into ever-singing wells and fountains of life and grati- 
 tude and joy. 
 
 Or, to make use of another simile with each re- 
 petition of the adorable Name the omnipotent Spirit 
 sings to the responsive soul the old canticle of Israel: 
 "Let the well spring up .... the well .... prepared by 
 the direction of the Lawgiver:" Num. 21. 17. And 
 from the depths of the soul the mystic well springs up 
 in ecstasy divine up to the very lips of God Incarnate, 
 whose thirst (John 19. 28) it slakes with the sweetly 
 wooing draughts of love. 
 
 Such, in miniature, aye, in infinitesimal miniature 
 only is the practical result or spiritual fruit of Holy 
 Writ's nine hundred proclamations, in the one word 
 "Jesus," of the saving and self -immolating and deifying 
 office of God's Incarnate love. 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 55 
 
 Meaning of Peter's name defined by Holy Writ 
 Because Peter holds the Office of Christ as visible 
 Ruler of the Church, his very name holds in Holy 
 Writ a position exactly analogous to that held therein 
 by the name of Jesus. The analogy extends to the 
 same scriptural process of iteration the iteration or 
 repetition of his office-expressing name: a manifolding 
 process which manifolds well nigh two hundred times 
 the Divine proclamation of Peter's Divine office. 
 
 The King's Vicegerent being the official counterpart 
 of his Sovereign, Holy Writ very consistently treats 
 both the person and the name of Peter as the counter- 
 part of the Master in the sphere of Church-govern- 
 ment. 
 
 We have no less an authority than that of God's 
 written Word to affirm that the name of Peter means 
 that its bearer is, (a) under and with Christ, the alpha 
 or co -beginning of the Church; (b) the visible Rock 
 or perennial source of the entity of the Church; (c) 
 of her authority; (d) of her infallibility; (e) of her 
 indef ectibility ; (f) of her compactness and solidity; 
 (g) of her one-ness and unicity; (h)of her holiness; 
 (i)of her catholicity; (j) of her apostolicity ; (k) the 
 Apostle more deeply beloved of the Lord than any 
 other apostle; (1) the visible Rock or perennial source 
 of anti-pharisaism i. e. of the restoration of the fal- 
 len. 
 
56 Peter's Name; 
 
 NOTE VII 
 
 (a) Peter's name means, scripturally, that Peter is, under and 
 with Christ, the alpha or co -beginning of the Church 
 
 "Thou shalt be called Cephas":' John i. 42. By 
 these words God Incarnate bestows on Simon Barjona 
 three distinct prerogatives the first of which is en- 
 larged upon by all commentators, whilst the second 
 is frequently overlooked, and the third apparently lost 
 sight of altogether. 
 
 The first prerogative sets Peter apart as the suc- 
 cessor of Jesus Christ upon earth; the second, as the 
 name-sake of the Lord who delights in calling him- 
 self the Rock; the third, as the alpha or co-Beginning, 
 under and with Christ, of the Church universal. 
 
 Both in principle and in fact, Christ there and then 
 associates and assimilates Peter to Himself as the 
 first visible Beginning of the Church as her initial 
 point of existence preceding in time as well as in 
 dignity every other member. For, Christ was both 
 the beginner and the beginning of His Church and 
 He here associates Peter to the last-named privilege 
 by using him as the first material, the first "stone" 
 actually laid in the construction of His Church. 
 
 (i) Our blessed Saviour sets Peter apart as His 
 successor. "Thou shalt be called Cephas," i. e., thou 
 shalt be called after me, the Rock; because thou shalt 
 be my successor, and as I am Cephas the First, so 
 shalt thou be, in the order of time, Cephas the Second. 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 57 
 
 Thou shalt bear my name because, after my death, 
 thou shalt be, in a measure and in the visible order 
 of the Church, that which I will ever remain in the 
 invisible order of the same, viz., the Rock, the foun- 
 dation or support, the supreme Head. 
 
 "All bow the head by divine right before Peter, 
 and the Primates of the whole world obey him as they 
 do the Lord Jesus Christ Himself," says the Church 
 through the great Eastern Father and Saint, Cyril, 
 patriarch of Alexandria (lib. Thesaur.). 
 
 (2) Our Blessed Saviour confers there and then 
 on Simon Barjona His own name and title of "the 
 Rock" "thou shalt be called Cephas" not in a year 
 or in a month hence not after my formal appoint- 
 ment of the Apostles only but henceforward and from 
 this day forth shalt thou be called Cephas. As I 
 personally addressed Abraham, the father of the old 
 Covenant, so do I now address thee 'Peter, the Father 
 of the New Covenant, and in the same terms: "Thou 
 shalt be called Abraham," said I to Abram of old; 
 "thou shalt be called Cephas," or Peter, do I now say 
 to thee, O Simon Barjona. The words "thou shalt be 
 called Abraham" meant and were understood to mean 
 that Abram was to be called Abraham from that in- 
 stant, without any postponement or delay. Similarly, 
 the words "thou shalt be called Cephas," or Peter, 
 signify that thou, Simon Barjona, art to be called 
 Cephas, or Peter, from this very moment. 
 
 The Church of Spain was deservedly regarded and 
 hailed at the Vatican Council as the queen of scrip- 
 tural knowledge. Now the current Spanish translation 
 of the New Testament paraphrases John i. 42 as fol- 
 
58 Peter's Name; 
 
 lows : "thy name from this very moment shall be, 
 Rock." (See ad loc. the Spanish translation of Knecht's 
 Commentary on the N. T.) 
 
 In his learned French translation of the Gospel of 
 St. John, Father T. Calmes designates the first inter- 
 view of Peter with, the Saviour as "the moment of 
 his vocation." (On. John 1.42) 
 
 The reader has only to open the Gospel of St. 
 Matthew (4. 18) to see for himself how clearly the 
 holy Evangelist intimates that Simon Barjona was al- 
 ready called and known by the name of Cephas, or 
 Peter, at the time of the miraculous draught of fishes 
 i. e., long before the organization of the Apostolic 
 college (Matt. 10. I.). 
 
 St. Luke intimates the same fact (Luke 5. 8). 
 
 Let us revert to the words of the text: "Thou 
 shalt be called Cephas" (John i. 42) i. e., "I do here- 
 by bestow upon thee, yea, even now in presence of thy 
 brother Andrew (ibid.), my own title of office, as a 
 pledge of the tremendous office with which I will in 
 due time invest thee. And the better to emphasize the 
 importance of thy name, I will once more, in the near 
 future on a far more solemn occasion, bestow the same 
 name upon thee before the whole Apostolic college 
 on the very day of its erection (Luke 6. 14) to show 
 that thou art to be the Rock of the Apostles as well 
 as of the Disciples. Thus did I, in the days of yore, 
 not once only but on two different occasions, confer 
 the name of Israel upon my servant Jacob viz., (a) 
 when he wrestled victoriously with my angel (Gen. 
 32. 28), and also when, several years later (b) I ap- 
 peared to him at Bethel ,(Gen. 35. 10). 
 
or, a Divine Credential In a Name 59 
 
 But, as Jacob yields to thee in dignity and in holi- 
 ness, not twice only but thrice will I call thee to the 
 divine ministry in store for thee. Twice shalt thou be 
 called singly and separately (John I. 42; 5. 10), to in- 
 dicate thy independent supremacy over and above the 
 eleven other Apostles. And once shalt thou be called 
 jointly with thy brother Andrew (Luke I. 16), to 
 show forth the necessity of communion with thee in 
 order to be a true Fisherman of Jesus Christ. 
 
 Nay, more, in addition to thy triple calling, thrice 
 will I appoint thee the Shepherd, or ruler, of the uni- 
 versal Fold. (John 21. 15 17.) 
 
 The Word of God suggests another profound lesson 
 in its treatment of the names of the two Fathers of 
 the two Covenants. Abram's name was changed or 
 converted into another name Abraham, even as the 
 true Synagogue was to be converted and merged in- 
 to the Catholic Church. Simon's name, however, was 
 not changed into another, but a new name was added 
 to the old one. God Incarnate says not to Simon: 
 Neither shall thy name be called any more Simon" 
 whilst He did say to the holy patriarch: "neither 
 shall thy name be called any more Abram :" Gen. ij. 5. 
 
 The unchanged name of "Simon" typifies the 
 changeless, or final, character of the Church of which 
 he is the head; whilst the new name of "Peter" 
 typifies the new splendors of perfection which, under 
 Peter, the New Covenant adds to the Old. 
 
 But it may further be asked, Why did not our Lord 
 suppress altogether Peter's former name? Because 
 
60 Peter's Name; 
 
 that name was to be a constant, merciful and Provi- 
 dential reminder not alone of Peter's low extraction, 
 but of his sinful past and downfall. And nothing 
 short of such a memento could, humanly speaking, 
 keep Peter's heart and head from turning dizzy with 
 pride raised as he had been upon the highest, aye, 
 the unutterably sublimest pinnacle of honor and dig- 
 nity to which mortal man can be raised. For, Abra- 
 ham's office was but the shadow of Peter's, a mere 
 planet compared with a blazing sun. 
 
 "I will remind you," says the profound as well as 
 gentle Doctor of the Church, St. Francis de Sales, 
 "that our Lord did not change St. Peter's name, but 
 only added a new name to his old one perhaps in 
 order that he might remember in his authority what he 
 had been, what his stock was, and that the majesty of 
 the second name might be tempered by the humility 
 of the first and that if the name of Peter made us 
 recognize him as Chief, the name of Simon might tell 
 us that he was not absolute Chief, but obeying and 
 subaltern chief and head." (St. Francis de Sales' Cath. 
 Controv., Eng. tr. p. 239.) 
 
 (3) Both in principle and in fact Christ, there 
 and- then (John 1.42), associates Peter to Himself as 
 the first visible Beginning of the Messianic Church. 
 
 "Thou shalt be called Cephas" (ibid), says Jesus 
 to His Disciple. Now, the latter could not justly and 
 properly be called Cephas, i. e., the Rock- foundation, 
 if he lacked the two characteristics of a foundation 
 and these are (a) priority of place, or rank, as the 
 underlying support of the whole structure; and (b) 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 61 
 
 priority of time, in the order of construction, over 
 the other parts of the edifice. Therefore, by the very 
 fact that our Lord names Simon "Cephas," i. e., the 
 foundation, He in principle, confers upon him priority 
 of time over the rest of the Church. Peter is thereby 
 declared to be the very first material to be used before 
 any other in the building of the Church. 
 
 Indeed the name of Foundation, or Rock, 'given 
 to Simon implies the name as well as the function of 
 "the Beginning" which is the very name by which our. 
 Lord calls Himself in the 25th verse of the 8th chapter 
 of the Gospel according to St. John. 
 
 And, in point of fact, our Lord does here make 
 Peter "the Beginning," the earliest member of ,the 
 Christian Church. 
 
 "Thou shalt be called Cephas" i. e., "not with 
 the interior voice of my grace only, but with the ex- 
 ternal voice of my sacred Humanity do I now, at this 
 very instant of time, distinctly and formally call thee 
 before any other as my earliest and first disciple. 
 For, the bestowal of my name upon thee is not only 
 a formal calling (Franzelin, Thes. de Eccl. Christi, 
 Romae, A. D. 1887, p. 100) not only the most em- 
 phatic and glorious form of calling it is moreover the 
 very first exterior calling extended by Me to any human 
 being. This honor is neither Andrew's, nor John's, nor 
 Philip's, nor any other's, but thine exclusively, O 
 Peter, as My Word attests unanswerably. "Not only 
 art thou the first of my Apostles by priority of rank 
 thou art also the first of my formally called dis- 
 ciples by priority of time. I do make thee the initial 
 point and use thee as the initial factor, under and 
 
62 ' Peter's Name; 
 
 jointly with Me, wherewith to begin the construction 
 of my Church. Thou art the first thus formally called 
 by Me as a Disciple; Philip shall be the second, 
 Nathanael, the third (John i. 43) Andrew, the 
 fourth (Matt. 4. 18) James and John, the fifth and 
 sixth (Matt. 4. 21) Matthew, the seventh (Matt. 9. 
 9) etc. 
 
 "Thy calling antedates the existence of any dis- 
 ciple it precedes the creation of the Apostolic col- 
 lege (Luke 6. 12), the mission of the Apostles (Matt. 
 10. 5), and the mission of the Seventy-two (Luke 
 10. i). 
 
 "John and Andrew visited Me before thou didst, 
 and responded before thee to the invitation of John 
 the* Baptist to follow Me (John i. 37) but after thee 
 only shall they be explicitly, exteriorly and formally 
 called by Me to the discipleship" (Matt. 4. 18,21). 
 
 "Thou shalt be called Cephas (John i. 42) : these 
 words were addressed to Peter even before Jesus had 
 called any of His disciples." (McErlane, The Church 
 of Christ the Same Forever, p. 89.) 
 
 The distinguished biblical critic, Father Th. Calmes, 
 in his French translation of St. John's Gospel de- 
 signates the first interview of Peter with the Saviour as 
 "the moment of his vocation." (On John 1.42.) 
 
 Neither Andrew nor John, as remarked by St. Au- 
 gustin were called at the time of their first interview 
 with Jesus. They were not therefore, as is generally 
 and erroneously believed, the earliest diciples of Jesus. 
 "It is manifest," writes St. Augustin, "that they clave 
 unto Him only after He had called them out of the 
 ship." (7th tract on John). The calling of Andrew 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 63 
 
 and John, consequently, did not take place on the oc- 
 casion of their first visit to Jesus, but later on, when 
 Jesus, says St. Augustin, "called them out of the 
 ship." 
 
 Rightly therefore, and for two reasons, does the 
 Evangelist St. Matthew call Peter "the first" since 
 Peter was the first in rank and the first in time the 
 first in the hierarchial and the first in the chronological 
 order of the Church of Jesus Christ. 
 
 Peter was cast into the official mould of the Christ 
 and is a perfect official cast of the divine Master. 
 Christ in "the form of God" (Philip 2. 6), i. e. as 
 God in Person, is the life-principle of the Church 
 established by Himself. Christ in "the form of. ... 
 man" (Philip 2. 7), is the First visible Beginning of 
 the same Church, which is the master-piece of all 
 creation. The sacred humanity of our Lord, viewed 
 in its relations to the Church, is first not only in the 
 sphere of rank and authority it is also First in the 
 sphere of time, the very first stone, the chiefest corner- 
 stone laid in the construction of the divine edifice 
 (Eph. 2. 20) Mary and Joseph being, respectively, 
 the virgin Mother and the virgin Foster Father of 
 Jesus and of His Church. 
 
 Christ did not begin (as He could) to organize a 
 visible society before He assumed a visible body 
 v - g- by gathering men together under an invisible 
 head by means of personal revelations made to various 
 individuals. No, He first became Incarnate and was 
 then, a.s we just said, the first visible Beginning of the 
 
64 Peter's Name; 
 
 Church the first in time as well as in power and 
 authority. The more indelibly to impress upon all 
 men the moral necessity of a visible head to the Church, 
 He would not allow His Church to begin her existence 
 before His Incarnation. 
 
 And, likewise, the more forcibly to teach us that 
 Peter was his "other self" (St. Augustin) in office, his 
 successor in the government of the Church He made 
 Peter that which He is himself, viz., the First in 
 authority and the First in time or in calling called be- 
 fore all the other disciples and apostles. Christ began 
 His Church as a society composed of human persons 
 with Peter, because it is fitting to begin a building 
 with the foundation itself. 
 
 Thus do the Disciples rest upon Peter as upon 
 their Beginning and Foundation (John i. 42) ; so do 
 the Apostles (Matt. i. 2; 16. 18) ; so do the Jews 
 (Acts 2. 14 41) ; so do the Gentiles (Acts 10. 34 
 48) ; thus is Peter indeed the vicarious universal 
 foundation of the universal Church. (Matt. 16. 18.) 
 
 Our insistence upon this point Peter's priority in 
 time and in relation to the calling of the disciples is 
 both warranted and necessitated (first) by its strange 
 absence from the best commentaries on this text (John 
 1.42), and (second) by its momentous importance 
 since it reveals the unsuspected depths of the assimil- 
 ating process by which Christ assimilates Peter to 
 Himself in His royal, prophetic and sacerdotal office, 
 nay, in His blessed and glorious death on the Cross 
 as noted by Tertullian and the Fathers generally. 
 
 "Oh how happy is this Church," says Tertullian, 
 "where the Apostles poured forth the fulness of doc- 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 65 
 
 trine together with their blood where Peter was made 
 equal to the Lord in the manner of his suffering!" 
 (De Praesc. 36. c. 32; Adv. Marc. 4. 5 A. D. 160 
 240). 
 
 Heretofore the one grand feature of resemblance 
 between Christ and Peter ever noticed in this text 
 (John i. 42) was the promise of the headship to Peter. 
 But, the other magnificent feature of resemblance be- 
 tween Christ and Peter shown by the same text, was 
 not even alluded to i. e. Christ assimilating Peter to 
 Himself by making him, under and with Himself, the 
 incarnate living Beginning of the Church the first 
 human personality used by our Lord in the erection 
 of His Church. 
 
 The unfortunate suppression of this last and deep 
 trait of resemblance between the Christ and His Vicar 
 does not do justice to the Word of God, and gives us 
 only one half of the Scriptural portrait of Peter. It 
 shows only one side of the face, viz., Peter's headship 
 in common with Christ, and, leaves out of sight the 
 other side of the profile, viz., Christ imparting to and 
 sharing with Peter His fundamental prerogative as 
 the incarnate visible Beginning of the Messianic Church 
 Peter being thus made by our Lord the visible 
 alpha and omega, jointly with and under Christ, of 
 the whole Church militant. The alpha : for, the 
 Church begins with Christ and Peter in the order of 
 time. The omega: for, the temporal end of the 
 Church here below will come with the last breath of 
 the last Pope when the Church militant will merge 
 forever into the Church triumphant, and time shall be 
 no more. (Apoc. 10. 6.) 
 
 PETER'S NAME ^ 
 
66 Peter's Name; 
 
 NOTE VIII 
 
 (b) Peter's name means, scripturally, the visible Rock or 
 perennial source of the entity of the Church 
 
 "Thou art Rock and upon this Rock I will build 
 My Church:" i. e., thou art the Rock or perennial 
 source of the visible entity of the Church, since my 
 entire Church is built upon thee ; not merely a part 
 or fraction thereof, but my whole Church in her uni- 
 versal entity. Therefore, out of thee, the Rock, there 
 is no Church of Christ, no fragment of it, no particle 
 of it whatsoever. 
 
 Jesus Christ pledges His omnipotent word as God 
 Incarnate that He will build His Church upon the 
 Rock, Cephas, or Peter that, consequently, out of 
 the Rock Cephas, or Peter, Christ's Church is not, does 
 not exist, and that she has no entity whatever except 
 "upon Cephas" the Rock. He adds that, because thus 
 resting irrevocably on Cephas the Rock, His Church 
 shall triumph for ever: (Matt. 16. 18.) 
 
 Ponder the words of Christ. He virtually says: 
 "Without Peter not only can there be no victorious 
 Church, but there can be no Church at all. Without 
 Peter, my Church not only cannot conquer, but she 
 cannot even be. Out of Peter no Church of mine shall 
 ever be: no Peter no Church." 
 
 The Church therefore owes her very being, as well 
 as her perpetual victory over hell, to the virtue of 
 her Christ-appointed Cephas or Rock who is thus the 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 67 
 
 permanent instrumental source, not only of her 
 triumph, but of her very being or entity : a truth can- 
 didly admitted by unprejudiced Protestants. For in- 
 stance, Judge Robinson, Professor at Yale College, 
 frankly says : "Uniting with the See of Peter, is to be 
 the Church of Christ. Not to acknowledge the 
 See of Peter, is to form and constitute a human 
 organism." In other words, there can be no Church 
 of Christ out of Peter. (An Hour with a Sincere Pro- 
 testant, by Rev. J. P. M. Scheuter, p. 15, note) 
 Italics ours. 
 
68 Peter's Name; 
 
 NOTE IX 
 
 I C) Peter's name means, scripturally, the visible Rock or perennial 
 source of Church authority 
 
 "Thou art Rock and upon this Rock I will build 
 my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail 
 against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the king- 
 dom of Heaven : and whatsoever thou shalt bind upon 
 earth it shall be bound also in Heaven: and whatso- 
 ever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also 
 in heaven." (Matt. 16. 18, 19. 
 
 That is to say : To thee alone singly and separately 
 and independently, O Cephas, do I promise the keys 
 of my Church, which is the Kingdom of heaven on 
 earth, to show that thy name, so expressive of Christ- 
 like authority, is no' empty sound but that all author- 
 ity shall indeed be instrumentally derived from thee, 
 the Rock : so that whatsoever thou shalt bind or loose 
 by thy own personal and independent authority shall 
 instantly be bound or loosed in heaven. Not so, how- 
 ever, with my other Apostles; under thee alone, and 
 never independently of thee, can they exercise such 
 powers in my Church. Therefore do I not say to any of 
 them as I do to thee "I shall give thee, James or to 
 thee, John or to thee, Paul, the keys of the kingdom of 
 heaven. But, after giving thee alone, O Kepha, full 
 and independent authority such as I myself exercise, I 
 will transmit a due portion of the same from thee 
 to the other Apostles, not apart from thee but sub- 
 ordinately to thee, the visible Head. (Matt. 18. 18.) 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 69 
 
 After vesting the plenitude of authority in thee, 
 I will transfuse thereof from thee, the Head, to the 
 Apostolic members united and subordinated to the 
 Apostolic head. As I took out of the first Adam the 
 bodily form of the first Eve (Gen. 2. 21), so, in a 
 manner, will I take out of thee Peter the derivative 
 form of authority to be exercised by thy fellow- 
 Apostles. 
 
 This truth is so plainly written on the face of the 
 sacred Record and was so indelibly impressed upon 
 the mind of the Apostolic Church that Tertullian has 
 enshrined it in the following oft-quoted sentence: "If 
 you think the heavenfc shut, remember that the Lord, 
 here (in Matt. 16. 19), left its keys to Peter, and 
 through Peter, to the Church." (De Scorpiace, c. 10.) 
 
 The order established by our Lord does not vary 
 with the wind of Error, and the Church ever receives 
 the benefit of the keys through Peter continued in his 
 successors. 
 
 The better to impress upon the Church the fact 
 that Peter is the visible source whence flows all author- 
 ity, Christ begins by investing Peter alone with the 
 plenitude of power in the Church. (Matt. 16. 18; 
 John 21. 15.) In due time the Apostles receive juris- 
 diction from Christ and Peter acting jointly as a moral 
 unit (Matt. 18. 18; Mark 16. 15; John 20. 21) 
 but they receive it collectively, i. e., corporately; con- 
 sequently, they receive it as divinely constituted under 
 their visible head, Peter : for, the head rules the body. 
 In the two orders of nature and of super-nature, 
 guidance (authority) proceeds from the head to the 
 members, not from the members to the head. "Beatus 
 
70 Peter's Name; 
 
 Petrus et praeferri omnibus Apostolis meruit et claves 
 regni coelorum communicandas caeteris solus accepit." 
 (S. Optatus; de Schism. Donat. contra. Parmen., 1. 7, 
 c. 3 et 1. 2, c. 2.) 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 71 
 
 NOTE X 
 
 Peter's name means, scripturally, the visible Rock or perennial 
 source of the infallibility of the Church 
 
 Alluding to the invincible strength of the Rock 
 created and established by Himself, our Lord says to 
 Peter: "Simon, Simon, behold satan hath desired to 
 have you that he may sift you" i. e., all of you, My 
 Apostles "as wheat, but I have prayed for THE) that 
 thy faith fail not: and thou, being once converted, 
 confirm thy brethren." (Luke 22. 31.) 
 
 "I have prayed for TH that thy faith fail not," 
 that is to say : I have made thee the Rock of Faith, 
 the Rock of infallibilty. For thy fellow-Apostles also 
 have I prayed, asking my Father to bless them as 
 members of the Apostolic college but for thee alone 
 have I asked my Father a special blessing, i. e., that He 
 may bless thee as the visible head of the Apostolic body 
 and of my whole Church. As the authority of the 
 Apostolic members is conditioned upon strict union 
 with and subordination to Peter for nowhere have I 
 given them the power to bind and to loose separately 
 from their head, Simon Peter (Matt. 18. 18) so is 
 their immunity from error derived from the same 
 source and upon the same conditions. Through Peter 
 alone do I transmit my Keys or authority to the 
 Church, and through Peter alone do I transmit my 
 infallible teaching to her. I might have imparted in- 
 fallibility to every bishop separately and independently. 
 
72 Peter's Name; 
 
 Why do I not choose to do it? Because I am the in- 
 finite Wisdom of God, and human wisdom itself, 
 shortsighted as it is, sees at a glance that a system of 
 independent infallible teachers would open the door to 
 schism and divisions without end. Therefore am I 
 pleased to appoint one Apostle alone as the supreme, 
 infallible Rule of Faith, endowing him alone with full 
 independent infallibility an infallibility which the 
 other Apostles can only share proportionately through 
 the channel of communion with Peter : for, Peter is the 
 Confirmer of all the brethren, the Apostles not ex- 
 cepted. 
 
 "Satan hath desired to have you" all, my beloved 
 Apostles, "but I have prayed for thee," Peter, "that thy 
 faith fail not." 
 
 Here, Christ inferentially says to the other Apos- 
 tles : Take warning that, if you do not wish your 
 faith to fail, you must cling to the center of unity, 
 Peter, for nowhere else but in union with him shall 
 you find inerrancy as well as eternal cohesion. Out 
 of Peter there is no Church of mine, no Church of 
 Christ, no salvation. 
 
 Peter is the centripetal force that keeps the super- 
 natural universe of the Church infinitely more solidly 
 compacted together than any orb in space : for the 
 starry orbs shall one day dissolve and perish, whilst 
 the living Orb of the universal Church shall outlast 
 and outlive all ages and shall endure forever. 
 
 Had Christ built his Church upon a fallible Apostle 
 or Pope, she would rest on a sand-drift, not on a rock. 
 The Rock guaranteed by our Lord as strong enough 
 to keep the Church secure against the gates of hell 
 

 
 or, a Divine Credential in a Name 73 
 
 (Matt. 16. 18), i. e., error, is therefore necessarily in- 
 fallible by virtue of Christ's solemn and explicit guar- 
 antee (ibid.) 
 
 Christ makes three distinct assertions, viz., first, 
 that He prayed for the infallibility of Peter's Faith 
 (Luke 22. 32) second, that His own Prayer as God 
 Incarnate is always heard (John 11.42) and third, 
 that Peter shall accordingly be the infallible Confirmer 
 of the Faith of his brethren (Luke 22. 32). 
 
 Therefore the infallibility of the Church flows from 
 Peter down to the brethren, not from these to Peter: 
 therefore Peter is the perennial visible source of In- 
 fallibility. 
 
 In Gal. i. 1 8, the Holy Ghost uses, in honor of 
 Peter exclusively, a word employed in no other place 
 in the Holy Scriptures : Speaking of St. Paul's visit 
 to Peter, Holy Writ implicitly calls Peter the Divine 
 oracle of the Church. For, the Greek term it employs 
 (istoresai) does not simply mean that Paul called on 
 Peter: it implies that he consulted Peter as a divine 
 oracle. Such is the classical significance of the word 
 in Greek authors v. g. in Euripides, Ion 1547 etc. 
 the term being used especially of visits to the oracles 
 of the Deity. 
 
 Holy Writ significantly employs quite a different 
 term with reference to St. Paul's visit to St. James. 
 The term used in this instance is "eidon," the common 
 word for "saw." (Gal. i. 19.) 
 
 Scripturally speaking, then, St. Paul saw St. James 
 in Jerusalem, but he consulted Peter, there, as the 
 Oracle of the Church of the New Covenent. For, the 
 High Priest of the New Law is not inferior to the 
 
74 Peter's Name; 
 
 High Priest of the Synagogue of whom Cruden's 
 Protestant Concordance says: "The High Priest, 
 clothed with the ephod and pectoral, gave a True 
 Answer, whatever was the manner of his life. God 
 had appropriated to his person the Oracle of His 
 Truth." (s. v. Oracle and Priest.) 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 75 
 
 NOTE XI 
 
 (e) Peter's name means, scripturally, the visible Rock or 
 perennial source of the indefectibility of the Church 
 
 "Thou art Rock, and upon this Rock I will build my 
 Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against 
 it." Matt. 16. 1 8 i. e., "Thanks to thee, O Peter, who 
 art the Rock of my own creation, the gates of hell 
 shall not prevail against my Church. Neither now, 
 nor in a thousand years, nor in 1600 years, nor in two 
 thousand years, shall they prevail against my Church : 
 because, from thee (under me) shall my Church derive 
 a never-failing supply of strength and invincibility. 
 Sect after sect shall pass away, whilst thou alone shalt 
 stand with the Church built upon thee, for thou alone 
 art the Rock built on the rock of my omnipotent 
 Word : heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word 
 shall not pass away." Matt. 24. 35. 
 
 Christ proclaims the indefectibility of His Church 
 i. e., the absolute uninterruptibility of her existence 
 through all ages (Matt. 16. 18) ; and the reason He 
 assigns for her indefectibility and indestructibility is 
 that she is irrevocably built and resting on Cephas, the 
 Rock, Peter. Therefore Peter is the perennial visible 
 source of the indefectibility of the Church. 
 
76 Peter's Name; 
 
 NOTE XII 
 
 (f) Peter's name means, scripturally, the visible Rock or 
 perennial source of the Church's compactness and solidity 
 
 "Confirm thy brethren" (Luke 22. 32) i. e., all thy 
 brethren, all my disciples without exception Apostles, 
 bishops, priests, clergy, and laity are to be confirmed, 
 strengthened, consolidated by thee in the Faith and in 
 hope and charity, in closer and closer communion with 
 one another. In thee shall they find immunity not 
 only from the darkness and blindness of heresy but 
 from the sterilising influence of schism. 
 
 Thou art the Rock, not for thy sake alone but for 
 the sake of thy brethren. Do not, then, O blessed Rock, 
 keep thy strength unto thyself, but transfuse the 
 strength of the Rock into the universal Brotherhood. 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 77 
 
 NOTE XIII 
 
 (g) Peter's name means, scripturally, the visible Rock or 
 perennial source of the one -ness and unicity of the Church 
 
 "Thou art Rock and upon this Rock I will build 
 my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail 
 against it." "Therefore, by logical implication, the 
 gates of hell shall prevail against all churches not built 
 upon the Rock, Peter. Therefore, moreover, whoever 
 departs from the Rock, Peter, cuts himself off from 
 the very Foundation of my Church. For, my Church, 
 in contradistinction to all other churches, is built upon 
 thee, O Rock, O Peter; and there does she abide, not 
 shifting her Foundation from Peter to Photius, or from 
 Peter to Luther or Calvin, or from Peter to any one 
 else, but remaining forever fixed on the Rock of my 
 choice and creation, Cephas, or Peter. 
 
 Therefore, finally, as there is no Church of mine 
 out of the Rock, men must of necessity gather around 
 and cling to the Rock under pain of being left out of 
 my Church. Thus are tribes and tongues and peoples 
 and nations unified in thee and by thee, under Me. 
 And thus art thou, O Rock, O Peter, the wonderful 
 Rock and perennial source of the visible unification of 
 all mankind into one vast brotherhood. 
 
 And as thou alone, O Peter, art the Rock of unity, 
 so shall all the churches built outside of thee, be the 
 ever-shifting sands of endless division and confusion. 
 Theirs shall be the burning and blinding divisions and 
 
78 Peter's Name; 
 
 confusions of the stormy sands of the desert when 
 blown about by the simoom. 
 
 Thou art by grace, as I am by nature, the Rock 
 against which all the sects or hostile churches shall ei- 
 ther grind themselves or be ground to powder: Matt. 
 21.44. 
 
 The one-ness, or unity, of the Church is the divine 
 prerogative in virtue of which "the Church in all its 
 members and parts forms one entire connected whole" 
 (Klee on the Church ap. "Catholic" by Monsignor 
 Capel, i st. ed. p. 26.) 
 
 Peter is the Rock of unification : he unifies the mem- 
 bers of the Church by the fact that he is the one foun- 
 dation, the one platform on which Christ requires them 
 all to stand and to cling together. 
 
 Christ extols the unifying power of Peter when He 
 appoints him the Confirmer or consolidator of the 
 whole Christian brotherhood (Luke 22. 32.) 
 
 For, "Confirmer" means consolidator, strengthener : 
 now strength preverbially lies in unity. Therefore Pet- 
 er the strengthener means Peter the unifier. Therefore 
 Peter is the permanent instrumental source of the com- 
 pact one-ness of the Church. He is the living Rock 
 and, as such, communicates to the whole Church the 
 compactness, solidity and unbreakable one-ness of the 
 Rock which he is. 
 
 Peter is also the perennial visible source of the 
 unicity, or absolute anti-plurality and absolute indis- 
 ibility of the Church. 
 
 The unicity of the Church is the divine prerog- 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 79 
 
 plurality of Christian or co-ordinate churches," or one 
 Christian Church or Kingdom of God divided against 
 itself as to creed, communion, or authority. 
 
 Observe that the one-ness of the Church connotes 
 the fact of her unity ; the fact that she is one in reality 
 whilst the unicity of the Church connotes the abso- 
 lute impossibility of there being more than one self- 
 same indivisible Church of Christ, indivisible as to 
 creed, communion, and authority. 
 
 Besides, whilst the one-ness or unity of the Church 
 is one of her visible marks, her unicity is one of her 
 invisible properties a property evident to the mind in 
 view of the Word of God, but not visible or percept- 
 ible to the bodily senses. 
 
 The sense of sight attests the unity of the Church 
 but reason alone can, under the guidance of Revela- 
 tion, attest the impossibility, by reason of the express 
 will of Christ, of there being more than one Church 
 of His, and the impossiblity of the Church built on 
 Peter being only a part of, and not the whole Church 
 of Jesus Christ. 
 
 (First) Christ said to Peter: "Thou art Rock, 
 and upon this Rock I will build my Church" (Matt. 
 1 6. 18) not my Churches but My one and only 
 Church. Therefore Christ built one Church only upon 
 Peter, and it is impossible that there would be more 
 than one Church of Christ built on Peter. 
 
 (Second) Christ said to Peter: "On this Rock 
 I will build My Church." The Church of Christ being 
 built on the living Rock called in Hebrew Kepha (John 
 1. 42) and in Greek Petros (ibid., Greek text) it 
 follows that, outside of "this Rock" there can be no 
 
8o Peter's Name; 
 
 Church of Christ or that it is impossible to make a 
 Church of Christ out of a Church which stands not 
 and is not willing to stand upon "this Rock", Peter. 
 
 Now, the two impossibilities just described i. e., 
 the impossibility of the Church or Kingdom of God 
 being divided against itself as to creed, communion, 
 or authority; and the further impossibility of there 
 being more than one Church or Kingdom of God, i. e., 
 a plurality of co-ordinate Christian Churches these 
 two impossibilities constitute the unicity of the Church ; 
 and Peter is, by divine ordinance, the instrumental 
 source thereof. 
 
 As the Christ-appointed Rock of divine strength and 
 might, he is the instrumental source of the Force 
 whence flows the twofold impossibility (i) that the 
 Church built on Peter, and viewed in herself exclusive- 
 ly, should ever be divisible and more than one Church, 
 one vast organism; and (2) that outside the Rock 
 Peter, there could ever spring into being another 
 Church of Christ because Peter absorbs all the 
 Church-producing energy available in the Economy of 
 Christ, and thus strikes with radical impotency any 
 attempt at producing another Church of God. 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 81 
 
 NOTE XIV 
 
 (h) Peter's name means, scripturally, the visible Rock or 
 ministerial source of the holiness of the Church 
 
 Peter is the Rock of the Priesthood, the ministerial 
 source of sanctification, the Church's Stairway to 
 heaven (St. Augustin) ; for out of the Church of 
 God there is no lawful and acceptable sacrifice; and 
 without the lawful acceptable oblation of the Sacrifice 
 of the New Covenant, there can be no sanctification, 
 but only profanation and sacrilege. 
 
 Such is the scriptural meaning of the very name of 
 Peter. Antiquity merely paraphrases Christ's expla- 
 nation of the name when it says, through St. Jerome, 
 who addresses Pope St. Damasus as the Rock, or 
 Peter:. "On that Rock I know the Church is built; 
 whoso eats the Lamb outside this House is profane," 
 i. e., guilty of sacrilege (Ep. to Pope Damasus, A. D. 
 
 376). 
 
 Mark how forcibly St. Jerome affirms that whoever 
 is outside "that Rock," viz., Peter, and his successors, 
 is by that same, outside the House of God, outside the 
 Church altogether. 
 
 Centuries before St. Jerome, the holy prophet 
 David had intimated that the pure honey of sanctifi- 
 cation can only be got "out of the Rock." "And He 
 fed them," says David prophetically, "with the fat of 
 wheat" (His adorable flesh and blood), "and filled 
 
 PETER'S NAME 6 
 
82 Peter's Name; 
 
 them with honey" (His own Divine Life) "out of the 
 Rock." That is to say, the God-appointed channel of 
 the Deific life productive of holiness is none other than 
 the Rock (Ps. 80. 17). 
 
 The prince of the Doctors of the Church, St. Augus- 
 tin, is even more emphatic than St. Jerome. According 
 to him, Peter is so essentially and perpetually the foun- 
 dation of the Church and the ministerial source of her 
 sanctification as to be her stairway to heaven : 
 
 "It was the Lord Himself," writes the saint, "who 
 called Peter the Foundation of the Church : and there- 
 fore it is right that the Church should reverence this 
 Foundation wherever her mighty structure riseth. 
 Blessed be God who hath commanded that the Apostle 
 Peter should be exalted in the congregation ! Worthy 
 to be honored by the Church is that Foundation 
 through which lieth the ascent into heaven." (i5th 
 Serm. on the Saints : Rom. Brev., Feast of St. Peter's 
 Chair at Antioch, 22cl of Febr.) 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 83 
 
 NOTE XV 
 
 (i) Peter's name means, scripturally, the visible Rock or 
 perennial source of the catholicity or uni- 
 versality of the Church 
 
 "The Rock" is the scriptural name of God Him- 
 self, and when God Incarnate conferred it upon Simon, 
 He thereby declared that He would put in Peter the 
 strength of God signified by the name : and He kept his 
 promise. Behold the strength of God concealed under 
 the frail form of a frail old man! Behold one single 
 man, a supernatural Samson, not only stronger than 
 all mankind together, but stronger than the myriad- 
 legioned hosts of Satan: Matt. 16. 18. 
 
 Peter is the mightiest moral force on earth, the 
 colossal force of a Ifeffiurln world-builder. For, the 
 Christ who made him the mighty centripetal or unitive 
 force that compacts the Church into everlasting unity 
 did also make him the centrifugal or expansive force 
 that expands the unity of the Church into Catholicity, 
 i. e., into a world-wide organism the living expansive 
 force that enlarges the tiny seed into a world of the 
 first magnitude. (Matt. 14.31,32.) 
 
 Note that the unity of the Church could exist with- 
 out her Catholicity. The Church, like the Synagogue, 
 might be one without being universal. But her Cath- 
 olicity cannot exist without her unity. For, prescinding 
 from the fact that Christ did not promise universality 
 to any other Church but exclusively to the Church 
 
84 Peter's Name; 
 
 compacted into one visible body under one visible head 
 called Peter it is evident that a universal divided body 
 is a contradiction in terms : for, if divided up into frag- 
 ments, it is no longer a body at all, much less a uni- 
 versal body. The Catholicity of the Church is not a 
 universal agreement to disagree, a universal absence 
 of unity, a universal disruption, a universal Babel, a 
 world-wide series of divisions and fractions. It is a 
 universal unit, constitutionally and territorially uni- 
 versal i. e., a unit constitutionally embracing, at all 
 times and all over the world, the absolute entirety of 
 the Church of Jesus Christ and a unity territorially 
 extending to the uttermost limits of the earth. 
 
 In a word, the Catholicity of the Church is her own 
 unity enlarged and universalized: therefore the producer 
 and constant enlarger of the unity of the Church is ipso 
 facto the producer of her Catholicity or universality 
 and such is Peter, as we proved when treating of the 
 unity of the Church. 
 
 Contemplating in advance the world-encircling vast- 
 ness of the Church He was to built on Peter, the 
 eternal Son of God and future Son of David according 
 to the flesh, exclaims, prophetically, through the lips 
 of the royal Prophet : "With Thee is my praise in a 
 great Church" (Ps. 21. 26) "I will give thanks to thee 
 in a great Church." (Ps. 34. 18.) "I have declared 
 thy justice in a great Church" (Ps. 39. 10). 
 
 So divinely universal is the "great Church" the 
 Ecclesia magna prophesied by David, that her very 
 enemies cannot help wondering again^at lifer wonderful 
 Catholicity: "The Catholic idea in religion," says the 
 Rev. J. L. Jones, a prominent Unitarian preacher of 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 85 
 
 Chicago, "is today triumphant. The Roman Church 
 has succeeded because it grasped the ideal of Catholi- 
 city, of uniformity, of harmony, of oneness. I am not 
 defending that Church as such. . . Nevertheless, the 
 Roman Church is the greatest social protection ever 
 thrown out of the human heart. It is the only organi- 
 sation in history that has brought together in any such 
 manner diverse races, hostile nations, and alien peoples. 
 It represents beautifully our democratic ideals." (Ita- 
 lics ours. See the N. Y. Freeman's Journal, May 4th, 
 1901.) 
 
 "The Catholic Church is the grandest organization 
 in the world," exclaimed a Protestant minister, the 
 Rev. J. G. Thompson, at the morning service held on 
 Sunday, April 5, 1903, at the Independent Church of 
 Christ, Los Angeles, California. 
 
86 Peter's Name; 
 
 NOTE XVI 
 
 (j) Peter's name means, scripturally, the visible Rock or 
 perennial source of the Apostolicity of the Church 
 
 I. Apostolieity Defined 
 
 The term Apostolicity may be predicated of the 
 original Twelve, of their succession, i. e., the Catholic 
 episcopate, and of the Church herself. 
 
 Membership with the Apostolic hierarchy itself 
 constitutes active apostolicity.. Simple membership 
 with the apostolic Church constitutes passive aposto- 
 licity. 
 
 1. The Apostolicity of the original Twelve con- 
 sists in their being the original members of the ruling, 
 magisterial and sacerdotal body constitutively headed 
 by Peter, as essentially organized by our Lord in- 
 person. 
 
 2. The Apostolicity of the Catholic episcopate is 
 the continuity, by means of succession, of the Apostolic 
 Body as organically constituted by our Lord under the 
 one visible head, the one organic centre or bond of 
 unity, of the whole Church: said visible head being at 
 first the visible Humanity of Christ himself ; and, after 
 the Passion and resurrection of Christ, Peter and 
 after Peter, his successors from century to century, 
 down to our own day. 
 
 3. Broadly defined, the Apostolicity of the Church 
 is the continuity of the Apostolic Church up to this 
 day or the continuance up to this day of the Primitive 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 87 
 
 Church as founded by our Lord and planted by the 
 Apostles. 
 
 Specifically denned, the Apostolicity of the Church 
 is the identity of the Catholic Church with the Church 
 of the Apostles. 
 
88 Peter's Name; 
 
 II. Apostolieity: Its Petrine Source; General View 
 
 The striking designations under which Holy Writ 
 mentions Peter and his Apostlic brethren clearly in- 
 timate that the Apostles formed a college or body 
 whose head was Simon Peter : For the New Testament 
 frequently designates the Apostles under a collective or 
 corporate appellation as "the Twelve," or, after Judas' 
 suicide, "the eleven" while it expressly gives to Peter 
 the title of "the First" (Matt. 10.2). 
 
 For mention of the Twelve, see : 
 
 Matt. 10.1,2; 10.5; ii. i ; 20.17; 26.14,20,47. 
 
 Mark 3. 14; 4. 10; 6. 7; 9. 34; 10. 32; n. 
 ii ; 14. 20. 
 
 Luke 6. 13 ; 8. i ; 9. I, 12 ; 18. 31 ; 22. 3, 14, 47. 
 
 John 6. 68, 71, 72 ; 20. 24. 
 
 Acts 6. 2. 
 
 For mention of the Eleven, see: 
 
 Matt. 28. 16; Mark 16. 14; Luke 24.9,33; Acts I. 
 26; 2. 14; i Cor. 15. 5. 
 
 There be indeed twelve foundations (Apoc. 21. 14) 
 but one single Apostolic bed-rock underlying the eleven 
 other foundations (Matt. 16. 18). 
 
 Twelve foundations in the fundamental structure 
 of the Church, but one, and one only, underlies the 
 others; for to one of these only and exclusively has 
 Christ said: "Thou art Rock and upon this Rock" 
 upon this one bed-Rock "will I build my Church," 
 my whole Church. Peter, to whom alone these words 
 were addressed, is therefore the one Apostolic bed- 
 Rock upon which the eleven other Apostolic stones 
 rest and abide forever. 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 89 
 
 There exists, on Apoc. 21. 9 21, no commenrary 
 more illuminating and more profoundly beautiful than 
 that of the Anglican divine Paul James Francis, in 
 the 7th chapter of his fine work on The Prince of the 
 Apostles. He says: 
 
 "When we examine the twelve foundations in de- 
 tail, we find that they are of different material. 'The 
 first is jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a 
 chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald etc.' This shows 
 that God has differentiated the Apostles one from the 
 other in some sort. There is not therefore absolute 
 equality, a distinction of some kind is intended. . . . 
 Is there no principle of interpretation by which we 
 can discover which of these foundations represents 
 St. Peter ? Yes, to be sure we can. We have already 
 noted in a previous chapter that in the four lists 
 given in the New Testament of the names of the 
 Blessed Apostles, St. Peter's name always takes the 
 lead, while St. Matthew expressly calls him the First. 
 The First Foundation then is St. Peter, and we see 
 that it is jasper. But let us give a wider sweep to 
 our vision. We raise our telescope and lo, we make 
 an important discovery. We observe that 'the city 
 lieth four-square. And the building of the wall of it 
 is jasper! Here is something which gives to St. Peter 
 at once an immense distinction. The walls of the 
 Holy City are built out of the material, not of the 
 second foundation, nor of the third, nor of the fourth, 
 nor yet of any of the other foundations, save of the 
 first, and that foundation is jasper as are the walls. 
 Does not this revelation carry with it the whole Petrine 
 contention ? Our Lord said to Simon, 'Thou art Peter, 
 
90 Peter's Name; 
 
 and on this rock I will build My Church,' and lo, 
 when we come to view the fiinished structure we find 
 that the walls are built up not of the material of 
 other eleven foundation stones which constitute the 
 Apostolic basis of the Church but of the material of the 
 first, that is to say, of Peter. 
 
 The walls of the City do not take their rise from 
 that apostle who is represented by sapphire, nor yet 
 from chalcedony, not from the emerald, the beryl or 
 the amethyst, but only from the jasper. Is not here a 
 distinction which reconciles any seeming conflict of 
 statement between our Lord and St. Paul ; the Former 
 saying to St. Peter, 'On this Rock I will build My 
 Church' and the latter declaring that the Church was 
 built 'on the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, 
 Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone.' ' : 
 
 The Church derives her Apostolic continuity from 
 the Apostolic Body and, by consequence, from the 
 constitutive head, or organic centre constitutive of the 
 same Body. The head is thus the primary visible source 
 of the Church-continuity otherwise called Apostolicity. 
 For, an Apostle is one who belongs to the hierarchial 
 body constitutively headed by Peter, as essentially or- 
 ganised by our Lord (Matt. 1 6. 1 8, 19; Luke 22. 32; 
 John 21. 15,17). 
 
 Therefore whoso is not under Peter is no member 
 of the Apostolic body organised by our Lord. But, 
 if one cannot be an Apostle without being a member 
 of the Apostolic body and if one cannot be a member 
 of the Apostolic body without being under the Apostolic 
 head,under the organic centre established by our Lord 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 91 
 
 as constitutive of the same body then it follows that 
 Peter is the source of the Apostolicity and continuity 
 of the Apostles themselves, and, consequently, the 
 capital source of the Church that derives her continuity 
 from the Apostolic body. 
 
92 Peter's Name; 
 
 COROLLARY Whoso is outside the foundation, 
 Peter, cannot possibly impart Apostolicity, i. e., Apos- 
 tolic continuity to the Church, for two reasons : first, 
 because no one can give that which he has not; now, 
 to be out of the Rock, Peter, means to be out of the 
 Christ-established Apostolicity, which is essentially cen : 
 tered in Peter (Matt. 16. 18; Luke 22.32; John 21. 
 15, 17). How then can such an outsider give to the 
 Church the Christ-established Apostolicity which he 
 himself has not? 
 
 Secondly: one who is not even a simple member 
 of the Church cannot possibly be at the same time 
 a chief member of hers, i. e., an Apostle or a suc- 
 cessor of the Apostles. In other words the Apostolicity 
 of Christ is essentially inseparable from the Church of 
 Christ. One cannot be simultaneously an Apostle, 
 i. e., a chief member, and no member of hers at all. 
 Therefore whoso is out of the Church is ipso facto 
 out of the pale of Apostolicity: whoso is outside the 
 radical membership of the Church is a fortiori outside 
 her chief membership, her Apostolic college. 
 
 On the other hand we know that Christ having 
 built His Church on the one visible foundation, Peter 
 whoso is outside of the Rock, Peter, is ipso facto 
 outside the Church of Christ, out of which there can 
 be no Apostolicity: therefore whoever is outside the 
 Rock, Peter, is outside the Christ-appointed sphere of 
 Apostolicity. 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 93 
 
 III. Apostolieity: Its Petrine Source a Closer View 
 Four elements constitute Apostolieity of rank and 
 office, viz., (first) membership with the Apostolic 
 hierarchial body essentially headed by Peter, as organ- 
 ized by our Lord in person; (second) the power to 
 rule the Church of God; (third) the magisterial pow- 
 er to teach; (fourth) the sacerdotal power to offer 
 the clean Oblation and sanctify the members of the 
 mystic body of Christ the Catholic Church. 
 
 Now, we have shown that Peter is the visible 
 source of Apostolic membership and of the threefold 
 power just named : therefore Peter is the visible source 
 of the Apostolieity of the Church. 
 
 Note: the ruling, teaching, and sanctifying powers 
 may be regarded as the active matter of Apostolieity 
 whilst the sovereign headship of Peter is the es- 
 sential form or condition of Apostolieity. 
 
 Schismatic and heretical bishops and priests are 
 utterly destitute of Apostolieity, since they lack its 
 four constitutive elements. 
 
 (a) They lack the first element, viz., membership 
 with the Apostolic body or college essentially headed 
 by Peter at command of the Lord himself. Peter is the 
 Christ constituted head of the Apostolic body (Matt. 
 1 6. 18; Luke 22. 32; John 21. 17). Now, members 
 severed from the head no longer possess corporeity, 
 and likewise apostles or bishops severed from the 
 Apostolic head, Peter, lose, by that same, Apostolic 
 corporeity or Apostolieity. For Apostolieity, or Apos- 
 tolic corporeity, is where the Christ-appointed head 
 thereof is, not where the amputated member lies. 
 
94 Peter's Name; 
 
 A Peterless Apostolicity is a headless Apostolicity, 
 and a headless Apostolicity is not Christ's Apostolicity, 
 and therefore no Apostolicity at all. 
 
 With still greater cogency does this argument apply 
 to the heretics and schismatics' utter lack, not only of 
 Apostolic membership, but of Church membership al- 
 together. For we know that, the better to perpetuate 
 and strengthen the unity of his Church, Christ ordained 
 that outside the Rock, Peter, there can be no Church 
 of God whatever (Matt. 16. 18). Therefore heret- 
 ics and schismatics, being outside the Rock, Peter, are 
 ipso facto outside the Church of Christ altogether. Not 
 being even simple members of the Church, how (we 
 ask again) can they be at the same time her chief est 
 members,, i. e. her Apostles or rulers? 
 
 Such a contradiction would be a piece of infinite 
 folly infinitely beneath Infinite Wisdom Incarnate. 
 
 (b) Heretics and schismatics lack the second ele- 
 ment of Apostolicity, viz., infallibility in teaching Faith 
 and morals. 
 
 A bishop, or any one else, cut off from the Apostolic 
 head, Peter, is by that very fact cut off from the in- 
 fallible magisterial power which, by the express will 
 of Christ (Luke 22. 32, etc.), is to be derived from 
 him alone for whom alone Christ's prayer asked and 
 obtained infallibility (ibid.) and whom alone Christ, 
 accordingly, established Confirmer of the Faith of His 
 brethren throughout the whole Church. 
 
 Therefore bishops who secede from Peter forfeit 
 the Divine promise of Confirmation in the Faith (i. e. 
 infallibility) made to Peter. They repudiate the di- 
 vinely established Confirmer of the Faith (Luke 22. 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 95 
 
 32), and become thereby, scripturally speaking, they 
 and their deluded followers "the blind leading the 
 blind." (Matt. 15. 14.) 
 
 We Catholics have, then, the warranty of Scrip- 
 ture, besides the Catholic experience of nineteen cen- 
 turies, to back us when we affirm that those cut off 
 from Peter cannot preserve the true Faith; much 
 less can they teach it infallibly, as they themselves 
 explicitly acknowledge, since they never tire of re- 
 pudiating all claim to magisterial infallibility. 
 
 In the first place, they deny, by the very fact of 
 their schism or separation, the cardinal doctrine of 
 Jesus Christ the unity of the Church. For, Christ 
 affirms that His Church cannot exist out of the Rock, 
 Peter, upon whom He built it whilst they affirm 
 that Christ's Church can and does exist outside its 
 Christ-appointed foundation, Cephas or Peter. (Matt. 
 16. 18.) 
 
 Apart from this radical departure from the palp- 
 able teaching of Jesus Christ, they invariably fall into 
 other grievous errors: v. g. the Eastern schismatic 
 body errs grievously touching the procession of the 
 Holy Ghost. Some of them for instance, the schis- 
 matic patriarch of Constantinople err even about the 
 valid form of baptism, falsely teaching that the immers- 
 ed alone are validly baptized a gross error, so palpably 
 unscriptural and unhistorical that even the schismatic 
 Church of Russia refuses to countenance it. 
 
 Let us suppose, however, the existence of a pheno- 
 menon never witnessed heretofore, viz., the actual 
 preservation of the true doctrine of Jesus Christ out- 
 side the society which He founded for the avowed 
 
96 Peter's Name; 
 
 purpose of preserving His teaching in its purity and 
 integrity a phenomenon which would disprove the 
 necessity of the Church established by our Lord in 
 order to perpetuate and propagate His doctrine. Let 
 us grant for a moment that such or such a person, 
 though outside the Church, has actually preserved the 
 identical faith or doctrine taught by our Lord ; it would 
 by no means follow that such a phenomenal mortal is 
 a member of the Apostolic hierarchy, or even of the 
 Apostolic Church itself. His pure faith could not give 
 him active Apostolicity, i. e., could not make him a 
 member of the Apostolic hierarchy since all the true 
 Disciples of our Lord had the true faith and yet only 
 twelve of them were raisecnthe Apostolic office. Nor 
 would the pure faith of such a unique individual give 
 him even passive Apostolicity, i. e., make him a member 
 of the Apostolic Church since many secret believers 
 in the Gospel of Jesus Christ were nevertheless too 
 cowardly to join His Church and lived and died out of 
 it and since, moreover, many a believer for instance, 
 Simon Magus was cut off from the pale of the 
 Church notwithstanding their public adhesion to the 
 true Faith. 
 
 It stands therefore scripturally and logically estab- 
 lished that integrity of doctrine suffices not to confer 
 either active or passive Apostolicity, i. e., membership 
 either with the Apostolic hierarchy itself or with the 
 Apostolic Church. 
 
 (c) Heretics and schismatics lack the third element 
 of Apostolicity, viz., the power to rule the Church of 
 God. 
 
 To Peter alone did Christ commit the Key of sover- 
 eign authority (Matt. 16. 18; Luke 22. 32; John 21, 15, 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 97 
 
 17) and consequently a bishop disowned by Peter, so 
 far from having power to rule the Church of God, does 
 not even belong to the one Fold essentially joined to 
 Peter as the body to the head or the house to its foun- 
 dation. Not only has such a bishop no power to rule, 
 but he has no authority nor commission to preach or 
 to administer the sacraments. 
 
 (d) Heretics and schismatics lack the fourth ele- 
 ment of Apostolicity, viz., the restoring, sanctifying, 
 deifying, power of the priesthood. 
 
 To Peter alone did Christ commit in sovereign trust 
 the lawful use of the Sacerdotal Key of sanctification 
 (ibid.), whose Divine source is the lawful oblation of 
 the unbloody Sacrifice of the New Law. 
 
 A Christian cut off from the Church still preserves 
 the indelible character of his baptism. Likewise, a 
 bishop cut off from the See of Peter still preserves the 
 indelible character of the ordination and the sacrificial 
 and sacramental power inherent in his sacerdotal char- 
 acter. But he loses the sanctifying power of his priest- 
 hood. That is to say, his offering of the sacrifice is 
 neither lawful nor acceptable to God. For, as un- 
 der the old law, the Temple's altar was the only one 
 on which the one lawful and acceptable sacrifice could 
 be offered to Jehovah so, under the new Law, Peter is 
 the one Christ-chosen Rock and Altar-Stone, whereon 
 the true Sacrifice may be lawfully and acceptably of- 
 fered to God: 
 
 Whoso offers or eats the Lamb outside the Rock, 
 Peter, offers and eats outside the Divine foundation 
 of the Church i. e. outside the Church herself; and 
 NAME 7 
 
98 Peter's Name; 
 
 such an one, to quote St. Jerome once more, "is pro- 
 fane" i. e. abhorrent to God. (Letter to Pope St. 
 Damasus.) 
 
 A dilemma : 
 
 The schismatic Oriental bodies and their off- 
 shoots have never been able to face the following de- 
 lemma : 
 
 Either the old, primitive Peter-headed Church un- 
 der whose headship they were from the very first and 
 remained for several centuries i? Apostolic, or it is 
 not. If it is not Apostolic,then the seceding branches 
 could derive no apostolicity from the parent-trunk and 
 cannot be apostolic. But if the Church whence they 
 seceded is Apostolic, as they acknowledge it is then 
 the seceders therefrom have seceded and been excom- 
 municated and amputated from the Apostolic mother- 
 Church, the Church of the Rock, against which, says 
 Christ, the gates of hell shall not prevail (Matt. 16. 
 18). 
 
 In either case, they lack Apostolicity or Apostolic 
 corporeity. 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 99 
 
 NOTE XVII 
 
 (k) Peter's name means, scripturally, the Apostle more deeply 
 beloved of the Lord than any other Apostle 
 
 A very important distinction should' be insisted upon 
 here a distinction overlooked by the moderns but 
 sharply drawn by the Fathers between the love of 
 tenderness (as, for instance, that of a mother for her 
 new-born babe) and the love called "of intensity or 
 preference," as, for instance, the love of the same 
 mother for her first-born and full-grown son. The 
 first was vouchsafed by our Lord to St. John alone, 
 and the second to Peter exclusively among the Apos- 
 tles. 
 
 The fact that Peter was the Apostle most deeply 
 beloved of Jesus is clearly established not only by the 
 testimony of the Fathers but by the clear witness of 
 the Lord himself. Christ in person answers affirma- 
 tively the question to which Peter, in his profoundly 
 touching humility, would not return an affirmative re- 
 ply, viz., "Simon, son of John, dost thou love me 
 more than these?" For, straightway after questioning 
 Peter thrice, Jesus says, "Feed my sheep." As if to 
 say: "Because I know that thou lovest me more than 
 these other Apostles of mine, therefore do I in re- 
 turn love thee more than I do these ; and I accordingly 
 intrust thee, in preference to them, with my treasure, 
 my Spouse, my Church." 
 
 As noted by the Fathers, especially the deepest 
 of them all, St. Augustin St. John loved Jesus more 
 
ioo Peter's Name; 
 
 tenderly, but Peter loved Him more intensely, more 
 ardently. And, in return, Jesus loved John with a 
 more tender, but Peter with a stronger and intenser 
 love. "Thus parents love their little children with a 
 tender love, but those who are youths or grown up 
 with a stronger and more solid love: whence also 
 they give greater gifts to them than to the little ones." 
 (Cornelius a Lapide on John 2. 17: Mossman's trans- 
 lation.) 
 
 St. Chrysostom shares the convictions of St. Augus- 
 tine and exclaims : "Rejoice, O Peter, thou who didst 
 love the Lord with a burning soul, thou the most 
 faithful of all the Apostles." (Rom Brev., Oct. SS. 
 Peter and Paul) It were blasphemy to contend that 
 "the most faithful," i. e. the most God-loving "of all 
 the Apostles" was not, by a just recompense, the best 
 beloved of God since our love of God can only be the 
 immediate effect of God's love for ourselves and, con- 
 sequently, the most authentic evidence thereof. 
 
 Tertullian, born a little over half a century after 
 the death of the Apostle St. John, gives voice to the 
 tradition of the Apostolic Church then so fresh and 
 vivid among Christians and even among heretics that 
 Peter was, without exception, "the best beloved of the 
 disciples: carissimo discipulorum." (Adv. Marcion. 4. 
 
 13-) 
 
 St. Optatus tells us that Peter "deserved to be pre- 
 ferred to all the other Apostles : beatus Petrus et prae- 
 ferri omnibus Apostolis meruit" (De schism. Donat. 
 contra Parmen. 1. 7. c. 3. et 1. 2. c. 2). That is to say: 
 Peter's greater love for Christ justly entitled him to 
 the greater love shown him by our Lord. 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 101 
 
 It is objected that our Lord intrusted His blessed 
 virgin Mother to St. John and not to St. Peter. The 
 reply is obvious. Our Lord did intrust His ever bles- 
 sed Virgin Mother to St. John ; but He intrusted both 
 the Blessed Virgin and St. John himself and all the 
 other Apostles and all the disciples and the whole 
 Church universal to Peter, and not to John. 
 
 Another objection is, that St. John recognized the 
 Saviour from afar on the shore (John 21. 4 to 7) be- 
 cause of his virginal character. 
 
 Answer: The fundamental revelation of Christi- 
 anity, viz., the Godhead of Christ, was revealed by the 
 Father in person to the married Peter, not to the vir- 
 gin John. $t. John re-echoes St. Peter in the sublime 
 first chapter of his Gospel. John is the eaglet whilst 
 Peter is the parent-eagle whose wings lift up John to 
 the heights of the Godhead, teaching him to face the 
 Son of the living God and the Sun of righteousness. 
 
 Even the Jacobites of the far East recognize the 
 significance of the unique trust reposed in Peter. Bar- 
 Cephas, metropolitan of the Jacobites of Mossul (A. D. 
 890), in the 7th chapter of the second treatise of his 
 book on the Priesthood, pointedly observes: 
 
 "Christ Himself did not confer" the High-Priest- 
 hood "upon the virgin John, full of zeal though he 
 was besides, but on the married Simon, who had also 
 experienced weakness by denying Him." These words 
 are quoted approvingly, and as part of the tradition of 
 the Syriac Church of Antioch, by the Catholic Syriac 
 archbishop of Mossul, Cyril Behman Benni, in his 
 book on the tradition of the Syriac Church of Antioch 
 P- 45- 
 
IO2 Peter's Name; 
 
 Christ therefore loved "the married Simon," more 
 deeply than "the virgin John," and gave Simon a 
 "greater gift," viz., the care of His universal Church. 
 (See Corn, a Lap. on John 21. 15 17.) 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 103 
 NOTE XVIII 
 
 (1) Peter's name means, scripturally, the Rock or perennial 
 Source of anti-pharisaism, i. e. of the restoration of the 
 fallen the uplifter of the down-trodden and of the fallen 
 
 Caution : 
 
 We charitably remind the ubiquitous Pharisee who 
 denounces, and affects to regard, the restoration of the 
 sinner as a "license to sin," that he calumniates God In- 
 carnate and His Church that God is the Father of the 
 repentant prodigal, not the father of the impenitent 
 sinner and that the Divine plea of Christ, of Peter 
 and of the Church, is exclusively in favor of the re- 
 pentant. 
 
 Neither God nor His Church can take favor- 
 able cognisance of the wilfully incurable. Nor 
 does God, or His Church, restore those guilty of such 
 crimes against human society as necessitate, for the 
 preservation of the same, the absolute excision, or at 
 least the temporary "binding," of its dangerous mem- 
 beirs, v. g., murderers and moral degenerates. 
 
 Pharisaism, so pitiless to the returned prodigal and 
 so slavishly subservient to Dives and to the shams 
 who serve Mammon in the name of Religion Pharisa- 
 ism alone, (not the Church) extends the right hand of 
 fellowship to certain classes of underhand criminals, 
 unhung and unjailed, whose state of impunity and 
 freedom constitutes not only a danger and a menace 
 to society, but a cancer eating up its vitals and its 
 very core. 
 
104 Peter's Name; 
 
 I. A glance at the Scriptural and Patristic view of Peter as the 
 restorer of tde fallen 
 
 "And thou, when thou art converted, confirm thy 
 brethren.... Feed my sheep." (Luke 22. 32; John 
 21. 15 17.), 
 
 The words of our Lord contain a promise, a lesson 
 and a command: the promise of a prerogative, a less- 
 on of humility and humanity, and a stringent com- 
 mand to practice the two last-named virtues and, con- 
 sequently, to treat Peter's full restoration as a pre- 
 cedent to be imitated by the ministers of Jesus Christ 
 in dealing with repentant sinners. 
 
 The prerogative includes the unsequenchable light 
 of infallibility which crowns the Rock-beacon of the 
 Church, and the inexhaustible force of consolidation 
 and restoration ever flowing out of the same Rock. 
 
 The lesson of humility and humanity is conveyed 
 with the infinite delicacy of the adorable Heart, in 
 His loving allusion to fallen Peter: "And thou, when 
 thou art converted," which carries with itself the 
 pledge of a full pardon. Yes, "when thou art convert- 
 ed" for thou thyself shall need conversion, O Peter; 
 and because thou hast boastfully exalted thyself above 
 all thy brethren (Mark 14. 29), thou shalt fall be- 
 neath all of them. Thou alone wilt deny me thrice 
 (Luke 22. 34) ; thou alone wilt deny me with an 
 oath (Mark 14. 71); thou alone among Apostles wilt 
 be a perjurer (ibid.) and a thrice confessed renegade: 
 (Luke 22. 34.) Nevertheless, I will raise thee up and 
 fully restore thee. 
 
 The command which follows is positive and sternly 
 unconditional : "confirm thy brethren." That is to 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 105 
 
 say: Treat them all as I have treated thee. Confirm 
 the strong, strengthen the weak, restore the erring 
 and the fallen. Extend to the fallen the treatment 
 which thou, the fallen bishop and apostle, didst re- 
 ceive from Me. Crush not the bruised reed and quench 
 not the smoking flax (Matt. 18. 20), but receive and 
 restore them both. 
 
 Restore thy repentant brethren, be they simple com- 
 mtmicants, or priests, or bishops. 
 
 'Do not merely lift them up and forthwith leave 
 them unrest or ed in the way poor, helpless and life- 
 long cripples to be trampled upon as the living daily 
 footpaths of the pious pharisee and as the living public 
 highways of pharisaism at large. Restore them in 
 full, even as I did restore thee in full, requiring of 
 thee no other test than the public profession of thy 
 repentant love and amendment: (John 21. 15 17.) 
 
 "And thou, when thou art converted, confirm thy 
 brethren." 
 
 And lest it be pharisaically believed that the priest 
 or bishop who denies my Church even as thou, O 
 Peter, didst deny, not my Church alone, but my own 
 Self personally is forever beyond the hope of restora- 
 tion, behold, I restore thee as a standing Divine refuta- 
 tion of such a pharisaic doctrine. For, the lesser the dig- 
 nity the lesser the guilt, and therefore the fallen priest 
 or bishop is certainly not the peer in guilt of the fallen 
 Apostle and Pope-elect. Thus the higher the office the 
 deeper the downfall, and therefore the lapse of a 
 simple member of the priesthood cannot be accounted 
 
106 Peter's Name; 
 
 equal in depth and heinousness to the lapse of his 
 superior. 
 
 Nor can thy prompt repentance just a few hours 
 after denying thy God and Saviour change the nature 
 of thy crime and alter its original enormity which loses 
 none of its intrinsic awfulness. The magnitude of a 
 particular sin is not measured by the length of time 
 spent in its consummation, but by the depths of the 
 ingratitude and treachery which it reveals. Satan's 
 very first sinful thought of rebellion, after one single 
 instant of duration, sufficed to insure his eternal 
 doom. And Judas' infamous sale of God-Incarnate 
 to His murderers, though effected in a few brief 
 moments, shall ever remain the blackest stain on the 
 face of time. 
 
 What a fall was thine, O Peter, when thou didst 
 intimate to my murderers that, so far from believing 
 in my doctrine, or in my Church, or even in My- 
 self, thou didst not even know Me ! Thy denial of 
 Me was a public repudiation, not of my Church alone, 
 not of my teachings alone, but of my very Person. 
 It was virtually an act of radical and supreme apos- 
 tasy; though, in thy secret heart, thou couldst not 
 help clinging to the Faith. 
 
 "And thou, when thou art converted, confirm thy 
 brethren." 
 
 The greater the grace received the less excusable 
 the recreant recipient thereof. Now, not one of the 
 erring sheep of the priestly Order shall ever be bless- 
 ed as superlatively as thou hast been, O Peter. For 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 107 
 
 thou hast been blessed (a) with the bestowal of my 
 own Divine headship over the Church, even before my 
 ascension to heaven; (b) with the boon of my visible 
 Presence and companionship for three years; (c) with 
 the revelation of my divinity, directly vouchsafed thee 
 by my heavenly Father and at my prayer; (d) with 
 the sight of my miracles, many of which were wrought 
 for thine own especial benefit. Thou hast seen me 
 heal the sick and raise the dead. Thou hast been the 
 eye-witness of the instantaneous raising of Lazarus 
 from the putrefaction of the grave to perfect health. 
 In a word, thou hast known Me and even seen Me at 
 work for three years as the sovereign Lord of life and 
 death. 
 
 But, remember, not one of my poor lapsed priests 
 and bishops will, in the future, enjoy such extraordi- 
 nary blessings and safeguards against a possible denial 
 of the divinity of my Church. 
 
 Be thou then, O Peter, both their uplifter and their 
 restorer; the more readily because, though thine own 
 remorseful conscience (not I) upbraids thee as a 
 thrice-renegade priest, a thrice-renegade bishop, a 
 thrice-renegade Apostle, a monster of ingratitude and 
 cowardice sinning with eyes wide open against the 
 known Incarnate Truth yet do I restore thee fully and 
 unconditionally. I inflict upon thee no banishment to 
 the deserts of Egypt, to live there in perpetual seclu- 
 sion no deposition from thy episcopal rank and of- 
 fice no removal or transfer to some obscure remote 
 mission or diocese : no, but solely because of thy public 
 repentance and conversion (John 21. 15 17), I pro- 
 claim thee clean and free from the stain of the past* 
 
io8 Peter's Name; 
 
 and heroically worthy of the highest and most con- 
 spicuous office in My Church. 
 
 Wherefore, O Peter, thou likewise shalt pardon 
 and restore thy repentant fallen brethren of the priest- 
 hood and of the episcopate. Heed my Father's com- 
 mand: Leave not the anointed prodigal waiting at 
 thy door in the rags of misery and ignominy. "Bring 
 forth quickly the first robe" and put it on him (Luke 
 15. 22). Hear the divine command, O Peter: "Bring 
 forth quickly the first robe," that is to say, that very 
 same robe "which he was wont to wear before he left 
 his Father's house" (Corn, a Lapid. ad. loc). Bring 
 forth quickly, aye, quickly the robe of sacerdotal dig- 
 nity he wore before, the robe of restoration not the 
 convict's garb, not the robe of disgrace woven by 
 Pharisaic hands but the robe of restoration with 
 which I clothed thee, O Peter. Put it on the prodigal 
 and bring it forth "quickly," since deferred hope 
 maketh the heart sick. 
 
 Let the reparation be as public as the offence 
 and let the restoration be as public as the reparation 
 through repentance. 
 
 Let the good and edifying example of the penitent 
 be as public as the scandal. 
 
 Let the lips that have publicly taught error still 
 more publicly proclaim and preach Catholic truth. 
 
 Let the light and life of the penitent shine far and 
 wide, and hide it not under the bushel: (Matt. 5. 15.) 
 Not thine own history alone, O Peter, but the history 
 of the Prodigal as well, cries out with the voice of 
 God that the repentant sinner must be pardoned and 
 restored. A pardon without restoration is a pardon 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 109 
 
 with the gallows. Study the inspired account of the 
 Prodigal's return: for, "all these things the ring, 
 the shoes and the fatted calf show the delight of the 
 Father, i. e. the joy of God and of His angels at the 
 conversion of a sinner, and teach that, by the great 
 mercy of God, a penitent is restored to the same, or 
 even a better position than that which he held before he 
 fell into sin." (Corn, a Lap. on Luke 15. 23.) 
 
 Heed not pharisaic scandal-takers, even as I heed 
 them not and am not deterred by their constant clamor 
 of 'scandal, scandal,' from pardoning and restoring 
 thee, O Peter. Join me, thy Saviour, in saying to them, 
 "Depart from me" (Matt. 25. 41) and from my Church, 
 O ye scandal-takers who esteem yourselves too good 
 to remain in a Communion whose visible head is the 
 repentant fallen bishop Simon Peter. And know ye 
 that, for all time to come and for your eternal con- 
 fusion, there shall be no Church of Christ and no 
 salvation out of the Church and communion of the 
 once fallen priest, bishop and Apostle, Peter. Out 
 of the Church and communion of the restored rene^^ _ 4Aa _ 
 gade Peter, there is nothing in store for you, O Phari- 
 sees, but everlasting damnation." 
 
 The full restoration of Peter is not an exception, 
 not a transient freak of mercy worthy of admiration 
 only : it is a precedent, a Divine precedent, a standing 
 precedent set up by the Saviour in the face of all ages 
 to command and enjoin its faithful observance, when- 
 ever possible, upon the successors of Peter and of 
 the other Apostles. 
 
no Peter's Name; 
 
 II. A beautiful lesson a sublime Injunction faithfully obeyed by 
 the successors of Peter 
 
 (First) Christ sets up the fully restored Peter 
 as God's own monumental protest against Pharisaism 
 in the Church and particularly in the sanctuary. To 
 that end, He commands Peter ever boldly to stand 
 up as the Christ-appointed, living antidote against 
 Pharisaism, whose satanic object is to antagonize and 
 nullify the pardon and restoration of repentant sin- 
 ners: for Satan has sworn eternal enmity and eternal 
 warfare against the fallen race of man. God In- 
 carnate and clothed with our nature arouses the un- 
 fathomable envy and hatred of the fallen Angel. 
 
 Lest it should be taught (or even thought) 
 that the fallen bishop or priest is forever debarred 
 from full restoration, Christ Himself restores Peter, 
 the fallen high-priest and commands him to do like- 
 wise to others: "confirm thy brethren," is the order 
 and command reminding Peter that the blessing of full 
 restoration is not the exclusive privilege of the prelacy" 
 tfLof the laity. 
 
 (Second) To show that the spontaneous maker of 
 a public profession of repentance and amendment is 
 before God and Angels and men worthy of 
 the Christian name no longer a fallen priest and 
 bishop, but a true hero deserving of the highest honor 
 and to be regarded and treated as such in<His Church 
 Christ personally crowns a repentant fallen priest, 
 Peter, with the crown of sovereignty over His divine 
 kingdom. 
 
 (Third) Yet more, in order to give the finishing 
 blow to Pharisaism, our Lord decrees that all His 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name in 
 
 official representatives, even to the consummation of 
 ages, shall receive their powers exclusively aye, that 
 the entire Church herself shall receive the benefit of 
 applied redemption exclusively through the hands of 
 the thrice-renegade-priest-bishop-apostle Simon Peter, 
 the one divinely appointed connecting link between the 
 hierarchy and the Church, and between the Church 
 and her Founder. 
 
 The vicars of Jesus Christ, from Peter down to 
 Pius X, in their Christlike practice of the restoration 
 of the lapsed, both of the clergy and of the laity have 
 strictly obeyed the Master's injunction, some of them 
 even at the cost of terrible persecutions, nay, of a cruel 
 death brought upon them by the fratricidal machina- 
 tions of clerical pharisees. 
 
 And the one essential test required by the Holy 
 See for priestly or episcopal restoration, was the one 
 test required by our Lord of Peter, viz., a public pro- 
 fession of repentant love and amendment, duly re- 
 cognized by the visible head of the Church. (John 21. 
 
 15170 
 
 Note carefully that the canonical penance inaugur- 
 ated in the third century only, and eventually abolished 
 altogether, was nothing (as judiciously remarked by 
 the Jesuit Father Castelein in his treatise on "Rigor- 
 ism") but a temporary "system of moral police adapted 
 to these rude ages", and consequently could form no 
 essential part of either sacramental or ecclesiastical 
 restoration, since it was not required either by our 
 Lord in the case of Peter or subsequently by His vicars 
 in many other historical cases for instance, in the 
 notorious case of the Donatist priests and bishops 
 who had apostatised from Catholic unity. 
 
112 Peter's Name; 
 
 St. Augustin rightly says that the discipline of the 
 Church was set aside in their favor. Not. that the 
 Church ever ceased to regard Peter's public profession 
 of repentance as adequate to secure absolution from 
 apostasy itself and a fortiori from schism; but be- 
 cause, in this instance, the Church mercifully refrained 
 from requiring even such a public profession from 
 Donatist bishops and priests and because, moreover, 
 these were guilty not only of schism but of heinous 
 anti-social crimes, v. g. mutilation, murder, and other 
 revolting outrages against Catholics. Now all the 
 Church asked^them, as schismatics and criminals be- 
 sides, was, in sign of repentance, to embrace the 
 true Faith and submit to Peter. The moment they did 
 submit, they were allowed to retain their rank and of- 
 fice$; a course eloquently applauded by the great St. 
 Augustin as being in every way worthy of the suc- 
 cessor$ of Peter, the vicar of Jesus Christ. The Pe- 
 trine test alone was required by Leo XIII of several 
 priests who had lapsed into the old Catholic Schism, 
 notably/rthe renegade bishop Kupelian (A. D.) 1879), 
 who, after deserting the Catholic Church, had sacri- 
 ligiously received episcopal consecration at the hands 
 of schismatic bishops and placed himself, as Patriarch, 
 at the head of a schismatic faction among Catholic 
 Armenians. 
 
 He was restored in full by the Holy Father after 
 a spiritual retreat of a few days in a convent near 
 Rome. 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 113 
 
 III. St. Augustin 's restoration and promotion. 
 
 But far more significant than Bishop Kupelian's 
 is the restoration, coupled with the most exalted pro- 
 motion, of Augustin, the son of Monica, or rather 
 the son of her tears. 
 
 We shall condense into a few lines the history of 
 Augustin as told by himself in his immortal Con- 
 fessions. We give the reference to book and chapter 
 to enable the reader to verify the correctness of our 
 statements. 
 
 Augustin, according to his own account, was : 
 
 (1) An apostate: when 19 years of age, he apos- 
 tatized from the Catholic Faith of his earliest infancy : 
 Conf. 1. 4, c. 1; l.^c. n, etc. 
 
 (2) Nine years a Manichee, i. e. a notorious rene- 
 gade far worse than a Christian turned Mohammedan, 
 for Manicheism was far more degrading than Mo- 
 hamedanism: Conf. v. 4. c. 1 . 
 
 (3) A rabid propagator of Manicheism for several 
 years: Conf. 1. 4.^.1,4: $j 1. 6 y c. 7. 
 
 (4) For years d public calumniator of the Church 
 and a mocker of her sacraments : Conf. 1. 6, c. 3, 4 ; 
 1. 5, c. 9. 
 
 (5) Twelve years a notorious renegade or public 
 denier of God Incarnate, viz., from the I9th to the 
 3ist year of his life: Conf. 1. 7 y c. 19. 
 
 (6) For sixteen years the notorious <c slave of lust," 
 as he calls himself: Conf. 1. 6, c. 15. viz., from his 
 i6th to his 32d year : Conf. 1. 2, c. 3 ; 1. 8, c. 5. 
 
 (7) For sixteen years an obstinate rebel to the 
 grace of God and to the tears and example of a great 
 
 PETER'S NAME 8 
 
H4 Peter's Name; 
 
 heroine, his own blessed mother St. Monica, who for 
 so many years was a slow-martyr to maternal love 
 and duty. 
 
 Such was Augustin when he returned to the Cath- 
 olic Faith. No sooner had the Church ascertained the 
 sincerity of his repentance than she folded him to her 
 maternal bosom. She not only restored him, but 
 promoted him (first) to the priesthood and (second) 
 to the episcopacy. She crowned him with honor as 
 the soul of her Councils (4th Council of Carthage) 
 and as the wisest counselor of the Vicar of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 The Church followed the example of the heavenly 
 Father in his treatment of the Prodigal, and the ex- 
 ample of Christ in His treatment of Peter. She acted, 
 as the Father of the Prodigal and Christ Himself 
 did, on the principle, (we repeat), that the reparation 
 should be as public as the offense that the good ex- 
 ample of the convert should be as notorious as the 
 scandal given that the lips which publicly taught er- 
 ror should still more publicly proclaim and preach 
 Catholic truth that the life and light of the penitent 
 should not be throttled and extinguished under the 
 bushel, but should shine far and wide "to all that are 
 in the house," of God: (Matt. 5. 15, etc.) 
 
 Indeed St. Augustin assures us that our Lord Him- 
 self, as well as His Church, would not suffer the con- 
 verted sinner to bury himself in solitude, but urged 
 him to devote his life to the holy ministry, as the best 
 way to repair the scandalous past. In other words, 
 Christ and the Church and natural equity and reason 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 115 
 
 unite to cry out that a public offense naturally calls 
 for a public reparation. 
 
 This explains why the Church made Augustin 
 preside over a Council in the very city of Carthage, 
 which he had formerly scandalized by his misdeeds. 
 
 Was the Church wrong? Did not Christ in person 
 promote the repentant renegade High Priest of the 
 New Law, Peter, to the promised office at the head 
 of the Apostolic college and of the very Church he 
 had so grievously scandalized? 
 
 Nay, more, even under the old Convenant of Fear, 
 did not Jehovah promote to the High Priesthood, 
 after the first sign of repentance, the recreant High 
 Priest-elect of the old Law, Aaron, and set him over 
 the very nation he had so basely scandalized by openly 
 sanctioning its apostasy and idolatrous worship of the 
 golden calf? 
 
 Who but an out-and-out Pharisee will hold that 
 the restored priest or bishop authorized to minister 
 before God Incarnate present on our allars should 
 be deemed unworthy to minister before the people? 
 Is the people purer than God Incarnate? Such populo- 
 latry is but another base form of idolatry, and goes 
 hand in hand with the degrading worship of Mammon 
 so rampant in this country. 
 
n6 Peter's Name; 
 
 IV. St. Augustin persecuted by taunting Pharisees. 
 
 The greatest Doctor of the Church, St. Augustin, 
 had for a life-time to suffer the persecutions of taunt-- 
 ing pharisees. Ah those taunting pharisees, do they not 
 suggestively put one in mind of the street-dogs that 
 heed no public notice to commit no nuisance, and 
 respect not even public mttnuments. Hence it is that that 
 monumental pillar of the Church, Augustin, did not 
 escape the nameless humiliation and affront. Indeed, 
 the immaculate whiteness of the monument and its 
 heaven-reaching loftiness were but additional incent- 
 ives to pharisaic defilers. 
 
 In his third sermon on the 36th Psalm, the Saint 
 replies as follows to his pharisaic taunters. 
 
 "Thou revilest my past ills: zvhat great things dost 
 thou therein? I am severer against my ills than thou: 
 what thou revilest I have condemned. Would thou 
 wouldst imitate me, and thy error also become past! 
 Those are past ills, which they know of especially 
 in this city (Carthage). For here we lived ill, which 
 I confess.... Yet, ivhatsoever I have been, in the 
 name of Christ it is passed." (Footnote, page 223 of 
 Conf. St. Augustine, Revised from a former trans- 
 lation, by Dr. Pusey, London, 1887.) 
 
 Note, en passant, that the Church allowed, nay 
 urged Augustin to preach, as a bishop, to the very 
 people who had witnessed his former scandalous life. 
 "Those are past ills," he says in his sermon, "which 
 they know of especially in this city: for here we 
 lived ill, which I confess." 
 
 He was obliged to preach a sermon "lest his char- 
 acter be stained." (Ibidem, page 225, note ) 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 117 
 
 It is plain that there were those, in the days of 
 Augustin, who "would fain have undervalued his 
 defences of the Faith on account of his sins" (ibid. p. 
 223 ) . They ostracised or boycotted him and his books. 
 They stenched his name and his writings; a process 
 servilely copied by our modern pharisees. 
 
 The cowardly assailants of the great Doctor were 
 not, however, as a rule, of the household of the Faith, 
 and could not therefore compare in depth of moral 
 cowardice and perfidy with our own pharisees, who 
 can boast the superior and privileged dishonor of being 
 traitors in the very camp of the Church militant. 
 
 Little did the mighty moral and intellectual Titan 
 imagine that the 2Oth century would see not heretics 
 indeed but some of his own self-styled spiritual child- 
 ren, indirectly cast up the past to him by imitating 
 his pharisaic persecutors. And, among those self- 
 styled children, not Martin the Apostate but certain 
 diminutive orthodox little Martinettis, noble by birth 
 perhaps but ignoble by character assuredly, for, alas, 
 they are not ashamed to unearth and rake up the dung 
 of pharisaic taunts, once thrown up into the face of 
 their assumed spiritual Father, in order to fling it 
 anew in the eyes of priests long since restored by the 
 Holy See. 
 
 With what indignation would the grand imperial 
 soul of Augustine disown such bastard natures and 
 declare them in no way connected with his genuine 
 spiritual progeny! 
 
n8 Peter's Name; 
 
 V. The challenge of Christ and of His Chupeh to Pharisaism 
 
 Could our Lord more forcibly impress upon man- 
 kind that the fundamental function of His Church is 
 to restore the fallen than by making a repentant 
 public sinner the living foundation of His Church? 
 
 We repeat the question in a more direct form : 
 Could our Lord more forcibly impress upon mankind 
 that the fundamental function of His Church is to 
 restore the fallen even fallen priests than by making 
 a repentant renegade priest, Peter, the living Founda- 
 tion of His Church? 
 
 Aye, we must put the question in a still more point- 
 ed form: 
 
 Could our Lord more forcibly impress upon man- 
 kind that the fundamental function of His Church is 
 to restore the fallen even fallen bishops than by 
 making a repentant renegade bishop, Peter, the living 
 Foundation of His Church? 
 
 Day and night and at morn and at noon and at 
 -eventide, does the multitudinous voice of the Church 
 upon whose dominion the Sun of God never sets, shout 
 and clamor louder than a million thunders : 
 
 Hear ye, O Pharisees, Christ made a repentant 
 public sinner the living Foundation of His Church. 
 
 Hear ye, O Pharisees, Christ made a repentant 
 renegade priest the living Foundation of His Church. 
 
 Hear ye, O Pharisees, Christ made a repentant 
 renegade bishop the living Foundation of His Church 
 the head- fountain whence the ministry of salvation 
 must forever flow to the rest of the human race. 
 
 Every Catholic bishop is episcopally descended from 
 the repentant renegade bishop Simon Peter 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 119 
 
 "God allowed" Peter "to fall, because He meant 
 to make him ruler over the whole world, that, re- 
 membering his own fall, he might forgive those who 
 should slip in the future." (S. Chrys. Horn. 73 in 
 Joan. 5 : ap. Chapman's The Catholic Claims, chap. 5 ) . 
 
 Thus is the restoration of Peter, Christ's eternal 
 challenge to the Pharisaism which depraves the heart 
 and satanises the soul of man. 
 
 Thus is the restoration as well as the promotion 
 of Augustin, of bishop Kupelian, and of so many 
 others, the everlasting challenge of the Church to 
 Pharisaism and all its foul satanic brood; yea, foul 
 and satanic, for God Incarnate Himself tells us that 
 Pharisaism is the foul offspring of Satan : John 8. 44 ; 
 Matt. 23. 27. 
 
I2O Peter's Name; 
 
 The Chureh honors the penitent priest or bishop as a true hero. 
 
 She looks upon his persecutor, the taunting Pharisee, 
 
 as a human insect torturing a moral giant 
 
 The Church teaches through the Vicar of Jesus 
 Christ that the bishop or priest who spontaneously con- 
 fesses his Sin and retracts his error not to get thereby 
 a morsel of bread, but on the contrary, at the cost of 
 great sacrifices is verily a martyr to duty and per- 
 forms an act of exalted heroism in the estimation of 
 heaven and of all men worthy of the Christian name. 
 
 "Indeed," said Leo XIII to such a penitent, "in- 
 deed, to humbly acknowledge one's fault, to confess 
 it, to detest it publicly and to make amende honorable 
 for it, is assuredly the most difficult of virtues; and 
 this, according to the infallible judgment of divine 
 Wisdom, instead of humbling and degrading, ennobles 
 and elevates the soul of him who has been able to 
 achieve such a victory. In the face of such brilliant 
 example, all remembrance of past faults is wiped out," 
 and consequently, the repentant bishop or priest "by 
 this act gains," not full restoration alone, but "glory 
 before God and man." 
 
 Such was the Allocution addressed by Leo XIII, 
 on the 1 8th day of April in the year of grace 1879, to 
 bishop Kupelian who, as we have said, had apostatised 
 and sacrilegiously received episcopal consecration from 
 schismatic bishops. 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 121 
 
 Why does the Church honor the restored priest as a true hero 
 and lifelong martyr to duty? 
 
 Because, unless prepared to buy his way back into 
 social recognition by bribing his persecutors for Mam- 
 mon covers a multitude of sins in pharisaic circles, and 
 the pharisee is quite a cheap piece of merchandise 
 the restored priest must make up his mind either to 
 sink into despair or to practice daily acts of heroism 
 and suffer a lingering martyrdom as long as he lives. 
 For alas "oppression troubleth the wise and shall de- 
 stroy the strength of his heart:" Eccl. 7. 8. 
 
 His perseverance, under such daily provocations to 
 despair and such daily invitations to suicide, can only 
 be secured by a miracle of the grace of God. And 
 therefore the fact alone of his perseverance makes him 
 worthy of being revered above others, as a heroic 
 brother a myriad-martyred brother. 
 
 For, apart from his public confession and heroic 
 recantation which, according to Leo XIII, prove in 
 their author the exercise of "the most difficult of vir- 
 tues," apart also, t sometimes, from the sacrifice of 
 brilliant positions, of a life of luxury which he could 
 have easily secured, or even retained, by remaining out 
 of the Church, he must stand twenty^ thirty, forty 
 years of slow death at the hands of the pharisee-host. 
 
 He must be the daily prey of the clerical blackmail- 
 er, of the pious blackmailer, of the worldly blackmailer 
 the worst of whom is the first, whilst the second is 
 a human emetic. 
 
 He must swim across life's ocean with the mill- 
 stone of the pharisee-world hanging around his neck. 
 
 He must wade for a life-time through a sea of 
 
122 Peter's Name; 
 
 bitterness so deep that all existing pharisees, even if 
 superposed upon one another, could not tower above 
 it but would quickly disappear under its raging billows. 
 
 He must cleave his way to heaven through a harder 
 barrier than flint, through an army of pharisees who 
 bar the passage. He must prove stronger than that 
 army : he must be, morally, a ten-thousand-man power 
 in one single person. 
 
 And alas, and alas, and forever alas, he must be, 
 as long as he lives, no longer a Diocesan priest but 
 
 a Diocesan cuspidor For, the restored priest, 
 
 deemed good enough for the Bishop of bishops in 
 Rome, is not good enough for the Pharisee! 
 
 But "the soul of the wounded hath cried out, and 
 God does not suffer it to pass unrevenged" (Job 
 24. 12). 
 
 His daily prayer therefore is the sad Scriptural 
 invocation: "I beg, O Lord, that thou loose me from 
 the bond of this reproach, or else take me away from 
 the earth." Tob. 3. 15. 
 
 O Pharisee, what art thou but a poor miserable 
 human insect before the superhuman stature of thy 
 restored brother? Bow down before him and humbly 
 say to him in the words of Holy Writ: "thou art worth 
 ten thousand of us": 2 Kings 18. 3. 
 
 The pharisee is odious to our Lord because he is 
 not simply a renegade: he is a double renegade, 
 for when he denies that the Prodigal is his 
 brother he thereby denies that the Father of the 
 Prodigal is his own Father. The eternal Justice of 
 God has thus ruled that they who deny the Prodigal 
 deny the Father of the Prodigal and bear the stigma 
 of double-dyed traitors and renegades. 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 123 
 
 "Despise not a man that turneth away from sin, 
 nor reproach him therewith: remember that we are 
 all worthy of reproach" (Ecclus. 8. 6). 
 
 O Pharisee, ever prating about "fallen priests", 
 remember that even a fallen dog is better than a 
 standing dunghill which every pharisee is. And re- 
 member also that certain creatures can never fall, for 
 the simple reason that there exists nothing lower than 
 their own natural level. 
 
 O taunting pharisee, remember there is something 
 incomparably viler than the very dung of the past ; and 
 that nameless something is the born scavenger-soul 
 that delights in the dung, unearths it, feasts upon it, 
 and dwells and abides in it as its native microbe. The 
 very dogs loathe to unearth one another's dung: rise 
 up to the level of decent animal instinct. 
 
 Whenever you crown yourself with the disgrace 
 of your fallen brother, you crown yourself with a 
 crown of dung, and you confess yourself beneath the 
 refuse of the past since you use it as your crown and 
 you put your brow beneath that crown : the brow is 
 lower than the crown that surmounts it ! 
 
 To fall is human ; but to trample upon the fallen is 
 monstrous monstrous cowardice and satanic. 
 
 O taunting pharisees, impostors and fratricides 
 alike, who tearfully preach the parable of the prodigal 
 whilst stealthily and slowly murdering your own re- 
 stored brother. In vain has your restored brother shed 
 a baptism of tears and wept a baptism of blood: 
 Neither tears nor blood can move the soul of the 
 pharisee. And now, behold, the blood of your brother 
 slowly butchered to make a clerical holiday. . . . yes, 
 the blood of your brother. . . . 
 
124 Peter's Name; 
 
 is upon your hands, and upon your head and upon your 
 soul. That fraternal blood cries vengeance to heaven 
 and will haunt the judgment seat of God. Vengeance 
 is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord (Rom. 12. 19). 
 
 O blessed Peter, uplifter of the downtrodden and 
 restorer of the fallen, protect thy poor helpless priests 
 from those "lording it over the clergy:" i Pet. 5. 3. 
 for those lords "are shut up in their own fat and their 
 mouth speaketh proudly." (Ps. 16. 10.) 
 
 "It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life. . . 
 It is better for me to die than to live . . . for many dogs 
 have encompassed me." (Tob. 3. 6; 3 Kings 19. 4; Ps. 
 21. 17.) 
 
 Who but a Pharisee will doom to the life-long de- 
 gradation of a life-long quarantine a fully restored 
 brother holding a clean bill of health from Peter's own 
 successor in person! 
 
 Newman's Rebuke to our Pharisees. 
 
 "It is our duty to love repentant sinners just as 
 if they had not sinned." We must not "treat them 
 in any degree ( God forbid ! ) as if their approach were 
 a pollution" to us. "If Christ condescends to be their 
 meat and drink, surely the holiest of men need not 
 scruple to wash their feet." 
 
 (Newman: Saintliness not forfeited by Penitents, 
 in Sermons on Subjects of the Day.) 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 125 
 
 NOTE XIX 
 
 Comparative view of the threefold power vested in the Church 
 I. The power of Jurisdiction and the power of Order. 
 
 (a) Their general nature: 
 
 The power of Order gives sacramental power over 
 the real body of Christ for the salvation and sanctifi- 
 cation of souls. 
 
 The power of Jurisdiction gives authority over the 
 mystical body of Christ, i. e., power to rule the mem- 
 bers and subjects of the Church. 
 
 The power of Order is purely ministerial or in- 
 strumental i. e. it can only transmit, but cannot either 
 produce or fashion, that which constitutes its object, 
 viz., the real Body and the grace of the sacraments of 
 Jesus Christ. God alone creates grace and He com- 
 municates the same through the ministry of His living 
 instruments the episcopate and the priesthood. Priests 
 and bishops are only the channels, the dispensers not 
 the creators or producers or fashioners but the mere 
 Dispensers of the Mysteries of God : i. Cor. 4. i ; John 
 
 i-33- 
 
 % The power of Jurisdiction is not instrumental or 
 ministerial, but sovereign. It not merely transmits but 
 produces and makes the laws and precepts which con- 
 stitute its object: Acts 15. 28, 29, 41; 20. 28 etc. 
 
 In short, the power of Order is the mere trans- 
 mitter of its object, viz., the real Body and the grace 
 of Jesus Christ whilst the power of Jurisdiction is 
 either the producer or the fashioner and framer of its 
 
126 Peter's Name; 
 
 object, viz., its own orders, commands, precepts, legis- 
 lation and ruling control over the mystic body of Christ, 
 the Catholic Church. 
 
 Chief scriptural references: Matt. 18.17; 28.20; 
 Luke 10. 16; John 10. 2 5 ; Acts 14, 22 ; 15, i$, 29, 41 ; 
 20. 28; i Cor. 5. 3 5; 7. 6, 10, 12; n. 2, 34; 2 Cor. 13. 
 10; Eph. 4. ii ; i Tim. i. 19; 3.2; 4. 14; 5. 19,22; 2 
 Tim. 1.6; 2. 17, 18; Tit i. 5; i Pet. 5.2,4, etc. 
 
 (b) Their respective hierarchy : 
 
 Three degrees of the power of Order are of Divine 
 institution, viz., the episcopacy, the priesthood and the 
 diaconate. 
 
 Three degrees of the power of Jurisdiction are of 
 Divine institution, viz., the papacy, the episcopacy and 
 the priesthood. 
 
 (c) Their genesis and form, or frame : 
 
 Both are of God. But whilst the power of Juris- 
 diction comes directly from the visible head of the 
 Church the power of Order springs directly and im- 
 mediately from Christ in the sacrament of the same 
 name. 
 
 The first (jurisdiction) is mediately of God and 
 immediately of His Vicar; the second (order) is in- 
 directly or instrumentally of the Church and immedi- 
 ately of God who alone can create in the soul the, in- 
 delible character of His Divine priesthood and the 
 Deific gift of divine Order. 
 
 The power of jurisdiction is not, so to say, ready- 
 made or specifically determined in advance by the will 
 of God. It is broadly outlined, not mapped out, by 
 our blessed Lord: Matt. 18. 18, etc. Its outlines are 
 to be filled out by Peter or His successor, the pope, who 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 127 
 
 is the Christ-appointed disposer, and grantor of the 
 power (Matt. 16. 18. 19.) in such proportions as he 
 sees fit. 
 
 The power of Order is, so to speak, ready-made, 
 i. e. specifically determined in advance by the will and 
 ordinance of Christ as to its matter, form, subject, 
 minister and scope. God Himself, not the Church, is 
 its framer and immediate grantor in the sacrament of 
 which the bishop is the ministerial instrument only. 
 
 In brief, Peter has dominion and authority over the 
 power of jurisdiction: he may abridge or recall it, or 
 divide and subdivide its field, as he deems best for the 
 welfare of the Church. 
 
 But he has no such dominion or discretionary auth- 
 ority over the power of Order, which he can only use 
 in its divinely set form and fixed measure: he is not 
 the disposer and grantor thereof, but its mere instru- 
 ment of transmission. 
 
 (d) Their mode of transmission: 
 
 The power of jurisdiction is transmitted by appoint- 
 ment or delegation. 
 
 The power of Order cannot be delegated, but can 
 only be transmitted sacramentally, through the sacra- 
 ment of ordination. 
 
 (e) Their separability: 
 
 The power of jurisdiction may exist without the 
 power of Order, and vice versa. The first may be del- 
 egated by the proper authority, to one who is not in 
 sacred Orders, to a simple cleric or even to a layman 
 whilst the power of Order may be conferred on one 
 from whom jurisdiction is withheld partly or alto- 
 gether. 
 
128 Peter's Name; 
 
 There is but one sacrament the validity of which 
 depends on the union of the two powers of Order and 
 Jurisdiction viz., the sacred tribunal of Penance, which 
 is essentially judicial in its very nature. Now, judg- 
 ment can only be passed on one legally subject or amen- 
 able to the juage, i. e. upon one over whom the judgt 
 holds legal jurisdiction. Impossible, therefore, to rend- 
 er judgment in the sacrament of Penance without ade- 
 quate jurisdiction over the penitent. 
 
 (f) Their respective irrevocable or revocable char- 
 acter : 
 
 The power of Order in the Church is as irrevocable 
 as the character imprinted by the sacrament: for in- 
 stance, a priest or a bishop can never lose the power 
 of consecrating validly the matter of the Sacrifice of the 
 New Law. 
 
 But the power of Jurisdiction is revocable at the 
 discretion of the Vicar of Jesus Christ: Matt. 16. 
 18, 19. 
 
 (g) Their respective apportionment: 
 
 The power of Order can only be conferred in equal 
 and immutable measure on each priest and bishop: 
 it is fixed, abiding, unchangeable. 
 
 The power of Jurisdiction is conferred in varying 
 and unequal measure upon clerics of the very same 
 degree of Order, according to the needs of the Church. 
 Nay, it may vary, be increased or diminished in the 
 same individual and though the latter remains in the 
 same rank of Orders. For instance, a priest, whilst 
 remaining simply a priest, may be promoted in the 
 jurisdictional scale and exercise quasi-episcopal juris- 
 diction as administrator of a diocese or may be grant- 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 129 
 
 ed a far greater amount of jurisdiction than any bishop, 
 v. g. as Papal legate. 
 
 (h) Their immediate effect: 
 
 The immediate effect of the power of Order be- 
 sides the sacerdotal character it imprints is the sanc- 
 tification of the Church ex opere operato. It produces 
 the world-wide cohesive force of a world-wide unity of 
 divine life and love throughout the universal Church. 
 
 The immediate effect of the power of Jurisdiction 
 is to produce the world-wide cohesive force of a world- 
 wide unity of action throughout the universal Church : 
 its ultimate effect is our sanctification ex opere oper- 
 ands. 
 
 The main points of difference between Order and 
 Jurisdiction are thus admirably recapitulated by Mon- 
 signor Capel: 
 
 "It will be remarked that in appointing these pas- 
 tors there was (i) 'imposition of hands' and (2) 'being 
 
 sent.' (Heb. 13. 7, 17; Acts ch. 13 and 6. 6 ) The 
 
 'imposition of hands' is the sacrament of Orders, and, 
 in common with the other sacraments, its effect is 
 conferred direct by God. . . . But the 'Commission' 
 or 'being sent' is derived direct from the Apostles. 
 It specifies where, how, and when the divine 
 authority is to be exercised by the individual pastor . . . 
 These two powers are distinguished as the power of 
 Order and the power of Jurisdiction. Both are of 
 God: the one comes direct through the sacrament of 
 Order; the other indirectly from God through the 
 Church by appointment. 
 
 PETER'S NAME Q 
 
130 Peter 's Name; 
 
 In the early Church they were often conferred 
 simultaneously : still they were looked upon as distinct 
 operations. The power of jurisdiction is not necessari- 
 ly attached to Orders ; though for some acts, such 
 as absolution from sin, both are necessary. The Apost- 
 les and the Seventy, who were sent out at first two 
 and two, had jurisdiction but not Orders. A man may 
 be a bishop and yet not be a bishop of a diocese. On 
 the other hand, a duly and canonically confirmed 
 bishop-elect possesses jurisdiction without the episcopal 
 power to confirm and to ordain. A deposed bishop 
 is still possessed of his episcopal power, but he is 
 deprived of jurisdiction or cure of souls. His ordina- 
 tions would be valid ; his absolutions null and void. 
 
 The power of Order gives capacity; the powei 
 of jurisdiction permits the use of authority. The 
 distinction between 'can' and 'may,' the former ex- 
 pressing inherent, the latter dependent power affords 
 a good illustration of the subject. The dispenser of the 
 power of Order is but an instrument, the grantor of 
 the power of jurisdiction exercises authority and dom- 
 inion. The first, coming directly from Christ, is abid- 
 ing, unchangeable, and is conferred in equal measure 
 on each priest or bishop. The second, not coming 
 immediately but through the Church from Christ to 
 individuals, is conferred in varying proportions as 
 may be deemed expedient for the good of souls." 
 ("Catholic," ist ed., p. 23.) 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 131 
 
 II. The power of Jurisdiction and the magisterial or teaching 
 
 power 
 
 (a) Their respective extent: 
 
 The jurisdiction of the Church extends to her own 
 members and subjects only. 
 
 Her magisterial infallible prerogative embraces all 
 mankind. 
 
 (b) Their respective functions: 
 
 The magisterial power is the infallible eye that 
 descries the truths of Revelation. Its function is to 
 make known, expound and define the Divine law and 
 doctrine. 
 
 The jurisdictional power is the right arm of the 
 Church. Its function is to enforce, defend, and vindi- 
 cate her magisterial decisions by means of laws, pre- 
 cepts, and penalties. 
 
 (c) The different character of the obligation they 
 generate : 
 
 (First) The magisterial power demands of all, 
 per se, the obedience of divine faith due to God the 
 Revealer. 
 
 The Jurisdictional power demands, of its subjects 
 only, the obedience of ecclesiastical faith in the pre- 
 cepts of the Church. 
 
 The first requires the adoring obedience due to God 
 alone ; the second, the reverent obedience due to God's 
 representative, the Catholic Church. 
 
 In the ex-cathedra pronouncements of the magis- 
 terial power, the motive of obedience held out by the 
 Church is that God himself was in the past the direct 
 and immediate Revealer of the truth of which she 
 is the simple promulgator and that, by consequence, 
 
132 Peter's Name; 
 
 a denial or non-acceptance of these truths is a direct 
 and immediate disobedience, nay a giving the lie, to 
 God the Revealer in person. 
 
 On the other hand, the Church tells us that God 
 is not the direct author or revealer of her own ec- 
 clesiastical laws which consequently cannot command 
 the adoring abedience we owe to the word of the 
 Revealer. A violation of the laws of the Church 
 connotes direct disobedience to the enactor of those 
 laws, viz., the Church herself but constitutes simply 
 an act of indirect disobedience to God who founded 
 the Church indeed, but is not, after all, the immediate 
 framer of her own laws, precepts, and ordinances. 
 
 (Second) When the Church, in her magisterial 
 capacity, promulgates a truth as part of the deposit 
 of Revelation, the consequent obligation of divine 
 faith and adoring obedience is, per se, universal and as 
 irrevocable, as immutable, as the truth she promul- 
 gates. But when the Church, in her ruling, or governing 
 capacity, enacts a law or issues a command the con- 
 sequent obligation of absolute obedience is not uni- 
 versal and is, moreover, revocable and mutable at 
 her own wise discretion. It is not universal, since it 
 goes no further than the law itself which cannot 
 bind the unbaptized and which frequently concerns 
 only a portion of the Church v. g. the clergy, or the 
 religious orders, or the laity. It is revocable at will, 
 and not immutable, since the Church is free to ab- 
 rogate, suspend, or modify her own laws. 
 
 (d) The immediate framers of their respective 
 object-matter : 
 
 God is the direct author of revelation, which forms 
 the object-matter of the magisterial power. 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 133 
 
 The Church herself is the direct author of ec- 
 clesiastical law, which forms the object-matter of the 
 jurisdictional power. 
 
 (e) Their immediate effects : 
 
 The immediate effect of the magisterial power is 
 to produce the world-wide cohesive force of a world- 
 wide unity of faith throughout the universal Church. 
 
 The immediate effect of the jurisdictional power 
 (as mentioned above) is to produce the world-wide 
 cohesive force of a world-wide unity of action through- 
 out the universal Church. (Cf. Franzelin's posthum. 
 thesis on the Church.) 
 
134 Peter's Name; 
 
 NOTE XX 
 
 Did all the Apostles receive their jurisdiction from Christ 
 exclusively? 
 
 Peter alone did. The other Apostles received 
 jurisdiction both from its creator, Jesus Christ, and 
 from its original Apostolic possessor (Peter) as from 
 a visible joint-source of authority. That is to say, 
 both Christ and Peter the first, by His own inde- 
 pendent sovereign will and with the full ' knowledge 
 of the other apostles (Luke 24. 42, etc) ; the second, 
 by his own responsive and concurrent will both Christ 
 and Peter caused the plenitude of authority till then 
 locked up in the Apostolic head (Matt. 16. 18, 19; 
 John 21. 15 17), to fill up the entire Apostolic 
 body: Matt. 18. 18. 
 
 Even as the Father imparted His authority to 
 Christ (John 20. 21, etc.), and then jointly with Christ 
 (John 21. 15, 17) imparted the same to Peter but in 
 subordination to Christ so did the latter first im- 
 part ^ to the other Apostles, but in subordination to 
 Peter: Matt. 28. 18. 
 
 The profoundly significant fact that authority was 
 first infused into the Apostolic head alone, and thence 
 subsequently diffused into the whole body, most forcib- 
 ly intimates that such a diffusion of authority was 
 brought about by the will of Christ and the concur- 
 rent will of its Apostolic possessor. For, of a cer- 
 tainty, when our Lord made Peter, under and with 
 
 
 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 135 
 
 Him, the foundation and visible head of the Church 
 (Matt. 1 6. 18; John 21. 17), and at the same time 
 deposited in him alone and separately the fulness of 
 Apostolic authority (ibid.) He thereby declared him 
 the material or passive source, at least, of said author- 
 ity since the head is naturally the source whence the 
 body derives light, guidance, and governance. 
 
 Now, God did not leave His grand fwork 
 unfinished and half done : therefore does He, in Matt. 
 1 8. 1 8, distinctly forewarn the Apostfes that the then 
 material source-elect of authority (Peter) must be 
 prepared to become, later on, the active and formal 
 source thereof. How? By filling up the whole body 
 therewith, by a positive act of mis own will, under 
 the express will of Christ, as recorded in Matt. 28. 18. 
 
 Nay, more, the very promise of Christ to all His 
 Apostles, in Matt. 18. 18. that the authority first 
 deposited in Peter (Matt. 16. 18; John 21. 17) would 
 eventually be trans fered to the rest of the body 
 was tantamount to a twofold notice served long in 
 advance upon Peter and upon his fellow-apostles. 
 To Peter it clearly signified: "Be prepared, O thou 
 my chosen Apostolic head, to co-operate with Me by 
 a positive act of thy will in the distribution of authoi- 
 ity from the Apostolic head and actual possessor there- 
 of, thyself, to the other Apostolic members." 
 
 To the Apostles it obviously meant: "Be pre- 
 pared, O ye my Apostles, to receive authority, now 
 wholly resident in Peter, from the concordant will of 
 Peter and Mine own/' 
 
 Our Lord does not make, in Matt. 18. 18, the absurd 
 promise that the Apostolic members shall share the 
 
136 Peter's Name; 
 
 inalienable headship of Peter for, then, their body 
 would only be a many-headed, a twelve-headed mons- 
 trosity. What Christ does promise to the Apostles 
 collectively taken, i. e. to the whole Apostolic body 
 as constituted by Himself under the headship of Peter, 
 (Matt. 16. 19; John 21. 17 ,etc.) is this: Full auth- 
 ority shall naturally descend from the head to the 
 rest of the body (Matt. 18. 18), but always (bear in 
 mind) under the supremacy of the Christ-appointed 
 head, Peter: Matt. 16. 18; John 21. 17. 
 
 Thus the Apostles will derive their authority from 
 Christ and Peter jointly, and will exercise it as faithful 
 members, and consequently in perfect subordination 
 to the Apostolic head appointed by our Lord, (ibid.) 
 
 The profound truth to be insisted upon is that 
 thV above-mentioned circulation of authority from the 
 Apostolic 'head to *the Apostolic members will be 
 brought about by the will of Christ and the obediently 
 concurrent will of the Apostolic head, wherein the 
 aforesaid authority was first deposited and perma- 
 nently resides. 
 
 The rash assertion that the other eleven Apostles, 
 besides Peter, received jurisdiction from Christ ex- 
 clusively and not from Peter simultaneously, would, 
 if true, create the reasonable presumption that the 
 successors of the Apostles, the bishops, do still re- 
 ceive it in the same way, i. e. as the pope does, im- 
 mediately from our Lord and from no one else. The 
 proposition, as it stands, is but a half-truth and fatally 
 mischievous as well as misleading. The whole truth 
 is that eleven of the Apostles received jurisdiction 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 137 
 
 from Christ and Peter jointly and simultaneously 
 Peter alone remaining the one visible source of auth- 
 ority after the ascension of our Lord. 
 
 Such is the teaching of the Holy Fathers : For in- 
 stance, St. Optatus writes without hesitating that the 
 other Apostles received the Keys from Peter : "Beatus 
 Petrus et praeferri omnibus Apostolis meruit et claves 
 regni coelorum communicandas caeteris solus accepit." 
 (De schism. Donat. centra Parmen., 1.7, c. 3. et 1.2, 
 c. 2.) 
 
 Pope St. Leo the Great is as emphatic as St. Opta- 
 tus, and says: "If Christ willed that the other rulers 
 should enjoy aught together with him" (Peter) "yet 
 never did He gave save through him what He denied 
 not to others." (Serm. 4.) 
 
 It was meet^in^fiao, that^ 
 diction from Christ in person, the better to remind us 
 all that Christ is the meritorious efficient cause, not 
 less than the original source, of authority in the Church. 
 
 It was equally meet that the subordinate eleven 
 Apostles should receive jurisdiction from Peter jointly 
 with Christ to remind the Apostles themselves that 
 Christ's Vicar was then, yes, even then, the visible 
 source of Apostolic authority. 
 
 It was meet, in fine, that, after His ascension, Christ 
 should safeguard the prestige and strengthen the hands 
 of His Vicar by leaving the latter behind Him as the 
 one visible source of jurisdiction in the Church 
 militant. 
 
138 Peter's Name; 
 
 NOTE XXI 
 
 Comparative powers of Peter and of the other Apostles 
 
 As to the power of Order, the other Apostles were 
 the peers of Peter. 
 
 As regards the power of jurisdiction and the ma- 
 gisterial power, they were his subordinates. 
 
 (a) Peter received his authority, as we have seen, 
 from Christ exclusively. 
 
 The other Apostles received theirs both from 
 Christ and Peter jointly and simultaneously. 
 
 (b) The authority of the other apostles was lim- 
 ited to the Christians outside the Apostolic college it- 
 self, over which they had no jurisdiction. 
 
 Peter's authority alone extended over the Apostles, 
 over each of them individually and all of them col- 
 lectively, and over the whole Church. He could give 
 precepts and commands to the Apostles, dispense from 
 their laws, repeal these and replace them by laws of 
 his own. 
 
 (c) The authority of the apostles was conditioned 
 on their adhesion and subordination to Peter. 
 
 The authority of Peter was unconditional and 
 supreme. 
 
 (d) The other apostles were bound, under pain 
 of schism, to affiliate all the Christian communities 
 they established, with the person of Peter: else, they 
 had failed to build on the visible foundation laid by 
 the Lord, viz., the Rock, Peter. 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 139 
 
 Peter was under no such obligation toward his fel- 
 low-Apostles : they must build on the Rock, not the 
 Rock on them. 
 
 (e) The personal infallibility with which each of 
 the other Apostles was endowed was a temporary and 
 exceptional privilege intended to meet temporary and 
 exceptional exigencies, and, above all, was condi- 
 tioned on their adhesion to the Rock-confirmer of the 
 Faith : Luke 22. 32. 
 
 Peter's infallibility belonged to his office as the 
 Confirmer of the Faith (ibid.), and must needs be as 
 permanent as the Petrine or Papal office itself. Note 
 that whilst, on the one hand, the subordinate jurisdic- 
 tion of the Apostles and their individual infallibility 
 were conditioned on their adhesion to the Vicar of 
 Jesus Christ, they had, on the other hand, been con- 
 firmed in grace and received a Divine promise of perse- 
 verance in their loyalty to Peter. Such is the teaching 
 of Divine Tradition. 
 
 (f) Peter alone singly, separately, independently 
 received a unique and universal commission from the 
 Founder of the Church: Matt. 16. 18, 19; Luke 22. 31, 
 32; John 21. 15, 1 6. 17. 
 
 The other Apostles received collectively and cor- 
 porately, i. e. as already constituted by our Lord under 
 Peter -a general and collective commission only : Matt. 
 18. 18 ; Mark 16. 15 ; John 20. 21. 
 
 Their individual jurisdiction was thus plainly de- 
 clared by the Lord Himself to be, firstly, subordinate 
 to their visible head, Peter; and, secondly, restricted 
 or limited since it was not the plenitude or universa- 
 
140 Peter's Name; 
 
 lity, but a mere component part, of their corporate 
 authority under Peter. For, a power divided among 
 several is necessarily bounded, in each participator, 
 by the boundaries of undue interference with, or en- 
 croachment upon, one another. 
 
 It is quite otherwise with powers conferred sep- 
 arately upon one single individual. Here, for instance, 
 is a fact of colossal magnitude and significance: all 
 the powers conferred on the Apostles corporately 
 (Matt. 18. 18; 28. 18) ; had been previously conferred 
 on Peter singly and individually (Matt. 16. 18, 19; John 
 21. 17). But the converse does not hold, since the 
 four great prerogatives granted to Peter were never 
 extended to the other Apostles: Peter alone was the 
 Rock (Matt. 16. 18; John 1.42), the Keyward (Matt. 
 16. 19), the Confirmer of the Faithful (Luke 22. 32), 
 the universal Shepherd. (John 21. 17.) 
 
 The words of Christ, "Go ye into the world" (Mark 
 1 6. 15) were addressed to all the Apostles collectively, 
 and corporately under their God-appointed head, Peter ; 
 they did not and could not apply to each of them in- 
 dividually. Excepting the universal Shepherd's, every 
 Apostle's sphere of action was necessarily restricted 
 by that of every other brother Apostle. In point of 
 fact, tradition, history, and ancient liturgies of the 
 East and of the West attest that before their final 
 dispersion the Apostles districted out and apportioned 
 the world among themselves under the headship of him 
 whom Christ had set over them as the universal Pastor 
 (John 21. 17). Each therefore of the other Apostles 
 had a Portion of the earth allotted to his share 
 but Peter had previously received from Christ in 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 141 
 
 person the whole world as his diocese or field of opera- 
 tion: John 21. 17. 
 
 Neither Holy Writ nor tradition breathes one word 
 in favor of the untenable opinion that every Apostle 
 enjoyed universal jurisdiction : an opinion which cannot 
 stand the test of deep thought and thorough research. 
 To elucidate: 
 
 The jurisdiction of Peter was universal, ordinary, 
 i. e. inherent in his office. 
 
 The jurisdiction of the other Apostles was limited 
 and twofold. It was ordinary and extraordinary, or 
 delegated. Their ordinary jurisdiction did not extend 
 beyond the special field allotted to each when, before 
 parting and taking leave of one another, they (as we 
 have said) divided the world into districts under and 
 by the authority of the visible head, Peter as attested 
 by St. Leo the Great, in his first sermon on SS. Peter 
 and Paul. (Rom. Brev., i8th of January.) 
 
 Their extraordinary jurisdiction extended beyond 
 their allotted sphere, but only so far and as often as 
 required by the good of Religion. Now, the interest 
 of religion did certainly not require that the jurisdiction 
 of every one of the twelve Apostles should comprise 
 all the clergy and all the faithful diffused over the face 
 of the globe. In other words, the interest of religion 
 did not require the existence of twelve Peters, but of 
 one and one only, to wit: the one Peter named after 
 Himself, by our divine Saviour: the one universal Shep- 
 herd, the one visible center and the one visible bond of 
 the ^>ne yicib^ r^nt^ a^d thf nt ^ yir.iKIp bnn^ nf 
 unity. It was enough that each of the other Apostles 
 should have, not universal dominion, but a limited 
 
142 Peter's Name; 
 
 though extraordinary jurisdiction extending as far as 
 circumstances demanded, and no farther. 
 
 We repeat, one Rock was enough, and God did not 
 create twelve Peters: infinite Wisdom indulges not in 
 superfluous creations. To illustrate: St. Paul's or- 
 dinary jurisdiction covered the immense regions evan- 
 gelised by himself. Beyond that line, he possessed 
 delegated jurisdiction only, in places evangelised by the 
 other Apostles and subsequently visited by himself 
 v. g. in the Church of Rome, founded by Peter. But 
 his jurisdiction, either ordinary or delegated, was not 
 universal. It did not reach, for instance, the province 
 of the Apostle Thomas in India, nor that of the 
 Apostle Simon the Cananean in Persia etc. 
 
 As already stated, the good of souls called not for 
 a Church-wide extension of authority in every Apostle, 
 but for an occasional extension, limited by the require- 
 ments of arising emergencies. 
 
 Now, who could delegate and grant such extraor- 
 dinary jurisdiction to each of the Apostles before their 
 voluntary dispersion to the four parts of the earth? 
 Who, but he to whom singly and separately Christ had 
 given the plenitude of authority by making him the 
 foundation of the Apostolic college, the Confirmer of 
 the Apostolic body, the supreme Shepherd of all the 
 Apostles as well as of the rest of the universal Church : 
 Matt. 16. 18, 19; Luke 22. 32; John 21. 17. 
 
 (g) The extraordinary jurisdiction of each Apostle, 
 being not only limited and temporary but simply dele- 
 gated, was therefore untransmissible of its nature, or 
 per se. It died a natural death and ceased altogether 
 with the temporary necessities that gave rise to it, i. e. 
 with the last of the Apostles. 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 143 
 
 Peter's jurisdiction, being ordinary or inherent in 
 his office, is and must needs be as transmissible as the 
 office to which it essentially belongs. 
 
 The theory that every Apostle had universal juris- 
 diction is indefensible. Even the partisans of the 
 theory acknowledge with all Catholic theologians that, 
 excepting Peter alone, none of the Apostles had, either 
 collectively or individually, any authority whatever 
 over one another, and much less over the entire Apos- 
 tolic body. Such an acknowledgment is a plain con- 
 fession that the jurisdiction of the other Apostles was 
 not universal, since it did' not include the noblest part 
 of the Church her Apostolic princes and rulers who, 
 by Divine appointment, recognised Peter alone as their 
 visible superior and sovereign ruler. 
 
 Why does the successor of Pater receive the plenitude of juris- 
 diction immediately from Jesus Christ Himself? 
 
 Because neither the bishops nor the priests col- 
 lectively or individually nor the whole Church, ever 
 received the pontifical power granted to Peter and his 
 successors exclusively (ibid.). They cannot therefore 
 communicate that which they have not, i. e. the pon- 
 tifical sovereignty; nor can any one else on earth. 
 There remains but one alternative: either Peter never 
 had any successor, the pledge of Christ to the contrary 
 notwithstanding (Matt. 16. 18 etc.) or the successor 
 of Peter, like Peter himself, receives his sovereign in- 
 vestiture immediately from Jesus Christ, who promised 
 to perpetuate the Petrine office despite all the hostile 
 powers or "gates of hell." (Ibid.) 
 
144 Peter's Name; 
 
 Why do the bishops receive jurisdiction immediate- 
 ly from the Vicar of Jesus Christ? 
 
 Because our Lord made Peter the principle and 
 bond of Apostolic unity, and therefore ordained that 
 his bishops should receive jurisdiction not by consecra- 
 tion but by appointment which of course can only 
 come from a superior, and consequently from the Vicar 
 of Christ on earth. 
 
 How do we know that the bishops do not receive 
 jurisdiction by means of consecration or ordination, 
 together with the fulness of the sacrament of Order, 
 but by appointment from the Holy See? 
 
 From the words and actions of our Lord : for, by ap- 
 pointment exclusively did he confer jurisdiction on the 
 Apostles both before and after their ordination and 
 quite independently of it thereby teaching (a) that 
 jurisdiction is not conferred by the sacrament of Order 
 but by appointment and (b) that it may be conferred 
 on men not vested with the clerical dignity, i. e. on the 
 laity even as it may be withheld from those vested 
 with the episcopal character, as it was from the Apos- 
 tles from the day of their ordination (Matt. 21. 26) 
 to the eve of the Ascension (Matt. 28. 18) : it being 
 thoroughly distinct and separable from the priestly 
 power of Order. 
 
 Comparative powers of the Pope and of the bishops 
 
 (a) As regards the power of Order, the bishops 
 are the equals of the pope : sacerdotally, he is a bishop 
 and so are they; they, as well as he, have received the 
 plenitude of the priesthood. 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 145 
 
 But they are his inferiors and his subjects in the 
 domain of jurisdiction and of the magisterial power. 
 One man on earth may, but intermittently and for 
 a few minutes only, justly exercise authority over the 
 Vicar of Jesus Christ namely, the pope's confessor 
 when hearing the august penitent's confession. 
 
 (b) The Holy Father receives his jurisdiction 
 directly from Jesus Christ at the instant he accepts the 
 papal office, after his canonical election. 
 
 The bishops receive their jurisdiction immediately 
 from the Vicar of Christ, the visible head of the 
 Church. 
 
 (c) The jurisdiction of the Holy Father is uni- 
 versal and Church-wide ; the jurisdiction of the bishops 
 is local and restricted to their diocese or to the sphere 
 allotted to them by the Vicar of Jesus Christ. 
 
 (d) The jurisdiction of the Holy Father is sup- 
 reme and independent; the jurisdiction of the bishops 
 subordinate and dependent on the authority of the pope. 
 
 (e) The pope is above purely human laws, civil 
 and ecclesiastical above the whole body of the Church 
 universal; bishops are subject to the Holy Father and 
 to all the laws and councils of the Church. In their 
 relations with the sovereign Pontiff, they belong to the 
 Church Governed, not to the Church Governing. 
 
 (f) The pope alone is the infallible teacher of the 
 Church ex-cathedra, i. e. from the magisterial Chair 
 of Peter. 
 
 Every other bishop is individually fallible, and in 
 his relations with the successor of Peter, every bishop 
 
 PETER'S NAME 10 
 
146 Peter's Name; 
 
 belongs to the Church Taught, not to the Church 
 Teaching. 
 
 The whole episcopal body acting jointly with the 
 visible head of the Church partakes of the infallibility 
 of the Christ-appointed head, and is infallible by virtue 
 of Christ's solemn promise to Peter : Luke 22. 32. 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 147 
 NOTE XXII 
 
 How can it be known that the extraordinary jurisdiction and 
 
 the personal infallibility of each of the Apostles do not endure 
 
 in their successors? 
 
 Answer: From the testimony of Holy Scripture 
 and the irrefragable witness of history. 
 
 We gather from Holy Writ that Titus, bishop of 
 Crete (Tit. i. 5) and Timothy, bishop of Ephesus 
 (Tim. 1.3), and the other bishops appointed by the 
 Apostles (i Pet. 5. 2; Apoc. 2. i, 8, 12, 18), v. g. the 
 bishops of Smyrna, Pergamus, Thyatira possessed 
 nothing more than the local and ordinary jurisdiction 
 enjoyed by bishops nowadays in their respective dio- 
 ceses. 
 
 History knows of no bishops, except the successors 
 of St. Peter, that ever claimed universal jurisdiction 
 over the Church. Not even Photius, or Cerularius, or 
 any of their schismatic successors, ever dared to claim 
 authority over the holy Roman Church. Even now, 
 Eastern schismatics recognise the Pope as the first 
 Patriarch of the Church. 
 
 That the Apostles themselves did not regard the 
 bishops consecrated by them as endowed, individually, 
 with magisterial infallibility, seeing evident from St. 
 Paul's address to the Church officials whom he dis- 
 tinctly calls "bishops" (Acts 20.28), and whom he 
 summoned from Ephesus to Miletus. For, he predicts 
 that some of them will fall into schism and heresy. 
 
148 Peter's Name; 
 
 "Of your own selves," says he, "shall arise men speak- 
 ing perverse things to draw away disciples after them" 
 (Acts 20. 30). He puts the bishop of Ephesus, Tim- 
 othy, on his guard against possible errors of doctrine 
 as follows : "Avoid foolish and old wives' fables .... 
 till I come attend to reading, to exhortation and to 
 doctrine^i. Tim. 4. 7, 13), "Avoid foolish and un- 
 learned questions" (2. Tim. 2. 23). 
 
 He gives the same warning to the bishop of Crete, 
 Titus, to whom he writes : "In all things show thyself 
 an example of good work, in doctrine, in integrity, in 
 gravity" (Tit. 2. 7) "Avoid foolish questions" (Tit. 
 
 3- 9). 
 
 History attests that, from the death of the last A- 
 postle to this 2oth century, never have the bishops of 
 the Church of God arrogated to themselves the special 
 Apostolic prerogative of individual infallibility. The 
 only infallible personality they ever recognised is that 
 of the Christ-appointed Confirmer of the Faith (Luke- 
 22.32), Peter the Rock, ever living in his successors 
 (Matt. 1 6. 18., etc.), viz., the bishop of Rome (i Pet. 
 5. 13) the "Babylon" from which Peter dates his 
 first Epistle. "Babylon, that is to say, heathen perse- 
 cuting Rome, as the Sibylline books of Jewish origin 
 had long ago named it', observes Dr. Barry, (Papal 
 Monarchy, p. 18). 
 
 The most overwhelming proof that the individual 
 infallibility of every bishop is not essential to the pre- 
 servation of the deposit of the Faith, is the fact that 
 the Church has been doing without such a supererog- 
 atory gift for 1900 years without deviating by one 
 single line from the path of revealed truth. Therefore, 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 149 
 
 the experience of nineteen centuries proves that the 
 three divine weapons of (a) continuous Tradition and 
 (b) of close communion with the infallible Confirmer 
 of the Faith together with (c) the corporate infall- 
 ibility of the episcopate under its visible head have 
 abundantly sufficed to keep the Church from error. 
 
 Contrariwise, the extraordinary privilege of invid- 
 ual infallibility was a morally imperative necessity as 
 regards the twelve very first introducers of Christian- 
 ity to the world. For, had the very first seed sown 
 into the virgin soil of the Church been the cockle of 
 false doctrine, error would have claimed the right of 
 the first occupant, and the resultant evil had been ir- 
 remediable by reason of the boundless faith reposed in 
 the Apostles. No subsequent missionary efforts could 
 have repaired the harm done. Nay, such efforts would 
 have been repulsed with scorn by the disciples of the 
 Apostles, who would have plausibly replied : "We would 
 rather believe the Apostles, sent directly by the Saviour 
 in person, than strangers and innovators." 
 
 Thus it would have come to pass that, the vaster 
 the prestige of the Apostles, the more invincible the 
 tenacity of their followers to cling to the Apostolic 
 errors preached to them from the very start. 
 
150 Peter's Name; 
 
 NOTE XXIII 
 
 Comparative Church-powers of Christ and of Peter 
 
 (First) The threefold power of Christ as King, 
 Prophet, and Priest, belongs to Him by right of nature 
 and of absolute domain over all creation; whilst it be- 
 longs to Peter by grace of participation only, and 
 through the infinite mercy of the Saviour. 
 
 (Second) The universality of Christ's threefold 
 power is absolute and infinite; whilst the universality, 
 or rather the plenitude, of Peter's power is merely re- 
 lative, i. e. it covers the entire sphere allotted to the 
 whole Church but that sphere itself is limited, as we 
 shall proceed to show. 
 
 (1) Christ's Kingship is infinite. Peter's authority 
 is circumscribed by the law of God and by the consti- 
 tution of the Church as determined by her Lord and 
 Master. Consequently, (a) Peter, or the Pope, cannot 
 change the form of Church government v. g. substi- 
 tute autocracy for the Divine monarchy established by 
 our Lord; (b) he cannot alter the order of the hier- 
 archy v. g. substitute priests or laymen for bishops 
 in the ordinary and permanent administration of the 
 Church; (c) he cannot create a new Church; (d) he 
 cannot abrogate the existent Church, as Christ did the 
 Synagogue. 
 
 (2) Christ's infallibility as Prophet or Teacher is 
 absolute and infinite, not limited to questidns of Faith 
 and morals ; it is inseparable from his Person and from 
 his every act and utterance. 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 151 
 
 Peter's infallibility is limited to the public exercise 
 of his office and is circumscribed by the deposit of Re- 
 velation, i. e. by both the written and the unwritten 
 Word of God, by Holy Writ and by Divine tradition. 
 
 Consequently, (a) the pope cannot reveal new 
 truths, (b) he cannot affix a new meaning to the Word 
 of God; (c) he cannot set aside the New Testament 
 or Divine tradition, or replace the law of Christ by a 
 new law of his own device. 
 
 Besides, he may err as a private individual, and is 
 infallible only as a public person teaching officially the 
 whole Church in matters of Faith (Matt. 28. 19. etc.), 
 and of morals (Matt. 16. 15 etc.) i. e. as to what 
 God requires us to believe and to do to be acceptable to 
 his divine Majesty. 
 
 (3) Christ's power as the High Priest of the Most 
 High is causative and infinite. 
 
 Peter's sacerdotal power is not causative but in- 
 strumental, and is circumscribed by the seven Sacra- 
 ments, or channels of grace, instituted by our Lord. 
 
 Consequently, (a) Peter, or the pope, cannot add 
 to the number of the sacraments; (b) he cannot sub- 
 tract therefrom; (c) he cannot alter their form; (d) 
 he cannot change the matter thereof; (e) he cannot 
 change their nature, v. g. turn the sacraments of the 
 living into sacraments of the dead, and vice versa; 
 (f) he cannot modify their character, whether delible 
 or indelible; (g) still less can he abolish them, or any 
 of them, altogether. 
 
 But Christ could at will effect the above and count- 
 less other additions, subtractions, or changes or sup- 
 press all the sacraments without exception, by enabling 
 
152 Peter's Name; 
 
 human nature to do away with its inborn need of, and 
 craving for, a sacramental system. 
 
 Falsely therefore is the Church accused of putting 
 Peter above our Lord Himself. On the contrary, she 
 declares Peter infinitely beneath the Master, not only 
 as priest and prophet and king, but particularly as the 
 foundation of the Church. When non-Catholics charge 
 the Church with substituting Peter for Christ as the 
 Rock whereon she is built, they know not whereof 
 they speak and ignore her most notorious doctrine, 
 which the sweet genius of St. Francis de Sales sum- 
 marises with forceful lucidity. 
 
 We transpose and arrange the various paragraphs 
 and sentences of our quotation from the Saint, so as 
 to present a parallel tableau of the prerogatives of 
 Christ and Peter -grwU their office as Foundation of 
 the Church. 
 
 First difference : our Lord is Foundation and Foun- 
 der; St. Peter is foundation, not founder. 
 
 Second difference: Christ is the Foundation with- 
 out other foundation ; Peter is foundation, but founded 
 on another Foundation, which is our blessed Lord 
 Himself. 
 
 Third difference: Christ is the Foundation of the 
 Natural, Mosaic, and Evangelic Church; Peter is the 
 foundation of the Evangelic Church alone. 
 
 Fourth difference: Christ is Foundation perpetual 
 and immortal; Peter is foundation subject to suc- 
 cession. 
 
 Fifth difference: Christ is Foundation of the Mili- 
 tant and Triumphant Church; Peter is foundation of 
 the Militant not of the Triumphant Church. 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 153 
 
 Sixth difference : Christ is Foundation by His own 
 nature; Peter is foundation by participation minis- 
 terial, not absolute foundation in short, administrator, 
 not Lord. 
 
 Seventh difference : Christ is the Foundation of our 
 faith, hope and charity and of the efficacy of the 
 sacraments. Peter is in no way the foundation of our 
 faith, hope, and charity nor of the efficacy of the 
 Sacraments. (St. Francis de Sales: Cath. Contro- 
 versy, Eng. tr., p. 246.) 
 
154 Peter's Name; 
 
 NOTE XXIV 
 
 The alternative: either Peter or atheism 
 
 The ablest thinkers in the allied camps of Ration- 
 alism and Protestantism frankly acknowledge that 
 whoever can delve deep down to the very bedrock of 
 the Religious question must face, at the bottom of 
 it all, the following alternative : either there is no Di- 
 vine revelation, or the Catholic Church, the Church 
 of Peter, is in possession of it. 
 
 In four brief words : either Peter or atheism. 
 
 The argument is without a flaw. 
 
 They say : a revelation intrusted to/depository liable 
 to falsify or misapprehend, or mistranslate, its meaning 
 would be of no practical use, and therefore un- 
 worthy the infinite wisdom of a Divine revelator. 
 
 Consequently, either there is no Revelation at all, 
 or it has been intrusted to a medium of infallible reli- 
 ability i. e. to an infallible interpreter. 
 
 But the Catholic Church alone claims to be such 
 an infallible interpreter of Revelation. Therefore, if 
 the Catholic Church is false, there is no divine Revela- 
 tion; and if there is no divine Revelation there is no 
 Providence caring for and watching over the welfare 
 of man; and if there is no Providence there is no 
 God. 
 
 For, if the unsilenceable clamor of the soul for a 
 Divine positive reply to the Whence and the Whether 
 and the Wherefore must remain without a Divine 
 positive assurance, which assurance alone can make 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 155 
 
 life worth living then there is no Providence; and 
 if there is no Providence there is no God, i. e. no 
 Supremely Good Being overruling the destinies of 
 mankind. So that, in the last analysis, as acknowledged 
 nowadays by thinking Rationalists and Protestants, if 
 Catholicity is not a Divine religion or revelation, then 
 there is no Revelation whatsoever. If there is no 
 Revelation there is no Providence; if there is no 
 Providence there is no God. 
 
 We recapitulate the substance of the argument 
 used by Protestant and rationalist thinkers: No Cath- 
 olicity, logically means no Revelation. No Revelation, 
 logically means no Providence. No Providence, logic- 
 ally means no God. 
 
 Therefore, no Catholicity, logically means Atheism. 
 
 Therefore, human reason, in its ultimate findings, 
 is confronted with this alternative: either Catholicism 
 or atheism. Either Peter, the Rock or intellectual, 
 moral and social anarchy, ending in Despair. 
 
 The subtlest genius England ever produced, John 
 Henry Newman, had already, even before joining the 
 Catholic Church, reached this inexorable conclusion 
 which is gradually burning its inexorable logic into the 
 acutest minds of the age, and is visibly beginning to 
 divide the civilized world, on the subject of Religion, 
 into two distinct camps, and two only viz., Catholics 
 and Atheists. 
 
 The famous author of "Is Life Worth Living," 
 W. H. Mallock, writes : 
 
 "The reality of supernatural religion being granted, 
 the Roman Church alone of all the churches gives to 
 
156 Peter's Name; 
 
 such a Religion a logical and ^gmafl^coherent form." 
 (Mallock's reply to Father Fallon's note of inquiry, 
 dated January 23, 1899.) 
 
 Put in syllogistic form, Mr. Mallock's argument 
 is as follows: 
 
 If there exists a "supernatural religion," it must 
 necessarily be embodied in a rational or "logical form" 
 worthy of such a supernatural boon; but its only 
 "logical form" is "the Roman Church alone of all the 
 churches" therefore, outside "the Roman Church," 
 there is no supernatural religion, no Divine revelation. 
 
 The admission of a very influential Protestant 
 journal, the Christian Register, is still more emphatic: 
 It begins by asking, "Is any religion given by divine 
 revelation and supernatural authority? If so, which 
 Religion has been so given, what are its credentials 
 and what is its authority?" 
 
 The crucial query is answered in the following 
 pithy sentence: "When it comes to the final test 
 there is no escape from the most extreme position of 
 the Catholic Church or a total rejection of it." 
 
 That is to say : either there is no revealed Religion, 
 or that Religion, says the Register, must be "the 
 Catholic Church" since, says the same witness, it 
 must be both infallible and sovereign, and the Catholic 
 Church alone of all the churches claims to be in- 
 fallible in her teaching and sovereign in her authority. 
 
 "Revealed Religion," says the Register, "is infallible 
 if God knows the truth and knows how to tell 
 it." Therefore, even according to the Register, to 
 deny the infallibility of revealed Religion is to blas- 
 pheme against the Omniscience and Wisdom of God 
 the Revealer. 
 
or, a Divine Credential in a Name 157 
 
 Of the sovereign authority inherent in such a Re- 
 vealed Religion, the Register writes: "A Religion 
 given by supernatural authority is not to be neglected 
 or resisted. It has the right to command the al- 
 ligiance of every human being. Outside of this Re- 
 ligion there is no truth that can be set over against 
 it, and beyond its jurisdiction no human being has 
 the right to live, or, living, to choose his own course 
 of action." (Quoted by the N. Y. Freeman's Journal, 
 March 29, 1902 Italics ours.) 
 
 The logical conclusion of the Protestant organ is 
 that, either there is no revealed Religion at all, or 
 "there is no escape from the most extreme position 
 of the Catholic Church." 
 
 Now, what Protestants and all non-Catholics regard 
 as "the most extreme position of the Catholic Church" 
 is her magisterial infallibility and her sovereign auth- 
 ority both summed up in Peter. 
 
 Therefore, according to non-Catholic thinkers, 
 "there is no escape" from Papal infallibility and sove- 
 eignty : either Peter or atheism. 
 
 The indefectibility of the Rock is the crowing 
 glory of its Creator, Jesus the Christ. 
 
 But does not papal infallibility, as well as papal 
 sovereignity, detract -from the honor due to God? 
 
 Not a tittle more than the divine foresight of the 
 Prophets or the inspiration of the sacred writers of 
 the Word of God. 
 
 The reverse is the truth. 
 
 All those miraculous gifts prophecy, inspiration, 
 infallibility etc. add immeasurably to the external 
 
158 Peter's Name; 
 
 glory of God. For, the more intensively and extensively 
 does the Creator reflect His attributes in His creature, 
 the more beautifully is He Himself honored, exalted, 
 and glorified in His own works. 
 
 They do not understand the a, b, c of the redemp- 
 tive Plan of God who have yet to learn that the Re- 
 deemer's aim is to restore and honor the erstwhile 
 degraded prey of Satan and his hosts, viz., poor fallen 
 man and the entire lower creation, affected by the 
 original fall. Hence God's particular delight in loading 
 man with honors divine, and in partly raising His 
 lower creation itself to the supernatural order by 
 using it in the sacraments and in the sacramentals 
 of His Church v. g. water, wine, olive oil, balsam, 
 incense, wheaten bread, salt, beeswax, the snow-white 
 fleece of spotless lambs, altar-stones, cedar or other 
 wood used in the construction of her tabernacles and 
 of her temples, etc. etc. 
 
 This is but an earnest of the full and glorious 
 restoration that awaits man and all the lower kingdoms 
 of nature at the expiration of the Christian Cycle of 
 Time a restoration for which St. Paul assures us 
 "the whole creation groaneth" : Ro. 8. 22. 
 
 Nor must it be forgotten that all those divine gifts, 
 offices, prerogatives prophecy, inspiration, infallibility, 
 divine authority, etc. are not vouchsafed for the mere 
 glorification of their recipients but for the benefit of 
 all mankind. They are the means to an end. Now, 
 the end is greater than the means and is within the 
 reach of all men, to wit: that they become, here be- 
 low, really "partakers of the Divine nature" (2 Pet. 
 1.4) men-gods as Christ is God-man that they be 
 raised to a higher order of creatures, a strictly divine 
 
or^ a Divine Credential in a Name 159 
 
 order of being as far above human nature as the 
 human is above the brute creation. 
 
 Such a deified state, open as it is to all "men of 
 good will" (Luke 2. 14), is intrinsically above 
 all the offices and the sacraments used as means 
 thereunto not excepting the sacramental power of 
 consecration; for this may be exercised by one in a 
 state of sin, whilst, on the other hand, the Godhead so 
 dwells in man deified by sanctifying grace that God 
 and the human soul really draw the same Breath of 
 Divine life breathing simultaneously out of the same 
 Breath namely, the Adorable Breath of God known 
 and adored as the thrice Holy Spirit. 
 
 It is, then, in perfect keeping with the Divine 
 Plan that the selfsame God who willed that we all, 
 without exception, "should be called and should be 
 verily the sons of God" (i John 3. i) for the greater 
 glory of God and of man it is, we repeat, in perfect- 
 keeping with the Plan of God Incarnate that He should 
 also will to exercise His own Priesthood through the 
 ministry of man, and should likewise will to exercise 
 His Headship over His Body through the same human 
 agency. 
 
 Thus God Incarnate who, for our sake, delegated 
 to His. Apostles His own power to forgive sin (John 
 20. 23), has likewise, out of love for us all, delegated 
 to Peter in so far as He made him the Rock by 
 grace and participation His own indefectibility as the 
 eternal and divine Rock by nature. 
 
 Thus it is that papal infallibility, as well as papal 
 sovereignty, redounds to the eternal glory of God and 
 to the greatest honor and welfare of mankind. 
 
i6o 
 
 Conclusion 
 
 In this and in a previous work, we have seen that 
 Peter's divine name is his Divine credential, by reason 
 of its divine bestowal, import, and treatment in Holy 
 Writ. 
 
 Now, this Divine credential and title of office oc- 
 curs one hundred and sixty six times in the New Testa- 
 ment. And oh how eloquently do these 166 iterations 
 of the Petrine name speak to the eye and to the ear ! 
 
 To the eye of the faithful reader, they show forth 
 one hundred and sixty-six Christ-signed proclamations 
 of the Petrine office signed and written by the hand 
 of God on as many plates of gold, and adorning 
 the length and height and breadth of the inner and 
 outer walls of the scriptural Temple. 
 
 To the ear of the faithful hearer, these 166 itera- 
 tions of the Petrine name sound like one hundred 
 and sixty-six silver trumpets encircling the dome of 
 the grand Temple, and blown by the mouth of the 
 Angel of the Covenant, and thrilling all the stones of 
 the Temple, with the "Tu es Petrus" intoned by the 
 Saviour, nineteen centuries ago. 
 
 J H V H 
 
 Impri-m i po test : 
 A. Heuchemer, V. G. 
 
 January 18 A. D. 1909 
 
 San Antonio, Texas 
 
00164