the other for the Gentiles; Peter never received any exclusive supremacy over all Christendom; the only chief of the Church was, is, and ever shall be, Jesus Christ himself. Let us carefully observe these words of St. Chrysostom, "I do not say this of myself," which signifies: this is not a mere personal opinion; it is a truth which the Holy Ghost has taught us by the Apostle Paul.
St. John Chrysostom has not recognized in the Church any dignity superior to the apostolate in general.
"Of all spiritual magistratures," says he, "the greatest is the apostolate. How do we know this? Because the apostle precedes all others. As the consul is the first of civil magistrates, so is the apostle the first of spiritual magistrates. St. Paul himself, when he enumerates these dignities, places at their head the prerogatives of the apostolate. What does he say? 'And God has set some in the church; first, apostles; secondarily, prophets; thirdly, teachers.' Do you observe the summit of these dignities? Do you mark that the apostle is at the apex of the hierarchy — no one before, none above him. For he says: 'First, apostles.' And not only is the apostolate the first of all dignities, but also the root and foundation thereof."[1]
St. Chrysostom recognized no supremacy in the apostolate. Had he believed that Christ had set one of the Apostles above the rest to be his representative on earth and the visible chief of his Church, he certainly would have said so, for manifestly then or never was the time to speak of it.
We can now appreciate the audacity which the Romish theologians display in asserting that according to St. Chrysostom, the authority of Peter was the most fundamental and essential thing in the organization of the hierarchy, which the Church has received from Christ. The great and holy Patriarch is his own de-
- ↑ Homily upon the Utility of Reading Holy Scripture.
