Crises in the History of the Papacy: A study of twenty famous popes whose careers and whose influence were important in the development of the church and in the history of the world — John Shaqi
Crises in the History of the Papacy: A study of twenty famous popes whose careers and whose influence were important in the development of the church and in the history of the worldMcCabe, Joseph
History
Crises in the History of the Papacy: A study of twenty famous popes whose careers and whose influence were important in the development of the church and in the history of the world
McCabe, Joseph
Catholic Church -- History; Papacy -- History
Of the earlier bishops, Linus and Anacletus (or Anencletus), we know
only the names.[15] Then a faint light is thrown on the metropolitan
Church by the letter of Clement, its third Bishop. We find an ordered
community, with bishop, priests, and deacons; perhaps we conceive it
more accurately if we say, with overseer, elders, and servants. Then
the mists thicken again and a line of undistinguished names is all that
we can discern until the consecration of Bishop Victor in the year 189.
One would like to know more about Bishop Victor. He seems to have been
the first Pope, in the familiar sense of the word. "Pope" was, we
know, a common title of bishops until the sixth century, but Victor
is one of the makers of a distinctive Papacy. We shall, presently,
find Tertullian speaking, with his heaviest irony, of "the bishop of
bishops, the supreme pontiff," and, although he is probably referring
to Callistus, he is echoing the words of some other bishop. History
points to Victor, who peremptorily cut off the Eastern churches from
communion because they would not celebrate Easter when he did. They
were not much concerned, but Victor's premature assertion of leadership
marks the beginning of the Papacy.
The Roman Church was wealthier than those of the East, or had a few
wealthy members in the city. It sent sums of money to more needy
communities and received flattering requests for advice. It was,
however, singularly lacking in intellectual distinction, and it
produced no scholar to refute the subtle Gnostics and fiery Montanists
who came to it. The waves of heresy which raged over the East broke
harmlessly on the Italian shore of Christendom. One must not imagine
that it was isolated from the East by difference of tongue. Until the
end of the third century, it was wholly Greek: more isolated from Rome
than from Corinth. Nor is it less inaccurate to say that the Latins
were more interested in administration than in speculation. There is
little trace of organization until the days of Callistus. One is more
disposed to conceive the Roman Church shivering in poverty amid the
wealth and culture of the metropolis. The disdainful language of the
intellectuals and the wonderful success of Stoicism in the second
century excluded it from the educated world; while its secrecy, its
stern abstinence from games and festivals, its scorn of the gods, and
the shadow of deadly illegality which brooded over it, made it less
successful in appealing to the people than the other Eastern religions.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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