A reader who is debating the topic of the primacy of Peter with an evangelical pastor has sent me a question regarding St. Augustine’s position on his interpretation of Matthew 16:18. On a Protestant blog that he found, for example, some quotations from the bishop of Hippo are reproduced in order to suggest that, since he believed the rock upon which the Church is built is Faith and not Peter himself, this somehow implies a rejection of the Petrine primacy.
I have already treated this topic briefly in another post: Matthew 16:18, the Primacy of Peter and the Fathers of the Church; here I am going to complement what I wrote there.
First: It is true that St. Augustine maintained on various occasions that the rock upon which the Church is built was not Peter, but rather faith that Christ is the Son of God. Although it is common to find that the Fathers of the Church regarded both interpretations as complementary and not mutually exclusive, St. Augustine has some texts where he seems to view them as exclusive and inclines either toward one or toward the other. A more detailed analysis of those texts further reveals that he used both interpretations interchangeably, even within the same period, which complicates the question.
Among some texts where the rock upon which the Church is built appears are: Sermon 147,3; 270,6; 295,2; Commentary on the Psalm 60,3; Tractates on the Gospel of St. John 124,5.
Some where he adheres to the traditional Catholic interpretation that Peter is the Rock: Letter 53,2; On Baptism, Against the Donatists VII 43,85; Tractates on the Gospel of St. John 11,5; Commentaries on the Psalms 103 II s.3.2; 30 II s.2,5; 39,25; 55,15; 63,4.
The matter is clarified by the fact that in St. Augustine’s thought the idea predominates that Peter symbolizes the Church and its unity because of the primacy he held among the apostles. Among others, the following texts may be seen: Sermons 75,10; 76; 137,3; 149,7; 244,1; 270,2; 295,1.2.4; Commentaries on the Psalms 103 III 2; 108,1; Tractates on the Gospel of St. John 7,14; 50,12; 118,4; 124,5.
But what is ultimately relevant is that in his last pronouncement on this matter, in his Retractations (I 21,1), he mentions these two opinions without inclining toward one over the other, and ends by leaving it to the reader to choose whichever seems most correct.
“Here I said somewhere, ‘with regard to the apostle Peter, that in him as in the rock the Church is founded,’ a sense that many sing with the verses of the most blessed Ambrose, when he says of the crowing of the cock: ‘When the cock crows, / he, rock of the Church, / weeps for his sin.’ But I recall having afterward expounded very many times that saying of the Lord: Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, in such a way that it should be understood of him whom Peter confessed when he said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God, as though Peter, so named from that rock, represented the person of the Church, which is built upon that rock, and which received the keys of the kingdom of heaven. For it was not said to him: Thou art the rock, but Thou art Peter. Since the rock was Christ, whom Simon confessed, just as the whole Church confesses him, and he was called Peter. Of these two opinions, let the reader choose the more probable one.”
Augustine of Hippo, Retractations, I, 21, 1
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XL, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMXCV, p. 723-724
Second: It must be noted that, in order to understand St. Augustine’s position regarding the primacy of Peter, one must not limit oneself only to the texts where he comments on Matthew 16:18, but to all of them taken together, where he speaks clearly of Peter’s princedom among the apostles, an idea repeated in On Baptism, Against the Donatists II 1,2, and Against Julian I 4,13. For him, the very see of Peter, Rome, is the guarantee of the apostolicity and truth of the Church of Christ (Against the Fundamental Epistle of the Manichaeans 4,5; Letter 53,2; 43,3,7). He also acknowledges that its authority is definitive (Sermon 131,10). A work in which the theme is treated at length is A. Trapè, La Sedes Petri in S. Agostino, in Miscellanea A. Piolanti II, Lateranum, Nova Series, an. XXX (Rome 1964).
Therefore, to separate oneself from the See of Peter is, for him, to separate oneself from the Church; and for this reason he affirms that the Donatists (schismatics of the time) have no cathedra, because they have separated themselves from that of Peter, “in qua una cathedra unitas ab omnibus servaretur”; nor do they possess the “Angel” of baptism, joined also to other authentic cathedrae; nor do they have the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of charity; nor the fountain of living water, nor the seal of sanctification (Sancti Optati Afri Milevitani episcopi de schísmate donatistarum libri septem. I. III, cc. 6-8. Ed. Hurter: Sanctorum Patrum opuscula selecta, X Oeniponti, 1870). St. Augustine’s position in this regard was not unique but shared by all of Christendom, since a rupture with the local church united to that of Rome was always considered a rupture with the universal Church, as the Councils of Elvira (year 306, can.53), Arles (year 314, can.16), Nicaea (year 325, can.5), Antioch (year 341, can.5-6), and Sardica (year 343, can.13) sanction (Mansi, 2,14; 2,473; 2,669-670; 2,1309-1312; 3,16-17).
Finally: To complement, here are some quotations from St. Augustine when he comments on Matthew 16:18 or refers to the Primacy of Peter:
“Many were the apostles, and yet to one alone it is said: Feed my sheep. Far be it from us to say that good shepherds are now lacking; far be it from us that they should be lacking, far from his mercy that he should not produce and establish them for us! Indeed, if there are good sheep, there are also good shepherds, for from good sheep come good shepherds. But all the good shepherds are in one, they are one single thing. When they feed, it is Christ who feeds. The friends of the bridegroom do not say that it is their own voice, but they rejoice in the voice of the bridegroom. Therefore it is he himself who feeds when they feed. He says: It is I who feed; for in them is found his voice, in them his charity. To Peter himself, to whom he entrusted his sheep, as though he were his ‘alter ego,’ he wished to make one single thing with himself, so as in this way to entrust the sheep to him. For thus he would be the head and would maintain the figure of the body, that is, of the Church”
St. Augustine, Sermon 46,30
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. VII, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXXXI, p. 647
“If we are going to consider the order of the bishops who succeed one another, we shall begin to count more surely and more advisedly from Peter, the figure of the whole Church, to whom the Lord said: Upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Peter was succeeded by Linus, Clement, Anacletus, Evaristus, Sixtus, Telesphorus, Hyginus, Anicetus, Pius, Soter, Alexander, Victor, Zephyrinus, Callixtus, Urban, Pontian, Anterus, Fabian, Cornelius, Lucius, Stephen, Sixtus, Dionysius, Felix, Eutychian, Gaius, Marcellus, Eusebius, Melchiades, Sylvester, Mark, Julius, Liberius, Damasus, Siricius, Anastasius”
St. Augustine, Letter 53, To Generosus, 1,2-2
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. VIII, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXXXVI, p. 330-331
“Peter, prince of the apostles”
St. Augustine, Letter 75, Jerome to Augustine, 3,6
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. VIII, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXXXVI, p. 455
“That same confession, made much later by Peter, merited that he should call him blessed and give him the keys of the kingdom of heaven”
St. Augustine, On Various Questions to Simplician, I,2,14
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. IX, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLII, p. 101
“Peter the apostle is a type of the one Church. This Peter, first in the choir of the Apostles, ever ready in the love of Christ, frequently answers alone in the name of all. Indeed, when the Lord Jesus Christ asked who people said that he was, and the disciples gathered various opinions of men, the Lord asked again, saying: And you, who do you say that I am? Peter answered: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. One gave the answer for many, unity in the multitude. Then the Lord said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona, because flesh and blood have not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. Then he added: And I say to thee, as though he were saying: since thou hast said to me: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God, I also say to thee: Thou art Peter. For before he was called Simon; that name, by which we call him Peter, was imposed on him by the Lord, and this so that in figure it might signify the Church. If Christ is the rock, Peter is the Christian people. Rock is the principal name; that is why Peter comes from rock, not rock from Peter, just as Christ does not come from Christian, but the Christian is so called by reason of Christ. That is why he said: Thou art Peter, and upon this rock, which thou hast confessed, upon this rock, which thou hast come to know when saying: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God, I will build my Church; that is, upon myself, the very Son of the living God, I will build my Church. Upon myself I will build thee, I will not build myself upon thee. Since men did not want to build upon men, they said: I am of Paul, I of Apollo, I of Cephas, that is, Peter. And others, who did not want to be built upon Peter but upon the rock, said: I am of Christ. When the apostle Paul saw that he was being chosen and Christ set aside, he said: Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? If you were not baptized in the name of Paul, neither in that of Peter, but in that of Christ; so that Peter might be built upon the rock, not the rock upon Peter. Peter was so named from the rock, representing the role of the Church, maintaining the primacy of the apostolate”
St. Augustine, Sermon 76, Peter Walks upon the Waters, 1-3
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. X, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXXXIII, p. 392-393
“In a single apostle, in Peter, first and foremost in the order of the Apostles and one who represented the Church, it was necessary to signify the two groups, that is, the strong and the weak; for without both there is no Church”
St. Augustine, Sermon 76, Peter Walks upon the Waters, 4
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. X, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXXXIII, p. 395
“Not without cause does Peter stand for the Catholic Church among all the apostles. To this Church were given the keys of the kingdom of heaven when they were given to Peter.”
St. Augustine, The Christian Combat, c.30
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XII, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLIV, p. 521
“And he leads him to Jesus. Jesus fixes his gaze upon him and says to him: Thou art Simon, son of John, and thou shalt be called Cephas, which means Peter. It is no great thing that the Lord should say whose son this man is. What is great for the Lord? He knew the names of all the saints whom he predestined before the existence of the world; and does it cause you wonder that he should say to a man: Thou art the son of so-and-so and thou shalt bear such a name? Is it a great thing to change his name and from Simon to make Peter? Peter comes from rock, and the rock is the Church. The name of Peter is, then, a figure of the Church. Who is the one who is secure but he who builds upon rock?”
St. Augustine, On the Gospel of St. John, 7,14
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XIII, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLV, p. 235
“For, if he had earlier borne the name of Peter, your charity would not have understood the mystery of the rock and would have believed that he was called so by chance, not by the providence of God. He willed, therefore, that he should earlier bear a different name, so that, by the very substitution of the name, the meaning of the sacrament might stand out more.”
St. Augustine, On the Gospel of St. John, 7,14
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XIII, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLV, p. 237
“When, then, he had said to his disciples: Do you perhaps also wish to go away?, Peter, that rock, answered in the name of all: Lord! to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.”
St. Augustine, On the Gospel of St. John, 11,5
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XIII, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLV, p. 319
“Peter answers, in the name of all, one for many, unity for universality.”
St. Augustine, On the Gospel of St. John, 27,9
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XIII, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLV, p. 687
“For, if the Church were not represented in Peter, the Lord would not have said to him: To thee I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. If this was said only to Peter, the Church cannot do it. But if this is done in the Church, so that what is bound on earth is bound in heaven, and what is loosed on earth is loosed in heaven; because, when the Church excommunicates, in heaven the excommunicated one remains bound, and when the Church reconciles him, heaven looses the reconciled one; if, then, this is done in the Church, it is because Peter, when he received the keys, represented the Church… If you are good, if you belong to the body signified by Peter, you have Christ in the present time and in the future”
St. Augustine, On the Gospel of St. John, 50,12
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XIV, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXV, p. 205
“For who does not know that the most blessed Peter was the first of the apostles?”
St. Augustine, On the Gospel of St. John, 56,1
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XIV, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXV, p. 255-256
“And thus, the first of them, Peter”
St. Augustine, On the Gospel of St. John, 96,1
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XIV, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXV, p. 434
“Of this Church, by the primacy of his apostolate, Peter bore the representation in its whole universality. As for his personal properties, by nature he was a man, by grace a Christian, by a greater grace an apostle, and the first of them; but when it was said to him: To thee I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven, he represented the whole Church, which in this mortal life is buffeted by various temptations, like rains, rivers, and storms, yet does not fall, because it is founded upon a firm rock, from which comes the name of Peter. For the rock is not derived from Peter, but Peter from the rock, just as Christ does not come from Christian, but Christian from Christ. That is why the Lord says: Upon this rock I will build my Church; for Peter had said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. Upon this rock which he confessed, I will build my Church. The rock was Christ, and upon that foundation Peter too was built. No one can lay another foundation than the one that is laid, which is Christ Jesus. And thus the Church, founded upon Christ, received from him, in the person of Peter, the keys of the kingdom of heaven, that is, the power to bind and to loose sins. What the Church properly is in Christ, that is figuratively Peter in the rock; and in this figure, Christ is the rock, and Peter is the Church”
St. Augustine, On the Gospel of St. John, 124,5
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XIV, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXV, p. 635-636
“Peter, the first of the apostles, received the keys of the kingdom of heaven to bind and loose the sins of all the just who belong inseparably to the body of Christ, in order to hold the helm of this tempestuous life.”
St. Augustine, On the Gospel of St. John, 124,7
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XIV, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXV, p. 640
“See how he rewarded the true, pious, and faith-filled confession: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. On the contrary, a little later, when the Lord began to speak of his passion, Peter, fearing that he might perish by dying—though we would have perished had he not died—says: Do not think such a thing, O Lord!; this shall not happen. But the Lord answered the one to whom, a little before, he had said: Blessed art thou (Peter); and: Upon this rock I will build my Church; Get thee behind me, Satan; thou art my stumbling block. Why, then, does he now call Satan the one whom a little before he called blessed and rock? Because you do not savor the things of God, but those of man. A little before he savored the things of God (for it was said to him): Because flesh and blood have not revealed it to thee, but my Father, who is in heaven.”
St. Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms 55,15
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XX, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXV, p. 384
“The Savior speaking of his passion, by which we were saved—and, had he not suffered it, we would not have been—Peter, who a little before had confessed that Christ was the Son of God, and who in that confession was called Rock, upon which the Church would be built, says to the Lord, who spoke a little after this confession about his passion: There is no such thing, Lord; may God be favorable to thee; this shall not happen. A little before, the Lord says to him: Blessed art thou, Simon, son of Jonah, because flesh and blood have not revealed it to thee, but my Father, who is in heaven; and now at once he says to him: Get thee behind me, Satan. What does Get thee behind me, Satan mean? Follow me.”
St. Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms, 55,15
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XX, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXV, p. 807
“For just as many things are said that seem to refer properly to the apostle Saint Peter, and yet would not be perfectly understood unless they referred to the Church, which he is acknowledged to represent figuratively by the primacy he had over the disciples, according as it is said: To thee I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven”
St. Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms, 108,1
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XXI, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXVI, p. 108
“The apostle Saint Peter personified the Church”
St. Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms, 108,18
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XXI, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXVI, p. 912
“The word of truth was by no means taken from the mouth of Peter, who represented the Church; for although, troubled by fear, he denied for a moment, nevertheless he recovered himself by weeping; and, by confessing, he was afterward crowned.”
St. Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms, 118, XIII, 3
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XXII, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXVII, p. 83-84
“Indeed, to Peter, the one in whom alone he shapes the Church [Dicit enim Petro, in quo uno format Ecclesiam], he says: Peter, do you love me? He answered: ‘Lord, I love you.’ Feed my sheep.” St. Augustine, Sermon 137,3 Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XXIII, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXXXIII, p.232
“In the single person of Peter the unity of all shepherds is symbolized; let this be understood of the good ones, who feed the sheep of Christ not for themselves, but for Christ.”
St. Augustine, Sermon 147,2
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XXIII, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXXXIII, p.333
“In many places of the Scriptures Peter appears symbolizing the Church, above all where it is said: I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven. Did Peter receive these keys and Paul not receive them? Did Peter receive them and John, James, and the rest of the apostles not receive them? Or are these not the keys by which sins are daily forgiven in the Church? Since Peter signified the Church, what was granted to him alone was granted to the Church. Therefore, Peter signified the Church, the Church which is the Body of Christ”
St. Augustine, Sermon 149,7
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XXIII, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXXXIII, p.350-351
“A little later, the Lord, in that same place, after those words with which he approved Peter’s faith and showed that that faith was the rock”
St. Augustine, Sermon 183,14
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XXIII, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXXXIII, p.824
“For what was Peter but a figure of the Church? Thus, when the Lord questioned Peter, he was questioning us, he was questioning the Church. So that you may realize that Peter was a figure of the Church, recall that passage of the Gospel: Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it; I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. It is one man alone who receives them. What the keys of the kingdom of heaven are, he himself indicated: Whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven also, and whatsoever you loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven. If this was said to Peter alone, only Peter carried it out; once he is dead or has departed, who binds, who looses? I dare to say that we too possess these keys.”
St. Augustine, Sermon 229 N, 2
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XXIV, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXXXIII, p.363
“Recall that, when Jesus himself asked his disciples: Who do men say that the Son of man is?, they answered with the various opinions: Some say, they said, that thou art Elijah, others that thou art John the Baptist, others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. These were the words of outsiders, not those of the disciples. Behold, the disciples are now to answer the same question. Now, who do you say that I am? You have presented me the opinions of others; I want to hear what you believe. Then Peter says, one for all, since he is the unity among all: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. No longer any one of the prophets, but the Son of the living God, the fulfillment of the prophets and the creator of the angels: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. Peter heard what was for him an honor to hear from that voice: Blessed art thou, Simon, son of John, because flesh and blood have not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven. Faith, not the man, merited to hear these words.”
St. Augustine, Sermon 232,3
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XXIV, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXXXIII, p. 400-401
“Peter had already said to him: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God, and had heard from his mouth: Blessed art thou, Simon, son of John, because flesh and blood have not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. That faith vanished once Christ was crucified. Peter believed in him as the Son of God only until he saw him hanging on the wood, fastened with nails, dead and buried. Then he lost the faith he possessed. Where is the rock? Where the solidity of the rock? The rock was Christ himself, while he was Peter, a name derived from the rock. For this the rock rose again: to strengthen Peter; for, had the rock not lived, Peter would have perished.”
St. Augustine, Sermon 244,1
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XXIV, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXXXIII, p. 493-494
“[Jesus] asks them: And you, who do you say that I am? And Peter, he alone in the name of the others, one for all, said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. What a magnificent and most true answer! In consideration of it he merited to hear: Blessed art thou, Simon, son of John, because flesh and blood have not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. Since thou hast said to me, I say to thee; thou didst say before, hear now; thou didst proclaim thy confession, receive the blessing. Thus, then, I also say to thee: ‘Thou art Peter’; since I am the rock, thou art Peter, for ‘rock’ does not come from Peter, but Peter from ‘rock,’ as ‘Christian’ from Christ, and not Christ from ‘Christian.’ And upon this rock I will build my Church; not upon Peter, which is you, but upon the rock which you have confessed. I will build my Church: I will build you, who by answering thus have become a figure of the Church”
St. Augustine, Sermon 270,2
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XXIV, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXXXIII, p. 751
“One is the blessed Peter, the first of the apostles, impetuous lover of Christ, who merited to hear: And I say to thee that thou art Peter. He had said to him: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. Christ replied to him: ‘And I say to thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church. Upon this rock I will build the faith that thou hast just confessed. Upon what thou hast just said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God, I will build my Church. Thou art, then, Peter.’ Peter comes from ‘rock,’ not ‘rock’ from Peter. Peter comes from ‘rock,’ as ‘Christian’ from Christ.”
St. Augustine, Sermon 295,1
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XXV, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXXXIV, p. 257
“These keys were not received by a single man, but by the unity of the Church. For this reason the excellence of Peter is proclaimed, because he was a figure of the universality and unity of that same Church when it was said to him: I will give thee, which in reality was given to all. So that you may see that it is the Church that received the keys of the kingdom of heaven, listen to what the Lord says in another place to all his apostles: Receive the Holy Spirit. And then: Whose sins you forgive shall be forgiven them, and whose sins you retain shall be retained. This refers to the power of the keys, of which it was said: Whatsoever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven, and whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. But the former was said only to Peter. To see that Peter then personified the whole Church, hear what is said to him, and in him to all the faithful saints…”
St. Augustine, Sermon 295,2
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XXV, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXXXIV, p. 258
“In Peter, then, appears all the strength of the Church”
St. Augustine, Sermon 295,3
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XXV, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXXXIV, p. 259
“With reason, then, the Lord, after his resurrection, entrusted to Peter himself the care of feeding his sheep. He was not, certainly, the only one among the disciples who merited to feed the sheep of the Lord; but, when Christ speaks to one alone, he is emphasizing unity; he spoke first to Peter, because he was the first of the apostles.”
St. Augustine, Sermon 295,4
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XXV, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXXXIV, p. 260
“The blessed Peter, the first of the apostles, lover of Jesus Christ the Lord and at the same time his denier”
St. Augustine, Sermon 296,1
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XXV, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXXXIV, p. 266
“Let us not listen to those who deny that the Church of God can forgive all sins. Those wretches, by failing to understand the rock in Peter and by refusing to believe that the keys of the kingdom of heaven have been given to the Church, have lost them in their own hands… If those Cathars were willing to acknowledge their name, they would call themselves worldlings” St. Augustine, The Christian Combat, 31,33 Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XXVI, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXXXV, p. 545
“Let us not listen to those who departed from unity and preferred to call themselves Luciferians rather than Catholics… For nowhere should the bowels of mercy reign as much as in the Catholic Church; as a true mother, she should not proudly insult her sinful children nor raise difficulties against the pardon of the repentant. Not without reason does Peter stand for the Catholic Church among all the apostles. To this Church were given the keys of the kingdom of heaven when they were given to Peter…”
St. Augustine, The Christian Combat, 30,32
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XXVI, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXXXV, p. 546
“And since the rock is an interpretation of the whole Church, it must be extended also to Peter, who for this reason received from the Lord the appellation of rock. The peak of the crag is the head of the Church.”
St. Augustine, Notes on the Book of Job, 30,32
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XXIX, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMXCII, p. 546
“Even setting aside, I repeat, this wisdom which you do not believe is found in the Catholic Church, there are many other things that justly hold me within her bosom. The consensus of peoples and nations holds me; her authority holds me, inaugurated with miracles, nourished with hope, increased with love, and established with antiquity. The succession of priests holds me, from the very chair of the apostle Peter, to whom the Lord, after his resurrection, entrusted the pasturing of his sheep, down to the present episcopate. Finally, the very name of ‘Catholic’ holds me, which not without reason this Church alone obtained amid so many heresies.”
St. Augustine, Reply to the Letter Called “of the Foundation”, 4
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XXX, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMLXXXVI, p. 389
“What has the chair of the Roman Church done to you, in which Peter sat, and in which Anastasius sits today?”
St. Augustine, Reply to the Letters of Petilian, Book II, 51,18
Complete Works of St. Augustine, Vol. XXXIII, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid MCMXC, p. 180
“It is true that schism is opposed to unity, but it is also opposed to the threefold full communion of faith, of sacraments, and of love, when it is maintained with pride and presumption, because then it manifestly resists Catholic doctrine with obstinacy, and one becomes a heretic; for a heretic is he who, proud and obstinate, rejects the rule of faith proposed by the Catholic Church in union with Peter”
Epist. 43 (year 397): 1; De baptismo (year 400-401): 4.
Author: José Miguel Arráiz
