Liberty University
The Rise of the Roman Catholic Papacy
A research paper submitted to Professor
Nathanael Schlomann
In Partial Fulfillment of the requirements For
CHHI301
Liberty University Online
By
Robert Ortiz Jr.
Lynchburg, Virginia
September 24, 2012
“And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon
this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. And I will give
unto thee 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.”[1] These words spoken by Jesus to Peter allege the foundation
of the Roman Catholic Papacy. Although there is not concrete evidence to this
fact, it has nonetheless been deemed so by early Bishops of Rome and used,
along with John 21:15-16[2], as the rationale for the authority and leadership of the
church.
That Peter exists is not the issue, that Jesus said these
words is not the issue; the issue is whether or not such credence can be given
to these words to the extent that they would provide “permission” to rule
spiritually, totally and unequivocally. A series of events would give such
credence to the church to take the helm in the space of power in Rome or else
true devastation would be imminent, but did it need to be the church? And was
what Jesus said to Peter proof enough to warrant total authority?
The power of the papacy was instituted gradually. As
mentioned in the introduction, the spiritual aspect of the papacy, that which
is believed to give the position its God given authority, is its ties to
apostolic lineage. The church at Rome believed that the words to Paul from
Jesus in Matthew 16:18 and John 21:15-16 were what allowed it to be involved
more readily than it had been previously giving it authority to impose its
views and direction on churches in areas other than where the western see was
situated. There are varying views to this thinking. Some scholars believe the
church at Rome was continuing the work of Paul as the example of
“shepherd-pastor,” while others do not accept the “Roman Catholic belief that the papacy is an absolutely essential element of the
church.”[3]
Rome was the capital of the empire and it was
uniquely positioned in that it held the only see in the West. Men such as
Ignatius and Irenaeus gave Rome a posture of loftiness because they claimed it
to be “imposing” and “presiding in love.”[4]
This afforded the bishopric in Rome a certain clout, Richard Bennett writes, “The respect enjoyed
by the various Christian elders in the second century was roughly proportionate
to the rank of the city in which they resided. At that time, Rome was the
largest, richest, most powerful city in the world, the queen of the Imperial
Roman Empire.”[5]
With that said,
bishops such as Clement I (c.
90–99), Victor I (c. 189–198) and Stephen I (c. 254–257) sought to involve the church in the affairs of
other churches performing acts such as settling disputes, forcing the
requirement of celebratory customs (Easter), and reinstating deposed bishops;
Carthage bishop Cyprian (d.
258) was not in agreement with some of these actions but he did consider Rome to
be the “principal church” and believed bishops needed to have spiritual union with Rome to be genuine.[6]
In 313 the Edict
of Milan allowed Christians more freedoms and ceased persecutions, this in turn
gave way to more and more Christians coming to Rome and would eventually lead
to “the institutional
development of the papacy.”[7]
Constantine’s decision to make Constantinople the hub of his empire allows for
greater notoriety for the church in the West. By 381 Christianity is now the
official religion of Rome and the papacy is already seen as “primatial
authority.” It is between the time of Damasus I and Leo I that “the popes
explicitly claimed that the bishop of Rome was the head of the entire church…”[8]
According to Justo L. Gonzalez, Germanic
invasions are what caused an “upsurge” in papal authority.[9]
He goes on to say that the church of the West had become the “guardian of what
was left of ancient civilization, as well as order and justice.” Richard
Cavendish says, “In the fourth century ad…what Pliny the Elder had called the
'immense majesty of the Roman peace' was menaced by invasions of Germanic
peoples from beyond the frontiers of the Rhine and the Danube.”[10]
The invasions on Rome allowed her more notable bishops to exact authority and
make decisions that would propel the papal position to new heights.
Leo I led the charge in changing how the bishop of
Rome was to be viewed, and through a series of circumstances he was able to
attain “great authority in the city of Rome.”;[11]
situations such as leaving Rome to meet with Attila the Hun who had sights on
Constantinople but was convinced with gold to go west. Rome was an easy target
because there was no real army to stop them. The emperor of the West was unable
to establish a military stance due to lack of character and resources.
Allegedly Leo was quite the formidable spiritual opponent, Gonzalez states,
“legend has it that Attila saw Saints Peter and Paul marching with the pope,
and threatening the Hun.”[12]
Literature on the Papacy by The Columbia Encyclopedia says, “He was also effective as a statesman and met (c. 452) Attila the Hun to persuade him not to invade Rome.”[13]
And he did just that.
Pope Simplicius (c. 476) would see a
Western emperor deposed, tensions between popes and emperors regarding issues
of theology, and the eventual schism that took a great deal of time to mend; a
schism made more difficult because of the Ostrogoth invasions, which led to two
competing popes, one on the side of the Arian Ostrogoths, and one in
Constantinople.[14]
The schism would finally come to an end but not without Rome suffering terrible
violence. Hormisdas (c. 514) was able to end the division with Constantinople
and during this time hope was prevailing under the new emperor Justinian, but
another invasion, this time by Belisarius. This was not good for the church in
Rome. The emperor enacted policy similar to the Eastern church which was
basically run by the secular leadership and so the popes held no real power
during Justinian rule.[15]
By 565 things were not faring well in Constantinople, once again she found
herself with a weak army and simply could not defend itself. In come the
Lombards.
By this time the popes were almost
entirely in charge of making certain the city of Rome was safe from Lombard
threat. After Pelagius II buys the Lombards off, he seeks assistance from the
Franks. They would become the papacy’s most important source of aid.[16]
Pope Gregory I would now enter the picture and become what Gonzalez calls, “one
of the ablest men to ever occupy that position.”[17]
At the time Gregory came in to his position, there were so many issues to
contend with including plague and famine. Notwithstanding, he made many
advances to the papacy, including turning to the Germanic invaders who now
ruled in Rome even though he strongly believed he was amongst a “Christian
commonwealth led the Byzantine emperor.”[18]
A series of unfortunate events would see the papacy lose much of its authority.
Not until 756, after Pope Stephen II crowned Pippin III (Carolingian king) was
the papal authority restored. It was then that the papacy received from the
king the “Donation of Pippin” giving the papacy “Papal States”[19]
In 800, the papacy received some security in crowning Charlemagne as Roman
emperor, but in doing so they gave up a great deal of their independence.[20]
In the 10th and 11th centuries, the office of the papacy
found itself amidst competition for the papal throne, corruption, and weak
political conditions, the seat still remained the “focus of devotion and pilgrimage as the city of
Peter and of the martyrs and saints.”[21]
The papacy form its beginnings to just before the
Reformation has seen good times and bad. Papal authority, controversy,
dissension, confusion, and the like caused the office to ponder a variety of
spiritual and political thought processes. There is no doubt that the office of
the papacy had its moments, it saved Rome from being completely burned down by
barbarians. It saw the likes of Gregory I preaching the message of commitment
to the church and God. But it also saw complete wrecks that allowed corruption
and a loss of good will from the people. The position of Pope as it stands
today is shrouded in mystery with talk of conspiracy theories and claims of
world domination, but then, the office of the President of the United States
has been given the same royal treatment.
[1] Holy
Bible. King James Version. YouVersion.com, http://www.youversion.com/bible/matt.16.kjv
(accessed September 26, 2012).
[2] “So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon
Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest
thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I
love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest
thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.
He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.” KJV.
[3]2005. Encyclopedia
of Religion. Ed. Lindsay Jones. vol. 10. 2nd
ed:6965-6976, http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/ps/i.do?action=interpret&id=GALE%7CCX3424502367&v=2.1&u=vic_liberty&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w&authCount=1
(accessed September 25, 2012).
[4]
Granfield, Encyclopedia of Religion.
[5] Richard
Bennett. An
Overview of the History of the Papacy, http://www.bereanbeacon.org/articles/An_Overview_of_the_History_of_the_Papacy.pdf
(accessed September 25, 2012).
[6]
Granfield, Encyclopedia of Religion.
[7]
Granfield, Encyclopedia of Religion.
[8]
Granfield, Encyclopedia of Religion.
[9] Justo L.
Gonzalez. The Story of Christianity, Vol. 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation (New York: Harper
Collins Publishing, 2010), 282.
[10] Richard
Cavendish. 2010. The Visigoths Attack Rome. History Today. Vol. 60, no.
8:8, http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/docview/741578968
(accessed September 26, 2012).
[11]
Gonzalez, 283.
[12]
Gonzalez, 283.
[13] The Columbia Encyclopedia, s.v. "Leo
I, Saint, pope," http://www.liberty.edu:2048/login?url=http://www.credoreference.com/entry/columency/leo_i_saint_pope
(accessed September 27, 2012).
[14]
Gonzalez, 283.
[15]
Gonzalez, 284.
[16]
Gonzalez, 285.
[17]
Gonzalez, 285
[18] Frank
J. Coppa. Papacy. Encyclopædia Britannica Online s.v., http://www.britannica.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/EBchecked/topic/441722/papacy
(accessed September 27, 2012).
[19] Papal States, also called Republic
of Saint Peter or Church States, Italian Stati Pontifici or Stati della
Chiesa, territories of central Italy over which the pope had sovereignty from 756 to 1870. Included were the modern
Italian regions of Lazio (Latium), Umbria, and Marche and part of Emilia-Romagna, though the extent of the territory,
along with the degree of papal control, varied over the centuries. Encyclopædia
Britannica Online, s.v. “Papal States,
http://www.britannica.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/EBchecked/topic/441848/Papal-States
(accessed September 27, 2012).
[20] Coppa, Encyclopædia
Britannica Online.
[21] Coppa, Encyclopædia
Britannica Online.
Bibliography
Bennett, Richard. An Overview of the History of the Papacy, http://www.bereanbeacon.org/articles/An_Overview_of_the_History_of_the_Papacy.pdf.
Cavendish, Richard. 2010. The Visigoths Attack Rome. History Today. Vol. 60, no. 8:8, http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/docview/741578968.
Columbia Encyclopedia, The s.v. "Leo I, Saint, pope," http://www.liberty.edu:2048/login?url=http://www.credoreference.com/entry/columency/leo_i_saint_pope
Coppa, Frank J. Papacy. Encyclopædia Britannica Online s.v., http://www.britannica.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/EBchecked/topic/441722/papacy
2005. Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Lindsay Jones. vol. 10. 2nd ed:6965-6976, http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/ps/i.do?action=interpret&id=GALE%7CCX3424502367&v=2.1&u=vic_liberty&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w&authCount=1.
Gonzalez, Justo L.. The Story of Christianity, Vol. 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation (New York: Harper Collins Publishing, 2010).
Holy Bible. King James Version. YouVersion.com, http://www.youversion.com/bible/matt.16.kjv.
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