Early Christian Beliefs About the Pope

Ignatius, Epistle to the Smyrnaeans (Long Version) Direct teaching

See that you all follow the bishop, just as Christ Jesus does the Father, and the presbytery as you would the apostles. Also, show reverence to the deacons, as those who carry out the appointment of God through their office. Let no one do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let a proper Eucharist be considered as such when it is administered either by the bishop, or by someone he has entrusted it to. Wherever the bishop is present, let the multitude of the people also be there; just as where Christ is, there the whole heavenly host stands by, attending to Him as the Chief Captain of the Lord’s might, and the Governor of every intelligent nature. It is not lawful to baptize, offer, present sacrifice, or celebrate a love-feast without the bishop. But whatever seems good to the bishop is also well-pleasing to God, so that everything you do may be secure and valid.

Ignatius, Epistle to the Smyrnaeans (Long Version) Direct teaching

... honor God and the king.” And I say, indeed honor God as the Author and Lord of all things, but the bishop as the high-priest, who bears the image of God—of God, as a ruler, and of Christ, in his role as a priest. After Him, we must also honor the king. For there is no one superior to God, or even like Him, among all beings that exist. Nor is there anyone in the Church greater than the bishop, who ministers as a priest to God for the salvation of the whole world. Nor, again, is there anyone among rulers to be compared with the king, who secures peace and good order for those over whom he rules. He who honors the bishop shall be honored by God, just as he who dishonors him shall be punished by God. For if one who rises up against kings is justly deemed worthy of punishment, as they disrupt public order, how much more severe a punishment, do you suppose, shall he be thought worthy of, who presumes to do anything without the bishop, thus both destroying the Church’s unity and causing its order to fall into confusion? For the priesthood is the highest point of all good things among men, against which anyone mad enough to strive dishonors not man, but God, and Christ Jesus, the First

Ignatius, Epistle to the Magnesians (Short Version) Supporting witness

It is important for you not to treat your bishop too casually because of his youth, but to show him full respect, honoring the authority of God the Father, as I have seen even holy elders do. They do not judge hastily based on their bishop's youthful appearance, but being wise in God, they submit to him—or rather, not to him, but to the Father of Jesus Christ, the bishop of us all. Therefore, it is right for you to obediently follow your bishop, sincerely honoring Him who has willed us to do so, since those who do not deceive not the visible bishop, but attempt to mock Him who is invisible. All such actions are directed not at people, but at God, who knows all secrets.

Ignatius, Epistle to the Smyrnaeans (Short Version) Direct teaching

Ensure that you all follow the bishop, just as Jesus Christ follows the Father, and the presbytery as you would the apostles; and respect the deacons as being the institution of God. Let no one do anything related to the Church without the bishop. Consider that to be a proper Eucharist which is administered by the bishop or by someone he has entrusted it to. Wherever the bishop is, there let the congregation also be; just as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. It is not lawful without the bishop to either baptize or celebrate a love-feast; but whatever he approves of is also pleasing to God, so that everything done may be secure and valid.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching

Be of one mind, you bishops, with one another, and be at peace with one another. Have sympathy for one another, love the brothers, and care for the people as you feed them. With one agreement, teach those under you to have the same beliefs and the same judgments about the same matters, so that there may be no divisions among you; so that you may be one body and one spirit, perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment, according to 1 Corinthians 1:10 and Ephesians 4:4, by the appointment of the Lord. And let the deacon refer all things to the bishop, just as Christ does to His Father. But let him arrange such things as he is able to do by himself, receiving authority from the bishop, just as the Lord did from His Father the power of creation and providence. But let the bishop judge the weightier matters. And let the deacon be the bishop's ear, eye, mouth, heart, and soul, so that the bishop may not be distracted by many cares, but only by the more important ones, just as Jethro appointed for Moses, and his counsel was accepted.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

Concerning the canons, I also make this constitution. A bishop gives the blessing, but does not receive the blessing. He lays on hands, ordains, offers, and receives the blessing from bishops, but never from presbyters. A bishop removes from office any clergyman who deserves removal, except a bishop, because he does not have the power to do that by himself. A presbyter gives the blessing, but does not receive it; yet he does receive the blessing from the bishop or from a fellow presbyter. In the same way, he gives it to a fellow presbyter. He lays on hands, but does not ordain. He does not remove from office, yet he does separate those under him if they are liable to such a punishment. A deacon does not bless and does not give the blessing, but receives it from the bishop and presbyter. He does not baptize, and he does not offer. But when a bishop or presbyter has offered, he distributes to the people, not as a priest, but as one who ministers to the priests. But it is not lawful for any of the other clergy to do the work of a deacon. A deaconess does not bless, nor does she do anything that belongs to the office of presbyters or deacons. She is only to keep the doors and to minist

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

Therefore, O deacon, if you know that anyone is in distress, remind the bishop about him, and then give to him. But do nothing secretly in a way that could bring reproach on the bishop, lest you stir up murmuring against him. For the murmuring will not be against him, but against the Lord God. And the deacon, along with the rest, will hear what Aaron and Miriam heard when they spoke against Moses: "How is it that you were not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?" Numbers 12:8. And again, Moses says to those who rose up against him, "Your murmuring is not against us, but against the Lord our God." Exodus 16:8. For if the one who calls one of the laity Raca, Matthew 5:22, or fool, will not go unpunished, since he injures the name of Christ, how dare anyone speak against his bishop? It is through him that the Lord gave the Holy Spirit among you by the laying on of his hands. Through him you have learned the sacred teachings, have known God, and have believed in Christ. Through him you were known by God. Through him you were sealed with the oil of gladness and the ointment of understanding. Through him you were declared to be children of light. Through him, in your illumination, t

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

XXVI. The bishop, he is the minister of the word, the keeper of knowledge, the mediator between God and you in the several parts of your divine worship.

Origen, Commentary on Matthew Supporting witness

And after this, let us see in what sense it is said to Peter, and to every Peter, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 16:19). First, I think that the saying, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven," is spoken in a way consistent with the words, "The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18). For he is worthy to receive from the same Word the keys of the kingdom of heaven, who is strengthened against the gates of Hades so that they do not prevail against him. He receives, as it were, as a prize, the keys of the kingdom of heaven, because the gates of Hades had no power against him, so that he might open for himself the gates that were closed to those who had been conquered by the gates of Hades. And he enters, as a temperate man, through an opened gate, the gate of temperance, by the key that opens temperance. And as a righteous man, he enters by another gate, the gate of righteousness, which is opened by the key of righteousness. And so it is with the rest of the virtues. For I think that for every virtue of knowledge, certain mysteries of wisdom are opened up to him who has lived according to virtue, corresponding to the kind

Cyprian, Treatises Direct teaching

...and arguments. There is an easy proof for faith in a short summary of the truth. The Lord speaks to Peter, saying, "I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall also be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." And again He says to the same one after His resurrection, "Feed my sheep." And although after His resurrection He gives an equal power to all the apostles, and says, "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you. Receive the Holy Spirit. Whoever's sins you remit, they shall be remitted to him, and whoever's sins you retain, they shall be retained," John 20:21 yet, so that He might set forth unity, by His authority He arranged the origin of that unity as beginning from one. Certainly the rest of the apostles also were the same as Peter, endowed with an equal share of honor and power; but the beginning proceeds from unity. The Holy Spirit also pointed out this one Church in the Song of Songs, speaking in the person of our Lord, and says, "My dove, my spotless one, i

Tertullian, On Modesty Direct teaching

If, because the Lord said to Peter, "Upon this rock I will build My Church," and, "To you have I given the keys of the heavenly kingdom," or, "Whatever you shall have bound or loosed on earth shall be bound or loosed in the heavens," you therefore presume that the power of binding and loosing has come down to you, that is, to every church akin to Peter, what sort of man are you, subverting and wholly changing the manifest intention of the Lord, conferring this gift, as that intention did, personally upon Peter? He says, "On you I will build My Church," and, "I will give to you the keys," not to the Church; and, "Whatever you shall have loosed or bound," not what they shall have loosed or bound. For the result also teaches this. In Peter himself the Church was reared, that is, through Peter himself. Peter himself first used the key. You see what key: "Men of Israel, let what I say sink into your ears: Jesus the Nazarene, a man destined by God for you," and so forth. Therefore Peter himself was the first to unbar, in Christ's baptism, the entrance to the heavenly kingdom. In that kingdom, the sins that were previously bound are loosed, and those that have not been loosed are bound, i

Tertullian, On Prescription Against Heretics Supporting witness

Was anything withheld from the knowledge of Peter, who is called the rock on which the church should be built, who also obtained the keys of the kingdom of heaven, with the power of loosing and binding in heaven and on earth?

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

1. Our Lord, whose precepts and admonitions we ought to observe, describing the honour of a bishop and the order of His Church, speaks in the Gospel, and says to Peter: I say unto you, That you are Peter, and upon this rock will I build my Church;

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

For first of all the Lord gave that power to Peter, upon whom He built the Church, and whence He appointed and showed the source of unity — the power, namely, that whatsoever he loosed on earth should be loosed in heaven.

Tertullian, Scorpiace Supporting witness

For though you think heaven still shut, remember that the Lord left here to Peter and through him to the Church, the keys of it, which every one who has been here put to the question, and also made confession, will carry with him.

Origen, Commentary on Matthew Supporting witness

But if you suppose that the whole church is built by God on that one Peter only, what would you say about John, the son of thunder, or about each one of the Apostles? Shall we dare to say otherwise, that the gates of Hades will not prevail against Peter in particular, but that they will prevail against the other Apostles and the perfect? Does not the saying spoken before, "The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it," Matthew 16:18, hold true for all and for each one of them? And also the saying, "Upon this rock I will build My church," Matthew 16:18? Are the keys of the kingdom of heaven given by the Lord to Peter only, and will no other of the blessed receive them? But if this promise, "I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven," Matthew 16:19, is common to the others, how will not all the things spoken before, and the things added afterward as addressed to Peter, be common to them? For in this place these words seem to be addressed to Peter only: "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven," Matthew 16:19, and so on. But in the Gospel of John, the Savior, after giving the Holy Spirit to the disciples by breathing on them, said, "Receive the Holy Spirit,"

Origen, Commentary on Matthew Supporting witness

...ed by those in heaven to have been set free. It seems that the things which were earlier granted to Peter alone are here given to all who give the three warnings to all who have sinned. So if they are not heard, they will bind on earth the person who is judged to be like a Gentile and a tax collector, just as such a person has been bound in heaven. But since it was necessary that Peter should have something superior to those who had given three warnings to the brothers, even if something common was said in the case of Peter and of those who had warned the brothers three times, in Peter’s case this saying was specially placed before the words, “And whatever things you bind on earth,” and so on: “I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven,” Matthew 16:19. And indeed, if we pay careful attention to the Gospel writings, we will find here also, in relation to the things that seem to be common to Peter and to those who have warned the brothers three times, a great difference and a superiority in what was said to Peter, compared with the second group. For it is no small difference that Peter received the keys not of one heaven but of more than one, so that whatever things he

Origen, Commentary on Matthew Supporting witness

But when those who maintain the function of the episcopate make use of this word as Peter, and, having received the keys of the kingdom of heaven from the Saviour, teach that things bound by them, that is to say, condemned, are also bound in heaven, and that those which have obtained remission by them are also loosed in heaven, we must say that they speak wholesomely if they have the way of life on account of which it was said to that Peter, You are Peter;

Tertullian, On Modesty Supporting witness

If, because the Lord has said to Peter, Upon this rock will I build My Church, to you have I given the keys of the heavenly kingdom;

Origen, Commentary on Matthew Supporting witness

And after this let us see in what sense it is said to Peter, and to every Peter, I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book III Direct teaching

[we do this, I say,] by indicating that tradition derived from the apostles, of the very great, the very ancient, and universally known Church founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul;

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book III Supporting witness

For it is a matter of necessity that every Church should agree with this Church, on account of its pre-eminent authority, that is, the faithful everywhere, inasmuch as the apostolical tradition has been preserved continuously by those [faithful men] who exist everywhere.

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

... the lies of malicious people and slanderers, but from the judgment of the Lord God, who made him a bishop, and from the testimony of his fellow bishops, whose whole number has agreed with complete unity throughout the whole world. For this is something that, with worthy praise, commends our dearest Cornelius to God and Christ, to His Church, and also to all his fellow priests: he was not a man who suddenly reached the episcopate. Rather, after being advanced through all the offices of the Church, and after often serving the Lord well in sacred ministries, he rose through all the ranks of religious service to the high summit of the priesthood. Moreover, he did not ask for the episcopate itself, nor did he desire it. Nor, as others do when they are swollen with arrogance and pride, did he seize it for himself. Instead, he was peaceful and gentle, like those who are usually chosen by God for this office. Because of the modesty of his virgin continence, and the humility of his natural and carefully guarded reverence, he did not, as some do, use force to be made a bishop. Rather, he himself underwent compulsion, so that he was forced to accept the office of bishop. And he was made b

Dionysius of Alexandria, Epistles and Epistolary Fragments Supporting witness

Besides all these things, he also writes to Cornelius at Rome after receiving his letter against Novatus. In that letter, he also shows that he had been invited by Helenus, bishop in Tarsus of Cilicia, and by the others who were with him—namely, Firmilian, bishop in Cappadocia, and Theoctistus in Palestine—to meet with them at the Council of Antioch. There, certain people were trying to establish the schism of Novatus. In addition, he writes that it had been reported to him that Fabius was dead, and that Demetrianus had been appointed as his successor in the bishopric of the church at Antioch. He also writes about the bishop in Jerusalem, saying in these very words: "And the blessed Alexander, after being cast into prison, went to his rest in blessedness."

Caius, Fragments Supporting witness

...written by the friends of Solomon in his honor. We also receive the Apocalypse of John, and that of Peter, though some among us do not allow this latter one to be read in the Church. Moreover, Hermas wrote The Pastor very recently, in our own times, in the city of Rome, while his brother, bishop Plus, sat in the chair of the Church of Rome. Therefore it also ought to be read. But it cannot be made public in the Church to the people. Nor can it be placed among the prophets, since their number is complete, nor among the apostles to the end of time. Of the writings of Arsinous, also called Valentinus, or of Miltiades, we receive nothing at all. Those too are rejected who wrote the new Book of Psalms for Marcion, together with Basilides and the founder of the Asian Cataphrygians.

Caius, Fragments Supporting witness

The Pastor, moreover, did Hermas write very recently in our times in the city of Rome, while his brother bishop Plus sat in the chair of the Church of Rome.