Encyclopedia > Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope
The Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope is a treatise written by Philip Melanchthon that denotes the Lutheran position regarding the Papal abuses of authority. It was appended to the Smalcald Articles and can be found in the Book of Concord. Melancthon, in a portrait engraved by Albrecht Dürer, 1526 Philipp Melanchthon (February 16, 1497 - April 19, 1560) was a German theologian and writer of the Protestant Reformation and an associate of Martin Luther. ... The Pope (from Greek: pappas, father; from Latin: papa, Papa, father) is the successor of St. ... The Smalcald Articles are a summary of Lutheran doctrines, written by Martin Luther, which declared the positions on which Lutherans could not concede. ... The Book of Concord, or Concordia was first published on June 25, 1580, fifty years after the presentation of the Augsburg Confession to Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Augsburg. ...
Using much the same rhetorial style as that found in the Apology to the Augsburg Confession, Melanchthon uses biblical and patristic evidence to prove three important points. FIrst, it is asserted the the Bishop of Rome was not given his assignment by God, and could not claim to be superior to others by divine right. Next, Scripture and the testimony of the ancient church are used to show that the office of the Bishop should not be viewed as holding royal authority. Finally, the biblical doctrine of justification was used to deny the Roman Catholic claims that obedience to the Pope was necessary for salvation. Luther felt the institution of the papacy undermined the Gospel its claims, and this Treatise put forward the evangelical position against those claims. This writing was useful almost immediately as a supplement to the other confessions, and was accepted rather quickly by evangelicals as a statement of public teaching in the church.
He wrote an extended treatise (July 21, 447) against the sect, examining its false teaching in detail, and calling for a Spanish general council to investigate whether it had any adherents in the episcopate -- but this was prevented by the political circumstances of Spain.
Pope Innocent I had constituted the metropolitan of Thessalonica his vicar, in order to oppose the growing power of the patriarch of Constantinople there.
In 444 Leo laid down in a letter to them the principle that Peter had received the primacy and oversight of the whole Church as a requital of his faith, and that thus all important matters were to be referred to and decided by Rome.
Besides, the biblical arguments the opponents used to justify the particular power and primacy of the pope prove to have a broader significance than simply being related to popes.
The exercise of this power has caused horrible darkness to descend over the church, and obscured faith and the cause of Christ Contrary to the third claim, Scripture and the canons teach disobedience to heretical popes.
The evangelical churches, therefore, should not recognize the bishops who are adherents of the pope as bishops because of their impious doctrines and refusal to ordain evangelical pastors, the tyrannical exercise of jurisdiction that they have wrested from pastors, and finally, their corruption.
Feeds |
Contact