The faith of our fathers - Carmel Apologetics

"SUPREMACY OF THE POPES. 137Church History. We see Prelates most eminentfor their sanctity and learning, occupying the highest position in the Eastern church, and consequentlyfar removed from the local influences of Rome, appealing, in every period of the early Church, fromthe decisions of their own Bishops and their Councilsto the supreme arbitration of the Holy See. Ifthis does not constitute superior jurisdiction, I haveyet to learn what superior authority means.2. Christians of every denomination admit theorthodoxy of the Fathers of the first five centuriesof the Church. No one has ever called in questionthe faith of such men as Basil, Chrysostom, Cyprian,Augustine, Jerome, Ambrose, and Leo. They werethe acknowledged guardians of pure doctrine, andthe living representatives"of the faith once deliveredto the saints."They were to the Church in theirgeneration what Peter and Paul and James were tothe Church in its infancy. We instinctively consultthem about the faith of those times ; for, to whomshall we go for the words of eternal life, if not tothem?Now, the Fathers of the Church, with one voice,pay homage to the Bishops of Rome as their superiors. The limited space I have allowed myself inthis little volume, will not permit me to give anyextracts from their writings. The reader who maybe unacquainted with the original language of theFathers, or who has not their writings at hand, isreferred to a work entitled, Faith of Catholics,"