THE POPE'S POWER MAY BE FORFEITED. 355 no succession in place or in name could preserve it : "The popes themselveshad swerved and degenerated from theexample of Peter."' " They are not the sons of the saints who hold the places of the saints, but they that do their works;"9which place is razed out of St Jerome! "They have not the inheritance of Peter who have not the faith of Peter, which they tear asunder by ungodly division."' So Gregory Nazianzen says of Athanasius, that " he was successor of Mark no less in piety than presidency, which we must suppose to be properly succession; "' otherwise the mufti of Constantinople is successor to St Andrew, to St Chrysostom, &c., themufti of Jerusalem to St James. If, then, the bishop of Rome, instead of teaching Christian doc- trine, propagates errors contrary to it; if, instead of guiding into truth and godliness, he seduces into falsehood and impiety; if, in- stead of declaring and pressing the laws of God, he delivers and imposes precepts opposite, prejudicial, destructive of God's laws; if, instead of promoting genuine piety, he (in some instances) violently opposes it; if, instead of maintaining true religion, he perverts and corrupts it by bold defalcations, by superstitious additions, by foul mixtures and alloys; if he coins new creeds, articles of faith, new scriptures, new sacraments, new rules of life, obtruding them on the consciences of Christians; if he conforms the doctrines of Christianity to the interests of his pomp and profit, " making gain godliness;" if he prescribe vain, profane, superstitious ways of worship, turning devotion into foppery and pageantry; if, instead of preserving order and peace, he foments discords and factions in the church, being a make-bate and incendiary among Christians; if he claims exorbitant power, and exercises oppression and tyrannical domination over his brethren, cursing and damningall that will not submit to his dictates and commands; if, instead of being a shepherd, he is a wolf, worry- ing and tearing the flock by cruel persecution ; he by such behavi- our, ipso facto, deprives himself of authority and office; he becomes thence no guide or pastor to any Christian; there, in such case, rests no obligation to hear or obey him, but rather to decline him, to cost* from him, to reject and disclaim him.' ' Pontifices ipsi a Petri vestigiis discesserant.Plat. in doh. X. p. 275. 8 Non sanctorum filii cunt, qui tenent loca sanctorum, sed qui exercent opera eoruay &c.Hieron. ad Heliod., apud Grat. Dist. xl. cap. 2. S Non habent Petri hæreditatem qui Petri fidem non habent, quam impia division discerpunt.Ambr. de Pam. i. 6. ' Okx' ñrrov ,7";;Ç óba'c d.s, ñ ,4. ,r-,' l)iaç ;,,avcop v óñ rai sepiwç'koraanráar Sr¢Soxíív. . /air veil) ó/eáyvw/aov cal ú/cóPpavav rò SE dvr le5ar rcai dvriipsvov. Greg. Nao., Orat. xxi. Discosteither a misprint for discord, or the opposite of accost. Fr., S'accoster de qulq'un, to frequent one's company.ED. 5 Non facit ecclesiastica dignitas Chsistianun,.Hier. "Ecclesiastical dignity makes
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