A Source Book for Ancient Church History - Mirrors

§ 51. The Unity of the Church and the See of Rome 269unity of the Catholic Church. And this departure Stephen hasnow dared to make; breaking the peace against you, which hispredecessors have always kept with you in mutual love and honor,even herein defaming Peter and Paul, the blessed Apostles,as if the very men delivered this who in their epistles execratedheretics and warned us to avoid them. Whence it appears thatthis tradition is human which maintains heretics, and asserts thatthey have baptism, which belongs to the Church alone.Ch. 17. And in this respect I am justly indignant at this soopen and manifest folly of Stephen, that he who so boasts of theplace of his episcopate and contends that he holds the successionof Peter, on whom the foundation of the Church was laid, shouldintroduce many other rocks and establish new buildings of manychurches, maintaining that there is a baptism in them by hisauthority; for those who are baptized, without doubt, make upthe number of the Church.… Stephen, who announces that heholds by succession the throne of Peter, is stirred with no zealagainst heretics, when he concedes to them, not a moderate, butthe very greatest power of grace.Ch. 19. This, indeed, you Africans are able to say againstStephen, that when you knew the truth you forsook the error ofcustom. But we join custom to truth, and to the Romans' customwe oppose custom, but the custom of truth, holding from the [244]beginning that which was delivered by Christ and the Apostles.Nor do we remember that this at any time began among us, sinceit has always been observed here, that we have known none butone Church of God, and have accounted no baptism holy exceptthat of the holy Church.Ch. 24. Consider with what want of judgment you dare toblame those who strive for the truth against falsehood. 82 … Forhow many strifes and dissensions have you stirred up throughoutthe churches of the whole world! Moreover, how great sin have82 This whole passage is supposed to be addressed to Stephen. Cf. the openingwords of § 25.