Peter & Andrew

SYMEON PETER
come from a desire to safeguard those being catechized in the faith from
any misunderstandings about Christ’s unique role and position in the
Church. Even if the passage were understood to reference Peter (which
seems unlikely given the context), it says nothing about the apostle’s
successors or any authority that they might inherit.
Augustine of Hippo, A.D. 354-430241
Few scholars would argue the monumental impact of Augustine on
Western theology. He was one of the most prolific writers in the history of
the Church, and his abiding importance rests upon his keen, penetrating
understanding into Christian truth. Aurelius Augustinus was born in
Thagaste of a pagan father and a Christian mother, Monica. When
Augustine was seventeen years old, his parents sent him to Carthage, a
city that had been the political, economic, and cultural center of Latinspeaking
Africa. He soon became involved with the Manicheans, and he
practiced the religion for roughly nine years. Augustine later migrated to
Rome, where he opened a school of rhetoric. He soon became disgusted
by the behavior of his students there, and he left for a professorship at
Milan shortly thereafter. At the urging of his mother, Augustine attended
the sermons of Ambrose, bishop of Milan – these sermons would change
the course of Augustine’s life. Ambrose was able to answer many of the
questions that Augustine held about the Bible and Christianity, and he
received baptism on the eve of Easter in 368. Augustine became a priest
in 391, and from 396 until his death, he served as the bishop of Hippo. He
is best known for his Confessions, City of God, and his numerous
theological treatises (many of which were against heresies, such as
Manicheanism and Pelagianism).
Like many others before him, Augustine strongly believed in apostolic
succession. He did believe that the bishop of Rome was the rightful
successor of Peter. In his writings, Augustine clearly affirmed his high view
of Rome. In a letter against the Donatists, Augustine writes:
46