termines their true character, as well as that of the appeals addressed subsequently to the Bishop of Rome; it is, that an appeal to a see or a bishop is not a proof in favour of its authority. During the first three centuries, frequent intercourse existed between the bishops; and if a discussion arose in one particular church, those who endeavoured to prove to their adversaries that they were wrong, addressed themselves to other bishops, praying them to make known the belief of their churches, so as to condemn those who wished to give force to new opinions. Distant churches were most commonly appealed to, such as could not be suspected of partiality, apostolic churches, or bishops who enjoyed a high reputation for holiness or learning. Those who were condemned in the West appealed to the East, and those who were condemned in the East appealed to the West, and above all to Rome, which was the only apostolic church of that country.
It is very natural that the Church of Rome should not have been excluded from these appeals; but, before alleging these appeals in support of her supreme authority, it would be necessary to show her to have been the only one appealed to, and that her sentences were received as emanating from that authority. We shall see that such was not the case.
Origen never appealed to Rome, notwithstanding many Romish theologians affirm that he did. Condemned at first by the bishops of Egypt, subsequently by several others, and in particular by the Bishop of Rome, he saw fit to justify himself before those who had condemned him. "But he also wrote," says Eusebius,[1] "to Fabianus, Bishop of Rome, and to many others of the bishops of churches, respecting his orthodoxy." Such is, in all its simplicity, the fact in which Roman theologians have found a proof of the primacy in authority
- ↑ Euseb. Hist. Eccl. Book VI. chap. xxxvi.
