Christianity: Details about 'Treatise On The Power And Primacy Of The Pope'
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Home
|
The Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope is a treatise written by Philip Melanchthon that denotes the Lutheran position regarding the Papal abuses of authority. It was appended to the Smalcald Articles and can be found in the Book of Concord. Using much the same rhetorial style as that found in the Apology to the Augsburg Confession, Melanchthon uses biblical and patristic evidence to prove three important points. First, it is asserted the Bishop of Rome was not given his assignment by God, and could not claim to be superior to others by divine right. Next, Scripture and the testimony of the ancient church are used to show that the office of the Bishop should not be viewed as holding royal authority. Finally, the biblical doctrine of justification was used to deny the Roman Catholic claims that obedience to the Pope was necessary for salvation. Luther felt the institution of the papacy undermined the Gospel its claims, and this Treatise put forward the evangelical position against those claims. This writing was useful almost immediately as a supplement to the other confessions, and was accepted rather quickly by evangelicals as a statement of public teaching in the church. |
|||||||||||||||||||||