Reply to the Third Passage

The third passage (or argument) is taken from John 21, verses 15 to 17, where the Lord asked Peter three times whether he loved Him, and Peter answered each time: "Yes, Lord, I love You;" to which the Lord replied, three times: "Feed my lambs;" "Watch my sheep," and so on.

Some among the papists, in order to maintain the supremacy of Peter and, consequently, that of the popes of Rome, have so strained these words that a certain celebrated author among them did not hesitate to write that Peter is here appointed a ruler, watchman, and pastor, not only over the church, but over the apostles themselves. Bellarmine, book 1, De Pontifice Romano, chapters 14 and 15, 16. Second S. belt. and so on. [n69-1]

But in this they do violence to the text, since various arguments from the holy Scriptures overthrow this view. For, in the first place, it is certain that at that time Peter had gone greatly and grievously astray, more than any of the other apostles, since he, contrary to warning and his own solemn promise, had so faithlessly denied, indeed entirely forsaken, the Lord. Hence there is no probability that the Lord exalted him above all the others and appointed him ruler over them, which would be altogether incompatible with the justice of Christ and with the nature of the case.

In the second place, it would not agree with what the Lord had taught His apostles in general on an earlier occasion, when strife had arisen among them as to which of them, after His departure, should be the greatest. He said: "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors. But you shall not be so; instead, let the one who is greatest among you be as the youngest, and the one who is chief as one who serves" (Luke 22, verses 25 and 26). Again: "Neither be called masters, for one is your Master, even Christ" (Matthew 23, verses 8 and 10).

In the third place, if we examine the proposed argument, we will find that neither the Lord's threefold question, Do you love me? nor His threefold command: "Feed, or watch, my lambs, and sheep," was directed to Peter any more than to the other apostles.

For, as regards the question, Do you love me? what does it mean more than that Peter should examine himself, whether he did love Christ? Very well. What, then, did Peter have more than any of the other apostles? or than Paul had afterwards? who said: "For I am persuaded, that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8, verses 38 and 39). Again: "The love of Christ constrains us;" and so on. Second Corinthians 5, verse 14. Indeed, every Christian in particular, and all in general, are bound to this love, which is so necessary that it is written: "If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema, Maranatha" (First Corinthians 16, verse 22).

Concerning the command, Watch, or feed, my lambs and sheep, this is also laid upon all true teachers. "Take heed therefore," says Paul to the elders of the church at Ephesus, "to yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood" (Acts 20, verse 28).

Peter, moreover, in this respect has not placed himself above his fellow ministers, but beside them, when he exhorts them, saying: "The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ . . . Feed the flock of God which is among you," and so on. (First Peter 5, verses 1 and 2).

This is further confirmed by the fact that the Lord did not command Peter only, but all the apostles in general, to go into all the world, to preach and baptize the believers. Matthew 28, verses 18 to 20; Mark 16, verses 15 and 16.

Again, He said to them all: "You shall be witnesses to me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth" (Acts 1, verse 8).

It follows therefore that in the matter of watching over and feeding the sheep of Christ, that is, in preaching the holy Gospel and taking care of the church of Christ, Peter possessed no more authority, power, and distinction than the other apostles and apostolic teachers.

It now remains to give a solution: why the Lord asked Peter alone three times, and none of the others, whether he loved Him, and three times commanded him to feed His sheep.

To this we reply: since Peter only a short time before had forsaken the Lord three times, it was no more than right that he should also confess three times that he loved Him whom he had forsaken, and that this question should therefore be put to him three times.

Besides, since Peter, by his denial, had entirely abandoned, or at least had become totally unworthy of, his office of teaching and feeding the church of Christ, none of the other apostles would under any consideration have recognized or received him in it. Hence it was necessary that the Lord Himself should earnestly, indeed three times, charge him with it, so that no one might come to doubt the worthiness of his person (since he was now converted), or the validity of his office.

From this follows again the absurdity of those who make the matter in question say more than the Lord Himself has said: namely, that Peter was not by this reinstated into his office, which he had abandoned, but that he was appointed head of the whole church, indeed, even over all the other apostles; as can be seen in book 1, De Pontifice Romano, chapter 11. Bellarmine.