Today’s Readings Podcast Description

Is the Roman See the necessary head of the universal Church? In the opening of Chapter 6, Calvin begins his examination of the claim of papal primacy. He rejects the argument drawn from the Jewish high priesthood, showing that it was temporary and typological, fulfilled only in Christ. He then turns to the New Testament texts most often cited—“Thou art Peter” and the giving of the keys—and argues that the power of binding and loosing was given to all the apostles in common, not as a unique jurisdiction over the whole Church. Drawing on Cyprian and Augustine, he maintains that Peter received the keys as a representative of the Church’s unity, not as its earthly monarch.

Readings:

John Calvin — Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 4, Chapter 6, ...