Today’s Readings Podcast Description

How did the claim of Roman primacy first arise? In the opening of Chapter 7, Calvin traces its beginnings to the Council of Nice, which gave the Bishop of Rome a place of honour among the patriarchs but not supremacy over them. He shows that in later councils the Roman legates often sat in inferior places, that the first seat at Chalcedon was granted only as a temporary and special concession, and that the ancient Fathers never bestowed the title of primate or universal bishop. Gregory himself, when the Bishop of Constantinople claimed the title of universal bishop, denounced it as profane, blasphemous, and a forerunner of Antichrist—while refusing to claim it for himself.

Readings:

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