Views Concerning The Church and the Sacraments During the Second Period (300-750 A.D.): The Doctrine of the Church (9): The Papacy.

We concluded our preceding article with the observation that the bishop of Rome began to occupy the leading position in the whole church, and that this was not difficult to understand. Various circumstances united to bring this to pass. It is now our purpose to trace this amazing phenomenon, the rise and development of the papacy, as set forth by Philip Schaff in his History of the Christian church. However, before we begin with this a few general observations may be in order which will throw...