Notes

The Green Angel book – Chapter 10

The Church and Papal Development 461-1073

A centralized structure of the church was made in order to resolve exactly what the Bible said and to form a position from those conclusions. This is because even heretics use Scripture to back up their points. The bishop in Rome quickly gained the power over the other four patriarchs. Once Charlemagne came along, they were soon called archbishops. Because Rome was looked at as the Mother Church and the most important city, it was most often assumed that the bishops and ministers of Rome were more important then those of any other city. The bishops there even used Scripture to back up their position, claiming that Peter was instructed to lead everyone and he did set up the church in Rome thereby setting it as the leader church. This was the foundation of the first papacy and hence the reason why the papal throne is often referred to by the Roman Catholic Church as “the chair of St. Peter”. The barbarians invaded but stood in awe of the Roman church, soon after to convert to Christianity. Even when they destroyed the emperor in Rome, it helped the church there by removing any power that might stand in its way. The Roman church sent out missionaries, which helped secure the held position of a higher and more important church. It seemed that every act was meant for the furtherment of the church in Rome. No matter how disastrous or devastating, everything strengthened and brought more power to the church there. There were several false documents that mysteriously emerged that appeared to be by deceased emperors or rulers stating that the Roman Church was to be the ultimate power. Nicholas I believed that all the bishops were under the pop and so making the pope the ultimate ruler of the entire church. He also believed that the church was superior to all earthly things.