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BUT what are the other words which follow that saying of the Lord's,
with which He commends Peter? "And I," said He, "say unto thee, that thou
art Peter and upon this rock I will build My Church." Do you see how the
saying of Peter is the faith of the Church? He then must of course be
outside the Church, who does not hold the faith of the Church. "And to
thee," saith the Lord, "I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven."
This faith deserved heaven: this faith received the keys of the heavenly
kingdom. See what awaits you. You cannot enter the gate to which this key
belongs, if you have denied the faith of this key. "And the gate," He adds,
"of hell shall not prevail against thee." The gates of hell are the belief
or rather the misbelief of heretics. For widely as hell is separated from
heaven, so widely is he who denies from him who confessed that Christ is
God. "Whatsoever," He proceeds, "thou shalt bind on earth, shalt be bound
in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shalt be loosed also
in heaven." The perfect faith of the Apostle somehow is given the power of
Deity, that what it should bind or loose on earth, might be bound or loosed
in heaven. For you then, who come against the Apostle's faith, as you see
that already you are bound on earth, it only remains that you should know
that you are bound also in heaven. But it would take too long to go into
details which are so numerous as to make a long and wearisome story, even
if they are related with brevity and conciseness.
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