Rome
About this date: The map's approximate 50 is a period cue, not the founding year of the Roman church. Irenaeus wrote more than a century after the apostles. The precise date and authorship circumstances of 1 Clement are discussed; a late-first-century setting is conventional.
The early Roman church is part of Protestant Christianity's shared past. Paul's letter, Rome's letter to Corinth, and Irenaeus's appeal to apostolic teaching are important evidence, while Protestant churches generally reject the claim that these sources establish later papal universal jurisdiction.
Historical context
Apostolic memory, the prestige of the imperial capital, episcopal succession, and later papal government are related but distinguishable historical questions. The ancient church of Rome and the sovereign state of Vatican City established in 1929 are not the same kind of institution.
Strongest alternative reading
Catholic teaching reads Roman succession in relation to a universal Petrine office. Eastern Orthodox accounts affirm ancient Roman primacy while rejecting the later universal-jurisdiction model. Protestant accounts vary, often recognizing Rome's early importance without treating episcopal succession as sufficient proof of doctrinal authority.
Key points
- Romans 16 preserves a network of named coworkers, households, women, and men; Rome was not simply a single building or one apostle's solitary project.
- Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.3.1-3, appeals to public apostolic teaching and succession against claims to secret knowledge.
- The Latin wording in Irenaeus 3.3.2 and its force for Roman preeminence are debated. His text should not be replaced by a modern denominational slogan.
- The existence of a Roman church in Paul's letter is earlier evidence than later foundation narratives.
Scripture
- Romans 1:7-15 — Paul addresses Roman believers and expresses his wish to visit: the community already exists.
- Romans 16:1-16 — Named coworkers and household gatherings show the community's human and social network.
- Acts 28:14-31 — Believers meet Paul on his arrival; his subsequent proclamation in Rome is not narrated as the beginning of all Christianity there.
- Matthew 16:18-19 — Catholic readings connect Peter's commission with the Roman primacy; Orthodox and Protestant readings differ about its transfer, scope, and relation to the other apostles. The passage does not name Rome.
- 1 Peter 5:13 — The greeting from Babylon has traditionally been read as referring to Rome. That identification is an interpretation and should be labeled rather than treated as the place-name printed in the verse.
Primary sources
Irenaeus calls it:
By the late second century, Irenaeus described the church at Rome as ancient and widely known while appealing to its public apostolic tradition.
the very ancient, and universally known Church founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul
Passage context and translation
Irenaeus invokes Rome's public apostolic tradition against teachers who claimed secret doctrine. The sentence is an ancient testimony to Peter and Paul's association with Rome; it does not by itself define every later claim about Roman jurisdiction.
Before the excerpt
by indicating that tradition derived from the apostles, of the very great,
After the excerpt
as also [by pointing out] the faith preached to men, which comes down to our time by means of the successions of the bishops
Sources and further reading
- The Roman church's letter to Corinth
- Catholic explanation of the primacy of Peter's successor
A modern statement of Catholic teaching, not an independent first-century source. - Irenaeus: public tradition and the Roman succession
Read the discussion of other churches as well as the frequently cited Roman passage. - Historical source for Rome