Moreover, if a man were its head
here below, Christendom would perish as often as a pope dies. For
the body cannot live when the head is dead.

It follows further, that in this Church Christ can have no vicar,
and therefore neither pope nor bishop is Christ's vicar or regent
in this Church, nor can he ever become such. And this is proved
as follows: A regent, if obedient to his lord, labors with and
urges on the subjects and instils into them the same work which
his lord himself instils, just as we see in temporal government,
where there is one mind and will in lord, regents, and subjects.
And if he were more holy than St. Peter, the pope can never
instill into or create in a Christian man the work of Christ his
Lord, i. e., faith, hope, love, and every grace and virtue.

And if such illustration and proof were not without flaw, though
founded on the Scriptures, yet St. Paul stands strong and
immovable in Ephesians iv, giving to Christendom but one head and
saying, "Let us be true (i. e., not external, but real and true
Christians) and grow up into Him in all things, which is the
head, even Christ, from Whom the whole body fitly joined together
and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to
the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh
increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love." [Eph.
4:15,16] Here the apostle says clearly that the building up and
increase of Christendom, which is the body of Christ, cometh
alone from Christ, Who is its Head. And where can there be found
another head on earth to whom such nature could be ascribed,
especially since these "heads" in most cases have neither love
nor faith? Besides, St. Paul referred in these words to himself,
to St. Peter, and to every other Christian; and if another head
were necessary he would have been utterly false in saying nothing
about it.

I know very well that there are some who dare to say in reference
to this and similar passages that though Paul was silent [1 Cor.
3:1], he did not thereby deny that St. Peter was also a head, but
was feeding the unwise with milk. Just listen to this: they claim
that it is necessary for salvation to have St. Peter for a head,
and yet they have the effrontery to say that Paul concealed the
things which are necessary to salvation. Thus these senseless
goats would rather blaspheme Paul and the Word of God than be
convinced of their error, and they call it "milk for babes" when
Chris