On the Roman Pontiff

by Robert Bellarmine, Ryan Grant (Translator)

"Mr. Grant is able to retain the scholastic edge along with the accuracy of the translation while preserving a sense of the author's style." -Fr. Chad Ripperger, PhD For the first time in history, St. Robert Bellarmine's work, De Romano Pontifice , On the Roman Pontiff, has been translated and made available in English! In this Theological treatise St. Robert Bellarmine takes on Protestant as well as Greek Orthodox objections to the Papacy. This Volume contains books 1 and 2. These two books are occupied with the First, that Christ established the Primacy of Peter by means of an Ecclesiastical Monarchy, which takes up subjects as diverse What is the best form of government? Why it is fitting the Church's government should be a monarchy; Exegetical Commentary on the Lord's words in Matthew 16 and John 21, along with copious Patristic testimony. The second subject which is taken up in Book 2 is whether Peter has successors in the Ecclesiastical Monarchy, wherein Bellarmine defends the Church's position The true history of Peter; that Peter truly went to Rome; that Peter was truly a Bishop there; that upon his death he was succeeded by men in the Ecclesiastical monarchy, as well as its proof from the Fathers, then through all the refutations, Bellarmine asks what would happen if the Pope were a heretic. This important work was foundational to the thought of the Council Fathers at Vatican I, where Bellarmine enjoyed as great a prestige as St. Thomas Aquinas at the Council of Trent. This is the Second Revised Edition. For more information,

Genres: Catholic

346 pages, Paperback

First published May 20, 2015

About the author

Saint Robert Bellarmine, SJ was an Italian bishop, cardinal, theologian, and an influental figure of the Counter-Reformation. He was canonized a saint in 1930 by Pope Pius XI and named a Doctor of the Church in 1931. He is also known as Roberto Bellarmino.

Reviews

[Jarrett Vandiver · Rating 5 out of 5]

To get a sense of the real issues that divide Protestants and Catholics, it doesn’t get much better than St Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621), Jesuit Cardinal of the Catholic Reformation.

As I went through it, it was interesting to see how there really is not much that is new in Protestant-Catholic dialogue/debates today: new videos will pop up daily on YouTube from Gavin Ortlund, Redeemed Zoomer, Trent Horn, Joe Heschmeyer, etc, but every debate point I have ever seen from them is already laid out in Bellarmine and in much greater detail.

Thus, if you really want to know the arguments for the papacy and have a full array of patristic evidence and logical argumentation, it may be better to skip YouTube and go straight to Bellarmine!

[James Doeffinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fantastic. Very few books have influenced me and changed my thinking, this book I can now count among them. An excellent and clear translation very smooth and easy to follow. This work is vital for historical studies on the papacy. Robert Bellaramine’s work was consulted at and highly influential at Vatican I, even Ignaz von Döllinger the arch critic of Vatican I and papal Infallibility lists Bellarmine as "An Infalibilist" on the primacy and jurisdiction of the Pope. Bellarmine lists the views of the conditions and theories of heretical popes by his contemporaries, and past canonists. This issue remains to be of great value today as there has been no official definition from the Church on this issue. Bellaramine gives good arguments against the Protestant (Lutheran and Reformed) and Eastern Orthodox polemics against the Catholic doctrine of the papacy, though often harsh as was common among writers of this time period his critiques still hold much for consideration. Citing from councils, church fathers both east and west, and giving his own exegesis of biblical texts from the Greek and Hebrew. Highly recommend.