A History of the Popes: Volume I: Origins to the Middle Ages

by Wyatt North

It is apparent from the New Testament that Peter enjoyed some kind of primacy over the other apostles and that Jesus’ intention was not to set up Peter as a rock, since Peter himself could never endure for generations, but as an institution with power and authority, hence the ability to bind and to loose (Matthew 16:19). Of course, this same power was given to the rest of the apostles as well (Matthew 18:18), but it was first promised to Peter, to whom Jesus gave the charge of strengthening his brothers (Luke 22:32).

Montanism, which proclaimed that the end of the world was coming swiftly and that an extreme asceticism was required for all Christians.

Fabian restructured the ecclesiastical landscape of Rome by dividing it into seven districts with a deacon heading each one.

He opposed semi-Pelagianism which held that although grace was necessary for salvation, the first necessary move was a human act bereft of grace.