The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1

VII. Claudius Discourages Dependence on Rome

CLAUDIUS (d. 839), bishop of Turin, and sometimes styled “Bishop of the Valleys,” was born in Spain. A talented preacher, he was for some years chaplain at the court of Louis the Pious, the successor of Charlemagne. Upon the advancement of Louis to the throne of empire, he made Claudius the bishop of the important metropolis of Turin, about 822, during the pontificate of Paschal I, who opposed him. Claudius’ diocese included the plains and mountain valleys of Piedmont. Thus the mantle of Ambrose and Vigilantius descended upon him. With dismay he beheld the papal encroachments bowing the necks of men to its yoke, and the people bending their knees to its idols. In the very territory where Vigilantius had inveighed against the errors o£ Jerome, Claudius now led a strong movement to promote and perpetuate the same reforms. As a result, capitulation of the independence of his church to the yoke of Rome was stayed, and the evangelical light continued to shine at the foot of the Alps. ²⁶ PFF1 821.1

1. GREATEST BATTLE FOUGHT OVER IMAGE WORSHIP

Claudius was an “indefatigable student of Holy Scripture.” ²⁷ By pen and voice he constantly proclaimed truth and opposed error. He maintained that there is but one Sovereign of the church-the Lord in heaven; that Peter had no superiority over other apostles; that human merit is of no avail, but that faith alone saves. He repudiated tradition, prayers for the dead, and relics. He contended that the Lord’s supper is simply a memorial of Christ’s death, not a repetition. He fought strenuously against image worship, kissing the cross, et cetera. He specifically denied Roman primacy. ²⁸ Thus he has come to be called the “Protestant of the ninth century.” ²⁹ PFF1 821.2

It was over iconolatria, or image worship, that Claudius fought his greatest battle, resisting it with all the logic of his pen and all the force of his eloquence. The worship of images had been decreed by the second Council of Nicaea (787), ³⁰ but was rejected in certain sections. The Council of Frankfort (794), called by Charlemagne, with 300 western bishops participating, took its stand against image worship. ³¹ Claudius’ attack on image worship is best described in his own words: PFF1 821.3

” ‘Against my will I undertook the burden of pastoral office. Sent by the pious prince, son of the holy Church of God, Louis, I came into Italy, to the city of Turin. I found all the churches (contrary to the order of truth) filled with the filth of accursed things and images.’ ... ‘What men were worshiping I alone began to destroy.’ ... ‘Therefore all opened their mouths to revile me, and if the Lord had not helped me, perhaps they would have swallowed me alive.’” ³² PFF1 822.1

Fearing the effects of the superstition and idolatry taught and practiced at Rome, Claudius endeavored to keep his own diocese from being further infected. To this end he told his people that they ought not to run to Rome for the pardon of their sins, ³³ nor have recourse to the saints or their relics; ³⁴ that the church is not founded upon St. Peter or the pope, ³⁵ and that they ought not to worship images. ³⁶ PFF1 822.2

2. PROCLAIMS EVANGELICAL FAITH AND EXALTS WORD

Claudius wrote several books to refute his opponents. ³⁷ He maintained the doctrine of justification by faith, ³⁸ denied the infallibility of the church, declared it heresy to depart from the Word of God, and affirmed the presence of a multitude of such heretics in his day, ³⁹ which he declared to be within as well as outside the church. Claudius’ attitude toward the crucifix is illuminating: PFF1 822.3

“God commands [Us] to bear the cross, not to worship it; they wish to worship it because they are unwilling to bear it either spiritually or corporally,” ⁴⁰ PFF1 823.1

His position on the supremacy of the pope is likewise succinctly stated: PFF1 823.2

“For we know that this sentence of the gospel of the Lord Saviour is ill understood, where he says to the blessed apostle Peter ‘Thou art Peter, and on this rock will I build my church; and I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of Heaven.’ (Matt. xvi). On account of these words of, the Lord, an ignorant race of men destitute of all spiritual knowledge, wish to go to Rome for the attainment of everlasting life.... The ministry belongs to the superintendants of the church, as long as they sojourn in this mortal body.” ⁴¹ PFF1 823.3

Claudius flatly denied the authority of tradition. The writ ten Word was to him the one standard of truth, his burden being to deliver the unadulterated Word of God. In this he was declared by contemporaries to be promulgating the doctrine of Vigilantius, as appears from the two treatises against Claudius by Jonas, bishop of Orleans, and by the French monk Dungal, ⁴² who declared that his influence extended all over Italy, France, and Germany. ⁴³ PFF1 823.4

Dungal continually referred to Claudius as teaching the same as Vigilantius. And Rorenco, prior of St. Roch at Turin (c. 1630), employed to inquire into the origin of the opinions and connections of the mountaineer Vallenses, declared that “Claude of Turin was to be reckoned among these fomentors and encouragers,” ⁴⁴ as the principal destroyer of images. PFF1 823.5

3. MAINTAINS TRADITION OF NORTH ITALIAN INDEPENDENCE

In addition to the purity of the faith, Claudius had held for the independence traditional to the churches of north Italy. For they remained free in his day, though most other churches had become subservient to Rome. Milan still used the Ambrosian liturgy and pursued her course in independence of Rome. ⁴⁵ Claudius was joined, in these protests against image worship, by his contemporary on the other side of the Alps, Agobardus, archbishop of Lyons from 810 to 841. ⁴⁶ PFF1 823.6

The papal power had not yet established supremacy in northern Italy; nor had it yet proceeded to deeds of blood to enforce its ever increasing control, for not yet had the secular power surrendered itself to be the instrument of death at Rome’s bidding-which marked the culminating achievement of the papal power. Thus Claudius “suffered not unto blood.” ⁴⁷ After his death (c, 839), however, the battle was but languidly maintained. His mantle was not taken up by any outstanding leader, and came to trail in the dust. Attempts were made to induce the bishops of Milan to surrender in spiritual vassalage to the pope. PFF1 824.1

When, a century or so later, the religionists of the plains entered the pale of Roman jurisdiction, some protesters fled across the Alps and descended to the Rhine and the diocese of Cologne. Still others retired to the Piedmontese Alps, and there maintained both their Scriptural faith and ancient independence, “spurning alike the tyrannical yoke and the corrupt tenets of the Church of the Seven Hills,” considering that Rome abandoned what was once the common faith of Christendom, and that to them who remained in the old faith belonged the “indisputably valid title of the True Church.” ⁴⁸ PFF1 824.2