About noon, when the day was already beginning to decline, Constantine saw with his own eyes the trophy of a cross of light in the heavens, above the sun, and bearing the inscription, CONQUER BY THIS. At this sight he himself was struck with amazement, and his whole army also, which followed him on this expedition, and witnessed the miracle.
Eusebius, Life of Constantine
I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock33 I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Matthew 16.18-19
The true faith compels us to believe there is one holy Catholic Apostolic Church, and this we firmly believe and plainly confess. Outside of her there is no salvation or remission from sins.
Now, therefore, we declare, say, determine and pronounce that for every human creature it is necessary for salvation to be subject to the authority of the Roman pontiff.
Pope Boniface VIII, Unam Sanctam
For the defense of the faith secular authorities ought publicly to take an oath that they will strive in good faith and to the best of their ability to exterminate in the territories subject to their jurisdiction all heretics pointed out by the Church.
Fourth Lateran Council, Canon 3
The Romanists have very cleverly built three walls around themselves… In the first place… temporal power had no jurisdiction over them… In the second place… only the pope may interpret the Scriptures. In the third place… no one may summon a council but the pope…
Therefore, when necessity demands it, and the pope is an offense to Christendom, the first man who is able should, as a true member of the whole body, do what he can to bring about a truly free council. No one can do this so well as the temporal authorities.
Martin Luther, On Papal Power
Religion is the sob of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.
Karl Marx, Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right
The God of Israel is among us… when He shall make us a praise and glory, that men shall say of succeeding plantations: The Lord make it like that of New England: for we must consider that we shall be as a City upon a Hill, the eyes of all people are upon us. John Winthrop, A Model of Christian Charity
No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential urgency.
George Washington, First Inaugural Address
