Conciliarism and Papalism

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Conciliarism and Papalism
Authors and Contributors      Edited by J. H. Burns
Edited by Thomas Izbicki
SeriesCambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:354
Dimensions(mm): Height 216,Width 139
Category/GenreChristianity
ISBN/Barcode 9780521476744
ClassificationsDewey:270.6
Audience
Professional & Vocational
Tertiary Education (US: College)
Illustrations Worked examples or Exercises

Publishing Details

Publisher Cambridge University Press
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publication Date 4 December 1997
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

Almost on the eve of the sixteenth-century Reformation, the long-running debate over the respective authority of popes and councils in the Catholic Church was vigorously resumed. In this collection the editors bring together the first English translation of four major contributions to that debate. In these texts, complex arguments derived from Scripture, theology, and canon law are deployed. The issues that emerge, however, prove to have a broader significance. What is foreshadowed here is the confrontation between 'absolutism' and 'constitutionalism' which was to be a dominant theme in the politics of early-modern Europe and beyond. Even on the threshold of the twenty-first century the concerns that underlie and animate the scholastic disputations in these pages retain their force. This volume includes introductory material which elucidates the context of the debate, as well as a comprehensive bibliography.

Reviews

'Conciliarism had been one of the most important topics of debate in the church for a century, only to be overtaken by the Reformation controversies. These texts show just how sophisticated and lively the debate still was on the eve of the Reformation.' History