Online book shop » Early Christianity

East and West: the Making of a Rift in the Church: From Apostolic Times Until the Council of Florence (Oxford History of the Christian Church)

The greatest Christian split of all has been that between east and west, between Roman Catholic and eastern Orthodox, a rift that is still apparent today. In this text, Henry Chadwick provides a compelling and balanced account of the emergence of divisions between Rome and Constantinople. Drawing on his encyclopaedic command of the literature, he starts with the roots of the divergence in apostolic times and takes the story right up to the Council of Florence in the 15th century. Henry Chadwick's own years of experience as an ecumenist inform his discussion of Christians in relation to each other, to Jews and to non-Christian Gentiles. He displays a distinctive concern for the factors - theological, personal, political and cultural - that caused division in the Church and prevented reconciliation. His exposition of the complex issues discussed at the Ecumenical Councils (issues that eventually led to the separation) is characteristically clear.

RRP £60.00 Hardcover