Tradition and authority in the western church, 300-1140 [Hardcover]

Karl Frederick Morrison (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 458 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press; First edition (1969)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691071551
• ISBN-13: 978-0691071558
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,552,093 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars An invaluable book- it needs to be back in print, July 6, 2010

By 

J. Conder "jco2005" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tradition and authority in the western church, 300-1140 (Hardcover)

This scholarly yet lucid and accessible book addresses a topic which is at the core of western church history, and, consequently, is also at the core of the East-West schism: the shift in the western church between the early and patristic idea of a Church primarily bound by an unchanging Apostolic Tradition, which remains the dominant idea in the East, to a Church bound to a "Magisterium" of offices occupied by human individuals, the primary office, of course, being the Papacy. Of course, to state it that way is to oversimplify, but that conveys the central idea. Certainly there have been many other important developments in Church history, but, with the possible exception of the formalization and politization of dogma surrounding Nicea and the other early Councils, I would argue this was the most fundamental. Of course this development has been touched on obliquely in many other church histories that I have read but, to my knowledge, this is the only work devoted to this particular aspect of western church history (if someone knows of another such work, PLEASE inform me of it). To answer a question which I am sure is lurking in some minds, I have no idea what the confessional allegiances of the author, Karl F. Morrison, if any. He may have disclosed them somewhere in the book; if so, I have forgotten. The book struck me, at any rate, as detached and non-polemical. It is out of print and expensive, and not carried in a lot of libraries. Inter-library loan is the avenue many will have to take. In my opinion, it is well worth the trouble. I will close with a plea to the publisher- republish this book!