Philip Sherrard

Church, Papacy, and Schism

A Theological Enquiry

Despite the valiant efforts of modern proponents of ecumenicalism, the union of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian churches continues to be one of the crucial and thorny issues of our times. Yet it is often forgotten that any discussion about it must begin with an understanding of what the Church itself is. Before one can talk of healing the schism, one must know what lies at its root. This book focuses on such central questions. It is a unique and unprecedented contribution to the understanding of the different developments of the two major sections of the Christian Church, the Catholic and the Orthodox.

Opening with a succinct, penetrating exposition of the essential reality and meaning of the Church and of the episcopate’s function within it, Philip Sherrard goes on to trace the emergence in the East and West of differing ecclesiologies, each in its turn determining a different form of Church government. In particular, he shows how the theory and practice of the papacy are the product of a conception of the Church which became, and still is, dominant in the West. Yet this conception, and the corresponding conception in the Orthodox world, are themselves both rooted in deeper theological differences, Christological and trinitarian. The book concludes with a brilliantly illuminating analysis of these differences which, because they lie behind the disunion of the Churches, must consequently constitute the main focus of any fruitful ecumenical dialogue.

'As a defender of ancient tradition, [Philip's] face was turned not primarily to the past but to the future. It is a striking fact that today . . . his writings are being more and more studied, and his voice — so highly distinctive in tone — is being heard by an ever-expanding circle of disciples who never knew him in his lifetime.' Metropolitan Kallistos Ware

This new edition of Church, Papacy, and Schism has been re-typeset and includes an index.

128 pages, 20.5 x 13.0 cm, 2024