Studies on the Early Papacy

John Chapman, fourth abbot of Downside Abbey, was a renowned scholar of the early Church. Taking up the question of the papal primacy in the first centuries of Christianity, he eschews selective apologetics in favor of a reasoned study of textual sources in the context of historical events. By these he illustrates the position of the bishop of Rome in the early Church through the prominent and authoritative role taken by or expected of him at pivotal moments of early Christian history....
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John Chapman, fourth abbot of Downside Abbey, was a renowned scholar of the early Church. Taking up the question of the papal primacy in the first centuries of Christianity, he eschews selective apologetics in favor of a reasoned study of textual sources in the context of historical events. By these he illustrates the position of the bishop of Rome in the early Church through the prominent and authoritative role taken by or expected of him at pivotal moments of early Christian history. So doing, this volume offers much substance to those who wish to understand better the question of papal prerogatives. Chapman argues in favor of the Catholic claims based on his reading of the history, but does so with such care as a historian that his work has received high approval even from such an eminence as the famed Anglican historian Henry Chadwick who, in his own book on the history of the early Church, saw fit to recommend Chapman's work to readers interested in the question. There have been many successors to Chapman but few, if any, have engaged precisely with the matters that he discusses with such detail and clarity. His book, therefore, remains an important voice in the modern conversation.

Published by Ex Fontibus Company.