Book Review: P.D.L. Avis, Beyond the Reformation? Authority, Primacy and Unity in the Conciliar Tradition (London; New York: T & T Clark, 2006), pp. xx + 234. ISBN 0567083993 (hbk)
Abstract
Book ReviewP.D.L. Avis, Beyond the Reformation? Authority, Primacy and Unity in the Conciliar Tradition (London; New York: T & T Clark, 2006), pp. xx + 234. ISBN 0567083993 (hbk) SAGE Publications, Inc.2008DOI: 10.1177/17403553080060020803 BruceKaye School of History, University of New South Wales School of Theology, Charles Sturt University This is a very important book on a vital theme for modern Anglicans, and for the wider ecumenical conversations in Christianity. The theme of conciliarism is vital for Anglicans because it has been a central dynamic in their tradition: it is a crucial context for understanding the English reformation of the sixteenth century, and points beyond that period further into the tradition. The present con icts in the Anglican Communion are being conducted without much awareness of this element in the tradition, and at some points in seeming ignorance of it as a framework of reference for understanding the distinctive character of the English reformation. Paul Avis has given us a systematic account of the conciliar tradition in fairly straightforward terms. He correctly believes the story is not well known, and that the plain telling of the story should make its relevance to contemporary issues plain. He provides two introductory