Conciliarism

Conciliarism is one of the oldest and most essential means of decision-making in the history of the Christian church. Indeed as a leading Orthodox theologian Alexander Schmemann states ''Before we understand the place and the function of the council in the church we must therefore see the church herself as a council.'' Paul Valliere tells the story of councils and conciliar decision-making in the Christian church from earliest times to the present. Drawing extensively upon the scholarship on conciliarism which has appeared in the last half-century Valliere brings a broad ecumenical perspective to the study and shows how the conciliar tradition of the Christian past can serve as a resource for resolving conflicts in the church today. The book presents a conciliarism which involves historical legacy but which leads us forward not backward and which keeps the church''s collective eyes on the prize - the eschatological kingdom of God.