The General Councils: A History of the Twenty-One Church Councils from Nicaea to Vatican II

This short, well organized, clearly written, book opens a window on the church well worth looking into. It goes some way into correcting fundamentalist views of the Church as a monolithic organization run by a dictatorial head. It also sheds light on the way the Church addressed, or didn't address, problems that confronted it thru the ages. It is the kind of book worthy of small group study.

This summary of the 21 general councils recognized by the Roman Catholic Church demonstrates the value, and some of the limitations, of an historical overview. By focusing on the basic facts and immediate contexts of the councils, Christopher Bellitto enables the reader to discern the broad patterns that are intrinsic to conciliar history. Because the time period in review is virtually two millennia, however, some detail is necessarily sacrificed (though greater attention is paid to the more recent convocations -- Trent, Vatican I and II). From this book one learns that general councils are called irregularly to address pressing doctrinal controversies and disciplinary problems, that the authority of the Pope in relation to the councils has long been an issue, and that, perhaps most interestingly, conciliar decrees often have a prophetic function. Time and again, sometimes after a series of only partial successes, the councils have prepared the Church to survive and even thrive in a new historical epoch. Readers wanting more detailed discussions of the personalities, politics, and theological infighting of the councils will need to pursue further study. Nevertheless, as an introduction to this very public part of the Church's history, and as a preamble to understanding contemporary ecclesiastical developments, The General Councils is a good place to start.