Review by Choice Review
Demacopoulos (Fordham Univ.) focuses on the three key papacies of late antiquity: Leo I (440-461), Gelasius (492-496), and Gregory I (590-604). All three popes appealed to the account in the Gospel of Matthew 16 that records Christ's conferring power on Peter. Early on, the bishops of Rome contended that this power was transferred to them. This study is not a standard papal history, but rather an analysis of the use of Petrine language as a way of extending papal power and influence. The popes claimed special authority ("the Petrine privilege" or "the Roman privilege") in letters, sermons, and treatises addressed to bishops, to the eastern patriarch of Constantinople, and to major rulers such as Theoderic and Justinian. In fact, during this era these papal claims were often ignored or contested by competing clergy, and especially by secular rulers. By comparing papal claims with actual historical circumstances, Demacopoulos makes the significant point that the papal assertions were made not from positions of strength, but rather from situations of weakness, vulnerability, and anxiety. Peter has been interpreted in many ways, but the discourse linking Peter and the popes was crucial to the future shape of the church. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals/practitioners. W. L. Pitts Jr. Baylor University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
