376 Andrews University Seminary Studies 56 (Autumn 2018)

close to Hebrew in several aspects, as a significant impairment factor for

Hebrew speakers/readers.
In the last part, Nissinen elaborates on the information drawn from
the three analyzed sources and merges them into a conceptualization of the
ancient prophetical landscape. Nissinen explores the prophets’ ecstatic
behavior, their relationship to ancient temples, with kingship, and their
distribution in terms of gender. Such chapters are rich in details and Nissinen’s
integration of the information coming from Greece, the Near East, and the
Hebrew Bible is responsible. It leaves clear boundaries among the distinct
cultures and allows the reader to evaluate the argumentation. These boundaries
are not left, however, as necessarily indicating either generic or genetic
dissociation. Thus, for Nissinen, the three sources support the appraisal of
ancient prophecy as a human phenomenon, in spite of how the Greek
προφήτης, the biblical ‫נִָביא‬, and the Akkadian muhhûm were appreciated in
their distinct societies and how one’s activity influenced another’s throughout
history.
“Ancient Prophecy” is a dense and well-articulated book. It draws from a
massive amount of primary data and elaborates responsibly on the necessity
of methodological rigor for the development of comparative studies. It also
represents an impressive elaboration on the most recent bibliography in the
field of comparative studies on ancient prophecy. As such, the book is both
a competent introduction to the modern study on ancient prophecy for the
non-specialist reader and a piece of high-standard academic work, proper to
the current ongoing discussions of its type within professional circles.
Berrien Springs, Michigan Felipe Masotti

Siecienski, A. Edward. The Papacy and the Orthodox: Sources and History of a
Debate. OSHT. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017. xiv + 510 pp.
Hardcover. USD 78.00.
The question of authority in the church and the unique ministry of the Bishop of
Rome within Christianity has been a matter of intense discussion for centuries.
In The Papacy and the Orthodox: Sources and History of a Debate, Edward
Siecienski, associate professor of religion, and Clement and Helen Papas
Professor of Byzantine Civilization and Religion at the Richard Stockton
College of New Jersey, set out “to trace the history of the Orthodox
understanding of the papacy and the place it has played in East-West relations
since the beginning of the ‘estrangement’ that eventually split them apart” (xi).
Like his other book, The Filioque: History of a Doctrinal Controversy, OSHT
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2010), “this book intends to trace the
history of a controversy—that is, the primacy of the Bishop of Rome as it
has been received (or rejected) by Orthodox Christianity” (xii). His “intent
is not to convince, but rather to lay out the history in as clear, objective,
and interesting a manner as is possible” (xiii). And in this endeavor, I believe
Siecienski succeeds admirably.
 Book Reviews 377

The polemics surrounding the primacy of the Bishop of Rome have

centered extensively on very different readings of the biblical and patristic
materials concerning Peter and the Church of Rome. In the first four chapters,
Siecienski lays out the history of the apostle Peter and his role in the early
Church of Rome. The historical Peter is the subject of chapter one, which
surveys what modern scholarship has said about the historicity of the apostle
and his presence in Rome. Here the author attempts to distinguish between
the “Simon of history” and the “Peter of faith.” Chapter two looks at the “Peter
of faith” in Scripture and discusses the various portrayals of the apostle in the
gospels and epistles. Modern scholarship now readily admits that the biblical
material presents multiple views of Peter. The third chapter moves into the
discussion of how early church fathers read and commented on the biblical
material about Peter and the post-biblical memory of the apostle’s ministry in
Rome. The early church fathers employed the person of Peter for “a variety of
homiletical and pastoral purposes without necessarily thinking that they were
somehow commenting on the power and privileges of the Bishop of Rome”
(6). Later commentators and church leaders in both East and West would
grab these statements and use them to buttress their views of the primacy.
Chapter four deals with the early church’s developing view of the Bishop of
Rome and how individual authors and councils understood both the basis and
limits of emerging papal authority in their dealings with it. Siecienski argues
that “historically the Orthodox have claimed that the weight of the patristic
evidence points to a conciliarly granted ‘honorary primacy’ that never granted
to the pope any authority beyond that enjoyed by the other patriarchs” (7). Of
course, differences continue to exist over this interpretation.
The next few chapters survey historical developments and statements
throughout the Middle Ages. Chapter five reviews the seventh through the
tenth centuries, a period of church history that was critical in the development
of the papacy and the Eastern response to it. Various controversies (such as
the monothelite and iconoclastic controversies) greatly enhanced the role of
the papacy in the East as various theologians turned to the Pope for support
for their positions. During the Photian Schism (863–867), however, Pope
Nicholas I pressed a view of the papacy that required universal acceptance of
his role and obedience to his will, something that the East refused to grant.
The papacy’s self-understanding continued to evolve during the pontificates
of succeeding popes, moving well beyond what Orthodox Christianity could
allow.
“The Age of the Great Schism and the Gregorian Reform” is the subject
of chapter six and relates how the relationship between East and West was
drastically transformed by the excommunications of 1054, the reforms of
Gregory VII (1073–1085), and the Crusades. The estrangement between the
Latin- and Greek-speaking churches increased substantially when Western
theologians, during the second half of the eleventh century, stressed the
universal nature of papal supremacy over ecclesiastical and secular authorities,
best seen in the document Dictatus Papae (1075) (240, 258). For the East,
these claims were a departure from their understanding of tradition.
378 Andrews University Seminary Studies 56 (Autumn 2018)

However, it is the Fourth Crusade (ch. 7) and the sacking of

Constantinople that “marks the true start of the schism between the Latin and
Greek Churches” (282), thus revealing to Eastern Orthodoxy the ultimate aim
of papal primacy and ecclesiology toward the East, which required nothing
less than obedience to its claims. As the Eastern Empire weakened in political
strength and independence over the next two centuries, the Byzantine
Emperor sought an alliance with Rome; even a willingness to submit to papal
authority. Yet, at the same time, Latin theologians tempered the authority
of the pope in adopting Haec Sancta during the fifth session of the Council
of Constance (1415), and thus limited the authority of the pope to end the
Western Schism, a decision welcomed by Eastern theologians.
The following “Council of Ferrara-Florence (1438–1439) was exactly what
the East had been requesting for centuries—a genuinely ecumenical council
where the issues separating the churches could be debated and discussed”
(327), but as Siecienski describes in chapter eight, the developments from
Ferrara-Florence to Vatican I (1870) did not result in what many in the East
had hoped for. The centuries after Florence were difficult for both East and
West, as Rome had to deal with the Protestant Reformers, and Constantinople
had to learn to survive under the Sultan. Dialogue was difficult and the
following centuries exhibit little progress toward a possible reunion of
churches. But it was Vatican I that placed an insurmountable obstacle to any
further hope with the Pastor Aeternus declaration of papal infallibility and
universal jurisdiction. For the Orthodox, there was little to debate as the
teachings of Vatican I “were serious errors and had to be rejected in the
strongest possible terms” (367).
In chapter nine, “The Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries,” Siecienski
explores the more recent developments from the Second Vatican Council
and Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Ut Unum Sint (1995). The theology of
communio (fellowship) holds perhaps the most hope of a possible reunion.
Yet, Siecienski is clear in his epilogue that “the Orthodox are firmly convinced
that the dogmas of Vatican I remain incompatible with both the witness of
the first millennium and their understanding of the Church. As long as the
pope’s universal jurisdiction and infallibility are taught as Catholic doctrines
many Orthodox believe union is an impossibility” (417–418). It may be that
any solution to disunity may not come any time soon.
Overall, Siecienski has written a very valuable and credible assessment
of the development of the debate between East and West over the role of the
Bishop of Rome in the Christian Church. His knowledge of the issues, already
explored partly in his study of the filioque, is commendable. His familiarity
with the various documents and authors that contributed to the Orthodox
response to the papal claims is impressive. And his extensive bibliography
(eighty pages) is a great complement to a remarkable study, making it an
invaluable resource for this debate. Indubitably, this volume is a welcome
addition to the Oxford Studies in Historical Theology series.
Andrews University Denis Fortin