Synopses & Reviews
This biographical dictionary is an unrivalled source of information about the astonishing succession of churchmen who have loomed large on the world scene for almost 2,000 years.
The Dictionary contains concise accounts not only of all the officially recognized popes from St. Peter to John Paul II, but also of all their irregularly elected rivals, the so-called antipopes; it also has an appendix recording the once generally credited but long discarded, tradition that at some date in the ninth, tenth, or eleventh century there was a femal pope called Joan. Each pope and antipope is assigned an entry which covers, except where (as in the early centuries) no information is available, his family and social background and pre-papal career as well as his activities in office, and each entry has its separate select bibliography, usually including references to the primary source for the pope's life and his official acts.
The popes have been deliberately arranged in chronological rather than alphabetical order so that each can be studied in his own historical context. The arrangement also means that the book is in effect a continuous history of the papacy. Based on careful research, but eminently readable, it provides revealing vignettes of the extraordinary variety of men who have claimed to be successors of St. Peter, and their varying involvement on great power politics, personal or family aggrandizement, theological controversy, or spiritual leadership. It also presents a graphic and moving picture of the fluctuating fortunes of the Christian church centered in Rome, sometimes submerged by secular forces, but at other times, under popes of determination and vision, staging a spectacular revival and confronting the world (as today) with a daunting challenge.
About the Author -
J.N.D. Kelly is formerly principal of St. Edmund Hall, Oxford.
Features:
A matchless resource on the history of the Papacy
· Chronologically arranged and fully indexed
· Filled with compelling vignettes and portraits
Review
"Fills a big gap among existing reference books....Kelly is not only a distinguished church historian but also an elegant stylist, and the dictionary is very much a book to read or to browse in as well as one to consult."--
The New York Times"A scholarly and useful who's who of popes....Much...can be gleaned from Kelly's fascinating book."--Times Literary Supplement (London)
"A miracle of compression and balance."--The Economist
"A rich mine of arcane nuggets."--Time
"Extremely well-written....An entertaining read for those of any religion or of none; for the Christian community it is of great significance in these days of ecumenical overtures; for the scholar it is invaluable."--Church Times
"The ideal reference book: Well-written and thoroughly indexed, it also exhibits fine scholarship. Highly recommended."--Library Journal
"A fascinating volume...handy, readable, illuminating....Each entry is a little masterpiece."--Daily Telegraph
"Kelly's portrayals are judicious and succinct....The arrangement makes for ease of reference and invites one to trawl happily for pieces of curious or idle information."--Country Life
"In this book, Kelly fills a real need for a papal who's who. Essential for anyone wishing to mug up a pope, it's chronological arrangement and lively narrative make it readable as history in itself."--Today
"A book for Catholics, a book for Christians, a book for historians, and just about anyone interested in that oldest of all continuous Western institutions, the papacy."--The Santa Cruz Sentinel
About the Author
J.N.D. Kelly is Canon of Chichester Cathedral, a Fellow of the British Academy, and since 1966 a member of the Academic Council of the Ecumenical Theological Institute, Jerusalem. He is the author of
Early Christian Creeds,
Early Christian Doctrines,
The Epistles of Peter and of Jude, and
Jerome.