Overview

Lev Krevza's A Defense of Church Unity (1617), on the Uniate side, and Zaxarija Kopystens'kyj's Palinodia (1621), a monumental defense of the Eastern Church, are arguably the most erudite, comprehensive, and persuasive works on the ecclesiastical debate between these two groups. This two-volume work illuminates the intense struggle ignited when, at the time of the Union of Brest (1596), a large part of the Ruthenian ecclesiastical hierarchy declared itself in communion with the Roman Catholic Church. Bohdan Struminski provides English translations from the original Ruthenian and Middle Polish texts.

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9780916458294

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Reviews

The publication in a clear English translation of two of the most important texts in the polemical battle between supporters and opponents of the Union [of Brest] is...most welcome. The quality of the debate admirably reflects the high standard of Uniate and Orthodox learning in the Commonwealth, with both authors showing themselves to be completely at home in the history of both Latin and Greek churches, and to be fully conversant with religious developments in western Europe. Krevza's impassioned appeal for church unity should be recognised as a classic text of ecumenism; Kopystens'kyj's equally scholarly reply demonstrates the difficulties faced by all who would restore the shattered fabric of the Church of the apostles. These splendid volumes will bring a neglected but important area of church history to a wider audience.--Robert I. Frost Ecclesiastical History The Harvard Library of Early Ukrainian Literature is a monumental series--of original works and translations thereof into English and Ukrainian--published in commemoration of the millennium of Christianity in Rus'-Ukraine. The volumes published to date are devoted primarily to the early seventeenth century, a period of great polemical activity between adherents of the Ruthenian (Ukrainian-Belarusian) Orthodox Church on the one hand, and of the Uniate Church on the other. Part I of the volumes under discussion here combines in one book two major polemical treatises, Krevza's Defense from the Uniate side, and Kopystens'kyj's massive Palinodija from the Orthodox, written in response to Krevza. Part II represents a catalogue of all of the identifiable written sources referred to in them. The two books are beautifully produced, the translations excellent; the publication of these texts in English translation, together with the invaluable list of sources, will give scholars in the field of Church history a veritable treasure trove of material for further research.--S.M. Pugh Journal of Theological Studies

The publication in a clear English translation of two of the most important texts in the polemical battle between supporters and opponents of the Union [of Brest] is...most welcome. The quality of the debate admirably reflects the high standard of Uniate and Orthodox learning in the Commonwealth, with both authors showing themselves to be completely at home in the history of both Latin and Greek churches, and to be fully conversant with religious developments in western Europe. Krevza's impassioned appeal for church unity should be recognised as a classic text of ecumenism; Kopystens'kyj's equally scholarly reply demonstrates the difficulties faced by all who would restore the shattered fabric of the Church of the apostles. These splendid volumes will bring a neglected but important area of church history to a wider audience. -- Robert I. Frost Ecclesiastical History

Author Information

Bohdan Struminsky is a research fellow of the Ukrainian Research Institute, Harvard University.

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