Status Updates From Byzantium and the Roman Pri...

"The Principle or Accommodation" chapter caught me by surprise. It explains clearly how the Primitive Church was almost immediately structured around the regional structure of the Roman Empire, as major cities were major social hubs. Thus bishops in a "metropolis" were also given the titles "Metropolitan" as head of the city, and "Patriarch" as head of the diocese/province. Hence, elevating Constantinople later...

"The differences that become clear both in Byzantium and the West in the conception of the Church and its earthly aspect, the differences which stand out also in the evolution of the organization of the two Churches, are due to the fact that the two portions of Christendom have developed under different political and social conditions."