Law and Modernization in the Church of England

Robert E. Rodes, Jr., (d. 2014) was the first permanent holder of the Paul J. Schierl/Fort Howard Paper Corporation Chair in Legal Ethics as a professor at Notre Dame Law School. Professor Rodes taught and wrote in the areas of administrative law, civil procedure, ethics, jurisprudence, law and theology, legal history and welfare legislation. He is the author of Pilgrim Law (Notre Dame Press, 1998).

"Based on cases, statutes, canons, and measures, Rodes describes the evolution of the Church of England and church-state relations in England since 1660. He traces the adjustments of the church's laws governing doctrine, liturgy, and internal affairs that accompanied its changing position in a modern pluralist state. He analyzes the anomaly of having an 'established' church in a pluralist society." —Law and Social Inquiry"This volume should be prescribed reading for all those interested in ecclesiastical law or the history of the Church. [Rodes's] handling of the ritual and doctrine cases is masterly." —Theology"Rodes has made an extremely difficult subject both interesting and relatively comprehensible. At points--particularly in his conclusion—he can even be moving. He makes good use of original sources, providing examples to illustrate the legal points that he has made. One does not have to have a specific interest in canon law to appreciate this work. It is an excellent resource for those with a general interest in English religion of the seventeenth to twentieth century." —Journal of Church and State"The work will be a valuable source of reference for those seeking the legal bases of the Church during the last three centuries." —Ecclesiastical History"The strength of this work is the author's mastery of a vast and varied literature and his ability to present a synthesis that spans the era studied. This study is, in a sense, a readable manual of the ecclesiastical administration of the Church of England. While the book is primarily for scholars and those interested in Anglican and Church History studies, others interested in constitutional and political dimensions of the period from the 1660 Restoration to the present must come to terms with the material covered in this work. . . . The comprehensiveness of this study and the insight of the author make this book a valuable resource." —Church HIstory