"I have sought to describe the confessional split in the Western Church not in terms of contemporary conflicts over matters of education or politics, but in terms of classical formulations of theological differences. For it is this classical form which, in innumerable manifestations, still characterizes the division. However, since we have -- with ample historical justification, I should think -- passed beyond most of the vocabulary of Aristotelian scholasticism, such an analysis of classical formulations must also be an interpretation if it is to be understood in its present relevance. It is my hope that the present study accomplishes that task." -- Preface.