In this very focused book, E. Christian Brugger sets out to address a contemporary debate in the Catholic Church: can Catholics who have divorced in a secular court be readmitted to the sacraments without seeking an annulment? The Catholic Church's position has been that an annulment is required for Catholics who wish to continue to receive the sacraments after divorce. However, some now argue that this position is keeping otherwise devout parishioners away, and that the church should soften its stance. Brugger makes it clear that he approaches this question as a theologian and argues for the indissolubility of marriage on the basis of the Tridentine decrees. As the Council of Trent is the only universal council to publish dogmatic canons on the subject of marriage, he argues that the church must return to the sixteenth century to make a doctrinally sound determination in the twenty-first century.

Although Brugger's goal in this book is to engage with a contemporary theological debate, he delves into a historical field to make his case. For historians, and readers of Renaissance Quarterly more broadly, it is the historical engagement that is of primary interest. In this sense, Brugger's own introduction to the book is quite apt. He writes that “the purpose of this book is limited. It provides a detailed reading and interpretation of Trent's teaching on indissolubility, primarily (but not exclusively), through the lens of canon 7 [‘Decrees of the Council of Trent, Twenty-Fifth Session: Reform of Marriage’]” (15). In about 150 pages, Brugger does precisely that. He has undertaken an incredibly detailed and close reading of the debates, discussions, drafted decrees, and final decrees relating to the indissolubility of marriage. He examines Trent's engagement with Protestant arguments against indissolubility, as developed in the writings of Luther and Calvin. He explores theological arguments about the “exceptive clause” of the Gospel of Matthew (which says “And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another, commits adultery” [Matthew 19:9]). He also analyzes the debates around the issue of the Greek Church, which were particularly potent to the Venetian congregation, given the connections between Venice and its Greek citizens in both the city and the overseas empire. As the Roman Church was in partial communion with the Greek Church, which allowed divorce for a number of reasons, there were questions about the wording and strictness of the decrees. These concerns were ultimately cause to slightly temper the language used in the final decree.

Brugger presents a clear and convincing argument that the reformers at the Council of Trent intended to support a strict interpretation of the doctrine of indissolubility. The vast majority of the roughly two hundred reformers voting on the marriage decrees affirmed that marriage was indissoluble and seemed to believe that it was a truth of divine revelation. They merely accepted that the Greek Church argued otherwise in the interest of maintaining a partial communion with the Greeks while tolerating “their residual schism” (142). Although some scholars have pointed to the indirect formulation of this particular canon as evidence that the reformers were shying away from taking a firm stance, Brugger argues that the linguistic shift in August 1563 was meant only to preserve the very delicate balance the Roman Church maintained with the Greeks.

For scholars of the early modern church, particularly those focused on the reforms of marriage in the sixteenth century, this book may be of some interest. It provides an admirably detailed and easily digestible exploration of the debates and discussions about indissolubility, primarily taken from the massive thirteen-volume Concilium Tridentinum series. The book also includes three substantial appendixes, which provide the reader with the writings of various theological authorities referenced at Trent (in Latin and English), the statements of the General Congregation on Indissolubility from 1563 (also in Latin and English), and a complete schedule of the Council of Trent, all of which may be of use to scholars of Tridentine reforms of marriage.