The Church: The Evolution of Catholicism

By Richard P. McBrien

Book Overview

"The Church is a lucid, balanced, and readable book--a work of integration that is always reasonable, well informed, honest, and deeply hopeful."

--Commonweal

In The Church, renowned religious historian and Vatican expert Richard P. McBrien offers a sweeping history of the evolution of the Roman Catholic Church, its influence and power in an ever-changing world. From Jesus's apostle Peter to Pope Benedict XVI, The Church is a remarkable achievement that delves deeply into the past and the future of Christianity's largest branch--in fact, the largest religious institution in the world--exploring its politics, doctrines, and the way the Roman Catholic Church views itself.

This comprehensive history of Catholicism traces the Church's two-thousand-year evolution, covering key moments that include:

Ecclesiology in the New Testament: An exploration of how the early followers of Jesus understood themselves as a community and laid the foundations for the Church.Papal Primacy and Infallibility: A detailed historical analysis of how the roles of Peter and his successors evolved, culminating in the critical definitions of Vatican I.From Vatican I to Vatican II: A masterful overview of the two pivotal councils that defined the modern Catholic Church, from the declaration of papal infallibility to the sweeping reforms that followed.Postconciliar Ecclesiology: An insightful look at the Church after Vatican II, examining its relationship with the modern world, developments in Catholic social teaching, and its future direction.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061245259
• ISBN13: 9780061245251
• Release Date: November 2009
• Publisher: HarperOne
• Length: 528 Pages
• Weight: 1.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 5.0" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

The Church: The Evolution of Catholicism

This book includes insights into the history of Catholicism and how it's evolution was affected by diverse philosophies throughout the world through the centuries.

another great McBrien Book

This is a typical Richard McBrien book: Meticulously researched, beautifully written, and very accessible. All American Catholics who wish to know more about the richness of their Church will find this book well worth their effort. Father McBrien has presented us with another gift to ponder and savor.

OUR ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH's EVOLUTION AS REPORTED BY ONE OF OUR FINEST PRIESTS AND SCHOLARS WRITING

The Reverend Father Richard P. McBrien, a Roman Catholic priest of the Hartford Archdiocese and for several decades a scholar and professor of theology at the Roman Catholic University of Notre Dame (Home of the Fighting Irish) was himself educated at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He has served as President of the Catholic Theological Society of America, and is the respected and accepted author of several academic reference works on Catholicism, as well as popular books for the Faithful and the curious. He has also long written his column popular in several diocesan newspapers across the nation, and which may also now be read at NCRonline. His latest column discusses the hierarchy under Pope Leo the Great, whose feast we now celebrate. Among his better known publications are the essential The HarperCollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism, for which he served as editor-in-chief and sort of symphonic conductor, drawing together countless experts in their fields to submit items to this excellent Encyclopedia. The articles range from a few lines long to several pages in length and cover nearly every imaginable aspect of the Roman Catholic Church, religion, rituals, etc. Another, simpler presentation may be his Inside Catholicism (Signs of the sacred) for which he wrote the text to this moving series of photographs of several aspects of the Catholic Church, and excellent gift for anyone from the curious, to the convert, to the newly confirmed to the cradle Catholic. Even the cafeteria Catholic may find full conversion here. He is also greatly appreciated for his comprehensive Lives of the Saints: From Mary and St. Francis of Assisi to John XXIII and Mother Teresa as well as his Lives of the Popes - reissue: The Pontiffs from St. Peter to Benedict XVI which has been updated to include the current papacy. These works are also available in pocket format. This great Professor of Catholic Theology, the Reverend Father Richard P. McBrien, is also well known for his most widely used text: Catholicism: New Study Edition--Completely Revised and Updated which serves so well seminarians and others eager to enter more deeply the essence of our Faith. Here in this most recent work we gratefully receive Father McBrien's study of our ecclesiology, beginning with our infant church and the struggles of the very first Christians through the challenges we face now as pilgrim Church in this new millennium. As the subtitle states, within this 500 page book Father McBrien traces our evolution as a community, as one family, as Roman Catholic Church, as a People of God. Father McBrien as ever does not shirk the hard questions and scandals and embarrassing developments of our past and present, ever hopeful for our future. He examines the origins, for instance of the Inquisition, and the Vatican's position during World War II. He reveals the history of the celibate clergy and the male priesthood. He shows the Church's relationship to Islam. He marks the growth

Scholarship to be enjoyed

One always expects Richard McBrien's books to be well organized and readable. THE CHURCH is a perfect example. It is a reference book that can be enjoyed as much as a history filled with the interesting people who influenced events. The book's organization makes it easy to choose at what level of detail you wish to read without interruption. He handles controversial subjects in a dispassionate and matter-of-fact way which is refreshing. This book helps put the Church of the 21st century into proper perspective.