The Church: The Evolution of Catholicism

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"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.

Richard P. McBrien is Crowley-O'Brien Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. Educated at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, he has also served as president of the Catholic Theological Society of America. A leading authority on Catholicism, he is the bestselling author of Catholicism, Lives of the Popes, and Lives of the Saints, as well as the general editor of The HarperCollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism. Most recently a consultant for ABC News, McBrien offers regular commentary on all the major television networks. He is also a prizewinning syndicated columnist in the Catholic press.

Catholicism expert Richard McBrien offers the first modern history of the Roman Catholic Church. Encyclopedic in scope but accessible and written in laymen's terms...--CBA Retailers and Resources, August 2008 As always McBrien's work is clear, concise and comprehensive in scope. Undoubtedly this book will become a standard ecclesiological reference point for students and teachers alike.--Neil Ormerod Neil Ormerod, Professor of Theology, Director of the Institute of Theology, Philosophy and Religious Education, Australian Catholic University McBrien's encyclopedic text examining Roman Catholicism is destined to be the definitive theological work on the topic. . . . [T]his superlative, splendidly written text is accessible to anyone interested in understanding the Catholic Church's history and theology from a modern global perspective. Recommended for all libraries.--School Library Journal A work breathtaking in its scope and yet manageable in its presentation.--National Catholic Reporter The Church is a lucid, balanced, and readable book-a work of integration that is always reasonable, well informed, honest, and deeply hopeful.--Commonweal This distinguished scholar and professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame, candidly sketches out the pastoral challenges to, and the internal tensions within, the church today.--America Magazine This is a superb book, as usual. What would we do without this great honest man and his great honest writing?--Sr. Joan Chittister With characteristic clarity, Richard McBrien artfully tells the story of how Catholic theology developed over two millennia. In tracing the insights, conflicts, and fundamentals of Catholic thought, he has provided a superb resource for readers of all traditions.--Mary C. Boys, s.n.j.m., author of Has God Only One Blessing? Judaism as a Source of Christian Self-Understanding