New Short History of the Catholic Church

Description

Here is a one-volume history of the Christian people from Pentecost to the present day, with principal focus on the Catholic Church. Having passed AD 2000 it seems appropriate and necessary to have a new short history of the first two millennia of the Christian era. In the last half century there has been a massive amount of research into Church history, published in learned articles and in multi-volume works. Full notice is taken of these recent scholarly initiatives in writing this short account, which is also eminently readable. In each section there is a balance between the institutional and the more directly religious dimensions of the Church - here are some of the elements: bishops, canon law, charity, councils crusades, devotions, heresies, laity, liturgy, martyrs, missionaries, parishes, pilgrimages, popes, prayer, priesthood, religious orders, sacraments, schools, theologians, universities and the vita consacrata. The scope is wide; the pace of the narrative is attractive.

Dr Tanner is a Jesuit priest and now Professor of Church History at The Gregorian University in Rome, Italy.

'A short, readable and informed survey of church history.' -- The Church of England Newspaper 'Tanner covers a tremendous amount of ground but never leaves the reader overwhelmed with dates and names... If you want a reliable general survey of Church History, allowing you to see the woods for the trees, then this is the book for you.' -- The Catholic Times An excellent overview of church history focussing mainly on Roman Catholicism and covering five periods... It includes a map of the Mediterranean world, a useful appendix listing ecumenical councils, a glossary of terms and a good bibliography and index. It will be a useful reference work, particularly for theological students and clergy, and will be a welcome addition to church history studies. -- The Good Bookstall ...the bibliography accompanying this book testifies to the breadth and depth of scholarship distilled [in this book]. -- The Furrow While the book is eminently readable, its treatment of the divine and human dimensions of the Christian mystery, through history, is sophisticated... Tanner is to be congratulated on writing this complex and fascinating story with learning, wit and clarity. The publisher is to be thanked for producing an elegant and attractive volume at an affordable price. -- L'Osservatore Romano In fewer than 250 pages Norman Tanner... manages to compress some 2,000 years of history in a fluent and engaging way... In a sparing and economical style [he] communicates the essential developments and events of the Catholic Church. However, he also manages to include a remarkable amount of specifics, accompanied by a sensitive understanding of the changing methodology of church history over the centuries. -- The Pastoral Review Volume 7 Issue 6 Father Tanner's mastery of conciliar history enables him to give a harmonious and integrated account of the continuities, discontinuities and unresolved issues at each moment in history. . . . [The book] provide[s] a rich foundation for Catholic understanding and witness and could also provide resources for those who wish to enrich their Catholic witness within conversation among Christians, or to inform those outside who wish to discover the richness of Catholic self-understanding. -- Catholic San Francisco This is a useful book of reference by the master of the history of the councils of the Church... There is enormous value in a short, reliable, and careful study of a sequence of events that may have unfamiliar joinings and passageways to modern believers... -- Catholic Historical Review Reviewed in Doctrine and Life, Vol. 62, No.4.