Synopses & Reviews
<div>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.</div><br/><div> </div><br/><div>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.</div><br/><div> </div><br/><div>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 <em>vita consacrata</em>.</div><br/><div> </div><br/><div>The scope is wide; the pace of the narrative is attractive.</div>>
Synopsis
<div>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.</div><br/><div> </div><br/><div>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.</div><br/><div> </div><br/><div>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 <em>vita consacrata</em>.</div><br/><div> </div><br/><div>The scope is wide; the pace of the narrative is attractive.</div>>
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements \ Notes and Abbreviations \ Glossary \ Map: The Mediterranean World \ Introduction \ 1. Pentecost to the Fourth Century \ 2. Early Middle Ages: 400 to 1054 \ 3. Central and Late Middle Ages \ 4. Early Modern Catholicism: 1500 to 1800 \ 5. Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries \ Conclusion \ Appendix: List of Ecumenical Councils \ Bibliography \ Index