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The Catholic Church [Modern Library Chronicles]
- Narrated by: Robert O'Keefe
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
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For many, the medieval world seems dark and foreign - a miraculous, brutal, and irrational time of superstition and strange relics. The pursuit of heretics, the Inquisition, the Crusades, and the domination of the "Holy Land" come to mind.
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Throughly engaging
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Rebel in the Ranks
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- By: Brad S. Gregory
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- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
-
Story
For five centuries, Martin Luther has been lionized as an outspoken and fearless icon of change who ended the Middle Ages and heralded the beginning of the modern world. In Rebel in the Ranks, Brad Gregory, renowned professor of European history at Notre Dame, recasts this long-accepted portrait. Luther did not intend to start a revolution that would divide the Catholic Church and forever change Western civilization. Yet his actions would profoundly shape our world in ways he could never have imagined.
-
-
Something to think about
- By Like Loehe on 09-19-17
By: Brad S. Gregory
-
A History of Christianity
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- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 28 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1976, Paul Johnson's exceptional study of Christianity has been loved and widely hailed for its intensive research, writing, and magnitude. Weaving a great range of material, the scholar and author Johnson creates an ambitious panoramic overview of the evolution of the Western world since the founding of a little-known "Jesus sect".
-
-
Read Brant Pitre's the case for Jesus instead.
- By Catherine BFT on 05-08-17
By: Paul Johnson
-
Reformations
- The Early Modern World, 1450-1650
- By: Carlos M. N. Eire
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 39 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Carlos Eire, popular professor and gifted writer, chronicles the 200-year era of the Renaissance and Reformation with particular attention to issues that persist as concerns in the present day. Eire connects the Protestant and Catholic Reformations in new and profound ways, and he demonstrates convincingly that this crucial turning point in history not only affected people long gone but continues to shape our world and define who we are today.
-
-
Catholics don’t believe in “Works Righteousness”
- By Liam Cruz Kelly on 02-23-19
-
Medieval Christianity
- A New History
- By: Kevin Madigan
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 21 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For many, the medieval world seems dark and foreign - a miraculous, brutal, and irrational time of superstition and strange relics. The pursuit of heretics, the Inquisition, the Crusades, and the domination of the "Holy Land" come to mind.
-
-
New Standard Text for This Period
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By: Kevin Madigan
-
The Reformation
- A History
- By: Diarmaid MacCulloch
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 36 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At a time when men and women were prepared to kill - and be killed - for their faith, the Protestant Reformation tore the Western world apart. Acclaimed as the definitive account of these epochal events, Diarmaid MacCulloch's award-winning history brilliantly recreates the religious battles of priests, monarchs, scholars, and politicians - from the zealous Martin Luther and his 95 Theses to the polemical John Calvin to the radical Igantius Loyola, from the tortured Thomas Cranmer to the ambitious Philip II.
-
-
Excellent
- By Eli Shem Tov on 05-15-17
-
The Story of Christianity, Vol. 1, Revised and Updated
- The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation
- By: Justo L. González
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 18 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Story of Christianity, Vol. 1, Justo L. González, author of the highly praised three-volume History of Christian Thought, presents a narrative history of Christianity from the early church to the dawn of the Protestant reformation. From Jesus' faithful apostles to the early reformist John Wycliffe, González skillfully traces core theological issues and developments within the various traditions of the church, including major events outside of Europe, such as the Spanish and Portuguese conquest of the New World.
-
-
Throughly engaging
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- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
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Once in a generation, a historian will redefine his field, producing a book that demands to be read or heard - a product of electrifying scholarship conveyed with commanding skill. Diarmaid MacCulloch's Christianity is such a book. Breathtaking in ambition, it ranges back to the origins of the Hebrew Bible and covers the world, following the three main strands of the Christian faith.
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By: Bruce Shelley, and others
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- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 28 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
The Civilization of the Middle Ages incorporates current research, recent trends in interpretation, and novel perspectives, especially on the foundations of the Middle Ages and the Later Middle Ages of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. A sharper focus on social history, Jewish history, women’s roles in society, and popular religion and heresy distinguish the book.
-
-
Recommended for students
- By Delano on 12-18-11
By: Norman F. Cantor
-
Worshipping the State
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- By: Benjamin Wiker PhD
- Narrated by: Ken Maxon
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
Many Christians feel that they are being opposed at every turn by what seems to be a well-orchestrated political and cultural campaign to de-Christianize every aspect of Western culture. They are right, and it goes even further back than the Obama Administration. In Worshipping the State: How Liberalism Became Our State Religion, Benjamin Wiker argues that it is liberals who seek to establish an official state religion: one of unbelief.
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An Excellent Excellent book
- By Rara Sh on 01-22-24
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A.D. 381
- Heretics, Pagans, and the Dawn of the Monotheistic State
- By: Charles Freeman
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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In A.D. 381, Theodosius, emperor of the eastern Roman empire, issued a decree in which all his subjects were required to subscribe to a belief in the Trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This edict defined Christian orthodoxy and brought to an end a lively and wide-ranging debate about the nature of God; all other interpretations were now declared heretical.
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Dont pass it up
- By brett on 01-21-11
By: Charles Freeman
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Church History 101
- The Highlights of Twenty Centuries
- By: Sinclair B. Ferguson, Joel R. Beeke, Michael A. G. Haykin
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 1 hr and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Church history is important because it shows us how God's faithful dealings with his people in the Bible continue in the ongoing life and work of Christ in our world. If you have ever wished for a short book highlighting church history's most important events that will enlighten your mind and pique your interest, this is the one you've been waiting for. Three prolific church historians collaborate their efforts in Church History 101 to present you with a quick listen of church history's high points.
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Knowledge of the Church's History: Essential
- By Caleb on 03-26-20
By: Sinclair B. Ferguson, and others
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The Reformation for Armchair Theologians
- By: Glen Sunshine
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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This listenable, accessible narrative story of the Protestant Reformation provides a solid grounding in the history of the Reformation and its leading ideas. The and the inclusion of "Questions for Discussion" and "Suggestions for Further Reading" make this book excellent for study groups, or as a refresher "course" for students - and even as a good starting point for those interested in the larger discipline of church history.
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Sunshine Shines Brightly!
- By LP on 03-14-16
By: Glen Sunshine
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Strange Gods
- A Secular History of Conversion
- By: Susan Jacoby
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Wiley
- Length: 19 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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In this original and riveting exploration, Susan Jacoby argues that conversion - especially in the free American "religious marketplace" - is too often viewed only within the conventional and simplistic narrative of personal reinvention and divine grace. Instead, the author places conversions within a secular social context that has, at various times, included the force of a unified church and state, desire for upward economic mobility, and interreligious marriage.
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Our own fabrications
- By David E. Felker on 01-03-17
By: Susan Jacoby
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The Irony of Modern Catholic History
- How the Church Rediscovered Itself and Challenged the Modern World to Reform
- By: George Weigel
- Narrated by: Rick Adamson
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Throughout much of the 19th century, both secular and Catholic leaders assumed that the Church and the modern world were locked in a battle to the death. The triumph of modernity would not only finish the Church as a consequential player in world history; it would also lead to the death of religious conviction. But today, the Catholic Church is far more vital and consequential than it was 150 years ago.
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Well written and considered book, bad narrator
- By Brad on 12-13-19
By: George Weigel
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The Story of Christianity
- A History of 2000 Years of the Christian Faith
- By: David Bentley Hart
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Story of Christianity, the distinguished theologian David Bentley Hart provides a broad picture of Christian history. Presented in 50 short chapters - each focusing on a critical facet of Christian history or theology, and each amplified by timelines, and quotations - his magisterial account does full justice to the range of Christian tradition, belief and practice - Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian, Evangelical, Coptic, Chaldean, Ethiopian Orthodox, and more....
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Great Brief Overview of Christianity
- By James Mikkelson on 01-26-22
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The Closing of the Western Mind
- The Rise of Faith and the Fall of Reason
- By: Charles Freeman
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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When the Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in 368 AD, he changed the course of European history in ways that continue to have repercussions to the present day. Adopting those aspects of the religion that suited his purposes, he turned Rome on a course from the relatively open, tolerant, and pluralistic civilization of the Hellenistic world, towards a culture that was based on the rule of fixed authority, whether that of the Bible, or the writings of Ptolemy in astronomy and of Galen and Hippocrates in medicine.
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Not proven
- By Jeffrey D on 04-30-21
By: Charles Freeman
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personal reflections mixed with strong persuaders
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Good Book! Great Subject!
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Fascinating and informative
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Read the Book, pass on the audible!
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What listeners say about The Catholic Church [Modern Library Chronicles]
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- stan
- 05-26-21
Inspiring and constructive
An appeal to be voluntarily part of the transformation of evil in good, of negative in positive because trusting in the basic message of God's active goodness and presence in human encounter.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- Jack
- 01-12-06
Theologian's Accurate View of Church Development
Since Hans Kung is not a Church Historian, but a systematic theologian, his treatment does not pretend to exhaustive and objective historical study. For historical studies, see the French titles Fr. Kung mentions early in this book or, perhaps more accessible, (and in English), the work of Peter Brown or Alistair McGrath. Fr. Kung does well to admit his own position as a Catholic theologian, whose license to teach Catholic theology (under Catholic auspices) has been revoked. He admits that this position will determine his focus and perspective. Although, as harsh as they often sound, Fr. Kung’s historical views are not personal screeds aimed at the Church, but represent pretty much the consensus among objective historians of Christianity (i.e. not those with theological investments that determine the content of their work). In other words, it really was that bad. Of course, Historians differ in their analyses of causes and influence. One should also note that his views are fairly mainline among educated theologians.
Fr. Kung accomplishes a great deal in a limited space: He traces the power exchanges and interests that helped determine Catholic/Christian theology and governmental structures from the time of the Jesus Group communities to the present-day Church (as of 2003). Indeed, one can say that the book follows a macroscopic, Foucault-like approach in tracing power relations within and without the Church. The fairly systematic abuses of power by the curia and pontiffs dominate much of the books treatment, but then (sadly), they dominate much of Church History and continue to influence the Church today.
As Fr. Kung cautions, for those with little previous exposure to Church history, the contents of this book will be shocking. “The truth shall set you free, but first it shall make you miserable.”
In print, see also -Infallible?: An Inquiry-, where Fr. Kung tears the Church teaching on infallibility into tiny shreds.
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20 people found this helpful
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Overall
- GM
- 08-20-05
Excellent insights from the fringe
This book is not for weak-hearted Christians seeking affirmation of the party line. Hans Kung does not pretend to be a standard bearer for the status quo. His admiration for reform and reformation gleams throughout his book. He will be viewed in times future as a reformer, one who sought a moral, reformed, inclusive Catholic Church. It must be noted that while he considers himself a loyal Catholic, the Curia does not. He reflects; however, the views of many Christians, Catholic and non-Catholic alike.
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16 people found this helpful
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Overall
- J. A. McCarron
- 12-14-05
Authors view nothing more but worth a read
Mr Kung goes through church history rather selectively. It is after all a short history so he is going to cover only the points he think are important. Of course, those are the events that will support his views. Nevertheless his views are often insightfull and I beleive quite valuable.
One theme throughout the book is that the Church should stop trying to act like a thought police department. This is the strongest point of the book. He draws a picture where we can see most of the greatest tragedies that the church faced/caused were due to trying to micromanage peoples religious beliefs. Excommunication should not be the rebuttal to every divergent view.
He starts to lose the thread every now and then when he talks about his political/social views about birth control and abortion. At times he seems to argue the church should condone whatever the majority of people think. He even cites gallup polls suggesting that the church should follow them in how they teach the christian message. That type of argument can only drag his credibility down.
The book isn't as objective as the title may suggest but overall a book worth reading.
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9 people found this helpful
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- Vanessa
- 04-23-13
Reform and Tradition - call to dialogue
What did you like best about this story?
Fr Kung is currently one of the Catholic Church's most interesting and talented systematic theologians. Although this work follows the history of the Catholic Church, one is able to experience the powerful and loving intellect behind the ideas.
Fr Kung is recognised as a reformer, and for not following Catholic teaching is such matters as Women's Ordination and Gay Rights to name but a few of the current issues. He is no longer able to teach under Catholic Authority. Despite this, this book still reflects his love for the people of God and his realisation that the Catholic Church, through its institutions, can be a powerful voice for the voiceless. He clearly articulates that the platforms that current conservatives take for granted as they rest their arguments on tradition, may be false. He challenges both Catholics and non-Catholics alike to embrace reform based on continued dialogue between history and the current tensions of the present age. Throughout the book he refers to the dictates of Christ as a guide not only for personal faith but for institutional faith.
Interesting, clearly articulated and a challenge to the new Papacy of Francis. If nothing else, this book has helped me think of different ways to embrace the reality of the conservative Church that looks to a tradition that is not as stable as is generally articulated and a new possibility for renewal and growth.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
This book requires some thought so I found myself having to mull over some of the ideas. Thus, I did not find it a book that could be digested in one sitting.
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Overall
- brian budde
- 07-22-05
The Catholic Church
The Catholic Church is a Church, not a denomination.
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10 people found this helpful