The Irony of Modern Catholic History
How the Church Rediscovered Itself and Challenged the Modern World to Reform
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Narrated by:
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Rick Adamson
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By:
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George Weigel
About this listen
A powerful new interpretation of Catholicism's dramatic encounter with modernity, by one of America's leading intellectuals
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. Ironically, in confronting modernity, the Catholic Church rediscovered its evangelical essence. In the process, Catholicism developed intellectual tools capable of rescuing the imperiled modern project.
A richly rendered, deeply learned, and powerfully argued account of two centuries of profound change in the church and the world, The Irony of Modern Catholic History reveals how Catholicism offers 21st century essential truths for our survival and flourishing.
©2019 George Weigel (P)2019 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"Weigel has an eye for a good story. Whether discussing the affairs of popes and princes, of conclaves and concordats, he seems always to come up with a telling anecdote or witty utterance to brighten the historical account. For a lively and informative overview from the 18th century to the present, The Irony of Modern Catholic History is the book to read." (Robert Louis Wilken, William R. Kenan Jr. Professor Emeritus of the History of Christianity at the University of Virginia)
"George Weigel's sweeping account of 150 years of Catholic history challenges the long-held assumption made by traditionalists, progressives, many historians, and mainstream media that secular modernity has always been the prime mover, forcing the Church to either resist or accommodate it. In reframing the narrative with the church as the creative protagonist in this drama, Weigel describes how the encounter with modernity led to the renewal of the church's gospel-centered mission in its third millennium, and suggests that the church might redirect - indeed, redeem - the modern project itself." (Kathleen Sprows Cummings, Director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism, University of Notre Dame)
"The Irony of Modern Catholic History advances a bold new interpretation of the Church and modernity with characteristic authority, deep erudition, and literary panache. It is the latest reminder among many that George Weigel is unrivaled not only as a Catholic intellectual, but as an intellectual, period." (Mary Eberstadt, senior research fellow, Faith and Reason Institute, and author of Primal Screams: How the Sexual Revolution Created Identity Politics)
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In the late 20th century, fundamentalism has emerged as one of the most powerful forces at work in the world, contesting the dominance of modern secular values and threatening peace and harmony around the globe. Yet it remains incomprehensible to a large number of people. In The Battle for God, Karen Armstrong brilliantly and sympathetically shows us how and why fundamentalist groups came into existence and what they yearn to accomplish.
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The most important book you haven’t read yet
- By D. A. Vail on 12-29-20
By: Karen Armstrong
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Turning Points
- Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity
- By: Mark A. Noll
- Narrated by: James Anderson Foster
- Length: 14 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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In this popular introduction to church history, now in its third edition, Mark Noll isolates key events that provide a framework for understanding the history of Christianity. The book presents Christianity as a worldwide phenomenon rather than just a Western experience. Students in academic settings and church adult education contexts will benefit from this one-semester survey of Christian history.
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Excellent, Brief Snippet’s
- By ejb on 01-06-23
By: Mark A. Noll
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Rebel in the Ranks
- Martin Luther, the Reformation, and the Conflicts That Continue to Shape Our World
- By: Brad S. Gregory
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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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.
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Something to think about
- By Like Loehe on 09-19-17
By: Brad S. Gregory
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How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind
- Rediscovering the African Seedbed of Western Christianity
- By: Dr. Thomas C. Oden PhD
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Africa has played a decisive role in the formation of Christian culture from its infancy. Some of the most decisive intellectual achievements of Christianity were explored and understood in Africa before they were in Europe. If this is so, why is Christianity so often perceived in Africa as a Western colonial import? How can Christians in Northern and sub-Saharan Africa, indeed, how can Christians throughout the world, rediscover and learn from this ancient heritage?
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Worth reading even if not perfect
- By Adam Shields on 02-26-20
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Worshipping the State
- How Liberalism Became Our State Religion
- By: Benjamin Wiker PhD
- Narrated by: Ken Maxon
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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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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The Twilight of the American Enlightenment
- The 1950s and the Crisis of Liberal Belief
- By: George M. Marsden
- Narrated by: William Hughes
- Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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In the aftermath of World War II, the United States stood at a precipice. The forces of modernity unleashed by the war had led to astonishing advances in daily life, but technology and mass culture also threatened to erode the country's traditional moral character. As award-winning historian George M. Marsden explains in The Twilight of the American Enlightenment, postwar Americans looked to the country's secular liberalelites for guidance in this precarious time, but these intellectuals proved unable to articulate a coherent common cause by which America could chart its course.
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Such a relevant book to our current world
- By Adam Shields on 09-14-16
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Christianity
- The First Three Thousand Years
- By: Diarmaid MacCulloch
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 46 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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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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Bias
- By David Danielson on 10-04-10
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The Old Religion in a New World
- The History of North American Christianity
- By: Mark A. Noll
- Narrated by: Trevor Thompson
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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One of our foremost historians of religion here chronicles the arrival of Christianity in the New World, tracing the turning points in the development of the immigrant church that have led to today's distinctly American faith. Taking a unique approach to this fascinating subject, Noll focuses on what was new about organized Christian religion on the American continent by comparison with European Christianity.
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Fascinating!
- By Margaret on 08-24-19
By: Mark A. Noll
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A Secular Age
- By: Charles Taylor
- Narrated by: Dennis Holland
- Length: 42 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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What does it mean to say that we live in a secular age? Almost everyone would agree that we - in the West, at least - largely do. And clearly the place of religion in our societies has changed profoundly in the last few centuries. In what will be a defining book for our time, Charles Taylor takes up the question of what these changes mean - of what, precisely, happens when a society in which it is virtually impossible not to believe in God becomes one in which faith, even for the staunchest believer, is only one human possibility among others.
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Needs Guest Narrators for French and German
- By Norman on 06-13-15
By: Charles Taylor
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The Book That Made Your World
- How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization
- By: Vishal Mangalwadi
- Narrated by: Peter Lawrence
- Length: 14 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Whether you're an avid student of the Bible or a skeptic of its relevance, The Book That Made Your World will transform your perception of its influence on virtually every facet of Western civilization. Vishal Mangalwadi reveals the personal motivation that fueled his own study of the Bible. Learn how the Bible transformed the social, political, and religious institutions that have sustained Western culture for the past millennium, and discover how secular corruption endangers the stability and longevity of Western civilization.
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loved this look on the Western World
- By DM on 11-03-20
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The Battle for Bonhoeffer
- By: Stephen R. Haynes
- Narrated by: Trevor Thompson
- Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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The figure of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) has become a clay puppet in modern American politics. Secular, radical, liberal, and evangelical interpreters variously shape and mold the martyr’s legacy to suit their own pet agendas. Stephen Haynes offers an incisive and clarifying perspective. A recognized Bonhoeffer expert, Haynes examines “populist” readings of Bonhoeffer, including the acclaimed biography by Eric Metaxas, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy.
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Bonhoeffer was a person, not a Rorschach test
- By Adam Shields on 10-12-18
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Culture and the Death of God
- By: Terry Eagleton
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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How to live in a supposedly faithless world threatened by religious fundamentalism? Terry Eagleton, formidable thinker and renowned cultural critic, investigates in this thought-provoking audiobook the contradictions, difficulties, and significance of the modern search for a replacement for God. Lucid, stylish, and entertaining in his usual manner, Eagleton presents a brilliant survey of modern thought that also serves as a timely, urgently needed intervention into our perilous political present.
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Intelligently written and without Grace
- By Gary on 10-25-17
By: Terry Eagleton
What listeners say about The Irony of Modern Catholic History
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Thomas
- 01-11-22
To Correct the Future, Know the Past
I love George Weigel. His understanding of history, and in particular Catholic history as well as knowledge of Pope John Paul II in light of Vatican II can provide a beacon for the Church to advance the future of the Church and the world.
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- Amazon Customer
- 10-11-20
,,A bright light in the midst of growing darkness.
In the midst of growing chaos a bright light illuminates the way to coherent order.
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- FrJG
- 04-27-20
Interesting Take
It starts off a little slow, but in the end it shines with Mr. Wiegel’s characteristic enlightenment. Definitely worth the effort.
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- Jack Patterson
- 12-07-19
Intelligent review of recent church history
I am familiar with George Weigel's writing from his excellent biography of St. JPII and articles from First Things. He does not disappoint in this book. In the 20th century, communism and fascism (real fascism) were best fought and defeated by liberal democratic regimes, but we are witnessing now the excesses of radical individualism, worship of the autonomous will, materialist atheism and fear of Truth. The antidote is, of course, the teachings of our Catholic faith. But how do we share it? We Catholics tend not to be very good evangelists- but we are getting better. Weigel writes in great detail how Vatican II was all about meeting the challenges presented by theology, politics, and increasingly present communication media that had to be addressed. Even if you disagree with Weigel's narrative or analysis, (and there's an excellent critical review of the book by Andrew Willard Jones in the November 2019 issue of First Things), this book is very well worth a careful listen. The narration is pleasant, and the writing, as one would expect, clear, even, smart, and thoroughly fascinating.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Brad
- 12-13-19
Well written and considered book, bad narrator
This book was very well written and considered. George Weigel has a very good understanding of modern Catholicism and the philosophical currents that have created it. My only complaint is the narrator who constantly misreads names and places, making listening to it confusing. Errors range from saying John Paul XXIII and John XXII (who was pope some odd eight or nine hundred years ago) and inconsistently pronouncing names of people and places.
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4 people found this helpful
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- John M. LeVoir
- 11-03-19
Intellectually Compelling!
Excellent review and analysis of modern Church history. Encouraged me to read the seminal documents of the Church.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 11-20-19
Very helpful in understanding Church History
I totally trust Mr Weigel in his thorough examination of Church history. I will need to listen more than once. Very informative on Church direction and gives reference re:documents. Most importantly as the mystical body of Christ we Must live our lives in Christ and we have alot to propose to this culture and our young people!! Thank you God for Mr Weigel!!
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- B. Dominic
- 12-02-19
A great review of the past 300 years of Catholicism
Well researched and well synthesized, George Weigel offers great insights into the past present and future of the Church in the modern world.
The one thing I’ve noticed with all the audible recordings I’ve listened to is that on any speed greater than 1.0, it tends to cut off beginning syllables of sentences or breaks in speech. This one is no exception. For example, the word may be written “Catholicism” and you only hear “licism”. Sometimes whole words are cut off altogether if they’re short enough.
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1 person found this helpful
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- JAusten Fan
- 10-02-23
Important Book
The key lesson comes from near the end. The Church is now confronting an existential threat in Germany, Belgium, and the pages of America magazine, which Weigel dubs “theological historicism”. This movement posits that the Church should change its beliefs so they align with western post-modernism, particularly in areas related to sexuality even if doing so contradicts Christ, Scripture, and Tradition. There appears to be no theological basis for theological historicism, yet it is aggressively asserted in certain corners. This will be the defining debate for the next few years. Unlike the Church’s earlier confrontation with modernism, which was uncertain and sometimes incoherent, this challenge should be squarely joined.
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- J. Erkens
- 03-01-21
Interesting history, uncertain credibility.
It seemed like a very good historical synopsis until I reached the last 40 years, which I know the history from the actual events as they unfolded. It was disheartening and the credibility of the entire book became questionable because of the author's obvious bias in reporting recent events.
I was surprised to see no mention of the clergy sex abuse scandal—particularly Austria 1995 and Boston 2002--during the author’s handling of the JP II era. Also no mention during Benedict XVI. Strangely, Weigel raises the abuse scandal during the Pope Francis era—confusing the timing of the clergy sex abuse crisis by 20 years and shielding JP II’s weak disciplinary response. In the U.S., civil authorities, legal efforts and public pressure finally blew open the Boston scandal during the JP II era. Catholic Bishops and Cardinals got no meaningful punishment and after resignations retained their titles and even participated in the 2005 papal conclave choosing Benedict XVI to succeed John Paul II.
Weigel attributes credit to JP II as he states “incidents of abuse dropped significantly during the 1990’s as John Paul II’s reform of the priesthood began to take hold”. No mention of the lack of justice for bishops who shuffled serial abusers to other parishes. The new education of potential victims and fear of getting caught was certainly a much stronger deterrent to abuse.
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