New Short History of the Catholic Church

By Norman P. Tanner

2011

First Published

3.67

Average Rating

280

Number of Pages

8H33M

Audio Length

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 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.

Avg Rating

3.67

Number of Ratings

5 STARS

33%

4 STARS

19%

3 STARS

36%

2 STARS

1 STARS

goodreads

Author

Norman P. Tanner

Author · 4 books

Norman P. Tanner, SJ is a Catholic historian and priest of the Jesuit Order. He currently holds the position of Professor of Church History at the Pontificia Universita Gregoriana, in the Vatican City, Rome. Fr. Tanner entered the Jesuit Order in 1961, and achieved his S.T.L. in Church history under the renowned historian, Frederick Copleston, SJ. He then received his Ph.D at Oxford University, as a member of Campion Hall; he also holds a B.Theol from the Gregorian University. An internationally-acclaimed expert in Church councils, Fr. Tanner is the editor of a definitive translation of the major documents of the councils: Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils (2 vols). He has a special love for the later Middle-Ages, and has written several books on popular religion in the Medieval period, as well as a plethora of books and articles on the history and practice of the historical Church councils. Fr. Tanner taught from 1978 until 2003 at Oxford University (a University Research Lecturer from 1997 until 2003); leaving his post to take up his current place at the Gregorian University.