New Short History of the Catholic Church by Norman Tanner

New Short History of the Catholic Church by Norman Tanner

‘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

‘A short, readable and informed survey of church history.’ - The Church of England Newspaper

‘A rich foundation for Catholic understanding and witness.’ - Catholic San Francisco
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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.