History of the church

[srfnolen]

I am in RCIA and am wondering what was recommended for more knowledge of the history of the church?

Sincerely,

STACEY RENE

 

[MarcoPolo]

Dr. Alan Schreck’s Compact History of the Catholic Church is a shorter book going century by century that may be helpful.

A longer volume we used in one of my theology classes is Church History by Fr. Laux.

 

[Alindawyl]

I’m rather partial to The Catholic Church Through the Ages: A History, by Father John Vidmar. Easy to read, not too dry, and does a great job giving a brief overview of the key points in the Church’s 2000 year history.

 

[LegoGE1947]

=Alindawyl;11575471]I’m rather partial to The Catholic Church Through the Ages: A History, by Father John Vidmar. Easy to read, not too dry, and does a great job giving a brief overview of the key points in the Church’s 2000 year history.

History Of The Catholic Churchby James Hitchcock Does a fine job of outlining the history of the Church from the Apostolic Age to about the year 2012.

 

[srfnolen]

Wow! Good list. All other genres of books may have to take a backseat. I have a lot of reading and learning to do. Thanks for providing recommendations. Keep them coming.

 

[LegoGE1947]

Wow! Good list. All other genres of books may have to take a backseat. I have a lot of reading and learning to do. Thanks for providing recommendations. Keep them coming.

Best wishes on learning the faith and welcome home!

 

[Proslogion]

The German priest Hubert Jedin edited a 7 volume history of the Church that was translated and published in English. You might have some trouble finding it however, unless you have access to an academic library. It is definitely does not provide a quick overview, but you can’t beat it for detailed understanding. I got a certain joy out of reading in a footnote of the first volume a reference to a young theologian named J. Ratzinger. I wonder what became of that guy?

 

[LegoGE1947]

The German priest Hubert Jedin edited a 7 volume history of the Church that was translated and published in English. You might have some trouble finding it however, unless you have access to an academic library. It is definitely does not provide a quick overview, but you can’t beat it for detailed understanding. I got a certain joy out of reading in a footnote of the first volume a reference to a young theologian named J. Ratzinger. I wonder what became of that guy?

Wasn’t he a rock star? Or something?

 

[Amandil]

I can ever recommend this enough…

If you’re tech savy and would rather listen to audio rather than read a book, Covenant Network here locally recorded a series of hour-long programs hosted by Fr. Michael Witt, Associate Professor of Church History at Kenrick-Glennon seminary here in St. Louis.

Here’s his website:
michaeljohnwitt.com/

Each link on the home page covers a different period of history: upper-left is early Church history, upper-right is medieval Church history, lower-right is modern Church history.

When you pen up the link you can download the shows(they are free for download) by right-clicking on the speaker icon and selecting “save target as”.

I have them all downloaded on my computer and listen to them on my mp3 player as I work or drive.

Really good, really comprehensive. It’s just like getting a seminary-level Church history course without the tuition. I love it.

Praise God for Fr. Witt, and for the Catholic Church!

 

[MarcoPolo]

History Of The Catholic Churchby James Hitchcock Does a fine job of outlining the history of the Church from the Apostolic Age to about the year 2012.

I have not read this but am a big fan of Dr. Hitchcock’s. He was interviewed last year about this book on Al Kresta’s show (here is the archive of that interview)