Religion/History

A CONCISE HISTORY
OFTHE
CATHOLIC CHURCH-
is the most modern, up-to-date, and unified one-volume his-
tory of the Catholic Church currently available. The first such
work to be conceived and written in the aftermath of Vatican
Council 11, this useful reference covers the significant events
and doctrines that have shaped the course of Catholic thought
and action over the past two millenia.
Beginning with the Church's triumph over paganism, Bok-
enkotter follows the making of Christendom up to the high
Middle Ages, then details the unmaking of Christendom at the
end of the Middle Ages and the Catholic Church's being under
siege from the Protestant Reformation to the 20th century,
when the siege is slowly lifted. This last section features a
special chapter on the American Catholic Church and her
mission in tl'le area of social action , as well as a chapter on the
renewal sparked by Vatican II. It is "a major contribution to the
kind of understanding that we so desperately need in our
ecumenical efforts." (The Uving Church)

Cover Design by
Antony Groves-Raines

130 1 5

A Doubleday
o
II
3031400750
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Image Book N 0-385-13015-5>>750
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50750

N 0-385-13015-5>>750 9 11 780385 11 130158

A CONCISE
HISTORY~
OFTHE
CATHOLIC
CHURCH