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The Catholic Church: A History cover art

The Catholic Church: A History

By: William R. Cook, The Great Courses
Narrated by: William R. Cook
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Summary

How did the Catholic Church become one of the most influential institutions in the world - a force capable of moving armies, inspiring saints, and shaping the lives of a billion members?

Explore these and other questions as you follow the development of this important institution in 36 informative, fascinating lectures. With Professor Cook by your side, you'll step into the world of the early church, witness the spread of Christendom, and learn about the origins of fundamental church institutions.

Your journey begins in the early years of the church, when Jesus's disciples developed the first communities of faith. You'll get a chance to delve into crucial ancient church documents and gain an intriguing glimpse into the lives of these early believers. From there, you'll trace the development and spread of this nascent religion throughout the world, covering crucial developments including the conversion of the Roman Empire to Catholicism, the schism between the Roman faith and the Greek Orthodox Church, and the Reformation.

As you delve into this fascinating saga, you'll quickly see that the Catholic Church actually takes many forms. You'll trace the many variations of worship and belief that evolved as Christianity spread all over the Mediterranean, and you'll witness how Catholic practice and faith have been transformed by the cultures and peoples it has touched. Professor Cook brings an unparalleled intellectual rigor to his presentation, balanced by a deep appreciation of the church's legacy and impact. Join him on this epic journey through Catholic history, and experience how this small gathering of faithful became one of the most powerful forces on the world stage - the "one holy catholic and apostolic Church."

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2009 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2009 The Great Courses

What listeners say about The Catholic Church: A History

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    4 out of 5 stars

Comprehensive and informative

I really enjoyed this product but professor cook's insistence on saying that Saint John paul ii apologised for the crusades in the last few lectures bugged me a little, he apologised to God on the 2000 year of the church for anything members of the church might have done wrong in her history he didn't specifically mention any event person or crime in particular, at least that was my understanding of it. Having said that I recommend this lecture course it covers everything but I'd read some other stuff on the crusades

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  • 10-01-15

Biased history

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

This was apologetics as much as than history. The professor's own faith created a bias that was both unwelcome and illuminating. I understand better how the catholic church self edits its own history and identity from the extraordinarily tendentious narrative that I experienced in this course. It was also full of interesting information and has left me wanting to read further.

Would you be willing to try another book from The Great Courses? Why or why not?

Yes absolutely. Leaving aside my criticisms of this particular course I have been listening to a number of titles around the themes of church and ancient history and found them to be a superb opportunity to access in depth information about subjects rarely presented to the public

Did The Catholic Church: A History inspire you to do anything?

Yes. It prompted me to turn to a lecture series on Socrates Plato and Aristotle whose input into church history and teaching was something Professor Cook explained well.

Any additional comments?

I listened to these lectures having finished a couple of audible titles concerning early church history, late antiquity and the early middle ages. This was a natural progression. I recommend some prior knowledge of church history before listening to this.

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4 people found this helpful

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Good content could not listen

Unfortunately for me a particularly grinding American accent for me. Apologies I couldn’t continue the audio.

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2 people found this helpful

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Too vast Too thin

a great lecturer but unfortunately he's struggling to cram 2000 years of history and doctrinal theology and the evolution of the Catholic church into a set of 30 minute sessions.

the result is so superficial that you only gain a headline or so on each topic. For example; The inquisition is brushed over in a mere sentence and mixed up with the Crusades which is also sped through so fast that nothing of substance can be learnt.

Some politically correct fencing around Islam also evident, which appears to be a theme across many great courses lectures.

It's about as useful as just reading the contents page of a book on Catholicism.

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Finding Jesus but believing something else

No one should no one should assume the facts you have to meet is in order to understand the word is the truth. The word isn’t hearsay. It is the word of God

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1 person found this helpful

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Interesting

I found this very interesting. It is presented through the eyes of a catholic but it is detailed account of the Church history with the more negative aspects discussed alongside the virtues. The presenter is obviously a expert in his field and though it doesn’t necessarily always follow a chronological order, the planning of the course does make sense to me. I’m not sure that it is for those who only having a passing interest, but if, like me, you find this sort of topic interesting enough to consider purchasing such a comprehensive course, I’d recommend it. I certainly learnt things.

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interesting whistle stop tour

Cook keeps things palatable whilst detailing thousands of years of history. his knowledge of the church, it's teachings and it's history, go far beyond what he covers, and its clear that this is the case in how he discusses everything.

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1 person found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars

The Catholic Church from a Catholic perspective

A well crafted, measured view of the Catholic Church, transparently from the Catholic perspective. It does address many of the darker sides of its history (not all - doesn't go into depth on Opus Dei, the paedophile scandals or negative interpretations of the Jesuits) but gives an overall positive (bordering on proselytizing) interpretation of Catholicism. Any historical work his its interpretation and biases - this one is just more transparent and still definitely worth listening.

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A must listen!

The amount of information packed into each lecture was top notch. What a great listen!

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Brilliant and informative!

A wonderfully detailed overview of the Catholic Church's history. Learned a lot. Would listen again.

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