The Church and the Age of Reformations 1350–1650 - Joseph T Stuart and Barbara A Stuart - Reclaiming Catholic History Series Book 5

The Church and the Age of Reformations (1350–1650): 

Martin Luther, the Renaissance, and the Council of Trent

Reclaiming Catholic History Series Book 5

Joseph T. Stuart

Barbara A. Stuart

Mike Aquilina (Editor)
Ave Maria Press
ISBN 9781646800339

eISBN 9781646800346

ASIN B09PDQ14X4

I have greatly enjoyed the other five volumes in this series that I have read, and I have but 1 to go. They were not released in Chronological order, and have slowly been coming out over the last few years. The second The Church and the Roman Empire by Mike Aquilina, came out first in 2019 as did the second The Early Church by James L. Papandrea. There will be seven volumes in this series, and this one volume 5 was released second last. Mike Aquilina is the general editor of the series. I can easily state that this volume is an excellent read. This book and the whole series are great reads. I spent 20 years as an undergraduate, for the most part because I loved learning. My last degree was in Religious Studies with a focus on Roman Catholic Thought. I would have loved this book and those I have read in this series as resources, for several of the courses I completed.   

Many years ago when I did an Introduction to Church History course at Conrad Grebel College at the University of Waterloo, our professor, Arnold Snider, often said throughout the year, “I do not care as much about dates and names and places, as the story of Christianity. On your final exam the main question will be ‘Your uncle Billy at Christmas dinner says: ‘I hear you did the history of Christianity, tell us the story in your own words?’” And that was the one essay question on the exam. This book and the others I have read in the series would have been great resources for that course. Maybe could have even served as textbooks if the course had not been taught at a Mennonite College, if it had been offered at St Jerome’s University I could see these being the books used today. If I had had them they would have been pulled out often for essays, papers and research. This is a great read in an excellent series. These books are written in an engaging manner that any Catholic could pick them up and benefit from reading them. And this one is on a very hard time frame in Church history. 

This is the sixth volume published in this series, Reclaiming Catholic History, though it is the fifth book in the series. The series is being edited by Mike Aquilina and the first published volume was by him as well. About this series we are told by Aquilina:

“The history of the Catholic Church is often clouded by myth, misinformation, and missing pieces. Today there is a renewed interest in recovering the true history of the Church, correcting the record in the wake of centuries of half-truths and noble lies. Books in the Reclaiming Catholic History series, edited by Mike Aquilina and written by leading authors and historians, bring Church history to life, debunking the myths one era at a time.”

Each of the book I have read so far I have benefited from greatly and recommended to several friends and family members. The chapters in this volume are:

Reclaiming Catholic History: Series Introduction

Chronology of The Church and the Age of Reformations (1350–1650)

Map

Introduction

Chapter 1: Reform in the Late Middle Ages

     Up Close and Personal: St. Catherine of Genoa

     You Be the Judge: Didn’t the Inquisition kill 

     and torture people because of their faith?

     Up Close and Personal: St. Philip Neri

     Up Close and Personal: The Papacy in Scripture 

     and the Church Fathers

Chapter 2: Protestants

     You Be the Judge: Didn’t the Catholic Church make 

     up which books were in the Bible during the Council 

     of Trent?

     You Be the Judge: Don’t Catholics pray to the saints 

     instead of Christ?

     You Be the Judge: Didn’t the Church prohibit Catholics 

     from reading the Bible?

     Up Close and Personal: St. Thomas More

     You Be the Judge: Should Pope Pius V have excommunicated 

     Elizabeth I of England?

Chapter 3: Catholics

     Up Close and Personal: Reforming Religious Orders before 

     the Council of Trent

     Up Close and Personal: St. Teresa of Ávila

     Up Close and Personal: St. Ignatius

     You Be the Judge: Did the Church sell forgiveness of sins?

     Up Close and Personal: Pope St. Pius V

     Up Close and Personal: St. Charles Borromeo

Chapter 4: Consequences

     Up Close and Personal: St. Francis de Sales

Conclusion

Notes

Bibliography

About the Authors

The introduction to this book states:

“In the Age of Reformations, numerous challenges converged to confuse people about true reform. The new literate culture emerging due to the invention of the printing press around 1439 seemed to make texts more authoritative than living people such as wise elders or Church leaders. This contributed to a catechetical crisis. In addition, the resurgence of a kind of spiritualism in the Renaissance cast doubt on the material world as a vehicle of spiritual reality, undermining the sacraments.

A new view of history emerged that negated the very idea of tradition. It characterized the “Middle Ages” as dark and unimportant, and the classical era of early Christianity as the ideal pattern for Christian life. All subsequent history was decline. This broke historical continuity and development of doctrine. It also injected a dose of utopianism into the intellectual life of the age by giving rise to unrealistic hopes for Christians to reform by purging all corruption from among themselves and society.

Because the gap between Christian ideals and the messiness of real life seemed wider than ever and corruption clearly remained in the old Church, that seemed to prove the need to “start over.” Several new Christian churches emerged. The resulting conflict of theological voices calling for divergent ideas of reform constituted one of the central dramas of the age.

Then there was the political temptation. Zealous Catholic and Protestant reformers often aspired to governmental control of society. This created militant religious ideologies seeking to force reform in ways that easily betrayed Christian charity and respect for religious freedom. The perceived need to seek political solutions created huge challenges for authentic reform in the long run.

Finally, apocalypticism and impatience with the “ungodly” led to dreams of social revolution and violence. This was the temptation of pride in reformers, wishing God would show himself powerful, put down evil, and create a better world—through their help!"

Further on it states:

“We approach our subject from the perspectives of both history and theology, our fields of expertise. That is because more than theological differences came into play during the Age of Reformations. Human spiritual freedom is not the freedom of pure spirits but rather the difficult freedom of people embedded in history and influenced by events outside their control. If one was born in 1550 in Spain, for example, one was likely to be a Catholic; if in Denmark, then a Lutheran. The religious choices of individuals were largely made for them by previous generations. The historian Christopher Dawson wrote that the decisions of one person—an apostle or a heresiarch, a king or a statesman—affected the spiritual destinies of millions of ordinary people. It is no less a mistake for the theologian to ignore historical context than it is for the historian to miss the “reality and the creative power of religious truth.”

I highlighted over 50 passages my first time through this volume. This book, as are all in the series, are excellent resource. It can be read by late high school students or undergrads and used as a resource. It can be read by anyone interested in church history. It is very engaging and often entertaining, though this volume does not have some of the humour of other offerings. It is an excellent resource! Most chapter’s follow the same format of the main history. Then two focused sections. The first is Up Close and Personal and is a profile of a specific person or people. And this volume has a few of each in each chapter. These sections usually focus on saints or blessed. The next is a section called You Be The Judge, which goes deeper into a question, point of interest or conflict. The book would be worth reading for either of these sections alone, and as a whole thing is very well written. The Stuart’s do an excellent job of presenting a balanced and fair view of the subjects and persons covered, maybe even too much so occasionally. 

I benefited from reading this volume, and already plan to read it again. And I am certain you will as well. I know that I will be reading the remaining volume in the series. And will likely circle back and reread them all in order. 

A good read in an excellent series! 

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2022 Catholic Reading Plan!

Books in the Reclaiming Catholic History Series:
The Early Church - James L. Papandrea
The Church and the Roman Empire - Mike Aquilina
The Church and the Dark Ages
The Church and the Middle Ages
The Church and the Reformations
The Church and the Age of Enlightenment
The Church Facing the Modern Era

The Church and the Dark Ages 430–1027 - Phillip Campbell - Reclaiming Catholic History Series Book 3

The Church and the Dark Ages (430–1027) 

St. Benedict, Charlemagne, and the Rise of Christendom

Reclaiming Catholic History Series Book 3

Phillip Campbell

Mike Aquilina (Editor)
Ave Maria Press
ISBN 9781646800353

eISBN 9781646800360

ASIN B0973XLTHX

I have greatly enjoyed the other four volumes in this series that I have read. The Church and the Roman Empire by Mike Aquilina and The Early Church by James L. Papandrea were the first two released, and the two that proceed this one in a timeline. The books are being released in a random order. There will be seven volumes in this series. Mike Aquilina is the general editor of the series. This was a volume I was really looking forward to. I have studied the periods prior and the periods after this time frame, but have not had as much focus on these 600 years. I must state that this volume was an excellent read. This book and the whole series are great reads. I spent 20 years as an undergraduate, for the most part because I loved learning. My last degree was in Religious Studies with a focus on Roman Catholic Thought. I would have loved this book and those I have read in this series as resources, for several of the courses I did.   

Many years ago when I did an Introduction to Church History course at Conrad Grebel College at the University of Waterloo, our professor, Arnold Snider, often said throughout the year, “I do not care as much about dates and names and places, as the story of Christianity. On your final exam the main question will be ‘Your uncle Billy at Christmas dinner says: ‘I hear you did the history of Christianity, tell us the story in your own words?’” And that was the one essay question on the exam. This book and the others I have read in the series would have been great resources for that course. Maybe could have even served as textbooks if the course had not been taught at a Mennonite College, if it had been offered at St Jerome’s University I could see these being the books used today. If I had had them they would have been pulled out often for essays, papers and research. This is a great read in an excellent series. But the books are written in such an engaging manner that any Catholic could pick them up and benefit from reading them. And this one is on a very hard time frame in Church history. 

This is the fifth volume published in this series, Reclaiming Catholic History, though it is the third book in the series. The series is being edited by Mike Aquilina and the first published volume was by him as well. About this series we are told by Aquilina:

“The history of the Catholic Church is often clouded by myth, misinformation, and missing pieces. Today there is a renewed interest in recovering the true history of the Church, correcting the record in the wake of centuries of half-truths and noble lies. Books in the Reclaiming Catholic History series, edited by Mike Aquilina and written by leading authors and historians, bring Church history to life, debunking the myths one era at a time.”

Each of the book I have read so far I have benefited from greatly and recommended to several friends and family members. The chapters in this volume are:

Reclaiming Catholic History: Series Introduction

Chronology of The Church and the Dark Ages (430–1027)

Map

Introduction: Anything but “Dark”

Chapter 1: Our Roman Heritage

     Up Close and Personal: St. Augustine of Hippo

     You Be the Judge: Did Christianity cause the collapse of the Roman Empire?

Chapter 2: The Church among Gauls and Goths

     Up Close and Personal: The Cloak of St. Martin

     You Be the Judge: Did St. Augustine invent the doctrine of original sin?

Chapter 3: The Age of St. Benedict

     Up Close and Personal: The Dialogues of St. Gregory the Great

     You Be the Judge: Did Christianity cause a decline in education and literacy in the early Middle Ages?

Chapter 4: Missionary Monks

     Up Close and Personal: Sts. Cyril and Methodius

     You Be the Judge: Were monks “useless”?

Chapter 5: The Church of Rome

     Up Close and Personal: Pope Gregory the Great and Gregorian Chant

     You Be the Judge: What really happened when Pope Leo the Great met Attila the Hun?

Chapter 6: East and West

     Up Close and Personal: St. Maximus the Confessor

     You Be the Judge: Did the Eastern churches ever affirm the primacy of Rome?

Chapter 7: The Carolingian Renaissance

     Up Close and Personal: The Faith of Charlemagne

     You Be the Judge: Wasn’t the Church consumed with worry over the spread of Islam?

Chapter 8: Imperium and Sacerdotium

     Up Close and Personal: King Alfred the Great

     You Be the Judge: Do bad popes disprove papal infallibility?

Chapter 9: Sacramental Controversies

     Up Close and Personal: St. Paschasius Radbertus

     You Be the Judge: Is the dogma of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist a late medieval invention?

Chapter 10: The Cluniac Reform

     Up Close and Personal: St. Berno

     You Be the Judge: Was priestly celibacy an innovation of the late Middle Ages?

Conclusion: Transformation and Continuity

Notes

The introduction to this book states:

“This book is about the period of European history, roughly from the death of St. Augustine in 430 to the Peace of God in the year 1027, commonly known as the Dark Ages. Merely by making this statement, we have already opened up a can of worms. What do we mean by “Dark Ages”? Dark in comparison to what? Dark according to whom? If these ages were dark, was this a bad thing? If so, from whose point of view? And by what criteria are we judging whether such-and-such era was good or bad, light or dark?”

Further on it raises questions:

“The questions we raised pertain not to the study of history properly but to another related discipline called historiography. What is historiography? While the discipline of history studies the people and events of the past, historiography studies how historians have perceived these people and events. History concerns itself with historical data, while historiography is more concerned with how historians themselves have tended to view or interpret this data. Thus we could say historiography is the history of history—a way of stepping back and reflecting on the methods and preconceptions we bring to the table when we study history.

For example, to ask what sort of impact the Spanish conquistadors had on the Native American tribes they encountered is to ask a historical question. To ask why the Spaniards are often portrayed as villainous in English-language literature and film is to ask a historiographical question. Now we are asking not about history (What happened?) but rather about historiography (What do we think about what happened?)”

And still further on:

“When people refer to the “Dark Ages,” they are making a value judgment about a historical epoch, whether they know it or not. As we may gather from the use of the word dark, that judgment is negative. Why is this?

The centuries of the Dark Ages are sandwiched between the late classical era—characterized by the decline and fall of the Roman Empire—and the High Middle Ages and Renaissance, which succeeded them. The idea of this time as a period of darkness goes back to the early Renaissance writer Petrarch (1304–1374). Petrarch was a talented scholar of Greek and Latin who had great admiration for the achievements of the Greeks and the Romans. Compared to the high culture of ancient Greece and Rome, Petrarch viewed the Christian Middle Ages with disdain—as a time of barbarism in society, impoverished literature, and ignorance among men. According to Petrarch, those unfortunate enough to be born after the fall of Rome lived in an age “surrounded by darkness and gloom.”

Petrarch spent the better part of his literary career translating and republishing classical Latin and Greek texts. He hoped that his own age would be followed by a brighter time, a time when mankind would enter into a fuller knowledge of himself and the world.”

And most importantly we are told about the source of the name ‘Dark Ages’:

“The term Dark Ages ironically came from the pen of a great defender of the Middle Ages, the Catholic Reformation-era historian Caesar Cardinal Baronius. To counter Protestant claims, Baronius wanted to write a history of the Catholic Church that emphasized the harmony and beauty of the medieval world. And thus he composed his magnum opus, the Annales Ecclesiastici. First published in 1588, this encyclopedic work covered the history of the first twelve centuries of Christianity. In it, Baronius referred to the tenth and eleventh centuries as a saeculum obscurum (“dark age”) because there were relatively few written sources about this period compared to earlier centuries.

Though Baronius meant the phrase as a neutral term referring only to the scarcity of written records—and only of two centuries—the term caught on and took on a meaning beyond what he intended. The “dark ages” became the de facto designation of the Middle Ages during the Enlightenment. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, rationalist thinkers of the Enlightenment believed religion to be completely antithetical to reason. The “light” of pure reason was contrasted with the “darkness” of religion and superstition. And hence the entire epoch of Christendom came to be designated as the Dark Ages.”

And those few quotes are from the introduction alone. This book is masterfully written. It grabs your attention, draws you in, and will have you hooked from the beginning. Phillip Campbell is a master of this material and he writes in engaging style. Once you start reading you will not want to put the book down, and if you look at the titles of other books he has penned you will likely want to add several to your ‘to be read’ list. 

This book, as are all in the series, is an excellent resource. It can be read by late high school students or undergrads and used as a resource. It can be read by anyone interested in church history. It is very engaging and entertaining. An excellent resource! Most chapter’s follow the same format or the main history. Then two focused sections. The first is Up Close and Personal and is a profile of a specific person or people. Usually saints or blessed. The next is a section called You Be The Judge, which goes deeper into a question, point of interest or conflict. The book would be worth reading for either of these sections alone. But as a whole thing is very well written. Phillip Campbell does an excellent job of presenting a balanced view. It is terribly well researched. 

I greatly benefited from reading this volume, and already plan to read it again. And I am certain you will as well. I know that I will be reading the remaining two volumes in the series as they release. And will likely circle back and reread them all in order. But I have a feeling this one will get an extra reading in before then.

A great read in an excellent series! 

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2022 Catholic Reading Plan!

Books in the Reclaiming Catholic History Series:
The Early Church - James L. Papandrea
The Church and the Roman Empire - Mike Aquilina
The Church and the Dark Ages
The Church and the Middle Ages
The Church and the Reformations
The Church and the Age of Enlightenment
The Church Facing the Modern Era

Books by Phillip Campbell:

Ante-Nicene Fathers: Primary Document Catholic Study Course

Epitaphs of the Catacombs: Christian Inscriptions in Rome During the First Four Centuries

Heroes & Heretics of the Reformation

Tale of Manaeth

The Book of Non-Contradiction: Harmonizing the Scriptures

The Catholic Educator's Guide to Teaching History

The Catholic Middle Ages: A Primary Document

The Church and the Dark Ages (430–1027): St. Benedict, Charlemagne, and the Rise of Christendom

The Feasts of Christendom: History, Theology, and Customs of the Principal Feasts of the Catholic Church

The Rending of Christendom

The Story of Civilization: Volume I - The Ancient World

The Story of Civilization: Volume II - The Medieval World

The Story of Civilization: Volume III - The Making of the Modern World

The Story of Civilization: Volume IV - The History of the United States One Nation Under God Text Book

The Story of the Church Textbook: From Pentecost to Modern Times

…

The Church and the Middle Ages 1000–1378 - Steve Weidenkopf - Reclaiming Catholic History Series Book 4

The Church and the Middle Ages (1000–1378)

Cathedrals, Crusades, and the Papacy in Exile

Reclaiming Catholic History Series Book 4

Steve Weidenkopf

Mike Aquilina (Editor)
Ave Maria Press
ISBN 9781594719530

eISBN 9781594719547

ASIN B08GCCNXRL

I have greatly enjoyed the other three volumes in this series that I have read. The Church and the Roman Empire by Mike Aquilina, The Early Church by James L. Papandrea, and The Church and the Modern Era by David M. Wagner. The books in the series are be released out of order. There will be seven volumes in this series. Mike Aquilina is the general editor of the series and has been doing an excellent job. I approached this volume with great interest. The time period covered is one of personal interest and many years of study. I can easily state that this volume was an excellent read. This book and the whole series to date are excellent reads. I spent 20 years as an undergraduate, for the most part because I loved learning. My last degree was in Religious Studies with a focus on Roman Catholic Thought. I would have loved this book and those I have read in this series as resources. This book would have also been an excellent resource for some of my history courses.   

Many years ago when I did an Introduction to Church History course at Conrad Grebel College at the University of Waterloo, our professor, Arnold Snider, often said throughout the year, “I do not care as much about dates and names and places, as the story of Christianity. On your final exam the main question will be ‘Your uncle Billy at Christmas dinner says: ‘I hear you did the history of Christianity, tell us the story in your own words?’” And that was one of the essay questions on the exam. This book and the three others I have read in the series would have been great resources for that course. And If I had had them then I would have been pulled out often for essays, papers and research. This is a great read in an excellent series. But the books are written in such an engaging manner that any Catholic could pick them up and benefit from reading them. And this one is on one of the harder periods of Church History. I will tell you that Weidenkopf does care about dates. Often putting them after a person from history is mentioned.

This fourth volume published in this series, Reclaiming Catholic History, and it is the fourth book in the series. The series is being edited by Mike Aquilina and the first published volume is by him as well. About this series we are told by Aquilina:

“The history of the Catholic Church is often clouded by myth, misinformation, and missing pieces. Today there is a renewed interest in recovering the true history of the Church, correcting the record in the wake of centuries of half-truths and noble lies. Books in the Reclaiming Catholic History series, edited by Mike Aquilina and written by leading authors and historians, bring Church history to life, debunking the myths one era at a time.”

And each of the four I have read so far are excellent volumes. And I eagerly await the release of each new book in the series. The chapters in this volume are:

Reclaiming Catholic History: Series Introduction

Chronology of The Church and the Middle Ages (1000–1378)

Map

Introduction: What’s in a Name?

Chapter 1: Medieval Man in a Medieval World

     Up Close and Personal: Abbot Suger of St. Denis

     You Be the Judge: Were serfs slaves?

Chapter 2: The Papal Reform Movement Begins

     Up Close and Personal: St. Peter Damian

     You Be the Judge: Were popes chosen by the people?

Chapter 3: The Great Schism and Norman Conquest

     Up Close and Personal: St. Bruno of Cologne

     You Be the Judge: Is the filioque an unauthorized addition to the Creed?

Chapter 4: The Investiture Controversy

     Up Close and Personal: Matilda of Tuscany

     You Be the Judge: Did the Catholic Church mandate celibacy in the Middle Ages in order to acquire land and wealth from the clergy?

Chapter 5: The Crusading Movement: Part 1

     Up Close and Personal: Godfrey de Bouillon

     You Be the Judge: Were crusaders motivated by greed and land?

Chapter 6: The Crusading Movement: Part 2

     Up Close and Personal: Jean de Joinville

     You Be the Judge: Did Pope St. John Paul II apologize for the Fourth Crusade?

Chapter 7: Crisis in England and the Beggar Monks

     Up Close and Personal: St. Anthony of Padua

     You Be the Judge: Was St. Francis a radical lover of animals and flowers?

Chapter 8: Medieval Inquisitors and Scholars

     Up Close and Personal: Bernard Gui

     You Be the Judge: Were millions of people tortured and killed by the Inquisition?

Chapter 9: Trouble in the Papacy

     Up Close and Personal: St. Bridget of Sweden

     You Be the Judge: Did the Church blame the Black Death on the Jews?

Acknowledgments

Notes

For Further Reading

This book is another excellent resource. It would be a great resource for secondary school students and for university undergraduates. It would also be a great read for anyone interested in church history. It is both engaging and entertaining. Overall, I think it is a great book! Most chapter’s in this volume and those in the series so far follow the same format, first the main history. Then two focused sections. The first is Up Close and Personal and is a profile of a specific person or people. Usually, saints or blessed. The next is a section called You Be The Judge, which goes deeper into a question, point of interest or conflict. The book would be worth reading for either of these sections. But The whole thing is extremely well written. The people profiled in the Up Close and Personal are a mix of saints, religious and political leaders.

Steve Weidenkopf does a great job of presenting a balanced view. It is well researched and presented inline with Church teachings. He tackles probably some of the toughest events in the series. He draws extensively from some of his previous works, and always indicates when that is so.    

I stated it before and I declare it again, I have greatly benefited from reading this volume. And I am certain you will as well. I know that I will be reading the remaining three volumes in the series as they release. And will circle back and reread them in chronological order after all 7 are available. Another excellent read in a fantastic series!

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2021 Catholic Reading Plan!

Books in the Reclaiming Catholic History Series:
The Early Church - James L. Papandrea
The Church and the Roman Empire - Mike Aquilina
The Church and the Dark Ages
The Church and the Middle Ages
The Church and the Reformations
The Church and the Age of Enlightenment
The Church Facing the Modern Era

Books by Steve Weidenkopf:
The Glory of the Crusades
The Real Story of Catholic History
20 Answers: The Reformation
Timeless: A History of the Catholic Church
Epic Study Set: A Journey Through Church History: Questions & Responses with Alan Schreck

The Church and the Middle Ages - David M. Wagner 

...

The Church and the Modern Era 1846–2005 - David M. Wagner - Reclaiming Catholic History Series Book 7

The Church and the Modern Era (1846–2005)

Pius IX, World Wars, and the Second Vatican Council

Reclaiming Catholic History Series Book 7

David M. Wagner 
Mike Aquilina (Editor)
Ave Maria Press
ISBN 9781594717871

eISBN 9781594717888

ASIN B08BXFV7RW

I have greatly enjoyed the other two volumes in this series that I have read. The Church and the Roman Empire by Mike Aquilina and The Early Church by James L. Papandrea. The books are be released out of order. There will be seven volumes in this series. Mike Aquilina is the general editor of the series. But I must admit that I had some trepidation as I approached this volume. It seems that if you mention Vatican II these days you will have either complete support, or ravings that it is invalid and destroying the Catholic Church. However, this volume was an excellent read. This book and the whole series today are excellent reads. I spent 20 years as an undergraduate, for the most part because I loved learning. My last degree was in Religious Studies with a focus on Roman Catholic Thought. I would have loved this book and those I have read in this series as resources.   

Many years ago when I did an Introduction to Church History course at Conrad Grebel College at the University of Waterloo, our professor, Arnold Snider, often said throughout the year, “I do not care as much about dates and names and places, as the story of Christianity. On your final exam the main question will be ‘Your uncle Billy at Christmas dinner says: ‘I hear you did the history of Christianity, tell us the story in your own words?’” And that was one of the essay questions on the exam. This book and the two others I have read in the series would have been great resources for that course. And If I had had them they would have been pulled out often for essays, papers and research. This is a great read in an excellent series. But the books are written in such an engaging manner that any Catholic could pick them up and benefit from reading them. And this one is on one of the hardest periods of Church history. 

This third volume published in this series, Reclaiming Catholic History, though it is the seventh book in the series. The series is being edited by Mike Aquilina and the first published volume is by him as well. About this series we are told by Aquilina:

“The history of the Catholic Church is often clouded by myth, misinformation, and missing pieces. Today there is a renewed interest in recovering the true history of the Church, correcting the record in the wake of centuries of half-truths and noble lies. Books in the Reclaiming Catholic History series, edited by Mike Aquilina and written by leading authors and historians, bring Church history to life, debunking the myths one era at a time.”

And each of the three I have read today are excellent volumes. The chapters in this volume are:

Reclaiming Catholic History: Series Introduction 

Chronology of The Early Church (33–313) 

Map

Introduction: When Does Something Become “History”?

Chapter 1: The Modern Church 

     Up Close and Personal: St. John Henry Newman 

     You Be the Judge: Wasn’t the declaration of papal infallibility just a power grab? Chapter 

2: Democracy and the “Social Question” 

     Up Close and Personal: St. Josephine Bakhita 

     You Be the Judge: Doesn’t Catholic “social teaching” amount to an endorsement of socialism? Chapter 

3: A Crisis in Theology 

     Up Close and Personal: St. Thérèse of Lisieux 

     You Be the Judge: Isn’t the Catholic Church opposed to scientific research and technological advancement? 

Chapter 4: The War to End All Wars 

     Up Close and Personal: The Message of Fatima Chapter 

5: Totalitarianism 

     Up Close and Personal: St. Faustina Kowalska and Divine Mercy 

     You Be the Judge: Didn’t the Catholic Church sign agreements with European dictators? 

Chapter 6: World War II 

     Up Close and Personal: St. Maximilian Kolbe and St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) 

     You Be the Judge: Should Pius XII have spoken out explicitly against Nazi treatment of the Jews? 

Chapter 7: The Cold War and Age of Benign Liberalism 

     Up Close and Personal: St. Josemaría Escrivá Up Close and Personal: Padre Pio 

     You Be the Judge: Did the Soviet Union plot to tarnish the reputation of Pope Pius XII and the Church? 

Chapter 8: The Second Vatican Council 

     Up Close and Personal: Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen 

     You Be the Judge: Isn’t Vatican II universally hailed by theological liberals and disparaged by theological conservatives? 

Chapter 9: Civil Unrest and the Return of Radicalism 

     Up Close and Personal: Mother Teresa of Kolkata 

     You Be the Judge: Doesn’t the Church oppose feminism? 

Chapter 10: A Culture of Life 

     Up Close and Personal: More Saints than Ever 

     You Be the Judge: Didn’t the Church completely mishandle clergy sexual abuse? 

Series Epilogue: A Change of Age

This book is an excellent resource. It can be read by late high school students or undergrads and used as a resource. It can be read by anyone interested in church history. It is engaging and entertaining. An excellent resource! And with all the vitriol in Catholic social media today it is a book many should read. Most chapter’s follow the same format or the main history. Then two focused sections. The first is Up Close and Personal and is a profile of a specific person or people. Usually saints or blessed. The next is a section called You Be The Judge, which goes deeper into a question, point of interest or conflict. The book would be worth reading for either of these sections. But The whole thing is very well written. David M. Wagner does an excellent job of presenting a balanced view. Well researched, and presented inline with Church teachings. He tackles probably the toughest period in the series. The era of two Vatican councils, two world wars, political upheaval around the world. He draws extensively from the encyclicals that guided and led us through this period.    

I greatly benefited from reading this volume. And I am certain you will as well. I know that I will be reading the remaining four volumes in the series as they release. And will likely circle back and reread them in order. 

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2019 Catholic Reading Plan!

Books in the Reclaiming Catholic History Series:
The Early Church - James L. Papandrea
The Church and the Roman Empire - Mike Aquilina
The Church and the Dark Ages
The Church and the Middle Ages
The Church and the Reformations
The Church and the Age of Enlightenment
The Church Facing the Modern Era

The Early Church 33–313 - James L. Papandrea - Reclaiming Catholic History Series Book 1

The Early Church (33–313): 
St. Peter, the Apostles, and Martyrs
Reclaiming Catholic History Series Book 1
James L. Papandrea
Mike Aquilina (Editor)
Ave Maria Press
ISBN 9781594717710
eISBN 9781594717727
ASIN B07SLQ9ZNB


I thoroughly enjoyed book 2 in this series: The Church and the Roman Empire by Mike Aquilina, and Mike is also the general editor of the whole series. I had high expectations for this volume and it did not disappoint. Over the years I have done several courses in church history and theology. I have a Religious Studies Degree with a specialization in Roman Catholic Thought. I would have loved to have had this book, and both I have read from the series so far while I was a student. Many years ago when I did an Introduction to Church History course on Conrad Grebel College at the University of Waterloo, our professor, Arnold Snider, often said throughout the year, “I do not care as much about dates and names and places, as the story of Christianity. On your final exam the main question will be ‘Your uncle Billy at Christmas dinner says: ‘I hear you did the history of Christianity, tell us the story in your own words?’” And that was one of the essay questions on the exam. This book and the two I have read in the series would have been great resources for that course. And If I had had them they would have been pulled out often for essays, papers and research. This is a great read in an excellent series.

This is the second book published in a this series, Reclaiming Catholic History, though it is the first book in the series. The series is being edited by Mike Aquilina and the first published volume is by him as well. About this series we are told:

“The history of the Catholic Church is often clouded by myth, misinformation, and missing pieces. Today there is a renewed interest in recovering the true history of the Church, correcting the record in the wake of centuries of half-truths and noble lies. Books in the Reclaiming Catholic History series, edited by Mike Aquilina and written by leading authors and historians, bring Church history to life, debunking the myths one era at a time.”

And if the others are as good as the two that are published we are in for some excellent reads. The chapters in this volume are:

Reclaiming Catholic History: Series Introduction 
Chronology of The Early Church (33–313) 
Map 
Introduction: The Scholar’s New Clothes Chapter 
1 The Era of the Apostles
2 The Era of the Apostolic Fathers
3 The Era of the Apologists
4 The Era of the Theologians
5 The Era of the Sacraments
6 The Era of Tribulation
Just the Beginning 
Notes 
For Further Reading

We are reminded again in the series introduction that:

“Not until the Bible do we encounter histories written by historical losers. God’s people were regularly defeated, enslaved, oppressed, occupied, and exiled. Yet they told their story honestly, because they held themselves—and their historians—to a higher judgment, higher even than the king or the forces of the market. They looked at history in terms of God’s judgment, blessings, curses, and mercy.”

We are also told that:

“Christian history tells the story not of an empire, nor of a culture, but of a family. And it is a story, not a scientific treatise. In many languages, the connection is clear.
…
The authors in this series strive to communicate history in a way that’s accessible and even entertaining. They see history as true stories well told. They don’t fear humor or pathos as threats to their trustworthiness.”

And from the two volumes available they have done an excellent job of doing just that. Papandrea in the introduction states:

“If I believe (as I do) that Jesus Christ really is the Son of God, really did create the Church, and really did send the Holy Spirit to guide her, then I’m more likely to accept that traditions are based on truth, and that miracles can happen. But if a historian is not a believer, and especially if that historian has an anti-Church bias (or an anti-Catholic bias, as many Protestant scholars of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries did), then that historian will fill in the gaps with some very different conclusions about what “must have” happened.”

He also says:

“What I’m giving you in this book is what I believe happened, based on a career of studying the evidence, with a firm belief in divine providence.”

And when writing about the birth of the church he says: 

“I would argue that the birth of the Church was that Thursday night when Jesus took some bread and said, “This is my body,” and held up a cup of wine and said, “This is my blood.” The Church was born when Jesus instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist.” 

We are informed that one of the main causes of conflict between Rome and the early church was mistrust. 

“Eventually, the Romans started to understand that Christians were something separate from the Jews. This meant Christianity was something new. New was bad. New was suspicious. The Jews got a pass and got to practice their religion because it was ancient and because the Romans were trying to avoid rebellion. But this Christianity thing—this was an unknown quantity.”

And because:

“One of the most remarkable facets of the early Church is that Christians considered their morality as part of their very identity. This is very different from the way that pagan Romans thought of themselves.”

The section by Papandrea on the four reasons the church needs clergy and a clerical hierarchy is amazing. Papandrea also does an amazing job through out the book debunking myths about the Catholic church and church history. The ‘Up Close and Personal’ sections takes us deeper into specific historical figures. And the ‘You be the Judge’ sections lay out the historical facts and helps us to draw our own conclusions. The two quotes of the many I highlighted in the text that struck me the hardest were:

“One lesson to be learned from all this is that we can’t really understand the New Testament without understanding the early Church and the Church Fathers. They are the ones who decided what books would be in the canon, so they are the ones who really gave us our New Testament. But we can trust them, and we can trust the text of the New Testament because it was written and compiled within the lifetimes of people who knew Jesus and the apostles personally.”

And 

“You’re not going to be excommunicated as a heretic just because you don’t have all the answers. A heretic is someone who teaches incorrect doctrine, leads the faithful astray, and then, when confronted by the bishop, refuses to submit to the authority of the Church.”

This book is an excellent resource. It can be read by late high school students or undergrads and used as a resource. It can be read by anyone interested in church history. It is engaging and entertaining. An excellent resource!

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2019 Catholic Reading Plan!

Books in the Reclaiming Catholic History Series:
The Early Church - James L. Papandrea
The Church and the Roman Empire - Mike Aquilina
The Church and the Dark Ages
The Church and the Middle Ages
The Church and the Reformations
The Church and the Age of Enlightenment
The Church Facing the Modern Age

Books by James L. Papandrea:
A Week in the Life of Rome
Reading the Early Church Fathers: From the Didache to Nicaea
From Star Wars to Superman: Christ and Salvation in Science Fiction and Superhero Films
The Earliest Christologies: Five Images of Christ in the Postapostolic Age
Handed Down: The Catholic Faith of the Early Christians
Trinity 101: Father, Son, Holy Spirit
Rome: A Pilgrim's Guide to the Eternal City
The Early Church (33–313): St. Peter, the Apostles, and Martyrs
The Wedding of the Lamb: A Historical Approach to the Book of Revelation
Spiritual Blueprint: How We Live, Work, Love, Play, and Pray
How to Be a Saint
The Trinitarian Theology of Novatian of Rome: A Study in Third-Century Orthodoxy
What Really Happens after We Die: How We Know There Will Be Hugs in Heaven!
Novatian of Rome and the Culmination of Pre-Nicene Orthodoxy
…

Books with Mike Aquilina:
Seven Revolutions: How Christianity Changed the World and Can Change It Again 
How Christianity Saved Civilization: And Must Do So Again
…

Contributed to:
At Home with the Word 2011
…