This book is a fairly comprehensive history of the Church over the last 2,000 years. However, Mr. Bokenkotter seems quite happy to gloss over many important events in the history of the Church to devote a great deal of time to the discussion of the liberalization of the Church over the last hundred or so years. Favorite liberal bishops and theologians are discussed ad nauseum. Clearly, following the mistake so many make, Bokenkotter is viewing 2,000 years of Church history through the prism of his own experience and his own prejudices. It's as if Vatican II, in his eyes, is practically a second coming. Then, as if watching his beautiful balloon fall to earth as the air slips out, Bokenkotter devotes a terse afterthought of a chapter to the death of John Paul II and subsequent election of Benedict XVI. He obviously views the election Ratzinger as a blow to the "Spirit of Vatican II."

I ordered this book and was excited to begin reading it. Never again will I buy a book without first reading the comments. Most reviews were on the money. This book is entirely fiction, with a few historical facts sandwiched in between. I began reading it and by page 28 the red flags were brightly waving, but maybe I was ignorant of Catholic Tradition. So I had the pastor of my church read it. He believes the author shows great ignorance of Greek as well as the Aramaic languages as some of the definitions were erroneous. If there is anyonelooking for the truths of the Catholic Church stay clear of this book. The only reason I gave this one star was the review would not go through without a rating.

As other reviewers said, the first three parts of the book are all right and maybe even worth reading. Unfortunately, the coverage of the 19th, and especially 20th century is very biased and one-sided. Last two parts of the book should be subtitled "history of leftist and liberal trends in the church and why you should agree with them".
The position of "progressive" bishops and theologians is always described in great detail, their arguments explained and elaborated. Views of "traditionalists", on the other hand, are only briefly mentioned, and their arguments ignored. The story of Archbishop Lefebvre and Society of St. Piux X is presented in particularly biased and unfair fashion.

Some omissions are so glaring that I found them hard to believe. For example, the name of Dietrich von Hildebrand, considered by many "20-th century doctor of the church" is not even mentioned!

Another example: the role of latin language and consequences of its disappearance from the post-councillar liturgy are not even touched. I would think that such topics would be impossible to omit in a book of this scope - well, I was wrong...

To summarize: if you are looking for a balanced, objective treatment of Church history, look elsewhere.

This book is, in many ways, very good and an incredible feat of historical scholarship within the Church, today.

However, the sections surrounding the Second Vatican Council and Pope John Paul II are poisoned with a heterodox agenda that is certainly causing a great deal of scandal to the faithful today. Especially distressing are his calls to "reform" the priesthood and the teachings on sexual morality.

Gratefully, his opinions are falling more and more into the minority of Catholics today. Regardless, TRUTH IS NEVER DETERMINED BY A MAJORITY VOTE. Truth is what it is. What I consider to be his major issue undermining a great deal of his disagreement is the structure of the teaching authority of the Church. We believe, as Catholics, that the Holy Spirit (GOD HIMSELF) continues to teach us through the college of bishops, the true successors of the first apostles chosen by Jesus Christ. Our Lord Himself promised us this in the Gospels. Since Bokenkotter seems to have lost his faith in this, it can be of no surprise to read these sections of his book.

I cannot, in good (and true) conscience, recommend this book due to the fact that it leads the faithful away from our Lord's Church as it really is.


May Jesus Christ be praised, now and forever! Amen.

Bokenkotter reviews the issues and decisions of Catholic church history in a fair, non-defensive way. He gives balanced time to the losers in contests over orthodoxy, and doesn't assume the temporary victors are always right. In explaining the choice to ban families for priests in 1074, he honestly shows the arguments in play. The difficulties of controlling priest's wives showed no sign of going away, and the hierarchy's patience ran out. The great Gregorian reform for priestly chastity gathered force because the mainly monastic higher leadership realized how greatly marriage assimilated its clerics to Western women's values. (p. 141) The other defining moments in church history, from the codifying of orthodoxy under Constantine, the turn to holy war and persecution against infidels, the great "counter-reformation" revival of service vocations, or the conflicts over modernity, all receive an honest, open treatment.

--BG, author of "Different Visions of Love" and "The Gardens of Their Dreams"

I thought this book was very well written and easy to understand. I had been looking for a short history of the Catholic Church for quite a long time. The book takes you from chapter to chapter into the history of the church chronicling it's many triumphs and disappointments. I found it very sobering at times being a devout Roman Catholic but also very enlightening. I appreciated learning about the Protestant Reformation and its roots as well as it's major leaders.

Yet the final chapters of the book seemed to me to be more of a liberal objection of the church rather than sticking to the historical standpoint. I actually came away at times quite disgusted at how the author continued to pound at the conservative view of Catholocism and wondered when he would stop putting his own views on the church's history. It became quite evident during these final chapters that the author was very liberal in his views on the church's papal and magesterial authority. The author's downright liberalism would lead me to believe that there might be other book's out there more in line with what the church truely is. For me it was a good starter's book but I'd like to find something even better. A book and author that stays more faithful in the belief in the role of the papacy is what I'll be looking for next.

As a Protestant who has long been perplexed by Catholicism, I finally picked up this history, and am giving it a read. This excellent book has clarified so many areas where I was confused about the origin of a tradition or doctrine in the Church. Particularly helpful is the way Bokenkotter traces the threads of the development of Catholic dogma.
While it is extremely brief (2000+ years of history...430 pages), and undoubtedly omits or skims many important issues, it is a fine introduction. Bokenkotter does not espouse to be complete or lengthy in his history, and provides many references for further reading, should the reader desire a deeper understanding of an event or time period.
I appreciate Bokenkotter's respectful treatment of Protestantism, and his recognition of both beautiful and inglorious moments in the Catholic Church's history (for surely no church is perfect!). This history has brought me to greater respect of and appreciation for the Catholic Church, and I highly recommend it.

The book is very good and was used for an accompanying study reference for an adult education activity.

I'm in my first year of theology, and some of the cool things I've always wanted to study was about the Roman history. In his book,"A Concise History of the Catholic Church" Bokenkotter includes all the details any religious or lay person should learn about his/her beliefs about God walking with his people. More specifically, how some group of people were willing to give up their own lives for bearing the name, Christian.

Having read the text exhausively as a required text, I am familiar with Bokenkotter's well chronicled, in-depth work presented here. The chapters are divided and consuming the church history as a whole is bearable to say the least and is as much of a page turner as a two thousand year old history can be.

However, research confirms a subtle opinionated style throughout- that the author is no Catholic and certainly not an apologist for the faith. If you are looking for criticism or reporting on Luther or Calvin's autocratic and caustic style, it is not found. In fact, the counter reformation is downplayed and the Prostestant Reformation reported as a sort of saving grace for Mother Church. The sins of the church are overemphasized somewhat indicating some bias.

The finis of an updated version gives us an author not excited about an extension of John Pauls pontificate with the selection of Ratzinger and sounds off with a yearning similarly heard from more contemporary, unorthodox Catholics.

If you need an excellent research manual, this is a fine text. If you yearn for an orthodox documentation or apologetic perspective, pass on this one.

Having read the text exhausively as a required text, I am familiar with Bokenkotter's well chronicled, in-depth work presented here. The chapters are divided and consuming the church history as a whole is bearable to say the least and is as much of a page turner as a two thousand year old history can be.
However, research confirms a subtle opinionated style throughout- that the author is no Catholic and certainly not an apologist for the faith. If you are looking for criticism or reporting on Luther or Calvin's autocratic and caustic style, it is not found. In fact, the counter reformation is downplayed and the Prostestant Reformation reported as a sort of saving grace for Mother Church. The sins of the church are overemphasized somewhat indicating some bias.
The finis of an updated version gives us an author not excited about an extension of John Pauls pontificate with the selection of Ratzinger and sounds off with a yearning similarly heard from more contemporary, unorthodox Catholics.
If you need an excellent research manual, this is a fine text. If you yearn for an orthodox documentation or apologetic perspective, pass on this one.

The 2005 edition of TB's "Concise History of the Catholic Church" basically adds a very brief chapter on the final illness and death of John Paul II, and the election of Benedict XVI. TB writes that little update from the fullness of the moment when the world watched the events of the passing of one pope and the election of another on live broadcasts, so his two-page insert has the freshness of the immediate. That little chapter is more of a chronicle than a historical reflection.

The 2005 edition of "Concise History", other than the above-mentioned little piece, reproduces untouched the 2002 version of TB's best-seller. The novelty of that 2002 edition had been his appraisal of the long pontificate of John Paul II leading across the threshold of the Third Millennium. That appraisal, published in time for the pope's silver jubilee on the chair of Peter, presents a type of "point of arrival" rather than a conclusion to the ongoing story of the Church. TB's book is, after all, a survey of 2000 years of Church history, so it is interesting that the last quarter of the 20th Century should get so much attention. Yet, that is the time in which most of TB's reader's were born and have lived, so that special attention makes sense.

The "Concise History" is a solid text that can be used in college and seminary courses of Church history. I've used it as a text and resource for survey courses that I've taught at grad level for students of theology. It is highly readable, solid and sober in tone, informative and synthetic. In short, the book works, edition after edition. My students always seem to appreciate "Bokenkotter", as they call the book. Their appreciation is one of the reasons that I continue to make use of this resource when asked to speak of the history of the Church.