Catholic Church (A Short History) - Hardcover

Kung, Hans

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0297646389 ISBN 13: 9780297646389

Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2001

Synopsis

Hans Küng describes the history of the Roman Catholic Church from its origins in St Paul s Rome, through the disputes of the medieval era to the modern world. He examines the historic tension in the Church between pluralism and exclusivity; how the role of the Pope has changed; the motivations of the great reforming pontiffs; the evolving functions of the bishops and cardinals; the story of church s enthusiasm for missionary activity; the origins of the Marian cult; and how the shock waves of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation can still be felt today. The book concludes with a searching assessment of how the Catholic faith confronts the immense challenges from science, from the empowerment of women, from those seeking reform of the Church s strictures against abortion and contraception in the new millennium. Though short, this is a major book by a controversial and profoundly influential thinker.

About this title

About the Author

Born in 1928 in Switzerland, Hans Küng was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1954, and taught at the Universities of Münster and Tübingen, where he also directed the Institute for Ecumenical Research from 1963. In 1962 he was named by Pope John XXIII a consultant for the Second Vatican Council. He played a central role in the writing of Vatican II, which in 1965 radically modernised key areas of Catholic teaching. He has since the early 1960s questioned such traditional church doctrines as papal infallibility, the divinity of Christ, and the dogma of the Virgin Mary. In 1979 the Vatican banned his teaching as a Catholic theologian, provoking huge international controversy, and in 1980 a settlement was reached that allowed him to teach under secular rather than Catholic auspices. Dr Küng is the only living Weidenfeld and Nicolson author with an entry in the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Edition details

• Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0297646389
• ISBN 13: 9780297646389
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176