“The Church is a lucid, balanced, and readable book—a work of integration that is always reasonable, well informed, honest, and deeply hopeful.”

—Commonweal

In The Church, renowned religious historian and Vatican expert Richard P. McBrien offers a sweeping history of the evolution of the Roman Catholic Church, its influence and power in an ever-changing world. From Jesus’s apostle Peter to Pope Benedict XVI, The Church is a remarkable achievement that delves deeply into the past and the future of Christianity’s largest branch—in fact, the largest religious institution in the world—exploring its politics, doctrines, and the way the Roman Catholic Church views itself.

This comprehensive history of Catholicism is an essential resource for understanding:

The Second Vatican Council: An in-depth analysis of the documents that reshaped the modern Church, including Lumen gentium and Gaudium et spes.
Papal Primacy and Infallibility: A detailed historical examination of the Church’s most controversial doctrines, tracing their development from the New Testament through Vatican I and beyond.
The Church as People of God: An exploration of the six basic themes of Vatican II’s ecclesiology, from the Church as mystery and sacrament to its role as a servant community.
Historical Ecclesiology: A thorough study of how the Church has understood itself throughout every era, from the postbiblical period to the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI.