In this extraordinary book, the controversial and profoundly influential Hans Küng chronicles the Roman Catholic Church’s role as a worl...
read full description
reviews
Jan 15, 2008
Nate
rated it: 
Hans Kung is the Catholic that every Protestant will love.
He's not afraid to expose the ugliness of the Church's history along with its triumphs. This book will probably not sit well with Catholics. However, I believe he's a prophetic voice from within the Church much like Erasmus during the Renaissance, but not a separatist. I'd like to read his book Why I'm Still a Christian next.
He's not afraid to expose the ugliness of the Church's history along with its triumphs. This book will probably not sit well with Catholics. However, I believe he's a prophetic voice from within the Church much like Erasmus during the Renaissance, but not a separatist. I'd like to read his book Why I'm Still a Christian next.
Jun 08, 2008
Real Supergirl
rated it: 
Kung's writing is clear and concise, his strength is in his ability to make history make sense in today's world - as in, help me understand just why the Catholic Church is the way it is today - without relying on exaggeration or grandiose versions of history. He's a Catholic theologian, but he is no apologist for the Catholic church. His honesty and forthrightness has gotten him into trouble with his church in the past.
This is an excellent, relatively quick read for anyone who is More...
This is an excellent, relatively quick read for anyone who is More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Nov 07, 2011
Charles
rated it:
My strongest impression after reading this is that the history of the Catholic Church is one Papal power grab after another. To say this book is an incomplete account would be accurate, but in the author's defense it is subtitled "A Short History." You can't get it all in 207 pages, so you might have to focus on a particular angle. Fr. Hans Küng picked his angle.
Fr. Hans does an admirable job with the material. There's a common understanding among Roman Catholics that Jesu More...
Fr. Hans does an admirable job with the material. There's a common understanding among Roman Catholics that Jesu More...
Feb 28, 2010
Mark
rated it:
All religions are strange, but Catholicism is the weirdest of them all. I know this because I was brought up in the faith -- stumbling up steps, lighting candles, wobbling as I held a massive decorative Bible aloft just under the Reverend Father's eye during mass. Nothing can delete the religious impulse from a boy's brain more quickly than constant contact with nuns, combined with impressment as an altar boy. Yet Jesus of Nazareth remains an inspiring figure in my mind, and I thoroughly admire
More...
Dec 31, 2011
Keren
rated it:
Very helpful book written by Hans Küng, who although a Catholic theologian himself, has some very big problems and disagreements with the RCC. Through most of the book, it seems that he embraces the same Gospel as myself, an orthodox evangelical Protestant. (Though toward the end, that seems questionable.) I was amazed to see the way that God has used Catholicism to indeed preserve and perpetuate both His written Word and the truly catholic, universal church. Helpful history of the Catholic chu
More...
Dec 10, 2010
Sandybanks
rated it: 
WARNING: avoid this review if you are someone who believes that religion is one of the three topics that should not be discussed at the dinner table.
Catholicism 101: Final Exam
Required Text: The Catholic Church A Short History, Hans Kung, trans. John Bowden, Modern Library chronicles, 2003. Hereinafter referred to as “short history”.
Part One
Multiple-choice questions
1. According to the short history, who founded the Catholic Church?
More...
Catholicism 101: Final Exam
Required Text: The Catholic Church A Short History, Hans Kung, trans. John Bowden, Modern Library chronicles, 2003. Hereinafter referred to as “short history”.
Part One
Multiple-choice questions
1. According to the short history, who founded the Catholic Church?
More...
4 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jan 29, 2012
Tresuiri
rated it:
This is a very good book for getting a quick education on the overall history of the Catholic Church. If you’ve ever wondered what a medieval institution would be in today’s time, you already know what it is! The Catholic Church. I really appreciated the background story that has brought into understanding why the institution is the way it is. The reasons behind what we consider quirky behavior for some of the Church’s views, and why they seem backwards in the context of today’s society. Al
More...
Jan 20, 2010
Heather
rated it:
OK, history nuts, listen up: These Modern Library Chronicles "Short History" books are awesome. They're more academic (and less gaudy on a bookshelf) than "Idiot's Guides," but the trade-off is no cartoons.
Küng is a reformer, and his short history on the Catholic Church is both an apology and apologetics. You don't get that a lot in religious history.
Küng is a reformer, and his short history on the Catholic Church is both an apology and apologetics. You don't get that a lot in religious history.
Jun 18, 2009
Leroy
rated it:
This book, along with Alister McGrath's "Christianity's Dangerous Idea: The Protestant Revolution," is the textbook for my Rockhurst University course this fall. I was a bit surprised he was so hard on John Paul II, but he still has a hopeful conclusion--which was waylaid, to a large degree, by Cardinal Ratzinger being elected Pope after Kung's book was published.
Aug 14, 2009
Bishop
rated it:
A most readable, and I mean easy to read, book from Hans Kung giving the reader a brief, but insightful, survey of the history of the Roman Catholic Church. I found it to be both crtical and sympathetic and always honest in its narrative. If you have never read Kung this would be a good place to start.
Mar 20, 2009
Ben
rated it:
I like Kung. A Catholic priest who has faced harsh criticism from the church, still he does not shy away from presenting undesirable aspects of the church's history. He would've been excommunicated in an earlier time. I found this book interesting to read, and quite concise.
Dec 22, 2010
Rosemarie
rated it:
Absolutely fascinating book with a lot of insight into history and Christianity in general. Listened to the audiobook. Very worth my time.
Oct 03, 2009
Pat
rated it:
A love letter/reproof to the universal Church, in the form of history. Good history of ex cathedra infallibility and other dogmas.
Jun 12, 2011
Leah
rated it: 
It was a very brief overview of the Catholic Church. The author was part of the Vatican 2 council and has an insider's view. To be honest it wasn't a glowing report of the church and he calls for reform in order to save the institute of the Catholic church. Helpful, but it raised a lot of questions for me concerning the role of the Pope and the Catholic church as a whole.
Jun 04, 2010
A. Joyce
rated it:
This could make one feel either better or worse about being a Catholic... or a bit of both. This man has his eyes wide open.
Apr 04, 2010
Katie
rated it:
Very quick, objective and comprehensive history of the good and the bad of the church. Loved it.
Dec 17, 2009
Nathan
rated it:
Can one be proud of being Catholic anymore? Kueng's lost his nerve and can't seem to marshal much of a defense of Rome.
One star. The four missing stars are for missing what should have been the main point. The lone star is for making good points while missing the main point.
Not a good book to read if you're looking at traditional view of the Roman Church, which is what I was seeking. It's a revisionist history better suited to those who already have a pretty good grasp o More...
One star. The four missing stars are for missing what should have been the main point. The lone star is for making good points while missing the main point.
Not a good book to read if you're looking at traditional view of the Roman Church, which is what I was seeking. It's a revisionist history better suited to those who already have a pretty good grasp o More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jun 05, 2011
Greg
rated it:
A history-based history of the Church that separates the myth and legends from fact in the hopes of giving a starting point for believers who know a reform of the hierarchy is past due.
Jun 11, 2008
Ibrahim
rated it:
Catholics will read this book and see what is good and what needs reform and what what we can't just t turn a blind eye to. Evangelicals will read this book and will become more compassionate and understanding towards Catholicism and be reminded once again of the long-suffering God. Both sides will hear an very interesting, enjoyable reading of our Church history. The book exposes a lot fallacies and is more forthright than you can ever imagine. It is rare to see such an honest scholar who doesn
More...
Dec 17, 2009
Shane
rated it:
Pulls no punches about the history and problems with the church (not the Catholic church, but with the development and current state of the curia and papacy). I found the Conclusion most informative and formative. Very good review of church history with an eye towards how the future can redeem the past. Really enjoyed it.
Dec 20, 2007
Steven
rated it:
Really concise and clear writing. Small book on a huge subject. Accomplishes what it sets out to admirably. Lots of extremely dignified papacy-bashing here.
Dec 17, 2009
Sue
rated it:
No impramatur here! I'm not even supposed to have it in our library - but of course I do!
Jan 28, 2012
Jan 19, 2012
Jan 06, 2012
Jan 01, 2012
