Many standard histories of Christianity chronicle theReformation as a single, momentous period in the history of theChurch. According to those accounts, a number of competing groupsof reformers challenged a monolithic and corrupt Roman Catholicismover issues ranging from authority and the role of the priests tothe interpretation of the Eucharist and the use of the Bible inchurch. In this wide-ranging, richly layered and captivating studyof the Reformation, MacCulloch challenges traditionalinterpretations, arguing instead that there were many reformations.Arranging his history in chronological fashion, MacCulloch providesin-depth studies of reform movements in central, northern andsouthern Europe and examines the influences that politics andgeography had on such groups. He challenges common assumptionsabout the relationships between Catholic priests and laity, arguingthat in some cases Protestantism actually took away religiousauthority from laypeople rather than putting it in their hands. Inaddition, h

An Introduction to Christianity examines the key figures,events and ideas of two thousand years of Christian history andplaces them in context. It considers the religion in its materialas well as its spiritual dimensions and explores its interactionswith wider society such as money, politics, force, gender and thefamily, and non-Christian cultures and societies. This Introductionplaces particular focus on the ways in which Christianity hasunderstood, embodied and related to power. It shows how theChurch's longstanding love affair with 'higher power', both humanand divine, has been repeatedly challenged by alternative ideas ofof 'power from below', both sacred and secular. Finally, bybringing the history of Christianity right up-to-date, this bookexplores the ways in which churches of both North and South reactto the rise of modern democracy. Comprehensive and accessible, thisbook will appeal to the student and general reader.

Regarded by Susan Sontag as "one of the most uncompromising and troubling witnesses to the modern travail of the spirit," Weil grips the moral imagination as few others before or since.

"This volume is intended to meet a widely felt need for an up-to-date and concise source book on the principal teachings of the Catholic Church. Since the close of the Second Vatican Council, there has been such an accumulation of ecclesiastical constitutions and decrees and so many changes they introduced in Catholic practice that few people have been able to keep up with all that has happened... A parallel purpose of this volume is to offer those who use it a handy guidebook of the Catholic tradition, whether formally documented in ecclesiastical sources or implicitly accepted by the faithful under the aegis of the Church's hierarchial leaders. "The method followed in presenting the Church's doctrine is a combination of history and logic. Doctrines are placed into a historical framework by tracing their origins to the Old and New Testaments and placing their development within the context of persons, places, and times. The doctrine thus becomes more intelligible because it is viewed in the setting of its