Steve Weidenkopf - Timeless: A History of the Catholic Church

Comprehensive in scope yet readable in tone! This is a solid introduction to Catholic history that will benefit anyone who reads it.

Trent Horn, author of Why Were Catholic: Our Reasons for Faith, Hope, and Love

Steve Weidenkopf has emerged as an elite historian of the Catholic Church, and Timeless is his masterwork. From infancy to maturity, this comprehensive volume illustrates the significance of each milestone in the life of the Body of Christ with remarkable narrative that is vivid and inspiring, boldly netting the troubling controversies that crippled it and the glorious triumphs that enable it to be the sole preserver of Western culture and the salvation of all mankind. The search is over this chronicle is the most accessible and readable history of the Church available.

Shaun A. McAfee, author of Reform Yourself! and other best-selling titles, and Instructor of Media at Sacred Heart Institute

Steve Weidenkopf has once again demonstrated his ability to write a clear, powerful, well-documented history book. Above all, he has again shown that Christ and his Church are at the center of history, and that whenever the Church undergoes a crucifixion, it is always followed by a resurrection, a much-needed lesson.

Anne W. Carroll, author of Christ the King: Lord of History and Christ and the Americas, and founder of Seton School

I have been waiting for this book, and I didnt think it could be done. But here it is: a one-volume history of the Catholic Church that I can recommend without reservation! No sneering triumphalism. No groveling apologies. Just the glorious story of the greatest institution in history, written how history should be written lively, compelling, inspiring, and true.

Christopher Check, president of Catholic Answers

In a single volume and from a thoroughly Catholic perspective, professor Steve Weidenkopf provides an engaging and thoughtful history of the Catholic Church and its interactions with the world around it. The work is wonderfully organized in such a way that readers can select a period of history, such as the Early Middle Ages or the French Revolution, and read detailed summaries of the key people and events as they related to the Catholic Church in those eras. Weidenkopf carefully walks the reader through often complex major theological controversies, introducing not only the events and people associated with each of them, but also making clear why such disputes mattered for the life of the Church and its members. Weidenkopf does not shy away from addressing the most controversial events in the long history of Catholicism but, in the style of great Catholic writers like Hilaire Belloc or Warren H. Carroll, is careful to explain them in a context that illuminates such events in a way that hostile modern popular narratives fail to do. Modern Catholics wishing to get a better understanding of both the history and historical nature of their faith would do well to read this book.

Andrew Holt, professor of history at Florida State College at Jacksonville

If you want to learn Church history, but do not wish to wade through dense scholarly volumes to do it, Timeless: A History of the Catholic Church is the book for you. Steve Weidenkopf masterfully unveils Catholicisms two-thousand-year drama in a single, gripping, easy-to-read volume without neglecting the key events that every Catholic ought to know. I highly recommend this book.

Gary Michuta, Catholic author, apologist, and speaker

Ignorance of history is ignorance of the Church. Steve Weidenkopf takes us through the great pilgrimage of the Church through time, showing her organic development and helping us to overcome serious misconceptions. The Churchs story is one of hope, as we recognize how Gods providence makes good come out of evil, particularly through the witness of the saints. Learning about the Church will inspire us to follow Christ more faithfully in the midst of the difficulties of our time.

R. Jared Staudt, PhD, Archdiocese of Denver and Augustine Institute, author of The Beer Option

The attempt to write a history of the Catholic Church in a single volume is no small task. It requires not only a depth of knowledge but prudence in ones selection of data and its analysis. Fortunately, Steve Weidenkopf has succeeded in doing just that. Written with a Catholic vision of history and a lucid, popular narrative, his work brings to life two thousand years of history that both inspires and informs. The Church in her heroic struggle in this fallen world with her successes and failures is clearly set forth. This books Christocentric vision of history is a rare gem, to be read and treasured by the faithful and all who seek the deeper meaning of Western Christian civilization.

Timothy T. ODonnell, President, Christendom College

Timeless

A History of the Catholic Church

Steve Weidenkopf

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Nihil Obstat

Msgr. Michael Heintz, Ph.D.

Censor Librorum

Imprimatur

Kevin C. Rhoades

Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend

April 25, 2019

The Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur are declarations that a work is free from doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.

Except where noted, the Scripture citations used in this work are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible Second Catholic Edition (Ignatius Edition), copyright 1965, 1966, 2006 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Copyright 2018 by Steve Weidenkopf

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ISBN: 978-1-68192-148-8 (Inventory No. T1868)

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LCCN: 2018957747

Cover design: Amanda Falk

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P RINTED IN THE U NITED S TATES OF A MERICA

Historical analysis is never an end in itself; it is not made solely with a view to knowing the past; rather, it focuses decisively on conversion and on an authentic witness of Christian life on the part of the faithful.

Pope Benedict XVI, 2007

To my sons: Maximilian, Luke, Jeb, and Martin

May the story of the Church and the actions of your brothers in the Lord, who came before you, inspire you to manfully defend the Faith and live it throughout your lives.

Contents

Author Preface

The historian, like the novelist, tells a story; a story of some portion of the past; he describes (rather than defines). The novelist has it easier: he can invent people who did not exist and events that did not happen. The historian cannot describe people and events that did not exist; he must limit himself to men and women who really lived; he must depend on evidences of their acts and words though, like the novelist, he too must surmise something about their minds.