Rating: 
Summary: Not Concise, Not History, Not Catholic
Review: I read--entirely--Bokenkotter's lengthy (not concise), screed (not history) about what he mistakenly identifies as the "Catholic Church" (--more nearly his occasionally splenetic view of it). To give Bokenkotter his due: He is a talented historian, able to marshal and mine multiple references and resources well, and to write clearly and compellingly. The difficulty with this volume is not an inept or incompetent author. The difficulty, rather, is that this is tendentious Modernist ideology masquerading as history. The book is not an anti-Catholic diatribe so much as it is a celebration of anything and everything in Church history which would denigate, dismiss, deny, or destroy the Magisterial Authority (cf. Luke 10:16; John 14:26) of the Church. The teaching of the Church notwithtanding, Bokenkotter happily embraces proportionalism (372, 404), liberation theology (410), the fundamental option (403), historicism (401), Kung and Curran (396), and the radical feminist agenda (428). The Church knows little, apparently, but that is all right, for our guide Bokenkotter "explains it all to us." He sees Church history through the lenses of one who condescendingly regrets that Church leaders have often lacked the wisdom to see religious and political problems with exactly the "progressive" and "liberated" and "modern" perspective he has. (Contrast, by the way, 2 John 9, and the encyclical letter "Veritatis Splendor.") He is, of course, part of the problem, not part of the solution. One hopes that this volume will not again be "revised and expanded"; if it ever were, one hopes its author, if he or she presumed to speak about the Church, would bother to consult its CATECHISM (which was published, to be fair, after this 1990 Bokenkotter effort). Those who want a trustworthy guide to recent Church history should read George Weigel's masterful biography of Pope John Paul II, A WITNESS TO HOPE.
Rating: 
Summary: The Standard
Review: I remember reading this in college almost 20 years ago and bought a copy of this new edition as a gift for a friend and enjoyed re-aquainting myself with it before passing it along. I must say it holds up even a little better than I remembered, and I'm glad that there are now illustrations through-out the book. Despite the grandeur of the subject, it's still a breezy read. I can better see now how many subjects are only quickly examined, but it's necessary in a work of this scope.
Rating:
Summary: The Standard
Review: I remember reading this in college almost 20 years ago and bought a copy of this new edition as a gift for a friend and enjoyed re-aquainting myself with it before passing it along. I must say it holds up even a little better than I remembered, and I'm glad that there are now illustrations through-out the book. Despite the grandeur of the subject, it's still a breezy read. I can better see now how many subjects are only quickly examined, but it's necessary in a work of this scope.
Rating: 
Summary: Thank you, Mr. Bokenkotter (I think...?)
Review: I'm writing this with some hesitancy -- this is the first history of the Catholic Church that I've read, so my perspective is limited. I enjoyed the balanced and concise (yes, it really is) coverage this author gives to earlier church history. Being a Catholic devoted to the Church, and fairly well-grounded in her teachings on faith, Scripture, sacraments and prayer, I felt the need to become better informed on her history. This text did not disappoint me. That said, I will admit that when the author's strong liberal leanings seemed to grow more blatant in his coverage of modern, post-Vatican II times, that tone tended to chafe me intellectually and emotionally. That is probably a good thing, since it made me aware of -- -- A conservatism (perhaps?) in my own Catholicism which values obedience to authority and faith in the Holy Spirit's guidance of the church through the Magisterium. While I appreciate being made aware of this bias in myself, I make no apology for it. -- The fact that not all Catholics feel the same way, and that liberal Catholics raise some issues that are valid and that must be addressed (but carefully). So -- Thank you (I think?) Mr. Bokenkotter, for increasing my awareness of both of our biases, and reminding me that this living body of Christ that is the Church is still growing and learning under His guidance.
Rating:
Summary: Look somewhere else
Review: If you're looking for a good, concise history of the Catholic Church, look elsewhere. We were given this book to read in high school (a Catholic high school, I might add) and I realized even then that it was a deeply flawed book. I re-read it later after I had informed myself on the authentic history of the Catholic Church garnered from a study of Church history and couldn't believe that books like this are routinely offered as textbooks to Catholic students. An example of the kind of intellectual dishonesty contained in this book is the author's contention that the vocations "crisis" which we now face is primarily the result of a poisonous "legalistic" mentality left over from pre-Vatican II days. This claim has been rendered utterly absurd in light of revelations reported by Michael Rose in his book Goodbye, Good Men (also available on Amazon.com) and similar books on the horrendous state of moral laxity in US seminaries. Indeed, if you are a teacher seeking a textbook for teen-aged Catholic students, selecting this book is doing them a grave disservice. If you're seeking a truly Catholic history of the Church that is also an enjoyable read, I recommend Triumph by H. W. Crocker (available in paperback on Amazon.com)
Rating:
Summary: the good, the bad, and the ugly
Review: Not easy to put 2000 years under one cover. What I like about this work is that it is not afraid to report the less than christian conduct of the sons of the church. At the same time it does not "bash" the church. An excellent pocket reference.
Rating:
Summary: His Concise History of the Catholic Church
Review: The author's hope that this book "would help Catholics cope with all the changes going on in the Church by showing them how much change had occurred in the past" is more clearly revealed toward the end of his novel work: "An important reason for this weakening of the Church's absolute authority in the realm of morality is a deepened sense of history. Catholics are now more aware of the relative nature of past decisions by ecclesiastical authority in the realm of morality." The "deepened" sense of history promoted by Bokenkotter is deprived of theological acumen and factual integrity. Case in point. He claims that Pope John XXIII "seemed clearly to endorse the concept of historicity - the idea that Church doctrinal formulas are not immutable in themselves but historically conditioned answers given by the Church at a particular moment to questions raised by the thought currents of a particular time." In fact, in the same opening address at the inauguration of the Second Vatican Council, from which Bokenkotter offers a selective citation, Pope John XXIII states that "from the renewed, serene, and tranquil adherence to all the teaching of the Church in its entirety and preciseness, as it still shines forth in the Acts of the Council of Trent and First Vatican Council, the Christian, Catholic, and apostolic spirit of the whole world expects a step forward toward a doctrinal penetration and a formation of consciousness in faithful and perfect conformity to the authentic doctrine." Pope John XXIII was no advocate of historical relativism on matters of doctrine. To imply such is historically inaccurate and theologically suspicious. The same pope said in the same speech that "the greatest concern of the Ecumenical Council is this: that the sacred deposit of Christian doctrine should be guarded and taught more efficaciously". The historical sensitivity of Pope John XXIII certainly did not endorse nor can be fairly identified with the reformulations of the Dutch "new Catechism", as Bokenkotter would like us to believe. On the contrary, in promoting the endeavor to express the Catholic Faith in a manner that responds to current needs Pope John XXIII emphasized that "it is necessary first of all that the Church should never depart from the sacred patrimony of truth received from the Fathers". Bokenkotter would have his reader think that the dogmas of the Catholic Faith have changed. Invoking Pope John XXIII to support the claim reveals just one of the theological limitations and historical flaws that reveal the author's agenda and render this book unreadable. Caveat emptor: The student of history will only be able to evaluate the quality of an historical work until he has more information than that presented therein.
Rating:
Summary: Concise History of the Catholic Church
Review: The Book A Concise History of the Catholic Church is an excellent read. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in either Catholicism, History or both. The writer does an excellent job of squeezing 2000 years of world history into one book. This may not be the most detailed of all the books writen on the churches history but it is a great book for anyone whom is interested but doesn't want to read an entire series of books.
Rating: 
Summary: A popular (slanted) history of the Catholic Church
Review: The book tries to be 2 books in one. Firstly, it is a very impressive history of the formation of the papacy and it's struggle to communicate the faith to the rest of the world. The second book (if one could separate it out - and one can not) is a liberal catholic perspective on the past and a re-interpretation of history from the unique liberal catholic perspective. Read it, but with a skeptical eye and don't hastily accept the authors characterizations and conclusions without independently verifying them.
Rating:
Summary: Exactly what it says it is
Review: The history of the Catholic Church is quite daunting and I must say I never felt like I had a real handle on it. Bokenkotter's work gives a thorough introduction such that I now feel comfortable with the overall picture. I especially appreciate the author's dedication to social justice, which for me is one of the most important aspects of contemporary Church history.
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