The Church at the Turning Points of History
by Godfrey Kurth

Fr. Dennis Fahey highly recommended the historical works of Kurth - and this is one of the best (along with The Origins of Modern Civilization). This short book examines the Church's history at seven critical junctures.

Highly readable, riveting, hard to put down...an excellent book for someone first delving into Church History. And for those who have already done so, it gives a great framework for what you already know, tying loose ends together...connecting the dots.

The seven "Turning Points" are:
1. The Mission of the Church (The Church's understanding of Her own purpose)
2. The Church and the Jews (Council of Jerusalem in AD 49)
3. The Church and the Barbarians
4. The Church and Feudalism
5. The Church and Neo-Caesarism
6. The Church and the Renaissance
7. The Church and the Revolution.From the Introduction: "An obvious strength of Kurth's book is the author's ability to seek historical truth and present it in a manner that would today be impossible, because of...'political correctness.'" I cannot recommend this book too highly.

Softcover, 126 pp, 102 explanatory footnotes to help the reader understand references to people and events.