cover image The Catholic Church

The Catholic Church

Barrie R. Straus, Carrie Straus. Hippocrene Books, $14.95 (209pp) ISBN 978-0-87052-312-0

Within the constraints of popular history, Straus, a professor of English at the University of Florida, traces the transformation of the Catholic Church from its beginnings in the first century to the present. In this first volume of the Religions of the World series, emphasis is placed on the evolution of a Jewish sect into the universal construct that is the Catholic Church. The enduring element in this history, notes the author, is the ongoing process of change and transformation in the relationship of the church to the world around it. The long and complex story is concisely and clearly narrated, and the ways in which Western culture has been shaped by Catholicism are carefully described. While the historical narrative may be lacking in nuance, it fulfills the author's purposeto provide students and a general audience with an understanding of the roots of Christianity. (August 2)