An exploration of the history of the Roman Catholic Church from its ancient founding through modern day.

36 lectures (30 min. each) on 18 discs, 6 discs per container. "Course no. 6640." In three containers (19 cm.). Compact disc.

pt. 1. From Jesus to the creation of the Church -- The first Christian institutions -- Christianities in the early Church -- Persecution and saints -- Peace between empire and Church -- Institutional and doctrinal developments -- Latin theology, including Augustine -- Popes and bishops in the early Middle Ages -- Monasticism: Benedict and his rule -- Evangelizing northern and eastern Europe -- The Germanization of Christianity -- Charlemagne and the Church in feudal times -- pt. 2. Monks and hermits: new forms of monasticism -- Papal reform and church-state controversies -- Crusade, heresy, inquisition -- The papacy: Innocent III to Boniface VIII -- Francis, Dominic, and the Mendicants -- Flowering of church art in the Middle Ages -- Scholastic thought -- Medieval mysticism -- The Great Schism and the Conciliar Age -- The Renaissance church -- Luther, Calvin, and the Reformation -- Catholic responses: The Council of Trent -- pt. 3. The Jesuits -- Catholicism in Asia and the New World -- American Catholicism -- The Church in the Age of Reason -- Pius IX and papal infallibility -- Leo XIII and the modern world -- The eastern Catholic churches -- The Second Vatican Council -- The Catholic Church looks outward -- The challenges of new theologies -- John Paul II and the 21st-century church -- One? Holy? Catholic? Apostolic?