Church History

When it comes to the history of Christianity, the Catholic Church makes a pretty bold claim: that the earliest Christians were Catholics—and that their beliefs and practices have continued unbroken all the way to the present-day Church. But the...

From the cross Jesus gave us his mother to be our mother, too: a singularly holy model, consoler, and intercessor for our spiritual journey. Yet most Protestants—and too many Catholics—don’t understand the role that God wants her to...

What Did Early Christians Really Believe? The Answer Will Surprise and Amaze You!The Fathers Know Best: Your Essential Guide to the Teachings of the Early Church is a unique resource that introduces you to the teachings of the first Christians in a way...

We seem to be living in an age of insanity. Crimes against children, born and unborn; marriage defiled and redefined; the madness of transgenderism; the looming terror of trans-human-ism . . . the list goes on and on. And it’s getting uglier out...

Common Sense About the Common Good Pope Leo XIII wrote of the “harvest of misery” that socialism brings. Pius XI said that it’s impossible to be a good Catholic and a good socialist. John Paul II spent his papacy combating...

Many Protestants call themselves “Bible Christians”—in contrast with Catholics, who ignore the Bible because they have the Church instead. Too many Catholics have taken this mistaken assumption for granted. We don’t have to...

Ask Catholics about the crisis in the Church today and you’ll often get one of two responses: The end is upon us! or Everything’s fine—the Holy Spirit is in charge! Neither of those attitudes makes sense from the perspective of history,...

The Men Were the MissionOne, holy, Catholic… and apostolic Church? Catholics often overlook that last part. And Protestants tend to downplay its importance, treating the apostles as accidental byproducts of Jesus’ ministry rather than key...

We’ve grown way too comfortable with the story of Jesus. Nice man, right? Taught us to love one another. Said not to judge people. Tragically killed by his enemies. We celebrate his birthday every year. It’s time to put away this small, safe...

The papacy is no stranger to controversy. In many ways it’s Catholicism’s defining doctrine—but also its most divisive. From medieval pontiffs who acted like princes to a modern pope whose every casual statement sets off a social-media...

“There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures.”—2 Peter 3:16 Martin Luther and his fellow “Reformers” turned Christendom...

Mere centuries after its beginning as an obscure Jewish sect, the Catholic Church stormed the ancient Western world, and from its Roman remnants and barbarian tribes a united Christendom was forged. How do we explain this remarkable success? And what...