1054 and All That: A Lighthearted History of the Catholic Church

As a deacon I read a lot of material in the search for homiletic fruit. Hence, this material tends to be pretty heavy, pretty serious. It was a joy to read something (1054...) for once that is light and accessible but at the same time it's fairly substantive. Yee hah! Job well done.

Do you want a quick and quick-witted history of the Catholic Church? If not, you can stop reading this review. Now *that* itself was pretty quick, if not quick-witted.But if you do, Karl Keating’s latest book is the place to be. Covering well over two thousand years of Church history in what turns out to be about a two hour read was not an easy task.But Keating proves that it’s both doable and readable. And humorous - except for the parts that weren’t meant to be humorous such as Joan of Ark’s burning at the stake or Thomas More’s beheading. Those weren’t the least bit funny. Although if anyone could have made them funny Keating is the guy you’d want to hire to do it.This is actually a brilliant little book that really does condense an awful lot of history - and a lot of sometimes awful history - into a small space.Historical names and stories that are fairly familiar to me - Francis of Assisi and Francis Xavier, for example (but not Pope Francis because he’s not yet historical even though he can occasionally be hysterical, whether intentionally or not) - are given appropriate and due attention.But so are numerous other players that I only learned about for the first time, but whose names I forgot to write down so I can’t repeat them here without reading the book again.And all of this combining the scholar’s precision with a stand up comic’s rapid fire delivery.In all seriousness, this is an excellent addition to your library providing both a fantastic Church overview as well as uncommon insights from a highly respected Catholic Apologist who makes no apologies whatsoever.Well done and highly recommended.

First of all, anyone not familiar with Karl Keating’s work must go read Catholicism and Fundamentalism. His work in Catholic apologetics is unmatched.But this is kind of a new book type for him and I really like it because he has a great sense of humor and it really comes out in this latest book of his. It book really delivers well on historical content to understand the complex history of the Catholic Church—yes, to include the great schism—but does so in a very amusing way while not lamp lighting issues, or dancing around difficult topics. Buy it now

I got to read this before publication and enjoyed every page. It's a fun and funny look at Church history -- and you'll learn while you laugh!

Just ordered the book. I get most all Karl Keating’s writings. Always valuable and so interesting.My response on his Facebook page announcing new book.“ Mr. Keating, you’ve certainly have had me in laughter in several of your books over the years. The serious ones; as you always throw in a nugget of humor here and there, I’m supposing you can’t help.This one sounds like a gem.I’m going to get it as a Christmas gift to myself.”