Open your minds and hearts...
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I would highly recommend this text for its honesty. Anyone who has ever felt excluded and hurt by the Church should find some comfort here.
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Historical Revisionism from a frustrated leftist.
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Mr. McBrien pushes a politically correct and 90's secular view of the world in this trying compendium. He is entirely unable to hide his leftist politics and prefers to attack orthodoxy wherever he sees it. Mr. McBrien commits the same sorry sin of pride which has marred man since Adam and continues with every other Christian who beleves himself wiser than Rome. Mr. McBrien's subversion is altogether sadder as his publications and TV appearances may harm those prone to the allure of modernist popularity. For those who reject liberal attempts to remodel the church to fit their own shortcomings, I highly recommens you avoid this tiresome tome.
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Remarkable study of the Papacy!
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I found it to be a remarkable book, giving me a greater insight as to the process that led to our current Pope. Despite the views of many, I found the frank admission that not all of the 260 Popes were spiritually enlightened to grant his work a greater veracity, coming from a follower of Catholicism. I heartily recommend it to anyone interested in such studies.
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Excellent Historical Information, Enjoyable Reading
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This book is excellent historical information that places each pope into the historical context of the secular world. It gives the reader a general sense of each popes accomplishments and try's to infer each popes personality traits based on those accomplishments. I did find it lacking in things more spiritual and humane. The book leaves me wondering what sacrifices did these men make. How much did they truly suffer for their faith. In many cases Popes are made out to look like power hungry spiteful old men whose whole pontificate was spent making life miserable for everyone else. While this might be true of many popes I am convinced we don't get the whole story. Only the more sensational and controversial elements that sell books. It was overall a very enjoyable book. Well worth reading for those interested in Papel history, but take it with a grain of salt and realize that there might be more to the story than meets the reader.
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Shockingly slanted and unscholarly
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McBrien's treatment of the papacy is long on opinion and unacceptably short on accurate and complete historical references to the Doctors and Fathers of the Church. This does not read as a serious analysis, but instead it is more like a polemic.
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