Pilgrim Church: A Popular History of Catholic Christianity

Rating:
Summary: A misplaced review
Review: A note to review readers -- the last of the reviews given below, written by Paris Templin, is NOT a review of William Bausch's "Pilgrim Church." Mr. Templin's review is of a different book by E. H. Broadbent which shares the same title.

Rating:
Summary: A misplaced review
Review: A note to review readers -- the last of the reviews given below, written by Paris Templin, is NOT a review of William Bausch's "Pilgrim Church." Mr. Templin's review is of a different book by E. H. Broadbent which shares the same title.

Rating:
Summary: Thorough, yes - I agree about the dryness.
Review: Like the above reviewer, I found the content good but the writing a little tough at times. The edition I read could've benefitted from different typesetting and layout as well. My interest began to flag a little as we moved towards the modern period and Vatican II, but in fairness, it was early church history I was primarily interested in.

Rating:
Summary: BE AWARE that this is not "The Pilgrim Church"
Review: The author "WJ Bausch" attempts to exemplify the catholic church as the cornerstone of christianity and how it has adjusted over time to become better in his revised book "Pilgram Church". In contrast to "The Pilgram Church" written by EH Broadbent who researches the so called heretics of the church as defined by the Catholic documents. He explains that some of those so called heretics were followers of Christ who opposed the Catholic regulations put upon them and desired to follow the scriptures instead. EH Broadbent convincently documents the reminent of true followers of biblical scriptures behind the Catholic dictatorship and describes how God has maintained His church. Please be aware of the title of the books because you can be misinformed. As the review of "Paris Templin" shows (Its a review of "The Pilgrim Church" not "Pilgrim Church". In short "Pilgrim Church" does not even come close to depth of "The Pilgrim Church"

Rating:
Summary: BE AWARE that this is not "The Pilgrim Church"
Review: The author "WJ Bausch" attempts to exemplify the catholic church as the cornerstone of christianity and how it has adjusted over time to become better in his revised book "Pilgram Church". In contrast to "The Pilgram Church" written by EH Broadbent who researches the so called heretics of the church as defined by the Catholic documents. He explains that some of those so called heretics were followers of Christ who opposed the Catholic regulations put upon them and desired to follow the scriptures instead. EH Broadbent convincently documents the reminent of true followers of biblical scriptures behind the Catholic dictatorship and describes how God has maintained His church. Please be aware of the title of the books because you can be misinformed. As the review of "Paris Templin" shows (Its a review of "The Pilgrim Church" not "Pilgrim Church". In short "Pilgrim Church" does not even come close to depth of "The Pilgrim Church"

Rating:
Summary: Excellent True Christian History
Review: This book, though written in a somewhat dry scholarly format, will give the reader a truely wonderful glimpse of the way God has moved through history. The book traces the "scarlet thread" of historic Christianity and gives the reader a better understanding of the simplicity that God desired the church to be. Broadbent does an excellent job of exposing the differences between those who took God at his word and the "established" church. The Pilgrim Church traces the many small groups of God's people who will to stand against the traditions of men that so often ingrained into many of the mainline churchs. These groups were inevitably persecuted because of there beliefs. The author has obviously spent many years digging through bits and pieces of information available to find the hidden gems that were espoused by them. The reader be warned: It will require some discipline to keep reading but the reader will be blessed as they see God's providence and provision for his people. I have the priveledge of having one of the British copies. I hope that Zondervan will keep this title in print.

Rating:
Summary: A blend of truth and error.
Review: William Bausch colors his protrayal of church history with truth and error. One example of error is that he contends that there is "absolutely no proof" that the apostles appointed individual men to succeed them. The problem is the New Testament and many early church documents say otherwise. Apostolic Succession is considered to be one of the four pillars of the church. It has sound undisputable evidence in reality. For Bausch however, it is an abstract idea instead of an absolute truth in the Catholic Church. His bibleography is overwhelmingly limited to post-vatican II contemporary authors, rather than relying more heavily on historical documents to write his history. He ignores basic logical formulation to advance arguments for or against many conclusions he makes. He seems to be more interested in diluting or dumbing down the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church than advancing sound re-telling of the real Catholic Chrisitan history. It is a difficult read to sort out for anyone that already has a working knowledge of the subject. It is just dangerous to those who don't.

Rating:
Summary: A blend of truth and error.
Review: William Bausch colors his protrayal of church history with truth and error. One example of error is that he contends that there is "absolutely no proof" that the apostles appointed individual men to succeed them. The problem is the New Testament and many early church documents say otherwise. Apostolic Succession is considered to be one of the four pillars of the church. It has sound undisputable evidence in reality. For Bausch however, it is an abstract idea instead of an absolute truth in the Catholic Church. His bibleography is overwhelmingly limited to post-vatican II contemporary authors, rather than relying more heavily on historical documents to write his history. He ignores basic logical formulation to advance arguments for or against many conclusions he makes. He seems to be more interested in diluting or dumbing down the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church than advancing sound re-telling of the real Catholic Chrisitan history. It is a difficult read to sort out for anyone that already has a working knowledge of the subject. It is just dangerous to those who don't.