A History of the Church in 100 Objects
The star of Bethlehem exemplifies the birth of Jesus, the Wittenberg Door is synonymous with the Protestant Reformation, and "the pill" symbolizes the sexual revolution. It's "stuff" that helps tell the story of Christianity. In this unique, rich, and eye-catching book, popular Catholic author and EWTN host Mike Aquilina tells the Christian story through the examination of 100 objects and places. Some, like Michelangelo's Pietà, are priceless works of art. Others, like a union membership pen, don't hold much monetary value. But through each of them, Aquilina offers a memorable and rewarding look at the history of the Church. When Catholics tell their story, they don't just write it in books. They preserve it in memorials, monuments, artifacts, and museums. They build grand basilicas to house tiny relics. In this stunning book, Aquilina, together with his writer-daughter Grace, show how the history of the Church didn't take place shrouded in the mists of time. It actually happened and continues to happen through things that we can see and sometimes hold in our hand. The Christian answer to Neil MacGregor's New York Times bestseller A History of the World in 100 Objects, Aquilina's A History of the Church in 100 Objects introduces you to:
- The Cave of the Nativity (the importance of history, memory, and all things tangible)
- Catacomb niches (the importance of Rome, bones, and relics of the faith)
- Ancient Map of the World (the undoing of myths about medieval science)
- Stained Glass (representative of Gothic cathedrals)
- The Holy Grail (Romance literature and the emergence of writing for the laity)
- Loaves and fish (a link from Jesus to the sacrament of the Eucharist)
- The Wittenberg Door (Martin Luther and the onset of the Reformation)
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Mike Aquilina is a Catholic author, speaker, poet, and songwriter who serves as the executive vice president of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology. He is a contributing editor to Angelus News and his podcast, Way of the Fathers, drops twice monthly at CatholicCulture.org.
Aquilina is the author or editor of more than sixty books, including The Fathers of the Church, The Mass of the Early Christians, and Angels of God. Aquilina has cohosted eleven series on EWTN and hosted two documentaries. Aquilina wrote the companion volumes to the NBC miniseries A.D.: The Bible Continues (2015) and the MGM remake of the movie Ben-Hur (2016). His book A History of the Church in 100 Objects earned an honorable mention in the 2018 Catholic Press Association awards. He is the editor of the Reclaiming Catholic History series and wrote The Church and the Roman Empire (301-490).
He has published hundreds of articles, essays, and reviews in periodicals such as First Things, Crisis, National Catholic Register, The Priest, Columbia, and Our Sunday Visitor. He is a frequent guest on TV and radio, including a weekly appearance on the Son Rise Morning Show.
Aquilina previously served as editor of New Covenant magazine and The Pittsburgh Catholic. He has received honors from the Catholic Press Association, including "Best Magazine" for New Covenant during his editorship and best book in the category of biography.
He lives in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, area with his wife, Terri. They have six children.
Grace Aquilina is a freelance editor who lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania."A picture is worth a thousand words. Mike Aquilina, with skill and encyclopedic knowledge, gives new meaning to this old maxim. In A History of the Church in 100 Objects we discover the rich story of our faith uniquely told through great pictures and explanations really worth knowing. Everyone should have this book." --Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, DC
"Catholicism means 'stuff counts, ' because God chose the stuff of this world to bring His people to salvation--a process that begins with Creation, reaches its apex in the life and ministry of Jesus, and continues today with the sacraments, in which the stuff of this world becomes a vehicle for sanctifying grace. Mike Aquilina tells the story of the Church through some very important stuff in an engaging and thought-provoking contribution to the New Evangelization." --George Weigel, Distinguished senior fellow and William E. Simon chair in Catholic Studies, Ethics and Public Policy Center
"A beautiful book about how God works through real stuff in the Incarnation to bring the mysteries of the spiritual realm into this phenomenal world. As usual, Mike Aquilina uses words with real craft and art to take us beyond words and into the mysteries of God in Christ." --John Michael Talbot, Catholic musician, author, and founder of the Brothers and Sisters of Charity
"This stunning new book shows how much grace can be found in everyday objects. Through the ordinary matter of desks and stones, tunics and textbooks, bottles and parchment, the Aquilinas weave together a beautiful picture of God at work. For lovers of history, faith, and matter, A History of the Church in 100 Objects is a delight." --Emily Stimpson, Creator of The Catholic Table and coauthor of The Catholic Almanac
"Richly entertaining and highly informative, A History of the Church in 100 Objects is a journey through two millennia of Catholic history in the company of gracious and knowledgeable guides. A gem to enliven faith while shedding fresh light on the Church's long pilgrimage through the centuries. I recommend it with pleasure." --Russell Shaw, Author of American Church: The Remarkable Rise, Meteoric Fall, and Uncertain Future of Catholicism in America
"A thoroughly enjoyable book by an author who is always inspiring, stimulating, and thoroughly enjoyable! I can't think of a more captivating way to follow John Henry Cardinal Newman's challenge to become 'deep in history'" --Marcus Grodi, Founder and president of The Coming Home Network International
"Mike Aquilina demonstrates once again a profound ability to impart vital teachings about the Catholic faith in a way that can be appreciated by anyone. A collection of objects, seemingly unrelated and spread across the globe, demonstrate poignantly both the universality of the Church and her relevance to every era. Aquilina truly is one of American Catholicism's most gifted, articulate, and clever writers." --Matthew Bunson, Senior fellow of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, Coauthor of Encyclopedia of Saints and The 35 Doctors of the Church
