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)
Each
of these and the 93 other items and places in the book tell part of
the Christian story. Each is an essential piece of the story of our
salvation.
God
makes himself known and accessible through material things, always
accommodating himself to our condition. It is, after all, the
condition he created for us—spiritual and material—and the form
he assumed for our salvation.