Was Peter the first Pope? Should Christians pray the rosary? Should priests be married? These are among the provocative topics addressed in Roaming Catholics: Ending the Wandering to Embrace the Wonder! This thoroughly researched book presents the development of the Catholic Church in an engaging way to help Christians understand their common history shared by all. This history is not only fascinating, but also deeply compelling, revealing how the church has changed, adapted, and grown. Ultimately it reminds us that Christian faith is not grounded in denominations, but in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul referred to the church as the Body of Christ, not the Body of Christians. Rather than Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, he proclaimed all are one in Christ. With this concept of the unity of the Christian Church at its core, this illuminating book by pastor and theologian Kenneth A. Behr takes readers on a fascinating journey through the history of the Catholic Church. It’s a history that is common to all Christians, connecting believers of all shapes and sizes through a shared past. Did you know that penance was limited to once in a lifetime in the early church? Or that people often delayed baptism until their deathbeds? While things have changed, the essential beliefs of the church based on who Jesus Christ is and the centrality of the Bible have remained the foundation. Sharing his own religious evolution from a Catholic altar boy to an evangelical pastor, Behr engages readers with a parallel story to the evolution of Catholicism. This story of development and change ignites a sense of wonder about the resiliency of doctrines, teachings, and traditions that have remained relevant to generations of Christians for two thousand years.
