In 1500 Christians knew that God gave them the church to shepherd believers toward salvation and that it was centered at Rome and ruled by a pope. Today, that church is but one of forty thousand Christian denominations, each with distinctive structures and doctrines. How did this happen? Then, as now, all aspects of the church–from its divine mission to its offices and operations, hierarchy, and bureaucracy–were of interest to theologians, thinkers, and troublemakers alike, but for ages there...
