In this history of the early Christian Church, Professor Bruce divides the complex story into three sections. The first, "The Dawn of Christianity," deals with the Church from its infancy to the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. The second section, "The Growing Day," continues the story up to the accession of Constantine in A.D. 313 and the Church's consequent official status. "Light in the West," the final part, is about Christianity in Rome and its spread to the British Isles after the barbarian invasion. The picture that emerges is of the Church as an unquenchable spiritual force organized for tribulation, whose spiritual resources are never more unlimited than in times of seeming disaster.

A wealth of quotations from Jewish and classical sources, combined with F.F. Bruce's straightforward style, make this book a valuable contribution to the study of the history of the Church.