The Spreading Flame: The Rise and Progress of Christianity from its First Beginnings to the Conversion of the English

The Spreading Flame: The Rise and Progress of Christianity from its First Beginnings to the Conversion of the English by Frederick Fyvie Bruce. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780802818058.

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 Churchs 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. Bruces straightforward style, make this book a valuable contribution to the study of the history of the Church.