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

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.

F.F. Bruce (1910--1990) was Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis at the University of Manchester, England. He wrote more than forty commentaries and other widely used books, including Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free, The Acts of the Apostles, The Gospel of John, and The Message of the New Testament. He served as general editor of The New International Commentary on the New Testament from 1962 to 1990.