The Spreading Flame by F.F. Bruce

This story of the early Christian church – from its infancy to the conversion of the English in about A.D. 800 – pictures a church that is an unquenchable spiritual force organized for tribulation. Its spiritual resources are never stronger than in times of seeming disaster. Bruce gives the reader a feel for the evangelistic fervor of the Apostles and the early Christians in a narrative filled with solid, well-reasoned, richly researched facts. The way in which Bruce conveys the sweeping narrative of the New Testament and the early church is enthralling. Originally published as three books: “The Dawn of Christianity” deals with the church from its infancy to the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, “The Growing Day” continues to the accession of Constantine in A.D. 313, and “Light in the West” covers Christianity in Rome and its spread to the British Isles. These three were then revised and combined into this one volume.