In this panoramic work of historical theology, theologian Roger Olson vividly recounts the deeds and words of the cultists and Apostolic Fathers of the second century, the clash between the monumental theological schools of Alexandria and Antioch, the epochal division between East and West, the revolutionary advent of the Reformation, and much more - right on up to the sometimes dazzling, sometimes dismaying fallout that has continued to shake Christians through the twentieth century. Through it all Olson detects and traces a common thread: a concern for salvation, God's redemptive activity in forgiving and transforming sinful human beings.