Laurie Guy provides an illuminating, broad-brush survey of the early church in its first four centuries. Her highly readable account is a welcome supplement to chronological histories of the early church, providing something of an aerial view that lets us see patterns in the historical terrain. From the apostolic fathers to the great ecumenical councils, we see the church undergoing persecution and martyrdom and then rising to favor under Constantine, shaping its ministry and order while worshiping and developing its understanding of doctrine. Baptism and Eucharist, asceticism and...