यह एक युवा एंग्लिकन पादरी जॉन स्टोर्स की कहानी है।

This is a story of a young Anglican clergyman, John Stors, who tries to live in the twentieth century in strict imitation of the life of Christ (believing that in the literal interpretation of his teaching lies the only salvation of the world) and is broken to pieces, both from within and from without, by his love of a woman and by the hard facts of modern existence. The scene is London, and the period the present age. The heroine, Glory Quayle, belongs to the number of beloved women in fiction. On its first publication in 1897, the "Christian" provoked worldwide discussion, in which Tolstoy took part.

The Newcastle Chronicle says: "This is a noble inspiration carried to noble issues, an honour to Hall Caine and to English fiction."