In The Moral Order of the World in Ancient and Modern Thought Bruce continues his Gifford Lectures in a second series. The second course of twelve lectures presents an account of how the question of providence presented itself to men in different lands and ages. He focuses on thinkers belonging to peoples among whom the ethical consciousness reached a high measure of intensity: ancient Indians and Persians, the Greeks and the Hebrews. Bruce argues that in respect of ethics we have been influenced most especially by the Hebrew prophets and by Jesus of Nazareth.

KEY WORDS: Buddha, Moral order, Ancient, Modern times, Destiny, Karma, Nirvana, Zoroaster, Dualism, Greek Tragedians, Nemesis, Stoicism, Divination, Hebrew prophet, Book of Job, Jesus, Modern optimism, Modern dualism