The story of the creation of Messiah is followed by a close unpicking and rhetorical analysis of the biblical text as presented to Handel by his friend Charles Jennens. Devices such as word-painting, repetition, questions and exclamations portray and enhance the Christian message and add to its impact for the listener. This is followed by a performers' guide to delivering Handel's ideas using rhetorical techniques of delivery. The book finishes with a review of the contemporary reception of the work which was described as 'sublime'.

Rhetorical ideas from Classical Greek and Roman authors are used alongside texts of the 16th and 17th centuries which were written to help people to read and understand the Bible in English within the Protestant church tradition.