EXPLORATION INTO GOD

Elaborated from the Raymond Fred West Memorial Lectures at Stanford University, in 1966, this volume attempts a serious and scholarly, exposition of themes treated elsewhere by Bishop Robinson in more sketchy fashion. A long prologue describes his own personal pilgrimage, and the influences among books and persons who affected his quest for the personal."" The subsequent chapters examine various current theological positions with respect to the identity and reality of God, and conclude with a description of the ways in which theology is seeking to relate the reality of God to that of the world. Throughout, there is considerable quotation from contemporary theologians. The book is more scholarly than recent readers of Bishop. Robinson's books might have expected, but can hardly be said to be profound or searching. The author does not quite come through, with the personal persuasiveness that has often been effective for him, even when his logic was less tightly unified. His central concern continues here: that of trying to keep together what is basic in Christian belief with the more liberated range of insights open to modern man.