About This Book A century ago or so, Albert Einstein, the greatest scientist of his era, shocked the world with ideas in the field of physics that were so radical that not even he was prepared to accept all their consequences. In much the same way, Einstein had adopted a view of God (God as understood by the philosopher Spinoza) that was so abstract and distant from that presented by the Bible that he was repeatedly accused of being an atheist - a charge that he repeatedly denied, even while reluctantly admitting that most humans require a God who is more personal. In this book the author, a...

This book consists of a collection of more than one hundred and thirty short essays on the subject of the influence, for better or for worse, of religion in today's world. Written by a retired Catholic priest and theologian who left academia in 1981 to live a more strictly contemplative life in a cabin in Michigan's north woods, the essays deal with topic ranging from faith and belief, science and religion, war and peace, ethics and politics, and Jesus and Christianity to ever=mounting concerns over the environment.

Written from both his notes and memories, this book recalls the life of a priest and theologian who left behind both parish ministry and college teaching to pursue his life-long dream of living in solitude, contemplating both life's major questions and Christianity's ongoing efforts to answer them. Following the map of life described by the unknown author of "The Cloud of Unknowing," in the end, the critical reader is likely to be surprised.