David Polk presents an impressive overview and critique of the understanding of the God-world relationship in the Hebrew and Christian Bible, in the writings of Church Fathers in the early Christian centuries, those of notable medieval theologians, and of Christian theologians from the early modern period to the present day. His focus is on the historical shift from heavy emphasis on the power of God understood as transcendent of creation in the Patristic and Medieval period to an equally strong contemporary emphasis on the compassionate love of God for all creatures within a cosmic process based on trial and error. Given
that many contemporary Christians still think of God more in terms of unilateral power than of mutual love, this book makes a strong case for reversing that priority. As Polk incisively notes, the proper theological
question is not how an all-powerful God is also a loving God but how a loving God also effectively exercises power. ~ Joseph A. Bracken, SJ
