Redemption

Truth and the Christian Imagination

by Alister E. McGrath

When Matthew's wife Charlotte is kidnapped, his world is thrown into chaos. Who has taken her - and why? There are no demands made for her release, just a threat that if he calls the police, Charlotte will lose the baby she is carrying - and then Matthew will lose her. Matthew is paralysed, haunted by the gloating phonecalls of her captor.
As a prison governor, Matthew is convinced that Charlotte's abduction may be related to his job. Unable to talk to anyone in authority, he resorts to the only help he can find - Monk, an ex-prisoner who appears to have gone straight since his release, but has underworld contacts Matthew can only guess at.
It's a devil's pact, but time is running out...

87 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Alister Edgar McGrath is a Northern Irish theologian, priest, intellectual historian, scientist, and Christian apologist. He currently holds the Andreas Idreos Professorship in Science and Religion in the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Oxford, and is Professor of Divinity at Gresham College. He was previously Professor of Theology, Ministry, and Education at King's College London and Head of the Centre for Theology, Religion and Culture, Professor of Historical Theology at the University of Oxford, and was principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, until 2005. He is an Anglican priest and is ordained within the Church of England.

Aside from being a faculty member at Oxford, McGrath has also taught at Cambridge University and is a Teaching Fellow at Regent College. McGrath holds three doctorates from the University of Oxford, a DPhil in Molecular Biophysics, a Doctor of Divinity in Theology and a Doctor of Letters in Intellectual History.

McGrath is noted for his work in historical theology, systematic theology, and the relationship between science and religion, as well as his writings on apologetics. He is also known for his opposition to New Atheism and antireligionism and his advocacy of theological critical realism. Among his best-known books are The Twilight of Atheism, The Dawkins Delusion?: Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine, Dawkins' God: Genes, Memes, and the Meaning of Life, and A Scientific Theology. He is also the author of a number of popular textbooks on theology.

Reviews

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the concept and the art work and design is wonderfully done. But there is something sort of slight about the writing as if in trying to tell the story of redemption from many angles McGrath seems to not get deep enough. It is more of an exploration or meditation on the subject than a discussion of it. And that may be exactly what was intended, to allow the reader to explore and meditate on the topic through art, literature and discussion without forcing any hard and fast conclusions.

But for me it seemed at times like the author wanted to have a philosophical and doctrinal discussion only to quickly switch to a more literary or artistic perspective. The two were not contrasted and compared as blended; at times awkwardly. But given the difficult topics involved perhaps it is only to be expected that a short work like this would not delve too deep but rather hint at lines of thought and offer introductions to artists and writers who have tackled these issues.