This book must have been on my shelf for several years before I decided to read it, and when I did I was thrilled with the combination of free thinking, Christianity and ecological thinking thta I found. Rupert Sheldrake is a British biologist, Matthew fox is an American priest and former Dominican. I found Fox to be very inspiring because of his rich tradition of Catholic teaching which he combines with native spirituality and freedom of thought. The book is packed with ideas, some brilliant, some frankly whacky. Where I felt uncomfortable with it was where they speak about the concept of the Cosmic Christ, which Fox portrays as a very impersonal universal figure. I think that is why Fox fell out with the Vatican: The Christian view of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ seems to be missing from Fox's thinking, which is a great tragedy. Much has been said about Ratzinger's striking off of Fox. Perhaps it was right that he did, but that is not to dismiss the contribution of Matthew Fox to an enlivened modern religious expression. This book is a wonderful dialogue between a scientist and a priest, and I strongly recommend it for the sense of creativity and more importantly of the sacred that it brings.
