Robert Farrar Capon is a prolific and creative writer who has been an Episcopal priest for 50 years. He notes: "The whole course of my theological writing, such as it's been, has been a matter of skipping stones — of landing lightly on serious subjects." Here the theme is one that has often surfaced in his work — the luscious and bountiful grace of God. However, it is not a popular subject: "Even to this day, grace remains hard to swallow. Religiosity and moralism go down easier than free forgiveness."
Capon calls this "a quirky book" and that's not a bad characterization of it. He begins with a prologue about the Trinity before creation and ends with a roundtable discussion between himself, Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon, John Calvin, and Julian of Norwich. The intent is to look at the diverse images of God over the course of Christendom. Capon examines the judgment parables of Jesus; the meaning of Colossians, Ephesians, and John; and the theology of Irenaeus, Athanasius, and Anselm.
Although every attempt has been made in the history of the Christian church to pin the Divine Host down, it never works. Jesus, too, squirms free of those who want to view his life and work as a series of transactions. What Capon does here in a very tricky way is to uphold the sacred mystery of the Trinity.
