Peter Vardy's fresh and stimulating now book tackles the fundamental and sternal questions ⚫of religious belief. For anyone interested in thinking about religious faith, whether or not they consider themselves a believer, it is likely to have a major impact.

The Puzzle of God takes a new approach. It examines the different ideas of God that are in common use today from the timeless and spaceless God of Catholic theology, and the predominantly Protestant idea of an overlasting God, to the modern revisionary accounts. It then applies these to central areas of belief such as eternal life, prayer, miracles and talk of God's love, omnipotence and omniscience.

Whilst the author's examples derive mainly from Christian teaching, The Puzzle of God will prove equally useful and challenging to those of other faiths. The book is an ideal introduction to the Philosophy of Religion, which does not presume specialist knowledge and which does not impose any one view.

Dr Peter Vardy is lecturer in Philosophy of Religion at London University's Heythrop College. He is Chairman of the Board of Theological Studies of London University. This is his fourth book.