N THIS TIGHTLY STRUCTURED and well-reasoned essay, Thomas F. Tracy outlines a fresh model for understanding God in his relationships with the world, his creatures, and history.

Specifically, Tracy succeeds in opening up a pathway of understanding the nature of God that falls midway between classical Thomistic theism on the one hand and process theology on the other. From the former he retains the concept of a God who depends on nothing but himself for his existence, independent of creation. From the latter he retains the concept of a God profoundly involved in relationships with his creatures and the created world, a God who has invested himself in their destiny through love.

After demonstrating that human action is intrinsically tied to bodiliness, Tracy goes on to argue that it is precisely because God is not embodied that he can transcend human limitations to achieve perfect freedom, unity, and power as an agent.