The possibility of a nuclear holocaust has brought humankind into a radically new, unprecedented, and unanticipated religious situation. Gordon D. Kaufman offers a cogent and original analysis of this predicament, outlining specific proposals for reconceiving the central concerns and symbols of Christian faith. He begins with an account of a visit to the Peace Park in the rebuilt city of Hiroshima. Reflecting upon this experience, Kaufman foresees that further use of nuclear weapons will result not in rebuilding but in annihilation of the human enterprise.
Faced with potential destruction, modern women and men need a new way of doing theology, based on historical experience and the work of the imagination. Kaufman thus points the reader toward a reconception of God, asserting that the fate of God and the fate of those who people the earth are joined inextricably. In discussing the need for new ways of thinking about Christ and salvation, he calls for reordering of human life and institutions.