Unlike Richard Dawkins, the Revised Edition, Contemporary Creed

sees no conflict between evolution and God, faith and modern science. But what sort of God creates a violent universe with a Big Bang almost 14 billion years ago and appears to do little or nothing to prevent built-in suffering and natural disasters like earthquakes, famines, disabled children and cancers? The Christian God leaves a lot unexplained!

Some writers give superficial answers whereas Morris — who helps care for his own handicapped grandson — gets to the root of difficulties and succeeds in finding credible pathways through sixty problems of Christian beliefs and ethics. He writes for believers and unbelievers: for Christians like himself who admit their doubts, and for atheists and agnostics interested in life’s big questions.

His unusual format of 90% prose and 10% original poetry is entertaining, and the style straightforward everyday language, offering conclusions that are often open-ended, undogmatic. His systematic theology becomes a brief A-Z that may be read in any order for individual Bible study, or by house groups that want a provocative structure for lively discussion.