With the Grain of the Universe: The Church's Witness and Natural Theology
Those invited to give the Gifford Lectures in natural theology,  offered annually at Saint Andrew's University, Scotland,  generally avoid presenting anything denominationally based. In  the 2001 lectures, transcribed here with copious footnotes,  Hauerwas (theological ethics, Duke Univ.; Resident Aliens)  consciously disregarded that practice. He instead treats the  Christian, Trinitarian God by considering the philosophies of  four previous Gifford lecturers: William James, Reinhold  Niebuhr, Karl Barth, and Alasdair MacIntyre. Hauerwas views the  theologies of James and Niebuhr as lacking the full doctrine of  God and considers Barth's theology to be a better representative  of what theology should be, i.e., the recognition that God can  only fully be known as he reveals himself through Jesus.  Hauerwas's more traditional Christian view will certainly not be  accepted by everyone, but it is a well-reasoned argument.  Recommended for seminary and larger public libraries. Augustine  J. Curley, Newark Abbey, NJCopyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.