Looking primarily at Christianity in industrialized countries, theologian Vest sees a vast divide between people clinging to a set of literal dogmas, and people insisting that nothing is true unless it can be demonstrated empirically. Her solution is not to re-populate the center of the continuum between science and religion, but to replace the continuum itself. She hypothesizes that a contemporary and expansive view of mythology might be able to intervene effectively in the pervasiveness of a limiting literalism in contemporary Christian religious talk. Her definition of myth is people's understanding the sacred and how ultimate truths impinge on human experience. She discusses literalism and a mythic response, imagination and the imaginal realm, a feminist vision, the open philosophy of Paul Ricoeur, and a bold theology. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Read Less