arly Christian centuries, the author of the widely-acclaimed Roots of Christian Mysticism thinks about human nature, its challenges, problems, joys and fulfillment. Clement begins by exploring a response to the dysfunctional aspects of nature, and then looks at how we are persons made in the image of the divine and in communion with one another; in the light of what emerges, the author discovers fresh understandings of sexuality, politics, the role of humanity in the cosmos and the power of beauty; his discussion ends with facing our society's unmentionable question: death. Here is a fine book for all explorers into the deeper meaning of what it is to be human.