Published for the first time in English for the 'Year of the Father', Louis Bouyer's magisterial summa explores the religious experience of humanity, and traces the paths of God's self-revelation as Father, culminating in the Incarnation of his Son and the interpretations this has received in the history of the Church. Ranging from myth and magic to depth psychology and sociology, the book is a tour de force of Christian reflection and scholarship. It culminates in a new interpretation of the mysteries of Israel and Islam, and of the rise and fall of Western theology that set the scene for modern idealism and atheism.