Michael Ball's book is an illuminating study of the parables in the New Testament. Parables contain within them the pattern of human nature and the pattern of God's response, containing, says the author, both beauty and risk. This is a risk which involves thinking about the impossible as far as our own behaviour is concerned. For example, the casting out of the precious son from the vineyard in St Matthew is not a violent affair. We drive him out with our indifference, with carelessness, with protective routines and with ugliness. Out of such simple ideas, Michael Ball has constructed a spiritual theology of genuine originality. In this the idea of risk is central. God's risk of creation and its purpose. God has risked His plans and He has risked his own being in His Son. Fundamental to risky thinking in the Bible is the sacrifice of the most precious. Other examples of risk examined by the author are Abraham leaving his home and his lands for the unknown.