"David Brown tackles questions on the presentation of biblical narratives over the centuries, and asks whether this has had an impact on our understanding of discipleship. Professor Brown examines presentations of Job, the biblical Marys, heaven and the saints to argue that the Church went beyond purely scriptural ideas to keep the life of Christ continually relevant to a changing society. This book explores new attitudes to suffering and sexual equality, and concludes with arguments for a new way of understanding Bible and Tradition. Professor Brown shows in his consistently open and sensitive approach that not only does conflict exercise a creative role in the search for truth, but that the most important type of truth, far from being narrowly historical, is in fact imaginative."--BOOK JACKET.