William Stringfellow (1928-1985), a radical lay theologian and social critic, was a lifelong gadfly in the Episcopal church. His great theme was the Constantinian compromise, the accommodation of Christianity to the values of the empire and the preservation of the status quo. "My concern." he wrote, "is to understand America biblically," --in contrast to the more common tendency, to understand the Bible "Americanly". (from back cover of book).