has become known mainly for his Pulitzer prize-winning God, A Biography (1996) and Christ, A Crisis in the Life of God (2001), in which he reads the biblical narrative as literary re-creation. After ten years at Jesuit seminaries in Rome and Jerusalem he was awarded a PhD in oriental languages by Harvard University in 1971. He worked on the staffs of various publishing companies and newspapers (Doubleday, University of California Press, Los Angeles Times, The Times) and lectured in political and cultural sciences at American universities. His present positions include Senior Adviser to the J. Paul Getty Trust and Fellow of the Pacific Council on International Policy.