Extraordinarily provocative, at times I found Beyond Literal Belief shocking and even offensive. Yet it became clear that the author’s intention was not to destroy but to conserve the truth of faith. Stripped of the necessity for belief, Tacey’s work offers potential for spiritual renewal. The reader is challenged to find a deepened personal and cultural meaning in narratives such as those of the virgin birth and the resurrection, not as historical truths which confound science and reason, but as myths to live by. Actively imagined in these terms Jesus comes more vividly to life: not with the literalness of childish imagination but as man-myth linked to deep human experience: He acquires more not less power.

I found this book compelling and life-affirming. It is a book that cannot be read piecemeal, for Tacey takes us on a human and spiritual journey, peeling layer from layer, the full meaning of which is only revealed in his exuberant and spine tingling conclusion. Tacey argues that our present reality is enchanted, already possessed of cosmic powers and full of spiritual potential. We don’t need to invent heaven, hell and purgatory as literal places, because these are metaphors that point to states of mind that exist in our experience. As a creative artist, I am constantly seeking the miraculous in the everyday and the mysterious in the ordinary. In a world riven with fundamentalist extremism born of literalism, this book has the potential to be profoundly consequential.