This collection of essays is divided into two parts, each ranging over plays from different times in Shakespeare's writing life. The first presents religious aspects of the plays in their historical contexts, and the second offers explorations of postmodern theological, ethical and philosophical interpretations of them. In the first part attention is paid to the difficulties surrounding the interpretation of Jesuit viewpoints in Macbeth and King Lear (Robert Miola), the role of Cranmer's liturgy in the Elizabethan Settlement as perceivable in Titus Andronicus (Gary Kuchar), the residual Protestant attitudes to the miraculous in The Comedy of Errors (Richard McCoy), the interface between public and private confession in relation to varieties of religious belief in Cymbeline (Sarah Beckwith), and the problem of divine justice and Job's predicament in relation to King Lear (Hannibal Hamlin). These discussions are impressive and valuable in that they range over a variety of different religious positions from the Catholic to the Calvinist and they lead to the conclusion that in his plays Shakespeare reflected a substantial accumulation of contemporary religious problems. The essays promote the view that there are many sceptical elements in Shakespeare's religious position but that he did not come down firmly in support of a particular stance. In this we need to bear in mind that whatever his actual faith was at any particular time, he was writing for stage entertainment and in doing so, as this selection makes plain, he saw that he could use material relating to active contemporary controversy in order to attract the interest of those who came to see and hear the plays. These essays exemplify the truth that dramatic form is peculiarly adaptable to the presentation and exploitation of conflicting ideologies and such conflicts enhance theatrical experience. The essays in the second part apply a selection of recent critical preoccupations to religious issues. In doing so, they bring out an intriguing selection of topics. Julia Reinhard Lupton addresses the interpretation of a well- established figure through Shakespeare's approaches to Job and she also makes reference to Abraham and Isaac. The multiplicity of images that she adduces brings out threats to social relationships especially in Shakespeare's handling of Shylock and Timon. In the case of Cordelia, a further example, she perceives a threat to covenanted love. Lisa Myōbun Freinkel is interested in the ambiguity of cultural meanings, approaching these by means of William Empson, and she gives a stimulating slant to her comments through a Buddhist ambiguity over what might be active or passive on the part of the divinity. In approaching myth in connection with Hal and Falstaff, Joan Pong Linton raises the question of scepticism and the interrelationship between the sacred and the everyday. She adduces a fascinating dimension by applying Walter Benjamin's novel theory to the drama. The interface between politics and theology forms a basis for Ken Jackson's enquiry which settles upon York's sacrifice in Richard II. James A. Knapp's consideration of time and the ambiguities of justice involves deconstruction of value systems supported by Isabella and Angelo in Measure for Measure. This final essay, which approaches its argument through epistemological and ontological perspectives, stresses the openness of Shakespeare's judgement and I think it has a special place in the points of view offered throughout the book. As the editors point out, the essays are concerned with perennial religious issues and they can be seen to centre around two particular areas of interest. Ethical questions appear in several places especially concerning justice and related issues concerning the exercise of judgement. Secondly, as with Falstaff and the interlink between the sacred and the ordinary, and also the nature of York's sacrifice, there arises an interesting and fruitful examination of the relationship between the spiritual and the quotidian. It is striking that Job appears in a number of places in the arguments and his function is to set off debate about how to interpret established religious imagery. This must have been a feature of the religion of the times, and Shakespeare's contribution to it is particularly interesting because he observes and recreates arguments, but retains an openness of mind, or at least a cautious refusal to risk commitment which might artificially seal off diversity. The current and increasing interest in Shakespeare's religious position(s) is well served here by the impression the collection gives of the changing and complex nature of religious belief during his time. We see especially the influence of sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century anxieties over different shades of belief, including what should be given up and what retained of traditional faith. The revealing analyses embedded in this remarkable and stimulating collection make it clear that these anxieties are powerful enough to cross genre boundaries in Shakespeare's plays.