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principles, there are many respects in which the Enlightenment represents a partial and blinkered tradition in need of constant correctives. Avis closes his account with Bonhoeffer’s evocation of ‘humanity come of age’ as the hallmark of Enlightenment. He regards this also as a call to the Church and theological studies to acknowledge its watchwords of freedom, choice and selfdetermination. Such qualities can be viewed through a theological lens as nothing short of providential, which was indeed another recurrent motif within much Enlightenment thinking itself. The Enlightenment has come to define the West, and whatever our opinion of it – or even what it was and is – we all live inescapably within its orbit. Avis is convinced that to come to terms with its impact is a theological undertaking, since Christian theology can never be immune from its immediate context and is at its best when it engages actively, albeit critically, with its intellectual and cultural surroundings. To that end, Avis is advocating a nuanced blend of critical, dialectical appropriation of Enlightenment thinking, the better to help us understand its continuing legacy for today.