This is a work of remarkable originality and penetration, on at least four counts. In the first place, Dr Rikhof has made a notable contribution to ecclesiology. He shows that Vatican II's Lumen Gentium is constructed around two metaphorical central terms, 'mystical body of Christ' and 'people of God', and that the (to date) relatively disappointing achievements of postconciliar ecclesiology can in large part be attribute to misunderstandings about the logic of metaphor and its role in theology. His own elucidation of the concept and function of metaphor should do much to remove this obstacle.