A PASSIONATE PILGRIM: A Biography of Bishop James A. Pike

Back in the 1960s when James Pike was Episcopal bishop of California, nearly everyone had an opinion about the attention-seeking clergyman whose unconventional opinions and actions often made headlines. To some he was a prophet, opposing the Vietnam conflict and advocating liberal social issues such as racial equality, women's ordination, the acceptance of homosexuals in church life and legalized abortion. To others he was a heretic, dismissing as "excess baggage" classic Christian dogmas such as the virgin birth and the Trinity. Robertson, author of two other biographies and a historical novel, portrays a brilliant but troubled man whose personal life disintegrated as he poured his energies into his work. An adult convert to the Episcopal Church, Pike was ordained at 31, became dean of New York's Episcopal cathedral before turning 40 and was elected bishop of California at 45. As he rose to national prominence, however, he was divorced twice, his elder son and one of his mistresses committed suicide and his drinking veered out of control. Repeatedly accused—but never convicted—of heresy, Bishop Pike announced his departure from the Episcopal Church several months before his accidental death in the wilderness near the Dead Sea. Robertson's account, at once sympathetic and probing, provides a fascinating and timely backdrop to many of the struggles faced by mainline Protestant churches today. (Sept.)