The authors address the issue of "God in this world" which, in the classical documents of formative Judaism, encompasses the diverse ways in which we meet God in the here and now. The counterpart in Christianity is meeting God in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. As heirs to the common scripture of ancient Israel, both Judaism and Christianity identify humanity as the worldly image of God. The two traditions concur that, since we are made in God's image, we see God in the face of one another.

The conception of incarnation is therefore as Judaic as it is Christian. The point of difference between the two becomes clear when we ask how incarnation is realized.