William Stringfellow (1928-1985) was a radical lay theologian and social critic. Rooted in biblical warnings against powers and principalities, he leveled a prophetic critique against a range of institutions the church, seminaries, economic structures, and the idolatries of the modern war-making state. Trained as a lawyer, he was a lifelong gadfly in the Episcopal church. His great theme was the Constantinian compromise, the accommodation of Christianity to the values of the empire and the preservation of the status quo. His writings retain their relevance and critical bite.