The tales told at the Whale & Unicorn, a tavern in the rustic village of Encumbrance, are not fanciful fables but thoughtful inquiries into issues of belief, grace, and the free will of humankind. Presented as lectures delivered to pub patrons by a charismatic "Old Man," they bear titles such as "Faith & Repentance," "Prayer & Prayers," and "Heaven & Whiskey." As he makes a case for "freed will" rather than "free will," the Old Man calls forth...