may have, there is one question that will always be fundamental: What was the biblical author trying consciously to communicate to his readers and how did those readers grasp what he wrote? Obviously we have only limited means to discover that, but any approach which ignores it wanders too far from our basic criteria of meaning. In this light I want to add a particular comment about “canonical criticism,” particularly as phrased recently by B. S. Childs.9 This criticism involves a recognition that