the textures of Paul’s teaching, or does it not distance and occlude such intimate and patient listening to the tones of scripture? John Webster says something pertinent in asking why grasping Paul’s ethical teaching can’t be pursued apart from metaphysical inquiry: “Why must Christian ethics contemplate being? In order that our moral lives can be conducted away from idols toward reality. The metaphysical impulse in Christian theology is not a flight from history—far from it: it is an element in