environment, when qualities of love, justice and sovereignty were often considered irreconcilable with a theological portrait of the God who reveals ‘himself’ in history (the masculine is used throughout wherever necessary, for convenience of style rather than theological correctness). Questions similar to those asked in 4 Ezra are asked by many today: Why are the lives of innocents torn apart by the instruments of oppression and injustice? Where is God’s justice? Have the promises of God failed?