just any kind of communication. We are dealing with words that God uses repeatedly to convey not merely his meaning but also his presence, his salvation, and many other things. Much of the discussion in this particular section prepares us for the next section, which deals with the issue of context. I tell my students all the time that a text without a context is just a pretext for what we want it to mean, and thus the New Testament text must be read in its historical, rhetorical,