power that offers us redemption and the power that made us in the first place. It is all of a piece. It cannot be a matter for idle debate and speculation, Paul insists. If it is not true, then we have no foundation on which to put our trust in God. The picture of God that Jesus builds up, through his life and his teaching, his ministry and his death, has strong, consistent elements. They are not wholly new. Many of them can be found in the great prophets and lawmakers of the Old Testament, as you