the reality of human failure it not infrequently proceeds to the implicit assumption that moral goodness is largely determined, either genetically or culturally. Determinism of this kind is not a long step from a theology of predestination. Alphonsus offers the reader in outline an intensely biblical view of God’s purpose as universal salvation and notes: “I have placed all these texts before you so that when you are anxious at the thought that there is no salvation for you or that you are already