The Gospel requires—faith … It can therefore be neither directly communicated nor directly apprehended … it can appear among us, be received and understood by us, only as contradiction. The Gospel does not expound or recommend itself. It does not negotiate or plead, threaten or make promises. It withdraws itself always when it is not listened to for its own sake … ‘Indeed only when that which is believed on is hidden, can it provide an opportunity for faith. And moreover, those things are most deeply