on some subjects by means of a sort of triangulation—something not possible for other Christian writers of the first three generations of Christianity. This makes the task of writing a theology of Paul all the more challenging and crucial as a test case. For if we cannot write a theology of Paul, when so much seems to be in favour of the enterprise, then the hope of writing a theology of the New Testament, or a theology of the first generations of Christianity, is likely to prove even further beyond