received in Grotius (p. 294).8 Dale recognises that the very persistence of such themes shows that there is something positive to be said for them. ‘The history of the doctrine is a proof that the idea of an objective Atonement was not invented by theologians’ (p. 299, Dale’s italics). But as some of the pejorative language makes clear, he is by no means content with a major deficiency to be found in many of the theologies he reviews. What is wrong? Two points recur from time to time in Dale’s