This project has been my travelling companion through a number of significant transitions in life: much of the ground work was undertaken when employed in the business world, it subsequently took shape during theological college training and parochial ministry, and has finally come to fruition in the midst of a chaplaincy in Cambridge. Throughout this journey, many people have helped and in different ways. On a financial level, the trustees of the Sheffield Grammar School Exhibition Fund and the C. F. D. Moule Scholarship Fund made generous contributions, whilst access to libraries in Cambridge (Divinity Faculty, Federation of Theological Colleges, Tyndale House and the University) and Sheffield (University) have proved invaluable.

I have attempted in the footnotes to indicate my debt to those scholars whose work has informed my thinking and I trust that their views have been faithfully represented. Special thanks, however, are due to my doctoral supervisor, Dr Loveday Alexander, and examiners, Professor Richard Bauckham and Dr Andrew Lincoln. Dr Margaret Thrall and Mr Alex Wright, together with the production staff at Cambridge University Press, have also been most helpful in preparing the work for publication.

Family and friends have also played a big part in keeping the ‘show on the road’ and I am most grateful for their interest, encouragement and prayers. In particular, my father has faithfully monitored progress and offered help where possible.