First published in Great Britain in 2003

Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge

36 Causton Street

London SW1P 4ST

Copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2003

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Unless otherwise stated, biblical quotations are either the author’s own translation or are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN-13: 978-0-281-05551-7; ISBN-10: 0-281-05551-3 (cased edition)

ISBN-13: 978-0-281-05550-0; ISBN-10: 0-281-05550-5 (paperback edition)

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‘Seven Stanzas at Easter’, from Telephone Poles and Other Poems, by John Updike, copyright © 1959 by John Updike.

Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.

Every effort has been made to trace and acknowledge copyright holders of material reproduced in this book. The publisher apologizes for any omissions that may remain and, if notified, will ensure that full acknowledgements are made in a subsequent edition.