It is my good fortune to have had two rewarding experiences of personal contact with Robert A. Lambourne. The first was at a week-long conference on health and salvation in Germany under the auspices of the World Council of Churches and the Lutheran World Federation. The second was at Princeton Seminary where, a year ago, Dr. Lambourne visited us for a few days as he was "casing the joint" about pastoral theology in this country. When the Editor asked me routinely, as a member of the Editorial Advisory Board, to read the manuscript of the Lambourne article, I did so with pleasure; and as soon as I could get to my typewriter, strongly recommended the publication of this remarkably perceptive paper. Even though I thought then as I do now that Lambourne has given us just exactly the kind of fresh perspective we need, and thus that his is one of the most important pieces ever published by this journal, I had, and have, a few questions; and so I made the mistake of offering to write a critique to go alongside the Lambourne paper. The Editor took me up. Since I have to take covenants seriously, I was committed; and here we are. Before going into my pitch, which is mostly appreciation though not devoid