My hope is that this book might contribute in a modest way to the clarification of what theologians like to refer to as "the problem of faith and history." As is so often the case with such sweeping references, this problem is really not one but many. Of these many problems, none has caused more consternation and anxiety in the breasts and minds of Christian believers than the application of critical historical methods to the New Testament and, especially, to the life of Jesus. It is fashionable among contemporary Protestant theologians to consider this aspect of the problem something of a dead issue except, that is, among fundamentalists and other conservative Christians. My conviction is that this attitude is unwarranted, that even the most sophisticated theological programs of the last two or three decades have failed to grapple in any rigorous and clear fashion with the thorny issues created by a revolution in the consciousness of Western man of which critical historiography is but the expression.... The first part of the book delineates the elements of this morality, especially as they are reflected in the justification of historical explanations and claims. The second part of the book is an assessment of much recent Protestant theology in the light of the ideal of historical judgment delineated in the first part. The final chapter represents my attempts to achieve some solid ground. --- excerpts from book's preface