To my wife
Anne,
and my children
Luke and Jessica,
for their
love, patience, encouragement,
support and prayers.
I would like to thank my supervisors, Dr. Don Garlington and Pastor Leigh Powell for their helpful suggestions and criticism, and for their patience with me. I would also like to thank Dr. Peter Gentry, Pastor Brian Allison, Dr. Amar Djaballah, my father Pastor David Fountain and many others for the valuable discussions I have had with them on the subject of this thesis. Finally I would like to thank Pastor Lundy for insuring that I had the time to complete the thesis, and the many at Jarvis Street Baptist Church and elsewhere who have supported me in prayer... and not given-up in encouragement.