We tend to be optimists as Christians, even the most pessimistic of us. For all our talk of human depravity and divine judgment, we expect converts to swell our ranks and wonder what is wrong if they do not. We pray daily for opportunities to share Christ, expecting those to bear fruit. We expect our churches to be positive agents of transformation in our communities. Our prayer is invariably, "How do we reach our community for Christ?" I readily confess that I am one of thos

"A beautiful woman delights the eye; a wise woman, the understanding; a pure one, the soul." So said Minna Antrim. So was Rahab. The Talmud extols her physical beauty. We will content ourselves here with her understanding and purity. What kindled the faith of Rahab? What formed its basic content? These are fair questions: she is the first Canaanite convert of the newly arrived Israel under Joshua. She is paradigmatic. Her conversion is a model conversion. The way she comes to