130. - Collection Point® | The Total Digital Asset Management System

PREFACE
This book was conceived in Bangalore in about 1977, and over the
past fourteen years there have been many people who have helped
towards its completion in one way or another.
Among them I must mention my former colleague Jim Gibbs,
whose enthusiasm for chiasmus was infectious.
Professor Peter Ackroyd was my first advisor and then supervisor,
and made valuable suggestions in the important initial stages of
reading and planning.
The tape for producing the tables of repeated words came from
Professor Radday in Tel Aviv. Without that I should still be less than
half way through. The program that actually produced the results was
written by Mrs Christine Brown, of the King's College Computer
Department, and her successors have also given valuable help.
I owe most to my wife Jean, who has continued to encourage me to
work on this book, at considerable cost to herself, when I could cheerfully
have abandoned it.
In 1984 I spent a sabbatical at Hope College, Holland, Michigan. I
owe a huge debt of gratitude to many people: to students for their
interest; to Barry Bandstra and the Religion Department for the loan
of books, and for getting a computer tape of the text of Isaiah; to the
Computer Department, and especially to Dan Griswold, for enormous
help in producing an analysed tape and a program to give me the
results I needed. In the event, it proved too much to deal with Isaiah
in the present thesis, but I have articles on the structure of Isaiah
planned for controlled release over the next ten years. The support I
received from scores of people at Hope College and Western
Theological Seminary (with its Tower of Babel) was overwhelming.
Richard Coggins has been my supervisor for the greater part of the
writing of the thesis upon which this book is based. His encouragement,
constructive criticism and advice have been of enormous help.
The students and staff of Oak Hill College have given support in a