A parish minister has to try to find answers to many difficult questions. Through preaching the minister can also have a profound influence on the way hearers make important decisions. These are heavy responsibilities. The minister may not be an accomplished theologian, but she/he ought to take the insights of theologians, Biblical critics, philosophers, and social commentators and make them sensible to ordinary men and women. The End is in the Beginning is an attempt to provide simple theology, trying to answer some questions for ministers and laypeople alike. The intention is to open minds to issues – very often one's views can be affected by disagreement that leads to wrestling with the questions anew.

Alan Maker obtained a B.Com. from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and a Bachelor of Divinity from Rhodes University. His Doctor of Ministry is from Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey, to which he has returned to deliver the Convocation and the Frederick Neumann Memorial Lectures. He served for thirty-five years as senior minister of St. Columba's Presbyterian Church in Johannesburg. He served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian of Southern Africa. He has been an adviser to companies on labour relations, chaplain to the Johannesburg Sportsman's Club, and a presenter of a popular music programme on Radio Today (1485 AM) for more than twenty years. He has been elected to the Liberty Radio Awards Hall of Fame.