Household Conversion Narratives in Acts: Pattern and Interpretation
By (Author) David Matson
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Sheffield Academic Press
1st February 1996
United Kingdom
Tertiary Education
Non Fiction
226.606
Hardback
226
Width 138mm, Height 216mm
370g
Using features of the narrative-critical method, this book offers an innovative approach to a notable phenomenon in the book of Acts: the conversion of entire households to the Christian faith. When viewed against the household mission of the seventy(-two) messengers in Luke, the stories of Cornelius, Lydia, the Roman jailer and Crispus comprise a pattern of evangelistic activity that provides a common framework for their interpretation. Repetition and variation of the pattern offer important clues for the way each story functions within the wider context of Acts, opening up new lines of interpretation as well as new levels of unity/disunity between the Lukan writings.
David L. Matson is Senior Minister, Westwood Hills Christian Church, Los Angeles, California, USA.