Zsolt Barta

Symphony of Scriptures Zsolt Barta

Acts 10:1-15:35 is a central section in the Book of Acts focusing mainly on a major development in the early Christian movement-namely the reception of Gentile Christians in the church. Undoubtedly, a vital aspect of the process is the use of Scripture. Most evidently Scripture verses are quoted by missionaries and leaders of the church in order to support certain arguments. But there is more: Events are portrayed by the narrator in conformity with certain narratives of the Old Testament and characters are shown in contrast and harmony with well-known figures of the ancient holy narratives. The Holy Scriptures of Israel play a crucial role in framing the dilemmas and offering solutions. The challenge lies not so much in identifying the right words, phrases, narratives, themes, or books of the Old Testament that are evoked in Acts but much rather in defining patterns of textual correlations. To this effect Barta applies French literary theorist Gérard Genette's map of transtextuality to enumerate in order to group and to evaluate patterns of intertextual connections in Acts 10:1-15:35. The textual correlations of individual passage are examined along a continuum beginning with the most implicit ones (genre, styles, etc.) and moving toward the most explicit ones (allusion, quote, etc.). Special attention is paid to the most complex intertextual practices (hypertextuality and metatextuality). The primary aim of this work is to highlight the rich intertextual character of the narratives of Acts in orderly manner without reducing textual plurality.