The Acts of the Apostles includes persuasive speeches, but the whole story should also be seen as an act of persuasion. In How Ancient Narratives Persuade: Acts in Its Literary Context, Eric Clouston takes a fresh approach to interpreting Acts, treating it as a persuasive narrative. Comparison with other Greek narratives allows Clouston to show how events and characters--and how they are described as worthy of trust, empathy, or respect, as well as their speeches and narrator asides--all have different persuasive effects. His examination of the persuasive effects of narrative in Acts leads at last to conclusions about the purpose of the work directed to a readership unconvinced by the figure of Paul.
