Theology
Veronika Niederhofer
Konversion in den Paulus- und Theklaakten
Eine narrative Form der Paulusrezeption
[Conversion in the Acts of Paul and Thecla. A Narrative Form of Paul-Reception.]
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Published in German.
The Acts of Paul and Thecla tell of Thecla's conversion and how she began to proclaim the Christian faith. What early Christian concepts of conversion, discipleship and faith development can be gleaned from this narrative? And what information does the text offer about the successive spread of Christianity in ancient society at the end of the second century? Veronika Niederhofer's analytic narrative exegesis vouches for the Acts of Paul and Thecla's historical and theological importance for early Christian piety and its conceptual world. The author shows that the story can be read as a layered drama paradigmatically describing the theme of conversion as a dynamic and multi-stage process in the changing of worlds, and thus demonstrates a new and subtle form of Paul exegesis through the narrative application of canonical texts, and Pauline ideas in particular.