Household Conversion Narratives in Acts: Pattern and Interpretation by David Lertis Matson

I submitted this book review to one of the academic publications and did not realize that it was not included until several years afterwards. At that point in time, the book review was no longer relevant for a publication, and thus I forgot about it. However, I recently re-discovered it while cleaning some files from an old system and thought it would be worthwhile to post it as a blog. I also noticed a number of references to it in chapter 7 of Mikeal Parson's new book Luke: Storyteller, Interpreter, Evangelist, a thought-provoking, narrative-rhetorical approach to the narrative of Luke.

Household Conversion Narratives in Acts: Pattern and Interpretation
Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series 123
David Lertis Matson
$85.00
Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1996
Pp. 224
Cloth
Matson originally wrote this monograph as a dissertation at Baylor University under the direction of Mikeal Parsons. Utilizing a methodological approach that he describes as "a text-centered type of narrative criticism" (15), he endeavors to address the literary function of the household conversion narratives in Luke-Acts. The purpose of the study is to examine the literary function of the household conversion narratives by focusing upon literary patterns of the text and the "idealized" implied reader. It is divided into four parts: an introduction; an examination of the household mission in Luke; an investigation of the relationship of the household mission in Acts to the previous pattern established in Luke; and a concluding summary.

The locus of Matson's argument is that the mission of the seventy-two in Luke 10:5-7 functions as a type-scene, that is, it establishes a pattern that is repeated in subsequent household conversion stories. It consists of the following elements: (1) the "house" serves as the place of proclamation and acceptance of the gospel; (2) messengers bring a salvific word to the inhabitants of the household; and (3) the messengers stay in the house, eating and drinking with its inhabitants. Each of these are represented via the repetition of key words. Three such terms reoccur the most often in the household conversion type-scene: "house," "enter," and "remain."
Matson utilizes these and other facets of Luke 10:5-7 to identify five episodes that correspond as household conversion type-scenes: the story of Zachaeus (Luke 19:1-10); the conversion of Cornelius (Acts 10:1-11:18); the encounter with Lydia (16:11-15); the conversion of the Roman jailer (Acts 16:25-34); and the conversion of Crispus (Acts 18:5-11). He ascertains, as a result, that the primary function of the household conversion type-scenes is as an elaboration upon the theme of universal salvation, which is exemplified in the form of table-fellowship.

The most valuable aspect of the book is Matson's assertion that the mission of the seventy-two in Luke 10:5-7 prefigures — by means of repeated words and patterns — succeeding household conversion scenes. The book's overall value, however, is marred by deficiencies in its methodology, argument, and format.

The methodology is lacking in at least two ways. At the beginning of the book Matson indicates that his approach will reflect both narrative and readerly concerns. Yet, for the most part, the analysis pays little attention to the reader, focusing instead on textual features of the narrative. Interested readers of the book thus are left to wonder how a reader might respond to the various roles that the narrative proffers. On a different note, Matson bases his methodological approach on secondary sources, namely, secular literary criticism filtered through biblical scholarship (e.g., the use of "proximate" and "global" [89]). Mindful readers, however, expect the methodological basis for a book belonging to an academic monograph series and moreover one originally written as a dissertation to stem from primary sources.

At least two aspects of the author's argument are problematic. While Matson's contention that the mission of the seventy-two in Luke 10 establishes a pattern which is reflected in subsequent household conversion stories is apropos, his argument that it functions as a household conversion type-scene is enigmatic. Three things suggest that Luke 10 does not correspond as such: (1) if Luke 10 is a type-scene, it probably covers more than just household conversion narratives, as both the "city" as well as the "house" are mentioned as locales of missionary activity; (2) according to Robert Alter (The Art of Biblical Narrative [New York: Basic Books, 1981] 47-61), upon whom Matson bases his analysis, type-scenes — contra Luke 10 — are episodes with certain characters and interactions, which provide similar patterns of expectations for the reader; and (3) there is significant deviation between the various episodes that Matson classifies as adhering to the type-scene of Luke 10. Though the author purports to examine readerly concerns, he fails to explain the process through which a reader determines the presence of a three-fold type-scene taxonomy from Luke 10 and, moreover, thereafter recognizes its presence in ensuing episodes (185-86).

A notable amount of discussion that Matson includes in the main text of the book is extraneous to the study. For example, the author tends to insert references to possible intertextual connections with the Old Testament that have little relevance to his immediate discussion. A good example is the mention of a possible intertextual connection between 1 Kgs 8:10-11 and Acts 2:2 and 10:4-5, 18 in the chapter dealing with the conversion of Cornelius and his household (130-31). Perhaps an even more striking instance is the reference to possible intertextual connections with Old Testament household conversion narratives in the book's conclusion (185). Second, in the midst of his discussion on the narrative relevance of Luke 10 as a household conversion type-scene, Matson strays into an overview of scholarly opinion regarding its redactional history (30-32). Third, in the middle portion of the book the author seems to lose sight of the book's actual purpose by digressing into lengthy and tedious analyses of each household conversion narrative. Finally, in book's conclusion the author — following the lead of Mikeal Parsons, the chairperson of his dissertation — interjects a discussion on the narrative unity of Luke-Acts, maintaining that aspects of its narrative are in tension with one another (192-98). Why he includes this discussion is unclear, however, for he never identifies any facet of the household conversion stories that could be construed as in tension with the rest of Luke-Acts.

The value of the book lies primarily in its thesis that Luke 10 sets forth a pattern that is replicated in subsequent missionary activity of Luke-Acts. Had this thesis been better argued and presented, and had it rested on a more consistent methodology, its contribution to study of the Lukan narrative would be more persuasive.