In the Book of Acts Paul is portrayed as a messenger who brings the good news of God to the
world. He is a commanding orator who captivates his audiences including a Roman senatorial
proconsul and a Jewish king with his gestures appearance and speeches. His performances
appeal to both Greco-Roman and Jewish cultural scripts alike. But why does Luke portray Paul in
this way? Using insights from both modern performance studies and ancient rhetoric Arco den
Heijer analyses five episodes from Acts (in Paphos Pisidian Antioch Lystra Athens and
before Agrippa in Caesarea) to suggest that Luke's portraits of Paul's performance served to
counter negative views of Christians in both Roman and Jewish circles views that circulated in
the social network of Theophilus the addressee of the book.
