Acts 16:16–18 tells the story of a slave-girl, a paidiskē,1 who inserts herself into the narrative of Acts, shouting words of truth regardless of the outcome. In the context of Acts, Paul and Silas are traveling in Philippi when an enslaved woman with a divining spirit follows them, declaring repeatedly: “These men are slaves of the Highest God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation” (Acts 16:17).2 Paul is annoyed by the constant testimony from this possessed slave and eventually exorcizes the spirit from her. The irony is that her testimony is true, even though she is enslaved and has a “spirit of the python” within her. In fact, a closer look at her words in this narrative suggests that the slave-girl is a mouthpiece for both Lukan theology and Roman ideologies. This enslaved female character overturns expected hierarchies and, through her position as an “outsider ,” functions as a focalizor within Acts; she is a truth-teller in this pivotal part of Luke’s narrative.
The slave-girl from Acts 16 is not the first of her gender and status to function as a truth-teller in the narrative of Luke-Acts. Peter encounters a slave-girl (also called a paidiskē ) in Luke 22:54–62, when he denies knowing Jesus, and again in Acts 12:1–17, after he miraculously escapes from prison and goes to Mary’s house in Jerusalem. Both of these enslaved characters also speak words of truth within their narratives, even as others, often in positions of power in the scene, do not believe their statements. In antiquity, slaves are typically represented as bodies that do not tell the truth, except through coercion or torture. Yet, three female slaves within Luke’s narrative emerge from the text as truth-tellers without coercion. Why do these characters, doubly marginalized as outsiders within their society, know the truth? How does their gender and enslaved status affect their perception as characters? Why are these minor female characters placed in contrast to male disciples in clear positions of power?
This book addresses these questions through a feminist reading of these Lukan narratives alongside an intertextual exploration of female slaves in other ancient narratives. Utilizing the literary theory of Mikhael Bakhtin, narratology, and feminist hermeneutics, I highlight the dialogue inherent within the text in order to show the way these three truth-telling slave-girls insert their voices into Lukan discourse. Through literary theory and a feminist lens, the voices of the enslaved women of Luke-Acts are brought to the surface of this polyphonic text. Using Julia Kristeva’s concept of intertextuality, I read the stories in Luke 22, Acts 12, and Acts 16 together with other ancient narratives, including Greek novels, the Apocryphal Acts of Apostles, and evidence from material culture as exhibited by ancient funerary monuments. Through this analysis, I argue that Luke’s female slaves are truth-tellers, even though their gender and enslaved status disallow this label. Yet, because of their outsidedness, the slave-girls are able to see what other characters do not—the truth of discipleship and the apostolic message.
In the following sections, I demonstrate how dialogic truth surfaces, not only within texts but also in scholarship, when multiple voices in opposition converse. When scholars debate an issue such as the role of slavery in the Bible, the dialogue itself becomes part of the search for truth, especially when interpreting texts such as Luke-Acts, which intentionally incorporates multiple voices. Following a brief methodological overview of the theories used in this project, the current chapter provides relevant information on three bodies of literature: Luke-Acts, the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles, and ancient novels. A brief examination of material culture provides an introduction to the ways that slaves are represented on ancient funerary monuments. Then, I summarize the inclusion and role of women and slaves in ancient narratives, focusing on the various interpretations produced by scholars concerning these two marginalized groups. Finally, I include an outline of the chapters included in this book.
Dialogic Partners: Bakhtin and Narratology; Slavery and Truth; Feminist Hermeneutics
Bakhtin and Narratology
Bakhtin’s theory is the primary lens through which I approach these ancient narratives. The Bakhtinian concepts of polyphony, dialogism, outsidedness, and carnival helpfully clarify certain aspects of the novelistic text that is Luke-Acts, and will be used to produce a literary interpretation that focuses on the words of enslaved female characters as vital and significant. In offering a Bakhtinian reading of Luke-Acts, I build on the work of Raj Nadella, who highlights the polyphonic and dialogic nature of Luke’s Gospel and produces an ethical and theological interpretation.3 In order to accomplish this, Nadella first identifies the multiplicity of voices present in Luke’s Gospel, voices which appear contradictory. Nadella utilizes Bakhtinian theory to allow these voices to remain in Luke’s Gospel as part of literary dialogism. Ultimately, his Bakhtinian reading of Luke “turns a perceived problem into an asset” as opposing voices transform into dialogue.4 By reading the multiple and divergent voices within Luke as polyphonic and dialogic, Nadella’s interpretation presents the Gospel of Luke as multivalent, which proves fruitful to ethical and ecclesiological conversations. He concludes, “Luke emerges as a sophisticated literary work and a unique Gospel that is not only engaging but also offers a new, creative, and dialogic vision of truth.”5 Building upon this celebration of the multiplicity of voices found in Luke, I apply this theoretical reading to Acts as well. Nadella’s argument that the contradicting voices within Luke are part of the text’s dialogism coalesces with my argument that female slaves—against the text’s dominant presuppositions about them—function as vital parts of the narrative and theology of Luke-Acts.
The search for truth is not only present within Luke-Acts but is also a goal of the scholarly conversation about the text. For Bakhtin, truth is found only through multiple voices engaged in dialogue; this strategy for seeking truth exists within narrative, as well as life (and scholarship).6 For this reason, the idea of polyphony is applicable not only to my reading of Luke-Acts, but also to my interpretation of the conversations on the role of women and slaves in these texts. Bakhtin’s theory of polyphony “refers primarily to the presence of multiple, and often divergent, voices in a literary text.”7 Significantly, polyphonic texts include diverse voices that seem to be autonomous and are able to interact freely within the narrative. Characters can (and often do) disagree with the presented opinion or worldview of the author/narrator. The author allows this to happen in order for the opposing voices to dialogue within the text. While the presence of diverse voices fills a polyphonic novel, this does not necessarily mean that all voices are heard equally throughout the text. In fact, some voices might be outspoken while others are not, yet they have equal weight. A polyphonic novel allows characters to oppose the author just as they oppose one another. Nadella argues that the Gospel of Luke is a polyphonic text, ...