On Saturday I received an email from Dr. Kent Yinger of George Fox University informing me that my paper proposal was accepted for this years PNW AAR-SBL meeting. The title of the paper will be “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the Disciples of John the Baptist? An Examination of Acts 19.1-7 as a Polemic Against the Remnant of the Baptist’s Disciples”. I will be exploring the function of Acts 19.1-7 in relation to the other “charismatic pericopae” in the Book of Acts.

In essence, I am asking why the author described the conversion of groups of Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles using charismatic language only to include the conversion of a handful of John the Baptist’s disciples in this very motif. The first three groups make sense since they represent 1.8’s “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and even the remotest part of the earth” commission, but John the Baptist’s disciples stand out.

My paper will be addressing the progressive minimizing of John the Baptist from Mark to Matthew and Luke to Luke-Acts to John. I will ask if Acts 19.1-7 give insight into early conflicts between the Jesus Movement and the remnant of John’s disciples. Likewise, I will address whether or not these generic “disciples” are John’s (my position) or Christians who hadn’t experienced the Spirit.

My presentation time is Friday, May 11th at 4:45 PM.

I don’t think JohnDave Medina has mentioned his paper on the blog, but he did get accepted to read a paper for the following day, Saturday the 12th. Maybe he will post the news on this blog.