were different individuals. However, given the prominence of the
Sergii Paulli at Antioch in Pisidia displayed in the inscriptions,
the case for Sergius Paullus suggesting the city to Paul as a target
for his mission surely must remain a possibility.Hearing the gospel
The account in Actsof Paul’s encounter with Sergius Paullus
makes it clear why the governor converted to Christianity – if
indeed he did so: it is possible that the author of Actsexagger-
ated Paul’s success with him (Klauck 2000a: 50–4). Sergius
Paullus is depicted as a man with broad religious interests. At the
time Paul met him, the governor was in the company of ‘a certain
magician, a Jewish false prophet, named Bar-Jesus’ (Acts13.6).
It was Paul’s refutation and miraculous striking blind of Bar-Jesus
that persuaded Sergius Paullus to believe in Christ (Acts13.7–12).
Such miracles loom large in early Christian accounts of conver-
sion (see pp. 120–1). We know little, however, apart from
anecdotal evidence relating to individuals, about how people
reacted to missionaries preaching the gospel. One way in which
we might guess at the response to Christian teaching is to examine
the language and rhetorical strategies used by Christian authors.
This avenue of research has been pursued vigorously, both for
New Testament texts and for the writings of later centuries.
Here I want to survey briefly some suggestions that the
language used by Paul in his letters – and by the authors of the
New Testament more generally – might have resonated in very
particular ways with their audience. I will focus on two Greek
words in particular: so ̄ ter, meaning saviour, and euangelion,
meaning gospel. I will not list every instance of each word: such
details may be found in reference works such as Hawthorne and
Martin 1993 under the respective entries for the English words;
more detailed accounts will be found under the Greek words in
the multi-volume Theological Dictionary of the New Testament
(see p. 229). Such words might seem these days to have
inescapably Christian connotations. A comparison with inscrip-
tions and other texts, however, suggests other possibilities.CONTEXTS FOR THE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIANITY
136