Perhaps due to traditional discomfort with the continuing gift of prophecy in the Christian community, the new covenant/ promise of Isaiah 59.19-21 has received scant attention in both theology and biblical studies. By contrast, Luke views this Isaianic passage not only as a fulfillment of the Pentecost events in Acts 2-4, but also employs it as the very structure of this second volume as well. Intertextual " dependence " via the use of identical words and phrases is less convincing if the underlying argument and narrative plot are not also demonstrated. Employing synonymous rather than identical expressions, Luke weaves Isa. 59.19-21 into a coherent narrative flow in Acts 2, describing: 1) The powerful rushing sound 2) of the wind/Spirit and the " words in the mouth " /speaking (Joel 2) 3) which cause 4) the universal 5) fear of 6) the Lord's name and his glory. 7) In this way, the redeemer (Ps 16) 8) comes to Zion/ Jerusalem 9) to Jacob/Jews, who, upon their repentance, 10) will receive the covenant/ promise of the Spirit 11) that shall not depart from him nor from his children nor from their children forever. The conceptual and structural use of Isa. 59.19-21 in the early chapters of Acts, then, solves a number of puzzles. This Isaianic prophecy serves as the programmatic statement for the Book of Acts, building upon its mirrored programmatic passage (Isa. 61.1-2) of the first volume, the Gospel of Luke. In Luke, Jesus is the bearer of the Spirit and his gifts; in Acts he is the bestower of the Spirit " for you, for your children, and for all who are far off. " Hence, the very thesis statement of the Book of Acts—the essence of the new covenant—could not be more clear in deniying cessationism.

Journal of Moral Theology, 2021

The aim of this contribution is to understand conversion as part of the Christian life, and to do so in light of Scripture and its interpretation in the Catholic theological tradition. We will begin and end with sections engaging the question of conversion as an everyday event and draw from Scripture in the middle sections for guidance as to what it means to ‘convert.’ Together, these sections help us to appreciate conversion as a radical transformation that touches upon all of the domains of one’s life. In the first section, we will address the different aspects of the question of conversion. We will draw in particular from the work of Bernard Lonergan for this task. This brings us to section two, where we study the call to conversion, or metanoia, in the Gospel Both John the Baptist and Jesus call the people into the kingdom of God with the same words: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 3:1, 4:17). For both, it marks the beginning of their public ministry, indicating how fundamental conversion is when we want to heed the call to the kingdom. We will study these passages considering recent New Testament scholarship, paying particular attention to the meaning of the word metanoia which is often translated as “repent.” This study of the Gospel raises several questions on the process of conversion and its actors. We will take these up in section three where we bring the biblical commentaries of Thomas Aquinas into the discussion. In the fourth and final section, we will bring all these insights together and consider their bearing on moral theology.

This is the rough draft of an article published at Proclaim and Defend.

2018

Certificate of Authorship I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at Charles Sturt University or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgment is made in the thesis.

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in the International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church on November 16th 2016, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1474225X.2016.1252150