Hodological Space in the Acts Narrative

Abstract

This study is an attempt to highlight the geographical perspective that was current in the New Testament world: a hodological understanding of space, which represents the ancient people’s worldview, and can be a clue to interpreting Acts also. This article argues that Acts reveals the linearity of hodological space through the geographical movement of the apostles to the end of earth. Luke constructs a linear narrative, that is, a straight line on which he arranges a number of cities and places. Acts is composed of a series of paths from the preface to the final scene, but those paths are condensed within a single path from Jerusalem to Rome. From this hodological reading, the essay claims that Luke guides his audience to the final destination of Rome, which is hidden away as a surprise. That might be a reason why Luke places Rome at the end of Paul’s entire itinerary.