Tuesday, December 13, 2022

The Depiction of Cornelius in Acts vs. Total Depravity

  

Luke describes him in generous terms as righteous and worthy (10:2, 22). His activity (10:2-4), if not his ethnicity, places him very near the people of God, all of whom respect him (10:22). He is described as “devout and God-fearing (ευσεβης και φοβουμεος τον θεον) with all his house” (10:2). Whether φοβουμενος τον θεον constitutes a terminus technicus in antiquity for a group of uncircumcised but otherwise Torah-observant gentiles lies beyond the present concern. What this phrase does indicate, however, is that Cornelius is not labelled δικαιος in vain. His obedience to the Torah and fear of God have made him a righteous man, whose prayers and almsgiving are received by God as a sacrifice. (Daniel B. Glover, Patters of Deification in the Acts of the Apostles [Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen Zum Neuen Testament 2. Reihe 576; Tūbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2022], 4)

 

Luke gives Cornelius glowing marks as regards hie piety (ευσεβης και φοβουμενος τον θεον συν παντι τω οικω αυτου, 10:2a) and practice. Cornelius’s almsgiving (ελεημοσυνας πολλας τω λαω, 10:2b) and constant prayer (δεομενος του θεου δια παντος, 10:2c) would place him among the righteous according to many Jewish texts (Prov 10:2; 11:14; Tob 4:9; 12:8-9; Sir 7:10; cf. also Acts 9:36; Did. 15:4; 2 Clem. 16:4) (His “fear” of God [10:22] would also place him in this category. See Prov. 9:10) as well as according to Acts 10:22 (The term δικαιος is also used by another centurion of Jesus himself [Luke 23:47], placing Cornelius in very good company). (Ibid., 147)