SOURCE: Ascough, Richard S. “Narrative Technique and Generic Designation: Crowd Scenes in Luke-Acts and in Chariton.” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 58, no. 1 (January 1996): 69-81.

In the following essay, Ascough argues that the crowd scenes in Chaereas and Callirhoe served as models for the author of the biblical books of Luke and Acts.

The question of the genre of Luke-Acts has long intrigued biblical scholars, and the debate continues to rage with no sign of subsiding.¹ The aim of this paper is not to referee this complex debate. Rather, it will use some of the suggestions this debate has generated to assist the investigation into Luke's presentation of crowds. In particular, it will show that Luke's presentation of crowds has a close affinity with crowd scenes in the ancient Greek novels. In doing so, special attention will be given to Chariton's Chaereas and Callirhoe. The similarities suggest that, since novels were...