Witnessing with Parrēsia: Fearless Speech in the Acts of the Apostles

Abstract

The Acts of the Apostles is a relevant New Testament document for discussing fearless speech (parrēsia) in early Christianity. According to Michel Foucault, parrēsia is a verbal activity that ultimately constitutes a philosophical attitude, namely, the parrēsiastic attitude, in which the speaker is bound to his/her utterances and their risky consequences. More precisely, Foucault’s concept of parrēsia is framed by the notions of frankness rather than persuasion, truth instead of silence, courage in contrast to fear, criticism instead of praise, and moral duty in opposition to self-interest. This multifaceted definition of parrēsia seems to provide a heuristic framework of reference for exploring fearless speech in Acts. However, it is unclear whether this framework, which results from Foucault’s problematisation of Greek parrēsia, properly captures the picture of parrēsia in the narrative of Acts. The present article critically engages with Foucault’s multifaceted conception of parrēsia. Comparatively, it evaluates how parrēsia is similar to and different from expressions of fearless speech observed in the use of parrēsia in Acts.

Keywords:

• Acts
• fearless speech
• Foucault
• parrēsia
• testimony
• witness