(Continued) 2. At first I concentrated on searching for the historical facts. Then a theologian friend

pointed out that the Bible is to be read initially as literature, and as such it can, and must, be compared with other literature (intertextuality). The question of historical facts only arises on the second level.

This prompted me to thorough study of classical literature and philology. Homer, Virgil, Ovid, Lucan and other heathen writers were model authors in the classical period and Homer the model for the New Testament authors who wrote in Greek.

If the New Testament is compared with their works, it becomes clear that far from being non-literary memoirs, the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles were written by authors familiar with, and in imitation of, the literary conventions of their time.