The Fowler Fallacy: Biography, History, and the Genre of Luke-Acts

Although many New Testament scholars imagine Alastair Fowler's family resemblance model of genre to be at the cutting edge of literary scholarship, contemporary discussion has moved in different directions. To overcome what I shall refer to as the "Fowler fallacy," an alternative approach focuses on genre agnation—considering similarities and differences. I argue that many New Testament scholars have neglected these developments in genre theory, ranging from Richard Burridge's classic statement on the gospels genre (and his subsequent application to Acts) to one of the most recent assessments, that of Luke-Acts by Daniel Smith and Zachary Kostopoulos.