theological claims from narrative recounting—that is, from the story of what God has done among the gentiles.33 Peter and Barnabas and Paul bear witness to what God has done, and James relates Peter’s report to Scripture and derives a decision from it. The narrator presents Peter as making the primary case, which he does through the recounting of the events surrounding Cornelius and his house. The following attempts to capture his logic: Whereas, you yourselves are aware that at the beginning of