Gospel as a sign that one has embraced the message and person of Jesus. In the Acts of the Apostles’ description of Paul and Silas’s missionary journey, Lydia (16:11–15), the Philippian jailer (16:25–34), Jason (17:5–8), and Titius Justus (18:7–8) all manifest their receptivity to the gospel through welcoming and hosting Paul and Silas in their homes. The early Christian texts, then, of 1 Clement, James, Matthew, and Luke-Acts, testify that hospitality to strangers was not an optional practice for
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