Acts 14:1-27 continues the story of the mission of Paul and Barnabas among the Gentiles, illustrating what happened when they had decided to turn from the Jews (cf. 13.46-47) to devote their attention to the Gentiles. Following an account of Paul's initial struggle with this decision, brought out more clearly in Codex Bezae, Luke describes the mitigated success of his first deliberate attempts to talk with the Gentiles about the gospel. The establishment of the first churches as a result of the missionary work of Paul and Barnabas is described as the passage concludes by bringing the missionaries back to Antioch of Syria, where Luke is careful to maintain the focus on the Gentiles.
The question of Paul's prophet-like apostolate has gained renewed interest due to the "Radical New Perspective", claiming that Paul remained fully within the confines of his Jewish identity. His prophetic call to become an apostle (Galatians 1) serves to substantiate that. The only new thing is that Paul came to a new understanding of the time, i.e. the time for the ingathering of the Gentiles had arrived (Pamela Eisenbaum). The present article argues that the prophetic model is not sufficient to explain how the Damascus event influenced the apostle's theology and mission. This event initiated a process of "slow conversion" as well.