Early reports of Cornelius's conversion may have been fragmented and garbled. To set the record straight, Peter explains (18:26; 28:23) the situation in an orderly fashion (compare Lk 1:3; NIV's everything . . . precisely as it had happened communicates more the intent than the method itself). Peter's report is an orderly, reliable, factual account of the divine initiatives in word and deed that brought Cornelius and him together.

Luke shows the reliability of his account by using it as a second witness to the events of Acts 10 (compare Deut 19:15). He presents it as a first-person eyewitness report. All the events are relayed either as Peter experienced them (his vision, Acts 11:5-10; the arrival of Cornelius's men and the Spirit's command, vv. 11-12; the Spirit's coming, vv. 15) or as they were reported directly to him (Cornelius's vision, vv. 13-14). The six brothers are brought in as witnesses as well (vv. 12-15). Their number may be significant for commending the truthfulness of the account to Luke's Roman audience, since it was the custom in Rome to authenticate a really important document by attaching seven seals to it (Barclay 1976:87). Finally, Peter calls on his audience as witnesses when he likens what happened at Caesarea to what they themselves experienced at Pentecost (v. 15).

This is above all a factual report of the divine initiative via interpreted acts to bring salvation to the Gentiles. Peter makes no comment on his personal circumstances, his perplexity about the vision or his own interpretation of the events' significance (10:9-10, 17, 19, 28-29, 34-35). He lets the facts speak for themselves. Any interpretation of their significance is objective and revealed, for it comes from heaven, the Spirit and the angel (11:7, 9, 12, 14).

In this way Peter teaches the main lessons of his experience. God has cleansed all foods (v. 9). The dietary laws that marked the distinction between Jew and non-Jew are abolished. The Spirit commands that Peter live out this new freedom by accompanying uncircumcised men to their master's house, "not making any distinctions" (v. 12). He is not to treat them as he would have when the food laws, which made distinctions, were still in force (diakrinanta should be taken as a true active [Marshall 1980:196], not with its middle meaning, "hesitation," as in NIV, probably under the influence of 10:29; compare 10:20). The angel tells Cornelius that the purpose of Peter's visit is to proclaim a message by which uncircumcised Gentiles may enter into salvation (11:14).

Indications of Peter's understanding of the events' significance are not entirely lacking. He emphasizes the divine origin of his vision (11:5/10:11). He stresses the providential ordering of events by his immediate juxtaposition of them: his vision and Cornelius's men's arrival (11:11/10:17-18), the beginning of Peter's preaching and the coming of the Spirit (11:15/10:44). Finally, he hints at the divine rejection of the Jewish taboo against entering a Gentile's house when he notes that the angel appears in his [Cornelius's] house (11:13).

From the content of Peter's report we learn again that the real hero of the Cornelius conversion narrative is God, "the gracious prodding One who makes bold promises and keeps them, who finds a way even in the midst of human distinctions and partiality between persons" (Willimon 1988:99). Where distinctions born of racial, ethnic, class or gender prejudice stand as obstacles to the advance of the gospel, we can be sure that God will prod us to eliminate them.

Peter's method shows that "the proof of Christianity always lies in facts" (Barclay 1976:87). God speaks a word and then fulfills it. God acts to fulfill his saving purposes and then interprets that act so that we may understand and appropriate it to ourselves. Whether for the Christian or the non-Christian, the method and the expected response are always the same: report the facts through reliable witnesses; receive, believe and act on the report.