A new, comprehensive bibliography of books and articles on the rhetoric of the New Testament published since AD 1500. The bibliography is arranged by categories, which include Jewish heritage, invention, arrangement, style, hermeneutics, with specific listings for each book of the NT. It is prefaced with a select bibliography of primary and secondary sources on classical and modern rhetoric. An invaluable research tool.
Paul and Rhetoric contains essays that have been presented in a seminar called "Paul and Rhetoric" in the annual meetings of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas, the leading international forum for New Testament and Christian Origin scholars. Translated into English, these essays, by leaders in the field and in the topic, engage and represent modern scholarship on Paul and rhetorical studies. The foundational essays are listed under the heading "State of the Discussion", attempting to take the major rhetorical categories of the time contemporary with Paul (types of rhetoric, invention and arrangement, and figures and tropes) and, first, lays out where the discussion is now. They then note the problems and highlights where continued discussion and deliberation would be helpful. The "Broad Questions" section asks what can be learned about reading Paul's letters to congregations in light of ancient epistolography, how theology and rhetoric are related (because the two are often treated as if they are alien to one another), and how ancient rhetoric and ancient psychology are associated with one another. All in all a volume that illustrates, examines and assesses where we are now in the study of rhetorical traditions in Pauline scholarship, and in some instances suggests the direction of future studies.
This book offers a unique overview of the development of rhetorical criticism both in North America and internationally through the work of pioneering New Testament scholar Thomas H. Olbricht. Lauri Thurén has gathered nineteen of Olbricht's essays as a guidebook to rhetorical criticism for students, clergy, and scholars. The range of essays from throughout Olbricht's career illuminate the history of rhetorical criticism and reflect the different motivations of ancient and contemporary rhetorical approaches. Essays focus on the history of biblical rhetorical analysis, the rhetorical analysis of biblical texts, the characteristics of rhetorical analysis, and types of biblical rhetorical criticism. A foreword by Thurén and a memorial essay by Carl R. Holladay contextualize Olbricht's work. Anyone interested in the rhetorical study of the New Testament will find this volume inspiring and informative.
The first letter to the Corinthians is one of the most discussed biblical books in New Testament scholarship today. Despite this, there has been no consensus on its arrangement and central theme, in particular why the topic of the resurrection was left until the end of the letter, and what its theological significance would have been to the Corinthian church. Matthew R. Malcolm analyses this rhetoric of 'reversal', examines the unity of the epistle, and addresses key problems behind particular chapters. He argues that while Jewish and Greco-Roman resources contribute significantly to the overall arrangement of the letter, Paul writes as one whose identity and rhetorical resources of structure and imagery have been transformed by his preaching, or kerygma, of Christ. The study will be of interest to students of New Testament studies, Pauline theology and early Christianity.
This volume brings together essays on John and Hebrews by William R. G. Loader. Beside his monographs on John and Hebrews are numerous contributions to journals, conference volumes, and Festschriften, of which a representative selection is gathered here into a single volume. They discuss how these writings portray Jesus and his significance and deal with continuity and discontinuity with Israel's tradition, as well as address the ethical issues which these texts raise and also evoke.
A sociorhetorical analysis of First Corinthians Robert H. von Thaden Jr.'s sociorhetorical analysis examines Paul's construction of sexual Christian bodies in First Corinthians by utilizing new insights from conceptual integration (blending) theory about the embodied processes of meaning making. Paul's teaching about proper sexual behavior in this letter is best viewed as an example of early Christian wisdom discourse. This discourse draws upon apocalyptic and priestly cognitive frames to increase the rhetorical force of the argument. Reading Paul's argument through the lens of rhetorical invention, von Thaden demonstrates that Paul first attempts to show the Corinthians why sexual immorality is the worst of all bodily sins before shifting rhetorical focus to explain to them how they can best avoid this infraction against the body of Christ. Features: A programmatic application of conceptual integration theory using a sociorhetorical mode of interpretation A vivid account of key aspects of conceptual integration theory and how they function in sociorhetorical interpretation A detailed application of these strategies to interpret 1 Corinthians 1-4; 6:12-7:7
In this innovative study, Anna Miller challenges prevailing New Testament scholarship that has largely dismissed the democratic civic assembly--the ekklēsia--as an institution that retained real authority in the first century CE. Using an interdisciplinary approach, she examines a range of classical and early imperial sources to demonstrate that ekklēsia democracy continued to saturate the eastern Roman Empire, widely impacting debates over authority, gender, and speech. In the first letter to the Corinthians, she demonstrates that Paul's persuasive rhetoric is itself shaped and constrained by the democratic discourse he shares with his Corinthian audience. Miller argues that these first-century Corinthians understood their community as an authoritative democratic assembly in which leadership and "citizenship" cohered with the public speech and discernment open to each. This Corinthian identity illuminates struggles and debates throughout the letter, including those centered on leadership, community dynamics, and gender. Ultimately, Miller's study offers new insights into the tensions that inform Paul's letter. In turn, these insights have critical implications for the dialogue between early Judaism and Hellenism, the study of ancient politics and early Christianity, and the place of gender in ancient political discourse.
While most books on biblical rhetoric focus primarily on the epistles, this volume from prominent scholar C. Clifton Black considers the variety of rhetorical critical approaches now being applied to the Gospels (including Lukeâ€"Acts). This updated edition takes into account recent research since the first volume was published in 2001 and features two brand new chapters. Black provides an overview of the different forms of rhetorical criticism, with examples from the Gospel of John; studies of characterization in Matthew and Luke; an analysis of classical rhetorical criteria found in Mark and Lukeâ€"Acts; and an analysis of the rhetoric of the parables with implications for contemporary preaching.