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This collection of essays provides original studies of various New Testament texts read through the eyes of rhetorical criticism as well as a tribute to the continuing influence of Wilhelm Wuellner and his work.
In scholarly study of the New Testament and early Christian rhetoric, one key element is often overlooked: the sublime. To address this omission, contributors to this volume explore how the awe-inspiring, dislocating, and sometimes horrifying language that characterizes sublime rhetoric exerts cognitive, emotional, and physiological force on its audiences, transporting them to new realities as they go along. The essays lay a foundation for scholars and students to identify and interpret sublime rhetoric in biblical literature. Contributors include Murray J. Evans, Alan P. R. Gregory, Christopher T. Holmes, Roy R. Jeal, Harry O. Maier, Erika Mae Olbricht, Thomas H. Olbricht†, Vernon K. Robbins, and Jonathan Thiessen.
Rhetorical criticism promised to bring New Testament studies into a new era that approached the Bible as a document of persuasive discourse. Major proponents of this approach suggested that its potential lies in its democratization of biblical interpretation. To date, that promise has never been fulfilled. The reasons can be found by exploring the rhetoric of these rhetorical critics. Such an exploration uncovers systems of disciplinary constraints and discursive habits that keep rhetoric firmly within traditional units of academic biblical interpretation. The promise of rhetoric can only be fulfilled by shattering all notions of a rhetorical 'programme' of biblical interpretation.
This is the third in a series of conference papers on rhetorical criticism. Held in July 1995 in London, the conference included participants from the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and the Republic of South Africa. Part I is concerned with the past, present and future of rhetorical analysis; Parts II, III and IV are concerned with rhetorical analysis of scriptural texts; and Part V provides a conclusion reflecting on a number of questions raised in Part I. Most of the participants would characterize themselves as advocates of rhetorical criticism; but there were others less convinced that rhetorical criticism is developing as it ought.
A major scholarly collaboration exploring vivid visual rhetoric in the New Testament From Jesus’s miraculous walk on water to the graphic horrors of hell, New Testament authors make vivid and unforgettable images appear before their audience’s eyes. In the past decade, scholarship on early Christian use of ancient rhetorical techniques has flourished. One focus of rhetorical criticism of the New Testament has been the function of ekphrasis, or vivid visual description. In this landmark collection, leading New Testament scholars come together to probe the purpose and import of ekphrasis in early Christian literature. The research in this collection explores the relationship between vivid ...
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.
Explore insights, methodologies, and advances in socio-rhetorical interpretation Essays in this volume from Vernon K. Robbins merge social and rhetorical strategies of interpretation and set the stage for how socio-rhetorical interpretation has developed in the context of research into the rhetoric of religious antiquity. This book contains “By Land and By Sea: The We Passages and Ancient Sea Voyages” (1978), which initially received widespread praise and then became an object of significant criticism. The volume includes Robbins’s varied, detailed responses to both encouragement and critique of his approach. Features: Introduction to the collection by David B. Gowler Twelve essays that programmatically study early Christian texts using resources from the social sciences Reflections on the future of socio-rhetorical criticism
First Thessalonians is one of the most discussed books of the New Testament. This volume by today's top Thessalonians scholars introduces readers to the current scholarly debate on Paul's earliest letter, discussing the difficult challenges that 1 Thessalonians poses to modern readers and explaining the various methods now being used to interpret this important New Testament letter.
In the search for Matthean theology, scholars overwhelmingly approach the Gospel of Matthew as the "the most Jewish Gospel." Studies of its Sitz im Leben focus on its relationship to Judaism, whether arguing from the perspective that Matthew wrote from a cloistered Jewish community or as the leader of a Gentile rebellion against such a Jewish community. While this is undoubtedly an important and necessary discussion for understanding the Gospel, it often assumes too much about the relationship between Judaism and Hellenism (via Martin Hengel). Robert S. Kinney argues for a hybridized perspective in which Matthew's attention to Jewish sources and ideas is not denied, but in which echoes of Greek and Roman sources can be observed, focusing on identifying Matthew's use of rhetoric and its possible echoes of Greco-Roman philosophical disciple-gathering teachers.