Tracing Kairos: the Modern Applicability of St. Augustine Kelly D

Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2008 Tracing Kairos: The Modern Applicability of St. Augustine Kelly D. Israel Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES TRACING KAIROS: THE MODERN APPLICABILITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE By KELLY D. ISRAEL A Thesis submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2008 Copyright © 2008 Kelly D. Israel All Rights Reserved The members of the Committee approve the Thesis of Kelly D. Israel, defended on April 16, 2008. _____________________ Kristie S. Fleckenstein Professor Directing Thesis ____________________ Elaine Treharne Committee Member ____________________ Kathleen Blake Yancey Committee Member Approved: ____________________ R.M. Berry, Chair, English Department The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract v 1. AN IMPOSSIBLE APPLICABILITY 6 2. A RHETORICAL SITUATION ACROSS TIME 14 The Modern Rhetorical Situation 14 A Redefinition 19 Synthesizing the Modern and Medieval: A Rhetorical Situation for All Times 26 Framework of Analysis 27 3. THE RHETORICAL SITUATION OF ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE 28 On Christian Doctrine 28 Exigence 30 Audience 33 Constraints 39 Rhetor 40 Ethics 43 Conclusion 45 4. THE RHETORICAL SITUATION OF JESUS AMONG OTHER GODS 46 Jesus Among Other Gods 48 Exigence 49 Audience 51 Constraints 53 Rhetor 55 iii Ethics 55 Conclusion 59 5. DETERMINING AN IMPOSSIBLE APPLICABILITY 60 Exigences 60 Audiences 62 Constraints 63 Rhetors 65 Ethics 65 Conclusions 66 WORKS CITED 68 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 71 iv ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to test the applicability of ancient texts to contemporary concerns. More specifically, it seeks to determine the relevance of Christianity’s forefathers today. This thesis examines the rhetorical situation of Augustine’s On Christian Doctrine and that of Jesus Among Other Gods by Ravi Zacharias to determine if the two bear similarities when tested by one framework of analysis, which is derived herein by an analysis of the concept of the modern rhetorical situation and of the classical concept of kairos. v CHAPTER I: AN IMPOSSIBLE APPLICABILITY “We would do well to remember, however, what Augustine said: ‘We are never to judge a philosophy by its abuse’” (Jesus Among Other Gods, viii). Attempting to defend Christianity against its foes, Ravi Zacharias, a twenty-first century Indian-born Christian author, speaker, and apologist, grapples with the fate of Christianity in a world that questions and sometimes rejects morality and absolute truth. In his Doctrina de Christiana, Saint Augustine, a fifth century Christian theologian who lived in the Roman Empire, grapples with the difficulty of interpreting scripture and encourages and defends the use of rhetoric, a pagan art, to explicate and advance the fledgling faith of Christianity. Separated by more than 1600 years, these two theologians, one postmodern and one early Medieval, attend to theological issues plaguing the faithful during their respective eras. In his work, Zacharias cites Augustine for insight and authority when speaking on Christian issues, and he is certainly not alone in this practice. Given the challenges confronting not only Zacharias but also any Christian theologian in this postmodern era, it is often desirable to call upon Christianity’s forefathers, such as Augustine, to achieve specific postmodern rhetorical goals. So, regardless of the differences between today and the early Middle Ages, Augustine is employed as a rhetorical and religious authority by many modern theologians, including Zacharias. However, vast historical, temporal, and cultural disparities suggest that Augustine’s work may have little relevance to contemporary Christian theology as a whole. Thus, while Augustine is lauded as a pioneer of Christian apology and is cited as an authority of Christian doctrine, and while, undoubtedly, his works have historical value and his views were relevant to his contemporaries, the question concerning the legitimacy of his authority in a postmodern world almost sixteen centuries later needs to be addressed since it seems almost impossible to apply the medieval to the postmodern. So does using his work to gain insight into postmodern theological problems have any benefits besides the name value of a famous saint, or is Augustine an impossible applicability so many centuries later? 6 It is this seemingly “impossible applicability” that I explore in this thesis. The question that defines the project is as follows: Does Augustine constitute a valid authority for twenty-first century theological controversies? Answering this central question depends upon answering a second question: Does Augustine’s fifth century rhetorical situation align with that of a twenty- first century theologian? If the web of factors motivating Augustine is congruent with that which motivates Zacharias, as an exemplary representative of a twenty-first century apologist, and if the elements of their rhetorical situations are similar, then justification exists for applying Augustine’s insights to postmodern theological conflicts even amid historical and cultural disjunctures. Therefore, in this project, I assess Augustine’s twenty-first century authority—his power to speak through the centuries to postmodern audiences—by investigating his rhetorical situation to determine if it aligns with that of one contemporary theologian, Ravi Zacharias1. In order to achieve this goal, I will focus on the rhetorical situation that gave rise to Augustine’s On Christian Doctrine and compare that situation to the one from which Zacharias’s work, Jesus Among Other Gods, emerges. On Christian Doctrine was the most suitable of Augustine’s text for a variety of reasons. Not only does it already deal with the subject of rhetoric, but it contains systematic, intellectual appeals, aligning it with the style of Jesus Among Other Gods. It also has evangelism as its end goal, as does Jesus Among Other Gods. I have chosen Zacharias for this study as my exemplary twenty-first century Christian representative for several reasons. Rather than addressing spiritual or emotional matters, such as addiction problems or marital woes that are largely unique to the individual, his overarching purpose is to confront an issue, the position of Christianity in a postmodern world, that plagues the entirety of the Christian sect in the twenty-first century. The far-reaching nature of his goal makes him similar to Augustine, who also addressed a concern that he felt affected Christianity as a whole. Also, though he perhaps has a lesser degree of fame than other prominent Christians such as Billy Graham or Charles Stanley, Zacharias is a world-renowned apologist. He has been a citizen of three different countries, travelled abroad for over thirty years, and has been a lifetime 1 Although Catholic Augustine is Catholic and Zacharias a Protestant, they still offer a fruitful site of study. Denomination differences are outweighed by doctrinal similarities. Thus, despite their different methods of prayer and preferred liturgy, both men worship the same omnipotent creator-God, a member of the Holy Trinity, and believe in the saving power of belief in Jesus, the sinless, incarnate Son of God. Alignment in these major areas compensates for any minor differences in domination and worship styles. 7 student of theology. His travel and studies have given him expansive knowledge of world cultures and religions and the opportunity to experience first-hand a wide variety of attitudes towards Christianity. Therefore, he can authoritatively speak on Christianity’s world position and world reputation. Zacharias also shares a similarity with Augustine in that he was not born a Christian but converted later to the faith. From among Zacharias’s body of work, I chose to examine Jesus Among Other Gods for several reasons. It is representative of his body of work as a whole in that it appeals to logic and intellect when making the case for the validity of Christianity. While being a good example of Zacharias’s customary approach to evangelism, it shares similarities with On Christian Doctrine in that it has evangelism as its ultimate goal despite dealing with different subject matter. The value of this study lies in finding increased applicability in texts that are centuries old. Augustine’s work, which is not only read less as the decades progress but read with less depth, is nonetheless continuously lauded in Christian circles as foundational to the faith. Augustine’s insights were undoubtedly valuable in the sense that they helped inspire early believers and launch Christianity towards becoming a world religion, but it also seems that a writer of such devotion, intellect, and persuasive power, no matter what the time period, could have something relevant to say to modern Christians. It could prove useful to them to learn the insights and strategies Augustine found expeditious when encouraging or instructing believers or persuading nonbelievers. An analysis of Augustine’s rhetorical situation and a comparison of it to that of a postmodern representative exigence can help answer the question of his current applicability and highlight ways in which rhetoricians and theologians might return to Augustine for insights into

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