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ABSTRACT Figuring Jesus: the Power of Rhetorical Figures Of ABSTRACT Figuring Jesus: The Power of Rhetorical Figures of Speech in the Gospel of Luke Keith A. Reich, Ph.D. Mentor: Mikeal C. Parsons, Ph.D. This dissertation examines Luke’s use of rhetorical figures of speech on the lips of Jesus as a means of persuading his audience to accept a role-reversing message that challenged the social, religious, economic and political systems in the Roman Empire. A figure of speech is the use of either words or thoughts in a way that is uncommon or out of the ordinary. Because figures of speech are the “uncommon” use of language, they stand out to an audience and grab their attention. They are an artful ordering of words designed to be powerful, memorable, and to seize attention. This dissertation takes seriously the adage that says, “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.” The form of the Lukan Jesus’ speech is just as important as the content of that speech. To ignore the form of Jesus’ speech is to ignore the power and persuasiveness of his message. Luke uses figures of speech in various ways to persuade his audience of the gospel message. He uses figures of speech to fulfill the stylistic virtues of clarity and ornamentation. Fulfilling these stylistic virtues makes the Lukan Jesus’ argument easy to follow and impressive, serving as an ethos argument to portray Jesus as one who speaks like the social elites. Further, Luke uses figures as a means of argument and persuasion to draw the audience to side with Jesus and to participate in his message. These figures serve as arguments of ethos, logos, and pathos and create audience members who are invested in the character of Jesus and the gospel message. Finally, Luke uses powerful and memorable figures of speech to proclaim a message of role reversals in the major social, religious, economic, and political systems of the Roman Empire. Using figures of speech that are highly refined and artful allows the proclamation of this role-reversing message to resonate with the audience and ultimately to form its members Figuring Jesus: The Power of Rhetorical Figures of Speech in the Gospel of Luke by Keith A. Reich, B.A., M.Div. A Dissertation Approved by the Department of Religion ___________________________________ W. H. Bellinger, Jr., Ph.D., Chairperson Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Baylor University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Approved by the Dissertation Committee ___________________________________ Mikeal C. Parsons, Ph.D., Chairperson ___________________________________ Charles H. Talbert, Ph.D. ___________________________________ R. Alden Smith, Ph.D. Accepted by the Graduate School May 2010 ___________________________________ J. Larry Lyon, Ph.D., Dean Page bearing signatures is kept on file in the Graduate School. Copyright © 2010 by Keith A. Reich All rights reserved TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments v Dedication vii Chapter One: Introduction 1 The Problem 1 How does the Lukan Jesus Communicate 1 Figures of Speech 1 Rhetoric and Ancient Figures of Speech 3 What Does this Mode of Communication Accomplish 23 Review of Literature 25 Method 33 Argument 36 Chapter Two: Figures of Speech and the Stylistic Virtues of Clarity and Ornamentation 45 The Stylistic Virtue of Clarity 47 Examples of Figures of Clarity 48 The Stylistic Virtue of Ornamentation 74 Examples of Figures of Ornamentation 75 Conclusion 85 Chapter Three: Figures of Speech and the Art of Argumentation and Persuasion 88 The Art of Inducing Aporia 89 Examples of Aporia Figures 91 iii The Art of Inviting Audience Participation 114 Examples of Audience Participation Figures 115 Conclusion 127 Chapter Four: The Power of Figures of Speech in Communicating a Role-Reversing Message 130 Religious Boundary Systems 136 Examples of Role-Reversing Figures in Religious Boundary Systems 137 The Agrarian Stratification System 145 Examples of Role-Reversing Figures in the Agrarian Social Stratification System 145 The Patron-Client System 157 Examples of Role-Reversing Figures in the Patron-Client System 158 The Honor-Shame System 165 Examples of Role-Reversing Figures in the Honor-Shame System 165 Mediterranean Kinship Groups 176 Examples of Role-Reversing Figures in Mediterranean Kinship Groups 177 Conclusion 183 Chapter Five: Conclusion 184 Further Study and Concluding Comments 194 Appendix 196 Alphabetical List of Figures of Speech used by the Lukan Jesus 197 Bibliography 211 iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A work the size of a dissertation is by no means the work of one person, and there are many to whom I owe my gratitude for their help in bringing this current study to completion. First I would like to thank Dr. Mikeal Parsons who not only has served as my mentor, but also converted a supreme skeptic as to the use of classical rhetoric for New Testament interpretation to one who views classical rhetoric as an invaluable tool to such interpretation. I would also like to thank Dr. Charles Talbert whose extraordinary ability to take complex groups of information and see the inherent organization in them has benefitted my dissertation immensely; and Dr. Alden Smith who has given me valuable insights into this work from the perspective of a classicist. Many of my professors over the years have also played an integral role in shaping my education and ultimately this dissertation. I would like to thank Dr. Timothy Johnson who drilled Greek paradigms into my head, prompting many late nights and fits of rage, but who ultimately insured my continued knowledge of and passion for the Greek language; Dr. Ralph Wood who prompted my intellectual awakening and was pivotal in guiding my graduate studies both at Princeton Seminary and Baylor; and Dr. C. Clifton Black who first taught me to read the gospels as story. I am also grateful for my loving and supportive parents: for my Mother, Cass Macrina, who has always been a source of emotional support and intellectual curiosity and who taught me to love reading; and for or my father, James Reich, who taught me the value of hard work and responsibility and who has been as supportive of my studies as any father could be. v Last and certainly not least I would like to express my enormous gratitude and love to my wife Brooke, without whom this dissertation literally would never have been completed. Thank you for painstakingly reading through the many drafts of this dissertation and your ability to take the jumbled thoughts in my mind and help me put them into words that are understandable to anyone other than me. vi To Brooke I could not have done it without you vii CHAPTER ONE Introduction The Problem This dissertation attempts to answer two questions. (1) How does the Lukan Jesus communicate, and (2) what does such mode of communication accomplish? First, the Lukan Jesus communicates through a variety of rhetorical figures of speech. In the Gospel of Luke I have found approximately seven hundred figures of speech. Of those, nearly five hundred are spoken by Jesus.1 Nearly every sentence spoken by the Lukan Jesus contains a figure of speech. Second, by using highly refined rhetorical figures of speech, the Lukan Jesus speaks in the manner of an educated man of high social status, thereby gaining a hearing for his role-reversing message. How Does the Lukan Jesus Communicate? Figures of speech. In modern America, most people recognize the use of rhetorical figures of speech whether they are aware of it or not. For example, most Americans will recognize the phrase, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country,”2 though few will recognize this as an example of the 1 Of the total number of figures of speech spoken by the Lukan Jesus, I treat a relatively small number in detail in the body of this work. A complete list of the 471 figures I have discovered can be found in the Appendix. 2 John F. Kennedy, “Inaugural Address 20, January, 1961,” in Presidential Documents: The Speeches, Proclamations, and Policies that have Shaped the Nation 1 figures of speech antithesis and chiasmus.3 Likewise, most Americans will recognize the following quotation: And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that: Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.4 Few, however, will recognize the use of anaphora.5 Franklin Roosevelt used the figure of speech paronomasia6 when he said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."7 While one may not know the names or definitions of these figures of speech, the fact that these words are highly recognizable demonstrates the power of rhetorical figures from Washington to Clinton, (eds. J. F. Watts, and Fred L. Israel, New York: Routledge), 314. 3 Antithesis, Quintilian, Inst. 9.3.81-86; Ps-Cicero, Rhet. Her. 4.15.21; Chiasmus, Galen O. Rowe, “Style,” In Handbook of Classical Rhetoric in the Hellenistic Period: 330 B.C. - A.D. 400, (ed. Stanley Porter, Leiden: Brill, 2001), 137; Ps-Cicero, Rhet. Her. 4.18.39. 4 Martin Luther King, Jr., “I Have a Dream,” in I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches the Changed the World, (ed. James Melvin Washington; San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1996), 105. 5 Quintilian, Inst. 9.3.30; Ps-Cicero, Rhet.
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