LOGIA a journal of lutheran theology Lutheranism & the Classics EastErtidE 2012 volumE XXi, numbEr 2 LOGIA A JOURNAL OF LUTHERAN THEOLOGY EastErtidE 2012 volume xxi, number 2 CONTENTS Foreward ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5 articles The Greco-Roman Savior: Jesus in the Age of Augustus Peter Scaer ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Paul’s Vision of “A Certain Macedonian” in Troas: How Might Luke’s Original Audience Have Heard the Narration of Acts 16:9? Robert Sorensen ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 11 Luther and the Classical Tradition in the Heidelberg Disputation of 1518 E. Christian Kopff ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 15 Deipnosophistae Reformed: Classical Intertexts in Luther’s Tischreden Alden Smith ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 19 Classical Education as Vocational Education: Luther on the Liberal Arts Gene Edward Veith .................................................................................................................................................................................... 23 Wise, Steadfast, and Magnanimous: Patrons of the Classics in Luther’s Wittenberg Carl P. E. Springer ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 27 Philipp Melanchthon and the “Poor Roof” of Wittenberg Humanism Jon Steffen Bruss ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 33 Making a University Lutheran: Philipp Melanchthon and the Reform of the University of Tübingen in the 1530s Susan Mobley .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 41 Greek Epic Verse and the Lutheran Liturgy Diane Louise Johnson ............................................................................................................................................................................... 47 The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge: Defending Classical Liberal Education from Melanchthon to Newman Mark A. Kalthoff ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 51 Truth, Beauty, and Goodness in Thought, Word, and Deed: Unleashing the Power of Rhetoric James M. Tallmon ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 56 Ridentem Dicere Verum: Horatian Satire and God’s Law Dale A. Meyer ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 60 Fundamenta fideliter iecit: Lutheran Eloquence and the Muses of Classical Scholarship Robert W. Ulery Jr. .................................................................................................................................................................................... 64 Teaching Greek at the Seminary John G. Nordling ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 69 Also this Issue Call for Manuscripts ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 10 Inklings by Jim Wilson ................................................................................................................................................................................. 59 Truth, Beauty, and Goodness in Thought, Word, and Deed Unleashing the Power of Rhetoric James M. Tallmon • Now if (as we have assumed) there were no souls, and there Rhetoric — along with dialectic — forms not only the mental were no need at all of schools and languages for the sake habits capable of treating of truth, beauty, and goodness, but of the Scriptures and of God, this one consideration alone also character. To understand this dynamic entails under- would be sufficient to justify the establishment everywhere standing the relationship of dialectic to rhetoric, then of poet- of the very best schools for both boys and girls, namely, ics to rhetoric, and ultimately, of rhetoric to ethics. This paper that in order to maintain its temporal estate outwardly the therefore details my own approach — and its pedagogical un- world must have good and capable men and women, men derpinnings — to teaching rhetoric and dialectic. The analysis able to rule well over land and people, women able to man- culminates in some observations on the well-known sentence age the household and train children and servants aright. that captures the educational bearing of Lutheran reformers Martin Luther (AE 45: 367–68) such as Luther, Melanchthon, Bugenhagen, and Sturm, “The aim of education is a wise and eloquent piety.” tatements like these, easy to come by, indicate the Teaching toward the achievement of excellence in the prac- importance Doctor Luther placed on education. The hy- tical arts is different from teaching for the mastery of subject pothetical notwithstanding (a universe where there were matter. The former features praxis and minimizes theory; the Sno souls), Luther clearly considers “the very best schools” those latter emphasizes contemplation and theory. Theory informs based on a classical liberal arts curriculum to educate boys practice, to be sure, but the seminar-style discussion of read- and girls for two ends: growth in the faith (“for the sake of the ings (the “Great Books” approach) will not help students hone Scriptures and God”) and cultivation of good leaders for both their rhetorical or dialectical skills as much as getting in front the “temporal estate” and families. Those parts of the curricu- of an audience and making arguments or engaging in debate lum that equip especially for handling God’s truth well and for about contemporary controversies. To master the piano one leadership are dialectic and rhetoric, which should not just be does not merely immerse oneself in music theory or read the mastered theoretically, but applied so as to cultivate wise judg- lives of great musicians. One learns to read notes and practices ment. Through these arts of wisdom and eloquence the stu- every day until the skill becomes “second nature.” Theory is dent develops mental dexterity and aesthetic sensibilities and then tackled as one matures in one’s art. Theory follows prac- is ultimately equipped to be a good Christian exercising practi- tice. Again, theory is vital, but it is not age-appropriate to “lead” cal wisdom. “In the restored man dialectic and rhetoric will with volumes of theory. go along hand in hand as the regime of the human faculties In my Public Speaking course I attempt to lay a foundation intended that they should do.”1 in rhetoric that guides students in the fundamentals of speech This is the restorative effort of classical Lutheran education, composition. What one considers fundamental is, of course, built around dialectic and rhetoric and aimed at equipping stu- open to interpretation, but I demonstrate why a rhetorical ap- dents to pursue excellence. Indeed, proach to the art of speech making, in the classical liberal arts vein, teaches the true fundamentals and elevates the enterprise Liberal arts schooling always seeks to educate the con- without overburdening students with 2,500 years of theory. science and . liberal arts thinking blended with Christian I begin by pointing out to my students that they already know theology promises the greatest opportunity for genuine a great deal about eye contact, gestures, volume, rate, pitch, and character education. Of the three elements of the trivium, so forth, and that I could cover those topics in about a half-hour. rhetoric is most helpful in the construction of a total cur- So, what are we going to discuss for the rest of the semester? riculum with character formation and cultural leadership as its chief goals.2 1. Richard M. Weaver, “The Cultural Role of Rhetoric,” in Lan- guage is Sermonic (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1970), 184. James M. Tallmon is Professor of Rhetoric and Director of Distance 2. Robert Littlejohn and Charles T. Evans, Wisdom and Eloquence: A Learning at Patrick Henry College. He thanks Jacinta VanZandt for Christian Paradigm for Classical Learning (Wheaton,