A Text centred rhetorical analysis of Paul's Letter to Titus

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the vilification section, more specifically, a section where a profession to know God is cancelled out by ethical conduct that translates into a denial of Him. The present vice list is therefore a graphic picture of behaviour that demonstrates an absence of the knowledge of God. In other words, Paul is saying, “We also were like ‘them’”. The use of this shame list constitutes what I term self-vilification, which serves to induce disgust within the hearers. By forcing them to remember their past, especially the shamefulness thereof, the overarching rhetorical objective of compliance to the sound teaching is compellingly reinforced. Quinn (1990:201) is particularly helpful when he demonstrates how, through rhyming endings (assonance) in –oi, several items on the list are linked. Thus, ajnovhtoi is linked with the third word, planwvmenoi, and the sixth, stughtoiv. The list evinces a combination of asyndeton and syndetic pairing. The conjunction, kaiv, appears very strategically within the two participial phrases of the sentence: douleuvonte" ejpiqumivai" kai; hJdonai`" poikivlai", ejn kakiva/ kai; fqovnw/ diavgonte". Quinn (1990:201) is perhaps correct when he identifies this as the “central chiasmus” of the section. Moreover, he shows how the assonated sounds encircle the central chiasmus: douleuvonte" ejpiqumivai" kai; hJdonai`" poikivlai" ejn kakiva/ kai; fqovnw/ diavgonte" This chiasmus is introduced and concluded by the alliteration and rhyme of douleuvonte" … diavgonte" (Quinn, 1990:202).The rhetorical function of the chiasm is to emphasise how servitude to vice (douleuvonte") becomes a manner of life (diavgonte"). The verb douleuvw is furthermore an instance of paranomasia. It has been preceded by the noun dou`lo" in both plural (2:9) and singular (1:1) form. Its use, however, in this present context, is a development of the previous two occasions in that it now functions in a metaphorical sense. The two earlier instances of the theme of slavery were communicated in a positive light, while the present one is presented as PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com 127
negative. Paranomasia and the metaphorical nuance of the slavery thus highlight the negative side of enslavement. True freedom is therefore not freedom from an earthly or divine master, but rather from ejpiqumivai" kai; hJdonai`" poikivlai", and ejn kakiva/ kai; fqovnw diavgonte". In other words, the real slaves are not those who serve earthly masters, but those who serve sin. Interestingly, the apostle, by using the first person plural pronoun, presents himself as one who is presently a slave of God (1:1), and as one who was previously (potev) a slave of sin (3:3). Scholars are keen to interpret the vice list as follows: We were not really much better than other people; “hence let us not be too hard on the people who are still in that condition, but let us strive by godly conduct to win them for Christ” (Hendriksen, 1972:389). Such an interpretation unfortunately ignores the key concern of this discourse, namely, the supremacy, efficacy and necessity of sound teaching and hence the urgency of compliance to sound teaching. The evangelistic efficacy of the gospel follows as a result of the believers’ compliance and embracing, through the totality of their lives, of legitimate teaching. The Cretans are not yet at the place where they have grasped or demonstrated that they have grasped the necessity for legitimate teaching. Instead, there is reason to believe that they are allowing themselves to come under the influence of illegitimate teachers and their teaching, resulting in conduct that places the integrity of God's word or legitimate teaching at risk. These two lists present them with an opportunity to evaluate their pre-and post-conversion behaviour. It holds before them two kinds of behaviour that are mutually exclusive. The overall rhetorical impact of this section is to emphasise the utter unworthiness of Paul, Titus, the Cretan believers and the rest of humanity. Conclusion The dominant rhetorical objective of the vice list in verse 3 is to evoke disgust at past sinful behaviour, in order to reinforce behaviour in the present that complies with sound doctrine. It has been shown how scholars all too often gloss over this section by a) interpreting it exclusively from an evangelistic PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com 128
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A TEXT-CENTRED RHETORICAL ANALYSIS
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DECLARATION I declare that the diss
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SECTION 2 RHETORICAL ANALYSIS 2.1 R
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SECTION 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 OVERVIEW
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The content of the authorship debat
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consistently identified as pioneer
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J. Quinn. Their list of scholars ad
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Uncharacteristic Pauline theology:
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etc. are not referring to actual pe
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History never lies” (Titus 1:2)?
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meaning as determined by historical
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other to explain what these critics
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1.1.2.4 Conclusion The various theo
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Excursus: Cumulative-complimentary
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Lumping or clustering apparent oppo
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these letters on a more individual
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Furthermore, the name Jesus Christ
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C. 1. qeou` and swthvr depend on do
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accentuate the unmistakable role of
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order to prove issues of authorship
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Miller (1997:124) is particularly u
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Next, Van Neste goes on to show how
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There have been some recent excepti
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The first part of the analysis is e
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offer any translations in this rega
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novel. To the best of my knowledge,
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ather than as a supplement to the T
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Accordingly, the research hypothesi
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•Step 3: Where deemed necessary,
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The rhetorical situation correspond
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Titus' primary assignment is to app
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Throughout the letter, Paul shares
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equally negative conduct (1:16). In
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2.2.1.1 Emphasising the legitimacy
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strategically throughout this secti
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This section is suffused with the r
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and trustworthiness. This choice of
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“By whose authority are you imple
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“shared knowledge”. The qualiti
Page 79 and 80: espectively within the same sentenc
Page 81 and 82: dichotomy at the front end of this
Page 83 and 84: church. Implicit contrasting is als
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Page 87 and 88: The second part of verse 13 contain
Page 89 and 90: different groups. He relentlessly p
Page 91 and 92: implicit contrasting. The negative
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Page 99 and 100: The subject is the older women. Thi
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Page 103 and 104: 2.2.5.6 The behaviour of slaves In
Page 105 and 106: or originating from God (tou' … q
Page 107 and 108: to God and this paves the way for t
Page 109 and 110: This explains the use of inclusive
Page 111 and 112: Furthermore, through the direct rep
Page 113 and 114: what grace is instructing the belie
Page 115 and 116: Paul demonstrates that he is himsel
Page 117 and 118: The section closes with the apostle
Page 119 and 120: Another technique is personificatio
Page 121 and 122: the apostle adopts to persuade his
Page 123 and 124: Most commentators treat ejxousivai
Page 125 and 126: person. Interestingly, both instanc
Page 127 and 128: 2.2.8 Titus 3:3: Evoking disgust wi
Page 129: purpose while Mounce (2000:446) bel
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Page 141 and 142: through self-vilification in the op
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Page 145 and 146: ejpoihvsamen hJmei`" (works) ajlla;
Page 147 and 148: these titles. The future appearance
Page 149 and 150: The certainty and completeness of t
Page 151 and 152: The next two words in v. 7 are exam
Page 153 and 154: their salvation by God. The divine
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Page 159 and 160: Verse 9 opens with the adversative
Page 161 and 162: awareness of the insidiousness of f
Page 163 and 164: This is a very tight unit, carefull
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Page 169 and 170: SECTION 3 CONCLUSION In Section 1,
Page 171 and 172: 7: Titus 3:1-2: Persuading the Cret
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Page 175 and 176: In unit 7 (3:1-2), the relationship
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expected manner can look forward to
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f. Arguments based on the use of vi
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m. Example. For example, in 3:4-7 G
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ehaviour expected of older men. In
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BIBLIOGRAPHY Aageson, J. W. (1997).
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Everts, J. M. (1993). Hope Dictiona
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Lea, D. and H. P. Griffin (1992). 1
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Sumney, J. L. (1996). “A Reading
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ABSTRACT This study has been conduc
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In Section 3 the results of the stu
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amanuensishipotese en die allonieme
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KEY TERMS 1. Pastoral Letters 2. Rh
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A Text centred rhetorical analysis of Paul's Letter to Titus

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