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

More documents

Recommendations

Info

as a doctrinal section congruent with 2:11-15 (Van Neste, 2003:25). The themes of divine grace and salvation are clearly present in the section and scholars correctly point this out as illustrated by the following quotes: Precisely at the point where God has every right to express his judgment of us, he chooses instead to meet us with kindness and love (Demarest, 1984:328). Salvation by grace stands forth in clearest relief in the language employed, which effectually excludes all glory on man's part and denies to any stock of good works amassed by any sinner a “merit of congruity” drawing forth the riches of divine mercy (Simpson, 1954:115). These and every interpretation given by scholars has some degree of legitimacy or represents an accurate interpretation of an aspect of the sentence. However, regarding the full import of what the apostle is communicating, room exists for additional contributions, especially in light of the context of the entire letter thus far. The shortcomings surrounding scholarly discussions of this section relate to their analysis of the passage within the context of the letter itself. Many interpret the passage within the context of Pauline theology, attempting to reconcile their interpretation with what can be found elsewhere, either extra- biblically or in the rest of the New Testament. For example, Mounce (2000:443, 455), in his otherwise excellent commentary, does not see this section as contributing anything new to the apostle’s argument, observing that “Titus 3:1-11 is a repetition of 2:1-14”. Perhaps I am being overly critical of an unfortunate choice in vocabulary, but as my analysis will show, there is a significant development in this part of the argument; more than a mere repetition of what is said earlier. Likewise, Oden (1989:35) is content to classify this section as the epitomy of “the word of justification by grace”. True, the passage touches on justification by grace, but to imply that it does so PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com 135
exclusively or that this constitutes the primary function of this section is not entirely justified. Others simply fail to relate this section to the rest of the letter, except for pointing out obvious linguistic correspondences. Collins (2002:359), for example, is of the opinion that this section is simply a return to the epiphany motive. While he is not altogether incorrect, there is more to this passage than simply a thematic revisit of the “saving appearance of Jesus Christ, our Saviour”. In fact, the primary focus of scholarly works consulted is on the nature of the sentence, specifically its origin as a baptismal hymn or creed. Other commentators appear to get lost in linguistic analyses and etymological studies, all of which are valid and render valuable insights into the vocabulary, but unfortunately fail to adequately relate the passage to its immediate and extended contexts. The tendency to make baptism and salvation the foci of the passage is a major criticism. Thus, scholars approach the text with a preconceived notion of, for example, baptism or baptismal regeneration, utterly disregarding the recorded order of the sentence. In regard to the latter, some (correctly) point out the main verb of the sentence and make that the starting point of their interpretation. But that is not the best way to approach the text. A better approach would be to deal with the structure of the sentence in the way it has been recorded, in order to appreciate the different syntactical relationships within the sentence and the section at large. Thus, the shortcomings relate to the grinding of theological axes and vocabulary analyses instead of appreciating the sentence as it stands and seeking more adequate explanations for the unusual nature of the sentence structure. In this regard, some scholars like George Knight III and Jerome Quinn, prove rather helpful. Knight (1992:337, 338) drawing attention to the second word in v. 4, namely dev, captures the essence of this passage and relates it to the preceding verses, 1-3. Contrasts are clearly in view: the characteristics of God and the characteristics of believers’ past condition. In his own words, PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com 136
Page 1 and 2:
A TEXT-CENTRED RHETORICAL ANALYSIS
Page 3 and 4:
DECLARATION I declare that the diss
Page 5 and 6:
SECTION 2 RHETORICAL ANALYSIS 2.1 R
Page 7 and 8:
SECTION 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 OVERVIEW
Page 9 and 10:
The content of the authorship debat
Page 11 and 12:
consistently identified as pioneer
Page 13 and 14:
J. Quinn. Their list of scholars ad
Page 15 and 16:
Uncharacteristic Pauline theology:
Page 17 and 18:
etc. are not referring to actual pe
Page 19 and 20:
History never lies” (Titus 1:2)?
Page 21 and 22:
meaning as determined by historical
Page 23 and 24:
other to explain what these critics
Page 25 and 26:
1.1.2.4 Conclusion The various theo
Page 27 and 28:
Excursus: Cumulative-complimentary
Page 29 and 30:
Lumping or clustering apparent oppo
Page 31 and 32:
these letters on a more individual
Page 33 and 34:
Furthermore, the name Jesus Christ
Page 35 and 36:
C. 1. qeou` and swthvr depend on do
Page 37 and 38:
accentuate the unmistakable role of
Page 39 and 40:
order to prove issues of authorship
Page 41 and 42:
Miller (1997:124) is particularly u
Page 43 and 44:
Next, Van Neste goes on to show how
Page 45 and 46:
There have been some recent excepti
Page 47 and 48:
The first part of the analysis is e
Page 49 and 50:
offer any translations in this rega
Page 51 and 52:
novel. To the best of my knowledge,
Page 53 and 54:
ather than as a supplement to the T
Page 55 and 56:
Accordingly, the research hypothesi
Page 57 and 58:
•Step 3: Where deemed necessary,
Page 59 and 60:
The rhetorical situation correspond
Page 61 and 62:
Titus' primary assignment is to app
Page 63 and 64:
Throughout the letter, Paul shares
Page 65 and 66:
equally negative conduct (1:16). In
Page 67 and 68:
2.2.1.1 Emphasising the legitimacy
Page 69 and 70:
strategically throughout this secti
Page 71 and 72:
This section is suffused with the r
Page 73 and 74:
and trustworthiness. This choice of
Page 75 and 76:
“By whose authority are you imple
Page 77 and 78:
“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
Page 85 and 86:
aijscrokerdhv", and these false tea
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
Page 93 and 94: marker is the use of the plural of
Page 95 and 96: instruction in this regard. “Heal
Page 97 and 98: almost desirable. Thus, legitimate
Page 99 and 100: The subject is the older women. Thi
Page 101 and 102: negatively upon the oJ lovgo" tou`
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 and 130: purpose while Mounce (2000:446) bel
Page 131 and 132: negative. Paranomasia and the metap
Page 133 and 134: conformity to the divine example. I
Page 135 and 136: as traditional, with verse 3 as an
Page 137: aptism effected by the Holy Spirit
Page 141 and 142: through self-vilification in the op
Page 143 and 144: crhstovth" and filanqrwpiva of God
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
Page 155 and 156: discourse. In this regard, consider
Page 157 and 158: two groups is accentuated and the d
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
Page 165 and 166: turn, requires the presence of soun
Page 167 and 168: closing greeting to the Cretans inv
Page 169 and 170: SECTION 3 CONCLUSION In Section 1,
Page 171 and 172: 7: Titus 3:1-2: Persuading the Cret
Page 173 and 174: apostles and lay leaders appointed
Page 175 and 176: In unit 7 (3:1-2), the relationship
Page 177 and 178: The second objective is to highligh
Page 179 and 180: These four objectives may be summar
Page 181 and 182: expected manner can look forward to
Page 183 and 184: f. Arguments based on the use of vi
Page 185 and 186: m. Example. For example, in 3:4-7 G
Page 187 and 188: ehaviour expected of older men. In
Page 189 and 190:
BIBLIOGRAPHY Aageson, J. W. (1997).
Page 191 and 192:
Everts, J. M. (1993). Hope Dictiona
Page 193 and 194:
Lea, D. and H. P. Griffin (1992). 1
Page 195 and 196:
Sumney, J. L. (1996). “A Reading
Page 197 and 198:
ABSTRACT This study has been conduc
Page 199 and 200:
In Section 3 the results of the stu
Page 201 and 202:
amanuensishipotese en die allonieme
Page 203 and 204:
KEY TERMS 1. Pastoral Letters 2. Rh
show all

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

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?