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

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saying. However, as Tolmie (2005:132) points out, the original hearers would have heard this sentence in a manner of seconds. What they would have heard was not detailed information per se but rather a rhetorical intention, namely to force them to compare themselves with none other than God himself. An observation in Tolmie (2002:132) pertaining to Galatians is applicable to this current sentence: “This provocative utterance is not arrived at slowly by a careful process of thought. It is flung out in the heat of debate – and the hearer in the sentence is left to consider in what sense or senses it is true”. Therefore, in the debate surrounding the nature of the discourse, the adamance to categorise the sentences as either a creed or a hymn proves rather fruitless. It is unquestionable that the sentence resembles traditional aspects. The most that can be maintained is that the apostle has modified this traditional material to serve a rhetorical purpose, namely to emphasise the exemplary nature of the divine example. The net effect of this customisation of traditional material is that the audience is confronted with a choice: either follow inferior teaching modelled by inferior examples or follow sound teaching and a superior example – not Paul, nor Titus, but God. The ultimate consequence of sound teaching is to make the attitude of the adherent thereof conform to that of God Himself. Other rhetorical strategies include inclusive language, repetition, antithesis, and theological vocabulary. This section contains a high concentration of inclusive language in pronoun and verbal forms: tou` swth`ro" hJmw`n qeou (v. 4) ejpoihvsamen hJmei`" (v. 5) e[swsen hJma`" (v. 5) ou| ejxevceen ejfÆ hJma`" (v. 6) jIhsou` Cristou` tou` swth`ro" hJmw`n (v. 6) genhqw`men (v. 6) In v. 5, the pronoun functions emphatically since the verb ejpoihvsamen already contains the first person plural ending. The pronoun highlights the antithesis between divine grace and human works: oujk ejx e[rgwn tw`n ejn dikaiosuvnh/ a} PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com 141
ejpoihvsamen hJmei`" (works) ajlla; kata; to; aujtou` e[leo" (grace) e[swsen hJma`". There seem to be a polemical intent behind this sentence, particularly the negation concerning a “works righteousness”. It is probable that the false teaching emphasised a “works righteousness” or that there was a leniency towards such a teaching among the Cretan believers, hence the strong negation on the part of the apostle. If we accept the notion that this sentence constitutes some form of tradition or shared knowledge, it would underscore the polemical nuance of the sentence. It makes sense rhetorically to counter any doctrinal aberrance by reciting doctrine already known to the believers. The sentence o{te de; hJ crhstovth" kai; hJ filanqrwpiva ejpefavnh tou` swth`ro" hJmw`n qeou` (v. 4) is parallel to that of 2:11. These two sentences share several commonalities. For example, they contain the same verb in the aorist, namely ejpifaivnw. In 2:11 it is hJ cavri" tou` qeou` that appeared. In 3:4 it is the manifestation of hJ crhstovth" and hJ filanqrwpiva … tou' … qeou` that is in the spotlight. The use of this verb, together with the synonymous verb in 1:3, namely fanerovw convey the notion of accessibility or absence of secrecy. Everything God has done He did openly and publicly. There are no secrets – whether it is the source of Paul’s authority to teach (1:3) or the contents of sound doctrine (2:11-12) or the nature of the divine beneficence (3:4); it is all known. The employment of this verb seems to counter any notions of secrecy perhaps taught by the false teachers. Paranomasia is seen in the occurrence of the noun swthvr and adjective swthvrio~ found respectively in 3:4 and 2:11. Also, both sentences contain the expression tou` … qeou`. In 2:11, it is divine grace that appeared while in 3:4 it is divine kindness and love-for-mankind/people. The presence of the third person singular verb ejpefavnh, has lead some scholars to view the expression crhstovth" kai; hJ filanqrwpiva, as conveying a single concept namely the divine attitude (Knight, 1992:338; Hendriksen, 1957:389). The paranomasia and parallel expressions facilitate inter-textual coherence between the above respective sections. Coherence extends to the rest of the letter, specifically the opening verses of this letter, by an interesting theological exchange of PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com 142
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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
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espectively within the same sentenc
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dichotomy at the front end of this
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church. Implicit contrasting is als
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aijscrokerdhv", and these false tea
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The second part of verse 13 contain
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different groups. He relentlessly p
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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 and 138: aptism effected by the Holy Spirit
Page 139 and 140: exclusively or that this constitute
Page 141 and 142: through self-vilification in the op
Page 143: crhstovth" and filanqrwpiva of God
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
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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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