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

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2.2.10 Titus 3:8-11: Reinforcing the differences between sound and illegitimate doctrine in order to encourage compliance to the former and rejection of the latter In this section, beginning from 3:8-11, the author’s dominant rhetorical objective is to make a final appeal for compliance to sound doctrine by reinforcing the differences between sound and illegitimate doctrine. He sets out to achieve this objective by encouraging the adoption of the one and the rejection of the other; in this case it is false doctrine that must be rejected. As he nears the conclusion of his letter, he wants to help his audience maintain the mutual exclusivity of the opposing doctrines. Negatively, he wants to provide the congregation with some final reasons why they should forsake or not be lured to embrace false doctrine. This strategy is a repetition of that pursued in 2:1-10. To accomplish this objective, Paul again contrasts sound doctrine with false doctrine, unleashing an assortment of rhetorical techniques to this end. In fact, this small section is unusually inundated with a variety of these techniques. Some scholars, like Quinn (1990:244), argue that this section contains the final contrast between sound doctrine and false doctrine. He goes so far as to entitle this section “True and False Instruction” (Quinn, 1990:233). Scholars are however divided on the exact demarcation of the section. Some scholars begin this section with the second part of verse 8, indicating it as 8b-11 (Quinn, 1990:233; Collins, 2002:366). Mounce (2000:434, 455) views it as comprising 3:1-11. Knight (1992:350), interestingly, includes it as part of 3:3-8. Others argue that v. 8 commences a new section (Guthrie, 1957:207; Simpson, 1954:116). The demarcation accepted in this study is based on the following arguments: Verse 8 should be viewed as separate from 4-7, because of a difference in genre. Verses 4-7 constitute some form of earlier tradition, that is, it could be a hymn or creed. Verse 8a is an observation about the preceding sentence and therefore not part of it. A final consideration, for the view that v. 8 begins a new section, relates to its function within the PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com 151
discourse. In this regard, consideration must be paid to the rhetorical intention behind this section. The function of the sentence pisto;" oJ lovgo" is multifaceted. It is one of three short sentences used in this section, together with the others being tau`ta ejstin kala; kai; wjfevlima toi`" ajnqrwvpoi" (8) and eijsi;n ga;r ajnwfelei`" kai; mavtaioi (9). Its brevity makes it conspicuous and highlights the claim that it makes about the previous section (4-7), which is one sentence. This, in itself, supports the decision for the division between the sections. The use of short sentences is one of several rhetorical techniques exploited in this section for emphatic purposes. At a basic level, the sentence serves to connect verses 8- 11 with the preceding section, facilitating a degree of fluidity in this part of the apostle’s argument. Later, it will be evident how it functions as an antithetic hedge with the description in verse 9 of the false teaching as ajnwfelei`" kai; mavtaioi. Its immediate function therefore, is transitory, indicating the transition from one genre form to another, i.e. from verses 4-7 to 8-11. At a rhetorical level, this statement functions as an apostolic affirmation of the preceding section. The apostle underscores the traditional material as pisto;" oJ lovgo". This is an important insight, if we want to appreciate the rest of his argument. The dominant rhetorical intent behind verses 8-11 is to contrast legitimate and illegitimate teaching in order to reinforce compliance to the former. Pisto;" oJ lovgo" therefore should be interpreted to mean: “Everything said thus far constitute legitimate teaching. I affirm that to be so, as dou`lo" qeou`, ajpovstolo" de; jIhsou` Cristou`” (1:1). Put in more colloquial terms, the apostle is saying: “This is the real thing”. The first person singular, bouvlomai, suggests the reasonableness of such an interpretation of the text. This sentence therefore introduces the first reason why sound teaching is to be embraced as well as why it is superior to false teaching. This is an argument based on apostolic authorisation. Sound doctrine must be heeded because unlike false teaching, it is apostolically authorised. In the rest of the sentence, the apostle is going to give two more reasons why Cretan believers must comply with sound doctrine and reject false doctrine. PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com 152
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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
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marker is the use of the plural of
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instruction in this regard. “Heal
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almost desirable. Thus, legitimate
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The subject is the older women. Thi
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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 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: their salvation by God. The divine
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
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A Text centred rhetorical analysis of Paul's Letter to Titus

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