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

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Unit 5 (2:2-10) contains descriptions of behaviour by various categories of believers that constitute manifestations of compliance to sound doctrine. The next unit (2:11-15) explains the specified conduct in theological terms. This has the effect of elevating the behaviour to a divine level, which highlights the transcendent character of the behaviour. At one level, the required behaviour is what society in general would commend. However, the conduct of believers becomes a manifestation of a divine reality, namely the appearance of grace in the life of believers. If believers were asked to explain their conduct, they would respond something like this: “Our teacher is grace who teaches us to conduct ourselves in this manner. In other words, believers are not merely manifesting behaviour that society deems good.” The behaviour of believers is thus motivated by a transcendent cause or motive, namely the appearance of grace and the complete transformation that they have experienced (2:11-15). They are behaving like God’s people, living in anticipation of the appearing of Jesus Christ (2:12), a redeemed people, a cleansed people, zealous for good works (2:13). Thus, the believers are not simply practising good manners, instead their behaviour is explicable by theological reasons; there is a theological basis to explain why believers conduct themselves the way they do. Thus, there is nothing “ordinary” about the way Christians ought to behave. Third stage: 3:1-7: Convince the audience of the transcendent character of their relationships with secular society This stage in the rhetorical strategy underlies units 7-9 identified in the rhetorical analysis: 7: Titus 3:1-2: Persuading the Cretans of the compulsory treatment of all unbelievers in a manner consistent with sound doctrine 8: Titus 3:3: Evoking disgust with past sinful behaviour in order to reinforce behaviour in the present that complies with sound doctrine 9: Titus 3:4-7: Persuading the Cretans that displaying good works to those considered undeserving demonstrates conformity to the divine example PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com 171
In unit 7 (3:1-2), the relationship of believers to their secular environment comes under the spotlight. It appears as if the false teaching encouraged a withdrawal from or even hostility towards secular society. Based upon the existence of prior knowledge, Paul argues that the Cretans already know how to conduct themselves towards secular authorities. In unit 8 (3:3), the apostle uses the rhetorical technique of self-vilification to inspire disgust in order to persuade the Cretans to behave properly towards secular society. The transcendent motivation for their behaviour is provided in unit 9 (3:4-7). God acted kindly towards the Cretans when they were least deserving of it. Their attitude towards secular society is therefore, more than just decent citizenship; it follows the transcendent example of God. 3:8-15: Concluding phase In units 10 and 11 the concluding stage in the rhetorical strategy follows. This comprises units 10 and 11: 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 11: Titus 3:12-15: Adapting the conclusion to reemphasise the notion of legitimate ministry In summary: The overall rhetorical objective relates to the use of theological motivations for the adoption of sound doctrine and the practice of sound behaviour by the Cretans. Sound doctrine and corresponding behaviour are inseparably connected to a theological basis, namely the manifestation of “God’s word” (1:3), “God’s grace” (2:11), and “God’s kindness and love for mankind” (3:4). Thus, the doctrine is portrayed as transcendent, because it comes from God; the required behaviour is motivated transcendentally, because it is taught by God; the manifestation of kindness to non-Christians is motivated transcendentally, because God first demonstrated his kindness towards the Cretans when they were unsaved. There is therefore, nothing “ordinary” about what is required from the Cretan believers. On the contrary, PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com 172
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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`
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2.2.5.6 The behaviour of slaves In
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or originating from God (tou' … q
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to God and this paves the way for t
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This explains the use of inclusive
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Furthermore, through the direct rep
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what grace is instructing the belie
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Paul demonstrates that he is himsel
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The section closes with the apostle
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Another technique is personificatio
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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
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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 and 154: their salvation by God. The divine
Page 155 and 156: discourse. In this regard, consider
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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
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: apostles and lay leaders appointed
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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