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

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2.1.5 PAUL AND THE CRETAN BELIEVERS The evidence suggests that Paul’s original stay at Crete was very brief. Thus, Paul's relationship with the congregation is not characterised by explicit warmth. Paul apparently did not stay long enough to oversee the implementation of the leadership of the churches in Crete. Instead, he left this to Titus. Compared, for example, with the Letter to Philippians there are no explicit confessions of delight in the congregation and other terms of endearment like ajgaphtoiv. However, Paul implicitly relates to the congregations as fellow beneficiaries of God's salvific activity. At the very beginning of his letter, he acknowledges their divine origin as the people of God, ejklektoiv qeou' (1:1). At the same time, he introduces himself in similar language by locating the origin of his office in God and Jesus Christ, dou`lo" qeou`, ajpovstolo" jIhsou` Cristou' (1:1). In so doing, he identifies himself from the outset with the believers at Crete. He continues this notion throughout the letter. His language suggests the notion of inclusivity in this regard. Thus, in 2:12, God's grace instructs "us” (paideuvousa hJma`"); in 2:13, Jesus is referred to as "our" God and Saviour (qeov~ kai; swthvr hJmw`n); in 2:14, Jesus gave Himself for "us" (o}" e[dwken eJauto;n uJpe;r hJmw`n) and redeemed "us" (lutrwvshtai hJma`"). In 3:3, Paul continues with this notion of corporate identification when he lists particular sins. It is "we", \Hmen gavr pote kai; hJmei`", who once were guilty of the listed activities. Also noticeable in this verse, is how the combined use of the verb in the first person plural together with the first person plural pronoun, fulfils an emphatic role in the sentence. In 3:5, God saves "us” (hJmei`") not on the basis on deeds which "we” have done (a} ejpoihvsamen hJmei`"). In the latter citation, the emphatic use of the personal pronoun, together with a verb in the first person plural, is noticeable. In 3:6, the Holy Spirit's outpouring, in terms of the recipients, is a corporate action; He is poured out “on us” (ejfÆ hJma`"). PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com 59
Throughout the letter, Paul shares with the believers in the relationship with God and Jesus Christ, both of whom are qualified as "our" God or Saviour (1:3; 1:4; 2:10; 2:13; 3:4; 3:6). The conduct of the believers implicates the reputation of believers as well as that of the apostles. Thus, their behaviour should not give the “opponent anything bad to say about us” (peri; hJmw`n fau`lon). In this instance, the pronoun could refer to the apostles; alternatively it could refer to all believers. Whatever interpretation we attach to the pronoun, in this instance, the notion of identification is too explicit to miss. In 3:7, the apostle shares in the justification believers have experienced. The participle dikaiwqevnte" is passive, nominative plural. This is followed by the verb givnomai in the first person plural passive, genhqw`men. Here, Paul shares the hope of eternal life together with the believers. The identification is categorical and unambiguous. In 3:8, Paul pays them a compliment by acknowledging their faith in God. Here, he refers to them as oiJ pepisteukovte" qew`/. This reference has the effect of differentiating them from those who make false professions of faith (1:16). The conciliatory tone climaxes with the designation found in 3:14. Here, Paul calls them "our people". He deviates from the use of the personal pronoun h}mei". Instead, here, Paul uses the possessive pronoun hJmevtero". Paul speaks as one who owns them; who feels possessive over them. He shares this ownership with Titus as the nominative plural suggests, and shared ownership implies shared responsibility for the believers of Crete. This notion of ownership, of possession, explains the comparatively formal tone that pervades the letter. Paul wants the people (their people) to learn and not to be unfruitful (3:14). In the concluding greeting in 3:15, after Titus is greeted, Paul passes on a greeting to the believers, referring to them in endearing terms as filou`nta" hJma`" ejn pivstei. The apostle seems to assume that the believers of Crete are favourably, in fact lovingly, predisposed towards him and those with PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com 60
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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
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: Titus' primary assignment is to app
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
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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
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Most commentators treat ejxousivai
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person. Interestingly, both instanc
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2.2.8 Titus 3:3: Evoking disgust wi
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purpose while Mounce (2000:446) bel
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negative. Paranomasia and the metap
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conformity to the divine example. I
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as traditional, with verse 3 as an
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aptism effected by the Holy Spirit
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exclusively or that this constitute
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through self-vilification in the op
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crhstovth" and filanqrwpiva of God
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ejpoihvsamen hJmei`" (works) ajlla;
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these titles. The future appearance
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The certainty and completeness of t
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The next two words in v. 7 are exam
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their salvation by God. The divine
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discourse. In this regard, consider
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two groups is accentuated and the d
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Verse 9 opens with the adversative
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awareness of the insidiousness of f
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This is a very tight unit, carefull
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turn, requires the presence of soun
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closing greeting to the Cretans inv
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SECTION 3 CONCLUSION In Section 1,
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7: Titus 3:1-2: Persuading the Cret
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apostles and lay leaders appointed
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In unit 7 (3:1-2), the relationship
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The second objective is to highligh
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These four objectives may be summar
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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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