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

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patevr. God is therefore the key protagonist, the leading actor in this unfolding drama of salvation. Other rhetorical techniques used in this section, include the unusual repetition of the preposition katav, inclusio, chiasm, paranomasia, honorific referencing or -classification, and the repetition of the pivsti~-word group. 2.2.2 Titus 1:5-9: Outlining the criteria for legitimate local leadership Having established himself as a legitimate minister of the church, the apostle concludes the salutation by introducing and affirming Titus as his representative. From verse 5 onwards, he develops the concept of legitimate ministry, by embarking upon his dominant rhetorical objective namely outlining the criteria for legitimate local congregational leadership. Conspicuously remiss at this point, is the characteristic thanksgiving section (Classen, 2002:51). A possible reason for this absence, could be because there was nothing to give thanks for, which in turn, could confirm scholarly conjecture that the congregation was relatively young, established fairly recently. Since there is nothing to give thanks for, Paul unceremoniously launches into his topic with great eagerness. Paul employs arguments based on authority, namely apostolic authority, in order to firstly justify Titus’s presence on the island of Crete and secondly, to underscore his authority among the Cretan believers. In verse 5, Paul declares that he left Titus in Crete (ajpevlipon se ejn Krhvth/). Now, in all probability, Titus knew that Paul had left him in Crete. He would also have understood or at least had some idea, before his arrival, of the nature of his assignment. So why would Paul now write in this manner? The answer lies in our understanding of who the recipients of the letter are. The language suggests that Titus cannot be the only recipient. It has to include a wider audience, in whose presence, in all probability, this letter would have been read. Verse 5 answers questions like, “What are you doing here in Crete?” or PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com 71
“By whose authority are you implementing these procedures?” or “Who gave you command over us?” These kinds of questions are answered by the details provided in verse 5. The concluding clause provides the authorisation for Titus to fulfil his mandate. In this regard, the use of the first person personal pronoun (ejgwv) together with the verb in the first person singular, dietaxavmhn, is deliberately emphatic. Paul stresses that he is the one who has directed Titus. Interestingly, the tense of the verb, namely aorist middle, points to a time prior to that when Titus would have received this letter. These are therefore not new directives. Although the verb diatavssw (1:5) is weaker in import than the noun ejpitaghv in 1:3, it functions in the same way as the noun. This is an instance of the use of synonyms for emphasis and to fascilitate intra-sectional cohesion. Paul’s authority derives directly from God while that of Titus comes indirectly from the apostolic directive. In other words, there is a hierarchy of command where authority flows from the divine through the apostle to Titus and ultimately to the local leaders. However, Paul’s choice of language indicates that he does not consider his authority, in this instance, to be equal with that of God. Hence, he directs (diatavssw) Titus, but God commanded (katÆ ejpitaghvn) him, i.e. Paul. It remains to be asked, why Paul would write in such a round-about manner. The apostle is perhaps adopting an anticipatory stance in view of some opposition against the presence of Titus. Already, we find in Crete teachers who were “upsetting whole households” (1:11). Titus’ presence would not be amicably received within such a context. The teachers, no doubt, held at least some degree of sway among the congregations. The difference between them and Titus is a significant one, as the salutation and verse 5 indicate: Titus represents legitimate leadership, while those in Crete are illegitimate. At a different level, the apostle is educating the Cretan believers about legitimate church leadership. He is about to develop his lesson, by providing objective criteria to ensure that the believers would be able to distinguish legitimate teachers from those who presume to be teachers. By so doing, he is laying a foundation for the appointment of leaders in the future, i.e. in the absence of apostles and apostolic delegates. PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com 72
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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
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 trustworthiness. This choice of
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
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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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