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

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and the elders derives more indirectly from apostolic authorisation (1:5-9). In this part of the verse, the object of vilification shifts temporarily from individuals to the doctrinal origin of the false teaching. False doctrine derives from man and is authorised by man. Sound doctrine derives from God and is authorised by God. The next participial phrase, ajpostrefomevnoi th;n ajlhvqeian refocuses the attention on those who are targets of the vilification campaign. Throughout this entire sentence, the comparisons are implicit. The illegitimate teachers have reneged “the truth” (th;n ajlhvqeian) while Paul’s entire ministry is focused on ejpivgnwsin ajlhqeiva" th`" katÆ eujsevbeian (1:1). This description in verse 14, of the opposition’s relationship to the truth, constitutes the climax in the vilification of the opposition. Here, is the fundamental difference between legitimate and illegitimate ministry, namely the latter’s abandonment of the truth. Verses 13 and 14 are one sentence in Greek. It opens and closes with the word ajlhqeiva, first as an adjective and then as a noun. The word-chain is thus continued and serves to tie all the various units of this chapter together. The fact that God is ajyeudhv" does not bid well for the false teachers and their relationship to (the) truth. The repetitive use of the truth-lie dichotomy highlights the illegitimacy of the false teachers and presents them in a diametrically opposite stance from the divine. In verse 15, the apostle appears to zoom in on a key notion within the teaching of the false teachers, namely purity. He continues his vilification campaign by elaborating on the description of the teachings he introduced in verse 14. He accomplishes this through a technique described as antithetic presentation (Tolmie, 2005:33) or antithetic chiasmus (Quinn, 1990:101) which he combines with assonance of the vowel a. Additionally, he uses the repetition of several key words to intensify his focus. The most obvious is the word kaqarov~, which appears three times in this verse: pavnta kaqara; toi`" kaqaroi`": toi`" de; kai; ajpivstoi" oujde;n kaqarovn. Next, is the verb memivanw: memiammevnoi"… memivantai. Earlier, Paul used the noun pivsti~, now he employs the antonym ajpivsto", which accentuates the contrasts between the PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com 85
different groups. He relentlessly pursues his objective of vilifying the opponents, this time through contrasting the pure and the impure and name calling: memiammevnoi" kai; ajpivstoi". A final technique is the parallelism in the structure AABA, which can be indicated as follows: A pavnta kaqara; A toi`" kaqaroi`": B toi`" de; memiammevnoi" kai; ajpivstoi" A l oujde;n kaqarovn The sentence introduces two groups: the pure versus the defiled and unbelieving. The sentence accentuates the futility of trying to attain purity when you are already defiled and unbelieving. The participle, memiammevno~, is in the perfect tense and in the passive voice. It is translated as “those who have been defiled”. The repetition of key vocabulary and concomitant parallel structure, plus the rhetorical technique of assonance, draw attention to what may have been a dominant feature of the aberrant teaching, namely ritual purity. Paul shoots this notion down by convincingly illustrating its futility. The second clause emphasises the hopelessness of the efforts of the false teachers. Their defilement is not merely external but also internal: ajlla; memivantai aujtw`n kai; oJ nou`" kai; hJ suneivdhsi". In other words, they are totally defiled or utterly incapable of purity because their defilement extends to their minds (oJ nou`") and their consciences (hJ suneivdhsi"). In verse 16, Paul’s rhetorical strategy involves focusing on the ethical inconsistency of what the opponents are doing. They confess to know God (qeo;n oJmologou`sin eijdevnai) but instead they deny God by their works (toi`" de; e[rgoi" ajrnou`ntai). The contrast between “to know” and “they are denying” is obvious and intentional. The vilification comes in the form of an accusation that the false teachers are not serving God by their deeds, which is one of the fundamental tenets of Judaism and Christianity (cf. Mathew 7:21). The rhetorical effect of this is to provide the hearers with additional criteria by which to evaluate these false teachers. This final criterium is the most damning of them all, since what the opponents believe about God finds ultimate expression in the way they conduct their lives. In their case, it PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com 86
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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
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 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: The second part of verse 13 contain
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
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
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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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