New Testament Interpretation through Rhetorical Criticism

Vernon K. Robbins

doi:10.1525/rh.1985.3.2.145

Rhetorical criticism and the hermeneutics of the New Testament

In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi ◽

10.4102/ids.v34i2.596 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 34 (2) ◽

Author(s):

E.M. Cornelius

Keyword(s):

New Testament ◽

Rhetorical Criticism ◽

Potential Effectiveness ◽

Biblical Literature ◽

The New Testament

It is argued that rhetorical criticism is increasingly recognized as a method of interpretation of biblical literature. From the discussion in this article it becomes clear that there are different perspectives of rhetorical criticism just as there are different theories of rhetoric. It is argued that contemporary critics need to develop an interdisciplinary method of rhetorical criticism in order to answer questions about the potential effectiveness of a rhetorical act. It is concluded that the rhetorical critic needs a combination of "old" methods in order to answer new questions.

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New Testament Interpretation through Rhetorical Criticism

Journal of Biblical Literature ◽

10.2307/3260415 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 105 (2) ◽

pp. 328 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Robert M. Fowler ◽

George A. Kennedy

Keyword(s):

New Testament ◽

Rhetorical Criticism

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Genealogies of New Testament Rhetorical Criticism Edited by Troy W. Martin.

The Journal of Theological Studies ◽

10.1093/jts/flw177 ◽

2016 ◽

pp. flw177

Author(s):

Nina E. Livesey

Keyword(s):

New Testament ◽

Rhetorical Criticism

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New Testament Interpretation through Rhetorical Criticism

The Classical World ◽

10.2307/4350026 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 80 (3) ◽

pp. 222

Author(s):

R. L. S. Evans ◽

George A. Kennedy

Keyword(s):

New Testament ◽

Rhetorical Criticism

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The Rhetorical Situations of Revelation 1–3

New Testament Studies ◽

10.1017/s0028688500019998 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 34 (2) ◽

pp. 197-207 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

John T. Kirby

Keyword(s):

New Testament ◽

Rhetorical Criticism ◽

Ancient World ◽

Social Forces ◽

Source Criticism ◽

The Bible ◽

Cultural Boundaries ◽

Rhetorical Situations ◽

Roman Antiquity

The publication of George Kennedy'sNew Testament Interpretation Through Rhetorical Criticismmarked the full realization of a growing trend in NT criticism, whereby scholars are beginning to look beyond the limitations of form- and source-criticism for another viable hermeneutical tool. Rhetorical criticism has its origins in the classical canons conceptualized and formulated by the principal rhetoricians of Greek and Roman antiquity, such as Aristotle and Quintilian. This methodology sprang from roots in the ancient world; rhetoric was ‘one of the constraints under which New Testament writers worked’. But it has a universality that transcends its own cultural boundaries, as well as an extraordinary practicality: ‘ … it does study a verbal reality, our text of the Bible, rather than the oral sources standing behind that text, the hypothetical stages of its composition, or the impersonal workings of social forces, and at its best it can reveal the power of those texts as unitary messages’’. Often, too, it is capable of slashing through exegetical Gordian knots that prove otherwise intractable. The ability of rhetorical criticism to evaluate even the more opaque or mystical portions of the NT is a measure of its effectiveness.

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Rhetoric and New Testament Studies

The Oxford Handbook of Rhetorical Studies ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199731596.013.024 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 648-660

Author(s):

Stanley E. Porter

Keyword(s):

Discourse Analysis ◽

New Testament ◽

Rhetorical Criticism ◽

Text Linguistics ◽

Ancient Rhetoric ◽

New Rhetoric ◽

Different Types ◽

The New Testament ◽

New Testament Studies ◽

Important Form

Rhetorical criticism has emerged since the mid-1970s as an important form of criticism of the New Testament. This chapter offers a critical summary and assessment of such research. There are several different types of rhetorical criticism, but the major form practiced in New Testament studies is based upon utilizing the categories of ancient rhetoric as an interpretive tool. The chapter criticizes this approach for failing to assess accurately the ancient context of the New Testament. Then a number of positive ways that rhetoric in various forms—analysis of style, the New Rhetoric, discourse analysis, text linguistics, and socio-rhetorical criticism—can be used in New Testament studies are proposed.

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