scholarly journals Die resepsie van retoriese momente van die Filemonbrief deur Patristiese eksegete

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Francois Tolmie

The reception of rhetorical elements in the Letter to Philemon by Patristic exegetes. The aim of this study is to offer an overview of the way in which Patristic exegetes interpreted the rhetorical aspects of Paul’s Letter to Philemon. Although a rhetorical analysis of the letter was not the matter which interested them as such, one can still obtain a fairly good idea of the way in which they perceived such aspects by reading their explanations of this letter. Accordingly, the contributions of all the Patristic exegetes in this regard are studied systematically in this study. The interpretations of the letters by Ambrosiaster, Jerome, John Chrysostom, Pelagius, Theodore of Mopsuestia and Theodoret of Cyrus are investigated from this angle. In each case, the most important comments on Paul’s rhetorical strategy are identified and discussed.Keywords: Pauline Letters; Letter to Philemon; Rhetorical Analaysis; Patristic Exegetes

2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Francois Tolmie

The way in which Paul exercises his authority in the Letter to Philemon has been studied from various angles, but as far as could be determined, the reception of this aspect of his letter by its interpreters in the fourth and 5th centuries CE. has not yet received much attention. Accordingly, this aspect is addressed in this study. The views of the following six interpreters are discussed (in chronological order): Ambrosiaster, Jerome, Pelagius, John Chrysostom, Theodore of Mopsuestia, and Theodoret of Cyrus. It is shown that each of them has his own view in this regard, but that two general trends can nevertheless be identified: Firstly, all of these writers accept that Paul had authority over Philemon; and secondly, the commendable way in which Paul exercised this authority is a regular theme in their works.Keywords: Letter to Philemon, Church Fathers, Authority


2015 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Francois Tolmie

Paul, the peacemaker. On the reception of the Letter to Philemon in the 4th and 5th centuries AD. By means of his letter to Philemon Paul attempted to make peace between Philemon and his slave, Onesimus. The theological aspects of this endeavour have been discussed often in academic circles, but thus far little attention has been given to what the practical implications of this would have been for Philemon’s household. In this article, this issue is addressed from a particular perspective, namely how this aspect was interpreted by Christians in the 4th and 5th centuries CE. The interpretations of the Letter to Philemon by Ambrosiaster, Jerome, John Chrysostom, Pelagius, Theodore of Mopsuestia and Theodoret of Cyrus are then investigated systematically in order to determine what their views were in this regard. It is shown that they all agreed that Philemon would (or would have no choice but to) forgive Onesimus, and that Onesimus would have turned into a better slave. All of these interpreters agreed that there would not be any drastic social changes in Philemon’s household although it does seem as if one of them, Ambrosiaster, realised that what Paul expected of Philemon could have had serious consequences for the relationship between Philemon and Onesimus.


2005 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 783-809
Author(s):  
A H Snyman

A new trend in rhetorical analysis is to reconstruct Paul’ s rhetorical strategy from the text itself, rather than applying ancient or modern rhetorical models to his letters. A proposal for such a text-centred approach, in which the focus shifts from the formal to the functional,is briefly summarised in this article, followed by a discussion of the rhetorical situation that Paul wants to address in this letter. Spiritual problems, especially internal unrest and opposition from outside, called forth the letter. In order to address these problems, Paul tries to persuade his audience to persevere in living and proclaiming the gospel.  This dominant rhetorical strategy of 1:27 – 2:18 can be divided into four phases: 1:27-30  (exhorting the Philippians to persevere in proclaiming the gospel); 2:1-11 exhorting them to persevere in living the gospel); 2:12-13 (exhorting them to persevere in living the gospel), and 2:14-18 (exhorting them to persevere in proclaiming the gospel). In order to persuade his audience, Paul uses various rhetorical strategies and techniques. In analyzing these, the focus is on exegetical issues with rhetorical impact, on the types of arguments used, on the way Paul argues and on the rhetorical techniques used to enhance the impact of his communication. I hope to prove that Paul’ s persuasive strategy in Philippians could be constructed fairly accurately from the text itself, provided that it is read carefully and systematically.


Author(s):  
D. Francois Tolmie

The rhetorical analysis of the Letter to Philemon in the light of John Chrysostom ‘s homilies about this letter. The study of Paul’s Letter to Philemon benefitted from the renewed interest in the rhetorical analysis of New Testament writings in recent times, in the sense that a large number of rhetorical studies of the letter have been published. These rhetorical analyses of the letter have been done from various perspectives, but until now no one has systematically investigated the way in which John Chrysostom interpreted the letter rhetorically in his three ‘Homilies on Philemon’. Accordingly, the study offers a detailed investigation of this issue. It is shown that John Chrysostom identified several important rhetorical aspects that have been neglected by modern scholars – aspects which could be used to enhance current interpretations of the rhetoric of the letter.


Why did Roman prosecutors typically accuse the defendant of multiple crimina, when in most standing criminal courts the punishment imposed on a guilty defendant was the same (typically “capital,” that is, a kind of exile), no matter how many charges were proven? The answer lies not in a failure to distinguish between legal charges leveled at the defendant and defamation of his character, but rather in a rhetorical strategy that made sense in light of what was legally necessary to obtain a conviction. The greater the number of charges, the more likely the jurors would be persuaded that the defendant had in some way violated the statute according to which the trial was being conducted. It is true that prosecutors typically argued that the defendant’s prior conduct made it plausible that he had committed the crimes with which he was charged, but in a way that, as much as possible, made his guilt on these particular charges seem likely, and defense patroni attempted to undermine the charges and the character defamation. This answer to the apparent contradiction between multiple charges and unitary punishment favors a moderate formalism over legal realism as the way to interpret Roman criminal trials.


1994 ◽  
Vol 87 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blake Leyerle

Few themes so dominate the homilies of John Chrysostom (ca. 347–407 CE) as the plight of the poor and the necessity of almsgiving. His picture of the poor, however, is always set against the prosperous marketplace of late antiquity. It seems therefore scarcely surprising that his sermons on almsgiving resound with the language of investment. With such imagery, Chrysostom tried not only to prod wealthy Christians into acts of charity but also, and perhaps more importantly, to dislodge his rich parishioners from their conviction that an uncrossable social gulf separated them from the poor. The rhetorical strategy he used is typical of all his polemical attacks. On the one hand, he denigrated the pursuit of money and social status as fundamentally unattractive; it is both unchristian and unmasculine. On the other hand, he insisted that real wealth and lasting prestige should indeed be pursued, but more effectively through almsgiving. I shall first examine how Chrysostom effected this recalculation of wealth, and then I shall turn to the question of whether there may have been some advantage for him in pleading so eloquently on behalf the poor.


2020 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-170
Author(s):  
Madeline Bourque Kearin

Abstract Sir Alexander Morison’s Physiognomy of Mental Diseases (1838) was created as a didactic tool for physicians, depicting lunatics in both the active and dormant states of disease. Through the act of juxtaposition, Morison constituted his subjects as their own Jekylls and Hydes, capable of radical transformation. In doing so, he marshaled artistic and clinical, visual and textual approaches in order to pose a particular argument about madness as a temporally manifested, visually distinguishable state defined by its contrast with reason. This argument served a crucial function in legitimizing the emergent discipline of psychiatry by applying biomedical methodologies to the observation and classification of distinctly physical symptoms. Robert Louis Stevenson’s “quintessentially Victorian parable” serves as a metaphor for the way 19th-century alienists conceptualized insanity, while the theme of duality at the core of Stevenson’s story serves as a framework for conceptualizing both psychiatry and the subjects it generates. It was (and is) a discipline formulated around narrative as the primary organizing structure for its particular set of paradoxes, and specifically, narratives of the self as a fluid, dynamic, and contradictory entity.


2008 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 101
Author(s):  
Sylwia Kaczmarek

The series of the eight homilies on Genesis written by John Chrysostom include many clues to why the article was chosen. It is considered on the grounds that it is leitmotiv. It is the clue of the order of beings – settled at the moment of creation, spoiled by sin, looked to be restored by human effort and fully realized in Christ. This order, which consists on the different relations, is shown as the important point of interest in the examination of the others clues. We are referring to the dignity of the man created in God’s image as well as similitude; the system of the dependencies between the beings; the significance of the sin of the people at the beginning and other sins; the idea in which God loves man; the salvation and the reward of the Kingdom of Heaven. This article tends also to show, how Chrysostom looks to help his followers during their meeting Christ, in the way of the studying the Scrip- ture, of dogmas and of the life, which should be coherent to the Scripture.


Author(s):  
Rianne Riemens

This paper examines Google’s green discourse in relation to the ecomodernist movement and $2 . In recent years, tech companies such as Google have taken a more explicit position as actors in the ‘fight’ against the climate crisis. Tech companies often suggest technological innovation as a necessity to deal with the climate crisis, thereby attempting to develop a form of ‘green platform capitalism’ that presents us with a better, greener version of its business model. This paper presents a rhetorical analysis of a selection of the corporate discourse (2019-now) in which Google presents its environmental efforts, in order to understand how the company frames the relation between technology and nature. It argues that technology-nature relations are framed through ‘decoupling’, a term derived from the ecomodernist movement that functions as a rhetorical strategy to highlight positive connections between technology and nature and obscure uneasy connections. Through decoupling, Google is able to present its wish to save ‘nature’ without discussing its use of nature, thus legitimating green platform capitalism. Decoupling, the paper concludes, thus allows Google to create a narrative of green growth as the only logical way for humanity to move forward. While this narrative might be attractive, it does not question the feasibility of decoupling and conflicts with resolutions that centralize degrowth as answer to the climate crisis.


2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Francois Tolmie

Die studie van Paulus se brief aan Filemon het gebaat by die hernude belangstelling in die retoriese analise van Nuwe-Testamentiese geskrifte, in die sin dat ’n groot aantal retoriese analises van die brief gepubliseer is. Hierdie retoriese analises is vanuit ’n verskeidenheid perspektiewe gedoen, maar tot dusver het niemand nog die manier sistematies ondersoek waarop die vierde-eeuse outeur, wat later die naam Ambrosiastergekry het, die brief in sy kommentaar op die Pauliniese briewe geïnterpreteer het nie. Hierdie artikel bied dus ’n oorsig van Ambrosiaster se interpretasie van die brief aan Filemon en dui aan watter bydrae dit tot die retoriese analise van die brief kan maak. Ambrosiaster’s exposition of the Letter to Philemon and the rhetorical analysis of the letter. In recent times, the study of Paul’s letter to Philemon benefitted from the renewed interest in the rhetorical analysis of New Testament writings, in the sense that a large number of rhetorical studies of the letter have been published. These rhetorical analyses of the letter have been done from different perspectives, but thus far, no one has systematically investigated the way in which the fourth-century author, who was later called Ambrosiaster, interpreted the letter in his commentary on the Pauline letters. Accordingly, this article offers an overview of Ambrosiaster’s interpretation of the letter to Philemon, and then outlines the contribution that his reading of the letter can make to the rhetorical interpretation of it.


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