Navigating First Thessalonians Employing Aristotle's Enthymeme

Olbricht, Thomas H.; Helton, Stanley N.; Porter, Stanley E.; Dyer, Bryan R.

doi:10.1017/cbo9781139683647.013

Cited by 2 publications

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“…29 Gerd Lüdemann (2012: 86-87) declares that Paul is strongly determined to use rhetorical force to confirm that the Thessalonians have escaped the coming wrath by aligning themselves with Christ and his holiness. Thomas H. Olbricht and Stanley N. Helton (2016) argue that the logical argumentation of First Thessalonians merely serves to confirm that the Thessalonian community is a Christian church, adhering to basic Christian teachings. These scholars rightly recognize Paul's intense commitment to prevent his recipients from deviating from the path to salvation but fail to identify the focal point of these efforts, which is more specific than the general danger of potentially straying from sound Christian teachings.…”

Section: Proposed Purposes Of First Thessaloniansmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Schnelle (2012: 184) misrepresents the first three chapters of First Thessalonians as determined only by the theme of eschatological suffering of the just and ignores Paul’s efforts at captatio benevolentiae . Olbricht and Helton (2016: 233) note that ‘the letter is essentially praise’, and Cho (2020: 143-44) remarks that the normal length of a wish prayer and thanksgiving would be two verses.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Paul’s Rhetorical Efforts to Establish Good Will in First Thessalonians

Berglund

2022

Journal for the Study of the New Testament

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Ancient oratory ordinarily begins with an effort of captatio benevolentiae – the rhetorical strategy of praising and lauding the audience to make them well-disposed toward the speaker, attentive and receptive to your message – especially before controversial claims or challenging demands. In First Thessalonians, such efforts are manifest not only in the introduction in ch. 1, but throughout the narration in chs. 2–3, which implies that the senders are preparing for a particularly sensitive topic. The first exhortation to appear after these efforts cease, the exhortation to sexual holiness in 1 Thess. 4.3-8, must therefore represent the primary purpose of the letter. The euphemistic language used in this request makes it difficult to understand what kind of πορνεία (‘sexual immorality’) Paul, Silvanus and Timothy are arguing against, but the most likely interpretation is that they want the Thessalonian Christians to stop using their slaves and former slaves for sexual purposes.

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Section: Proposed Purposes Of First Thessaloniansmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Paul’s Rhetorical Efforts to Establish Good Will in First Thessalonians

Berglund

2022

Journal for the Study of the New Testament

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“…Several scholars have published rhetorical analyses of 1 Thessalonians (Cho 2013;Olbricht & Helton 2016). These scholars have analysed the letter based upon two assumptions, namely that Paul utilized ancient rhetorical categories and theories when he wrote this letter and that the usage of the aforementioned categories and theories is the preferred way of conducting a rhetorical analysis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

text-centred rhetorical analysis of 1 Thessalonians 1:1–10

Prinsloo

2022

STJ

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This article analyses 1 Thessalonians 1:1–10 from a rhetorical perspective. Instead of the typical approach which is used to analyse the letter in terms of ancient rhetorical theory, this article explains Paul’s rhetorical strategy found in the text itself; it is therefore called a text-centred rhetorical analysis which follows a minimum theoretical approach. Accordingly, the overall rhetorical strategy is identified in both pericopes. A discussion of the dominant and supportive arguments and rhetorical techniques follows the identification. This article illustrates how Paul adapts the ancient letter style to achieve his rhetorical objectives. It remains critically important to note that his pastoral concern confirms the favourable relationship that the congregation continued to have with God the Father, with Jesus the Lord and with the missionaries.

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Navigating First Thessalonians Employing Aristotle's Enthymeme

Cited by 2 publications

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Paul’s Rhetorical Efforts to Establish Good Will in First Thessalonians

Paul’s Rhetorical Efforts to Establish Good Will in First Thessalonians

text-centred rhetorical analysis of 1 Thessalonians 1:1–10

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