Divine Rhetoric (Pelikan - pbk)

Author: Jaroslav Pelikan

ISBN: 9780881412147

Binding: paperback

Section: Philosophy/Rhetoric/Logic

Subtitle: The Sermon on the Mount as Message and as Model in Augustine, Chrysostom and Luther

Of the many themes that classical Antiquity and early Christianity had in common, for all their profound differences, none was more influential than their love of language. It was the Greek and Roman rhetorical theorists who called the attention of later generations to the importance of speech and language. Likewise, when the author of the Fourth Gospel needed a comprehensive metaphor to describe the eternal significance of Jesus Christ, he turned to speech, calling him the Logos, the Word And Reason Of God, through whom the universe was made and by whom it was upheld. What would happen when these two systems of interpreting persuasive language collided — and yet in some sense converged?