Emory Studies in Early Christianity – serie

Wilhelm Wuellner is the father of rhetorical criticism of the New Testament. Wuellner has contributed to the field in four key ways. First, he has emphasized that at no time in the history of rhetoric was rhetoric a unified or monolithic field. Second, he attributes the demise of rhetoric in the nineteenth century to the rise of Romanticism and its connection with irrationalism, as well as the profound technological shift in the media of communication with the advent of the print culture and the loss of the living word. Third, he emphasizes the counter-cultural nature of Jewish and Christian rhetoric. Finally, he has focused on the ever-present relationship between hermeneutics and rhetorics. The contributors to this collection of essays-first presented at a Claremont conference honoring Wuellner's work-discuss the ways that Wuellner has influenced the field and their own work. The list of contributors is a who's who of rhetorical scholars ranging from Vernon Robbins and Tom Olbricht to Whitney Shiner and Greg Carey. Wuellner himself contributes a new essay on the rhetoric of religion and the rhetoric of power.Together the essays provide not only a fitting tribute to the continuing influence of Wuellner and his work but also original studies of various New Testament texts read through the eyes of rhetorical criticism. Since Wuellner is well-known outside of New Testament circles, this collection will also appeal to classical rhetoricians.

Almost all scholars look to Acts 6:1-8:3 as providing the bedrock of early Christian tradition. The incident between the Hebrews and the Hellenists are understood to reflect real historical and theological problems in the early Jerusalem community, demonstrating the Hellenist role as a historical bridge between Jesus and Paul. Penner's study challenges the fundamental assumptions of this approach. Penner emphasizes the rhetorical and moral dimensions of ancient historiographical theory, especially the centrality of narrative and plot, the use of vivid description, the application of comparison using various type-scenes, and the role of speeches in terms of characterization and the presentation of narrative style.Todd Penner is the Assistant Professor of Religion at Austin College and the co-editor with Caroline Vander Stichele of Contextualizing Acts: Lukan Narrative and Greco-Roman Discourse.

The phrase "like a bride adorned" is one of the ways Revelation describes the new Jerusalem which descends from heaven. This phrase can also be read as describing one of the ways interpreters historically have understood the relationship between Revelation and its metaphorical language. In contrast to views that suggest Revelation's metaphorical language is simple adornment, Huber argues that Revelation's persuasive power resides within the text's metaphorical nature and she articulates a method for exploring how Revelation employs metaphor to shape an audience's thought. In order to gain a sense of how metaphorical language works in Revelation's highly metaphorical text,"Like a Bride Adorned:" Reading Metaphor in John's Apocalypse engages one set of conceptual metaphors in relation to Revelation's literary and social-historical milieu. Specifically, Huber explores the conceptual metaphors undergirding Revelation's nuptial or bridal imagery. Positioned at the culmination of the text's, nuptial imagery serves as one the text's final and arguably one of its most important characterizations of the Christian community.Examining the function of Revelation's nuptial imagery involves investigating how the text redeploys conventional metaphorical constructions used in the writings of the Hebrew prophets and how its imagery engages Greco-Roman depictions of women, weddings, and brides. Discourse about marriage and family was such an important part of Revelation's historical context, especially as it was shaped by the Roman Empire, that any discussion of the text's nuptial imagery must examine how it reflects and responds to this discourse. By addressing these questions, we see that Revelation's nuptial imagery serves to further the text's goal of shaping Christian identity in opposition to the social demands of the Roman Empire. Moreover, exploration of the conceptual metaphors undergirding Revelation's "bride adorned" reveals how John seeks to shape Christian identity as a transitional identity. Through metaphor, Revelation encourages its audience to envision the Christian community as a bride who constructs "her" own identity as she transitions into a new role in relation to God and the Lamb. Through the process of exploring Revelation's nuptial imagery with insights gained from conceptual metaphor theory, we uncover the ways that John employs metaphorical language to persuade his audience's thought about themselves and about others. Consequently, this work contributes both to our understanding of the text's nuptial imagery and to our knowledge of how Revelation employs metaphor as tool for persuasion.

All the essays in the collection focus on ethos and rhetoric. Biblical criticism as traditionally carried out seeks rigorous scrutiny of texts and backgrounds but fails to reflect upon the sociopolitical frameworks, cultural-religious implications, and symbolic universes of biblical texts and their interpretations. These essays argue that biblical critics need a more profound sense of critical rhetoric and ethic of inquiry to bring about a change in the ethos and ethics of biblical studies. Topics range from "the ethical appeal of the Chronicler" and "gendering moral discourse in Paul" to the "undercover ethos of Paul, God's double agent." Contributors include Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Rodney K. Duke, Anders Eriksson, Manfred Kraus, John W. Marshall, J. David Hester-Amador, Carol Poster, Thomas H. Olbricht, Roy Jeal, Frederick J. Long, Mark D. Given, Todd Penner, Russell B. Sisson, Troy Martin, Johan S. Vos, Rollin Ramsaran, Jerry L. Sumney, Walter Übelacker, Vernon K. Robbins