12 December 2022
The most important understanding I gained from the rhetorical analysis of Paul’s letters is, put simply, that they are arguments. When I read these letters before, I just saw check-in notes written to old friends, not arguments loaded with rhetorical appeals and devices. My understanding shifted after learning how Paul was not only well-versed in the types of argumentation/invention, but also knew how to arrange an argument effectively and to use style to bring his arguments to life for his audience. Though still certainly charged will Paul’s personal emotions, each letter was written with an agenda; whether Paul was trying to win their goodwill, to defend himself and/or Christ, to instruct his audience on how to live, or to encourage them in their faith, Paul’s verses are deliberate and function as part of a larger argument in the letter.
Focusing on Paul’s use of imagery was exceedingly helpful in understanding the contexts in which Paul’s original audiences might have understood the ideas being communicated in the letters. Paul held an awareness of how he was writing to people who existed within particular cultural contexts, with many of whom actively learning how to navigate or negotiate life as a Christian against their complicated personal and societal backgrounds. For his audience to better comprehend abstract or unfamiliar concepts, Paul had to map these ideas onto domains that were more familiar to them or more inherent to their present cultural structures.
Approaching Paul’s letters from an ethics viewpoint taught me to recognize that while Paul was writing to address the complex situations in these communities, he not only had to develop his own standard ethical code, but also had to navigate how to represent Jesus and his teachings in doing so. Paul’s expressed code of ethics had to deal carefully with how Jesus’ teachings could apply to different contexts and communities, especially as he aimed to resolve conflict or dissension among entire groups of people.
Concerning Paul’s letters and their purpose, one of the most important things I learned is to focus on the imperatives and how Paul builds his arguments around them. Without understanding how Paul’s use of ethos, pathos, and logos all tie back to the imperatives issued in the appeals, the proofs themselves would lack the meaning that the imperatives supply. Similarly, I was able to better understand the implications and purposes of the different images that Paul draws on and the metaphors he develops after I learned how the statement of the case is sustained by connections throughout the rest of the letter. While functioning as a reflection of purpose in the letters, Paul’s imperatives are often moral in nature. The ethics of Paul’s letters and their modern implications are intrinsically tied to Paul’s purpose in writing. In view of this interplay between imperatives and virtue ethics, it was important to understand Paul’s role as a group-dynamic thinker who was concerned with eliminating conflict, fixing behavior, assuaging dissension, and fostering unity so that these communities could be encouraged or strengthened. In order for Paul to successfully espouse Christ-like virtues, he would have to use images that his audience would understand and rhetoric that would effectively persuade them.
My understanding of Paul’s purpose in writing his letters also shifted once I realized how much Paul had at stake in these situations. As their founder/mentor/etc., these communities were often a reflection of Paul, but more importantly, these communities were also a representation of the budding religion of Christianity, which was fragile, perhaps especially in the Hellenistic settings in which some of his audiences found themselves. If the early Christian church was at risk, then everything Paul stood for, believed in, and worked towards would be at stake as well. Therefore, Paul’s purpose in writing these letters lies not only within his deep care for these churches and their edification or protection, but also within his concern for the preservation of Christianity, both in a religion-wide sense and in a personal faith sense. Understanding this dynamic within Paul’s purpose helps me see why the different types of invention are necessary in persuading the audience to heed the commands he issues (e.g., ethos is necessary for establishing Paul and/or Christ’s credibility and winning the audience’s goodwill, while the instruction provided through logos is a great tool for strengthening or unifying a church body, and pathos can help draw the audience in and convince them of why it should matter to them, too). The Christian faith is something that Paul was sharing in partnership with these groups of people, and as a reader of his letters, it is crucial for me to notice the ways in which Paul is trying to protect these churches, the individuals within them, and his relationships with those people.
My experience this semester will impact the way I read Paul’s letters in the future by making me a more mindful and aware reader of ancient texts in general. As I live within communities that are constantly trying to apply these letters to our contemporary world and individual lives, it has been invaluable to understand the possible limitations of ancient texts and to know that before I question how they might relate to the present, I need to first understand their original context. When I want to gain a more accurate understanding of the original historical context of texts like Paul’s epistles, I now know both where to start and where to go. This semester has taught me how to notice and analyze rhetoric, imagery, and ethics within Paul’s letters, and it has also taught me how to better approach these texts in a broader sense. When I approach Paul’s letters, I now know that I should be asking myself questions like the following: What things do I associate with this text? How are these things helpful or how might they get in the way of me understanding what Paul is actually trying to say/do here? Why is Paul trying to persuade his audience? How is Paul trying to persuade them? What images is Paul drawing on or pulling in? What ethical concerns does Paul reflect? How does this text interact with structures in our present world?
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