Download or read book Jesus, Rhetoric and Law written by Henderson and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2021-09-06 with total page 445 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study locates pre-gospel orality and gospel literacy within Greco-Roman rhetorical norms for education and performance. Heavy use of a few basic rhetorical conventions marks the gospel tradition as a marginal yet rhetorically competent attempt to create a Christian public. The book identifies gnomic sayings as the thickest available sample of gospel rhetorics, an alternative to samples based on chreia and parable. Gnome-use is central throughout ancient rhetorical theory and practice. Gnome is therefore an especially good focus for comparative study, particularly of characterisation and legal topicality. This work establishes a credible model of interaction among the speech-habits of Jesus, those of early Christian oral tradition, and the innovative rhetorics of gospel and epistolary texts. The plurality of rhetorical-criticisms current in New Testament studies is also addressed.