Persuasion in religious discourse: Enhancing credibility in sermon titles and openings

Abstract

Since the emergence of the Aristotelian idea of appeal within the framework of his understanding of poetics, the concepts of ethos, pathos, and logos have indicated the essence of what came to be labelled much later as persuasive strategies. Although persuasion seems to be present in virtually all text types and registers, in many ways it is the religious discourse that utilises persuasion as one of its pivotal instruments to convince the audience of the veracity of the doctrine presented through it. The present paper explores scripted sermons, particularly sermon titles and opening passages, in terms of the persuasive strategies employed. The main emphasis is placed on how particular linguistic realisations of persuasion enhance the credibility of the message.