The Epistle to the Galatians and Classical Rhetoric: Part 3

Abstract

It has been demonstrated in Parts 1 and 2 of this study (Tyndale Bulletin, May 1994) that rhetorical criticism was applied to Paul’s Epistles in late Antiquity and that Paul himself certainly displays a knowledge of some sophisticated terms and concepts derived from the Greek theory of rhetoric, though it may still be doubted whether he obtained this knowledge direct from pagan schools or textbooks. What justification did he have, then, for representing his discourse as alien to the σοφία of this world? It will emerge, first through a close reading of Galatians and then through more general consideration of Paul’s handling of the ‘five parts of rhetoric’ that, although at the more superficial levels Paul makes use of many of the techniques favoured by classical orators, the conceptual framework in which he operated was different from that of pagan sophists and the bases of his argumentation were distinct and innovative.