Paul's caricature of elders : Titus 1.5-9 as a rhetorical depiction of the ideal wise person

Soyars, Nick

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Paul's caricature of elders : Titus 1.5-9 as a rhetorical depiction of the ideal wise person

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MLA citation style (9th ed.)

Soyars, Nick. Paul's Caricature of Elders : Titus 1.5-9 As a Rhetorical Depiction of the Ideal Wise Person. rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/bcbdf912-1088-4dfa-b8ce-94a833e87c74.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

S. Nick. Paul's caricature of elders : Titus 1.5-9 as a rhetorical depiction of the ideal wise person. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/bcbdf912-1088-4dfa-b8ce-94a833e87c74

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

Soyars, Nick. Paul's Caricature of Elders : Titus 1.5-9 As a Rhetorical Depiction of the Ideal Wise Person. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/bcbdf912-1088-4dfa-b8ce-94a833e87c74.

Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.

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Soyars, Nick

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Abstract

Titus 1.5-9 is often read intuitively as a description of a morally ideal person. A case for this interpretation, however, is not fleshed out as much as it could be. Competing views have arisen in recent generations that purport Titus 1.5-9 to be either an accommodation to bourgeoise Hellenistic ethics by Christians in the late first or early second century, or a literalistic list of qualifications with the litmus test limited to a man’s marriage and children per v. 6. Thus, there is a need for a detailed argument to be made for the ethical ideal view and its rhetorical implications within the context of the biblical canon. I begin by establishing a proper reading of Proverbs in its rhetorical, canonical and ANE cultural context. Proverbs, addressed to the wise (1.5), uses rhetorical devices that Titus 1.5-9 shares (e.g., caricatures, concreteness) to shape Israelite hearts to aspire toward its ethical ideals. This rhetorical method requires adherents to practice the principle of mutatis mutandis in their own actual responses. By establishing the canonical context for Proverbs, it becomes clear that the God of Titus is the same God who operates in the same ways. To see Titus 1.5-9’s shared aspects with Proverbs, I detail how 2TJ Wisdom Literature made the worldview of the Jewish scriptures palatable to Hellenized Jews. The ethical ideals shared by Jews and Hellenists were lauded as pursuable only in fellowship with Yahweh, who is the source of wise, moral living. 2TJ co-opted Greek terms, often with nuanced meaning, and rhetorical devices, namely, lists and rhetorically ideal figures like what we find in Titus 1.5-9. When Titus 1.5-9 is read in light of all this, the most likely interpretation is that it is a description of a rhetorically morally ideal person, expecting adherents to practice its implementation mutatis mutandis.

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