Greek Rhetorical Origins of Christian Faith: An Inquiry

Greek Rhetorical Origins of Christian Faith: An Inquiry

What is the true of Christian faith? Are the roots of this concept the same in both the Old and New Testaments? With semantic, historical, and analytic evidence, Kinneavy develops his hypothesis that the origin of some major aspects of the Christian concept of faith - pistis in Greek- can be traced to Greek classical rhetoric. Kinneavy presents his case cumulatively, with each stage differing substantially from traditional scholarship. He begins by examining the notion of faith formulated by eight major Christian and Jewish theologians, demonstrating that faith and rhetorical persuasion share certain important semantic elements which have made it possible for reach to accommodate the other. The book goes on to present a meticulous cas for the historical influence of Greek rhetoric on Hebraic thought, specifically in the writers of the New Testament. Contending that the effects of Hellenization were strongly felt, particularly in the areas of Palestinian education and civic life, his analysis opposes the prevailing isolation theories of early Christianity. Kinneavy concludes with a novel rhetorical study of the several hundred occurrences of the Greek terms for "faith" and "to believe," searching for evidence of the contemporary meaning of persuasion, and emerging with overwhelming support for the Greek influence on Christian faith. A controversial and clearly argued work, Greek rhetorical origins of Christian faith is a very original attempt to answer the age-old question "whence does faith spring?" and is an important contribution to the history of rhetoric.-- Front flap.

James L. Kinneavy

New York : Oxford University Press

1987

Part I : An old thesis and a new hypothesis -- Part II : The Semantic argument: a possibility -- Part III : The historical argument: probability -- Part IV : The analytical argument: A verification -- Part V : A new hypothesis: conclusions, limitations, and further study.

Book