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<\/a><\/p>\nQ. You say in the Introduction that theology and rhetoric are inseparable parts of Paul\u2019s effort to convince or persuade his audience in regard to their behavior (and I would add in regard to various of their beliefs as well\u2014 e.g. about resurrection in 1 Cor. 15). I entirely agree with you about this\u2014 the goal is the moral transformation of the audience.\u00a0 This also means that theology and ethics are also not neat discreet categories for Paul.\u00a0 His ethics are inherently theological in character, and his theology has ethical goals.\u00a0 I was once taught by a Calvinist that all theology is grace, and so all ethics is just our response in gratitude for what \u2018God hath wrought\u2019. This always struck me as not quite right if indeed working out one\u2019s salvation with fear and trembling\u2019 is one part theological and one part ethical, involving the believers co-operation and efforts.\u00a0\u00a0 Would you agree?\u00a0 Do you think various Reformation theological categories have skewed the way we look at Paul\u2019s theology and rhetoric?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
A. Yes, the division of theology and ethics cannot be made in Paul\u2019s letters. One only needs to look at his thanksgivings\/prayers at the opening of his letters. They express thanks for the listeners\u2019 faith, hope, and love (1 Thess.), and they pray that the readers will be blameless at the day of Christ. The ethical sections are integrated throughout the letters. In neither Corinthian letters can we make a sharp distinction between theology and ethics. In 2 Corinthians, for example, we learn our ethics from Paul\u2019s own autobiographical statements that demonstrate how his moral life is intertwined with his theology of the cross.<\/p>\n
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Q. You say in the Introduction that theology and rhetoric are inseparable parts of Paul\u2019s effort to convince or persuade his audience in regard to their behavior (and I would add in regard to various of their beliefs as well\u2014 e.g. about resurrection in 1 Cor. 15). I entirely agree with you about this\u2014 the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
Apostle of Persuasion--- Part Five<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Q. You say in the Introduction that theology and rhetoric are inseparable parts of Paul\u2019s effort to convince or persuade his audience in regard to their\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Apostle of Persuasion--- Part Five\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Q. 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