Divine Rhetoric: The Sermon on the Mount As Message & As Model in Augustine, Chrysostom & Luther

by Jaroslav Pelikan

Of the many themes that Classical Antiquity and Early Christianity had in common, for all their profound differences, none was more influential than their love of language. It was the Greek and Roman rhetorical theorists who called the attention of later generations to the importance of speech and language. Likewise, when the author of the Fourth Gospel needed a comprehensive metaphor to describe the eternal significance of Jesus Christ, he turned to speech, calling him the Logos--the Word and Reason of God, through whom the universe was made and by whom it was upheld. What would happen when these two systems of interpreting persuasive language collided--and yet in some sense converged? Author Jaroslav Pelikan, widely acknowledged as one of the most important living historians of Christian doctrine, answers that question. He examines three interpretations of the most universally acknowledged piece of rhetoric in the history of the West, the Sermon on the from the Latin and Catholic tradition (St Augustine), the Greek and Orthodox tradition (St John Chrysostom), and the Reformation and Protestant tradition (Martin Luther). Each is acknowledged in his tradition as a "prince of the pulpit." Together and yet separately, they illumine both the Sermon and the Speaker for anyone who still takes the challenge of the faith--and of language--seriously.

Genres: Theology

167 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2000

About the author

Jaroslav Jan Pelikan was born in Akron, Ohio, to a Slovak father and mother, Jaroslav Jan Pelikan Sr. and Anna Buzekova Pelikan. His father was pastor of Trinity Slovak Lutheran Church in Chicago, Illinois, and his paternal grandfather a bishop of the Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches then known as the Slovak Lutheran Church in America.

According to family members, Pelikan's mother taught him how to use a typewriter when he was three years old, as he could not yet hold a pen properly but wanted to write. A polyglot, Pelikan's facility with languages may be traced to his multilingual childhood and early training. That linguistic facility was to serve him in the career he ultimately chose (after contemplating becoming a concert pianist)--as a historian of Christian doctrine. He did not confine his studies to Roman Catholic and Protestant theological history, but also embraced that of the Christian East.

In 1946 when he was 22, he earned both a seminary degree from Concordia Seminary in Saint Louis, Missouri and a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago.

Pelikan wrote more than 30 books, including the five-volume The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine (1971–1989). Some of his later works attained crossover appeal, reaching beyond the scholarly sphere into the general reading public (notably, Mary Through the Centuries, Jesus Through the Centuries and Whose Bible Is It?).

His 1984 book The Vindication of Tradition gave rise to an often quoted one liner. In an interview in U.S. News & World Report (June 26, 1989), he said: "Tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living. Tradition lives in conversation with the past, while remembering where we are and when we are and that it is we who have to decide.

"Traditionalism supposes that nothing should ever be done for the first time, so all that is needed to solve any problem is to arrive at the supposedly unanimous testimony of this homogenized tradition."

Reviews

[Sanjuro · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a stellar study. Compelling and unique. I couldn't put it down. And yet, at the same time, it was missing something. The sense that it was missing something may be my fault, in that I did not come into the book as a "model reader"; I think I was expecting something else. But yet, what I got was interesting to no end.

The book lays considerable groundwork in classic rhetoric before spending any time either with the Sermon on the Mount, or with its principle exegetes (Augustine, Chrysostom, Luther). The opening sections on rhetoric are set within classical culture and the early church. All of this was insightful and fascinating.

The choice of rhetors/exegetes was a good one as they represent the major "branches" of Christianity: Augustine (Catholic), Chrysostom (Orthodox), Luther (Protestant).

I think the only real drawback is that, although Pelikan addresses the Sermon itself as rhetoric, and Jesus himself as a rhetorician, this is not really given any detailed analysis. The focus was really only on Aristotle and the classical rhetoricians, and on the three exegetes in their rhetorical treatments of the Sermon, but I think the book needed another chapter on Jesus himself as rhetorician and the rhetorical structure of the Sermon itself.

Overall, a helpful and fascinating study.

[Lance · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since there are few books taking such a wide look at rhetoric in Christianity, this is certainly an interesting and though-provoking start . . . though it seems only to be a start. I was mostly disappointed by Pelikan's focus on Aristotle's rhetoric and how he was showing mostly the similarities between these three preachers, focusing most of his contrast on Luther. In the end, it was unclear as what the purpose of such examination was, other than thoughtful engagement with the work. Pelikan hints that comparing interpretations of texts can help reveal aspects of society and culture that may otherwise lie hidden, but I'm not sure he really draws these out to their fullest extent. For a scholar in rhetoric and religion, this is a good book to start thinking about methodology and research.

[Rusty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very stimulating reading. I couldn't put it down. Pelikan gives a good overview of Aristotle's rhetoric and how Augustine, Chrysostom, & Luther all apply it to the Sermon on the Mount.