What is rhetorical theology? : textual practice and public discourse /

Compier (Church Divinity School of the Pacific and Graduate Theol. Union) contends that Ciceronian rhetoric provides a sound basis for hermeneutical theology or rhetorical theology. Following Calvin, he rejects theology as "speculative system building" in favor of theology that is a rhetorical enterprise to save its own time. He discusses at length Cicero, Quintilian, Augustine, Luther, and Calvin, rejecting the Aristotelian rhetorical paradigm because it subordinates rhetoric to philosophy. Ciceronian rhetoric, on the other hand, seeks to persuade by speech. The lodestar and cardinal principle of rhetoric is decorum--to determine what is appropriate. Roman rhetoric appeals to the whole person--rational, emotional, aesthetic, ethical, and volitional. Theology is persuasive argument intended to change society, and rhetorical epistemology distances itself from both ethical relativism and objectivism. Following Steven Mailloux, Compier carefully compares and contrasts his work with that of others but expresses strong affinities to liberation theologies. With attention to Calvin he demonstrates rhetorical hermeneutics in hamartiology, diverting theology from original sin to existential propensity to sin, and seeking not to understand sin but to overcome the negative effects of concrete sins--primarily oppressive social structures. The book is reader-friendly but stimulating, and Compier calls for action rather than reflection. Copious endnotes; upper-division undergraduate and graduate students. J. W. McCant; Point Loma Nazarene College