Paul's True Rhetoric: Ambiguity, Cunning, and Deception in Greece and Rome

Carefully examining 1 Cor 1-4 and 9; 2 Cor 2:14-4:6; Paul's use of "I" in Rom 7; Rom 9:1-5, 14:1-15:13 and Acts 17, Mark D. Given argues in Paul's True Rhetoric: Ambiguity, Cunning, and Deception in Greece and Rome (Trinity Press International, $26.95) that Paul, much like the Sophists, uses deception, irony, ambiguity, and other rhetorical devices in his argumentation, not surprising because of "Paul's sincere conviction that he knew the Truth and had a divine mandate to promote it in an apocalyptic world filled with deception" (p.

176). By using these devices he combated the deceptive rhetoric of demonic forces that deceive non-Christian Jews, Gentiles, and some "weak" believers. He is close to Plato's Socrates, but with a theological dimension that is not in Plato. This is a highly interesting combination of historical criticism with rhetorical criticism and a form of deconstruction that turns out to be very useful. It is no. 7 of Emory Studies in Early Christianity. I like this work. EK

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