One of our contributors, along with a friend and colleague Bryan Dyer, has co-edited another book, Paul and Ancient Rhetoric: Theory and Practice in the Hellenistic Context (CUP, 2016). It contains a collection of 13 essays on Paul and rhetoric, surrounding the question of whether or not Paul was an ancient rhetor, and what exactly rhetoric in the Hellenistic period was. The list of contributors is quite broad, but one distinctive contributor is Carl Joachim Classen, who unfortunately passed away before the book was published. The editors initially approached Classen about translating one of his recent essays into English, which he was delighted to do. He passed away, however, before the translation was complete, but a friend, Linda Archibald, was able to complete the task for inclusion in this book. The essays all contribute in various ways to the discussion of Paul and rhetoric, including summaries of major issues in play, delineations of the types of discussions that are being had, and identifying further ways to move the discussion forward. Anyone interested in Paul and ancient rhetoric would do well to pick up a copy.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Paul and ancient rhetoric: an introduction to a continuing discussion
Stanley E. Porter and Bryan R. Dyer

Part 1: History of Scholarship and Key Issues:

1. Can the theory of rhetoric help us to understand the New Testament, and in particular the letters of Paul?
Carl Joachim Classen

Part 2: Paul, his Education, and First-Century Culture:

2. Paul in Tarsus: historical factors in assessing Paul’s early education
Andrew W. Pitts

3. Hellenistic rhetorical education and Paul’s letters
Christos Kremmydas

4. Paul and traditions of Graeco-Roman rhetoric
Frank W. Hughes

5. Ancient literate culture and popular rhetorical knowledge: implications for studying Pauline rhetoric
Stanley E. Porter

Part 3: Issues in the Use of Ancient Rhetoric in Analyzing Paul’s Letters

6. ‘Delivery, delivery, delivery’: accounting for performance in the rhetoric of Paul’s letters
Glenn Holland

7. Rhetoric and epistolography – case not closed
Lauri Thurén

Part 4: Paul and Ancient Rhetoric in Practice:

8. Paul, classical rhetoric, and oracular fullness of meaning in Romans 1:16-17
Robert G. Hall

9. ‘I do not understand what I do’: a challenge to understanding Romans 7 as prosopopoeia
Bryan R. Dyer

10. Parenesis and peroratio: the rhetorical function of Romans 12:1-15:13
Mark D. Given

11. Navigating First Thessalonians employing Aristotle’s enthymeme
Thomas H. Olbricht and Stanley N. Helton

12. Appeals to logos, pathos, and ethos in Galatians 5:1-12: an investigation of Paul’s inventio
David A. deSilva

13. Visualizing Philippians: ancient rhetorical practice meets cognitive science through sociorhetorical interpretation
L. Gregory Bloomquist