Ezra Jaekyung Cho

The Rhetorical Approach to 1 Thessalonians Ezra Jaekyung Cho

This book is the rhetorical approach to 1 Thessalonians, particularly on funeral orations. Though many scholars have interpreted 1 Thessalonians in light of a thematic perspective, mirror reading, and epistolary approach, the author asserts that Paul employs elements of epideictic funerary oratory to persuade his audience. Encountering the growing persecution, sufferings, and even death of members, the believers of Thessalonica needed encouragement. As a rhetorical strategist, Paul needed effective methods to answer these problems, which he did so with Greco-Roman funeral orations. Moreover, this book delves into the funerary language with the paradoxical concepts Paul uses to illustrate topoi and the purpose of funeral oration in 1 Thessalonians. Consequently, this book proves these ideas by showing how funeral orations shed light on the whole of 1 Thessalonians in the exordium (1 Thess 1:2-3), the narratio (1:4--3:10), the consolation and exhortation (4:1--5:15), and peroratio with prayer (5:16-28).