The topos of Divine Testimony in Luke-Acts. James R. McConnell

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The topos of Divine Testimony in Luke-Acts - James R. McConnell


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Theon’s use of the term topos correctly, the context in which Theon uses the term is extremely significant. For Theon, a topos can be a formal exercise in which a person is blamed (or less often, praised) for a particular moral choice. This exercise requires a fairly rigid structure, which Theon describes. He also, however, uses the term topos in a manner similar to Cicero; namely, a topos can be the source of a line of argumentation, used in support of any of a number of preliminary exercises. These topoi are many and varied, one of which is the testimony of others.

      Topos in other Rhetorical Treatises

      This survey of the ancient rhetoricians’ views of topos/locus has demonstrated that this concept enjoyed a rather wide range of meaning. For Aristotle, the topos represented a source of logical argumentation, the topos serving as the structure of the argument. For Cicero and Quintilian, a locus was the place in which the orator would find a source of arguments from which the orator would select the ones appropriate for arguing the case at hand. But Cicero and Quintilian both differentiate between loci as sources of arguments and loci communes, which were stock, self-contained arguments useful for any case. Also, Cicero demonstrates that he is familiar with the locus being used as a theme or example to which the orator refers in the course of the speech.

      Theon and other rhetoricians show that they are familiar with this range of meanings as well. Theon describes the preliminary exercise of topos, in which the student is instructed to blame, or praise, a person or thing through the use of a specified, structured argument. But he also uses the term topos more in line with Cicero and Quintilian’s predominant use of locus, that of a source of possible arguments. These uses (and others) are also found in later treatises authored by Anonymous Seguerianus and Apsines. Given the rather wide semantic range for the term topos among the ancient rhetoricians, it is not surprising that a multiplicity of meanings for the term topos can be found in modern NT scholarship, as was demonstrated earlier.

      Above, in my review of J. Thom’s investigation of topos, I noted that his study did not include Cicero’s concept(s) of loci. From the analysis of Cicero’s treatment of loci in Topica, one sees that his complete concept of locus does not perfectly fit any single criterion within Thom’s schema. Internal loci, those which are inherent to the subject of the argument, line up with Thom’s first category, the strategic, or rhetorical topoi. However, Cicero’s external loci, those arguments that are drawn from outside of the subject, are more difficult to categorize. They do not seem to fit any of the types that Thom suggests. The external loci as envisioned by Cicero are not literary themes which are rehearsed over and over (Thom’s second type), nor are they moral topoi (the third type). One can say that the external topoi are strategic or rhetorical in that they are employed to persuade an audience or jury; but, given Thom’s example of his first type of topos (arguing from the greater to the lesser), the external loci do not exactly fit this category either. Therefore, I propose that Thom’s continuum should be extended to include Cicero’s external loci; I will demonstrate that these external loci focus on witnesses and testimony.

      The topos of Divine Testimony

      This


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