Examining the gospel in relation to rhetoric is an incomplete reflection unless they are also examined jointly with other topics. The gospel, which is perfect and all encompassing, is a very broad topic that could be discussed and dissected for years. Rhetoric is a very basic and general style of writing to convince others to see things a little more in your way. However, at least two other serious factors need to be considered: The Spirit and your own personal needs cannot be overlooked when the gospel is being referred to and discussed.
As we have heard in class and read in books on more than one occasion, writing is to be done with an audience in mind. When your writing is meant for millions if not billions of people who live between 1600-3000 years in the future, having your audience in mind becomes a daunting task. Receiving such writing and understanding it may be the even harder task, if the common thread of The Spirit is not there. Understanding speech and emotion is vital to any author; however, the influence of The Spirit removes the human errors and shortcomings in the text. No other books contain more rhetoric than the scriptures, for no other book can cause the changes the scriptures can. However, this is not due to the talent of the author alone. The Spirit directly influenced those ancient authors to write the way they did, using the rhetoric that they did. The Spirit was the inspiration to the writing of the words.
Rhetoric is a two way street: one lane is writing, the second lane is reading. Learning from the rhetoric in the scriptures is valuable in an education sense, but even more so in a spiritual sense. The rhetoric found in the scriptures is merely the gateway to the influence they may have in our lives. Alma 5, which is found in The Book of Mormon, is filled with rhetoric in the form of thought provoking questions. These questions, when pondered properly, invite The Spirit to take us down our newly discovered path that the rhetoric helped us to find. From here, The Spirit inspires and guides us to our own personal needs and answers. There have been times that I have been reading in one book, where the topic had very little to do with what The Spirit was teaching me. While it is doubtful the author had the intention of guiding me down that specific path, it cannot be questioned that due to him and I being under the influence of The Spirit, I was guided to my personal needs at the right time. The Spirit was in the inspiration to the understanding of what was being communicated to me.
Our personal needs dictate how we view the rhetoric and how The Spirit can guide us through the wisdom found in it. We all need something different, and as we ponder the same writing, we can come to our own answers as we understand the rhetoric and use it to invite The Holy Spirit. It is then that we learn to appreciate the ancient rhetoric used by the holy prophets, as well as the current, powerful rhetoric used today by The Spirit, of which I am most grateful for.
That's true about the writers of the Book of Mormon. Revolation must have played a key roll in order for them to know who their audience would be thousands of years in the future.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI think you're right that the spirit adapts the rhetoric to fit our individual needs. Isn't that the most amazing thing in the world that the same passage of scripture, by virtue of the spirit, can fill the different needs of many people? I once heard someone argue that a math-book was equally as perfect a book as the book of Mormon. I think that your post would helpful in convincing them that it's not at all, because math-books can't use the spirit to form fit their contents to the needs of its readers so therefore the B.O.M. has a more perfect message. One last quick comment, your second paragraph reminds me of a quote by President Packer - "The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than the study of behavior will improve behavior." - Okay, I'm done now. Thanks for the post.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the positive feedback and the comparison to a math book. I never would have thought of that before. The quote by President Packer is a good one that I would not have connected, so thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteGreat metaphor--"Rhetoric is a two way street: one lane is writing, the second lane is reading." That's a useful way to conceptualize rhetoric. I may have to use that in a class sometime.
ReplyDeleteI was a little worried when I read your title, "The Holy Spirit as the Author of Rhetoric"--but you ended up arguing that the Spirit is the author of spiritual and scriptural rhetoric, which I think is a really strong argument to make.