Rhetoric in the Gospel
It is believed by Latter-day Saints everywhere that the main mission of mortal life is to learn and grow so that one day they may return to live with their Heavenly Father in the Celestial Kingdom. Members attend church, seminary, religious camps, devotionals, General Conference, and many other events and activities that would increase their knowledge of the gospel to reach that goal. However, that knowledge is worth very little if there is no testimony to back it up. A testimony includes a member’s conviction of the true things of the gospel, and when shared are a true example of rhetoric.
Testimonies can be found in just about every source of gospel material in existence. In most books of the Book of Mormon, the authors included a record of their testimony. There is not one talk that goes by during General Conference that does not include the testimony of the speaker. The entirety of the document “The Living Christ” is a testimony from the Prophet and his counselors. Why is it that all of these and more encompass a testimony? It is because Heavenly Father has asked his children to, and He knows the rhetorical power of a testimony given by his children. President Spencer W. Kimball verified this when he said, “free agency is the basic law of God and each one must assume the responsibility for his own response; but certainly each of us must do his part in influencing for good those who might need some assistance.”
The bearing of testimonies is not simply reserved for great leaders of the church, but for every member to share. Once a month, members are asked to share their testimonies with all other members of their ward. Those who choose stand at the podium and verbally express the truths that they feel and know. It is interesting to see how the members of the audience are moved by the bearer’s words as well as the bearer themselves. I know from personal experience that my own rhetoric whilst bearing my testimony has been enough to confirm my own feelings. Family members are also urged to bear testimony to each other, whether it be mother to son, or daughter to father. As members of the church, promises are made that if testimonies are shared with others all will be strengthened in the process.
Surely, with testimonies flooding every inch of church literature and functions of the church, there is a purpose behind them. I believe this purpose is that when the spirit combines with the spoken word, many can be convinced of the truthfulness of the gospel. Testimonies are a powerful rhetorical tool used by all Latter-day Saints.
Your essay was awesome. However, I have a really hard time reading the tiny font. I felt like I was watching a group of ants racing madly and fighting over the last crum of cherry pie. The only other advice I would give is to make your indents for various paragraphs more clear. At first, I thought I was reading one giant block of information and I had no idea where to start. Sorry, but try to make your formatting more clear next time.
ReplyDeleteI like how your paper is so concise. Everything you said is so true. It is interesting that we repeat certain phrases that illustrate eternal truths so often in the church, there is great power in simple testimonies, much more than in any long speech given by the great speakers of the world
ReplyDeleteIt really is amazing how much focus there is on testimony when you're speaking in church. Hopefully we can understand just how powerful a tool they can be, changing others and yourself in a few simple words.
ReplyDeleteYes!Yes! Agreed i too believe that our testimonies are great and powerful examples of rhetoric. Your paper was to the point and straight forward i also enjoyed that. Good job.
ReplyDeleteYour use of quotes flowed so well and illustrated your point wonderfully. It's interesting too that even with all the different ways the same thing can be said, slight differences in wording may influence different people at different times. I love how different testimonies move different people.
ReplyDeleteC.J. is right, the formatting is a bit tough. However, your writing was clean and clear.
ReplyDeleteIt intrigues me that, as you point out, bearers of testimonies are affected just as much as the audience.
I appreciated your references to other sources. I recall that it was Elder Bednar who instructed family members to share their testimonies often. The Pres. Kimball quote was right on target.
Testimony is deffinately the strongest rhetoric of all because the spirit speaks to others when testimony is spoken.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what everyone said--play with the formatting a bit, and it'll be much easier to read.
ReplyDeleteI really found it insightful when you talked about the rhetoric of testimony bearing, and how the act of communicating it not only impacts others, but has a rhetorical impact on ourselves.