KIERKEGAARD'S CHRISTIAN RHETORIC

The motive behind this dissertation is the search for a paradigm of homiletics as a theological discipline. Soren Kierkegaard had a similar concern. He believed preachers had not understood the unique problems posed by the communication of Christianity, and had merely adapted the categories of classical or "pagan" rhetoric. The result was that the Christian message was contradicted or subverted by the form in which it was presented. Kierkegaard therefore proposed to write (but never finished) a new "art of preaching" based on a theological transformation of Aristotle's Rhetoric.;The project of this study is to derive Kierkegaard's Christian rhetoric from his theoretical reflections in the journals and published works and from his praxis in the religious discourses. It is an exercise in the construction of homiletical theory, and relies primarily on the tools of rhetorical criticism. Following the Aristotelian format Kierkegaard had proposed, the basic structure is as follows.;First, the distinctive aims of Christian discourse are examined. Kierkegaard gave them the summary term "edification" in contrast to the classical aim of persuasion. Next, the foundations of homiletical argument are laid in Kierkegaard's theological anthropology, in his dialectic, and in his explorations of the effect of particular Christian doctrines on discourse (Word of God, christology, sin, and authority). Kierkegaard's anthropology focuses on the role of the relationship to God in the structure of the personality, while his dialectic develops a logic of self-understanding and convictions, and explores the special epistemological problems posed by the Christian revelation.;From these foundations Kierkegaard generates appropriate rhetorical strategies for Christian discourse: "communication of capability," "indirect communication," "maieutic," and "reduplication." By adopting this systematic approach, which ties theological reflection to its corresponding medium of expression, Kierkegaard fulfills the motto of his Christian rhetoric: "to present the truth in its truest form.".;Although reservations are expressed regarding the adequacy of Kierkegaard's ecclesiology and christology, I conclude that the formal elements of his Christian rhetoric offer a valuable framework for developing a paradigm of homiletics as a theological discipline.