When ‘Preaching’ is No Longer ‘Christian’: A Study of Paul’s Opposition to Oratory in His Day—and Our's
Introduction: Paul faced a major challenge in his missionary proclamation: he needed to distinguish himself from other public speakers of his day in both what he proclaimed and how he presented the Gospel. Like them, Paul showed up at a new city and needed to find a hearing from people he did not personally know. Yet that is about as much as Paul would have wanted to acknowledge he had in common with the Greek or Roman orators of his day. To be sure, some public orators, like Dio Chrysostom (c. AD 40-c. 115), also wanted to distinguish themselves from popular orators for similar reasons to Paul. Paul was not unfamiliar with the rhetorical methods of his day and could show himself an able writer and speaker. Yet, for reasons of both a different content to his message and a concern for truth rather than persuasive methods of delivery, Paul was no orator. He found the conventions of his day antithetical to the Gospel itself. This essay seeks to show how Paul distin