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In Praise of Bad Prose
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AbstractThis chapter explores how Renaissance humanists resolved the problems and apparent weaknesses of Paul’s style in their biblical scholarship by performing what may be called “recuperative readings” of his texts. It shows that, in their efforts to defend its coherence and skill, humanists associated Paul’s style with four grammatical and rhetorical forms—verbal omission (ellipsis), inverted syntax (hyperbaton), digressive sentence structure (anacoluthon), and Hebraisms—and they inscribed these forms with positive rhetorical effects, particularly power, speed, and profundity. After highlighting the prominence of the forms in general discussions of Paul’s style, the chapter considers the various arguments and metaphors used by humanists to justify their rhetorical integrity and aesthetic quality. Broadly speaking, humanists transform Paul’s stylistic weaknesses into strengths in order to defend the integrity and authority of Paul’s texts, as well as Paul’s character as a sacred, divinely inspired author.
Title: In Praise of Bad Prose
Description:
AbstractThis chapter explores how Renaissance humanists resolved the problems and apparent weaknesses of Paul’s style in their biblical scholarship by performing what may be called “recuperative readings” of his texts.
It shows that, in their efforts to defend its coherence and skill, humanists associated Paul’s style with four grammatical and rhetorical forms—verbal omission (ellipsis), inverted syntax (hyperbaton), digressive sentence structure (anacoluthon), and Hebraisms—and they inscribed these forms with positive rhetorical effects, particularly power, speed, and profundity.
After highlighting the prominence of the forms in general discussions of Paul’s style, the chapter considers the various arguments and metaphors used by humanists to justify their rhetorical integrity and aesthetic quality.
Broadly speaking, humanists transform Paul’s stylistic weaknesses into strengths in order to defend the integrity and authority of Paul’s texts, as well as Paul’s character as a sacred, divinely inspired author.
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