Words Well Spoken: George Kennedy's Rhetoric of the New Testament

Chapter 7: George Kennedy’s Influence on Rhetorical Interpretation of the Acts of the Apostles

107 Chapter 7 George Kennedy’s Influence on Rhetorical Interpretation of the Acts of the Apostles Blake Shipp George Kennedy’s method has been used to interpret every book of the New Testament . However, its use in understanding the Acts of the Apostles has been limited. Blake Shipp traces the role of Kennedy’s approach in the interpretation of Acts and offers some intriguing insights into why that role has been limited. The interplay of narrative and speeches stands front and center. Shipp raises many questions about the future rhetorical analysis of Acts and how Kennedy’s methodology—expanded in an even more thoroughly, classically informed vein—might still play a role. My introduction to the work of George Kennedy came as what one might term “fortuitous happenstance.” As a new doctoral student in my first seminar on the theology of the New Testament, I sat in rapt attention listening to my professor, recently returned from a sabbatical leave spent studying communication theory, discuss the possibilities of using the canons of rhetoric as a tool for interpreting the biblical text. Intrigued, I soon was scouring the stacks of the library looking for guidance and a seminar topic involving the use of rhetoric as an interpretive tool. In my search I came across a slim, unassuming volume entitled New Testament Interpretation through Rhetorical Criticism by Kennedy.1 Thinking the volume might be of some assistance, I added it to the stack of works to check out. What I found within the pages of that modest tome was a priceless treasure. Kennedy introduced me to the power of speech and how speech might be arranged to carry persuasive effect. I was hooked. Kennedy’s words built within my mind an interpretive framework, a new world in which my companions became Quintilian, Aristotle, and Cicero. Soon, additional acquaintances were made with the likes of Livy, Sallust, Thucydides, Plutarch, Theon of Alexandria, and others. Lazy New Orleans afternoons would be spent with my new friends, pondering their words and how the world that molded their Black Watson Rhetoric final.indd 107 8/27/08 9:02:07 AM 108 Blake Shipp thoughts might have shaped the thoughts and words of the New Testament authors. The work of Kennedy has forever changed how I view and interpret the writings of the New Testament. For this I am in his debt, the recipient of a foundation upon which I continue to build. It is therefore a great honor to offer the following reflections about Kennedy ’s influence on the rhetorical interpretation of Acts. Kennedy’s Impact on the Study of the Rhetoric of Acts The influence of Kennedy and his methodological framework upon the interpretation of Christian Scripture in general seems hard to overestimate. Certainly, he was not the first to propose or practice such an interpretation of the writings of the New Testament. His distinctive contribution lies in providing a focus for New Testament studies—the first programmatic definition of and outline for rhetorical criticism of that portion of Christian Scripture. Aware of the lack of methodological consistency and the total absence of a formal method for using rhetoric in New Testament studies, Kennedy sought to provide methodological cohesion with his New Testament Interpretation through Rhetorical Criticism. Scholars quickly noticed the importance of Kennedy ’s work for rhetorical criticism. In now oft-quoted words, Wilhelm Wuellner epitomizes the massive impact Kennedy had made upon the field: “With Kennedy’s proposal for New Testament interpretation through rhetorical criticism, publications with rhetoric in their titles will likely reach tidal-wave proportions.”2 The tidal wave of publications did rise, supporting volumes of publications about various New Testament texts, especially the Pauline Epistles.3 That wave, however, gave us comparatively few publications about Acts. Approaches to the Rhetorical Analysis of Acts The application of the principles and forms of rhetoric to the text of Acts as an interpretive tool is a recent phenomenon attempted by only a few scholars. The works of those interpreters who have utilized rhetoric may be subsumed under four broad categories: comparative studies, studies providing formal rhetorical analysis, works utilizing socio-rhetorical criticism, and investigations using recent, eclectic rhetorical approaches. Although overlapping at various points and not to Black Watson Rhetoric final.indd 108 8/27/08 9:02:07 AM Kennedy and acts 109 be sharply divided, each of these four approaches reveals enough difference in emphasis that they may be...