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The Rhetorical Function Of James

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James is often regarded as the most practical book in the Bible, reflecting its design as an instructional guide for Christian conduct. The epistle contains very little doctrinal instruction, and focuses instead on giving encouragement and advice. James has historically been categorized as a paraenesis—a book of popular slogans—that were put together by catchphrases (Hartin 10). Furthermore, according to Hartin, “The rhetorical function of James is to socialize its hearers/readers as the twelve-tribe kingdom by reminding them of those values that give them identity and separate them from the wider society” (Hartin 13). The goal of this separation is to keep the minds of these believers on things above, and their citizenship in heaven. To achieve …show more content…

These two are not contrary, but rather complimentary to each other. James begins his letter mentioning the role of faith in the development of a believer. In the rest of the writing, we see faith play an important role whether it be in relation to a relationship with God or conduct in the world. An example of this is James 1:6: “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind” (ESV, James 1:6), where faith is fundamental in communion with God. Additionally, the pairing of this faith and works, which often confuses readers today follows this theme. James 2:22 says: “You see that faith was active along with [Abraham] his works, and faith was completed by his works.” (ESV, James 2:22). It is important to understand this is not saying that works without faith is desirable, but that faith alone is not apt for all situations. As pointed out by Dr. Vlachos in a lecture on the subject, Paul based his theology of works on Abraham’s acceptance of God’s covenant promise with him. James bases his doctrine of faith and works on Abraham after this, where he proves his devotion to God by offering to sacrifice his only son (Vlachos). This distinction shows that the two doctrines are not contrary to each other, but actually

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Stewart’s position is that of a lifelong slave. Stewart would rather die than to live her whole life “shaking carpets” or “tending upon gentlemen’s tables”. Her key message is that African Americans should have the same, equal rights as Americans fight for. She wants her audience to fully understand the effects on a lifelong slave. She discusses how the service tears the body away and says “nature herself becomes almost exhausted.”

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Jonathan Edwards was a great American theologian who was an eighteenth century Puritan preacher who delivered a six hour sermon in 1741, Connecticut to a congregation of Puritans. The purpose was to convince the congregation into seeking salvation by accepting God and to convince the unholy if they continued their ways they would end up in hell. To convince his audience Edwards uses rhetorical devices such as metaphor repetition and bandwagon to invoke fear into his audience. During Edwards Sermon he uses metaphor when describing God. In his sermon he states that God is a higher being who's hand is holding us, the sinners, above the fiery pits of hell.

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Test One: Rep. John Lewis 1. To me the main messages of the article is to use love and non-violence to get your point across and/or when you are trying to get what you want. That you do not have to always fight fire with fire. You can see this throughout the interview while John Lewis talked about how to prepare for their protest or marches they would practice being talked down, spit on, being beaten. That through the practiced they learned not to fight back but show the people who were doing these horrible things to them love.

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Not being able to know one’s identity during adolescence can lead to do drugs, commit theft, fail school, and be blind on what to do with their life. This is what James McBride had to go through during his adolescence. Growing up in a black community with a white mother can be very confusing and stressful. He employs rhetorical devices throughout his text in order to develop his epiphany regarding his mother’s life and by, extension, his own. Through the use of appeals and tone James McBride reveals the importance of education and religion, but above all else McBride mostly focuses on finding his identity, trying to understand race as he was growing up, and shows how his mother played an important role in his life

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In the early chapters of James’ story,

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James uses metaphors a lot of times, metaphors are used to make items seem symbolic, more so done when it’s used to make them abstract. There is one particular James uses to build on more credibility, “What attracts white…explicit lyrics.” (The Crossover, paragraph 3), while this is stating facts, there’s also an opinion present when concerning that statement. This causes a divide in the entirety of cultures and James is aware of that which also allows him to build more

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This proves that there are differences between the two

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One thing in common him and his mother had was to stick with religion as a resolution to cure them spiritually. As mentioned, “Mommy took great pride in our relationship with God.” (McBride 53), although, James was young he was still curious about things of his miracle , but he definitely looked up to him and even more as he grew with understanding of his

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(James 71)

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