FERNÁNDEZ ORTEGA Y OTROS VS MÉXICO, SENTENCIA DE 30 DE AGOSTO DE 2010.

The art of persuasion or rhetoric is very important in this study.118 _{As it was argued earlier in this}

chapter that 1 Peter can be read as a trauma text, it is important to see if and how Peter persuades his readers or hearers of his argument.119 _{This is also evident from the rhetorical situation. There}

was a specific exigence that triggered the rhetorical situation of Peter and he is trying to address that in his letter.

Witherington (2010: 184–185) suggests that Peter is creating a “rhetorical world” and he asks important questions in this regard, also referring to Elliott’s Home for the Homeless:

Often missed in such a sociological study of 1 Peter is the fact that the author is also busily constructing a rhetorical world, a world of advice and consent, of persuasion of dissuasion, where certain beliefs and behaviors are inculcated not merely for social reasons, but also for theological or ideological ones. When we analyze 1 Peter as rhetoric, what do we learn about the aims and purposes of this document, broadly speaking? Is it meant to steel the audience for persecution by persuading them about the value of Christlikeness? Is there some considerable rhetorical exigence or problem that this discourse is meant to overcome? And what do we make of the intertextual

118 _{Witherington defines “rhetoric” as the art of persuasion used from the time of Aristotle through and beyond}

the New Testament times in the Greek-speaking world in order to convince an audience or another about something (Witherington III, 2009: ix). Witherington is of opinion that 1 Peter exemplifies a specific sort of ancient rhetoric, namely “Asiatic rhetoric”. This is not surprising in discourses that addressed Asia Minor. Asiatic rhetoric was known for its emotion and even affection. It was also popular in Asiatic rhetoric to make use of repetition in order to emphasise the main points (as can be seen in 1 Peter). Witherington suggests that the influence of Asiatic rhetoric can be seen in 1 Peter in the following ways: 1. Its long and complex sentences. 2. The letter’s verbosity and use of colourful words. 3. Its tendency towards repetition. 4. The letter’s strong appeal to the emotions at the outset and conclusion as suffering is a major theme in the discourse (Witherington III, 2009: 178–179).

119 _{The aim of this part of this chapter is not to do an extensive study on the rhetoric of 1 Peter, but only to}

point out the rhetorical strategies used in this text by Peter in order to persuade his audience of his convictions or argument. In the section on literary aspects, the aim was to identify the rhetorical strategies used in this letter. In this section, the aim is to determine the possible function(s) of these strategies.

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echoes in this document, not only of the Old Testament, but also of material from the rhetoric of Jesus, of James and of Paul?

Witherington furthermore says that one of the primary questions that comes to mind when dealing with the rhetoric of 1 Peter is the following: Is Peter (the author) trying to teach new values and virtues, or is he applauding and strengthening old ones? Is he trying to change behaviour and belief in the nearby future or is he just praising certain existing forms of these things (Witherington III, 2009: 179)?120

To answer Witherington’s question: One cannot necessarily place these elements up against one another, that one needs to choose whether Peter wants to teach new values or strengthen old ones, or whether he is trying to change behaviour or praising already existing forms thereof. It is possible to say, when studying the rhetoric of 1 Peter, that he is trying to do all of it. Peter is trying to encourage by emphasising the new, but also at the same time stirring up memory by emphasising that which the audience already knows. It is possible to argue that Peter urges them to change behaviour, but he also applauds that which already exists. Peter shocks, but also comforts. He exhorts and warns, but also gives guidance, bearing in mind the historical situation and the trauma that the first audience is enduring. In an oral culture, Peter intended to persuade his audience through his rhetoric and rhetorical strategies to hear the alternative perspectives that he sees in their situation.

Metaphor, images and ideas play a major role in the argument of 1 Peter. Troy Martin (1992: 271– 273) suggests that Peter was careful about the composition of this document and he suggests that the Diaspora is the overarching and controlling metaphor of this argument. He then suggests that there are three specific metaphor clusters which unite Peter's argument, namely the oikos cluster (1:14-2:20 referring to the elect household of God), the resident aliens - visiting strangers cluster (2:11-3:12) and the sufferers of the Diaspora cluster (3:13-5:11).

Witherington (2009: 180) suggests, from the argument of Martin, that the audience is alienated from both their homeland, Israel and/or Rome, and from its immediate environment because of their identity. In such a situation, their only home is the household of God and the community of Christ,

120 _{It is very important when looking at the rhetorical strategies of 1 Peter to consider the socio-historical world}

of the Roman Empire. The world of the New Testament was a collectivist society and it was much easier for the writers of the New Testament to appeal to group identity, group loyalty and unity in the group, because these values were already present in the culture. The economic systems and political systems differed from ours – one did not simply get something for nothing. Constructing the gospel to communities where nothing was for free could have proved a great challenge. Thirdly, honour and shame played a decisive role in rhetoric. Avoiding shame and gaining honour was more important than the truth, even more important than life or death. It could almost have been impossible to change this cultural script – how does one place truth above honour? The rhetoric of the New Testament, and specifically 1 Peter, calls for a new evaluation of cultural values. It did not imply that honour and shame, life and death were not important to the early Jesus followers, but it now became more important to tell the truth about Jesus the Christ (Witherington III, 2009: 17–19).

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but they are suffering because this household makes them part of a minority sect that is both illegal and subject to alienation and persecution. Their narratives are shattered because of this trauma.

Even if “diaspora” may be seen as a controlling metaphor in 1 Peter, one must also ask how it functions and what lies behind it. This study’s argument is that trauma lies behind the letter, amidst the shattered narratives of the first audience, living in diaspora, away from their homeland, but also marginalised in their current communities. “Diaspora” as the controlling metaphor may function as the reference point of this letter, but Peter goes beyond that. He may have realised, especially considering the rhetorical situation, that giving names and words to that which the first audiences were experiencing, should give them guidance and direction.

Considering that trauma is described as the shattering of life’s narrative, Peter uses rhetorical strategies in order to give a different perspective on this shattered life. By constructing this document as a letter, building in different metaphors, identity markers, eschatological references, God images, the usage of the Hebrew Scriptures, stylistic features, and examples, Peter may be trying to build the narrative that was shattered again. He may be trying to steer these shattered narratives in new directions by offering his perspectives as alternatives to the shattered narratives of the first audience, away from the suffering, submission and silence that causes them trauma.121 _{Here the themes of the}

suffering of Jesus and identity and ethos, underlines by the appropriation of texts from and allusions to the Hebrew Scriptures may play a significant role.

Peter makes use of the household metaphors, honour and shame language, identity markers, suffering and trauma language, eschatological language, God images, citations from the Hebrew Scriptures and stylistic features to encourage the first recipients amidst the trauma that they were facing. This is the possible rhetorical effect of 1 Peter. In an environment where fear was prevalent, the rhetorical strategy of the Empire, simply living in the Empire and being a Jesus-follower, Peter tells them not to fear (3:14). Peter makes certain claims, based on certain truths that are part of their memory, but may be forgotten because of their trauma. Peter’s possible aim is to bring that memory back and to help them cope and survive their trauma. The alternative perspectives and coping strategies that Peter gives to his audience, will be discussed in more detail in the following chapter.