(#7) I'm thankful for unique forms of evangelism

In my library I have a fair number of biblical commentaries, but one of my favorites is John H. Elliott on 1 Peter. I don't like it because I agree with all of his theological analysis, but because he provides an absolutely incredible, 39 page linguistic overview of the book in his introduction. In minute detail, Elliott examines Peter's writing style and he comes away with several gems. I'll only focus on one of them in this post, and even so, this post will be much longer than normal.

Peter loved alliteration and assonance. Alliteration is what you do when you string words together that start with the same letter, like, "A stupendous inspiration for a Sunday sermon is the setting Saturday sun." Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds and diphthongs like "Anna, Anna, bo-banna Banana-fana fo-fanna Fee-fi-mo-manna Anna!"

Below I will list some of the instances of alliteration and assonance which Elliot points out from 1 Peter. He actually lists several more. The phrases are in Greek, which I will provide in their anglicized form, followed by their English translations. It will be obvious to you that our English translations necessarily cover up virtually all of Peter's word play. 
  • (1:4) aphtharton kai amianton kai amaranton
    • imperishable and undefiled and that will not fade away
  • (1:10-11) exezetesan kai exeraunesan... eraunontes
    • made careful searches and inquiries, seeking
  • (1:19) amnou amomou kai aspilou
    • a lamb unblemished and spotless
  • (2:12) kalen... katalalousin... kakopoion... kalon
    • excellent...slander...good deeds...
  • (2:15) ton aphronon anthropon agnosian
    • the ignorance of foolish men
  • (2:16) eleutheroi... epikalymma echontes... eleutherian
    • free men...freedom...a covering
  • (2:18-20) hypotassomenoi...hypopherei...hypomeneite...hypomeneite
    • be submissive... bears up... endure.. suffer.. 
  • (2:21, my personal favorite) hyper hymon hymin hypolimpanon hypogrammon
    • for you, leaving you an example 
  • (3:17) theloi to thelema tou theou
    • if God should will it so
  • (4:4) auten tes asotias anachysin
    • the same excesses of disipation
  • (4:12) pyrosei pros peirasmon
    • the fiery ordeal... for your testing
The point of this post is just that God has allowed us considerable liberty in the way in which we spread the good news of Jesus Christ. If you like wordplay, you have Biblical precedent for that. Anyone critical of some preacher for using "cheesy", alliterative sermon titles will have Peter to contend with. But most of the Biblical authors did not write like Peter. As long as the truth is taught, we can all glorify God together and be thankful for the unique talents, perspectives and perhaps even the quirks of one another.

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