Divine Apology: The Discourse of Religious Image Restoration

184 Pages·2002·8.63 MB·English

by  Brett Miller

Divine Apology
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Divine Apology
The Discourse of Religious
Image Restoration
BRETT A. MILLER
FOREWORD BY WILLIAM L. BENOIT
PRAEGER W Westport, Connecticut
London
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Miller, Brett A., 1964-
Divine apology : the discourse of religious image restoration / Brett A. Miller ;
foreword by William L. Benoit.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-275-97548-7 (alk. paper)
1. Rhetoric—Religious aspects—Christianity—History. 2. Verbal self-defense—
Religious aspects—Christianity—History. I. Title.
BR115.R55M55 2002
273—dc21 2001058042
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available.
Copyright © 2002 by Brett A. Miller
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be
reproduced, by any process or technique, without the
express written consent of the publisher.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2001058042
ISBN: 0-275-97548-7
First published in 2002
Praeger Publishers, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
www.praeger.com
Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this book complies with the
Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National
Information Standards Organization (Z39.48-1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21
Contents
Foreword by William L. Benoit vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Saving Faith, Saving Face 1
Part I: The Historical Apologists
1 Paul's Apostolic Apology in the Epistle to the Galatians 19
2 Justin Martyr's Defense of the Persecuted Church 33
3 Here I Stand: Martin Luther's Defense before
the Diet of Worms 51
Part II: The Contemporary Apologists
4 Sin, Sex, and Jimmy Swaggart's Sermonic Apology 69
5 Jesus Crisis: Controversy in the Search for the
Historical Jesus 83
6 Standing by Their Men: Southern Baptists and
Women Scorned 103
vi Contents
Part III: Interpretations
7 Implications for Religious Rhetoric 125
8 Implications for Image Restoration Discourse 145
Bibliography 153
Index 167
Foreword
I
mage repair discourse, or apologia, has been a recognized fruitful
area for rhetorical criticism for decades. Essays in the 1950s by
Baskerville (1952) and Jackson (1956) may constitute the earliest such
studies. Rosenfeld's Nixon/Truman analogy (1968) was followed by
one of the most famous studies in this area by Ware and Linkugel
(1973). The majority of work on apologia (as Divine Apology's re-
view demonstrates) has focused on political and corporate image
repair, with relatively few studies of religious apologia. Divine
Apology is an important contribution to the literature and should re-
dress the existing imbalance. Although a few book chapters and ar
ticles cover this topic, this is the first extended work in this area.
Apart from the importance and past neglect of the topic it takes
up, Divine Apology is a solid, well-written rhetorical criticism. First,
the texts selected represent a very useful balance between historic and
contemporary apologia. Moreover, Divine Apology critically analyzes
a wide range of apologies: individual rhetors and groups as well as
rhetors defending against a variety of accusations. The scope of this
study makes it an important contribution to our understanding of
religious image repair.
Vlll Foreword
Second, Professor Miller has done a fine job of critically analyzing
these artifacts. He begins (a la Ryan, 1982) with a careful consider
ation of the context and accusations that prompted these image re
pair efforts. When he turns to critical analysis, he actively engages
the text, helping his analysis come alive for readers with appropriate
excerpts and keen insights. When he takes up the task of evaluating
these discourses, he judges their appropriateness and then seeks evi
dence, where available, to confirm his assessments.
In many ways the heart of the book comes in the final two chap
ters, in which Divine Apology teases out implications for religious
rhetoric and for image repair discourse. Insights are offered for rhe
torical theory generally, for apologia specifically, and for religious
discourse. Students and scholars in any of these areas would find this
book very rewarding. Professor Miller has written a fine book, an
important contribution to our understanding of religious apologia.
William L. Benoit
University of Missouri-Columbia
Acknowledgments
I
t would be completely inappropriate if I did not begin by estab-
lishing my indebtedness to William Benoit. His mentoring, guidance,
and encouragement were invaluable to me as I pursued this project.
Pamela Benoit also read early drafts of this manuscript and provided
important theoretical and structural support. Critical commentary by
Michael Kramer and Michael Porter helped make this a better book.
Paul Johnson was extremely helpful in causing me to question my
perspectives and to stretch beyond the comfortable. I thank Joseph
Blaney for setting the bar high and supporting me with candor and
good humor through the research and writing process. My editor,
Suzanne Staszak-Silva, the production staff at Greenwood, and the
anonymous reviewers for my manuscript provided some insightful
guidance. I owe a great debt to Stephanie Schierholz for her assis
tance in preparing the final manuscript. I also wish to thank numer
ous teachers and colleagues, including Holt Spicer, Donal Stanton,
John Sisco, James Sneegas, Gary McGee, Penni Pier, and Bob Derry-
berry, who assisted and influenced me in one way or another. Finally
I thank my friends and family, especially Betsy, Cassidy, and Carsen,
for their patience and grace.