Jacob Bagley
Cathy Cowley
Writing 150
6 September 2010
Rhetoric & the Gospel
D&C 121:41: “No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;” (D&C, Italics added).
The Gospel is, as stated above, and always has been, persuasion. In essence, to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is to be a rhetorician, one who persuades one, through word and deed to follow in line with your beliefs. The above scripture is often used in line with the oath for men, but it is applicable to all who endeavor to follow after the example of Jesus Christ, and, through this perspective, becomes the essential key all must find to grow closer to Him, our leader.
Persuasion of this kind is not unique to man alone. The Holy Ghost, or “spirit”, which is the sign of true disciples of Jesus Christ, uses this exact method to teach, help, and comfort those who are under its influence. From gentle promptings and quiet whisperings through a life time the spirit is there to persuade man to follow after God, and not the adversary. These quiet whisperings, when adhered to, bring man more closely in line with God’s will, which is the ultimate goal of any rhetorical pursuit.
Then there must be, in contrast, those in the Gospel who feel it their duty to “persuade” others do “choose the right”. When given in a spirit of love this counsel is always in good measure, but more often than not is it given in a spirit of pride, of disdain, or in an attempt by the person to exert unrighteous dominion over those they perceive as “less righteous” or “more wicked”. This is harmful and opposite to the Savior’s plan, but wherever there is a great amount of truth there follows, by those who are more insecure in their testimonies, hypocrisy.
Thus, ever more so, is rhetoric used in the Gospel. But only when it is used as stated in the D&C can it ever be of worth. Thus it has been, and so it shall remain.
I really like the first two paragraphs; they effectively communicate that both the words of the gospel and the Spirit use rhetoric to influence us for the better. But you also argue that if used in the wrong spirit, this rhetoric could have a negative effect, so that the reader can see both sides of the issue.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that if rhetoric is used with the wrong Spirit, it will backfire. Love must always go hand in hand with our persuasions when concerning the Church.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I agree--that's a perfect scripture to describe how we are expected to use persuasion and language in the church. I think I will bring up that scripture in class tomorrow--thanks.
ReplyDeleteOne thought on blog formatting. Double spacing looks great on the printed page, but it's actually harder to read on a blog, so I recommend that in the future you make your posts single spaced. It can get tricky if you're pasting from Word. What you can do is paste into the text box, and then highlight what you've pasted and click on the button on the top right, just to the left of the spell check button. It's got a T with a little red X on it, and it removes the formatting that might have been brought in from Word.