My dissertation seeks to bring more attention to speech patterns and rhythm in oratory -- issues that have long been on the fringes of rhetoric scholars' concerns -- by arguing that prose rhythm in Byzantine and Old Slavic sermons was an important tool not only in creating an overall aesthetic experience but also in promoting shared meaning and individual persuasion. The first chapter offers a comparison between the clauses of early to middle Byzantine homilies and their translations into Old Church Slavonic, within a corpus of texts contained in the late tenth-century Codex Suprasliensis. The comparison shows a remarkable correspondence between the number of syllables and accents per clause in both languages. I conclude that the Slavonic translators strove not only to provide literal translations, but also to preserve the rhythmical patterns of the original homilies. The second chapter explores the classical and late antique theoretical underpinnings of rhythm in general and prose rhythm in particular and argues that in late antiquity there was a strong tradition of differentiation between rhythm and meter. Prose rhythm was considered the domain of the rhythmicians (not metricians) and defined by word arrangement and cadence. I argue that the word and its main accent were perceived as the basic unit of prose rhythm -- in addition to clausularcadence, which so far has been considered the main carrier of rhythm. Thus homiletic prose rhythm resembles the accentual rhythms of Byzantine liturgical poetry. Chapter 3 examines Byzantine rhetorical commentaries and scholia on classical literature and concludes that the Byzantine teachers taught accentual rhythm by looking for regular accentual patterns in classical Greek texts and pointing them out to their students, who in turn internalized and reproduced them in their own compositions. My last chapter argues that the same principles were found in the first Slavonic translations of Greek homilies. I conclude that the persistent recurrence of similar rhythmical patterns, even across national and linguistic boundaries, may lead us to think of rhythm as a meaning-bearing component of oratory.

This dissertation develops and demonstrates a method for evaluating a sermon's degree of three aspects: expository merit, doctrinal essence, and Christ-centeredness. The work argues that the gravity of expository, doctrinal, and Christ-centered preaching calls for a substantive and well-balanced method that weighs a sermon's degree regarding these matters. Chapter 1 clarifies the thesis and frames the project in relation to several academic fields. After the methodology is presented, the chapter concludes with a relevant caution concerning the spirit of sermon evaluation. Chapter 2 demonstrates the place for such a project in the field of homiletics. The "combined gravity" of the three aspects is presented through a biblical and theological consideration. The need to speak in terms of degree with regard to evaluation is also presented. Finally, the chapter considers the current state of sermon evaluation in order to show the void in the field of homiletics regarding a substantive and well-balanced method for evaluating the three aspects. Chapters 3 and 4 interact with evangelical scholarship in order to define a substantive foundation for evaluation. Chapter 3 discerns a central concern for each of the three aspects and discusses pertinent matters of clarification. Chapter 4 delineates six distinctive elements for each aspect which are more specific matters of consideration than the broader central concerns. Chapter 5 develops the evaluation method itself. It begins with a discussion of overlapping dynamics among the three aspects. Then a "substance evaluation form" is presented which is followed by the five step method: prayer, listening and notation, evaluation of the central concerns, evaluation of the distinctive elements, and labeling and reflection. Chapter 6 demonstrates the potential for the proposed method through a discussion of the evaluation results from sixty sermons. Three sermons each from twenty evangelical pastors were selected and evaluated. Overall sermon results, individual pastor results, and specific sermon results are presented. Chapter 7 concludes the project with a discussion of its value. It's value is presented in terms of evaluation standards, possible applications of the method, and insights for prescriptive texts.

No description available.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Western Theological Seminary, 1989. / Includes abstract and vitae. Addendum : Raymond Dekker's list of Biblical references for catechetical preaching, leaves 162-170. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 154-160).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, Mass., 2001. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 172-179).

Project (D. Min.)--Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, 1979. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 84).

Thesis (Th. M.)--Westminster Theological Seminary (Philadelphia, Pa.), 2008. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-115).

Thesis--Berlin. / Cover title. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Westminister Theological Seminary, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 341-345).

Texte partiel remanié de: Ph. D. thesis--Leeds--University, 1987. / Bibliogr. p. 227-245.