In this thesis, I aim to consider thoroughly the meaning of the so-called ‘hardship catalogue’ in 2Cor 11:23-29, in which the sufferings Paul the Apostle experienced are listed at length. More specifically, I try to focus on its rhetorical features. Paul the Apostle founded the church in Corinth, where he had to arbitrate in several occasions of disputes. However, when those disputes began to lead to serious suspicion on the legitimacy of Paul’s apostleship because of the misleading of his opponents who came from outside, he had to remind people of the fact that he was Christ’s true servant. Through the hardship catalogue introduced by the question “Are they ministers?” in 11:23a, Paul excludes enemies in an implicit way. Then, beginning with his answer, “I am still more” in 11:23b, he attempts the so-called a foolish argument, briefly introducing himself as ‘an insane person.’ In this thesis, I commented on this foolish argument, while reconstructing this argument in the logical form of ‘question,’ ‘answer,’ and ‘reason for the answer.’ Rhetorically, in 11:23c, Paul uses chiasmus; and semantically, he presents labors, imprisonments, beatings, and death in a gradual way. Beginning with the laboriousness of his apostolic works, Paul leads his readers to a deeper understanding by successively presenting persecutions from outside and finally death as the peak (of his life as Jesus’ apostle.) Paul tries to show that, throughout these sufferings, he is closely related to Christ’s death; thus, according to Paul, in his suffering, he is experiencing God’s salvation and the life of the risen Lord in a vivid way. In 11:24-25, by rhetorically using concentric structure with numeral adjectives, he effectively informs people of his near-death experiences, which were mentioned in 11:23c. In 11:26, mentioning the word “dangers” repeatedly, he refers to a lot of real hardship experiences that he had to endure while working as an apostle. In 11:27, arranging parts of speech which have very regular rhythm, he presents his personal life, in which he has sacrificed himself for his apostolic vocation. In 11:28, which shows an outstanding arrangement of words by way of the usage of the definite articles, Paul finally reveals his true concern for the church. In 11:29, using rhetorical expressions with the interrogative pronouns, Paul claims that the true meaning of all his suffering sits on his consistent manner of behavior toward the faithful in Corinth, that is, his faith in which he tries to follow Jesus’ cross and love by way of his weakness. Paul uses the ancient Greek rhetorical elements in presenting the hardship catalogue. In the catalogue, it is noteworthy that we can see the traces of ‘refutation,’ which was for the defense in court, ‘self-praise,’ which was one of the literary genre at that time, and some expressions of the ‘commemorative monuments.’ It is presumed that, for Paul to use these rhetorical elements, he should excel in rhetoric. Also, Paul effectively conveys his message in his ‘foolish discourse’ with the hardship catalogue by using the concentric structure. This way, by presenting his experiences of suffering using his elegant rhetorical expressions, Paul let the faithful in Corinth heartily accept his love toward their church community and his witness to his wholehearted love and devotion toward the only Gospel of Jesus Christ while reading his hardship catalogue. He thus let those who read this list realize that he has always tried to make Jesus’ life manifest by carrying Jesus’ death on the cross, that he has tried to preach God’s words, which reveals God’s abundant grace, not by way of arrogance and human authority but by way of human weakness, and that, above all, he has consistently kept his faith in Gospel and maintained his sincerity for the reconciliation between God and his people just like Jesus who was obedient to God till death, in spite of all his conflicts. This way, the hardship catalogue reveals Paul’s apostolic identity, which he pursued through his whole life as Christ’s true servant. ，韩语毕业论文，韩语论文 |
