Christian Book Notes

The following interview is the follow up reader Q&A.  You can read the first interview here and the original review here. The winners of the give away are announced at the end of the interview.

From Joe and John: Thank you for all of your questions and for spreading the word about How to Argue Like Jesus. If you’d like to read more, please visit our website, Argue Like Jesus, or join our facebook group How to Argue Like Jesus. You can also follow us on Twitter: Joe at @joecarter888 and John at @johnwcoleman

Martina asked: “Which of logos, pathos, and ethos do you believe that Christ uses most effectively? What is the evidence of this and why do you believe he chose this type of argument to make his point?”

John responds: I think the overarching message of the book is that Jesus used logos, pathos, and ethos effectively in combination; and good rhetoric requires the use of all three in a balanced way.

That said, I’m most drawn to Jesus’ use of pathos, particularly as generated through narrative and imagery. His language, stories, and values are, quite simply, beautiful. Our first chapter is on Jesus’ of pathos, and one of the more stunning examples is his “Sermon on the Mount”. In Matthew 5:3-6, Jesus says:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

In a single short passage, he uses a number of tools to reach his listeners’ hearts. He repeats phrases (“Blessed are”, “for they/theirs”) to create a rhythm and a cadence that’s memorable – a tool often used by sophisticated communicators like Martin Luther King, Jr. He reaches out to his poor, disenfranchised audience with shared values – his admonitions to the “poor”, “those who mourn”, and “the meek” are specifically for them. He offers hope, promising his listeners not the sterility of “progress” or “improvement”, but the beauty of “comfort”, “inheritance”, and “the Kingdom of God”. And he does it all while standing strong with them – experiencing what they experienced, suffering with them, and healing them. Jesus clearly understood how to craft a message with the beauty and power to persuade the human heart.

Bill Bell asked: Could you detail more what you see to be the difference between emotional appeal and emotionalism?

Joe responds: Our culture tends to be very suspicious of any emotional appeals. Since the Enlightenment we’ve tried to convince ourselves that the only arguments that “work on us” are the ones that are based on cool reason (i.e., that use logos). But while we try to pretend that we are as logical as Mr. Spock we most often act as emotionally as Captain Kirk—and there is nothing wrong with that. After all, God designed us to be emotional creatures.

We also have the misconception that emotional appeals are conveyed subliminally, often through images. That’s why we tend to distrust them; we assume that are slipping past our defenses and entering directly into our subconscious. But as Jesus shows, the most powerful emotional appeals are conveyed through language.

As for the difference between an emotional appeal and an appeal to emotionalism, I’d say the key distinction is the legitimacy of the emotion being provoked. For example, imagine if a used car salesperson were to hold a kitten while talking about how much he loves his mom and America. Moms, kittens, and America are all things that you will have an emotional response to—preferably a positive one. Yet they have nothing to do with the car the dealer is trying to sell you. It would be a form of emotional dishonesty for him to use positive emotions about unrelated items (Mom, kittens) in order to get you to transfer those emotions onto another item (the car). Illegitimate emotional appeals—which form the basis for most commercial marketing—often involve this type of bait-and-switch.

Norm Asked: “Do you use specific examples of Jesus interactions with others to demonstrate a style of argumentation that is more effective?”

John responds: Absolutely. For almost every rhetorical principle in the book we include an explanation of the principle, an example from the life and words of Jesus, and an example from history, pop-culture, or politics. For instance, in our chapter on “Narrative and Imagery”, we do a detailed analysis of Jesus’ “Parable of the Great Supper” (Matthew 22:2-14) in which Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to “a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.” We then look at those thirteen verses line by line, applying a “5 C’s” framework we developed for understanding Jesus’ use of parables to demonstrate why his stories were so much more effective with his listeners than those of his peers.

We then go on to compare this use of narrative to Malcolm Gladwell’s story about Hush Puppy shoes in The Tipping Point, mixing in an example from popular culture to provide a second illustration of the principle.

One of our claims in the book is that you can’t communicate effectively without effective storytelling, so we try to make extensive use of examples straight from the New Testament to illustrate every principle we outline. If you’d like to read more before deciding whether or not to buy the book, there’s a free sample of Chapter 5 (on discipleship) at our website.   Reading this will give you a sense for the way we attempt to employ examples and illustrations.

Jason Vaughn asks: Did the methods of Jesus change at all at different times in his ministry?

Joe responds: Although we know the start of Jesus’ earthly ministry (the miracle at Cana) and when it ended (the cross at Golgotha), its unclear whether the events in between occurred in strictly chronological sequence. Because of that uncertainty, it would be difficult to judge whether the methods changed over time.

Even so, it appears to me that the methods are generally consistent throughout His ministry. The only thing that changed was His ethos. Because ethos belongs to the audience and not to the person, Jesus’ ethos increased as more people began to recognize His role as the Messiah. (We should be careful to note that in rhetoric, ethos is not the same as the person’s character. Jesus’ character did not change. The only thing that changed—due to his self-revelation—was the impression people had about Him.)

Winners

Using Random.org, Martina won the autographed copy for asking a follow up question while Jason at eis doxan won “just” a copy.  Congratulations to both of you and thank you for all who entered.  Please stay tuned to Christian Book Notes as we are planning a huge giveaway for the month of July with even more interviews and contests to follow after that!