Welcome to the Table on Rhetorolects (rhetorical dialects) in first century Christian discourse, which emerged from belief systems that guided first century Christian forms of life. From this page, you also can use the alphabet list to find definitions of major terms and concepts used by Sociorhetorical Interpretation (SRI) or return to the Sociorhetorical Textures Table.
To begin, click on the letter that begins the word for which you are seeking a definition:
Return to the Sociorhetorical Textures, click an item on the Religious Textures Table below, or see Belief System/Sacred Textures Table; Blended Religious Rhetorics
Mediterranean |
Mythical-Historical Discourses (Divine Communications) |
Philosophical Discourses (Mental Searching) |
Ritual Discourses (Religious Actions) |
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Cultural Frames |
Prophetic | Apocalyptic | Wisdom | Precreation | Priestly | Miracle |
Social, Cultural, & Physical Realia (1st Space) |
Political Kingdom |
Political Empire |
Household Vegetation Living Beings | Universal Empire, Universal Household, & Universal Community | Altar |
Human Body Unexpected Phenomena Transformations in the natural world |
Visualization, Conceptualization, & Imagination of God’s World (2nd Space) |
God on kingly throne in heavenly court Jesus as Prophet-Messiah selected and sent by God Selected people as God’s kingdom |
God as Almighty Emperor (Pantokratōr) Jesus as King of King and Lord of Lords |
God as Father-Creator (Progenitor) Wisdom (light) as Mediator Jesus as God’s Son People as God’s children |
God as Eternal Universal-Father, Jesus as God’s Eternal Son |
God as Holy and Pure God on priestly throne in heavenly temple Selected humans as priests People as God’s holy & pure priestly community Jesus as Priest-Messiah |
God as Transforming Power Selected humans as agents of God’s transforming power People as healed and transformed by God Jesus as Healer & Miracle-Worker |
Ongoing Bodily Effects and Enactments: Blending in Religious Life (3rd Space) |
Human body as Distributor and Receiver of justice (food, bodily needs, honor) |
Human body as Receiver of resurrection & eternal life in a “new” realm of well-being | Human body as Producer of Goodness & Righteousness | Human body and Community as Receivers of eternal life through friendship (belief & loyalty) with God's eternal Son | Human body as Giver of sacrificial offerings, Seeker of mysteries, and Receiver of beneficial exchange of holiness, purity, and mysteries between God and humans | Human body as Healed and amazingly Transformed |
Hebrew Bible (Divine) History/Story-Lines (Names as Events) |
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Cultural Frames |
Prophetic | Apocalyptic | Wisdom | Precreation | Priestly | Miracle |
Creation: spirit-angels to watch over all creation | Creation: tree of the knowledge of good and evil | Personified emanations from God: Wisdom (sophia); Word (logos); Image (eikōn); Reflection (apaugasma) | ||||
Adam: death | ||||||
Noah: flood | ||||||
Abraham | Melchizedek | |||||
Moses: prophet | Moses: ten plagues | Moses: Torah | Moses: priest |
Moses: miracles | ||
[Elijah, Elisha: prophets] | Elijah, Elisha: miracles | |||||
Samuel: prophet | Samuel: priest | |||||
David: prophet | David: wisdom psalms | |||||
Solomon | ||||||
Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Micah, etc. | Jonah, Ezekiel, Joel | |||||
Job | ||||||
Daniel: prophet | Daniel: visionary seer in Babylon | Daniel: wise |
Click on the letter that begins the word for which you are seeking a definition:
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J-L | M-N | O | P-Q | R | S | T-Z
Return to the Sociorhetorical Textures or click an item in the Religious Textures Table above
Based on Vernon K. Robbins, Exploring the Texture
of Texts, Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International, 1996;
Vernon K. Robbins, The Tapestry of Early Christianity: Rhetoric,
Society, and Ideology, London and New York: Routledge, 1996;
Vernon K. Robbins, The Invention of Christian Discourse, Blandford Forum, UK: Deo, 2008.