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logical texture in the discourse whereby one's relation to God is implicated in one's relation to the needs of other people. The objection in verse 8 extends this ideological texture through an interruption of conventional social reasoning. The host-friend receives the bread from his sleeping-friend because he has been willing to be shameless by request on behalf of his guest-friend's needs. On the one hand, this shamelessness is akin to the boldness (parresia) of a Cynic. On the other hand, there is an ideological shift of conventional cynic reasoning as well as conventional social reasoning when the person acts boldly on behalf of another person rather than simply for oneself. The host-friend is, indeed, maintaining his honor as he petitions his friend for the bread. But the ideological twist is that he maintains his honor in the context of an unconventional understanding of why the bread was given. It will be important in future studies to pursue the ideological texture of shamelessness throughout Luke. While the word itself occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, the social mode of shamelessness certainly appears in the parable of the dishonest steward and its subsequent commentary (Luke 16:1-9) and may be an aspect of the woman's action in Luke 7:36-50. Several other sayings and episodes appear to participate in an ideology of shamelessness in this Gospel. Thus, Luke 11:5-8 embodies a combination of argument from analogy and from the contrary (objection). The argument from analogy (vv. 5-7) plus the objection (v. 8) address the topic of petitioning bread for others who need it, elaborating the first petition for communal benefaction, which on its own simply asks for daily bread for oneself. The first step in the elaboration introduces conventional social reasoning about hospitality and friendship as an analogy for the relation of petitioners to God the Father. The second step introduces ideological social reasoning that emphasizes the need for petitioners to petition shamelessly on behalf of the needs of others. III. A Cultural Enthymeme as a Rationale for the Lord's Prayer in Luke 11:9-10 The argument from analogy and the objection in Luke 11:5-8 set up the enthymemic sentence43 in verses 9-10. These verses provide a rationale (Hermogenean step 3) for all the petitions in the Lordss Prayer. It is 43For a definition of the enthymemic sentence, see Kennedy, Aristotole, 297-98. Back |