Theology, Rhetoric, Manuduction: Or Reading Scripture Together on the Path to God (Radical Traditions) - Softcover

Peter M. Candler Jr.

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9780334040316: Theology, Rhetoric, Manuduction: Or Reading Scripture Together on the Path to God (Radical Traditions)
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0334040310 ISBN 13: 9780334040316
Publisher: SCM Press Ltd, 2006

Synopsis

In "Theology, Rhetoric, Manuduction," Peter Candler re-reads a number of medieval texts and demonstrates that they were intended as vehicles not for the transmission of data, but for the leading of readers to contemplation of God. Like medieval maps with their intricate illustrations, skewed proportions and omissions of details that to us today seem crucial, medieval works of theology were designed not to depict an objective overview for disinterested study, but were meant to provide an itinerary for individuals traveling a specific route. To read was to be taken by the hand, in a process called manuduction, and to join fellow travelers on a journey to a particular goal. In "Theology, Rhetoric, Manuduction," Candler is recovering this understanding of reading and doing theology and illustrates how it can enrich our present understanding of great works of medieval scholarship. He begins with the invention of printing in the 16th Century and the change of the bible from liturgy in worship and community to a physical object, a book and with it the birth of our modern understanding of scripture. He then turns to Augustine's understanding of rhetoric, examined in a critique of the Confessions. Then two texts, "Glossa Ordinaria" (a 12th-century glossed bible) and "Aquinas' Summa Theologiae" are read in terms of the concepts of memory and itinerary. The former, Candler believes, is an "iconic illustration of the mutual indwelling of Christ and the Church," rendering the notion of separating Scripture from tradition absurd and the latter he views as a "curriculum of persuasion" which leads readers by manuduction along a path towards union with God.

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About the Author

Dr Peter Candler is assistant Professor of Theology at the Honors College, Baylor University Texas.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
SCM Press Ltd
Publication date
2006
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0334040310
ISBN 13 
9780334040316
Binding
Paperback
Number of pages
204
Editor
Stanley Hauerwas, Peter Ochs
Rating
  • 4.00 out of 5 stars
    15 ratings by Goodreads