Rhetorical Questions - A Great Tool for Teaching

 

     The other day I was trying to describe the use of rhetorical questions to our youngest daughter, explaining that it is the kind of question one asks where they are not expecting someone to answer.  I tried to think of an example, and I found it quite challenging to think of a good question until I asked Google.  It said it’s like asking the question, “How could I be so stupid?”  As obvious as the answer might be to the listener, one would hope that no one would have the audacity to answer.  We came upon this discussion because I was curious to explore the apostle Paul’s literary style of writing he used in his letter to the Romans.  This style of writing is called prose discourse.  According to “The Bible Project,” this makes up about twenty-four percent of the style of writing found in the Bible.

     The intent behind this article is to stimulate your curiosity a little too.  There are a few ways I hope to show how Paul’s prose style comes together.  It wasn’t until I counted that I discovered how Paul’s writings resembled a two-year-old with millions of questions.  The only difference was Paul was not expecting answers.  Paul asked eighty-two rhetorical questions in his epistle to the Romans. Might we wonder if Paul’s audience would have remained silent if Paul had asked a question where he expected them to answer?  After his greeting in chapter one, Paul begins to ask questions in chapters two through fourteen.  Prose discourse is an easy style to recognize.  It is intended to draw the reader to some logical conclusion.  It makes use of words like (1) therefore, (2) so that, (3) because, (4) since, (5) for this reason, (6) for this purpose, (7) in order to, and (8) so then.  Paul makes conclusive arguments in all sixteen chapters.  Can you even imagine sitting in a college course with him and writing a dissertation that comes even remotely close to his brilliance?  I’m sure Paul would humbly claim the Holy Spirit made him do it.

     In reading the book of Romans, you might find it fascinating to discover how many questions Paul asks to move the listener to the next topic.  He uses statements like, “What then,” or “what then shall we say,” or some variant.  In my ESV Bible, I count the use of these simple questions ten times.  Paul knew his audience would be well acquainted with the Law and Prophets, so for this reason, he asks questions like, (1) “Do you not know?” (2) “What does it say?” and (3) “What is God’s reply?”  You might be interested in looking these questions up and testing your ability to provide answers. 

     I’ve always been impressed by the apostle Paul’s use of reasoning, but until I took time to evaluate the care from which he developed his thoughts, I never realized how thoroughly prepared his writings were.  As I sit at my desk to write, my thoughts are often disrupted because I have created my writing corner in one of the most predominant gathering locations in our house; I might as well be in the snack pantry.  I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been for Paul to find a suitable corner to write uninterrupted. 

     Let’s take a look at common phrases that will help us see how often Paul quotes Scriptures.  I have placed them in the table below so that my editing software won’t accuse me of writing excessively long sentences.  Grammarly often accuses Paul of poorly written run-on sentences; this software has not grown to appreciate how truly remarkable Paul’s writings are.      

1	As it is written,
2	The Scriptures say,
3	Just as David speaks,
4	As he had been told,
5	But the words…were not written down for his sake alone, but for ours also,
6	If the Law had not said,
7	For this is what the promise said,
8	She was told,
9	For the ways to Moses,
10	The Scriptures say to Pharaoh,
11	As indeed he says in Hosea,
12	Isaiah cries out concerning Israel,
13	As Isaiah predicted,
14	Moses says,
15	The Scriptures say of Elijah,
16	David says,
17	For the commandments,
18	And again it says,

 

     If you were to take time to note all the occurrences of Old Testament quotes contained in Romans, you would find it hard to disagree with The Bible Projects opening statement in their overview of this book.   They say, “Paul’s letter to the Romans is one of the longest and most significant things ever written by the man who was formerly known as Saul of Tarsus.”  Romans was one of Paul’s later books and was written to create unity in the church made up of Jews and non-Jews.  If anyone has the slightest doubt about whether Paul was highly familiar with Old Testament Scriptures, Romans is the book to study.  Anyone sitting alongside Paul at the feet of Rabbi Gamaliel would have accused him of unfairly skewing the grading scale.  One can see how Paul’s giftedness in knowing Old Testament passages provided a firm foundation in expounding upon them to reveal New Testament mysteries through the power of the Holy Spirit.  He didn’t have use of the Internet to ask, “where does it say…” to look up the Scriptures he’s quoted from Creation, the Exodus, the Law, Prophets, and Kings.   There are more than fifty quotes from these Old Testament passages to support his gospel thesis.  Paul draws from stories of Job, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob and Esau, Pharaoh, Moses, King David, King Solomon, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Nahum. Habakkuk, and Malachi.  These examples are meant to persuade his Jewish brethren to recognize how faith is required, and works don’t earn salvation.  He also points out the many testimonies that prove how the gospel included nations formerly not called God’s people.  He uses these passages to show them who is considered Abraham’s offspring.  Paul quotes passages from seventeen books of the Old Testament.

     As Paul opens his letter, the need for unity becomes evident as his initial rhetoric begins with the topic of judging others.  What follows is a calling out of sin by addressing the ‘who’ is included in his assessment.  You may have heard this phrase a time or two, “Do as I say, not as I do?”  Paul wanted the church to recognize their hypocrisy.  He argues that focusing on circumcision is misguided.  He says what creates a reconciled relationship with God is a matter of the heart directed by the Holy Spirit.  Paul moves from ‘who’ in chapter two to ‘what’ in chapter three.  In chapter three, we begin to see Paul move from asking simple rhetorical questions to answering with the equally simple phrase, “By No Means,” which he says ten times (see the table below).  Of these ten occurrences, Paul further clarifies in three responses.     

Chapter 3		By No Means
1	Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?	By No Means!
2	Is God unrighteous to inflict wrath on us?	By No Means!
3	Do we overthrow the Law by this faith?	By No Means!  On the contrary, we uphold the Law
Chapter 6
4	Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?	By No Means!
5	Are we to continue in sin because we are not under the Law but under grace?	By No Means!
Chapter 7
6	Is the Law causing us to sin?	By No Means!  It was sin producing death in us.
7	Did the Law, which is good, bring death to us?	By No Means!
Chapter 9
8	Is God Unjust?	By No Means!
Chapter 11
9	Has God rejected His people?	By No Means!
10	So why did Israel stumble so that they might fall?	By No Means!  Rather, through their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles.

 

     I hope it is helpful for you to examine the book of Romans by looking at Paul’s organized thoughts, a master apologist.    I find that by dissecting Paul’s writings in this way, I gain a better understanding of what it means to apply Scriptures.  Romans is a fabulous book that offers so much more than weighty sentences.  It provides a layout to show us what it means to study to show yourselves approved, a workman that need not be ashamed, as Paul instructed Timothy (2 Timothy 2:15).  As I am not Paul, I used a much simpler approach to acquire the exact place in Scripture where Paul gave Timothy that instruction.  I googled it!