1st Edition

Sacred Rhetorical Education in 19th Century America Austin Phelps at Andover Theological Seminary

By Michael-John DePalma Copyright 2020
    206 Pages
    by Routledge

    206 Pages
    by Routledge

    This book offers new insight into the ways rhetorical educators’ religious motives influenced the shape of nineteenth-century rhetorical education and invites scholars of writing and rhetoric to consider what the study of religiously-animated pedagogies might reveal about rhetorical education itself.

    The author studies the rhetorical pedagogy of Austin Phelps, the prominent preacher and professor of sacred rhetoric at Andover Theological Seminary, and his theologically-motivated adaptation of rhetorical education to fit the exigencies of preachers at the first graduate seminary in the United States. In disclosing how Phelps was guided by his Christian motives, the book offers a thorough examination of how professional rhetoric was taught, learned, and practiced in nineteenth-century America. It also provides an enriched understanding of rhetorical theories and pedagogies in American seminaries, and contributes deepened awareness of the ways religious motives can function as resources that enable the reshaping of rhetorical theory and pedagogy in generative ways.

    Exploring the implications of Phelps’s rhetorical theory and pedagogy for future studies of religious rhetoric, histories of rhetorical education, and twenty-first century writing pedagogy,this book will be essential reading for scholars and students of rhetoric, education, American history, religious education, and writing studies.

    Introduction: Austin Phelps’s Theologically-Motivated Adaptation of 19th Century Rhetorical Education

    Part I

    Context and Motives for Austin Phelps’s Reshaping of 19th Century Rhetorical Education

    Chapter 1: Austin Phelps’s 19th Century Context and Theological Motives

    Chapter 2: Nineteenth-Century Sacred Rhetorical Education at Andover Theological Seminary

    Part II

    Vocational, Regenerative, Incarnate: Austin Phelps’s Sacred Rhetorical Pedagogy

    Chapter 3: Vocational Rhetorical Pedagogy: Forming Pulpit Rhetors for a Divine Calling

    Chapter 4: Regenerative Rhetorical Pedagogy: Redeeming Souls, Reforming Culture

    Chapter 5: Incarnate Rhetorical Pedagogy: The Power of Preaching from Experience

    Part III

    Influence, Implications, and Prospects

    Chapter 6: Tracing Legacy: Austin Phelps’s Influence on Elizabeth Stuart Phelps’s Social Christianity

    Chapter 7: Prospects for Scholarly Engagement with Religious Rhetorics and Methodological Considerations in Future Research

     

    Biography

    Michael-John DePalma is an Associate Professor of English and the Coordinator of Professional Writing and Rhetoric at Baylor University, Waco, Texas, U.S.