Campus Location
Abilene Campus (Residential)
Date of Award
5-2004
Document Type
Thesis
Department
Graduate School of Theology
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
Carly H. Dodd
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
Paul N. Lakey
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
Debbie Williams
Abstract
The increased levels of homosexual discussion in mainstream media culture have aroused opinion diversity in both secular and religious circles. The case of Bishop Gene Robinson has brought the issue of homosexuality in the priesthood to the forefront. However, the main issue does not rest on the issue of homosexuality but rather on the inspiration, validity, and authority of the Bible as scripture. After the evaluation of two pieces of rhetoric, including an interview given by Bishop Gene Robinson on a local radio broadcast and a speech given by B. L. Mauser concerning homosexuality as sin, Kenneth Burke's pentad will be used to discover the dominant term of these pieces. This rhetorical analysis forms two sets of communication discourse regarding this issue. Through analytic research, the results are expected to represent the nature of persuasive argument and rhetorical strategy on moral and social questions. Thus, the results should expand the nature and quality of communication pertaining to relevant religious issues. In the end, the reader should come to a better understanding of the true argument being presented by all parties involved in this discussion.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Wallace, Garland Brent, "A Church Crisis: A Rhetorical Criticism of Communication Arguments From Proponents of Both Sides of the Homosexual Movement in the Christian Church" (2004). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 714.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/714