The Challenges and Opportunities of a Socio-rhetorical Commentary

Implementing a socio-rhetorical approach in the writing of a commentary can be a challenging endeavour. Such a multidimensional approach should take seriously some of the questions that are not always dealt with explicitly in the writing of commentaries. Interactionist hermeneutics should be acknowledged, as well as the ideology of the interpreter, together with taking into account the creativity and reception of the intended readers of the text and the commentary. The challenge for such an approach would be to identify the multiple modes of hermeneutical rhetoric that functioned in early Christian discourse and to elucidate the manner in which this played a role in the renewing of traditions.