Word of the Day: Paraenesis
Friday, April 24, 2009 at 08:04AM This morning I was musing about solitary reading--how pleasurable it is to read along with other 'solitary readers.' Even when one is surrounded by other people reading, unless one is reading aloud, reading remains a solitary experience--until someone speaks up and shares thoughts about what is being read.
In that post, I mentioned that I had come across a word that I did not know and could not find in a dictionary--paraenetic. I asked my readers if anyone knew the definition of the word and in very short order, I had an answer and a link from a reader named sem:
The paraenetic style is that in which we give someone paraenesis.. . persuading. . . him to pursue something or to avoid something. Paraenesis . . . is divided into two parts, i.e., persuasion and dissuasion. (2)
Restoration Quarterly Volume 38/Number 3
Towards a Definition of Paraenesis
Tim Sensing Burlington, NC
It's an interesting read.
Reader Comments (2)
I love to discuss books with people, but it is a process, isn't it? We delve deep into our solitary pursuit of reading and then we surface when we have thought, chewed over and pondered. Reading can be a shared experience, I think, but it does begin with the reader engaging with the text. Reading Scripture, on the other hand, is even more different. It is about me, the text and the Holy Spirit.OOOooo. Great observation!!
I started reading a book yesterday that used paraenetic more than once! On the same page, no less! Thanks to this post I understood what the author meant.