The goal of this book is to demonstrate that sermons are “rhetorical” speeches by nature. The simplest argument is that it would be difficult to imagine a sermon without intent, and all intentional speeches are rhetorical by definition. This work focuses on the fact that rhetoric, as the intrinsic cohesive power of speech, is not a question of form, style or presentation but a practical skill based on “common sense” that produces effective speech in the most optimal way possible.
What is the difference between rhetoric and “rhetorical”? It is a difficult question indeed. There are many associative and emotional meanings linked to the word “rhetoric”, which make any dialogue about it difficult: there is always the concern that the same word implies different meanings for various individuals.
The texts examined throughout the book, however, all point into one direction: going back as far as the Apostle Paul, all theologians and homileticists who argued against rhetoric did, in fact, build their arguments rhetorically, which seems to prove our initial argument and demonstrate the fact that every sermon has a rhetorical intent.