Pauline Persuasion: A Sounding in 2 Corinthians 8-9

This is a book about the use of classical rhetoric in reading Paul. It begins with a useful review of the various strategies. In the light of the issues that emerge, it describes a rhetorical method which is then tested on 2 Corinthians 8–9. Here, the advice of the classical rhetorical manuals for constructing a text is used-in reverse order-so as to uncover the persuasive strategy being used by Paul in this case. This technique leads to a quite new reading of the two chapters, which O'Mahony then proceeds to test against the standard work in the field by Hans Dieter Betz.