Acts 17: How to Persuade Others

Workshop Plan Introductory Question: Marian had an unlucky experience with spiritual retreats during her childhood, how can you convince her to join our retreat?? 5 Persuasive Techniques St. Paul Case Study Walking Away Case Study Conclusion

5 Persuasive Techniques Logical Appeal: To persuade by making the person believe that the facts presented are REASONABLE and just "MAKES SENSE." Ethical Appeal: Tries to gain moral support for a claim by linking the claim to a widely accepted value Emotional Appeal (Heart strings ): Play on people's emotions of fear, insecurities hopes, dreams or things that are valued. The Persuader wants you to associate the good feelings created in his speech with the idea

5 Persuasive Techniques Testimonials: The Persuader uses celebrities and regular people to approve ideas Evidence: Information, facts or statements used to support a belief, opinion or point of view. Statistics, percentages, and numbers are used to convince you that this idea is better or more effective than another one.

What persuasive techniques are used by St. Paul According to classical rhetoric, a person has three different methods, depending on the situation, at his/her disposal with which to persuade the audience, jury or judge. These are Logical appeal (especially in a legal setting, as is the case in the Athens-episode), Ethical appeal (the choice between right and wrong), and Emotional appeal Testimonials Evidence See Notes Below for the Text Explanation

Logical Appeal Paul widely uses logical argumentation in his defence. Conjunctions establish the easy flow of the argument; and provide a logical sequence Paul tries to present his message as “respectable theology.” The sudden break in this logical sequence at the end is therefore all the more noticeable and unexpected. Ethical Appeal Ethical argumentation plays a minor role in Paul’s speech, yet it is present. Terms like “ignorance,” “judgement” and “repentance” have ethical inferences. These terms are utilised at the end of Paul’s argument and in the narrative framework of the scene. Emotional Appeal Emotion does not play a part in the argument (dialogue) as such, but there are references to severe emotions in the narrative framework, showing Paul’s own reactions and those of his hearers... This narrative framework provides the setting and the tone of the episode, and that has a significant effect on the reader of the story and is a major instrument used by the author to persuade readers to associate with Jesus Christ. What persuasive techniques are used by St. Paul

Testimonials St. Paul quoted some poets from their own culture St. Luke the narrator mentioned the names of people who joined and believed Evidence He mentioned the altar he found for the unknown God as an evidence for God’s existence What persuasive techniques are used by St. Paul

Case Study - Walking away See Notes Below & Document Attached

Case Study - Walking away Use these questions to process by yourself or in a group "Walking Away, the case study in which seminary student Dereck tries to evangelize his supervisor at his part- time job. What positive things happened? What negative things happened? Have you been there? In either of these positions? Did Dereck miss some important cues? Are there any signs in Roger of an openness to the gospel? Assume you are Dereck's friend. What would you advise him to do now? Assume you are Roger. Why did you walk away at the end without responding? What are you thinking now? Suppose you are Dereck and that you could turn the clock back, what would you do differently? Would you suggest a different way for Dereck to open the conversation in the restaurant?

Conclusion A logically sequenced set of themes can be noticed in St. Paul’s visit to Athens. The first two of these are related to him personally and the remaining four themes are related to his approach to the people Internal infrastructure (Below the water Line)  Theme one – The servant her/himself should be very close and well connected to GOD  Theme two: - A burning vision of getting other people to God evolves External activities (Above the water Line)  Theme three – Understand the culture  Theme four – Raise enthusiasm and curiosity – let them want to listen.  Theme five – encourage, praise existing good deeds, build on existing when possible  Theme six – send the message as it really is: joyful and wonderful and addressing real human needs.

Hidden Foundation Water Line Apparent activities Conclusion Joyful message addressing individuals' needs (V23 – 29) Encourage, praise and build on existing good deeds (V22 – 23) Build enthusiasm and need to listen (V 18 – 20) Understand people and culture (V 17) Burning vision of engaging others (v16) Personal Relationship with Christ (24 – 29)