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- Title
"The Greatest Since the Days of the Apostles": Hyperbole, Exaggeration, and Embellishment in the American Revivalist Tradition.
- Abstract
American revivalists have long taken seriously the ninth commandment not to bear false witness. For centuries, however, preachers and parishioners have found various ways to stretch the truth about the outpourings of the Holy Spirit in order to convey their exhilarating experiences and to boast in the mighty works of God. In the American revivalist tradition, the rhetorical devices of hyperbole, exaggeration, and embellishment have served as oratorical and literary tools by which to communicate the peaks and valleys of spiritual awakenings when ordinary language proved insufficient. These figures of speech were not simply aberrations in the interpretation of revivals but were acceptable and even essential pieces in the vernacular of revival, helping to process and promote spiritual experience. By examining the origins and development of these rhetorical devices, revival accounts and revivalist culture may be better understood and contextualized within the history of American evangelicalism.
- Subjects
EVANGELISTS; EVANGELICALISM; HYPERBOLE; FALSE testimony; APOSTLES; FIGURES of speech; HOLY Spirit
- Publication
Journal of Religious History, 2022, Vol 46, Issue 1, p179
- ISSN
0022-4227
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/1467-9809.12830