Publisher's Synopsis
Kathy Maxwell explores ancient rhetoricians' comments about 'the audience', as well as the kinds of audience participation they expected and the tools used to encourage such participation. Such tools were employed in ancient pagan, Jewish, and Christian literature - the concern being to engage the audience. Maxwell's conclusions impact not only the way biblical scholars view the rhetorical abilities of the Evangelists, but also the way in which modern readers 'hear' the biblical narrative. The modern audience also bears the responsibility of hearing between the lines, of creating the story with the ancient author.