Text-centered methods of interpretation as proof of the delineation and coherence of 1 Corinthians 15

In this dissertation, text-centered methods of interpretation demonstrate the delineation and coherence of 1 Corinthians 15. In particular, text-centered methods of interpretation include epistolary analysis, rhetorical analysis, and discourse analysis. Delineation refers to the judgement by the interpreter of the limits of a sense unit within the flow of thought. Coherence refers to the judgement by the interpreter of the consistency within the sense unit. Delineation and coherence are treated together because this study proposes literary features that indicate coherence are at the same time indication of delineation, and vice versa. Delineation and coherence are demonstrated in this study by the literary features of the text which fit acceptable criteria for evaluating delineation and coherence. Most of the dissertation involves deriving criteria appropriate for the interpretive aim.;An introductory chapter surveys a broad spectrum of methods of interpretation for potential criteria. Based upon a model of how language communicates and two initial assumptions, text-centered methods are judged to fit the interpretative aim best. The first major part of the study concludes transitional devices of Greco-Roman documentary letters fit the genre of 1 Corinthians. The second major part of the study concludes Greco-Roman rhetorical theory in the areas of invention, arrangement, and style provide numerous criteria to demonstrate the delineation and coherence of 1 Corinthians 15. The third major part of the study concludes componential analysis into propositions and relations among the proposition provides a reliable method for determining the delineation and coherence of a sense unit. This particle perspective of the discourse is supplemented by field and wave perspectives to provide an inclusive analysis of coherence. In the final conclusion a proposal is made for uniting all three analyses into a comprehensive method of discourse analysis. Specific features of Hellenistic Greek in the first century CE pertaining to epistolography and rhetoric supply the details of a model of how the language of 1 Corinthians communicates.