Keywords

Old Testament, revelation, sacred, Kairos

Abstract

Traditionally, kairos is defined by its transience. Scholars assume that in order to capitalize on the rhetorical power of kairos, a speaker must capture the “opportune moment” before it passes. his article makes the case that the kairic moment can be sustained indefinitely through the sacralization of physical space. Linking rhetorical theories of kairos as “God’s time” to Mircea Eliade’s discussion of “sacred hierophanies,” the article performs an analysis of the National Cathedral in Washington DC and concludes that rhetoric can circumvent traditional contingencies when deployed within kairic space.

Original Publication Citation

Crosby, Richard Benjamin. “Cathedral of Kairos: Rhetoric and Revelation in the ‘National House of Prayer’.” Philosophy and Rhetoric 46.2 (2013): 132 - 155 (Lead Article).