The Prophetic Alchemy of Jim Wallis

Brian Jackson Brigham Young University

Abstract

In God's Politics evangelical minister Jim Wallis uses what I call “prophetic alchemy,” a strategy meant to reconcile and combine two opposing viewpoints—particularly liberal secularists and conservative Christians—into one progressive agenda for social change. Prophetic alchemy is magical thinking through argument, and as rhetorical strategy it participates in Kenneth Burke's alchemic tropes, particularly transcendence and division. In this article I review prophetic rhetoric as a genre, situate Wallis's rhetorical efforts in the timeline of the Protestant dialectic between progressive and conservative ideologies, and then analyze God's Politics as it participates in prophecy by attempting to reconcile opposing audiences through the symbolic power of prophetic alchemy.

Journal
Rhetoric Review
Published
2009-12-22
DOI
10.1080/07350190903415180
Open Access
Closed

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

  1. Rhetoric Review

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Also cites 12 works outside this index ↓
  1. A Grammar of Motives
  2. A Rhetoric of Motives
  3. 10.5149/uncp/9780807828199
  4. Souled Out: Reclaiming Faith and Politics After the Religious Right
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  7. Religion in American Politics
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    Journal of Communication and Religion  
  9. Poetry and Prophecy: The Anthropology of Inspiration
  10. Fundamentalism and American Culture
  11. 10.1093/0195151119.001.0001
  12. 10.5840/jcr20032629
    Journal of Communication and Religion  
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