God-centered resources from the ministry of John Piper

John Piper shared these benefits of eloquence in the conclusion of his message this morning. You can listen to his message now or check back tomorrow for the full manuscript read the manuscript.

1. Eloquence—that is, artistic, surprising, provocative, or aesthetically pleasing language—may keep people awake and focused because they find it interesting for reasons they can’t articulate.

2. Eloquence may bring an adversarial mind into greater sympathy with the speaker.

3. Eloquence may have an awakening effect on a person’s heart and mind short of regeneration, but still important in awakening in them emotional sensitivity to beautiful things.

4. Certain kinds of eloquence (cadence, parallelism, meter, rhyme, assonance, consonance) may not only add interest, but also increase impact by helping the memory.

5. The beauty of eloquence can join with the beauty of truth and increase the power of your words.