Ethos, Humor, and Preaching

From my paper:

Ethos is the credibility, character, compassion, and integrity of the speaker (Lybrand 29, Smith 113, Chapell 289, and Marty “Preaching Rhetorically” 106). How the listener perceives the character of the speaker affects the receptivity to the speaker’s message (Ramsey 20, Heisler 83, and McClure, Allen, Andrews, Bond, Moseley, and Ramsey 136-7). Ethos is a meaningful predictor of believability and likeableness and can be measured by surveying the competence, goodwill, and trustworthiness of the speaker (McCroskey and Teven 101).

Ethos and humor orientation—which measures a person's propensity to create and understand humorous messages during personal contact with others (Wanzer and Frymier 54) —have demonstrated a positive relationship in various settings such as athletics, education, and the military. A correlation has been shown between college coaches' humor orientation and their likability (Grisaffe, Blom, and Burke 105 and Torok, McMorris, and Lin 18). Speakers who use appropriate humor in an instructional setting are perceived by their listeners to have a greater ethos than those who use inappropriate humor or no humor (Gurner 228-33 and McClure 52). A high humor orientation demonstrates a positive correlation to leadership effectiveness. In a study at the United States Military Academy, cadets were asked to recall particularly good and bad leaders and then rate those leaders on leadership and humor. Outstanding leadership and high perceived humor orientation were positively linked (Priest and Swain 169-70).

The above discussion suggests a high humor orientation is something is socially desirable and leads to a higher ethos. Instructional communication research confirms this suggestion. Possession of a high humor orientation is considered a socially desirable (Shevlin and McGee 74) since people declare a sense of humor in numbers in excess of what is possible. Three studies report between 80 and 90 percent of respondents claimed that they have an above-average sense of humor in regard to their peers. One of these studies reported that less than two percent of respondents self-reported a below-average sense of humor (Cann and Calhoun 118). In addition to an extremely high percentage of the population claiming a high humor orientation, a high humor orientation is largely recognized as a constructive public attribute (Cann and Calhoun 118). A high humor orientation has a positive correlation with extroversion, sociability, (Kohler and Ruch 363-97), and has been shown to be most strongly associated with the following qualities: interesting, imaginative, creative, friendly, pleasant, and clever (Kuiper and Martin 251-70). Humor orientation shows a negative correlation with neuroticism (Deaner and McConatha 755-63) and depression (Kuiper and Martin 251-70). The high humor orientation person can be a pleasant source of positive encouragement, with interesting and creative behaviors that are presented in a manner that is agreeable, friendly, and amusing (Cann and Calhoun 126-8).

Karl Barth argues with the assertion of the importance of ethos in the previous paragraphs. He contends that effective preaching has little to do with the ethos of the preacher. Barth argues the preacher should place their primary focus on preparing biblical messages that might speak in spite of his or her presence. Most current communication research and homiletic writing does not agree with Barth. Interest in the relationship between rhetoric and homiletics has had a major impact on the revival of ethos in homiletics (McClure 12 and Swears 113-4).

Aristotle described ethos as one of the three components of persuasion along with pathos and logos. Pathos is rhetoric's appeal based on emotion and has to do with how feelings affect the listeners’ response to a message (Allen Hearing the Sermon 71). Logos is rhetoric's appeal based on logic and reason. It is the content of the message (Allen Hearing the Sermon 43). Ethos, as noted above, is rhetoric's appeal based on character and integrity (Allen Hearing the Sermon 19). A speaker may know what to say (logos), and how to say it (pathos), but must also have the character and integrity (ethos) to give credibility to the logos and pathos (Aristotle 14). A speaker having a balance in the three areas of persuasion will create synergy that will allow the sum of the three areas to be greater than its parts (Lind Hogan and Reid 158-9). Ethos and each of its components—competence, goodwill, and trustworthiness—are non-negotiables for the preacher (Quicke 92-95, Miller Preaching 233, and Willimon Pastor 157). Preaching cannot be separated from the public, personal, and professional life of the preacher (Bailey 550, Wilson 27-31, Maxwell 29, and Brown, Robinson, and Willimon 49-50). Sermons are not just heard; sermons are also seen (Stott Between Two Worlds 271). The ethos of various preachers has been severely diminished because of moral failure in life and the use of profane humor when preaching (Grindal 243). Competence, goodwill, and trustworthiness take time to build, but can be all but eliminated in a matter of seconds. The relationship between the ethos of the preacher and the preacher’s message is an unavoidable truth (Craddock Preaching 23).