A Contrastive Rhetorical Analysis of Hypocrisy in Christian and Islamic Moral Religious Contexts

Abstract

Being hypocrite is to act in opposition to one's inner status. The goodness that he conveys is in contrast to the evilness that he has in his heart and intention. It is simply to be a double-faced human or a deceptive one. This study sheds light on hypocrisy as a vice. It investigates the Christian and Islamic tackle of such issue regarding its types, the rhetorical construction throughout the pragmatic strategies and the rhetorical devices that are applied. The results reveal that there is divergence between Christianity and Islam in the thematic and formal representation of hypocrisy in their moral religious contexts. Christian contexts adopts persuasion and instruction as pragmatic strategies whereas Islamic ones resort to persuasion and hinting. The results also show that the types of hypocrisy that are highlighted vary in their type and number of occurrence.