Not only does President Packer follow a
specific format of rhetoric, he has drawn on similar themes and ideas. In his talks "The Witness" and "The Reason for Our Hope", President Packer starts with a story.
The story about his visit to Oxford and how he shared his testimony of the
Savior with the Chaplin of Oxford gave him validity and laid a foundation for
the rest of his talk. In the last conference session he opened up with a story
about his first major spiritual experience in getting to know God in a personal
way.
Knowing the Savior and gaining a personal
testimony of him has been the major theme of these past to conference talks. In
fact, He even uses the same scripture.
"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in
Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to
our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a
remission of their sins."
His words are powerful to me, not because
of his tone or his style, but because of the use of scripture that highlights
the points he makes. Those scriptures of the Savior create the greatest sense of
Ethos in both talks.
He stresses the importance of knowing the
Savior because he personally suffered for you. This truth evokes a great amount
of emotional appeal (Pathos). This was illustrated by the story of the women,
being upset by the tragedy and hardships that fell upon her exclaimed,
"Someone must pay!" It was then that a voice came to her mind.
"Someone already has."
Anecdotes illustrating a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ make for a common theme among his talks. Similar
and identical scriptures of Jesus Christ shows power in repetition.
Personal "Kairos" played a major
role for me while I was experiencing his talk. I was with a friend high up in
the mountains as I listened to his talk. I was in a much more personal setting
than i am used to. The theme of a personal and individual Christ was amplified
as I was in a place where I was not distracted by other cares of the world. It seems like President Packers old age is shaping the tone and theme of his talks. He has reflected on core personal beliefs as he knows that he is coming towards the end of his life.
