Davin Unger

Rhetoric

Recitation 4

Refutation 

September 20, 2023

Word Count: 599

 

 

            When talking about stories like Amoun's levitation across the Lycus River we have to be careful not to dismiss them simply because they sound outlandish, we have to evaluate the narrative's form, and integrity, as well as the testimony on which it is built. It is clear when held up to scrutiny, that this account presents numerous inconsistencies in content and form and fails to generate reliable testimony, leaving us no choice but to view it as a dubious invention. 

            To begin, the narrative tells us that Theodore and Amoun were traveling during flood season, and swimming across a river during flood season could be very dangerous, Amoun, knowing this, would likely not have asked his friend to attempt it alone, especially not to simply to avoid embarrassment. If these men were reasonable, they would rather risk their dignity than their lives.

            Also, monks are men of piety, devoting themselves to strict lives of prayer and fasting, are we to believe that these men, seasoned in the discipline of body and mind, could not exercise enough restraint to simply avert their gaze from one another's nakedness? And if even this was too much, the men could simply remain covered until their bodies were concealed by the water. Either way, there was no need for them to separate, on the contrary, doing placed them in greater peril. 

            Next, it seems unlikely that Amoun would try to conceal the miracle of his levitation, monks seek to bring glory to God, if such an extraordinary miracle had occurred, why would Amoun attempt to hide it? Would he not rather freely tell of what God did for him? When Jesus delivered a man from demonic possession, he said “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you.” In attempting to hide the miracle, Amoun is acting contrary to his faith.

            The account of Amoun's levitation is overflowing with vague, confusing, and irrelevant details, for example, it goes out of it's way to emphasize that Amoun is ashamed of his own nakedness but we never learn why or how this is at all relevant to the story. Or take this sentence: "Theodore, himself a pious man, came up; and seeing that the other had come over before him and had not even gotten wet, he asked how he had crossed." Why does this passage say that he is pious? It is completely irrelevant given the context. The account is full of these cryptic and confusing statements which obscure the coherence of the narrative, this is made even more poignant when compared with the crystal-clear miraculous stories in scripture. 

            Most damning of all however, is the fact that no one witnessed Amoun's supposed levitation and without witnesses we are left with a chain of independent and distant narrators any of whom could have skewed the account, and let us not forget that when the story was first publicly divulged, the only man who could confirm or refute it was dead. In order to believe the account, we must believe that Athanasius accurately recounted what Theodore claimed, and that Theodore correctly retold (and remembered) what Amoun said, and finally, we must believe that Amoun was being truthful in the first place. On it's own, the lack of verifiable testimony, leaves the account open to skepticism, but when paired with the numerous problems within the story, it seals the coffin.

            Having seen that this story is inconsistent in content, bafling in form, and devoid of substantive corroboration we are left with no choice but to regard the account as unreliable. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Refutation:

 

 

Incredible: The story is not reliable because no one witnessed Amoun's levitation. 

 

Unclear: The account is questionable because it includes odd and confusing details.

 

Unclear: The narrative is written vaguely, making it's veracity questionable. 

 

Disadvantageous: swimming alone across a flooded river is very dangerous, thus Amoun would not have sent his friend to attempt this alone. 

 

Incredible: Monks are disciplined, so they would respect each other's privacy by not looking on their nakedness. 

 

Unclear: The narrative is questionable because it does not specify why Theordore chose to seize Amoun's ancles.

 

Incredible: The story was told after Amoun's death, thus Amoun could not confirm it. 

 

Inappropriate: Amoun wouldn't want to hide a miracle because Monks seek to bring glory to God. 

 

Unclear: The narrative is dubious because it does not specify why they took their clothes off to cross the river. 

 

Impossible: You cannot keep your clothes dry while swimming across a flooded river, so 

 

it makes no sense that they would attempt to do so.

 

Incredible: The narrative is questionable because it was told potentially years after it's alleged occurrence. 

 

 

Confirmation: 

 

Consistent: The river crossing is affirmed by the account of his spirit levitating after his death

 

Appropriate: Monks are modest, therefore they would want to conceal their nakedness.

 

Consistent: Theodor is a pious man, thus he would keep his word to not tell the story until Amoun's death.

 

Appropriate: God miraculously aids in bringing his Saints across water, so it would be fitting for God to bring Amoun across. 

 

Possible: God works miracles, thus it is possible that he could have brought Amoun across the river. 

 

Consistent: Monks wear heavy robes, thus they would not want to get them wet. 

 

Consistent: Amoun crossed the river and stayed dry thus he did not swim. 

 

Clear: The account is clear that both monks ended on the opposite bank of the river, thus both monks crossed the river 

 

Appropriate: Amoun would not want to draw attention to himself with the miracle because Monks are humble.