Oxymoron
Paradoxical Combination
Oxymoron is a rhetorical figure where two semantically opposite terms or concepts are combined to express paradoxical truth or ironic tension.
Definition
Oxymoron combines opposites that seem logically incompatible but cohere theologically or literarily. Where antithesis opposes two poles, oxymoron fuses them into a single tension.
Occurrence in Jones b9
1. Ecclesiology — Church unable to maintain her own doctrine consistently
Institutional self-contradiction
- Oxymoronic situation: Church as [guardian of truth] + [unable to establish coherent doctrine]
- Semantic tension: ecclesiastical authority × documented inconsistency
- Jones’ critique: the magisterial authority of councils is undermined by their mutually contradictory decrees
Rhetorical Effect
Oxymoron creates:
- Paradoxical truth: elevates logical anomaly to philosophical insight
- Intellectual shock: forces reader to accept opposites as simultaneously true
- Critical force: weakens the authority or coherence of the accused institution
In Jones’ ecclesiology, the oxymoron functions as judicial proof: if the Church claims infallible doctrinal determination while her conciliar decrees are mutually contradictory, that claim is logically untenable.
Related Stylistic Figures
- antithesis — antithesis opposes two equal poles; oxymoron combines them in one unresolvable tension
- parallelism — works with parallelism where opposite parallel structures are deployed
- inclusio — effective when connected to inclusio that frames the paradox