Definition of Ethos
Key Examples in Go Tell It on the Mountain
One of Aristotle's three modes of persuasion, ethos appears most prominently in Go Tell It on the Mountain during scenes of religious worship, when preachers utilize an appeal to divine authority to persuade listeners to follow the word of God. For example, in a flashback scene to one of Gabriel's first sermons at the Church of the Fire Baptized, he utilizes ethos in his powerful sermon:
Ah. Woe is me. Woe is me. Yes, beloved—there is no righteousness in man. All men's hearts are evil, all men are liars—only God is true. Hear David's cry: 'The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.' [...] For God had a plan. He would not suffer the soul of man to die, but had prepared a plan for his salvation.