Quick video: Challenge and riposte

Fencing

Here is a quick description of the honor-shame dynamic called the “challenge and riposte”.

“Riposte” is a term used in the sport of fencing, meaning “a quick return thrust following a parry.” Socially it means, “a quick clever reply to an insult or criticism.” There are four steps to this protocol or social code of challenge and riposte—or “push-and-shove.” These four steps are:

Claim of worth or value
Challenge to that claim or refusal to acknowledge the claim
Riposte or defense of the claim
Public verdict of success awarded to either claimant or challenger^[1]

There are numerous examples of honor competition in the Bible. The honor competition between Jesus and the Jewish religious leaders in the Gospels frequently follows the four-step sequence referred to above. Learn about this honor-shame dynamic—“challenge and riposte”—in the next in our series of quick videos about honor and shame. Click here to watch the video on Vimeo.

Learn more—free chapter from The Global Gospel on the honor-shame dynamic of “challenge and riposte”

The free resource available with this post is an excerpt from The Global Gospel—Chapter 2.4: Honor/Shame Dynamic #4: Challenge and Riposte. The chapter is eight pages long. NOTE: This chapter helps you understand the seemingly unending cycle of conflict and violence in some honor/shame societies. The honor-shame dynamics of the love of honor, the image of limited good, and challenge and riposte—work together in a dark synergy to support a greater propensity for violence.