Erotema (e-ro-tem’-a): The rhetorical question. To affirm or deny a point strongly by asking it as a question. Generally, as Melanchthon has noted, the rhetorical question includes an emotional dimension, expressing wonder, indignation, sarcasm, etc.
I began, “How many of you actually believe in God?”
Nobody raised their hands. The dinner table fell quiet. My wife, four daughters and two sons just sat there staring at their bean burgers, potato salad, and French fries. They knew I didn’t want an answer. They knew they were all damned to hell.
I continued, “How many of you want to repent right here at the dinner table?”
Again, nobody raised their hands. They knew where I was headed. They were all damned for all eternity. My family! To borrow a phrase, there were all “Sinners in the hands of an angry God.” Just like Jonathan Edwards said, “Your foot shall slide in due time.”
I was pastor of the “First Corinthian Church of Universal Damnation.” My job was to terrorize parishioners into re-converting every Sunday. I was practicing on my family. I wanted to stab them in their shriveled hearts with truth. I wanted to bludgeon them with guilt. I wanted to push them into the abyss with vivid images of falling into the pit of hell.
I continued, “You sit there coyly undaunted by my questions. Well, what will you think when you smell your own flesh eternally burning on Satan’s grill? What will you do when he takes a bite out of you and spits you out on Hell’s searing floor. You will scream and howl and writhe around like a burning worm.”
I continued, “Before you dig into your bean burgers, repent, and don’t use up all the ketchup.”
They all repented, and saved some ketchup for me. I had triumphed again over my wily adversary: The Fallen Angel, Beelzebub, Satan. whatever you call him, he’s bad and he clutches many a man’s soul in his gnarly flashing hands—and they don’t even know it! This is humanity’s Grand Disaster: Happiness! Happiness wages war on remorse and repentance every day. It is an undiagnosed cancer on your soul.
I finished up: “Pass the ketchup Micah. My bean burger awaits your obedience to my righteous command.”
The Daily Trope 