David Thornton - Augustine's Rhetoric

In Sacred communication, an important aspect is the idea of rhetoric. This is the means by which an individual expresses their thoughts or ideas through the use of words or language. Augustine was a 4th century philosopher and theologian who greatly transformed much of Christianity’s orthodox understandings of the Bible and its principles. Augustine by profession was a master of rhetoric. This means he studied ad mastered the art of words in studying writing, poetry, and drama. This summer I read Augustine’s Confessions and while reading I decided to investigate a commentary on this book. The commentary discussed certain things Augustine would have studied and it details the education he would have received and thereafter exercised. Augustine’s commitment to written excellence in communicating his thoughts onto paper was basically his profession until he became bishop. This educational background is what gave him plenty of headway in effectively responding to pagan’s criticisms of Christianity in the City of God. Also, in Confessions he basically gives a biographical account of his life before and after becoming a Christian. These books are still popular today and are even used in College classrooms. The City of God gives insight into what would soon become known as Christian theology. Christian apologetics would become more popular in the realm of the Christian world because people could now see someone who was actually making an impact on non believers. I would like to know how come rhetoric is not studied today as extensively as it was in the 4th century a.d. I know it would not necessarily pay generously in our modern western society but it seems to be hugely useful in the realm of Christian writing and quite impacting to the effectiveness of the meaning in their writing. I believe that Augustine’s enormous impact on Christian theology and apologetics can largely be traced back to his mastering language and knowledge of communicating meaning in his words of truth. Augustine’s enormous impact on Christianity can partly be attributed to his mastery of rhetoric. His ability to put his thoughts into the clarity of language has given countless people a clearer perspective and understanding of Christianity’s Sacred scriptures.