Augustine

Saint Augustine was a Christian pastor who lived from 354 to 430 CE in. Born in Thagaste in Roman Africa, he lived with his mother, who was a devote Christian, and his father, though, it seems that his father converted to Christianity at the end of his life. His parents worked hard to give him opportunities in education. He journeyed down this path of being an academic and even went on to become well established in a teaching career. During this time, he was also living as an observer of Manicheism which was a dualistic religion. Later in his life, he went on to be converted to Christianity and he left his work as a professor of rhetoric and was ordained as a priest in Hippo Regius. Augustine was also living in a very strange time during world history since the Roman empire was coming to an end. This became the topic of one of his most well known works, De civitate dei, or, The City of God, which was an apologetic written between 412 and 426 CE that argued the only city that will last will not be Rome, which was just sacked, but the city that Christ established.

Although Augustine left his career as a professor of rhetoric, he by no means divorced himself from the field entirely. This can be traced all the way back to his youth. As was common for the time, he ventured down the three step learning path within Roman education; language, literature and oratory. So, when he took on the role of priest in Hippo, all of his studies in fields like rhetoric and philosophy became tools for him to reach his congregation. He was known for his interesting approach to preaching which was described as plunging one's self into the problems in the room and meeting the people where they were. He was able to do this due to the way in which he prepared for his sermons. Instead of creating a structured plan for his sermons he would spend his time submerged in the scriptures, daily and prayerfully. 

This method, also referred to as ex pectore or from the fullness of heart, falls in line with Augustine's philosophy regarding oratory which was influenced by the work of Cicero. His view was that an orator had a great deal of power if he knew what he was doing. This power could either be used for truth and for good or it could be used to twist and distort people. Augustine knew that this was a serious matter, but he didn't just want to speak well. He believed that it wasn't just the orator's job to speak well in truth, but to speak in such a way that encouraged people to act on the things they were hearing.

Saint Augustine's work has been studied for centuries now and has left a massive impact in the world of theology, philosophy and rhetoric. Though, from the sources we have, it seems that one of the biggest impacts he had was in the lives of the people he spoke to.