for alternating and blending the various ‘styles’ of rhetoric all within a single speech. She explains that by combining these three different styles, Augustine believes the speaker is able to produce a more powerful speech by delivering the necessary information in a clear and accurate way, while he is also able to connect with the audience's emotions through the more grand and passionate style. John D. Schaeffer claims that Augustine's writings should not be analyzed at all from the same perspective as the classical rhetoricians, because his works were produced in an entirely different era and for an entirely different group of people than those of the great classical rhetoricians. The issue for Schaeffer lies in the fact that Augustine was trying to bring together the elements of orality and the Christian religion, which was founded primarily upon the written scriptures and called for private introspection and prayer. Schaeffer says, “book 4 attempts to resolve a central paradox of early Christianity by synthesizing the oral world of public performance with a religion grounded in writing and addressed to the inner person…De doctrina presents Augustine’s attempt to bring classical rhetoric…to bear on Christian preaching.” Therefore, he argues that Augustine was not simply writing against the traditions of classical rhetoric and that scholars should consider Augustine's work within its own context. References Bibliography On the Christian Doctrine, transl. by J. F. Shaw, in: St. Augustine: City of God and Christian Doctrine (Kindle Edition), Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of The Christian Church, Edinburgh: T&T Clark. External links Original Latin: De doctrina Christiana English translation: On Christian Doctrine transl. by Rev. Marcus Dods 4th-century Latin books 5th-century Latin books 4th-century Christian texts 5th-century Christian texts Christian theology books Latin prose texts Works by Augustine of Hippo