This book approaches Augustine's great work De civitate Dei(The City of God) by considering the rhetorical techniques employed in it. It determines precisely the significance and consequences of Augustine's philosophical and theological statements on the relationship between humans and God, on freedom and responsibility and on Christian ethics by analyzing their argumentative function and contextual connection. The techniques of Augustine's argumentation are then placed in a wider historical educational context by considering his reflection on education and the tradition of classical rhetoric.

Bruno-Snell-Prize 2007 awarded to Christian Tornau.

Christian Tornau, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena.