Augustine and the cure of souls [electronic resource] : revising a classical ideal / Paul R. Kolbet.

Introduction
Rhetoric and Christian identity in the Roman Empire : sources and method
A classical ideal
Classical therapy : its origins, tasks, and methods
Psychagogy as a cultural ideal
Psychagogy in its classical form
Hellenistic refinements
Cures for the Roman soul
The psychagogic value of ancient texts
Revising and recontextualizing classical therapy
Augustine's early formation
An ambitious young orator
Being healed by beautiful words
Christianizing classical therapy
Christian philosophy and the cure of soul
Christ's inner and outer rhetoric
A new context for classical therapy
Ordination crisis
Controversies over the cure of soul
Signs eliciting love
Exegetical integration
Teaching the uninstructed
Augustine's homiletical practice
The Christian rhetor
Continuity amid discontinuity
Critical skills
Constructive guidance
Therapy and society
The incarnate word and community.