“Lend me your ears” is probably the most famous phrase associated with rhetoric. They are the words of Marc Antony as told by Shakespeare to an unruly crowd in Rome following the assassination of Julius Caesar.

Starting with those words he proceeded to quiet the crowd, then artfully persuaded the crowd to turn their wrath towards those who assassinated Caesar. Words are powerful. Words change the course of nations, as well as homes and relationships. They can do great good, and great harm.

Words wield so much power that it is a common impulse to avoid the formal study of rhetoric altogether.

Here is what Augustine of Hippo, an early church father said about that:

“Oratorical ability, so effective a resource to commend either right or wrong, is available to both sides; why then is it not acquired by good and zealous Christians to fight for the truth, if the wicked employ it in the service of iniquity and error, to achieve their perverse and futile purposes?” (On Christian Doctrine, IV)

We need the art of discourse. But where to begin?

“We must begin where it all begins. God speaks.” This is how Fitting Words Classical Rhetoric text begins in its foreword by Brain Daigle.

“There is a danger in putting this kind of book in a young scholar’s hands.  It is the same danger in giving a mere human a good education whatsoever: it is a gift that can indeed be used for ill.
If we want to love our neighbor, engage in cultural critique, hear and understandGod’s Word, persuade the lost to be found, convince the unfaithful to return, and have the tools to assess where we and others may be going verbally wrong—in short, if we want to be faithful and maturing Christians—then studying rhetoric is not an option; it is not an elective. It is a necessity. And unless we want to learn it poorly, we then need a good path to tread.”
— Brian Daigle, from the Foreword

Welcome to Fitting Words: Classical Rhetoric.

Fitting Words is composed of five parts:

• A beautiful hardback textbook with 30 lessons, wide margins with margin notes and illustrations, extra resources in every lessons, expansive appendices, including every speech assigned in the text, a list of every speech in the Bible, and a full glossary/index.
• Student Workbook with exercises for every lesson.
• Answer Key with schedules.
• Exam Pack (9 exams)
• Video course, with a Lesson and Application video for each lesson, covering all aspects of the course, including use of examples from ancient and modern times.

“Fitting Words is the best balance between rigor and ease of use that I’ve seen yet.”
— Andrew Pudewa, Institute for Excellence in Writing