Murder and Chiasmus

I can just picture Augustine at the pulpit, breathing down repentance and pronouncing blessings upon the faithful.  Can you imagine him in General Conference?  First off, I’d like to identify his audience as I see it.  The people he is addressing are just like you and me.  Overall, we know the scriptures.  We know we should be good.  We know we should not be bad.  How many talks have you heard on forgiving others?  I think that these people know they should forgive each other’s trespasses, and I think Augustine thinks the same way. 

This leads me to his style of approach.  While much is very instructive, I don’t necessarily feel that this sermon is a low style of preaching.  It has a somewhat grander flair to it.  I feel that he is trying to present the topic in a way that is new to the audience, or at least more appealing, or memorable.  For instance, his use of chiasmus in his introductory and second paragraphs is an incredible tool often found in the scriptures, which is pleasing to the mind and directs the flow of thoughts to specific ideas.  (Read it again, it starts and ends with “Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.”)  Augustine breaks down the door when he throws out the words of St. John.  If you were sitting in the audience and had a particular person in mind who you wanted to get even with, how would you respond if you were suddenly called a murderer by one of the early apostles?  I tend to think of this sermon as somewhere between the middle and grand styles, due to his intensity and fervor.