If you know classical education, you know the importance of teaching rhetoric. And you know that, as Christians, we are called to love our neighbor. In the decades we’ve been involved in classical education, we’ve been concerned that rhetoric curricula have simply been updated versions of Aristotle’s Rhetoric—until now. Veritas Press has published A Rhetoric of Love volume I and A Rhetoric of Love volume II, both of which have been reviewed by Cathy Duffy (curriculum reviewer, author and a homeschool mother).

A Rhetoric of Love is a series of two rhetoric courses for Christian students that is based upon both classical rhetoric and the Bible. Recognizing that rhetorical skills can be used for both good and evil purposes, these courses teach students to use their powers of persuasion in writing and speech to show love for others. 

The course for A Rhetoric of Love: Volume One consists of a textbook and a teacher’s edition. The student textbook was written by Douglas M. Jones, and the teacher’s edition was written by Michael G. Eatmon. The publisher, Veritas Press, also offers the Volume One course live, online, with two class meetings per week. A Rhetoric of Love: Volume Two has a student book written by Michael A. Collender and a live, online course. Online courses run a full school year, beginning in the fall of each year. A teacher's edition for Volume Two should be available by the end of 2021.

My review focuses on the printed books for A Rhetoric of Love: Volume One. I didn’t review the online courses since the live, online courses can vary greatly from session to session. However, since these courses work best when used in some sort of group class, you might want to consider the online course option. Volume Two guides students through both written and oral presentations of a Senior Thesis, and participation in a class where they can get assistance for that project and an audience is essential.

Read the full review of A Rhetoric of Love and other Veritas Press curriculum on Cathy's website.