The Lewis and Short Latin Dictionary defines oeconomia as ‘the management of household affairs, domestic economy; hence, a proper division, arrangement, economy (of an oration, a play, etc.)’. This terminology for the arrangement of an oration was not universal in antiquity or late antiquity, but the concept was. Arrangement (dispositio) was the second of the five principal parts of rhetoric in the Latin tradition, and, according to Cicero (De orat. 1.31.138), in order for speakers to persuade their audiences, they must use ‘accommodation’. Quintilian's rhetorical handbook used the term oeconomia for the accommodation proper to arrangement, further explaining oeconomia as ‘a Greek word meaning the management of domestic affairs which is applied metaphorically to oratory and has no Latin equivalent’ (Inst. 3.3.9). Augustine never used the term oeconomia in this way, preferring a variety of other descriptions, but G. shows in this published dissertation (Emory University) that the great bishop and former teacher of rhetoric used the concept of rhetorical economy as the logic undergirding several areas of his theology, including creation, history and theodicy.

Following a brief introduction that mostly serves as a preview, the book contains five chapters grouped into two sections, an epilogue, three appendices covering primary sources, a bibliography and indexes. The first section, ‘Foundations’, begins with a chapter introducing readers to ancient thoughts on rhetorical economy, to recent scholarship on Augustine's use of rhetorical economy in his scriptural interpretation and to examples of such use through an analysis of a couple of passages from an early work of Augustine's, On the Practices of the Catholic Church and the Manichaeans. Rounding out Section 1, the second chapter demonstrates that Augustine sometimes explicitly employs rhetorical theory (not focusing here on rhetorical economy) in his theology, by describing creation as a book and by conceiving of both history and divine activity in terms of a speech.

Section 2, with its three chapters covering a hundred pages, presents G.'s main argument. Whereas previous scholarship has engaged Augustine's use of rhetorical economy in his scriptural hermeneutic (surveyed in Chapter 1), G. shows that rhetorical economy also helped Augustine think through various theological issues and articulate his own understanding of them. In this section G. pursues the concept of rhetorical economy in Augustine's theology of creation (Chapter 3), history (Chapter 4) and theodicy (Chapter 5). Given Augustine's inconsistent terminology for what Quintilian called oeconomia, G. spends much time establishing that it is rhetorical economy that serves as the logical structure for Augustine's thoughts in several key passages.

Chapter 3 mainly treats two passages from Augustine: On Genesis against the Manichaeans 1.21.32 (388–9 ce) and Sermon 29D.4–7 (c. 408 ce; this is the Dolbeau Sermon also known as On the Providence of God). In the first passage Augustine handles an objection against the goodness of all creation that he has heard from the Manichees, specifically in regard to dangerous animals or ones that are useless to humans. In response, Augustine wants to show that such animals have their own beauty and augment the beauty of the whole of creation; as Genesis 1 says, the individual parts of creation are ‘good’, and together they are ‘very good’. G. discerns a ‘conceptual similarity’ between rhetorical economy and Augustine's description of the arrangement of creation. ‘Just as rhetorical theory held that an economically arranged speech is one in which the pieces of the speech are accommodated to one another and to the whole in order to form a whole speech, here Augustine describes the pieces of creation harmonizing with one another and joining together into the whole of creation’ (pp. 70–1). G. further shows that Augustine's discussion in On Genesis draws from Quintilian, that Augustine brings up a ‘beautiful’ speech in this context and that his description of the harmonised parts of creation in On Genesis replicates statements he uses in his definition of rhetorical economy in another work (the contemporary On the Practices of the Catholic Church and the Manichaeans 1.17.30; 1.28.56). This multifaceted argument ensures that Augustine is using the concept of rhetorical economy in On Genesis to help him reject the Manichaean doctrine of creation with regard to animals.

Chapter 4 turns to history and covers in detail two more passages – On True Religion 22.42–3 (390–1 ce) and On Music 6.11.29–30 (387–91 ce, emended c. 395) – and then more briefly four further passages from later in Augustine's career. The focus continues to be on establishing that Augustine uses rhetorical economy in his theology, with some attention also given to the implications of such use. Regarding the examination of On Music, G. concludes that ‘It is beyond a doubt that Augustine is using rhetorical economy in this passage’ (p. 122), a valid conclusion arising from the previous fifteen pages of close argument. He first establishes that Augustine uses rhetorical theory in general in this passage (not mentioned by Augustine), and then he compares this passage to others for which G. has already established (through detailed argument) that Augustine employs rhetorical economy. The point is that rhetorical economy allows Augustine to explain the lack of perspective of humans regarding their place in God's ordering of history.

The briefer Chapter 5 turns to theodicy and investigates On Genesis against the Manichaeans 1.3.5 and On Free Choice 3.9.27. G.'s conclusion from the examination of the former passage represents well the manner of argumentation throughout. ‘Since Augustine's description of divine arrangement in On Genesis against the Manichaeans 1.3.5 makes the same point as the description of economical arrangement in Herennius 4.56.69, since he names and uses distinctio in the same way that it functioned as a technical concept of arrangement within rhetorical theory, and since Augustine uses distinctio in the same manner that he uses it in an earlier text in which he incorporates rhetorical economy into his concept of order (On Order 1.7.18 [a passage treated in Chapter 3]), there can be no question that Augustine is also incorporating the concept of rhetorical economy into his understanding of God's activity or arrangement in On Genesis against the Manichaeans 1.3.5’ (p. 142).

Again, the emphasis is on establishing that Augustine used rhetorical economy in his theology, a task accomplished convincingly. Pressing beyond the mere use of rhetorical economy, G. shows that this concept aided Augustine in several ways: in articulating the unity of the Old Testament and the New Testament and the differences between them; in explaining several aspects of God's ordering of creation and his providential working through history, sometimes despite human inability to fathom God's actions; and in conceiving of God's role in arranging evil without having created it.

The sometimes long footnotes, which pursue tangential subjects such as the problem of dating Augustine's works or issues of terminology, reveal deep learning, but can also be distracting, which is the more problematic because the argument in the main text is itself dense. Nevertheless, G. writes clearly and provides plenty of signposts along the way, helping readers follow the development of the argument. This monograph on an important topic clearly establishes its thesis and should receive a warm welcome from specialists in Augustine's theology and the rhetorical tradition in late antiquity.