youth behind him, he was an ideal candidate for dedicated study and self-discipline. He was admitted as a ‘hearer’, which meant that he was allowed to keep his partner and excused the most demanding austerities and rituals. He soon became an ardent evangelist for the cause; confident, eloquent and quick-witted. He could dismiss the arguments of half-hearted and compromised Christians because he had been one himself. Now he was able to feel superior—morally upright and intellectually secure. Augustine