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John Chrysostom (; ; – 14 September 407)The exact date of John's birth is in question. Dates between 344 and 349 are often given, and limits set at 340 and 350 (Kelly 296). In the most recent general biography of Chrysostom, eminent patristics scholar John Norman Davidson Kelly, after a review of the evidence and literature, favours 349 as the date that best fits all available evidence, in agreement with Robert Carter. See Kelly, Golden Mouth - The Story of John Chrysostom: Ascetic, Preacher, Bishop, Grand Rapids, MI, Baker Academic, 1998, originally published Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1995), p. 4 fn. 12; esp. 296–298 passim. For a concurring analysis which is followed in most recent reconstructions of the early life of Chrysostomos, see Robert Carter, "The Chronology of St. John Chrysostom's Early Life", in Traditio 18:357–364 (1962). For a discussion of alternatives, often in older literature, see especially G. Ettlinger, Traditio 16 (1960), pp. 373–380, Jean Dumortier, "La valeur historique du dialogue de Palladius et la chronologie de saint Jean Chrysostome", Mélanges de science religieuse, 8:51–56 (1951) was an important Church Father who served as Archbishop of Constantinople. He is known for his homilies and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, his Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, and his ascetic sensibilities. He was also the author of Adversus Judaeos and was strongly Antisemitism. The epithet Χρυσόστομος ( Chrysostomos, anglicized as Chrysostom) means "golden-mouthed" in Greek and denotes his celebrated eloquence.Pope Vigilius, Constitution of Pope Vigilius, p. 553 Chrysostom was among the most prolific authors in the early Christian Church.
He is honored as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Anglican, and Lutheran churches, as well as in some others. The Eastern Orthodox, together with the Byzantine Rite Catholics, hold him in special regard as one of the Three Holy Hierarchs (alongside Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nazianzus). Along with them and Athanasius of Alexandria he is also regarded as one of the four Great Greek Church Fathers. The feast days of John Chrysostom in the Eastern Orthodox Church are 14 September, 13 November and 27 January. In the Catholic Church, he is recognised as a Doctor of the Church. Because the date of his death is occupied by the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (14 September), the General Roman Calendar celebrates him since 1970 on the previous day, 13 September; from the 13th century to 1969 it did so on 27 January, the anniversary of the translation of his body to Constantinople. Of other Western churches, including Anglican provinces and Lutheran churches, some commemorate him on 13 September, others on 27 January. John Chrysostom is honored on the calendars of the Church of England and the Episcopal Church on 13 September. The Coptic Church also recognizes him as a saint (with feast days on 16 Thout and 17 Hathor). Coptic synaxarium
As a result of his mother's influential connections in the city, John began his education under the rhetorician Libanius.Averil Cameron (1998) "Education and literary culture" in Cameron, A. and Peter Garnsey (eds.) The Cambridge ancient history - Vol. XIII The late empire, A.D. 337–425, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, p. 668. From Libanius, John acquired the skills for a career in rhetoric, as well as a love of the Greek language and Greek literature. Eventually, he became a lawyer.
As he grew older, however, John became more deeply committed to Christianity and went on to study theology under Diodorus of Tarsus, founder of the re-constituted School of Antioch. According to the Christian historian Sozomen, Libanius was supposed to have said on his deathbed that John would have been his successor "if the Christians had not taken him from us".
John lived in extreme asceticism and became a hermit in about 375; he spent the next two years continually standing, scarcely sleeping, and committing the Bible to memory. As a consequence of these practices, his stomach and kidneys were permanently damaged and poor health forced him to return to Antioch.Pauline Allen and Wendy Mayer, John Chrysostom, Routledge, 2000, p. 6
In Antioch, over the course of twelve years (386–397), John gained popularity because of the eloquence of his public speaking at the Golden Church, Antioch's cathedral, especially his insightful expositions of Bible passages and moral teaching. The most valuable of his works from this period are his homilies on various books of the Bible. He emphasised charitable giving and was concerned with the spiritual and temporal needs of the poor. He spoke against abuse of wealth and personal property:
Do you wish to honour the body of Christ? Do not ignore him when he is naked. Do not pay him homage in the temple clad in silk, only then to neglect him outside where he is cold and ill-clad. He who said: "This is my body" is the same who said: "You saw me hungry and you gave me no food", and "Whatever you did to the least of my brothers you did also to me"... What good is it if the table is overloaded with golden chalices when your brother is dying of hunger? Start by satisfying his hunger and then with what is left you may adorn the altar as well.Chrysostom, John; In Evangelium S. Matthaei, homily 50:3–4, pp. 58, 508–509
His straightforward understanding of the Scriptures – in contrast to the Alexandrian tendency towards allegorical interpretation – meant that the themes of his talks were practical, explaining the Bible's application to everyday life. Such straightforward preaching helped Chrysostom to garner popular support.
One incident that happened during his service in Antioch illustrates the influence of his homilies. When Chrysostom arrived in Antioch, Flavian, the bishop of the city, had to intervene with emperor Theodosius I on behalf of citizens who had gone on a rampage mutilating statues of the emperor and his family. During the weeks of Lent in 387, John preached more than twenty homilies in which he entreated the people to see the error of their ways. These made a lasting impression on the general population of the city: many pagans converted to Christianity as a result of the homilies. The city was ultimately spared from severe consequences.
During his time as archbishop, he adamantly refused to host lavish social gatherings, which made him popular with the common people, but unpopular with wealthy citizens and the clergy. His reforms of the clergy were also unpopular. He told visiting regional preachers to return to the churches they were meant to be serving – without any pay-out.Farmer, David H.; The Oxford Dictionary of the Saints (2nd ed.), New York, Oxford University Press, 1987, p. 232 He also founded a number of hospitals in Constantinople.Baluffi, Cajetan; The Charity of the Church (trans. Denis Gargan), Dublin, University of Michigan PressBaluffi, Cajetan; The Charity of the Church (trans. Denis Gargan), Dublin, Gill, 1885, p. 39
Schmidt, Alvin J.; Under the Influence: How Christianity Transformed Civilization, Grand Rapids, MI, Zondervan, 2001, p. 157
His time in Constantinople was more tumultuous than his time in Antioch. Theophilus I of Alexandria, the patriarch of Alexandria, wanted to bring Constantinople under his sway and opposed John's appointment to Constantinople. Theophilus had disciplined four Roman Egypt (known as "the Tall Brothers") over their support of Origen's teachings. They fled to John and were welcomed by him. Theophilus therefore accused John of being too partial to the teaching of Origen. He made another enemy in Aelia Eudoxia, wife of emperor Arcadius, who assumed that John's denunciations of extravagance in feminine dress were aimed at her. Eudoxia, Theophilus and other of his enemies held a synod in 403 (the Synod of the Oak) to charge John, in which his connection to Origen was used against him. It resulted in his deposition and banishment. He was called back by Arcadius almost immediately, as the people became "tumultuous" over his departure, even threatening to burn the imperial palace. There was an earthquake the night of his arrest, which Eudoxia took for a sign of God's anger, prompting her to ask Arcadius for John's reinstatement.
Peace was short-lived. A silver statue of Eudoxia was erected in the Augustaion, near the Constantinian Hagia Sophia, his cathedral. John denounced the dedication ceremonies as pagan and spoke against the empress in harsh terms: "Again Herodias raves, again she dances, and again desires to receive John's head on a charger", an allusion to the Biblical events surrounding the death of John the Baptist. Once again he was banished, this time to the Caucasus in Abasgoi."John Chrysostom" profile, The Oxford Dictionary of Church History (ed. Jerald C. Brauer), Philadelphia, Westminster Press (1971) His banishment sparked riots among his supporters in the capital, and in the fighting the cathedral built by Constantius II was burnt down, necessitating the construction of the second cathedral on the site, the Hagia Sophia.
Around 405, John began to lend moral and financial support to Christian monks who were enforcing the emperors' anti-pagan laws, by destroying temples and shrines in Phoenicia and nearby regions. Chuvin, Pierre, A chronicle of the last pagans , Harvard University Press, 1990, p. 75
The Patriarch of the Eastern Rome appeals to the great bishops of the West, as the champions of an ecclesiastical discipline which he confesses himself unable to enforce or to see any prospect of establishing. No jealousy is entertained of the Patriarch of the Old Rome by the patriarch of the New Rome. The interference of Innocent is courted, a certain primacy is accorded him, but at the same time he is not addressed as a supreme arbitrator; assistance and sympathy are solicited from him as from an elder brother, and two other prelates of Italy are joint recipients with him of the appeal.William Stephens, (2005) "Saint Chrysostom - His Life and Times", Elibron Classics, pp. 349–350
Pope Innocent I protested John's banishment from Constantinople to the town of Cucusus (Göksun) in Cappadocia, but to no avail. Innocent sent a delegation to intercede on behalf of John in 405. It was led by Gaudentius of Brescia; Gaudentius and his companions, two bishops, encountered many difficulties and never reached their goal of entering Constantinople. St Gaudentius profile , newadvent.org; accessed 20 June 2015.
John wrote letters which still held great influence in Constantinople. As a result of this, he was further exiled from Cucusus (where he stayed from 404 to 407) to Pitsunda (Pityus) (in modern Georgia). He never reached this destination alive, as he died at Comana Pontica (modern-day Gümenek, Tokat Province, Turkey) on 14 September 407 during the journey. He died in the Presbyterium or community of the clergy belonging to the church of Saint Basiliscus of Comana. His last words are said to have been "Δόξα τῷ Θεῷ πάντων ἕνεκεν" ("Glory be to God for all things").
These homilies helped to mobilize public opinion, and the patriarch received permission from the emperor to return Chrysostom's relics to Constantinople, where they were enshrined in the Church of the Holy Apostles on 28 January 438. The Eastern Orthodox Church commemorates him as a "Great Ecumenical Teacher", with Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nazianzus. These three saints, in addition to having their own individual commemorations throughout the year, are commemorated together on 30 January, a feast known as the Synaxis of the Three Hierarchs.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, there are several dedicated to him:
In 1908 Pope Pius X named him the patron saint of preachers.
The homilies were written down by stenographers and subsequently circulated, revealing a style that tended to be direct and greatly personal, but formed by the rhetorical conventions of his time and place.Yohanan (Hans) Lewy, "John Chrysostom" in Encyclopaedia Judaica (ed. Cecil Roth), Keter Publishing House, 1997 In general, his homiletical theology displays much characteristics of the Antiochian school (i.e., more literal in interpreting biblical events), but he also uses a good deal of the allegorical interpretation more associated with the Alexandrian school.
John's social and religious world was formed by the continuing and pervasive presence of paganism in the life of the city. One of his regular topics was the paganism in the culture of Constantinople, and in his homilies, he thunders against popular pagan amusements: the theatre, chariot racing, and the revelry surrounding holidays. In particular, he criticizes Christians for taking part in such activities:
If you ask Christians who is Amos or Obadiah, how many apostles there were or prophets, they stand mute; but if you ask them about the horses or drivers, they answer with more solemnity than Sophism or rhetors.
One of the recurring features of John's homilies is his emphasis on care for the needy.Liebeschuetz, J. H. W. G. Barbarians and Bishops - Army, Church, and State in the age of Arcadius and Chrysostom, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1990, pp. 175–176 Echoing themes found in the Gospel of Matthew, he calls upon the rich to lay aside materialism in favor of helping the poor, often employing all of his rhetorical skills to shame wealthy people to abandon conspicuous consumption:
Do you pay such honor to your excrements as to receive them into a silver chamber-pot when another man made in the image of God is perishing in the cold?Chrysostom, John (quoted in Liebeschuetz, p. 176)
Along these lines, he wrote often about the need for and its importance alongside fasting and prayer, e.g. "prayer without almsgiving is unfruitful".
Cyril of Alexandria attributed the destruction of the Ephesus Temple of Artemis to John Chrysostom, referring to him as "the destroyer of the demons and overthrower of the temple of Diana". A later Archbishop of Constantinople, Proclus of Constantinople repeated the allegation, saying "In Ephesus, he despoiled the art of Midas". Both claims are considered spurious.
One of the purposes of these homilies was to prevent Christians from participating in Jewish customs, and thus prevent the perceived erosion of Chrysostom's flock. In his homilies, John criticized those "Judaizing Christians", who were participating in Jewish festivals and taking part in other Jewish observances, such as the shabbat, submitted to circumcision and made pilgrimage to Jewish holy places. There had been a revival of Jewish faith and tolerance in Antioch in 361, so Chrysostom's followers and the greater Christian community were in contact with Jews frequently, and Chrysostom was concerned that this interaction would draw Christians away from their faith identity.John Chrysostom, Discourses Against Judaizing Christians, trans. Paul W. Harkins, 2010, XXIX
John claimed that were full of Christians, especially Christian women, on the shabbats and Jewish festivals, because they loved the solemnity of the Jewish liturgy and enjoyed listening to the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, and applauded famous preachers in accordance with the contemporary custom."John Chrysostom" profile, Encyclopaedia Judaica. Due to Chrysostom's stature in the Christian church, both locally and within the greater church hierarchy, his sermons were fairly successful in spreading anti-Jewish sentiment.
In Greek, the homilies are called Kata Ioudaiōn (Κατὰ Ἰουδαίων), which is translated as Adversus Judaeos in Latin and "Against the Jews" in English.Chrysostom, John; "Discourses Against Judaizing Christians", Fathers of the Church (vol. 68), Paul W. Harkins (trans.), Washington, D.C., The Catholic University of America Press, 1979, pp. x, xxxi The original Benedictine editor of the homilies, Bernard de Montfaucon, gives the following footnote to the title: "A discourse against the Jews; but it was delivered against those who were Judaizing and keeping the fasts with them the".
According to Patristics scholars, opposition to any particular view during the late 4th century was conventionally expressed in a manner, using the rhetorical form known as the psogos, whose literary conventions were to vilify opponents in an uncompromising manner; thus, it has been argued that to call Chrysostom an "Antisemitism" is to employ anachronistic terminology in a way incongruous with historical context and record. This does not preclude assertions that Chrysostom's theology was a form of anti-Jewish supersessionism.Charlotte Fonrobert, "Jewish Christians, Judaizers, and Anti-Judaism", Late Ancient Christianity (2010), Minneapolis, MN, Fortress Press, pp. 234–254
His sermons against Jews gave further momentum to the idea that Jews are Jewish deicide.
All these affections then were vile, but chiefly the mad lust after males; for the soul is more the sufferer in sins, and more dishonored, than the body in diseases. ... The have done an insult to nature itself. And a yet more disgraceful thing than these is it, when even the women seek after these intercourses, who ought to have more sense of shame than men.
He says the active male victimizes the passive male in a way that leaves him more enduringly dishonored than even a victim of murder since the victim of this act must "live under" the shame of the "insolency". The victim of a murder, by contrast, carries no dishonor. He asserts that punishment will be found in Hell for such transgressors and that women can be guilty of the sin as much as men. Chrysostom argues that the male passive partner has effectively renounced his manhood and become a woman – such an individual deserves to be "driven out and stoned". He attributes the cause to "luxury". "Do not, he means (Paul), because you have heard that they burned, suppose that the evil was only in desire. For the greater part of it came of their luxuriousness, which also kindled into flame their lust".
According to scholar Michael Carden, Chrysostom was particularly influential in shaping early Christian thought that same-sex desire was an evil, claiming that he altered a traditional interpretation of Sodom as a place of inhospitality to one where the sexual transgressions of the Sodomites became paramount.Michael Carden, Sodomy - A history of a Christian Biblical Myth, Routledge, 2004, p. 32 However, other scholars – such as KrugerKruger, M. A., (1993) "Τούτοις in Jude:7", Neotestamentica, 27 (1), p. 126 and Nortjé-MeyerNortjé-Meyer, L., (2014) "Effeminacy as vilification in the letter of Jude - female sexuality and the constitution of hierarchy and authority", Scriptura, 113 (1), p. 5 – dispute this, arguing that the author of the Epistle of Jude already interpreted the sin of Sodom as homosexuality in the New Testament.
Another important treatise written by John is titled On the Priesthood (written 390–391, it contains in Book 1 an account of his early years and a defence of his flight from ordination by bishop Meletius of Antioch, and then proceeds in later books to expound on his exalted understanding of the priesthood). Two other notable books by John are Instructions to Catechumens and On the Incomprehensibility of the Divine Nature. On the Priesthood was well-known already during Chrysostom's lifetime, and is cited by Jerome in 392 in his De Viris Illustribus, chapter 129 In addition, he wrote a series of letters to the deaconess Olympias, of which seventeen are extant.
Consider how Jesus teaches us to be humble, by making us see that our virtue does not depend on our work alone but on grace from on high. He commands each of the faithful who prays to do so universally, for the whole world. For he did not say "thy will be done in me or in us", but "on earth", the whole earth, so that error may be banished from it, truth take root in it, all vice be destroyed on it, virtue flourish on it, and earth no longer differ from heaven.Chrysostom, John. Hom. in Mt, 19,5, pp. 57, 280.
James Joyce's novel Ulysses includes a character named Mulligan who brings "Chrysostomos" into another character (Stephen Dedalus)'s mind because Mulligan's gold-stopped teeth and his gift of the gab earn him the title which St. John Chrysostom's preaching earned him, "golden-mouthed":Blaimes (1996, 3). "Mulligan peered sideways up and gave a long low whistle of call, then paused awhile in rapt attention, his even white teeth glistening here and there with gold points. Chrysostomos".Joyce (1961, 3).
Most of John's relics were looted from Constantinople by Fourth Crusade in 1204 and taken to Rome, but some of his bones were returned to the Orthodox Church on 27 November 2004 by Pope John Paul II.Archived at Ghostarchive and the
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Wayback Machine: Since 2004 the relics have been enshrined in the Church of St. George, Istanbul. Relics of St. John Chrysostom at the Church of St. George, Istanbul , CBC.ca; retrieved 13 September 2010.
The skull, however, having been kept at the monastery at Vatopedi on Mount Athos in northern Greece, was not among the relics that were taken by the crusaders in the 13th century. In 1655, at the request of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the skull was taken to Russia, for which the monastery was compensated in the sum of 2,000 rubles. In 1693, having received a request from the Vatopedi for the return of Saint John's skull, Tsar Peter the Great ordered that the skull remain in Russia but that the monastery was to be paid 500 rubles every four years. The Russian state archives document these payments up until 1735. The skull was kept at the Moscow Kremlin, in the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God, until 1920, when it was confiscated by the Soviets and placed in the Museum of Silver Antiquities. In 1988, in connection with the 1,000th anniversary of the Baptism of Russia, the head, along with other important relics, was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church and kept at the Epiphany Cathedral, until being moved to the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour after its restoration.
Today, the monastery at Vatopedi posits a rival claim to possessing the skull of John Chrysostom, and there a skull is venerated by pilgrims to the monastery as that of Saint John. Two sites in Italy also claim to have the saint's skull: the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence and the Dal Pozzo chapel in Pisa. The right hand of Saint John is preserved at Philotheou Monastery on Mount Athos, and numerous smaller relics are scattered throughout the world.
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