Program / Course 12: Patristics and Historical Theology / Lesson 4.3
What you will learn
- Outline Chrysostom’s life from Antioch to exile.
- Describe his method of preaching and interpreting Scripture.
- Explain his teaching on wealth, almsgiving and care for the poor.
- Acknowledge the difficult side of his legacy, including his sermons against Judaizing Christians.
The big idea
John Chrysostom (about 349 to 407) was the greatest preacher of the Greek church. He taught Scripture verse by verse, in plain and vivid speech, and he applied it to the daily lives of his hearers: to their money, their marriages, their entertainments and their treatment of the poor. As bishop of Constantinople he challenged the court and was driven into exile. He is honored for his pastoral courage and his teaching on wealth, and he is also remembered for harsh sermons against Jews and Judaizers that have to be read with care.
Key terms
- Homily
- A sermon, usually explaining a passage of Scripture and applying it to the hearers’ lives. Most of Chrysostom’s surviving works are homilies.
- Chrysostom
- Greek for golden mouth, an epithet given to John long after his death in admiration of his speaking.
- Antiochene exegesis
- The approach to interpreting Scripture associated with the school of Antioch, which stressed the literal and historical sense and was cautious about allegory.
- Almsgiving
- Giving money or goods to the poor, regarded in the early church as a duty and a means of grace.
- Patriarch
- A title for the bishop of a leading city. Constantinople’s bishop held that rank.
- Divine Liturgy
- The Eucharistic service of the Eastern churches. Two forms in Orthodox use are named for John Chrysostom and for Basil the Great.
- Judaizing
- In fourth century usage, the practice of Christians who kept Jewish observances or joined in Jewish festivals.
Background
John was born in Antioch, in Syria, around 349 to a Christian mother, Anthusa, who was widowed young and saw to his education. He studied rhetoric, and tradition says he studied with the famous pagan teacher Libanius. He turned from a legal career toward the ascetic life, spent several years as a monk in the hills near Antioch, and damaged his health by severe fasting. He returned to the city, was ordained a deacon in 381 and a priest in 386.
For twelve years in Antioch he preached almost every week, sometimes every day. In 397, the imperial court had him taken to Constantinople to be made bishop, because they knew his fame. In the capital, he tried to reform the clergy, pare down the luxury of the bishop’s household and speak plainly about injustice. He made enemies, among them Theophilus, the bishop of Alexandria, and the empress Eudoxia.
In 403 a synod near Chalcedon, called the Synod of the Oak, deposed him on a series of charges. He was exiled, recalled and exiled again in 404. He died in 407 on a forced march to a remote place on the Black Sea coast, worn out by hardship. He was later honored as a saint, and his body was brought back to Constantinople in 438.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: The preacher
Chrysostom preached on whole books of the Bible, working through them in order. Surviving homilies cover Genesis, Matthew, John, Acts and nearly all of Paul’s letters. He explained the words and the context, and then pressed the point. He spoke in a language ordinary people could follow, used images from the market and the theatre, and was often interrupted by applause, which he scolded.
His approach was characteristic of Antioch. He took the literal and historical sense seriously, avoided the elaborate allegory favored in Alexandria, and looked for moral application. He did not reject all deeper readings, since he sees types of Christ in the Old Testament, but his emphasis on the plain meaning has been admired by many Protestants and others.
Step 2: A sermon in a crisis
In 387, a tax riot in Antioch led to the pulling down of statues of the emperor, a serious crime. The city feared severe punishment. Bishop Flavian went to the emperor to plead for mercy, while Chrysostom preached a series of homilies, called the Homilies on the Statues, in the weeks of fear. He used the crisis to call his hearers to repentance and trust in God. When the city was spared, many remembered the preaching.
Step 3: Wealth and the poor
Chrysostom is best remembered for his teaching on money. He preached that wealth is a stewardship, not a possession, and that failing to share with the poor is a kind of theft, since what one holds in excess belongs to those in need. He told his rich hearers that it was foolish to adorn the church with gold vessels while Christ, in the poor person at the door, went hungry. He returned often to the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.
He was not a revolutionary. He did not call for the abolition of property or the overthrow of the social order, and he accepted that some would be richer than others. His demand was that the rich should see their riches as a trust and give generously and directly. Readers today debate how far his words apply to modern economic life, and Christians of different traditions use him in different ways.
Step 4: The pastor
His book On the Priesthood, probably written in the 380s or 390s, is a dialogue in which he explains why he had run away from being made a bishop. It is a portrait of the pastoral office as a heavy burden: the priest must be a teacher, a judge, a physician of souls and a fighter against false teaching, and he answers to God for those he leads. The book remains a classic for pastors in many traditions. Chrysostom was also devoted to the sick and the poor, and the church in Constantinople under him built hospitals.
Step 5: A difficult legacy
Early in his ministry, Chrysostom preached eight sermons often called Against the Judaizers, to Christians in Antioch who were attending synagogue festivals. They use violent and abusive language about Jews and Judaism. Later generations used such language to justify hatred. The Christian churches have since repudiated this use. Historians discuss the setting, in which he was rebuking his own flock and used the rhetoric of ancient polemic, but they agree that the language cannot be excused. A student should read both his teaching on charity and these sermons, and should not hide either.
- What does it mean to preach through a book of the Bible instead of choosing topics?
- How does Chrysostom’s plain style compare with preaching you have heard?
- Is it fair to say that wealth belongs to the poor? What would that mean in practice?
- Why might a bishop who rebukes the powerful face exile?
- How should a reader treat an admired figure who wrote hateful words?
- What does the idea of the priesthood as a burden say about leadership in the church?
Examples
A church full of gold
Chrysostom imagined a believer who donates a golden cup to the altar and walks past a freezing man outside. He said that Christ who said this is my body also said I was hungry and you gave me no food (Matthew 25). The altar and the poor are both Christ’s.
A city in fear
While the bishop was away pleading with the emperor, Chrysostom told the people of Antioch that the fear that gripped them was an opportunity for repentance. The crowd had stopped going to the theatre. He asked them to keep the discipline when the danger passed.
Applause in church
In Antioch, listeners clapped when the preacher turned a clever phrase. Chrysostom told them that the sermon was not a performance and that the best applause was to do what he had said.
Different perspectives
Orthodox
Orthodox Christians revere him as one of the Three Holy Hierarchs and as a Doctor of the church, and the Divine Liturgy bearing his name is used most Sundays. His teaching on wealth and his pastoral ideal are widely cited.
Catholic
The Catholic Church counts him as a saint and Doctor of the Church. His homilies are read in the Liturgy of the Hours, and his teaching on the priesthood and on almsgiving is frequently cited in Catholic social teaching.
Protestant
Protestant writers, including Calvin, valued his focus on the plain sense of Scripture and his preaching. Many modern evangelical and mainline writers draw on his teaching on wealth. Protestants differ about how far to use his sacramental language, which is richer than that of many of their churches.
Jewish and scholarly views
Jewish scholars have pointed out the harm done by the sermons Against the Judaizers, and Christian historians agree. Scholars debate how much his rhetoric reflects ancient conventions of polemic and how much it expresses real hostility, and they study its later effects.
Why it matters
Chrysostom shows what the early church sounded like in everyday preaching. His insistence that faith must reach the wallet and the household remains a challenge. His sermons against Jews are also a warning that holy people can say terrible things and that the church must learn to name them honestly.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: Chrysostom was a communist before the term existed.
Correction: He did not call for abolishing private property. He taught that the rich hold their wealth in trust and must give generously.
Misunderstanding: Golden mouth was his name in his lifetime.
Correction: The epithet came centuries later, from the sixth century onward. In his own time he was simply John.
Misunderstanding: His anti-Jewish sermons are not an important part of his legacy.
Correction: They are part of the record and had a harmful history. Churches today acknowledge this, and historians study them in context.
Misunderstanding: He was exiled for theological error.
Correction: His fall was driven by church politics and court conflict, involving rivalry with Theophilus and tension with the empress. Later the church honored him as a confessor.
Knowledge check
What was Chrysostom’s approach to interpreting Scripture?
He belonged to the school of Antioch, which favored the literal and historical sense and was cautious about allegory. He preached through whole books, explained the words and context, and applied the text to his hearers’ daily lives, though he also saw types of Christ in the Old Testament.
What did he teach about wealth?
He taught that wealth is held in trust and that withholding it from the poor is a kind of theft. He urged the rich to give generously and directly and criticized lavish church decoration while the poor went hungry. He did not call for abolishing property.
Why was he exiled?
As bishop of Constantinople he criticized corruption and luxury and made enemies, including Theophilus of Alexandria and the empress Eudoxia. A synod in 403 deposed him on various charges. He was exiled twice and died in 407 on a forced march.
Why are his sermons Against the Judaizers controversial?
They use harsh, abusive language about Jews and Judaism. They were aimed at Christians attending synagogue festivals, but the language was later used to justify hatred. Churches today reject that use, and historians study both the rhetorical setting and the harm done.
Think it through
- What is the difference between giving to the poor and giving to the church?
- Which part of a sermon do you remember best, and why?
- What would it take for a church to speak plainly to the powerful today?
- How do you read a person you admire when you learn of something indefensible?
Independent assignment
A page from On the Priesthood
Read one chapter of On the Priesthood, from Book 3, in the library. In your notebook, summarize it in 150 words, then write a 200-word reflection on what it teaches about leadership in a church. Add a brief note in which you state, as fairly as you can, one criticism a reader today might make of the chapter. Aim for 400 to 500 words.
Further study
- John Chrysostom, On the Priesthood Read Book 3 on the work of the priest, and Book 6 on its burdens.
- Justo L. Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity Read the section on Chrysostom and the church of Constantinople.
- Timothy (Kallistos) Ware, The Orthodox Church See the Orthodox account of the Divine Liturgy and its saints.
- Jaroslav Pelikan, The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine (5 volumes) Read selectively on preaching and the exegesis of Scripture.
- Luke 16:19 The rich man and Lazarus.
- Matthew 25:35 I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat.
- 1 Timothy 6:10 The love of money is the root of all evil.
- James 2:15 Faith without works, with the example of the hungry brother.