John Chrysostom

John Chrysostom

Born around AD 349, John Chrysostom plays a unique role in the fourth century Eastern church. Our Orthodox friends very often still use the liturgy penned by John so many years ago. John, many years after his death, was given the name “Chrysostom” – literally meaning “golden-mouth”.

John was born in Antioch, the only son of a senior Roman official and a devout Christian woman named Anthusa. While quite young, John’s father died suddenly, leaving Anthusa a 20-year-old widow. She shunned remarriage, opting instead to devote her life to raising John and his one sister. Anthusa saw that John was given the best education available, learning under the feet of Libanius – at the time a very renowned instructor of rhetoric, the practice of public address and debate. Libanius died a rather old man and, on his deathbed, was asked who he wanted to succeed his as teacher. He replied that it would have been John, “If the Christians had not taken him from us.”

John had thought to go into a career in law, but at some point in his studies he made the commitment to ministry. It was not uncommon in this day for Christians to try to separate themselves from the world by going into seclusion in the wilderness, devoting all their time to sustenance and study. His mother became distraught when he brought this up to her. Anthusa pleaded with John not to go for the time being, telling him that the young have their lives entirely in front of them, but she would soon face death. She pleaded with him, “Do not make we a widow a second time. Be content to live with me until you have committed me to the ground.” John accepted his mother’s plea and delayed his plans for a few years.

Anthusa died in the early 370s, and then John retired to seclusion. He first entered a monastery, then left the monastery to live as a hermit. During John’s time as a hermit, he disciplined his body and mind – continually standing, going long periods without sleep, and committing large portions of the Bible to memory. Two years of this self-abuse permanently damaged his stomach and kidneys and gave him an extreme sensitivity to cold, and he was forced to return to Antioch.

Prior to leaving, he had been given an important minor role in the church, that of ‘lector’ – the one who read the passage of Scripture. Upon his return, John was ordained a deacon in 381 and a priest in 386. John spent twelve years a priest in Antioch. John was frustrated with the worldly attitude of Christians in this wealthy and influential city, and often fearlessly preached against it. As a gifted speaker, his congregation often pressed forward and shoved their way to the front to hear him better and would even applaud and cheer him as he preached. John lamented, however, that while they cheered him, they would then leave church and go to the racetrack or theater and cheer even more loudly there.

While in Antioch, in the year 387, there was a violent riot in Antioch in response to new taxes imposed. Large numbers of government buildings were destroyed or vandalized, most significantly five large bronze statues of Emperor Theodosius and his family. Within a few hours, the prefect had made a number of arrests and restored peace under the threat of force and an uneasy dread hung over the city. Antioch had violated the Pax Romana, the peace of Rome, committing treason. Punishment was death.

For days, the executions went on. Eighty-year old Archbishop Flavian escaped the city and fled in harsh, icy weather to Constantinople to plead the case for mercy to the Emperor. Meanwhile, executions and violent retribution continued in the city. After seven days, John had tired of his silence. He began a long series of sermons called “On the Statues” – which really had very little to do with the statues themselves. He spoke of his hope in Flavian’s intercession and the need for quiet courage – whether in facing torture, death, or life. He also gently rebuked them, telling them if they had controlled their addictions to vices such as gluttony, drink, the theater, and other sensual enjoyments, they would have not behaved as they did during the riot. After eight tense weeks, word came back that Flavian’s pleas had been accepted and the emperor had pardoned the city. By way of comparison, Theodosius later punished the city of Thessalonica for a similar riot by executing 7,000 people in the city.

John’s leadership during this incident, as well as his fabled speaking ability, quickly made him one of the notable leaders of the church in his day. John spoke harshly against a heavily allegorical interpretation of the Scriptures, one of the great errors of the church in his day. Many taught that behind the plain meaning of the Scriptures lay a deeper, hidden meaning. This led to some fantastical interpretations of plain passages of the Bible, and even led to the rise of heresies such as Arianism.

In 398, John was taken in to custody by soldiers and transported to Constantinople, where he was forcibly named the archbishop of Constantinople – the most important city of the Eastern church. This was arranged by a high-level official names Eutropius who wanted the best orator in Christianity in the capital. John never sought the office, but considered the whole bizarre circumstance to be God’s will.

In Constantinople, John brought some reforms. Simply, he refused to preach from the high pulpit – preferring instead to preach closer to the people. He published guidance for priests to keep them focused on their task and avoid worldliness. John was given a very considerable household budget to live on. John preferred to live sparsely – giving away the excess to the poor, even using part of it to build an entire hospital in the city. He refused to eat in the lavish banquets put on by the city officials, making it a personal rule to eat alone.

John made enemies rather quickly, with his uncompromising attitude against material excess and watered-down faith. While John was very gifted in oratory and in his understanding of the Scriptures, he was not adept in church and state politics. Archbishops in the Capital city controlled much wealth and had much influence, and privately resented John’s upsetting their apple-carts.

John’s primary enemy was the archbishop of Alexandria, in Egypt, named Theophilus. The church in Constantinople had been growing in influence and power – in some ways at the expense of his own church. In the year 403, after years of careful planning, Theophilus made his move. He had John deposed from his office and was even kicked out of the city. The city loved John so much that there was the very real threat of riot. This threat, in addition to a timely earthquake, led the Emperor to reinstate John.

Soon after this, John’s preaching offended the Empress and he was again sentenced to exile. He was, with his failing health, forced to march eastward across Asia Minor to a small town on the shores of the Black Sea. The forced march had the effect of killing John. When John collapsed en route, he was taken to a small town. He was given a baptismal robe and then gave away his clothes to the local villagers. He was given the Lord’s Supper and prayed a final prayer, ending with his usual words, “Glory be to God in all things. Amen.”

Thirty-four years later, Emperor Theodosius II ordered that the remains of John be brought back to the Capital. The Emperor publicly asked forgiveness from the church for the sins of his parents – who had sentenced him to this exile.

John “golden-mouth” Chrysostom wrote and preached prolifically. Over 600 of his sermons and over 200 letters survive, as do many of his other writings. His sermons on the Book of Acts are the only surviving commentary on that book from the first 1,000 years of the church. His influence on both the Eastern and Western churches is felt today in his writings and the liturgy still performed in much of the Orthodox church. His insistence on a plain, literal interpretation of the Scriptures set the standard for the reformers to follow many centuries later. His example, as well as his teaching, on simple generosity for Christians has been an example for many who followed him.

Christian History Magazine, Issue 44 (Vol. XIII, No. 4), John Chrysostom.