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 John Chrysostom (347-407) is considered the greatest preacher of the Greek Church. He was born into a moderately wealthy Christian family and studied philosophy, logic, and rhetoric in hopes of becoming a lawyer. He gave up a legal career for the ascetic life and retired to the mountains about 373 for almost ten years of study and a hermit’s existence. When his health broke down, he returned to Antioch and served the church as deacon, then elder and chief preacher. When the patriarch of Constantinople died in 397, Chrysostom was appointed to replace him. Unwilling to accept, Chrysostom was captured by the emperor’s troops, taken to the city, and consecrated bishop.
His strong preaching against sin offended the empress Eudoxia, who maneuvered to have John banished in 403. He returned briefly in 404, but Eudoxia had him banished again. He died three years later.
John was a gifted and popular preacher, and his preaching skills earned him the sobriquet “Chrysostom” (Greek for golden-mouthed.”) Because his language was vigorous, fiery, and often overpowering, his sermons were frequently interrupted by noisy theatrical demonstrations of applause, which he indignantly rebuked as unworthy of the house of God.
He carefully prepared his sermons by the study of the Scriptures, prayer, and meditation, but he knew how to use an unexpected event, and some of his best efforts were extemporaneous sermons given under the inspiration of the occasion.
He combined sound biblical exposition with practical application and explained whole books in order, instead of confining himself to particular texts. His eloquence is evident in his extensive sermons and treatises, most of which survive, including commentaries on Genesis, Psalms, Matthew, and Romans.
Chrysostom opposed the allegorical interpretation of Scripture and instead promoted the grammatical-historical method of biblical exegesis. He rejected interpretations that effectively denied the historical reality of what the scriptural text affirmed and avoided treating Old Testament passages as allegories of Christ and the Church. He sought the exact, literal meaning of each verse from a close grammatical examination of the Greek text—a method revived by the Protestant reformers, who regarded Chrysostom as a church father second only to Augustine.
None of the Oriental fathers has left a more spotless reputation, and no one is so much read and so often quoted by modern commentators.
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