CHRYSOSTOM, JoHN. Chrysostom, or the golden-mouthed, was the complimentary title be stowed by a later generation on John, Archbishop of Constantinople, the most eloquent, and per haps the best, of the Christian Fathers. After shewing brilliant oratorical and philosophical pro mise in the schools of Libanius and Andragathius, he was induced by the teachings of the Bishop Meletius to abandon the law, and receive the sacrament of baptism. After six years of close ascetic seclusion in the mountains of Antioch, during which he committed the Scriptures to me mory, and enjoyed the instructions of Diodorus, and the warm friendship of Basil and Gregory, and Theodore of Mopsuestia, he was ordained deacon by Meletius, A. D. 351, and priest by Flavia nus, 386. He continued to preach at Antioch for twelve years, and distinguished himself not only by his burning eloquence, but also by the un swerving faithfulness with which he denounced every form of profligacy and error. Eutropius, the infamous eunuch who swayed the feeble mind of the Emperor Arcadius, had heard the great preacher of Antioch during a visit to the East, and having determined to summon him as a successor to Nectarius in the patriarchal throne of Constan tinople, Chrysostom was, in the year 398, secretly inveigled from the scene of his early labours to the perilous splendour of a dignity which he had hitherto shunned ; and from this time forward he seems to have enjoyed but little peace. Having incurred the hatred of Theophilus, Archbishop of Alexandria, that false and wicked prelate by dis seminating against his supposed rival the vague charge of Origenism, and enlisting against him the suspicions of the holiest but credulous Epiphanius, bishop of Cyprus, with the assistance of Eudoxia managed to get Chrysostom condemned by a packed and incompetent synod at Chalcedon, known by the name of the Synod of the Oak. It would have been easy for Chrysostom to save him self by appealing to the devoted multitude, whose passions he swayed with unequalled power. But fearing the excesses to which they might be stimu lated by their affection for himself, he yielded to the Imperial messenger, and left Constantinople. From this banishment he was almost immediately recalled, but only to be in a few months expelled from his episcopate. Contrary to the secret hopes of his fanatic persecutors, he reached in safety, after many toils and sufferings, the dreary town of Cucucus in Armenia. Neither the rigour of climate nor the miseries of a perilous exile quenched his glowing zeal in God's service; and from his distant retirement he still continued to uphold the faith and courage of his flock. But the implacable re sentment of his enemies, not yet sated, procured his instant removal (A.D. 407) to the remote soli tude of Pityus in Pontus. Exhausted by past sufferings, he sank under the heat and weariness of this journey, and died on the way, at Comana in Pontus, Sept. 14, A.D. 407, in the sixtieth year of his age. His favourite words — 56Ect T43 04 epoca — were the last he ever uttered, and they form the fittest motto for a noble and un selfish life. The love and reverence with which he was regarded produced in Constantinople the schism of the Johannites, which was only healed by the patriarch Proclus, thirty years after Chry sostom's death, when his mortal remains were transferred by Theodosius II. from their obscure resting-place to a splendid sepulchre in the im perial city.
As a zealous and laborious minister, as a brave and orthodox bishop, and as a cheerful martyr, Chrysostom stands very high in the veneration of the Christian Church. In several aspects his cha racter resembles that of his namesake, the great Forerunner of Christianity. As a preacher he has bequeathed to us many sermons, which though de faced by the oratorical conceits of his age, yet burn with the genuine earnestness of true eloquence, inspired by deep conviction and passionate feeling. Without the learning of Jerome, or the profundity of Augustine, in power and picturesqueness of language he surpasses them both, and stands un rivalled among the early Christian orators for the fire and beauty of his style. As an exegetical
writer he ranks deservedly high. Free from all unwise spirit of system, and from the vague alle gorising mysticism of the Origenistic school, his explanations are distinguished by the clearness with which he seizes and illustrates the grammati cal and historical meaning of the text, and the force with which he deduces from it a practical moral bearing. It is chiefly to his wise and com mon-sense example that we owe the useful com mentaries of such men as Theodoret, Theophylact, and CEcumenius ; and the manly intellectual vigour of all his works derives additional value from the sincere Christian feeling, the charity, the humility, and the reverence which pervades everything which he wrote. For this reason, Chrysostom demands an important place in the history of exegesis ; he never twists his text into a meaning like Jerome and Augustine, or foists into it some mystic lesson like Origen and Clemens of Alexandria, or ob scures it with idle speculations for the display of his ingenuity. His value best appears by compar ing his brief, lucid, practical explanation of such a verse as Rom. iv. 16, given in half a dozen words, with Augustine's long discussions about foreknow ledge, reprobation, and freewill ; or again, by con trasting his moral and practical commentary on the first chapter of Genesis, with the Hexaimeron of Ambrose, or the subtle speculations of Basil and Hippolytus (Neander, Ch. Hist. iv. 428 ; Hagen bach, Hist. of Dactr. i. 248, 317, Engh. Transl.) Chrysostom's works were very numerous. Sui das (s.v. 'Lecivols) says that there were more than he could number. With the exception of his book De Sacerdatio, lib. vi., the majority of his works consist of homilies on almost every book of Scrip ture, of which the most important are those on Genesis, the Psalms, the first eight chapters of Isaiah, and St. Matthew. Ills other homilies may be classed (as has been done by Hagenbach) under four heads. —1. Separate lectures on Scripture narratives and texts, as on the parable of Dives and Lazarus, etc. 2. Discourses on Christian duty, on prayer, repentance, etc. 3. Occasional sermons, like the twenty-one discourses on the statues, the oration on Eutropius, etc. 4. Festival sermons on the commemorations of apostles and martyrs. Each homily usually consists of three parts ; 1. the Exordium often admir ably adapted to enchain the hearer's attention ; 2. The Exegesis or exposition, generally consisting of a clear and simple paraphrase ; 3. The Applica tion, in which he does not dwell on the loci com munes of morality, but generally develops with wonderful power some of those favourite and preg nant apophthegms which have been called his Golden Paradoxes,' which, although they fre quently recur in his sermons, are treated with a beautiful diversity of style and illustration. Such are, among others, the sayings, ' It is far easier to live well than wickedly ; ' Light and trifling sins must be more carefully guarded against than great ones ; " No punishment is more dreadful than an evil conscience;' ` No one can he injured except by himself ; " It is better to suffer than to inflict an injury ;" Charity is the most lucrative of pur suits ; " Contented ignorance of same subjects is the highest wisdom' (see Sixtus Senensis Bibl. Sanct. c.) Chrysostom's complete works have been published by Savil, Eton, 1613, 3 vols. ; Fronto Duciens, Paris, 1609, 12 vols.; Montfau con, Paris, 1718, 13 vole.; re-edited by Suiner, Paris, 1835. This is the best and most useful edition. Of single works the six books on the Priesthood have been published by J. A. Bengel, 1725 ; the Orations on Entropins, by Orelli, 1828 ; and various German and English translations of select homilies—as those on St. Matthew, by J. W. Feder, Augs. 1786; J. A. Cramer, Leip. 1748; on St. John, by Schneider, Augs. 1788 ; on the Statues, by Wagner, Vienna, 1338; and in the Oxford Library of the Fathers. A list is given by Hagenbach (s.v. Chrysostom in Herzog's Cyck poriier).—F. W. F.