Foundations: St. John Chrysostom
The biographical and formative foundation of St. John Chrysostom (c. 347–407), “the Golden-Mouth” — from his birth in Antioch and education under the pagan rhetor Libanius, through his years of mountain asceticism, to his ordination as deacon and priest. These files trace how the man and his formation produced the greatest preacher of the Christian East.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Church Father)
St. John Chrysostom is one of the Three Holy Hierarchs and the most prolific of the Greek Fathers; his extant works outnumber those of any other Father of the East (Quasten, Patrology III, 424). Yet the man who would preach the largest surviving body of homilies in Greek Christian antiquity was formed long before he ascended a pulpit. This section addresses the question of formation: what made Chrysostom.
Two forces shaped him. The first was Antioch — its rhetorical schools, its teacher Libanius, and above all its distinctive asketerion under Diodore of Tarsus, where the literal-historical exegesis of the Antiochene school took root in him. The second was the mountain: roughly six years (c. 372–378) of severe ascetic withdrawal that, by the report of his disciple Palladius, permanently wrecked his digestion — a price that marked the rest of his life.
When he returned to Antioch and was ordained deacon by Meletius (381) and priest by Flavian (386), these two formations met. The rhetorical training gave him a voice; the ascetic years gave him a message and the moral authority to deliver it.
Navigation
| File | Subject |
|---|---|
| Antioch: Youth and Formation | Birth c. 347–349, Anthusa his mother, education under Libanius, baptism, the asketerion of Diodore |
| The Ascetic Years | The mountain years (c. 372–378), the ruined health, return to Antioch, ordination as deacon and priest |
See Also
- Antiochene Exegesis — the exegetical method John learned at the asketerion
- On the Priesthood (De Sacerdotio) — his early treatise, a window onto his self-understanding
- The Church Fathers — Chrysostom’s place among the Fathers
References
- Kelly, J. N. D. Golden Mouth: The Story of John Chrysostom — Ascetic, Preacher, Bishop. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1995.
- Mayer, Wendy, and Pauline Allen. John Chrysostom. The Early Church Fathers. London: Routledge, 2000.
- Palladius. Dialogue on the Life of St. John Chrysostom. Trans. Robert T. Meyer. Ancient Christian Writers 45. New York: Newman Press, 1985.
- Quasten, Johannes. Patrology, vol. 3. Westminster, MD: Newman Press, 1960.