Customer Reviews

Golden Mouth: The Story of John Chrysostom-Ascetic, Preacher, Bishop

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This book is a very serviceable biography of John Chrysostom, the most famous preacher of the ancient church. It chronicles the entirety of John's life, from the monasticism of his youth, to his subsequent tenure as a priest in Antioch, his bishopric in the imperial capitol, and the quarrels with the bishop of Alexandria and the empress that eventually brought about his downfall.

Kelly does an excellent job of showing John's character. We get to see that those things which in some ways were the best of John's traits, his forthrightness and lack of fear, were the very things which due to his intemperate nature led him into conflict with those who were easily made jealous and those who did not care for their misdeeds to be honestly spoken of.

There is, however, one serious flaw in this book. Kelly seems undecided about who his audience is. He alternates between gripping narration and lengthy passages (sometimes several pages in length) wherein he dissects the arguments for and against the authenticity of a particular sermon of John's or the dating of one of his writings. In my opinion, the book would have been strengthened had Kelly simply based the main text on what he believes to be correct, and moved the disputation either to end notes or to an appendix.

In this account of St. John Chrysostom's life, J.N.D. Kelly does an excellent job of gathering a thorough and balanced biography of John's rise to fame, his role as a bishop and preacher, and his subsequent deposition and exile. He details how John began his life as a humble monk with a startlingly severe lifestyle, and gradually became a deacon in Antioch, where he was to earn renown for his remarkable preaching (and hence the nickname "Chrysostom", i.e. "Golden Mouth"). Not long after filling that role in Antioch, John was assigned the office of bishop of Constantinople, one of the primary sees in Christianity. His preaching was characterized by sharp denunciations of the rich and powerful, and advocacy of aid to the poor and downtrodden. Thus he was the champion of the common people, but he developed many bitter enemies among the rulers and clergy in the government and church.

Kelly tells the story of John's relationships, the bitter controversies he was caught in, and his eventual exile in a lively manner, but without embellishing the facts. His book is very well written from a historical perspective, but I had a few minor complaints. First of all, since Chrysostom was primarily famous for his preaching, I was disappointed to find meager quotation from his sermons. There were many terse references to various sermons in the book, but none of them gave any extensive examples that helped the reader to understand their popularity or controversial nature. Instead the reader must rely on his brief paraphrasing and summarizing of the sermons' content, and the occasional excerpt. Secondly, the evaluation of John's personality was very focused historically, but barely described John's theological viewpoints. That would have been something of considerable interest in a biography of a Father of the Early Church. Otherwise the book is certainly recommended, and with few exceptions the author remained objective in his treatment of the historical evidence.

J.N.D. Kelly, well known to students of the Early Church for his classics, "Early Church Doctrines," "Early Church Creeds," and for his biography of the brilliant, bitter saint, "Jerome," has written what will certainly be for the foreseeable future the standard life of Saint John Chrystom. Kelly clearly admires the great man, but is not blind to his flaws. His is a balanced portrait of a complicated man living in complicated times

This is a superb, thorough, scholarly life of one of the key figures in the political-religious turmoil of late antiquity. Like Kelly's equally fine biography of Jerome, it is not a hagiography or a critical study of John's voluminous works; rather it concentrates on telling the story of his eventful life as revealed through often fragmentary sources. As a narrative it succeeds very well indeed. My only criticism is that the book gives very little sense of the tremendous secular upheavals against which the turmoil in the church was taking place; it is perhaps significant, in this respect, that the one time the Gothic sacker of Rome is mentioned, he is called "Alaric the Hun." However, that is a very rare lapse in a work that I can recommend without hesitation to anyone with an interest in this fascinating period.

Kelly is easily recognized as our time's authority on early church matters. Here in similar fashion as his worthy work on Jerome he tackles Chrysostom.

He breaks it down nicely into three major components of his life: ascetic, preacher, bishop.

The politics of the church and interaction with secular authorities dominate his life, as it does most. John certainly had his prinicples and he chose not to break them. It got him into disfavor with many, thus cumulating at the end in action taken against him. That easily summarizes his end, the buildup of resentment and hatred catches up.

He certainly exhibited a passion for the underpriviledged and sick and devoted his preaching and resources to this. His ascetic beginning permeated this and fueled much of his preacher/bishop energies. This will bring enemy retaliation.

***
"John's career ended in failure. ... The tragic episcopate of John Chrysostom opened the struggle of supremacy in the East..." W.H.C. Frend



St. John Chrysostom:
Recognized to be among the most powerful orators of Christianity, John Chrysostom was the most prolific of the Fathers, leaving us with many sermons, letters, treatises and apologetic works. An incredible orator, his sermons often moved his audience to tears or applause.
"Although not a formal polemicist, John Chrysostom influenced Christian thought notably. He wrote brilliant homilies, interpreting the Bible literally and historically rather than allegorically. His accomplishments as a preacher and theologian are marred by a virulent anti-Semitism." The Columbia Encyclopedia

J.C., Golden Mouth:
The eminent author, described his book as, 'the Story of J.C.,' defining his selected offices as, 'Ascetic, Preacher, Bishop.' In the words of Fr. Sydney Griffith, one of the foremost Patristic scholars, "One does not mean to complain immoderately, nor to appear ungrateful for what is on its own terms a good study of an important topic; nor does one want to review a book the author never intended to write." But here is the place to plead for a broadening of perspective on the part of students of the early fathers.
Kelly recomposed the life of John Chrysostom in chronological order from his youth andascetic stage to his further development as a prolific preacher, that supported his pick as Archbishop of Constantinople and his career therein the capital. He remained a great orator and moralist preacher of literal exegesis, with social and political orientation. For which Kelly exposed the court politics and John's struggle to be faithful to his cause, criticizing Empress Eudoxia, and inviting problems with Patriarch Theophilus, of Alexandria who has consecrated him. John's conflicts led to his condemnation at the Synod of the Oak, and was eventually sent into his final exile, where he died on the way.

Non-vindicated John:
J. Kelly, described by The NY Times as, 'not only a distinguished church historian but also an elegant stylist,' remains for me and many, a reference on early Christian Creeds and Doctrines, in the first place, and expected to bring to the tragic career of the great preaching orator new lights to his thought, and vindicate his patristic literature as; "There is little original in his thought. He preserves throughout the moralizing tendencies of his Antiochene teachers," alleged to him by two great patrologists J. Danielou, and RPC Hanson. Earlier in the same chapter, J.C. is described as the friend of Theodore of Mopsuestia, and pupil of Libanius and of Diodore of Tarsus, and cast heavy shadow on his ethics as more Stoic than Christian! (J. Danielou, Historical Theology, Pelican, 1970, p.107)

A Story, not a Biography:
In his preface, the oxford scholar gives a version of his elaboration on the 79/80 lectures in Oxford devoted to J.C., but were not published because of Kelly's non satisfaction of his own treatment, and few years later, he modified them to chapters 2,3, and 16 of Golden Mouth. The author who explored Chrysostom's teaching on baptism, original sin, grace and free will, redemption, etc., in his classic 'Early Christian Doctrines', would not even quote himself, in reference. At least, John's treatise on the priesthood, which has been popular, though not accepted by mainstream Protestants, could have been given a brief parallel with St. Gregory Nazianzen who inspired John, but spoke in a different theological language. He concluded, "I should like to have included some tentative presuppositions underlying John's thinking, and certain of his theological ideas which still need clarification. Ultimately he decided to leave this task to 'younger scholars.'

Biographer J. Kelly:
The late Master of ecclesiastics J.N.D. Kelly is the Principal of St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, was Canon of Chichester Cathedral, a Fellow of the British Academy, and since 1966 a member of the Academic Council of the Ecumenical Theological Institute, Jerusalem. He is the author of Early Christian Creeds, Early Christian Doctrines, Jerome, The Oxford Dictionary of Popes, etc.

Inner Logodynamics in Saint John Chrysostom Vol. I: Ancient Greek esoteric teachings (Greek Edition)

J. N. D. Kelly's biography of John is a great introduction to the life and thought of Chrysostom. Kelly covers John's life from his early years in Antioch to his exiles as the bishop of Constantinople. In reconstructing John's life, Kelly relies both on John's own writings and the witnesses of the ancient church historians. He blends these sources into an engaging narrative about an interesting and influential preacher. Of course, Kelly is a little biased towards John. He likes the old man and presents him in a mostly favorable light. This book, however, is not a whitewash. While admiring John, Kelly notes the unlikable aspects of his personality and points out some of his poorer decisions.

The book is carefully researched. I was pleased to see a very nuanced explanation of John's fall from favor with the imperial court. Kelly exposes the myth that John merely said nasty things about the empress and she kicked him out. Rather, he highlights the ecclesiastical intrigues and jealously among bishops that led to John's exiles. Kelly's narrative is also honest about disputed points. He clearly explains the scholarly debates about chronology or authenticity, allowing the reader to see where he has to speculate.

The narrative is excellent, but the book lacks a bibliography. An up-to-date bibliography would make this book invaluable for a Chrysostom scholar; without one, it is merely a helpful starting point. I also have one minor quibble. I noticed about a half dozen typos in the text. Typos always disturb me.

J.N.D. Kelly presents a faithful portrait of the great Bishop of Antioch. He highlights John as a solid expositional preacher who rejected the allegorical method of intepretation as popularized by Origen. You learn of Chrysostom's reservations about being worthy enough to be ordained, and his initial interest in the monastic life.

You also learn of how long periods of harsh fasting ruined his digestive system, and how for this reason, he preferred to eat alone. You learn of the turbulent and divisive times in which he served as a bishop in Antioch and then in Constantinople.

You also read of his strict views about the role of women in the church and of how strict he was with the monastic communities and with the priests in Antioch and later in Constantinople.

Chrysostom's sermons were powerful and held the attention of the people, even though some of them were fairly lengthy. You also learn of his friendship with Olympias, a godly woman also given to virginity and asceticism.

Finally, you learn about Chrysostom's enemies from within Arianism, and from his fellow clergy, especially Severinus, Eudoxia, Theophilus, and others.

We see that Chrysostom's spicy sermons sometimes got him into trouble, ie. exile.

We also read of his sad death.

The book is occasionally bogged down in historical minutiae, but I thought Kelly did a good job of showing how Chrysostom was affected by the times in which he lived and how he himself affected the times. I also appreciated how Kelly was able to defend the historical reliability of much of the material that we have about Chrysostom from that time period. A very good book.

A comprehensive treatment of this Eastern Father of the Church. We have not had a study like that of J. N. D. Kelly, unless you count the originally German 2 vol study of C. Baur, translated in 1959. An eminent historian writes about an eminent (and tragic?) personality of the late fourth and early fifth century. Kelly succeeds in making real the (imperial and episcopal) politics of the early 5th century. In addition there is enough of the theology of the time which will influence later christological developments.

This book is a good read. I also learned a lot from it - quite a bit in fact. But now I'm curious about this pious empress and the saint's (serious) problems with her. Maybe we need another book. But this was very informative and not boring.