On Marriage and Family Life [Paperback]

Saint John Chrysostom (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 31, 1986

Christian tradition often seems to give only grudging approval to the married life, particularly its sexual aspect. In these sermons of St John Chrysostom we find an important corrective to this view. Although himself a monk, Chrysostom had a profound understanding of the needs of his congregation. Inspired by the epistles to the Corinthians and Ephesians, he discusses the reasons God instituted marriage: primarily to promote holiness of the husband and wife, and only secondarily to produce children. Chrysostom goes on to discuss sexual relations, the mutual responsibilities of marriage, and parenting. While parts of Chrysostom's sermons may seem limited to his own time, the vast majority of his advice has timeless relevance for the Christian family.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Greek

Product Details

• Paperback: 114 pages
• Publisher: St Vladimirs Seminary Pr (December 31, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0913836869
• ISBN-13: 978-0913836866
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #91,329 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Should be manditory by law to read, September 10, 2001

By 

Moses Alexander (Alabama, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: On Marriage and Family Life (Paperback)

I really mean what I said in the title, this should be manditory by law to read for anyone even considering marriage. If people seriously weighed Chrysostom's words on marriage, divorce would probably be cut by half.

St. John, as always, lays forth an eloquent (yet simple & easy to understand) convincing argument for his views on marriage. He doesn't advocate marrying for money or looks or social position (something I'm sure is way more common than most people would want to admit) he advocates marrying for virtue. St. John argues that virtuous and poor is a million times better than excess gaeity & wealth.

He lays out criteria for selecting a wife, as well as traits that husbands and wifes should display. Not only does he discuss the institution of marriage, but he also talks about wedding celebrations themselves. Other topics such as sex are discussed as well (he doesn't hold negative view of it.)

He greatly stresses EQUALITY OF RESPONSIBILITY of both partners to make a marriage work. Children are also discussed in great detail. St. John Chrysostom is not only a great writer, but a holy man whose words we should try to incorporate into our lifestyles.

Highly recommended book.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to be a good husband, July 14, 2006

By 

Edward W. Cole "dixitdominus" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: On Marriage and Family Life (Paperback)

St. John Chrysostom's homilies on marriage and family life are refreshingly free of political correctness. He teaches that women have the duty to obey their husbands, and that both men and women should be chaste before and after marriage. And yet, this book seems to be aimed more at men then at women; they are taught to love their wives as Christ loved His bride, the Church, which was not obedient or beautiful or good until He offered His life to make it clean.
The teaching in the book is timeless, but sometimes seems particularly relevant to our age. For instance, "Let them shun the immodest music and dancing that are currently so fashionable....Remove from your lives shameful, immodest, and Satanic music, and don't associate with people who enjoy such profligate entertainment.... Will this sort of life be distasteful for a young bride? Only perhaps for the shortest time, and soon she will discover how delightful it is to live this way. She will retain her modesty if you retain yours." (page 60) This seems more relevant to our day than to his until you remember that he was murdered for denouncing the empress for promoting these entertainments.
If you want to be a good, Christian husband, this book will speed you on your way. I would especially recommend it to men who are engaged, so that they can enter into the married state with the right intentions.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Advice Is Great, February 8, 2005

By 

Mel "Religious History Major" (US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: On Marriage and Family Life (Paperback)

The Advice given it this short work is great. Please, though, don't think that this is an entire work that Saint John wrote on marriage and family life, rather, it is just a compilation of modern times of a few seperate sermons which Saint John gave on days in which the Scriptural readings were dealing with marriage. Many would consider it chauvanistic, but others, like myself, know it's not so much chauvanistic as realistic. A must read and a must take-to-heart.