John Chrysostom

Who Was John Chrysostom?

John Chrysostom — “golden-mouthed” in Greek, a title given him by posterity for his extraordinary gifts as a preacher — was the greatest preacher of the early church and one of the most important biblical expositors in the history of Christianity. Born in Antioch to a wealthy family, educated in rhetoric under the pagan philosopher Libanius, he chose the ascetic life and spent years in the Syrian desert before illness drove him back to Antioch, where he was ordained and began his preaching career.

His sermons — on Matthew, on John, on the Pauline epistles, on the Psalms — are among the most sustained exercises in biblical exposition in the patristic period, combining close attention to the text with practical application to the lives of his congregation and a relentless attention to the moral demands of the gospel, particularly with respect to wealth and the poor. He was appointed Archbishop of Constantinople in 398, a position that placed him at the center of imperial politics and that would eventually destroy him.

His denunciations of the luxury of the court, his redistribution of the funds of the archbishopric to the poor, and his conflicts with the Empress Eudoxia led to his deposition and exile in 403, his restoration, his second exile in 404, and his death on the march to his place of exile in 407. He died with the words “Glory to God for all things” on his lips — a phrase that has become one of the defining expressions of Eastern Christian spirituality.

In Their Own Words

Selected Bibliography

• Homilies on Matthew — c. 390
• Homilies on John — c. 391
• Homilies on the Pauline Epistles — various dates
• On the Priesthood — c. 386 — treatise on pastoral ministry
• On Wealth and Poverty — homilies on the parable of Lazarus