John Chrysostom

John was born around the year 349, in Antioch, in Syria, one of the great cities of the Roman Empire. His father, a military officer, died when John was an infant, and his mother, Anthusa, was a young widow who devoted herself to his upbringing. She refused to marry again and gave him a careful education. He studied rhetoric under the famous pagan teacher Libanius, who is said to have called him the best of his students, and he was destined for a career in law. He was drawn instead to the Christian faith. He was baptized at about the age of twenty-one, and he gave himself to the study of the Scriptures.

He spent several years as a monk in the mountains near Antioch, living in a cave and practicing severe discipline. He slept little and studied the Bible. His health broke down under the strain, and he returned to the city in about 378. He was ordained as a deacon in 381 and as a priest in 386. For the next twelve years, he served as a preacher in the church at Antioch. It was in these years that he gained a reputation as one of the greatest preachers of the church. His preaching was clear and vivid, and he expounded the Scriptures verse by verse. The name Chrysostom, which means golden mouth, was given to him after his death.

He spoke about the practical side of the Christian life. He urged his hearers to give to the poor, to avoid the theater and to live with integrity. He was fierce in his attacks on the greed of the rich and on the luxury of the wealthy. He said that the one who does not share what he has is a thief. He preached a series of sermons on the statues in 387, when the people of Antioch rioted and overthrew the statues of the emperor, and feared his revenge. His preaching calmed the city. He also preached against the Jews, in a series of sermons that were harsh and that have been used to justify hatred. This is a part of his legacy that must be named plainly, as a grave fault.

In 397, he was seized by imperial agents and taken to Constantinople, where he was made the archbishop of the city. He was reluctant, but he accepted. As bishop, he tried to reform the clergy and the court. He cleaned up the finances of the church and gave money to the poor. He built hospitals. He preached against the corruption of the court and the vanity of the wealthy. He criticized the empress Eudoxia, who had a taste for luxury, and he made enemies. He was a man of austere habits who did not entertain.

He was accused by his opponents of various faults, including arrogance and harshness. Theophilus, the patriarch of Alexandria, was jealous of him and conspired against him. In 403, at a synod called the Synod of the Oak, he was deposed and exiled. He was recalled after a day because of an earthquake and a riot, but the empress had not forgiven him. In 404 he was exiled again, to a remote village in Armenia. He was sent farther and farther away, to the shores of the Black Sea.

He was forced to march in the heat and cold, and he fell ill. He died on September 14, 407, on the road to Pityus, at a place called Comana. His last words are said to have been, Glory to God for all things. He was about fifty-eight years old. His body was brought to Constantinople in 438 and buried with honor.

His sermons and commentaries have survived in large numbers, and they have been read in the church ever since. His life shows the cost of speaking the truth to those in power, and the way that a great preacher may serve the church by his courage as well as his words.