43 Facts About John Chrysostom

1.

John Chrysostom is known for his preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, his Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, and his ascetic sensibilities.

2.

John Chrysostom is honoured as a saint in the Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches, as well as in some others.

3.

John Chrysostom's father died soon after his birth and he was raised by his mother.

4.

John Chrysostom was baptised in 368 or 373 and tonsured as a reader.

5.

From Libanius, John Chrysostom acquired the skills for a career in rhetoric, as well as a love of the Greek language and literature.

6.

John Chrysostom lived in extreme asceticism and became a hermit in about 375; he spent the next two years continually standing, scarcely sleeping, and committing the Bible to memory.

7.

John Chrysostom was ordained as a deacon in 381 by the bishop Meletius of Antioch who was not then in communion with Alexandria and Rome.

8.

John Chrysostom was destined later to bring about reconciliation between Flavian I of Antioch, Alexandria, and Rome, thus bringing those three sees into communion for the first time in nearly seventy years.

9.

John Chrysostom emphasised charitable giving and was concerned with the spiritual and temporal needs of the poor.

10.

John Chrysostom spoke against abuse of wealth and personal property:.

11.

When John Chrysostom arrived in Antioch, Flavian, the bishop of the city, had to intervene with emperor Theodosius I on behalf of citizens who had gone on a rampage mutilating statues of the emperor and his family.

12.

John Chrysostom had to leave Antioch in secret due to fears that the departure of such a popular figure would cause civil unrest.

13.

Theophilus therefore accused John Chrysostom of being too partial to the teaching of Origen.

14.

John Chrysostom made another enemy in Aelia Eudoxia, wife of emperor Arcadius, who assumed that John's denunciations of extravagance in feminine dress were aimed at herself.

15.

John Chrysostom was called back by Arcadius almost immediately, as the people became "tumultuous" over his departure, even threatening to burn the imperial palace.

16.

John Chrysostom's banishment sparked riots among his supporters in the capital, and in the fighting the cathedral built by Constantius II was burnt down, necessitating the construction of the second cathedral on the site, the Theodosian Hagia Sophia.

17.

Around 405, John Chrysostom began to lend moral and financial support to Christian monks who were enforcing the emperors' anti-pagan laws, by destroying temples and shrines in Phoenicia and nearby regions.

18.

The causes of John Chrysostom's exile are not clear, though Jennifer Barry suggests that they have to do with his connections to Arianism.

19.

John Chrysostom wrote letters which still held great influence in Constantinople.

20.

John Chrysostom died in the Presbyterium or community of the clergy belonging to the church of Saint Basiliscus of Comana.

21.

John Chrysostom came to be venerated as a saint soon after his death.

22.

Almost immediately after, an anonymous supporter of John Chrysostom wrote a funeral oration to reclaim John Chrysostom as a symbol of Christian orthodoxy.

23.

Some 700 sermons and 246 letters by John Chrysostom survive, plus biblical commentaries, moral discourses, and theological treatises.

24.

One of the recurring features of John Chrysostom's homilies is his emphasis on care for the needy.

25.

Cyril of Alexandria attributed the destruction of the Ephesian Temple of Artemis to John Chrysostom, referring to him as "the destroyer of the demons and overthrower of the temple of Diana".

26.

John Chrysostom's homilies were expressed in the conventional manner, utilizing the uncompromising rhetorical form known as the psogos.

27.

John Chrysostom claimed that synagogues were full of Christians, especially Christian women, on the shabbats and Jewish festivals, because they loved the solemnity of the Jewish liturgy and enjoyed listening to the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, and applauded famous preachers in accordance with the contemporary custom.

28.

Anglican priest James Parkes called John Chrysostom's writing on Jews "the most horrible and violent denunciations of Judaism to be found in the writings of a Christian theologian".

29.

John Chrysostom says the active male victimizes the passive male in a way that leaves him more enduringly dishonored than even a victim of murder since the victim of this act must "live under" the shame of the "insolency".

30.

John Chrysostom asserts that punishment will be found in Hell for such transgressors and that women can be guilty of the sin as much as men.

31.

One such work is John Chrysostom's early treatise Against Those Who Oppose the Monastic Life, written while he was a deacon, which was directed to parents, pagan as well as Christian, whose sons were contemplating a monastic vocation.

32.

John Chrysostom wrote that, already in his day, it was customary for Antiochenes to send their sons to be educated by monks.

33.

Two other notable books by John Chrysostom are Instructions to Catechumens and On the Incomprehensibility of the Divine Nature.

34.

Beyond his preaching, the other lasting legacy of John Chrysostom is his influence on Christian liturgy.

35.

John Chrysostom was an excellent preacher whose homilies and writings are still studied and quoted.

36.

John Chrysostom's writings have survived to the present day more so than any of the other Greek Fathers.

37.

John Chrysostom, thinking she was a demon, at first refused to help her, but the princess convinced him that she was a Christian and would be devoured by wild beasts if she were not allowed to enter his cave.

38.

John Chrysostom therefore admitted her, carefully dividing the cave in two parts, one for each of them.

39.

In spite of these precautions, the sin of fornication was committed, and in an attempt to hide it the distraught John Chrysostom took the princess and threw her over a precipice.

40.

John Chrysostom then went to Rome to beg absolution, which was refused.

41.

John Chrysostom died in the city of Comana in 407 on his way to his place of exile.

42.

The right hand of Saint John Chrysostom is preserved on Mount Athos, and numerous smaller relics are scattered throughout the world.

43.

Widely used editions of John Chrysostom's works are available in Greek, Latin, English, and French.