Oct

11

St. John Chrysostom

October 11, 2007 |

Posted by joanied · Filed Under Christian Traditions, Christian Philosophy, New Testament, Church History 

St. John Chrysostom was born in 347 in Antioch, Syria. I read that Ben Witherington is a big fan of the man, so I read a bit about St. John Chrysostom and then happened upon his homily on the Gospel of Matthew. Here’s one of the things he says:

“Reflect then how great an evil it is for us, who ought to live so purely as not even to need written words, but to yield up our hearts, as books, to the Spirit; now that we have lost that honor, and are come to have need of these, to fail again in duly employing even this second remedy. For if it be a blame to stand in need of written words, and not to have brought down on ourselves the grace of the Spirit; consider how heavy the charge of not choosing to profit even after this assistance, but rather treating what is written with neglect, as if it were cast forth without purpose, and at random, and so bringing down upon ourselves our punishment with increase.But that no such effect may ensue, let us give strict heed unto the things that are written; and let us learn how the Old Law was given on the one hand, how on the other the New Covenant.”

You can read more at:
Homily on Gospel of Matthew by St. John Chrysostom

Joanie D.


Comments

3 Comments so far

  1. Lisa R on October 12, 2007 8:27 am

    Joanie, I love that quote. I am reminded of Jer 17:9 -The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick;Who can understand it?

    Even in a regenerated state, I believe our heavenly Father knew that we would get off course trusting exclusively in “our heart”. And thus, the revelation through His word is given so our hearts may align with His standard so our lives will follow suit.

  2. Vangelicmonk on October 12, 2007 2:33 pm

    Amazing. I love that. Convicting. I am reading as a daily devotional some of Chrysostom’s writings in a book called “On Living Simply.” It has been a blessing.

  3. Joanie D on October 12, 2007 8:42 pm

    http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/chrysostom-jews6.html

    St. John Chrysostom wrote/said some pretty horrible things about the Jewish people which you can see at the above URL. I saw some webpages that tried to “explain away” what he siad, but I am not convinced. It makes me not want to read more by him. :-(

    One of the things he said was, “If, then, the Jews fail to know the Father, if they crucified the Son, if they thrust off the help of the Spirit, who should not make bold to declare plainly that the synagogue is a dwelling of demons? God is not worshipped there. Heaven forbid! From now on it remains a place of idolatry. But still some people pay it honor as a holy place.”

    And that is one of the “tamer” things I came across.

    Joanie D.

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