Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Homilies (John Chrysostom, Saint)'

The name of John Chrysostom has historically been held in high esteem by the Christian Church. John was born, circa A.O. 350, in the Syrian city of Antioch. His rhetorical career led him to the apex of religious power as bishop of Constantinople. As a result of his verbal harangues of the political and religious leaders, he was sent into exile, where he died in A.O. 407. During his life time he was recognized both for his eloquence and his controversial style. Since the fifth century he has been remembered by the epitaph "Chrysostom," a tribute to his oratorical abilities, which translated means "the golden mouthed."

The thesis takes its inspiration from a parallel central to Byzantine ideology: God enthroned in heaven, governing the universe, is mirrored on earth by the emperor surrounded by his court, ruling his realm. The earliest definitive formulation of this doctrine is expressed by Eusebius of Caesarea in the 'Tricennial Orations' held for Constantine the Great in A.D. 336. The thesis briefly documents this formulation and then takes a look at the further evolution of this parallel in some fourth century Fathers. Here the parallel becomes a metaphor in that the earthly basileus is frequently employed to explain and describe God. At the same time, the attitudes towards the earthly basileus need not be positive. After having thus set the scene, the thesis moves on to its primary task and explores heaven and the basileus in St. John Chrysostom. The sheer bulk of his work is matched by the complexity of his views in this respect, far removed from the apparent simplicity of the Eusebian model. After documenting his ideas about the technique of metaphor, and about the application of such a parallel as that of God and basileus, I examine Chrysostom's metaphorical use of the basileus in his explanations of inexprimable divine qualities. The basileus takes more shape when Chrysostom describes him in the context of the Old Testament, of early imperial history, or as a contemporary ruler. These portrayals are suitably followed by an exploration of Chrysostom's uncompromising interpretation of the relationship between priest and ruler. A short excursus on his attitude towards imperial and Christian symbols rounds off this extensive treatment of the basileus. The next two chapters concentrate on how Chrysostom describes heaven and what role is played by imperial terminology and concepts in these descriptions. Finally, the possible influence of St. Paul on Chrysostom in these areas is considered - partly because the topos of the Apostle in the power of the pagan basileus Nero appears frequently, partly because St. Paul turns out to be a major Leitfigur for Chrysostom. This bulky documentation works exclusively from texts dating from Chrysostom's life in Antioch. His move to Constantinople and into the direct environment of the real basileus presents a chronological step of the utmost importance in the context of the God - basileus parallel. Introducing this chronological divide in the course of the thesis obviously involves a close attention to the dating of Chrysostom's works, which in many cases is not unequivocal. The thesis tries to show that the awareness of a chronology of metaphorical language within Chrysostom's works can help with the dating of individual texts. Although this possibility was resorted to very sparingly here for fear of introducing a circular argument, it merits becoming a stronger element in studies on Chrysostom. For the Constantinopolitan period, the thesis tries to ascertain whether Chrysostom's view of the earthly basileus and his use of metaphors based on this basileus in the description of heaven are influenced and changed by his experience of imperial reality. The most interesting question then is to what extent Chrysostom's metaphorical use of 'the basileus' in all its different shades of meaning precipitated his fate at imperial hands. As the conclusion argues, these findings are of special interest in view of the popularity Chrysostom enjoyed throughout Byzantine history. It is possible that with his extensive metaphorical use of the basileus he was a model and an influence in theological and ideological issues. There is the possibility that descriptions that were intended by Chrysostom to show the limitations of earthly rule in comparison with heavenly power may have been misunderstood, due to subtlety of expression, as describing a full parallel between God and basileus. This applies both to contemporary audiences and later readers and supports a hypothesis that Byzantine propaganda was not so much constructed by masterminds as inferred by audiences.

The aim of this thesis is to reveal the intimate relationship between John Chrysostom's Eucharistic theology and the christian life, and that at the Eucharist Man's true being is demonstrated. It investigates Chrysostom's exegetical and oratorical method in order to ascertain how he approached a text and how he delivered his understanding of it. He is a representative of the Antiochene School of Exegesis and his fame as a preacher was a result not so much of his oratorical construction, but of the underlying spiritual unity within the oration. The purpose of all his preaching and exegesis was to evoke a moral response from his hearers. In the consecration of the elements, Chrysostcm displayed a remarkable openness to the varying traditions. He saw reciting the words of institution and invoking the Spirit as effecting consecration. Not only this, but also the moral life of the congregation played its part in effecting consecration. Once the elements had been consecrated, Christ was sacrificed, symbolically and literally, not again but in memory (Greek letters) of the Passion, which thereby becomes a present reality. In Chrysostom's understanding of the real presence he displays yet again an openness to the traditions. Christ is both present symbolically through the elements and literally through the transformation of the elements. The real presence demanded of the communicant a high degree of morality. To approach the Table on which Christ lay demanded a life of virtue, not only from the individual communicant but from the whole community. Those who partook unworthily imitated Judas and shared his fate. The community had to approach the Table in unity. At the Table, however, the community received its unity from Christ, the community became the body of Christ. Through participation and becoming the body of Christ, the community was united with the Godhead . Schism, therefore, was a very serious sin for it tore the body of Christ apart. For Chrysostom, Christ was also present in and intimately united with the poor. The church had to be able to be aware of Christ's presence in the poor and be responsible toward Him. In giving to the poor, the communiicant acknowledged that he/she had received at the Table and also received his/her salvation from Christ through the poor. The whole Eucharistic feast not only fed the christian with spiritual food, but called the communicant away from gross materialism to a life-giving dependance on God. It called the communicant to give to others as he/she had received from Christ.

Les quatre homélies de Jean Chrysostome In principium Actorum trouvent leur origine à Antioche entre les années 386 et 397. Elles sont prévues pour la période suivant la fête de Pâques ; le prédicateur s’adresse en particulier aux nouveaux baptisés et il cherche à introduire ses auditeurs à la lecture du livre des Actes des apôtres qui leur est peu familier. Ces textes portent sur l’importance des titres (première homélie), sur le terme « actes » (deuxième homélie), sur le terme « apôtres » (troisième homélie) et sur la raison de la lecture du livre des Actes juste après la fête de Pâques, et non après la fête de la Pentecôte (quatrième homélie). Une homélie sur l’auteur du livre des Actes, aujourd’hui perdue, s’insérait entre le premier et le deuxième texte. On montre que ces homélies forment une « micro-série » ouverte, en lien étroit avec d’autres homélies (De mutatione nominum 1-4, In Genesim sermo 9, In illud : Si esurierit inimicus). L’examen de la tradition manuscrite directe, la prise en compte de la tradition indirecte (eclogae, florilèges, chaîne sur les Actes, tradition arménienne, encomium pour la fête de saint Paul, témoignage dans la littérature byzantine) et l’analyse des premières éditions anciennes permettent de reconstituer l’histoire de ces quatre textes en vue d’une édition critique et de confirmer la cohérence de ce corpus malgré une transmission parfois éclatée. On propose une nouvelle édition des homélies In principium Actorum en la fondant sur des rameaux plus sûrs de la tradition manuscrite grecque. On donne ensuite une nouvelle traduction française des quatre homélies et on présente trois pistes de commentaire. Tout d’abord, la méthode adoptée par le prédicateur pour introduire à la lecture du livre des Actes a des conséquences sur l’exégèse des exemples bibliques choisis : on en montre quelques-unes tout en questionnant la proximité avec un éventuel commentaire suivi et avec des textes d’autres auteurs grecs (Didyme l’Aveugle, notamment). On met en avant l’importance de la mission dans ces homélies : enraciné dans la fête de Pâques, l’appel à la mission permet de créer un lien étroit entre le prédicateur, ses auditeurs et les absents. Ce dernier point mène pour finir à l’étude des visées apologétiques de ces textes : la conversion passe par un retournement de sens et elle se traduit par un changement irréversible de mode de vie, qui doit imiter non seulement celui de Paul mais aussi celui d’autres figures bibliques et du Christ lui-même
The four homilies In principium Actorum originate in the Antiochene period of John Chrysostom's priesthood (386-397). Their liturgical frame is Easter time; the preacher is speaking especially to neophytes and aims at introducing his listeners to the book of the Acts of the Apostles, which they are not familiar with. In these texts the preacher explains the importance of titles (first homily), the word "Acts" (second homily), the word "Apostles" (third homily) and the reasons why this book is read just after Easter, and not after Pentecost (fourth homily). There used to be another homily about the author of the book of the Acts, which is now missing, between the first and the second homily. These homilies form an open "micro-series" which is strongly linked to other homilies (De mutatione nominum 1-4, In Genesim sermo 9, In illud: Si esurierit inimicus). The study of the direct manuscript tradition, the account of the indirect tradition (eclogae, anthologies, catena in Acta Apostolorum, Armenian tradition, encomium for the feast of saint Paul, testimony in Byzantine literature) as well as the analysis of the first editions make it possible to reconstruct the history of these four texts in preparation for their critical edition. It also confirms the coherence of the corpus, although the homilies have not always been transmitted together. The dissertation presents a new edition of the homilies In principium Actorum which is based on more reliable parts of the Greek tradition. A new French translation of the four homilies is also given. The commentary explores three important aspects. First, the preacher's method of introducing the Acts has consequences on the exegesis of the chosen biblical examples: the dissertation shows some of those consequences and questions the proximity to a continuous commentary and to texts from other authors (for instance Didymus the Blind). The importance of the mission in those homilies is then put forward: rooted in the feast of Easter, the call to mission creates a strong relationship between preacher, listeners and absentees. This last point leads to the apologetical aims of the texts: conversion is due to a shift in meaning and results in a complete change of lifestyle, which should imitate Paul's but also the way of life of other biblical figures and of Christ himself

Les homélies de Jean Chrysostome (v. 349 – 407) sur la Deuxième épître aux Corinthiens fournissent un témoignage important sur la pratique de l’exégèse et de la prédication dans l’Antiquité. Sur le plan oratoire, elles sont marquées par de fortes interactions entre Jean et son auditoire et par ce que l’on peut nommer une rhétorique biblique : un discours où l’Écriture est omniprésente, dans le texte commenté comme dans les outils mobilisés dans le commentaire. Sur le plan exégétique, le prédicateur explique l’épître paulinienne de manière littérale, i.e. phrase par phrase ou mot par mot, attentif à la pédagogie de Paul. La notion de salut joue un rôle capital dans cette perspective, car elle guide l’interprétation des moindres variations du ton de l’apôtre ; celle d’amplification n’est pas moins importante, car elle rend compte des larges développements parénétiques qui constituent, à l’intérieur de chaque homélie, un moyen supplémentaire de faire comprendre le texte commenté. Sur le plan théologique, enfin, ce commentaire homilétique permet à Jean Chrysostome de faire écho à quelques thèmes pauliniens : la kénose du Christ, la place de l’Esprit saint dans la communauté chrétienne et l’action de grâce. Prise globalement, une telle pratique homilétique et exégétique pourrait être caractérisée comme une forme d’actualisation de l’Écriture. Toutefois, deux mots empruntés au langage chrysostomien semblent mieux correspondre à cette pratique : l’anamnèse et l’anaphore, qui font jouer la proximité entre l’acte de commenter l’Écriture et la célébration de l’Eucharistie
The primary aim of this work is to read John Chrysostom’s homilies on Second Corinthians as an insight into the practice of exegesis and preaching in Antiquity. After reviewing the historical background of John’s homilies (chapter 1), I will deal with their rhetorical features, that is: the literary genre of the homiletical commentary (chapter 2), the interactions between John and his audience (chapter 3) and the “biblical rhetoric”, i.e. John’s overwhelming use of Scripture in both the commented text as his own commentary (chapter 4). Secondly, I will describe his exegetical skills, by reviewing the literal explanation of Paul’s wording (chapter 5), the overall understanding of the epistle (chapter 6) and the use of larges hortatory sections as an “amplification” of Pauline moral and spiritual themes (chapter 7). Lastly, I will approach John’s theology on the aspects of the doctrinal teaching of his homilies (chapter 8), his spiritual guidance (chapter 9) and the processes of retrieval and enactment involved in the preacher’s hermeneutics (chapter 10). The results of this work suggest that John’s exegetical practice can be described as a process of anamnesis (rememoration) and anaphora (elevation) of Paul’s text – an exegetical, but also liturgical and existential process

L’objet principal de cette étude théologique est le témoignage dans le ministère sacerdotal, analysé à partir du verset Ac 1, 8 . Le milieu antiochien a été privilégié. Il donne l’unité aux textes bibliques et patristiques qui constituent les sources de la thèse. Le témoignage autorisé confié aux apôtres par Jésus Ressuscité s’exprime davantage dans l’enseignement et la liturgie que dans le gouvernement car il ne cesse pas avec la dépossession. De Paul à Ignace et Jean Chrysostome, toujours en référence aux textes prophétiques et à la parole du Christ,on voit s’élaborer une théologie du sacerdoce comme témoignage
The main purpose of this theological research is to show the testimony in the priestly ministry. Our approach based on the words from Acts 1:8. Biblical and Patristic texts constitutes the sources of the thesis, it is the Antiochian environment that is emphasized and that grants unity to the corpus. The authorized testimony entrusted to the Apostles by Jesus is expressed more in the teaching and the liturgy than in the government because it does not cease with the dispossession. From Paul to Ignatius and John Chrysostom, referring to the prophetic texts and the Word of Christ, we see the development of a theology of the priesthood as testimony

L’In epistulas Pauli de Théodoret de Cyr (Ve siècle) est le plus ancien commentaire en grec des épîtres de Paul conservé dans sa langue originale. Cette thèse propose l’édition critique du Prologue et de l’In Romanos, à partir de l’examen de tous les manuscrits de la tradition directe ainsi que d’un manuscrit de chaîne. Elle offre aussi la première traduction de cette œuvre en français. Alors que de nombreux travaux se sont penchés sur les principes et les méthodes de l’exégèse antiochienne de l’Ancien Testament, celle du Nouveau Testament est encore assez mal connue. À travers différentes études thématiques, on tente de caractériser la démarche exégétique propre à ce corpus en analysant les éléments structurant le discours ainsi que certaines particularités sémantiques : on met ainsi au jour les lignes de force de l’interprétation à l’œuvre dans un commentaire dont la distance par rapport au texte commenté est minimale. Par ailleurs, on met en lumière le travail de l’exégète par rapport à la source chrysostomienne. Enfin, on étudie les articulations entre exégèse et polémique – discours sur les Juifs, cible marcionite, échos des controverses trinitaires et christologiques – en cherchant des rapprochements avec la tradition exégétique et théologique en ce qui concerne l’argumentation scripturaire. L’analyse de la démarche argumentative aussi bien que la recherche des sources permet de mettre en relief les richesses d’une œuvre qui, à première lecture, semble être une simple paraphrase du texte biblique
Theodoret of Cyrrhus’s In epistulas Pauli (5th c.) is the oldest surviving Greek commentary that has been preserved in the original language. This dissertation presents a critical edition of Theodoret’s prologue and commentary on the Epistle to the Romans based on all the extant direct manuscripts as well as one catena manuscript. It also offers the first translation of the work into the French language. While many scholars have studied the principles and methods of Antiochene exegesis for the Old Testament, the methods used for the New Testament remain largely unexamined. Through different thematic studies, the dissertation explores the exegetical approach which deals with and is shaped by this latter corpus specifically. By analyzing the elements that structure its discourse as well as its semantic tendencies, it sets out to reveal the central features of Theodoret’s exegetical approach despite the minimal distance which he maintains between the Biblical text and his commentary. Special attention is also paid to Theodoret’s use of the works of John Chrysostom in his own writing. Finally, the dissertation explores the relationship between Theodoret’s biblical exegesis and the rich tradition of scriptural quotation both in a historical and theological context. The main focus is on his polemical discourses on the Jews and the Marcionites and also in his writings on the Trinitarian and Christological controversies. Through a careful analysis of the exegete’s approach to scriptural argumentation and his use of sources, we hope to reveal the richness and versatility of a work which, at first glance, appears to be little more than a simple paraphrase of the biblical text

Throughout the ages historical text criticism has been used to study texts of ancient authors of Christian ethical values. Two such persons were Paul the apostle and John Chrysostom. This study shows that text historical criticism is not without problems. The problem lays not so much in the idea of historical text criticism, but how it was and is still being applied today, it is never without bias. This use of the texts of Paul and Chrysostom who were both very outspoken on the subject of sexuality has caused great amounts of emotional and in cases also physical pain to people who misapplied historical text criticism and as Martin and others have effectively shown, any such interpretation of text that has a intention to hurt people cannot be the right method. Ancient sexuality worked and was constructed completely different from the sexuality of modernity. The way gender was appropriated in ancient times, the way sexuality was construed and applied were set against a wholly different context and set of rules than that of the current day. This becomes clear in Roman and Hellenistic sexuality that is discussed in detail in this study. Unlike modern times, the ancients did not have a simplistic two-sex model that was based on biological sex, in their world, one’s actions determined one’s sex. Both Paul and Chrysostom were very well educated people, they were aware of philosophic thought in their day and took these thoughts into account whilst saying and writing what they did. Paul was at heart a dedicated Pharisee who only later turned toward Christianity. He was well acquainted with Jewish sexual ethics; he had an absolute repulsion towards any form of desire, which he believed led to many other sins. His writings available to us should not be seen as biographies but as letters intended to be arguments with very good rhetoric and diatribe, written with the goal of achieving to convince the receiver or listener. He was extremely conservative in his viewpoint on sex, if he could have had his way, no sexual contact between any person would have existed, but he realised that not everybody had the same gifts he had. This point of view was mostly because of his eschatological worldview, for Paul when you became a Christian you became a slave of God and you were no longer a slave of any passions, so much the more, the passions of the flesh. Chrysostom, who lived almost four hundred years later, had a great veneration for Paul. He basically shared all Paul’s views on sexuality, although not always for the same reasons. Chrysostom was however, in his way also eschatological. His life, like that of Paul was caught up in many confrontations, which had an influence on the way he thought and the things he had opinions on. Chrysostom, like Paul preferred the ascetic lifestyle not only for himself but for everyone, he believed that marriage accompanied death–both spiritual and physical in the end. He so much clang to the ideas of Paul, that a sort of “Paulism” developed. Chrysostom, however noble his sayings might come across did not always have the purest of motive, some of the things he did or say was to achieve a certain political goal, even if it was just to gain more power for the church. This is one aspect that should be kept in mind when studying his texts. Unfortunately, for many people, many misinterpretations, be it willingly/intentionally, many mistranslations of key words on the Bible (like the word malakos) have been made. What so ever the intention–be it to propagate popular social sexual propaganda, or whatever–this is and was not right. Like mentioned many people has experience hurt because of this. Rhetorical text analysis is being set forward as an alternative to historical text criticism in a slight but hopeful effort to overcome this problem and enable the churches of today to welcome many more Christians into their families.
Biblical and Ancient Studies
M. Bib. (New Testament)

Text in German
This thesis gives a short overview abont the anthropological term worldview and discusses various views of it. A historic resume of the situation of the metropolis Antiochia in Syria in the 4th century AD is followed by an analysis of some important aspects of the worldview of its inhabitants. A short account of the life and work of John Chrysostom is given and followed by an analysis of four of his homilies of the Gospel of Matthew. These are compared with own exegetical points of view of the same texts. The focus is directed to some topics where the influence of worfdview makes itself felt. In the last chapter some observations in connection with the influence of worldview on biblical interpretation ensue. The thesis closes with a short discussion of some missiological and hermeneutical consequences
Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology
M.Th. (Missiology)

M.Litt. et Phil.
From this study it comes to light that although Saint Chrysostom was a strict ascetic, he was a great theologian on love and marriage, and he confronted the different themes pertaining to marriage with great love and philanthropy.

The thesis deals with the questions, how the Christians in the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom remind themselves the history of salvation and how they make the history of salvation present (i. e. anamnesis of the history of salvation) trough the symbols followed by the word. In the first part the author deals with the Christians symbolic acts in the liturgy as the symbolic acts express their relation to God. In the next part he pays attention to the process of the celebration of the liturgy of Saint John Chrisostom. These themes that describe symbolic acts of celebration are followed by the chapter that deals with the spiritual aspects of the liturgy. For a better orientation in the next text he closes the introductory part with the theological conception of the selected authors of the liturgical commentaries. In the main part of the thesis the author focuses on the history of the liturgy and on the liturgical commentaries of the selected authors of the Orthodox Christianity, who influenced the development of the Byzantine liturgy. Further, he focuses on the analysis of the present text of the liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, where he searches for the ways the anamnesis of the history of salvation is reached. In the final part of the work he presents the results of the analysis and concludes that the Jesus life is really reminded and made present in the particular parts of the Byzantine liturgy.