John Chrysostom 347 AD – 407 AD
John Chrysostom (347 AD – 407 AD) was a Greek philosopher of the Ancient era, associated with Christian Philosophy.
John Chrysostom, the Golden-Mouthed, was an early Christian preacher, archbishop of Constantinople, and one of the most important Fathers of the Greek-speaking Church. After ascetic training in Antioch, he served for many years as a celebrated preacher there before being made archbishop of the imperial capital in 397. His unsparing sermons against luxury and the abuses of the imperial court led to two depositions and finally to exile, where he died on a forced march through Asia Minor. His vast surviving corpus of homilies on scripture has shaped Christian preaching to the present.
John, called Chrysostom — the 'golden-mouthed' — was born around 347 in Antioch, the son of a high-ranking imperial officer. He studied rhetoric under the great pagan teacher Libanius and theology under Diodore of Tarsus, the founder of the Antiochene school of biblical exegesis. After a period of monastic asceticism in the mountains above the city, his health broken, he returned to Antioch, was ordained deacon in 381 and priest in 386, and as the city's principal preacher delivered the homiletic series on which his reputation rests.
His enormous body of homilies — on Genesis, the Gospels, the Acts and Pauline epistles, the Statues, and the moral life of the Christian household — together with the treatises On the Priesthood, On Virginity, On Vainglory and the Right Way for Parents to Bring Up Their Children, and the catechetical and liturgical writings, made him the most copious preacher of the Greek-speaking Church. In 397 he was summoned, against his will, to be archbishop of Constantinople.
His austere reform of the patriarchal household and outspoken sermons against imperial luxury made him enemies at court, and he was twice deposed and exiled, the second time by the empress Eudoxia and Patriarch Theophilus of Alexandria. He died of exhaustion at Comana Pontica in September 407 on his way to a more remote place of exile, and was rehabilitated by his successors and venerated as one of the three holy hierarchs and a Doctor of the Church.
Key facts
- Nationality
- Greek
- Era
- Ancient
- Movements
- Christian Philosophy
Selected quotes
-
Attributed to John Chrysostom:
“If you cannot find Christ in the beggar at the church door, you will not find him in the chalice.”
-
Attributed to John Chrysostom:
“The most disadvantageous peace is better than the most just war.”
-
Attributed to John Chrysostom:
“Wealth is sin's nurse.”
-
Attributed to John Chrysostom:
“He who is not angry when there is just cause is sinful.”
-
Attributed to John Chrysostom:
“Words are the mirror of the soul.”
John Chrysostom by topic
Frequently asked about John Chrysostom
- When did John Chrysostom live?
- John Chrysostom was born in 347 AD and died in 407 AD.
- Where was John Chrysostom from?
- John Chrysostom was a Greek philosopher of the Ancient era.
- What philosophical movements is John Chrysostom associated with?
- John Chrysostom was associated with Christian Philosophy.
- What was John Chrysostom known for?
- John Chrysostom, the Golden-Mouthed, was an early Christian preacher, archbishop of Constantinople, and one of the most important Fathers of the Greek-speaking Church.
- How many quotes are attributed to John Chrysostom?
- There are 19 attributed quotations from John Chrysostom in the 1001Philosophers collection, organized by topic.
Quotes that are not actually from John Chrysostom
These lines are widely circulated as John Chrysostom, but they do not appear in John Chrysostom's works. Each entry below identifies the actual source.
-
“What else is woman but a foe to friendship, an inescapable punishment, a necessary evil, a natural temptation, a desirable calamity, a domestic danger, a delectable detriment, an evil of nature, painted with fair colors!”
This quote is commonly attributed to philosophers but its actual source is uncertain or unverified in the standard reference works. Wikiquote's note on this attribution: The quote is attributed to Chrysostom in the Malleus Maleficarum (Part I, Question VI), published by Heinrich Kramer in 1486. He cites Chrysostom's homily on Matthew ch. 19 (which would be his Homily LXII on Matthew ), but no such quote appears in the homily.