Ofc-
'REESE LIBRARY
JN1VERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.
/^^yQ.._ Shelf No
*' l ; ' K A H \
"COPIED FROM A FRONTISPIECE TO THE EDITION BY FRONTO DUCXEUS, A.D.
1636, OF ST. CHRYSOSTOM'S WORKS (IN THE CATHEDRAL LIBRARY, CHICHESTER).
THE ORIGINAL IS STATED TO HAVE BEEN ENGRAVED FROM AN EIKON OF GREAT
ANTIQUITY, AT CONSTANTINOPLE, AND AGREES WITH THE NOTICES OF CHRYSO-
STOM'S APPEARANCE BY GREEK WRITERS, WHO DESCRIBE HIM AS SHORT, WITH A
LARGE HEAD, AMPLE, WRINKLED FOREHEAD, EYES DEEP-SET BUT PLEASING,
HOLLOW CHEEKS, AND A SCANTY GREY BEARD."
SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
HIS LIFE AND TIMES
A SKETCH OF THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE IN
THE FOURTH CENTURY.
BY W. K W. STEPHENS, M.A.
i rHICHESTER AND RECTOR OF WOOLBEDING J AUTHOR OF "LIFE AND LETTERS OF
WALTER FARQUHAR HOOK, D.D.," "CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM," ETC.
SECOND EDITION.
L I B R A R Y
U N I \' K K S IT Y' O I
CALIFORNIA.
.
LONDON
JOHN MURKAY, ALBEMARLE STREET
1880.
The right of translation is reserved.
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
THE present edition of this Essay is substantially
a reproduction of the first. It is possible, indeed,
and I hope probable, that the fruits of nine years'
more experience and study would have manifested
themselves in some marked improvements upon the
former work had I rewritten or recast the whole
of it. But after mature consideration it did not
seem to me that the defects of my original attempt
were sufficient to warrant such an expenditure of
time and toil.
I have therefore contented myself with carefully
revising the text and references, and making here
and there a few slight alterations in the way either
of addition or omission.
WOOLBEDINQ RECTORY,
Feby. 20, 1880.
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
THE considerations which induced me to undertake this
monograph are mentioned in the introductory chapter.
How far the design there indicated has been satisfactorily
fulfilled, it is for others to decide. I am of course conscious
of defects, for every workman's ideal aim should be higher
than what he can actually accomplish. The work has
incurred a certain risk from having been once or twice
suspended for a considerable period; but I have always
returned to it with increased interest and pleasure, nor can
I charge myself with having wittingly bestowed less pains
on one part than another. I have endeavoured to make it
a trustworthy narrative by drawing from the most original
sources to which I could gain access; and where, as in
those portions which touch on secular history, the lead of
general historians, such as Gibbon or De Broglie, has been
followed, I have, as far as possible, consulted the authorities
to which they refer. To modern authors from whom I have
derived valuable assistance for special parts of the work,
such as M. Amedee Thierry and Dr. Foerster, my obligations
are acknowledged in their proper place.
Neander's Life of St. Chrysostom has, of course, throughout
been frequently consulted. It is marked by the customary
viii PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
merits and defects of that historian. It is full of research,
information, thought, and refined religious sentiment; but
he fails to bring out strongly the personality of his subject.
We have abundance of Chrysostom's sayings and opinions,
but somehow too little of Chrysostom himself. The fact is
that Neander seems always to be thinking more of those
views and theories about the growth of Christian doctrine
and the Church, which he wishes to impress upon men's
minds, than of the person about whom he is writing. Thus,
the subject of his biography becomes too much a mere
vehicle for conveying Neander's own opinions, and the
personality of the character fades away in proportion.
Some passages in the life of his subject are related at
inordinate length ; others, because less illustrative of
Neander's views, are imperfectly sketched, if not omitted.
In extracts from the works of Chrysostom, the somewhat
difficult question of the comparative advantages of transla-
tion and paraphrase has been decided, on the whole, in
favour of the latter. The condensation of matter gained by
a paraphrase is an important, indeed necessary, object, if
many specimens are to be given from such a very volumi-
nous author as Chrysostom. A careful endeavour, at the
same time, has been made to render faithfully the general
sense of the original ; and wherever the peculiar beauty of
the language or the importance of the subject seemed to
demand it, a translation has been given.
From an early date in the sixteenth century down to the
present time the works of Chrysostom have occupied the
attention of learned editors. The first attempts, after the
invention of printing, were mainly confined to Latin trans-
lations of different portions. Afterwards appeared
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. ix
(1.) In 1529 the Greek text of the Homilies on St. Paul,
published at Vienna, " typis Stephani et fratrum," with a
preface by Maximus Donatus. This was followed by the
Commentaries on the New Testament, published by Com-
melin, a printer at Heidelberg, four vols. folio, A.D. 1591-
1602.
(2.) In 1612 appeared a magnificent edition of the whole
works, in eight thick folio volumes, printed at Eton, and
prepared by Sir Henry Savile. Savile, born in 1549, was
equally distinguished for his knowledge of mathematics and
Greek, in which he acted for a time as tutor to Queen
Elizabeth. He became Warden of Merton in 1585, and
Provost of Eton in 1596. Promotion in Church and State
was offered to him by James i., but declined, though he
accepted a knighthood in 1604. His only son died about
that time, and he devoted his fortune henceforth entirely to
the promotion of learning. The Savilian Professorships of
Geometry and Astronomy in Oxford were founded by him,
and a library furnished with mathematical books for the use
of his Professors. He spared no labour or expense to make
his edition of St. Chrysostom handsome and complete. He
personally examined most of the great libraries in Europe
for MSS., and, through the kindness of English ambassadors
and eminent men of learning abroad, his copyists were
admitted to the libraries of Paris, Basle, Augsburg, Munich,
Vienna, and other cities. He used the Commelinian edition
as his printer's copy, carefully compared with five MSS., the
various readings of which are marked (by a not very distinct
plan) in the margin. The chief value of the work consists
in the prefaces and notes, contributed some of them by
Casaubon and other learned men, though by far the best are
xii PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
of fifty years in literary work of a most laborious descrip-
tion. He died in 1741.
(5.) The last edition, which leaves little or nothing to be
desired, is that which I have used in preparing this volume
the Abbe* Migne's, in 13 vols., Paris, 1863. It is substan-
tially a reproduction of the Benedictine, in a rather less
cumbrous size, and embodies some of the best corrections,
notes, and prefaces of modern commentators, especially those
of Mr. Field to the Homilies of St. Matthew, and some by
the learned editor himself.
A brief sketch of the principal forms in which Chrysostom's
works have appeared seemed an appropriate introduction to
the history of the man himself. If the perusal of that
history shall afford to readers half as much interest, pleasure,
and instruction as I have myself derived from the composi-
tion of it, I shall feel amply rewarded for my labour ; and I
gladly take this opportunity of expressing my gratitude to
my father-in-law for originally suggesting a work of this
kind, and to many friends, and especially my wife, for
constant encouragement, without which a mixture of indol-
ence and diffidence might have prevented the completion of
my design.
DENSWORTH COTTAGE, CHICHESTER,
All Saints Day 1871.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAOB
Introductory, 1
CHAPTER II.
From his Birth to his Appointment to the Office of Reader, A.D. 345
or A.D. 347 to A.D. 370, 9
CHAPTER III.
Commencement of ascetic life Study under Diodorus Formation
of an ascetic Brotherhood The Letters to Theodore. A.D. 370, 24
CHAPTER IV.
Chrysostom evades forcible Ordination to a Bishopric The Treatise
" On the Priesthood." A.D. 370, 371, 40
CHAPTER V.
Narrow Escape from Persecution His Entrance into a Monastery
The Monasticism of the East. A.D. 372, .... 57
CHAPTER VI.
Works produced during his monastic life The letters to Demetrius
and Stelechius Treatises addressed to the Opponents of
Monasticism Letter to Stagirius, ...... 69
CHAPTER VII.
Ordination as Deacon Description of Antioch Works composed
during his Diaconate. A.D. 381-386, 86
xiv CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VIII.
PAGE
Ordination to the Priesthood by Flavian Inaugural Discourse in
the Cathedral Homilies against the Arians Animadversions
on the Chariot Races. A.D. 386, 103
CHAPTER IX.
Homilies against Pagans and Jews Condition of the Jews in
Anfcioch Judaising Christians Homilies on Christmas Day
and New Year's Day Censure of Pagan Superstitions. A.D.
386,387, 120
CHAPTER X.
Survey of the first Decade of the Reign of Theodosius His
Character His Efforts for the Extirpation of Paganism and
Heresy The Apologies of Symmachus and Libanius. A.D.
379-389, 139
CHAPTER XI.
The Sedition at Antioch The Homilies on the Statues The
Results of the Sedition. A.D. 387, 150
CHAPTER XII.
Illness of Chrysostom Homilies on Festivals of Saints and Martyrs
Character of these Festivals Pilgrimages Reliques Char-
acter of Peasant Clergy in neighbourhood of Antioch. A.D. 387, 177
CHAPTER XIII.
Survey of Events between A.D. 387 and A.D. 397 Ambrose and
Theodosius Revolt of Arbogastes Death of Theodosius
The Ministers of Arcadius Rufinus and Eutropius, . .186
CHAPTER XIV.
Death of Nectarius, Archbishop of Constantinople Eager Competi-
tion for the See Election of Chrysostom His compulsory
Removal from Antioch Consecration Reforms Homilies on
various subjects Missionary Projects, . . . . .212
CHAPTER XV.
The Fall of Eutropius His Retreat to the Sanctuary of the Church
Right of Sanctuary maintained by Chrysostom Death of
Eutropius Revolt of Gothic Commanders Tribigild and
Ga'inas Demand of Gainas for an Arian Church refused by
Chrysostom Defeat and Death of Gainas. A.D. 399-401, . 240
CONTENTS. xv
CHAPTER XVI.
PAGE
Chrysostom's Visit to Asia Deposition of six simoniacal Bishops
Legitimate Extent of his Jurisdiction Return to Constantinople
Rupture and reconciliation with Severiau, bishop of Gabala
Chrysostom's increasing unpopularity with the Clergy and
wealthy Laity His Friends Olympias the Deaconess ^For-
mation of hostile Factions, which invite the aid of Theophilus,
Patriarch of Alexandria. A.D. 400, 401, .... 265
CHAPTER XVII.
Circumstances which led to the interference of Theophilus with the
affairs of Chrysostom Controversy about the Writings of
Origen Persecution by Theophilus of the Monks called " The
Tall Brethren" Their Flight to Palestine To Constantinople
Their Reception by Chrysostom Theophilus summoned to
Constantinople. A.D. 395-403, 286
CHAPTER XVIII.
Theophilus arrives in Constantinople Organises a Cabal against
Chrysostom The Synod of the Oak Chrysostom pronounced
contumacious for Non-appearance and expelled from the city
Earthquake Recall of Chrysostom Ovations on his Return
Flight of Theophilus. A.D. 403, 306
CHAPTER XIX.
An Image of Eudoxia placed in front of the Cathedral Chryso-
stom denounces it Anger of the Empress The enemy re-
turns to the charge Another Council formed Chrysostom
confined to his Palace Violent scene in the Cathedral and
other places Chrysostom again expelled. A.D. 403, 404, . 326
CHAPTER XX.
Fury of the people at the removal of Chrysostom Destruction of
the Cathedral Church and Senate-house by Fire Persecution
of Chrysostom's followers Fugitives to Rome Letters of
Innocent to Theophilus To the Clergy of Constantinople To
Chrysostom Deputation of Western Bishops to Constanti-
nople repulsed Sufferings of the Eastern Church Triumph
of the Cabal. A.D. 404, 405, 341
CHAPTER XXI.
Chrysostom ordered to be removed to Cucusus Perils encountered
at Csesarea Hardships of the Journey Reaches Cucusus
Letters written there to Olympias and other Friends. A.D. 404, 361
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXII.
PAGE
Chrysostom's Sufferings from the winter cold Depredations of the
Isaurians The Mission in Phoenicia Letters to Innocent and
the Italian Bishops Chrysostora's enemies obtain an order
for his Removal to Pityus He dies at Comana, A.D. 407
Reception of his Reliques at Constantinople. A.D. 438, . . 379
CHAPTER XXIII.
Survey of Chrysostom's Theological Teaching Practical tone of
his Works Reason of this Doctrine of Man's Nature
Original Sin Grace Free-will How far Chrysostom Pela-
gian Language on the Trinity Atonement Justification
The two Sacraments No trace of Confession, Purgatory, or
Mariolatry Relations towards the Pope Liturgy of Chryso-
stom His character as a Commentator Views on Inspiration
His Preaching Personal Appearance References to Greek
Classical Authors Comparison with St. Augustine, . . 390
APPENDIX, 433
INDEX, 435
L I B R A Iv V
rx i v K IJSITY OF
CALIFOUNLA.
LIFE AND TIMES
OF
ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM,
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
I. THERE are many great names in history which have
been familiar to us from almost our earliest years, but of
the personal character, the actual life of those who bore
them, we are comparatively ignorant. We know that they
were men of genius ; industrious, energetic workers, who, as
statesmen, reformers, warriors, writers, speakers, exercised
a vital influence for good or ill upon their fellow-men.
They have achieved a reputation which will never die;
but from various causes their personality does not stand
out before us in clear and bold relief. We know some-
thing about some of the most important passages in their
life, a few of their sayings, a little of their writings ; but
the men themselves we do not know.
Frequently the reason of this is, that though they occupy
a place, perhaps an important place, in the great drama
of history, yet they have not played one of the foremost
parts; and general history cannot spare much time or
A
2 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. i.
space beyond what is necessary to describe the main pro-
gress of events, and the actions and characters of those
who were most prominently concerned in them. Other
men may have been greater in themselves ; they may have
been first-rate in their own sphere, but that sphere was
too much secluded or circumscribed to admit of the exten-
sive and conspicuous public influence of which alone his-
tory takes much cognisance. They are to history what
those side or background figures in the pictures of great
medieval painters are to the grand central subject of the
piece: they do but help to fill up the canvas, yet the
picture would not be complete without them. They are
notable personages, well worthy of being separately depicted,
though in the large historical representation they play a
subordinate part.
To take out one of these side figures of history, and to
make it the centre of a separate picture, grouping round
it all the great events and characters among which it
moved, is the work of a biographer. And by many it will
be felt that nothing invests the general history of any
period with such a living interest as viewing it through
the light of some one human life. How was this individual
soul affected by the movement of the great forces with
which it was surrounded ? How did it affect them, in its
turn, wherever in its progress it came into contact with
them ? This one consideration will confer on many details
of history an importance and freshness of which they
seemed too trivial or too dull to be susceptible.
II. Among these side characters in history, characters
of men in themselves belonging to the first rank, men
whose names will be renowned and honoured to the end of
time, but precluded, by disposition or circumstances, from
taking the foremost place in the larger canvas of general
history, must be reckoned many of the great ecclesiastics
of the first four or five centuries of Christianity. Every
CH. i.] INTRODUCTORY. 3
one recognises as great such names as Origen, Tertullian,
Cyprian, Basil, the two Gregories, and many more. Every
one would admit that the Church owes them a debt, but it
may be safely affirmed that here the acquaintance of many
with these eminent men begins and ends. A few scraps
from their writings quoted in commentaries, one or two
remarkable acts or sayings which have been thought worthy
to be handed down, a few passages in which their lives flit
across the stage of general history, complete the knowledge
of many more. Such men, indeed, as Athanasius and
Ambrose are to some extent exceptions. The magnitude
of the principles for which they contended, the energy and
ability which they displayed in the contest, were too con-
spicuous to be passed over by the general historian, civil
or ecclesiastical. The proverbial expression "Athanasius
contra numdum " attests of itself the pre-eminent greatness
of the man. But with other luminaries of the Church,
whose powers were perhaps equally great, but not exercised
on so public a field or on behalf of such apparently vital
questions, history has not dealt, perhaps cannot consistently
with its scope deal, in any degree commensurate with
their merits. Nor does this remark apply entirely to civil
history. Ecclesiastical history also is so much occupied
with the consideration of subjects on a large scale and
covering a large space of time, the course of controversies,
the growth of doctrines, the relations between Church and
State, changes in discipline, in liturgies, in ritual, that the
history of those who lived among these events, and who by
their ability made or moulded them, is comparatively lost
sight of. The outward operations are seen, but the springs
which set them going are concealed. How can general
history, for instance, adequately set forth the character and
the work of such men as Savonarola or Erasmus, both in
their widely different ways men of such incomparable genius
and incessant activity ? It does not ; it only supplies a
4 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [OH. i.
glimpse, a sketch, which make us long for a fuller vision, a
more finished picture. 1
III. It is designed to attempt, in the following pages,
such a supplementary chapter in ecclesiastical history. An
endeavour will be made not merely to chronicle the life and
estimate the character of the great preacher of Antioch
and Constantinople, but to place him in the centre of all
the great movements, civil as well as religious, of his time,
and see what light he and they throw upon one another.
The age in which he lived was a troublous one. The
spectacle of a tempestuous sea may in itself excite our
interest and inspire us with awe, but place in the midst of
it a vessel containing human life, and how deeply is our
interest intensified !
What was the general character and position of the
clergy in the fourth century? What was the attitude of
the Church towards the sensuality, selfishness, luxury, of
an effete and debased civilisation on the one hand, and the
rude ferocity of young and strong barbarian races on the
other? To what extent had Christianity leavened, or had
it appreciably leavened at all, popular forms of thought and
popular habits of life? What was the existing phase of
monasticism? what the ordinary form of worship in the
Catholic Church ? what the established belief respecting the
sacraments and the great verities of the Christian faith?
In answer to such inquiries, and to many more, much useful
information may be extracted from the works of so prolific a
writer and preacher as Chrysostom. Being concerned also,
as a preacher, with moral practice more than with abstract
theology, his homilies reflect, like the writings of satirists, the
manners of the age. The habits of private life, the fashion-
able amusements, the absurdities of dress, all the petty foibles,
as well as the more serious vices of the society by which
1 In the case of Savonarola such a "Erasmus, his Life and Character,"
want has now been fairly well sup- by Robert Blackley Drummond, B.A.
plied by Villari and other writers. 2 vols., 1873.
For a good portrait of Erasmus, see
en. T.] INTRODUCTORY. 5
he was surrounded, are dragged out without remorse, and
made the subjects of solemn admonition, or fierce invective,
or withering sarcasm, or ironical jest.
IV. Nor does secular history, from which not a single
chapter in ecclesiastical history can without injury be dis-
sociated, want for copious illustration. Not only from the
memorable story of the sedition at Antioch, and from the
public events at Constantinople, in which Chrysostom
played a conspicuous part, but from many an allusion or
incidental expression scattered up and down his works, we
may collect rays of light on the social and political con-
dition of the Empire. We get glimpses in his pages of a
large mass of the population hovering midway between
Paganism and Christianity ; we detect an oppressive system
of taxation, a widely-spread venality in the administration
of public business, a general insecurity of life arising from
the almost total absence of what we understand by police
regulations, a depressed agriculture, a great slave population,
a vast turbulent army as dangerous to the peace of society
as the enemies from whom it was supposed to defend it, the
presence of barbarians in the country as servants, soldiers, or
colonists, the constantly-impending danger from other hordes
ever hovering on the frontier, and, like famished wolves,
gazing with hungry eyes on the plentiful prey which lay
beyond it. But in the midst of the national corruption we
see great characters stand out; and it is remarkable that
they belong, without exception, to the two elements which
alone were strong and progressive in the midst of the general
debility and decadence. All the men of commanding genius
in this era were either Christian or barbarian. A young
and growing faith, a vigorous and manly race : these were
the two forces destined to work hand in hand for the
destruction of an old and the establishment of a new order
of things. The chief doctors of Christianity in the fourth
century Augustine, Chrysostom, Ambrose are incompar-
6 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. i.
ably greater than their contemporary advocates of the old
religion and philosophy, Symmachus or Libanius ; even as
the Gothic Alaric and Fravitta, and the Vandal Stilicho, were
the only generals who did not disgrace the Roman arms.
V. Some remarks on the theology of Chrysostom will
be found in the concluding chapter. The appellation of
preacher, 1 by which he is most generally known, is a true
indicator of the sphere in which his powers were greatest.
It was in upholding a pure and lofty standard of Christian
morality, and in denouncing unchristian wickedness, that
his life was mainly spent, rather than, like Augustine's, in
constructing and teaching a logical system of doctrine.
The rage of his enemies, to which he ultimately fell a
victim, was not bred of the bitterness of theological con-
troversy, but of the natural antagonism between the evil
and the good. And it is partly on this account that neither
the remoteness of time, nor difference of circumstances,
which separate us from him, can dim the interest with
which we read his story. He fought not so much for any
abstract question of theology or point of ecclesiastical dis-
cipline, which may have lost its meaning and importance
for us, but for those grand principles of truth and justice,
Christian charity, and Christian holiness, which ought to be
dear to men equally in all ages.
VI. But there is also in the struggle of Chrysostom with
the secular power an ecclesiastical and historical interest, as
well as a moral one. We see prefigured in his deposition
the fate of the Eastern Church in the Eastern capital of the
Empire. As the papacy grew securely by the retreat from
the old Eome of any secular rival, so the patriarchate of
the new Eome was constantly, increasingly depressed by the
presence of such a rival. Of all the great churchmen who
flourished in the fourth century, Athauasius, Basil, the
"That godly clerk and great preacher" is the description of him in the
English Homilies Hom. i.
CH. i.] INTRODUCTORY. 7
Gregories, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Chrysostom,
the last three alone survived into the fifth century. But the
glory of the Western Church was then only in its infancy ;
the glory of the Eastern culminated in Chrysostom. From
his time the patriarchs of Constantinople fell more and more
into the servile position of court functionaries. The work-
ing out of that grand idea, a visible organised Catholic
Church, uniform in doctrine and discipline, an idea which
grew more and more as the political disintegration of the
Empire increased, was to be accomplished by the more com-
manding, law-giving spirit of the West. Intrepid in spirit,
inflexible of purpose, though Chrysostom was, he could not
subdue, he could only provoke to more violent opposition,
the powers with which he was brought into collision.
Ineffectual was his contest with ecclesiastical corruption
and secular tyranny, as compared with a similar contest
waged by his Western contemporary, Ambrose ; ineffectual
also were the efforts, after his time, of the Church which he
represented to assert the full dignity of its position.
VII. Chrysostom, and the contemporary fathers of the
Eastern Church, naturally seem very remote from us ; but,
in fact, they are nearer to us in their modes of thought than
many who in point of time are less distant. They were
brought up in the study of that Greek literature with which
we are familiar. Philosophy had not stiffened into scholas-
ticism. The ethics of Chrysostom are substantially the same
witli the ethics of Butler. So, again, Eastern fathers of the
fourth century are far more nearly allied to us in theology
than writers of a few centuries later. If we are to look to
" the rock " whence our Anglican liturgy " was hewn," and
" to the hole of the pit " whence Anglican reformed theology
"was digged," we must turn our eyes, above all other direc-
tions, to the Eastern Church and the Eastern fathers. It
was observed by Mr. Alexander Knox, 1 that the earlier days
1 "Remains," vol. iii. Letters to Dr. Woodward and Mrs. Hannah More.
8 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. i.
of the Greek Church seem resplendent with a glow of simple,
fervent piety, such as in a Church, as a whole, has never
since been seen ; and that this character is strikingly in
harmony with our own liturgy, so overflowing with sublime
aspirations, so Catholic, not bearing the impress of any one
system of theology, but containing what is best in all. We
may detect in Chrysostom the germ of medieval corruptions,
such as the invocation of saints, the adoration of relics, and
a sensuous conception of the change effected in the holy
elements in the Eucharist ; but these are the raw material
of error, not yet wrought into definite shape. The Bishop
of Rome is recognised, as will be seen from Chrysostom's
correspondence with Innocent, as a great potentate, whose
intercessions are to be solicited in time of trouble and diffi-
culty, and to whose judgment much deference is to be paid,
but by no means as a supreme ruler in Christendom.
Thus, the tone of Chrysostom's language is far more akin
to that of our own Church than of the medieval or present
Church of Rome. In his habit of referring to Holy Scrip-
ture as the ultimate source and basis of all true doctrine,
" so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved
thereby, is not to be required of any man as an article of
faith ;" in his careful endeavour to ascertain the real mean-
ing of Scripture, not seeking for fanciful or mystical inter-
pretations, or supporting preconceived theories, but patiently
labouring, with a mixture of candour, reverence, and common
sense, to ascertain the exact literal sense of each passage ;
in these points, no less than in his theology, he bears an
affinity to the best minds of our own reformed Church, and
fairly represents that faith of the Catholic Church before the
disruption of East and West in which Bishop Ken desired to
die; while his fervent piety, and his apostolic zeal as a
preacher of righteousness, must command the admiration of
all earnest Christians, to whatever country, age, or Church,
they may belong.
CHAPTER II.
FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS APPOINTMENT TO THE OFFICE OF READER,
A.D. 345 OR A.D. 347 TO A.D. 370.
IT has been well remarked by Sir Henry Savile, in the
preface to his noble edition of Chrysostom's works, pub-
lished in 1612, that, as with great rivers, so often with great
men, the middle and the close of their career are dignified
and distinguished, but the primary source and early progress
of the stream are difficult to ascertain and trace. No one,
he says, has been able to fix the exact date, the year, and
the consulship of Chrysostom's birth. This is true ; but at
the same time his birth, parentage, and education are not
involved in such obscurity as surrounds the earliest years of
some other great luminaries of the Eastern Church ; his own
friend, for instance, Theodore, Bishop of Mopsuestia, and
yet more notably, the great Athanasius.
There is little doubt that his birth occurred not later than
the year A.D. 347, and not earlier than the year A.D. 345 ;
and there is no doubt that Antioch in Syria was the place of
his birth, that his mother's name was Anthusa, his father's
Secundus, and that both were well born. His mother
w r as, if not actually baptized, very favourably inclined to
Christianity, 1 and, indeed, a woman of no ordinary piety.
The father had attained the rank of " magister militum " in
the Imperial army of Syria, and therefore enjoyed the title
1 Wall, on Infant Baptism, endea- Chrysostom's baptism, but his reasons
vours to prove that she was a Pagan, are far from convincing,
in order to account for the delay in
10 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. ir.
of " illustris." He died when his son John was an infant,
leaving a young widow, about twenty years of age, in
comfortable circumstances, but harassed by the difficulties
and anxieties of her unprotected condition as mistress of
a household in days when servants were slaves, and life in
large cities altogether unguarded by such securities as are
familiar to us. Greatly did she dread the responsibility of
bringing up a son in one of the most turbulent and dissolute
capitals of the Empire. Nothing, she afterwards 1 declared
to him, could have enabled her to pass through such a
furnace of trial but a consoling sense of divine support,
and the delight of contemplating the image of her husband
as reproduced in his son. How long a sister older than
himself may have lived we do not know ; but the conversa-
tion between him and his mother, when he was meditating
a retreat into a monastery, seems to imply that he was the
only surviving child. All her love, all her care, all her
means and energies, were concentrated on the boy destined
to become so great a man, and exhibiting even in childhood
no common ability and aptitude for learning. But her chief
anxiety was to train him in pious habits, and to preserve
him uncontaminated from the pollutions of the vicious city
in which they resided. She was to him what Monica was
to Augustine, and Nonna to Gregory Nazianzen.
The great influence, indeed, of women upon the Chris-
tianity of domestic life in that age is not a little remarkable.
The Christians were not such a pure and single-minded
community as they had been. The refining fires of persecu-
tion which burnt up the chaff of hypocrisy or indifference
were now extinguished ; Christianity had a recognised posi-
tion ; her bishops were in kings' courts. The natural conse-
quences inevitably followed this attainment of security; there
were more Christians, but not more who were zealous ; there
were many who hung very loosely to the Church many
1 De Sacerdot. lib. i. c. 5.
CH. ii.] CHRISTIAN WOMEN AT ANTIOOH. 11
who fluctuated between the Church and Paganism. In the
great Eastern cities of the Empire, especially Alexandria,
Antioch, Constantinople, the mass of the so-called Christian
population was largely infected by the dominant vices
inordinate luxury, sensuality, selfish avarice, and display.
Christianity was in part paganised long before it had made
any appreciable progress towards the destruction of Paganism.
But the sincere and ardent piety of many amongst the
women kept alive in many a home the flame of Christian
faith which would otherwise have been smothered. The
Emperor Julian imagined that his efforts to resuscitate
Paganism would have been successful in Antioch but for
the strenuous opposition of the Christian women. He com-
plains " that they were permitted by their husbands to take
anything out of the house to bestow it upon the Galileans,
or to give away to the poor, while they would not expend
the smallest trifle upon the worship of the gods." 1 The
efforts also of the Governor Alexander, who was left in
Antioch by the Emperor to carry forward his designs of
Pagan reformation, were principally baffled through this
It-male influence. He found that the men would often
consent to attend the temples and sacrifices, but afterwards
generally repented and retracted their adherence. This
relapse Libanius the sophist, in a letter 2 to the Governor,
ascribes to the home influence of the women. " When the
men are out of doors," he says, " they obey you who give
them the best advice, and they approach the altars; but
when they get home, their minds undergo a change; they
are wrought upon by the tears and entreaties of their
wives, and they again withdraw from the altars of the
gods."
Anthusa did not marry again; very possibly she was
deterred from contracting a second marriage by religious
scruples which Chrysostom himself would certainly have
1 Julian : Misopogon, p. 363. 2 Epist. 1057.
12 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. n.
approved. 1 The Pagans themselves admired those women
who dedicated themselves to a single life, or abstained from
marrying again. Chrysostom himself informs us that when
he began to attend the lectures of Libanius, his master
inquired who and what his parents were ; and on being told
that he was the son of a widow who at the age of forty had
lost her husband twenty years, he exclaimed in a tone of
mingled jealousy and admiration : " Heavens ! what women
these Christians have !" 2
What instruction he received in early boyhood, beside
his mother's careful moral and religious training; whether
he was sent, a common custom among Christian parents
in that age, 3 to be taught by the monks in one of the
neighbouring monasteries, where he may have imbibed an
early taste for monastic retirement, we know not. He was
designed, however, not for the clerical but for the legal
profession, and at the age of twenty he began to attend
the lectures of one of the first sophists of the day, capable
of giving him that secular training and learning which
would best enable him to cope with men of the world.
Libanius had achieved a reputation as a teacher of general
literature, rhetoric, and philosophy, and as an able and
eloquent defender of Paganism, not only in his native city
Antioch, but in the Empire at large. He was the friend and
correspondent of Julian, and on amicable terms with the
Emperors Valens and Theodosius. He had now returned to
Antioch after lengthened residence in Athens (where the
chair of rhetoric had been offered to him, but declined), in
Nicomedia, and in Constantinople. 4 In attending daily
lectures at his school, the young Chrysostom became con-
versant with the best classical Greek authors, both poets
and philosophers. Of their teaching he in later life retained
little admiration, 5 and to the perusal of their writings he
1 Epist. ad viduam jun. , vol. i. 4 Liban. de fortuna sua, pp. 13-
2 Ibid. p. 601. 137.
3 Adv. Oppug. Vit. Monast. lib. iii. c. 11. 5 See concluding Chapter.
CH. ii.] THE SCHOOL OF LIBANIUS. 13
probably seldom or never recurred for profit or recreation,
but his retentive memory enabled him to the last to point
and adorn his arguments with quotations from Homer,
Plato, and the Tragedians. In the school of Libanius also
he began to practise those nascent powers of eloquence
which were destined to win for him so mighty a fame, as
well as the appellation of Chrysostomos, or the Golden
Mouth, by which, rather than by his proper name of John,
he will be known to the end of time. 1 Libanius, in a letter
to Chrysostom, praises highly a speech composed by him in
honour of the Emperors, and says they were happy in having
so excellent a panegyrist. 2 The Pagan sophist helped to
forge the weapons which were afterwards to be skilfully
employed against the cause to which he was devoted. When
he was on his deathbed, he was asked by his friends who
was in his opinion capable of succeeding him. " It would
have been John," he replied, " had not the Christians stolen
him from us." 3 But it did not immediately appear that the
learned advocate of Paganism was nourishing a traitor ; for
Chrysostom had not yet been baptized, and began to seek an
opening for his powers in secular fields of activity. 4 He
commenced practice as a lawyer ; some of his speeches
gained great admiration, and were highly commended by his
old master Libanius. A brilliant career of worldly ambition
was open to him. The profession of the law was at that
time the great avenue to civil distinction. The amount of
litigation was enormous. One hundred and fifty advocates
were required for the court of the Praetorian Prefect of the
East alone. The display of talent in the law-courts fre-
quently obtained for a man the government of a province,
whence the road was open to those higher dignities of vice-
prefect, prefect, patrician, consul, which were honoured by
the title of "illustrious." 5
1 See concluding Chapter. 4 Isidore Pel., lib. ii. ep. 42; De
2 Quoted by Isidore of Pelusiura, Sacerdot. i. c. 4.
lib. ii. ep. 42. 5 Gibbon, iii. 52, note ; Milman's
3 Sozomen, viii. c. 2. edition.
14 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. 11.
But the pure and upright disposition of the youthful
advocate recoiled from the licentiousness which corrupted
society ; from the avarice, fraud, and artifice which marked
the transactions of men of business ; from the chicanery and
rapacity that sullied the profession which he had entered. 1
He was accustomed to say later in life that " the Bible was
the fountain for watering the soul." If he had drunk of the
classical fountains in the school of Libanius, he had imbibed
draughts yet deeper of the spiritual well-spring in quiet
study of Holy Scripture at home. And like many another
in that degraded age, his whole soul revolted from the
glaring contrast presented by the ordinary life of the world
around him to that standard of holiness which was held up
in the Gospels.
He had formed also an intimate friendship with a young
man, his equal in station and age, by whose influence he was
diverted more and more from secular life, and eventually
induced altogether to abandon it. This was Basil, who will
come before us in the celebrated work on the priesthood.
He must not be confounded with the great Basil, 2 Bishop of
Csesarea, in Cappadocia, who was some fifteen years older
than Chrysostom, having been born in A.D. 329, nor with
Basil, Bishop of Seleucia, who was present at the Council of
Chalcedon in A.D. 451, and must therefore have been con-
siderably younger. Perhaps he may be identified with a
Basil, Bishop of Eaphanea in Syria, not far from Antioch,
who attended the Council of Constantinople in A.D. 381.
Chrysostom has described his friendship with Basil in
affecting language : 3 " I had many genuine and true friends,
men who understood and strictly observed the laws of
friendship ; but one there was out of the many who ex-
ceeded them all in attachment to me, and strove to leave
them all behind in the race, even as much as they themselves
1 Gibbon, iii. 53 ; for an account of 2 As Socrates, book vi. chap. 3, has
the character of lawyers at this period done,
see Aram. Marcellinns, Ixxx. c. 4. 3 De Sacerdot. lib. i. c. L
en. ii.] FRIENDSHIP WITH BASIL. 15
surpassed ordinary acquaintances. He was one of those
who accompanied me at all times ; we engaged in the same
studies, and were instructed by the same teachers ; in our
zeal and interest for the subjects on which we worked, we
were one. As we went to our lectures or returned from
them, we were accustomed to take counsel together on the
line of life it would be best to adopt; and here, too, we
appeared to be unanimous."
Basil early determined this question for himself in favour
of monasticism ; he decided, as Chrysostom expresses it, to
follow the "true philosophy." This occasioned the first
interruption to their intercourse. Chrysostom, soon after
the age of twenty, had embarked on a secular career, and
could not immediately make up his mind to tread in the
footsteps of his friend. " The balance," he says, " was no
longer even;" the scale of Basil mounted, while that of
Chrysostom was depressed by the weight of earthly interests
and desires. 1 But the decisive act of Basil made a deep
impression on his mind ; separation from his friend only
increased his attachment to him, and his aversion from life
in the world. He began to withdraw more from ordinary
occupations and pleasures, and to spend more of his time
in the study of Holy Scripture. He formed acquaintance
with Meletius, the deeply respected Catholic Bishop of
Antioch, and after three years, the usual period of probation
for catechumens, was baptized by him.
A natural question arises : Why was he not baptized
before, since his mother was a Christian, and there is
abundant evidence that infant baptism was and had been
the ordinary practice of the Church ? 2 In attempting a
solution of the difficulty, it will be proper to mention first
certain reasons for delaying baptism which were prevalent in
that age, and which may partially have influenced the mind
1 De Sacerdot. c. iii.
2 See references in Bingham, vol. iii. b. xi. Wall, vol. ii.
16 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. ir.
of Chrysostom's mother or himself. It may sound para-
doxical to say that an exaggerated estimation of the import
and effect of baptism contributed in two ways to its delay.
But such appears to have been the case. It was regarded
by many as the most complete and final purgation of past
sin, and the most solemn pledge of a new and purified life
for the future. To sin, therefore, before baptism was com-
paratively harmless, if in the waters of baptism the guilty
stains could be washed away ; but sin after the reception of
that holy sacrament was almost, if not altogether, unpardon-
able at least fraught with the most tremendous peril.
Hence some would delay baptism, as many now delay re-
pentance, from a secret or conscious reluctance to take a
decisive step, and renounce the pleasures of sin ; and under
the comfortable persuasion that some day, by submitting to
baptism, they would free themselves from the responsibi-
lities of their past life. Others, again, were deterred from
binding themselves under so solemn a covenant by a distrust
of their ability to fulfil their vows, and a timorous dread
of the eternal consequences if they failed. Against these
misconceptions of the true nature and proper use of the
sacrament, the great Basil, the two Gregories, and Chryso-
stom himself contend l with a vehemence and indignation
which proves them to have been common. Many parents
thought they would allow the fitful and unstable season of
youth to pass before they irrevocably bound their children
under the most solemn engagements of their Christian call-
ing. The children, when they grew up, inherited their
scruples, and so the sacrament was indefinitely deferred.
It is not impossible that such feelings may have influenced
Chrysostom's mother and himself; but considering the
natural and healthy character of his piety, which seems to
have grown by a gentle and unintermitting progress from
1 Basil : Exhort, ad Baptisranm ; Apost. vol. ix. horn. i. in fine, and
Greg. Nazianz. Orat. 40 de Bapt. ; in Illumin. Catechesis, vol. ii. p.
Nyssen, de Bapt. ; Chrysost. in Acta 223.
CH. IL] REASONS FOR DELAY OF BAPTISM. 17
his childhood, they do not seem very probable in his case.
A more cogent cause for the delay may perhaps be found in
the distracted state of the Church in Antioch, which lasted,
with increasing complications, from A.D. 330, or fifteen years
prior to Chrysostom's birth, up to the time of his baptism
by Meletius, when a brighter day was beginning to dawn.
The vicissitudes of the Church in Antioch during that
period form a curious, though far from pleasing, picture of
the inextricable difficulties, the deplorable schisms, into
which the Church at large was plunged by the Arian con-
troversy. Two years after the Council of Nice, A.D. 327,
the Arians, through the assistance of Constantia, the
Emperor's sister, won the favour of Constantine. He lost
no time during this season of prosperity in procuring the
deposition of Catholic bishops. Eminent among these
was Eustathius, Bishop of Antioch. He was ejected by
a synod held in his own city on false charges of Sabellianism
and adultery. 1 An Arian Bishop, Euphronius, was ap-
pointed, but the Catholic congregation indignantly with-
drew to hold their services in another quarter of the town,
on the opposite side of the Orontes. 2 The see remained for
some time entirely in the hands of the Arians. When the
Council of Sardica met in A.D. 342, and the Arian faction
seceded from it to hold a Council of their own in Philippo-
polis, Stephen, Bishop of Antioch, was their president.
He was deposed in A.D. 349 by the Emperor Constantius,
having been detected as an accomplice in an infamous plot
against some envoys from the Western Church. 3 But " uno
avulso nou deficit alter;" he was succeeded by another
Arian, the eunuch Leontius. 4 He tried to conciliate the
Catholics by an artful and equivocating policy, of which his
1 Philostorgius, ii. 7; Socrates,!. 23; 4 Socr. ii. 26 ; he had been deposed
Theod. i. 21. from the rank of presbyter because he
2 Socr. i. 24 ; Theod. i. 22. was a eunuch, in accordance with the
3 Athanas. Hist. Arian. 20, 21 ; provision of the Council of Nice, c. i.
Theod. ii. 9, 10. Labbe, i. p. 28.
18 LIFE OF ST, JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. n.
manner of chanting the doxology was an instance. The
Arian form of it was " Glory be to the Father BY the Son in
the Holy Ghost ;" this the bishop was accustomed to slur in
such an indistinct voice that the prepositions could not be
clearly if at all heard, while he joined loudly in the second
part of the hymn where all were agreed. 1 He died towards
the close of A.D. 357, when the see was fraudulently seized
by Eudoxius, Bishop of Germanicia. He favoured the
extreme Arians so openly that the Semi-Arians appealed
to the Emperor Constantius to summon a General Council.
Their request was granted ; but the Arians, fearing that the
Catholics and Seini-Arians would coalesce to overwhelm
them, artfully suggested that Rimini, the place proposed for
the Council, was too distant for the Eastern prelates, and
that the Assembly should be divided, part meeting at Rimini,
and part at Nice. 2 Their suggestion was accepted, and the
result is well known. Partly by arguments, partly by
artifices and delays which wore out the strength and patience
of the members, the Arians completely carried the day ; the
creed of Rimini was ordered by the Emperor to be every-
where signed, and in the words of Jerome, "the world
groaned and found itself Arian." 3 An Arian synod sat at
Constantinople. Macedonius, the archbishop, being con-
sidered too moderate, was deposed, and Eudoxius, the
usurper of Antioch, was elevated to the see in his stead ; 4
and Meletius, Bishop of Sebaste, in Armenia, was translated
to the vacant see of Antioch, A.D. 361. But in him the
Arians had mistaken their man. He was one of those who
attended more to the practical moral teaching than to the
abstract theology of Christianity; and, being not perhaps
very precise in his language on doctrinal points, he had been
1 Sozom. iii. 20 ; Theod. ii. 24. Kufin. i. 21 ; Socr. ii. 36, 37 ;
2 Sozom. iv. 12-16 ; Theod. ii. 26. Sozom. iv. 19 ; Jerome c. Lucif. 18,
In consequence of an earthquake at 19.
Nice, it was removed to Seleucia in
Isauria. 4 g ocr . ii. 42, 43.
CH. ii.] ARIAN BISHOPS OF ANTIOCH. 39
reckoned an Arian. 1 After his elevation to the see of
Antioch, he confined himself in his discourses to those
practical topics on which all could agree. But this was not
allowed to last long. The Emperor Constantius paid a visit
to Antioch soon after the appointment of Meletius, and he
was instigated by the Arians to put the bishop to a crucial
test. He was commanded to preach on Proverbs viii. 22 :
" The Lord possessed me " (Septuagint etcTiae, that was the
fatal word) " in the beginning," etc. The interpretation put
on the word " formed " (e/cTio-e) would reveal the mail. Two
other bishops discoursed first upon the same text: George
of Laodicea, Acacius of Csesarea. The first construed the
passage in a purely Arian sense : the Word was a /crlo-fMa,
" a created being," though the first in time and rank ; the
second preacher took a more moderate line. Then came the
turn of Meletius ; short-hand writers took down every word
as it fell. Meletius was a mild and temperate man, but he
had his convictions, and he was no coward. To the horror
of the Arians (the secret joy, perhaps, of those who disliked
him) he entirely dissented from the Arian interpretation.
The people loudly applauded his sermon, and called aloud
for some brief and compendious statement of his doctrine.
Meletius replied by a symbolical action : he held up three
fingers, and then closing two of them, he said : " Our minds
conceive of three, but we speak as to one." 2 This was con-
clusive ; the objectionable prelate was banished to Melitene,
his native place in Armenia, thirty days after he had
entered Antioch. Euzoius, who had been an intimate friend
and constant associate of Arius himself, was put into the
see. The Church of Antioch now split into three parties :
the old and rigid orthodox set, who, ever since the deposition
of Eustathius in A.D. 327, had adhered to his doctrine, and
were called after his name ; the moderate Catholics, who
regarded Meletius as their bishop: and the Arians under
i Sozom. iv. 23. 2 Tlieod. ii. 31 ; Sozom. iv. 28.
20 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. n.
Euzoius. The synod which had deposed him published
a thoroughly Arian creed, which declared the Son to have
been created out of nothing, and to be unlike the Father
both in substance and will. 1
This first banishment of Meletius, which occurred in A.D.
361, did not last long. Julian, who became Emperor
the same year, recalled all the prelates who had been
exiled in the two preceding reigns ; partly, perhaps, from a
really liberal feeling, partly from a willingness to foment
the internal dissensions of the Church by placing the
rival bishops in close antagonism. Athanasius returned to
Alexandria amidst great ovations. 2 One of the questions
which occupied the attention of a synod convened by him
was the schism of Antioch. Eusebius, Bishop of Vercelli,
a staunch Italian friend of Athanasius, was despatched to
Antioch in order to heal the division ; but he had been
unhappily anticipated by another Western prelate, Lucifer
of Cagliari, in Sardinia, a brave defender of orthodoxy,
for which with Eusebius he had suffered exile, but a most
unskilful peacemaker. He only complicated the existing
confusion by consecrating as bishop a priest of the old
Eustathian party, named Paulinus, instead of strengthening
the hands of Meletius. 3 The unhappy Church at Antioch,
where the whole Christian community amounted to not
more, than 100,000 souls, 4 was thus torn to tatters. There
were now three bishops : the Arian Euzoius, Meletius, gen-
erally acknowledged by the Eastern Church, and Paulinus
by the Western. And, as if three rival heads were not
sufficient, the Apollinarians soon afterwards added a fourth.
But the mild, prudent, and charitable disposition of Meletius
procured for him the affection and esteem of the largest and
most respectable part of the population, as well as of the
1 Socr. ii. 45. 3 R u fi n> i 27 ; Socr. iii. 6 ; Sozom.
2 The Arian Bishop George having v. 12.
been murdered by the Pagan popula- 4 Chrysost. Horn, in Matt. 85, vol.
tion, Socr. iii. 5. vii. p. 762.
CH. ii.] DIVISIONS IN THE CHURCH AT ANTIOCH. 21
common people. Even when he was banished for the first
time after he had been only a month in Antioch, the popu-
lace endeavoured to stone the prefect as he was conducting
the bishop out of the city. He was saved by Meletius
himself, who threw a part of his own mantle round him, to
protect him from their fury. And after he returned from
exile the popularity of Meletius increased. In paintings on
the walls of houses and engravings on signet rings, his face
was often represented, and parents gave his name to their
children both to perpetuate his memory and to remind them
of an example which was worthy of their imitation. 1 Once
more in A.D. 367, and yet again in A.D. 370 or A.D. 371, when
the Arians recovered the favour of the Court under the
Emperor Yalens, he was sent into exile, but he returned
after the death of Valens in A.D. 378 ; and it was as Bishop
of Antioch that he presided over the Council of Constan-
tinople in A.D. 381, and died during its session. 2 His funeral
oration, pronounced by Gregory Nyssen, is extant. The
iinul reparation of that schism which he nobly and constantly
endeavoured to heal was not effected for nearly twenty
years, when Chrysostom, then Archbishop of Constantinople,
accomplished that good service for his native city.
It is interesting to dwell at some length upon the history
of the Church in Antioch at this period, because it repre-
sents the painful feuds in which the Church at large became
entangled through the baneful influence of the Arian contro-
versy, that first great blow to the unity of Christendom;
when bishop was set up against bishop, and rival councils
manufactured rival creeds, when violence, and intrigue, and
diplomatic arts were employed too often by both sides to
gain their ends. But the distracted state of the Church at
Antioch also supplies a possible answer to the question why
the baptism of Chrysostom was delayed so long. One of
the reasons frequently alleged for deferring the reception of
1 Chrysost. Horn, iii Melet. 2 Tillemont, viii. 374.
22 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. n.
that sacrament was the desire of the candidate to receive it
at the hands of some particular bishop. 1 Now who were
the bishops of Antioch during the infancy and boyhood of
Chrysostom ? The Arians were in possession of the see at
the time of his birth, and retained it till A.D. 361, when
Meletius was appointed, but banished almost immediately.
The pious sensible mother and the well-disposed youth
would not unnaturally hold aloof from a Church over which
presided such prelates as Stephen, Leontius, Eudoxius,
Euzoius. Their minds may well have been so sorely per-
plexed and suspended between the claims of opposing factions
as to delay the reception of baptism from the hands of any.
But the prudent, conciliatory policy, the mild and amiable
disposition of Meletius, would engage the sympathy and
respect of an affectionate, pious, and sensible youth, such as
Chrysostom was. He was about twenty when Meletius was
banished in 367 by the Emperor Valens; but the bishop
returned in a short time, when Chrysostom's friend Basil
had withdrawn into religious seclusion, and he himself was
feeling an increasing repugnance to the world. He presented
himself as a candidate for baptism to the bishop, and after
the usual three years of preparation as a catechumen, was
admitted into the Christian Church.
There can be no doubt that baptism, from whatever cause
delayed, must on that very account have come home to the
recipient with a peculiar solemnity of meaning. It was an
important epoch, often a decisive turning-point in the life,
a deliberate renunciation of the world, and dedication of the
whole man to God. So Chrysostom evidently felt it ; from
this point we enter on a new phase in his life. He becomes
for a time an enthusiastic ascetic, and then settles down into
that more tranquil and steady, but intense glow of piety and
love to God which burned with undiminished force till the
close of his career.
1 Greg. Nazian., Orat. de Bapt. 40; Chrysost. Ep. 132, ad Gcmellum.
CH. ii.] BAPTISM OF CHRYSOSTOM BY MELETIUS. 23
T]ie wise Bishop Meletius, however, desired to employ his
powers in some sphere of active labour in the Church. As
a preliminary step to this end, he ordained him soon after
his baptism to the office of reader. This order appears not
to have been instituted in the Church before the third
century ; at least there is no allusion to it in writers of the
first two centuries, and frequent references in writers of the
third and fourth. 1 The duty of readers was to read those
portions of Scripture which were introduced into the first
service or "Missa Catechunienorum," which preceded the
Communion, or " Missa Fidelium," so called because only
the baptized were admitted to it. They read from the
Pulpitum or Tribunal Ecclesiae, or Ambo, the reading-desk
of the Church, which must not be confounded with the
Bema, or Tribunal of the Sanctuary. This last was identical
with the altar, or rather the steps of the altar, and no rank
lower than that of deacon was permitted to read from this
position. By the Novells of Justinian, 2 eighteen was fixed
as the youngest age at which any one could be ordained to
this office. But previous to this limitation, it was not un-
common to appoint mere children. Csesarius of Aries is said
to have been made a reader at the tender age of seven, and
Victor Uticensis, describing the cruelties of the Vandalic
persecution in Africa, affirms that among 500 clergy or more
who perished by sword or famine, were many "infant readers." 3
The ceremony of ordination appears to have been very
simple. The Fourth Council of Carthage ordains that the
bishop should testify before the congregation to the purity,
the faith, and conversation of the candidate. Then in their
presence he is to place a Bible in his hands with these words :
" Take thou this book, and be thou a reader of the word of
God, which office if thou discharge faithfully and profitably
thou shalt have part with those who have ministered the
word of God." 4
1 Tertullian is the first who men- 3 Quoted in Bingham, vol. i. p. 378.
tions it ; de Prescript, c. 41. 4 Cone. Carth. iv. c. 8 ; Labbe,
2 Just. Nov. cxxiii. c. 13. vol. ii.
iv A it
v MVKKS1TV Ob
CHAPTER III.
COMMENCEMENT OF ASCETIC LIFE STUDY UNDER DIODORUS-FORMA-
TIO'N OF AN ASCETIC BROTHERHOOD THE LETTERS TO THEODORE.
A.D. 370.
THE enthusiasm of minds newly awakened to a full per-
ception of Christian holiness, and a deep sense of Christian
obligations, was in early times seldom contented with any-
thing short of complete separation from the world. The
Oriental temperament especially has been at all times
inclined to passionate extremes. It oscillates between the
most abandoned licentiousness and intense asceticism. The
second is the corrective of the first ; where the disease is
desperate, the remedies must be violent. Chrysostom, as
will be perceived throughout his life, was never carried to
fanatical extremes ; a certain sober-mindedness and calm
practical good sense eminently distinguished him, though
mingled with burning zeal. But in his youth especially he
was not exempt from the spirit of the age and country in
which he lived. He irresistibly gravitated towards that kind
of life which his friend Basil had already adopted a life of
retirement, contemplation, and pious study "the philo-
sophy" of Christianity, as it was called at that time. 1
It does not appear that Basil had actually joined any
monastic community, but merely that he was leading a life
of seclusion, and practising some of the usual monastic
austerities. Chrysostom, indeed, distinctly asserts that,
1 Vide quotations in Suicer, Thesaur. sub verlo
CH. in.] PROJECT FOR RETIRING INTO SECLUSION. 25
previous to his own baptism, their intercourse had not
been entirely broken off; only that it was impossible for
him, who had his business in the law-courts and found his
recreation in the theatre, to be. so acceptable as formerly to
one who now never entered public places, and who was
wholly devoted to meditation, study, and prayer. 1 Their
intercourse was necessarily more rare, though their friend-
ship was substantially unshaken. " When, however, I had
myself also lifted my head a little above this worldly flood, he
received me with open arms" (probably referring here to his
baptism or preparation for it) ; " but even then I was not
able to maintain my former equality, for he had the advan-
tage of me in point of time, and having manifested the
greatest diligence, he had attained a very lofty standard, and
was ever soaring beyond me." 2
This disparity, however, could not diminish their natural
affection for one another; and Basil at length obtained
Chrysostom's consent to a plan which he had frequently
urged that they should abandon their present homes and
live together in some quiet abode, there to strengthen each
other in undisturbed study, meditation, and prayer. But
this project of the young enthusiasts was for a time frus-
trated by the irresistible entreaties of Chrysostom's mother,
that he would not deprive her of his protection, companion-
ship, and help. The scene is described by Chrysostom
himself, 3 with a dramatic power worthy of Greek tragedy.
It reminds the reader of some of those long and stately, yet
elegant and affecting, narratives of the messenger who, at the
close of the play, describes the final scene which is not repre-
sented. Certainly it bespeaks the scholar of a man who had
made his pupils familiar with the best classical writers in
Greek. "When she knew that we were meditating this
course, my mother took me by the right hand and led me
into her own chamber, and there, seating herself near the
1 De Sacerdot. i. c. 4. 2 ILid. c. 3. 3 Ibid. c. 5.
26 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. in.
bed on which she had given birth to me, wept fountains of
tears ; to which she added words of lamentation more
pitiable even than the tears themselves. ' I was not long
permitted to enjoy the virtue of thy father, my child : so it
seemed good to God. My travail-pangs at your birth were
quickly succeeded by his death ; bringing orphanhood upon
thee, and upon me an untimely widowhood, with all those
miseries of widowhood which those only who have ex-
perienced them can fairly understand. Tor no description
can approach the reality of that storm and tempest which is
undergone by her who having but lately issued from her
father's home, and being unskilled in the ways of the world,
is suddenly plunged into grief insupportable, and compelled
to endure anxieties too great for her sex and age. For she
has to correct the negligence, to watch against the ill-doings,
of her slaves, to baffle the insidious schemes of kinsfolk, to
meet with a brave front the impudent threats and harshness
of tax-collectors.' " l
She then describes minutely the expense, and labour, and
constant anxiety which attended the education of a son ;
how she had refrained from all thoughts of second marriage,
that she might bestow her undivided energies, time, and
means upon him ; how amply it had all been rewarded by
the delight of his presence, recalling the image of her hus-
band ; and now that he had grown up, would he leave her
absolutely forlorn ? " In return for all these my services to
you," she cried, " I implore you this one favour only not to
make me a second time a widow, or to revive the grief
which time has lulled. Wait for my death perhaps I shall
soon be gone ; when you have committed my body to the
ground, and mingled my bones with your father's bones,
then you will be free to embark on any sea you please."
Such an appeal to his sense of filial gratitude and duty could
1 For the oppressive manner in which taxes were collected see Gibbon, iii. 78
etseq., Milman's edit.
en. in.] CHAEACTEE OF ASCETIC BEOTHEEHOOD. 27
not be disregarded. Clirysostom yielded to his mother's
entreaties, although Basil did not desist from urging his
favourite scheme. 1
At the same time he assimilated his life at home as much
as possible to the condition of a monk. He entirely with-
drew from all worldly occupations and amusements. He
seldom went out of the house ; he strengthened his mind by
study, his spirit by prayer, and subdued his body by vigils
and fasting, and sleeping upon the bare ground. He main-
tained an almost constant silence, that his thoughts might
be kept abstracted from mundane things, and that no irrit-
able or slanderous speech might escape his lips. Some of
his companions naturally lamented what they regarded as a
morose and melancholy change. 2
But the intercourse between, him and Basil was more
frequent than before ; and two other young men, who had
been their fellow-students at the school of Libanius, were
persuaded to adopt the same kind of secluded life. .These
two were Maximus, afterwards Bishop of Seleucia, in
Isauria ; and Theodore, who became Bishop of Mopsuestia,
in Cilicia. 3 This little fraternity formed, with some others
not named, a voluntary association of youthful ascetics.
They did not dwell in a separate building, nor were they in
any way established as a monastic community, but (like
Wesley and his young friends at Oxford) they lived by rule,
and practised monastic austerities. The superintendence of
their studies and general conduct they submitted to Diodorus
and Carterius, who were presidents of monasteries in the
vicinity of Antioch. 4 In addition to his own intrinsic merits
and eminence, Diodorus claims our attention, because there
can be no doubt that he exercised a great influence upon the
minds of his two most distinguished scholars, Chrysostom
and Theodore. Indeed, judging from the fragments of his
1 De Sacerdot. i. c. 6. 8 Socr. vi. c. 3.
2 Ibid. vi. c. 12. 4 Ibid. vi. 3.
28 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [cir. in.
works, and the notices of him by historians, it is not too
much to say that he was the founder of a method of Biblical
interpretation of which Chrysostom and Theodore became
the most able representatives.
He was of noble family, and the friend of Meletius, who
confided to him and the priest Evagrius the chief care of his
diocese during his second exile under Valens about A.D. 370.
And one of the first acts of Meletius, on his return in A.D.
378, was to make Diodorus Bishop of Tarsus. His writings
in defence of Christianity were sufficiently powerful and
notorious to provoke the notice of Julian, who, in a letter to
Photinus, attacks him with no small asperity. 1 The Em-
peror finds occasion for ridicule in the pale and wrinkled face
and the attenuated frame of Diodorus, wasted by his severe
labours and ascetic practices ; and represents these dis-
figurements as punishments from the offended gods against
whom he had directed his pen. Being well known as a
warm, friend of Meletius, Diodorus was exposed to some risk
from the Arian party during the exile of the bishop from
A.D. 370-378. But he was not deterred from frequenting
the old town on the south side of the Orontes, where the
congregation of Meletius held their assemblies, and dili-
gently ministering to their spiritual needs. He accepted
no fixed stipend, but his necessities were supplied by the
hospitality of those among whom he laboured. 2 Of his
voluminous writings, a commentary on the Old and New
Testament is that most frequently quoted by ecclesiastical
writers. They expressly and repeatedly affirm that he
adhered very closely to the literal and historical meaning
of the text, and that he was opposed to those mystical and
allegorical interpretations of Origen and the Alexandrian
school, which often disguised rather than elucidated the true
significance of the passage. 3 One evil of the allegorical
1 In Facund. Hermiana, Pro Def. 2 Chrysost. Horn, in Diodor., vol.
triura capit., lib. iv. c. 2, in Gall, and iii. p. 761.
bibl. patr. xi. p. 706. 8 Socr. vi. 3.
CH. in.] THEOLOGY OF DIODOKUS. 29
method was, that it destroyed a clear and critical perception
of the differences between the Older Eevelation and the New.
The Old Testament was regarded as a kind of vast enigma,
containing implicitly the facts and doctrines of the New.
To detect subtle allusions to the coming of our Saviour, to
the events of his life, to his death and resurrection, in the
acts, speeches, and gestures of persons mentioned in the Old
Testament, was regarded as a kind of interpretation no less
satisfactory than it was ingenious. To believe indeed that
the grand intention running through Scripture from the
beginning to the end is to bring men to Jesus Christ ; that
the history of the fall of man is given to enable us to
appreciate the need of a Restorer, and to estimate his work
at its proper value ; that the history of a dispensation based
on law enables us to accept with more thankfulness a dis-
pensation of spirit ; that the history of the Jewish system of
sacrifices is intended to conduct us to the one great Sacrifice
as the substance of previous shadows, the fulfilment of
previous types; that, alike in the law and the prophets,
intimations and hints and significant parallels of the sub-
sequent history to which they lead on are to be discerned ;
this may be reasonable, profitable, and true : but it can
be neither profitable nor true to see allusions, prophecies,
and parallels in every minute and trivial detail of that
earlier history.
From this vital error Diodorus appears to have eman-
cipated himself and his disciples. He perceived, as we
shall see Chrysostom perceived, a gradual development in
Revelation : that the knowledge, and morality, and faith of
men under the Old Dispensation were less advanced than
those of men who lived under the New. One instance must
suffice. He remarks that the Mosaic precept, directing the
brother of a man who had died childless to raise up posterity
to his brother by marrying his wife, was given for the con-
solation of men who had as yet received no clear promise
30 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. m.
respecting a resurrection from the dead. 1 There is an
approach to what some might deem rationalistic criticism,
when he affirms that the speech of God to men in the Old
Testament was not an external voice, but an inward spiritual
intimation. When, for instance, it is said that God gave a
command to Adam, it is evident, he says, that it was not
made by a sound audible to the bodily ear, but that God
impressed the knowledge of the command upon him accord-
ing to his own proper energy, and that when Adam had
received it his condition was the same as if it had come to
him through the actual hearing of the ear. And this, he
observes, is what God effected also in the case of the
prophets. 2 A similar rationalistic tendency is observable in
his explanation of the relation between the Divine and
human elements in the person of our blessed Lord. His
language, in fact, on this subject is Nestorian : a distinction
was to be made between Him who, according to his essence,
was Son of God the Logos and Him who through Divine
decree and adoption became Son of God. He who was born
as Man from Mary was Son according to grace, but God the
Logos was Son according to nature. The Son of Mary
became Son of God because He was selected to be the
receptacle or temple of God the Word. It was only in an
improper sense that God the Word was called Son of David ;
the appellation was given to Him merely because the human
temple in which He dwelt belonged to the lineage of David. 3
It is clear that Diodorus would have objected equally with
Nestorius to apply the title of "God-bearer" (Oeoro/cos) to
the blessed Virgin. Sixty years later, in A.D. 429, the streets
of Constantinople and Alexandria resounded with tumults
excited by controversy about the subject of which this was
the watchword. But Diodorus happily lived too early for
these dreadful conflicts, and his scholar Theodore was not
1 Niceph. <rfipd, vol. i. pp. 524 and 3 Leont. Byzant. contra Nestor., et
436. Eutych. lib. iii.,in Basuage, Thesaur.
2 Ibid. vol. i. p. 80. monura. i. 592.
CH. in.] RETREAT OF THEODORE. 31
personally disturbed; though long after his death, in A.D.
553, his writings were condemned by the Fifth (Ecumenical
Council, because the Nestorians appealed to them in confir-
mation of their tenets, and revered his memory. The
practical element in Diodorus, his method of literal and
common-sense interpretation of Holy Scripture, was in-
herited chiefly by Chrysostom ; the intellectual vein, his
conceptions of the relation between the Godhead and Man-
hood in Christ, his opinions respecting the final restoration
of mankind, which were almost equivalent to a denial of'
eternal punishment, were reproduced mainly by Theodore.
It was inevitable that those who, in an access of religious
fervour, had renounced the world and subjected themselves
to the sternest asceticism, should sometimes find that they
had miscalculated their powers. The passionate enthusiasm
which for a time carried them along the thorny path would
begin to subside ; a hankering after a more natural, if not
more worldly, life ensued ; and occasionally the reaction
was so violent, the passions kept down in unnatural con-
straint reasserted themselves with such force, that the
ascetic flew back to the pleasures and sometimes to the
sins of the world, with an appetite which was in painful
contrast to his previous abstinence. The youthful Theodore
was for a time an instance, though far from an extreme
iD stance, of such reaction : the strain was too great for
him ; he relapsed for a season into his former habits of life ;
he retired from the little ascetic brotherhood to which Chry-
sostom and Basil belonged. There is no evidence that he
fell into any kind of sin ; he simply returned to the occupa-
tions and amusements of ordinary life. He was in love
with and desirous of marrying a young lady named Her-
niione. But Chrysostom was at this period such an ardent
ascetic ; he was so deeply impressed with the evil of the
world; and regarded an austere and absolute separation from
it as so indispensable to the highest standard of Christian
32 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. in.
life, that to him any divergence from that path, when once
adopted, seemed a positive sin. The relapse of Theodore
called forth two letters of lamentation, remonstrance, and
exhortation from his friend. They are the earliest of his
extant works, and exhibit a command of language which
does credit to the training of Libanius as well as to his own
ability, and an intimate acquaintance with Holy Scripture,
which proves how much time he had already spent in
diligent and patient study. Since these epistles have been
justly considered among the finest of his productions, and
represent his opinions at an early stage of his life respecting
repentance, a future life, the advantages of asceticism and
celibacy, some paraphrases from them will be presented to
the reader.
He begins his first letter by quoting the words of Jere-
miah : " Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a
fountain of tears ! "
"If the prophet uttered that lamentation over a ruined
city, surely I may express a like passionate sorrow over the
fallen soul of a brother. That soul which was once the
temple of the Holy Spirit now lies open and defenceless
to become the prey of any hostile invader. The spirit of
avarice, of arrogance, of lust, may now find a free passage
into a heart which was once as pure and inaccessible to evil
as heaven itself. Wherefore I mourn and weep, nor will
I cease from my mourning until I see thee again in thy
former brilliancy. For though this may seem impossible to
men, yet with God it is possible, for He it is who lifteth
the beggar from the earth and taketh the poor out of the
dunghill, that He may set him with the princes, even with
the princes of his people." An eminent characteristic of
Chrysostom is that he is always hopeful of human nature ;
he never doubts the capacity of man to rise, or the willing-
ness of God to raise him. Theodore himself appears to have
been stricken with remorse, and to have drooped into
CH. in.] CHRYSOSTOM'S LETTERS TO THEODORE. 33
despondency, to rouse him from which and lead him to re-
pose more trustfully on the goodness of God, was one main
purpose of Chrysostom's letters. " Despair was the devil's
work;" "it is he who tries to cut off that hope whereby
men are saved, which is the support and anchor of the soul,
which, like a long chain, let down from heaven, little by
little draws those who hold tightly to it up to heavenly
heights, and lifts them above the storm and tempest of
these worldly ills. The devil tries to extinguish that trust
which is the source and strength of prayer, which enables
men to cry, ' as the eyes of a maiden look unto the hand of
her mistress, even so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God
until He have mercy upon us/ Yet if man will only believe
it, there is never a time at which any one, even the most
abandoned sinner, may not turn and repent and be accepted
by God. For God being impassible, his wrath is not a
passion or an emotion ; He punishes not in anger, since He
is unsusceptible by nature of injury from any insult or
wrong done by us, but in mercy, that He may bring men
back to Himself. 1 The many instances of God's mercy ; his
relenting towards the Jews, and even to Ahab, when he
humbled himself; the repentance of Manasseh of the
Ninevites of the penitent thief all accepted, although
preceded by a long course of sin, prove that the words ' to-
day if ye will hear his voice ' are applicable to any time :
it is always ' to-day ' as long as a man lives ; repentance is
estimated not by length of time, but by the disposition of
the heart." He acutely observes that "despondency often
conceals moral weakness ; a secret though perhaps uncon-
scious sympathy with the sin which the man professes to
deplore and hate." "To fall is natural, but to remain
fallen argues a kind of acquiescence in evil, a feebleness
of moral purpose which is more displeasing to God than the
fall itself." 2
i C. 2-5. 2 I. c. 8, 9.
C
34 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. m.
But although he speaks in the most hopeful, encouraging
language of the efficacy of repentance, however late, if
sincere, in this life, no one can assert more strongly the
impossibility of restoration when the limits of this present
existence have once been passed. In this respect he
differs alike from Origen, Diodorus, and his fellow-student
Theodore, and from believers in the later developed doctrine
of purgatory. " As long as we are here, it is possible, even
if we sin ten thousand times, to wash all away by repent-
ance; but when once we have been taken to that other
world, even if we manifest the greatest penitence, it will
avail us naught, but however much we may gnash with our
teeth, and beat our breasts, and pour forth entreaties, no one
will be able even with the tip of his finger to cool us in the
flame ; we shall only hear the same words as the rich man :
'between us and you there is a great gulf fixed.'" 1 Nothing
is more remarkably characteristic of Chrysostom's produc-
tions, especially the earlier, than a frequent recurrence to
this truth : the existence of a great impassable chasm
between the two abodes of misery and bliss. Heaven and
hell were no distant dreamlands to him, but realities so
nearly and vividly present to his mind that they acted as
powerful motives, encouraging to holiness, deterring from
vice. He paints the two pictures in glowing colours, and
submits them to the contemplation of his friend. " When
you hear of fire, think not that the fire in that other world
is like it; for this earthly fire burns up and consumes
whatever it lays hold of, but that burns continually those
who are seized by it and never ceases, wherefore it is called
unquenchable. For sinners must be clothed with immor-
tality, not for honour, but merely to supply a constant
material for this punishment to feed upon ; and how terrible
this is, a description would indeed never be able to present,
but from our experience of small sufferings it is possible
1 C. 9.
en. in.] THE LETTERS TO THEODORE. 35
to form some little conception of those greater miseries.
If you should ever be in a bath which has been overheated,
then I pray you consider the fire of hell; or if ever you
have been parched by a severe fever, transfer your thoughts
to that flame, and you will be able clearly to distinguish the
difference. For if a bath or a fever so distress and agitate
us, what will be our condition when we fall into that
river of fire which flows past the terrible Judge's throne." 1
" Heaven is, indeed, a subject which transcends the powers
of human language, yet we can form a dim image of what
it is like. It is the place 'whence sorrow and sighing
shall flee away' (Is. xxxv. 10); where poverty and sickness
are not to be dreaded ; where no one injures or is injured,
no one provokes or is provoked ; no one is harassed by
anxiety about the necessary wants, or frets over the loftier
ambitions, of life; it is the place where the tempest of
human passions is lulled; where there is neither night
nor cold nor heat, nor changes of season, nor old age ; but
everything belonging to decay is taken away, and incor-
ruptible glory reigns alone. But far above all these things,
it is the place where men will continually enjoy the society
of Jesus Christ, together with angels and archangels and
all the powers above." 2 "Open your eyes," he cries in a
transport of feeling, " and contemplate in imagination that
heavenly theatre crowded not with men such as we see,
but with those who are nobler than gold or precious stones
or sunbeams, or any brilliant thing that can be seen ; and
not with men only, but angels, thrones, dominions, powers
ranged about the King whom we dare not describe for his
transcendent beauty, majesty, and splendour. If we had
to suffer ten thousand deaths every day; nay, if we had
to undergo hell itself, for the sake of beholding Christ
coming in his glory, and being numbered among the band
of saints, would it not be well to submit to all these things ?
i C. 10. 2 Theod. i. c. 11, in initio.
36 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. m.
'Master, it is a good thing for us to be here:' if such an
exclamation burst from St. Peter on witnessing a partial
and veiled manifestation of Christ's glory, what are we
to say when the reality shall be displayed, when the royal
palace shall be thrown open and we shall see the King
Himself ; no longer by means of a mirror, or as it were in
a riddle, but face to face; no longer through faith, but
actual sight." 1 He passes on to some remarks upon the
soul, which are Platonic in character: "Man cannot alter
the shape of his body, but God has conceded to him a
power, with the assistance of Divine grace, of increasing
the beauty of the soul. Even that soul which has become
deformed by the ugliness of sin may be restored to its
pristine beauty. No lover was ever so much captivated
by the beauty of the body as God loves and longs for the
beauty of the human soul. 2 You who are now transported
with admiration of Hermione's beauty" (the girl whom
Theodore wished to marry) "may, if you will, cultivate a
beauty in your own soul as far exceeding hers as heaven
surpasses earth. Beauty of the soul is the only true and
permanent kind, and if you could see it with the eye, you
would admire it far more than the loveliness of the rainbow
and of roses, and other flowers which are evanescent
and feeble representations of the soul's beauty." 3 He tells
some curious stories of men who had relapsed from monastic
life and subsequently been reclaimed to it. One, a young
man of noble family and heir to great wealth, had thrown
up all the splendour which he might have commanded, and
exchanged his riches and his gay clothing for the poverty
and mean garb of a recluse upon the mountains, and had
attained an astonishing degree of holiness. But some of his
relations seduced him from his retreat, and once more he
might be seen riding on horseback through the forum
followed by a crowd of attendants. But the holy brethren
1 c. 11. * c. 13. 3 c. 14.
en. in.] THE LETTERS TO THEODORE. 37
whom he had deserted ceased not to endeavour to recover
him ; at first he treated them with haughty indifference,
when they met and saluted him, as he proudly rode through
the streets. But at last, as they desisted not day by day,
he would leap from his horse when they appeared, and
listen with downcast eyes to their warnings ; till, as time
went on, he was rescued from his worldly entanglements,
and restored to his desert and the study of the true philo-
sophy, and now, when Chrysostom wrote, he bestowed his
wealth upon the poor, and had attained the very pinnacle
of virtue. 1 Earnestly, therefore, does he implore Theodore
to recover his trust in God, to repent and return to the
brotherhood which was buried in grief at his defection.
"Xow the unbelieving and the worldly rejoice ; but return to
us, and our sorrow and shame will be transferred to the
adversary's side." " It was the beginning of penitence which
was arduous ; the devil met the penitent at the door of the
city of refuge, but, if defeated there, the fury of his assaults
would diminish." He warned him against an idle confession
of sinfulness not accompanied by any honest effort to amend.
" Such was no true confession, because not joined with the
tears of contrition or followed by alteration of life." 2 But
of Theodore he hoped better things ; as there were different
degrees of glory reserved for men, implied in our Lord's
mention of " many mansions/' and his declaring that every
one should be rewarded according to his works, he trusted
that Theodore might still obtain a high place ; that he might
be a vessel of silver, if not of gold or precious stone, in the
heavenly house. 3
In the second epistle Chrysostom expresses more distinctly
his view respecting the solemn obligations of those who
joined a religious fraternity. " If tears and groanings could
be transmitted through a letter, this of mine would be filled
with them ; I weep that you have blotted yourself out of the
i C. 17. 2 C. 16 and 19. 3 C. 19.
38 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. HI.
catalogue of the brethren, and trampled on your covenant
with Christ." " The devil assaulted him with peculiar fury,
because he was anxious to conquer so worthy an antagonist ;
one who had despised delicate fare and costly dress, who had
spent whole days in the study of Holy Scripture, and whole
nights in prayer, who had regarded the society of the
brethren as a greater honour than any worldly dignity.
What, I pray you, is there that appears blessed and enviable
in the world ? The prince is exposed to the wrath of the
people and the irrational outbursts of popular feeling to
the fear of princes greater than himself to anxieties about
his subjects ; and the ruler of to-day is to-morrow a private
man : for this present life no way differs from a stage ; as on
that, one man plays the part of a king, another of a general,
a third of a common soldier; but when evening has come
the king is no king, the ruler no ruler, the general no general ;
so will it be in that day ; each will receive his due reward, not
according to the character which he has enacted, but accord-
ing to the works which he has done." l Theodore had clearly
expressed his intention of honourably marrying Hermione ;
but though Chrysostom allows that marriage is an honourable
estate, yet he boldly declares that for one who like Theodore
had made such a solemn renunciation of the world, it was
equally criminal with fornication. He had wholly dedicated
himself to the service of God, and he had no right to bind
himself by any other tie : to marry would be as culpable as
desertion in a soldier. He points out the miseries, the
anxieties, the toils, often fruitless, which accompanied
secular life, especially in the married state. From all such
ills the life of the brotherhood was exempt : he alone was
truly free who lived for Christ; he was like one who,
securely planted on an eminence, beholds other men below
him buffeting with the waves of a tumultuous sea. Tor
such a high vantage-ground Chrysostom implores Theodore
1 C. 3..
en. in.] THEODORE RETURNS. 39
to make. He begs him to pardon the length of his letter :
" nothing but his ardent love for his friend could have con-
strained him to write this second epistle. Many indeed had
discouraged what they regarded as a vain task and sowing
upon a rock ; but he was not so to be diverted from his
efforts : he trusted that by the grace of God his letters would
accomplish something ; and if not, he should at least have
delivered himself from the reproach of silence." 1
These letters are the productions of a youthful enthusiast,
and as such, allowances must be made for them. They
abound not only in eloquent passages, but in very fine and
true observations upon human nature on penitence on
God's mercy and pardon. It is only the application of them
to the case of Theodore which seems harsh and overstrained.
At a later period Chrysostom's views on ascetic and monastic
life were modified ; but in early life, though never fanatical,
they were what we should call extreme. His earnest efforts
for the restoration of his friend were crowned with success.
Theodore abandoned the world once more and his matri-
monial intentions, and retired into the seclusion of the
brotherhood. Some twenty years later, in A.D. 394, he was
made Bishop of Mopsuestia, which is pretty nearly all we
know about him, but the extant fragments of his volumin-
ous writings prove him to have been a man of no ordinary
ability, and a powerful commentator of the same sensible
and rational school as Chrysostom himself. We may be dis-
posed to say, What of Hermione ? Had she no claims to be
considered? But the ascetic line of life was regarded by
the earnest-minded as so indisputably the noblest which a
Christian could adopt, that her disappointment would not
have been allowed to weigh in the balance for a moment
against what was considered the higher call. 2
1 C. 5. Chrysostom and eventual Bishop of
2 Tillemont maintains that the Mopsuestia, but he stands alone in
Theodore to whom the first letter is this opinion, and his reasons for it
addressed must have been a different seem inadequate. Till. xi. note vi.
person from the fellow-student of p. 550.
CHAPTER IV.
CHRYSOSTOM EVADES FORCIBLE ORDINATION TO A BISHOPRIC THE
TREATISE " ON THE PRIESTHOOD." A.D. 370, 371.
WE now come to a curious passage in Chrysostom's life ;
one in which his conduct, from our moral standpoint, seems
hardly justifiable. Yet for one reason it is not to be
regretted, since it was the originating cause of his treatise
" De Sacerdotio ;" one of the ablest, most instructive, and
most eloquent works which he ever produced.
Bishop Meletius had been banished in A.D. 370 or 371.
The Arian Emperor Valens, who had expelled him, was
about to take up his residence in Antioch. It was desirable
therefore, without loss of time, to fill up some vacant sees
in Syria. The attention of the bishops, clergy, and people
was turned to Chrysostom and Basil, as men well qualified
for the episcopal office.
According to a custom prevalent at that time, they
might any day be seized and compelled, however reluctant,
to accept the dignity. So St. Augustine was dragged, weep-
ing, by the people before the bishop, and his immediate
ordination demanded by them, regardless of his tears. 1 So
St. Martin, Bishop of Tours, was torn from his cell, and
conveyed under a guard to his ordination. 2 The two friends
1 Possid. Vit. August, c. iv. the Coptic Church. The patriarch-
designate of Alexandria is at this day
2 Snip. Sever. Vit. St. Martin, lib. i. brought to Cairo, loaded with chains,
p. 224. The affectation of reluctance as if to prevent his escape. Stanley,
to be consecrated became a fashion in Eastern Church, lect. vii. p. 226.
en. iv.] BASIL REMONSTRATES WITH CHRYSOSTOM. 41
were filled with apprehension and alarm. Basil implored
Chrysostom that they might act in concert at the present
crisis, and together accept or together evade or resist the
expected but unwelcome honour.
Chrysostom affected to consent to this proposal, but in
reality determined to act otherwise. He regarded himself
as totally unworthy and incompetent to fill so sacred and
responsible an office ; but considering Basil to be far more
advanced in learning and piety, he resolved that the Church
should not, through his own weakness, lose the services
of his friend. Accordingly, when popular report proved
correct, and some emissaries from the electing body were
sent to carry off the young men (much, it would seem from
Chrysostom's account, as policemen might arrest a prisoner),
Cliiysostom contrived to hide himself. Basil, less wary,
was captured, and imagined that Chrysostom had already
submitted ; for the emissaries acted with subtlety when he
tried to resist them. They affected surprise that he should
make so violent a resistance, when his companion, who had
the reputation of a hotter temper, had yielded so mildly to
the decision of the Fathers. 1 Thus Basil was led to suppose
tint Chrysostom had already submitted; and when he
discovered too late the artifice of his friend and his
captors, he bitterly remonstrated with Chrysostom upon his
treacherous conduct. " The character of them both," he
complained, " was compromised by this division in their
counsels." " You should have told us where your friend
was hidden," said some, " and then we should have con-
trived some means of capturing him ;" to which poor Basil
was ashamed to reply that he had been ignorant of his
friend's concealment, lest such a confession should cast a
suspicion of unreality over the whole of their supposed
intimacy. " Chrysostom, on his side, was accused of
1 C. 5. This word may refer to the they had elected him bishop. Corn-
bishops or the people. Ambrose calls ment. in Luc. 1. viii. c. 17.
the people his " parentes," because
42 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. iv.
haughtiness and vanity for declining so great a dignity;
though others said that the electors deserved a still greater
dishonour and defeat for appointing over the heads of wiser,
holier, and older men, mere lads, 1 who had been but yester-
day immersed in secular pursuits ; that they might now for
a little while knit their brows, and go arrayed in sombre
robes and affect a grave countenance." 2 Basil begged
Chrysostom for an explanation of his motives in this pro-
ceeding. " After all their mutual protestations of indivisible
friendship, he had been suddenly cast off and turned adrift,
like a vessel without ballast, to encounter alone the angry
tempests of the world. To whom should he now turn for
sympathy and aid in the trials to which he would surely be
exposed from slander, ribaldry, and insolence ? The one
who might have helped him stood coldly aloof, and would
be unable even to hear his cries for assistance." 3
We may be strongly disposed to sympathise with the
disconsolate Basil. But the conscience of Chrysostom
appears to have been quite at ease from first to last in
this transaction. He regarded it as a " pious fraud."
" When he beheld the mingled distress and displeasure of
his friend, he could not refrain from laughing for joy, and
thanking God for the successful issue of his plan." 4 In the
ensuing discussion he boldly asserted the principle that
deceit claims our admiration when practised in a good cause
and from a good motive. The greatest successes in war, he
argues, have been achieved through stratagem, as well as
by fair fighting in the open field ; and, of the two, the first
are most to be admired, because they are gained without
bloodshed, and are triumphs of mental rather than bodily
force. 5 But, retorts poor Basil, I was not an enemy, and
ought not to have been dealt with as such. " True, my
excellent friend," replies Chrysostom, "but this kind of
1 fj.ipdKia vide note at end of Chapter. 2 I. c. 5. 3 C. 7.
4 C. 6. s c. 8.
CH. iv.]' DIGNITY, ETC., OF THE PRIESTLY OFFICE. 43
fraud may sometimes be exercised towards our dearest
acquaintance." " Physicians were often obliged to employ
some artifice to make refractoiy patients submit to their
remedies. Once a man in a raging fever resisted all the
febrifugal draughts administered to him, and loudly called
for wine. The physician darkened the room, steeped a
warm oyster shell in wine, then filled it with water, and
put it to the patient's lips, who eagerly swallowed the
draught, believing it, from the smell, to be wine." 1 In the
same category of justifiable stratagem he places, not very
discriminatingly, the circumcision of Timothy by St. Paul,
in order to conciliate the Jews, and St. Paul's observance
of the ceremonial law at Jerusalem (Acts xxi. 26), for the
same purpose. Such contrivances he calls instances, not of
treachery, but of "good management" (ol/covofjiia). There
is something highly Oriental, and alien to our Western
moral sense, in the sophistical tone of this whole discussion.
If Basil really submitted to such arguments, he was easily
vanquished. He says, however, no more about the injustice
of his treatment, but, apparently accepting Chrysostom's
position that for a useful purpose deceit is justifiable, he
begs to be informed " what advantage Chrysostom thought
he had procured for himself or his friend by this piece
of management, or good policy, or whatever he pleased to
call it."
The remaining books on the Priesthood are occupied with
the answer to this inquiry. The line which Chrysostom
takes is to point out the pre-eminent dignity, difficulty,
and danger of the priestly office, and then to enlarge upon
the peculiar fitness of his friend to discharge its duties. 2
"What advantage could be greater than to be engaged in
1 C. 9. the original without much apparent
2 The words priest and bishop are distinction. Chrysostom is speaking
employed, in the following translations of the priesthood generally, and it is
and paraphrases, to correspond with not easy to say which Order he has in
iepet)s and eTr^r/coTros, which are used in his mind at any given moment.
44 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. iv.
that work which Christ had declared with his own lips to
be the special sign of love to Himself ? For when He put
the question three times to the leader of the apostles
(/copv<f)a1o<i), 'Lovest thou me?' and had been answered
by a fervent asseveration of attachment, he added each time.
' Feed my sheep/ or ' Feed my lambs.' ' Lovest thou me
more than these?' had been the question, and the charge
which followed it had been always, ' Feed my sheep ; ' not,
If thou lovest Me, practise fasting, or incessant vigils, and
sleep on the bare ground, or protect the injured and be to
the orphans as a father, and to their mother as a husband ;
no, he passes by all these things, and says, ' Feed my sheep.'
Could his friend, therefore, complain that he had done ill
in compassing, even by fraud, his dedication to so glorious
an office? 1 As for himself, it was obvious that he could
not have refused so great an honour out of haughty contempt
or disrespect to the electors. On the contrary, it was
when he considered the exceeding sanctity and magnitude
of the position, and its awful responsibilities the heavenly
purity, the burning love towards God and man, the sound
wisdom and judgment, and moderation of temper required
in those who were dedicated to it that his heart failed
him. He felt himself utterly incompetent and unworthy
for so arduous a task. If some unskilled person were
suddenly to be called upon to take charge of a ship laden
with a costly freight, he would immediately refuse; and
in like manner he himself dared not risk by his present
inexperience the safety of that vessel which was laden
with the precious merchandise of souls. 2 Vain-glory, in-
deed, and pride would have induced him not to reject, but
to covet, so transcendent a dignity. The office of priest
was discharged indeed on earth, yet it held a place among
heavenly ranks. And rightly ; for neither man, nor angel,
nor archangel, nor created power of any kind, but the
1 II. c. 2. a in. c. i, 2, 5.
en. iv.] MODE OF ELECTING TO BISHOPRICS. 45
Paraclete Himself, ordained this ministry. Therefore, it
became one who entered the priesthood to be as pure as if
he had already taken his stand in heaven itself among the
powers above. 'When thou seest the Lord lying slain,
and the priest standing and praying over the sacrifice,
when thou seest all sprinkled with that precious blood,
dost thou deem thyself still among men, still standing
upon this earth ? art thou not rather transported imme-
diately to heaven, and, every carnal imagination being
cast out, dost thou not, with soul unveiled and pure mind,
behold the things which are in heaven ? miracle !
the goodness of God ! He who is sitting with the Father
is yet at that hour held in the hands of all, and gives
Himself to be embraced and grasped by those who desire it.
And this all do through the eye of faith. Do these things
seem to you to merit contempt? does it seem possible to
you that any one should be so elated as to slight them ?' 1
"Human nature possessed in the priesthood a power
which had not been committed by God to angels or arch-
angels ; for to none of them had it been said, ' Whatsoever
ye shall bind on earth or loose on earth shall be bound or
loosed in heaven.' Was it possible to conceive that any
one should think lightly of such a gift ? Away with such
madness ! for stark madness it would be to despise so
great an authority, without which it was not possible for
man to obtain salvation, or the good things promised to
him. For if it were impossible for any one to enter into
the kingdom of heaven, except he were born again of water
and the Spirit ; and if he who did not eat the flesh of the
Lord and drink his blood was ejected from life eternal,
and if these things were administered by none but the
consecrated hands of the priest, how would any one, apart
from them, be able to escape the fire of hell, or obtain the
crown laid up for him ?" 2
1 III. c. 4. 2 in. 5.
46 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. iv.
There are, perhaps, no passages elsewhere in Chrysostom
expressed in such a lofty sacerdotal tone; but it must be
remembered that on any supposition as to the date of this
treatise, he was young when it was composed, holding
therefore, as on the subject of rnonasticism, more enthu-
siastic, highly-wrought opinions than he afterwards enter-
tained; and moreover, that the whole treatise is written
in a somewhat vehement and excited style, as by one who
was maintaining a position against an antagonist.
Having proved that his evasion of the episcopal office
could have arisen from no spirit of pride, but from a con-
sciousness of his infirmity and incapacity, he proceeds to
point out the manifold and peculiar dangers which en-
compassed it. " Vain-glory was a rock more fatal than
the Sirens. Many a priest was shipwrecked there, and
torn to pieces by the fierce monsters which dwelt upon
it wrath, despondency, envy, strife, slander, falsehood,
hypocrisy, love of praise, and a multitude more. Often
he became the slave and flatterer of great people, even
of women who had most improperly mixed themselves
up with ecclesiastical affairs, and especially exercised great
influence in the elections." *
The scenes, indeed, which often took place about this
period at the elections to bishoprics occasioned much
scandal to the Church. In earlier times, when the Chris-
tians were less numerous, more simple in their habits,
more unanimous, when liability to persecution deterred
the indifferent, or pretenders, from their ranks, the epi-
scopal office could be no object of worldly ambition. The
clergy and the people elected their bishop; and the fair-
ness and simplicity with which the election was usually
conducted won the admiration of the Emperor Alexander
Severus. 2 But when Christianity was recognised by the
State, a bishopric in towns of importance became a position
1 III. 9, 10. 2 Lamprid. Vita Alex. Sev. c. 45. Paris edit.
CH. iv.] VIOLENCE AT ELECTIONS. 47
of high dignity; and warm debates, often fierce tumults,
attended the election of candidates. Up to the time of
Justinian at least, the whole Christian population of the
city or region over which the bishop was to preside pos-
sessed a right to eleck Their choice was subject to the
approval of the bishops, and the confirmation of the metro-
politan of the province; but, on the other hand, neither
the bishops nor the metropolitan could legally obtrude a
candidate of their own upon the people. A charge brought
against Hilary of Aries was, that he ordained several
bishops against the will and consent of the people. A
just and legitimate ordination, according to Cyprian, was
one which had been examined by the suffrage and judg-
ment of all, both clergy and people. Such, he observes,
was the election of Cornelius to the see of Koine in A.D.
2 5 1. 1 If the people were unanimous, there were loud
cries of afto?, dignus, dvd&os, indignus, as the case might
be ; but if they were divided, it was usual for the metro-
politan to give the preference to the choice of the majority ;
or, if they appeared equally divided, the metropolitan and
his synod selected a man indifferent, if possible, to both
parties. Occasionally also, as in the case of Nectarius, the
predecessor of Chrysostom in the see of Constantinople, the
Emperor interposed, and appointed one chosen by himself.
Sanguinary often were the tumults which attended contested
elections. The greater the city, the greater the strife. In the
celebrated contest for the see of Rome in A.D. 366, between
Dam as us and Ursicinus, there was much hard fighting and
copious bloodshed. Damasus, with a furious and motley mob,
broke into the Julian Basilica, where Ursicinus was being
consecrated by Paul, Bishop of Tibur, and violently stopped
the proceedings. Frays of this kind lasted for some time.
On one occasion, one hundred and thirty dead bodies strewed
the pavement of the Basilica of Licinius till Damasus at
1 Cyprian, Epis. 52.
48 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. iv.
last won the day. It is especially mentioned that the ladies
of Eome favoured his side. 1 It seems scarcely possible to
doubt that as these events must have been fresh in Chryso-
stom's recollection, he must be specially referring to them
when, insisting on freedom from ambition as one grand
qualification for the priesthood, he says " that he will pass
by, lest they should seem incredible, the tales of murders
perpetrated in churches, and havoc wrought in cities by
contentions for bishoprics;" and when also he alludes indig-
nantly to the interference of women in the elections. " The
elections," he says, " were generally made on public festivals,
and were disgraceful scenes of party feeling and intrigue.
The clergy and the people were never unanimous. The
really important qualifications for the office were seldom
considered. Ambitious men spared no arts of bribery or
flattery by which to obtain places for themselves in the
Church, and to keep them when obtained. One candidate
for a bishopric was recommended to the electors because he
belonged to a distinguished family ; another because he was
wealthy, and would not burden the funds of the Church." 2
The provocations to ambition and worldly glory were so
great, both in the acquisition and in the exercise of the
episcopal office, that Chrysostom says he had " determined
partly for these reasons to avoid the snare." 3 He shrank
also from many other trials incident to the office. There
were always persons ready to detect and magnify the
slightest mistake or transgression in a priest. One little
error could not be retrieved by a multitude of successes, but
darkened the man's whole life; for a kind of immaculate
1 Ammian. Marcell. lib. xxvii. c. 3. any secular office. To win glory and
Socrat. lib. iv. c. 29. See a multitude honour among men we peril our salva-
of evidence carefully collected on this tion. . . . Consuls and prefects do
subject in Bingham, vol. i. b. iv. ch. 2. not enjoy such honour as he who pre-
2 sides over the Church. Go to court,
or to the houses of lords and ladies,
3 Comp. in Act. Apost. Horn. iii. 5. and whom do you find foremost there ?
" Men now aim at a bishopric like no one is put before the bishop."
CFI. iv.] QUALIFICATIONS FOB THE PRIESTHOOD. 49
purity was exacted by popular opinion of a priest, as if he
were not a being of flesh and blood, or subject to human
passions. Often his brethren, the clergy, were the most
active in spreading mischievous reports about him, hoping
to rise themselves upon his ruin ; like avaricious sons wait-
ing for their father's death. Too often St. Paul's description
of the sympathy between the several parts of the Christian
body was inverted. ' If one member suffered, all the others
rejoiced ; if one member rejoiced, the others suffered pain/
A bishop had need be as impervious to slander and envy as
the three children in the burning fiery furnace. 1 What a
rare and difficult combination of qualities was required for
the efficient discharge of his duties in the face of such
difficulties ! ' He must be dignified, yet not haughty ; for-
midable, yet affable; commanding, yet sociable; strictly
impartial, yet courteous ; lowly, but not subservient ; strong,
yet gentle ; promoting the worthy in spite of all opposition,
and with equal authority rejecting the unworthy, though
pushed forward by the favour of all ; looking always to one
thing only the welfare of the Church ; doing nothing out
of animosity or partiality.' 2 The behaviour also of a priest
in ordinary society was jealously criticised. The flock were
not satisfied unless he was constantly paying calls. Not the
sick only, but the sound desired to be 'looked after*
(eTTio-KOTrelcrdai), not so much from any religious feeling, as
because the reception of such visits gratified their sense of
their own importance. Yet if a bishop often visited the
house of a wealthy or distinguished man to interest him in
some design for the advantage of the Church, he would soon
be stigmatised as a parasitical flatterer. Even the manner
of his greetings to acquaintance in the streets was criticised :
' He smiled cordially on Mr. Such-an-one, and talked much
with him; but to me he only threw a commonplace
remark/" 3
1 III. c. 14. 2 IIL 16. 3 in. 17.
D
50 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHEYSOSTOM. [en. iv.
It is amusing and instructive to read these observations.
They prove what important personages bishops had become.
The interests of the people were violently excited over their
elections. They were subjected to the mingled reverence,
deference, and court, criticism, scandal, and gossip, which
are the inevitable lot of all persons who occupy an exalted
position in the world.
In the fourth book Chrysostom speaks of some of the
more mental qualifications indispensable for a priest. Fore-
most among these was a power of speaking : " That was the
one grand instrument which enabled him to heal the diseases
of the body intrusted to his care. And, in addition to this,
he must be armed with a prompt and versatile wit, to
encounter the various assaults of heretics. Jews, Greeks,
Manich&ans, Sabellians, Arians, all were narrowly watching
for the smallest loophole by which to force a breach in the
walls of the Church. And, unless the defender was very
vigilant and skilful, while he was keeping out the one he
would let in the other. While he opposed the blind defer-
ence of the Jews to their Mosaic Law, he must take care not
to encourage the Manichseans, who would eliminate the Law
from the Scriptures. While he asserted the Unity of the
Godhead against the Arians, there was danger of slipping
into the Sabellian error of confounding the Persons ; and,
while he divided the Persons against the Sabellians, he must
be careful to avoid the Arian error of dividing the substance
also. The line of orthodoxy was a narrow path hemmed in
by steep rocks on either side. Therefore it was of the
deepest importance that the priest should be a learned and
effective speaker, that he might not fall into error himself
or lead others astray. For, if he was seen to be worsted in
a controversy with heretics, many became alienated from
the truth, mistaking the weakness of the defender for a
weakness in the cause itself." 1
1 IV. c- 3-5 and c. 9.
CH. iv.] REMARKS ON PREACHING. 51
" But there was yet another task fraught with peril the
delivery of sermons. The performances of a preacher were
discussed by a curious and critical public like those of
actors. Congregations attached themselves to their favourite
preachers. Woe to the man who was detected in plagi-
arisms ! He was instantly reprobated like a common thief.
" To become an effective preacher two things were neces-
sary : first, indifference to praise ; secondly, power of speech ;
two qualities, the one moral, the other intellectual, which
were rarely found coexisting. If a man possessed the first
only, he became distasteful and despicable to his congrega-
tion ; for if he stood up and at first boldly uttered powerful
words which stung the consciences of his hearers, but, as he
proceeded, began to blush and hesitate and stumble, all the
ml vantage of his previous remarks would be wasted. The
persons, who had secretly felt annoyed by his telling reproofs
would revenge themselves by laughing at his embarrassment
in speaking. If, on the other hand, he was a weighty
speaker, but not indifferent to applause, he would probably
trim his sails to cateh the popular breeze, and study to be
pleasant rather than profitable, to the great detriment of
himself and of his flock." 1
lie makes some remarks eminently wise and true on the
necessity of study for the preparation of sermons. " It
might seem strange, but in truth study was even more indis-
pensable for an eloquent than for an ordinary preacher.
Speaking was an acquired art, and when a man had attained
a high standard of excellence he was sure to decline unless he
kept himself up by constant study. The man of reputation
was always expected to say something new, and even in
excess of the fame which he had already acquired. Men sat
in judgment on him without mercy, as if he were not a human
being subject to occasional despondency, or anxiety, or irrita-
tion of temper ; but' as if he were an angel or some infallible
i V. c. 1-4.
52 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. iv.
being, who ought always to remain at the same high level
of excellence. The mediocre man, on the other hand, from
whom much was not expected, would obtain a dispropor-
tionate amount of praise if he said a good thing now and
then. 1 The number of persons, however, in any congrega-
tion, who were capable of appreciating a really learned and
powerful preacher, was very small ; therefore a man ought
not to be much disheartened or annoyed by unfavourable
criticisms. He should be his own critic, aiming in all his
work to win the favour of God. Then, if the admiration of
men followed, he would quietly accept it; or, if withheld,
he would not be distressed, but seek his consolation in honest
work and in a conscience void of offence. 2 But if a priest
was not superior to the love of admiration, all his labour
and eloquence would be wasted; either he would sacrifice
truth to popularity, or, failing to obtain so much applause as
he desired, he would relax his efforts. This last was a
common defect in men whose powers of preaching were only
second-rate. Perceiving that even the highly gifted could
not sustain their reputation without incessant study and
practice, while they themselves, by the most strenuous
efforts, could gain but a very slender meed of praise, if any,
they abandoned themselves to indolence. The trial was
especially great when a man was surpassed in preaching by
one who occupied an inferior rank in the hierarchy, and who
perhaps took every opportunity of parading his superior
powers. A kind of passion for listening to preaching pos-
sessed, he says, both Pagans and Christians at this time;
hence it was very mortifying for a man to see a congregation
looking forward to the termination of his discourse, while to
his rival they listened with the utmost patience and attention,
and were vexed only when his sermon had come to an end." 3
In the sixth book, Chrysostom enlarges on the dangers
and trials which beset the priest as compared with the
1 V. c. 5. 2 y. c. 6, 7. 3 V. c. 8.
CH. iv.] REASONS FOR DECLINING BISHOPRIC. 53
tranquillity and security of the monk that life to which
he still felt himself powerfully attracted. " ' Who watch for
your souls as they that must give an account. The dread
of the responsibility implied in that saying constantly
agitated his mind. For if it were better to be drowned in
the sea than to offend one of the little ones of Christ's flock,
what punishment must they undergo who destroyed not one or
two but a whole multitude ? " l " Much worldly wisdom was
required in the priest ; he must be conversant with secular
affairs, and adapt himself with versatility to all kinds of
circumstances and men ; and yet he ought to keep his spirit
as free, as unfettered by worldly interests and ambitions as
the hermit dwelling on the mountains." 2
The trials, indeed, which beset the priest so far exceeded
those of the monk, that Chrysostom considered the monastery,
on the whole, a bad school for active clerical life. "The
monk lived in a calm ; there was little to oppose or thwart
him. The skill of the pilot could not be known till he had
taken the helm in the open sea amidst rough weather. Too
many of those who had passed from the seclusion of the
cloister to the active sphere of the priest or bishop proved
utterly incapable of coping with the difficulties of their new
situation. They lost their head (tX^yytwo-fcz/), and, often,
instead of adding to their virtue, were deprived of the good
qualities which they already possessed. Monasticism often
served as a screen to failings which the circumstances of
active life drew out, just as the qualities of metal were
tested by the action of fire." 3
Chrysostom concludes by saying that he was conscious of
his own infirmities ; the irritability of his temper, his liability
to violent emotions, his susceptibility to praise and blame.
All such evil passions could, with the help of God's grace,
be tamed by the severe treatment of the monastic life ; like
savage beasts who must be kept on low fare. But in the
i VI. c. 1. 2 vi. c. 4. 3 VI. c. 6-8.
54 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. iv.
public life of a priest they would rage with incontrollable
fury, because all would be pampered to the full vain-glory
by honour and praise, pride by authority, envy by the
reputation of other men, bad temper by perpetual provoca-
tions, covetousness by the liberality of donors to the Church,
intemperance by luxurious living. 1 He bids Basil picture
the most implacable and deadly contest between earthly
forces which his imagination could draw, and declares that
this would but faintly express the conflict between the soul
and evil in the spiritual warfare of the world. "Many
accidents might put an end to earthly combat, at least for a
time the approach of night, the fatigue of the combatants,
the necessity of taking food and sleep. But in the spiritual
conflict there were no breathing spaces. A man must always
have his harness on his back, or he would be surprised by
the. enemy/' 2
It is not surprising that Basil, after the fearful respon-
sibilities and perils of his new dignity had been thus power-
fully set before him, should declare that his trouble now
was not so much how to answer the accusers of Chrysostom
as to defend himself before God. He besought his friend to
promise that he would continue to support and advise him
in all emergencies. Chrysostom replied that as far as it was
possible he would do so ; but that he doubted not Christ,
who had called Basil to this good work, would enable him to
discharge it with boldness. They wept, embraced, and
parted. And so Basil went forth to the unwelcome honours
and trials of his bishopric, while Chrysostom continued to
lead that monastic kind of life which was only a preparatory
step to the monastery itself. His friendship with Basil is
curious and romantic. Their intercourse was brought to a
singular conclusion by the stratagem of Chrysostom. Basil
-may have, according to his own earnest request, continued
to consult his friend in any difficulty or distress ; but he is
i VI. c. 12. 2 vi. c. 13.
en. IT.] DATE OF BOOKS ON PEIESTHOOD. 55
never mentioned again. Although so intimately bound up
with this passage in Chrysostom's life, there is something
indistinct and shadowy about his whole existence. He flits
across the scene for a few moments, and then disappears
totally and for ever.
The books on the Priesthood may be regarded as contain-
ing partly a real account of an actual conversation between
the two friends. But, as in the dialogues of Plato, far more
was probably added by the writer, so that in parts the
dialogue is only a form into which the opinions of the author
at the time of composition were cast. It is impossible to
decide with certainty the exact time at which the treatise
may have been written. It is not likely to have been later
than his diaconate in 38 1, 1 but more probably 2 the work
may be assigned to the six years of leisure spent in the
seclusion of the monastery and mountains that is, to the
period between Basil's election to the bishopric, and his own
ordination as deacon. The treatise reads like the production
of one who had acquired considerable experience of monastic
life ; who had deliberately calculated its advantages on the
one hand, and, on the other, had keenly observed and
seriously weighed the temptations and difficulties whicli
attended the more secular career of priest or bishop. It is a
more mature work than the Epistles to Theodore, and is free
from such rapturous and excessive praise of the ascetic life
as they contain.
NOTE TO FOREGOING CHAPTER.
It may excite surprise that men so young as Chrysostom
and Basil, the former at least being not more than twenty-five
or twenty-six, and not as yet ordained deacon, should have
1 Which is the date assigned by the Latin translation by Ambrose
Socrates, vi. 3. Carnal dulen sis.
a As stated by Palladius, at least in
56 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. iv.
been designated to the highest office in the Church. The
Council of Neocsesarea (about A.D. 320 vide Hefele, vol. i.,
Clark's transl. p. 222) fixed thirty as *the age at which men
became eligible for the priesthood. The same age, then, at
least, must have been required for a bishop.
The Constitutions called Apostolical fix the age at fifty, but
add a clause which really lets in all the exceptions, " unless he
be a man of singular merit and worth, which may compensate
for the want of years." And, in fact, there are numerous
instances of men, both before and after the time of Chrysostom,
who were consecrated as bishops under the age of thirty.
The Council of Nice was held not more than twenty years
after the persecution of Maximian, which Athanasius (Epist.
ad Solitar., p. 382, Paris edition) says he had only heard of
from his father, yet in five months after that Council he was
ordained Archbishop of Alexandria. Eemigius of Eheims was
only twenty-two when he was made bishop, in A.D. 471. In
like manner, though it was enacted by the Council of Sardica,
A.D. 343-344, that none should rise to the Episcopal throno
per saltum, yet there are not a few examples of this rule being
transgressed.
Augustine, when he created a See at Fassula, presented
Antonius, a reader (the very position Chrysostom now filled)
to the Primate, who ordained him without scruple on .Augus-
tine's recommendation (Aug. Ep. 261, ad Cselest.). Cyprian,
Ambrose, and Nestorius are celebrated instances of the conse-
cration of laymen to bishoprics.
CHAPTER V.
NARROW ESCAPE FROM PERSECUTION HIS ENTRANCE INTO A MONASTERY
THE MONASTICISM OF THE EAST. A.D. 372.
ABOUT this time, 372-373, while Chrysostom was still re-
siding in Antioch, he narrowly escaped suffering the penalties
of an imperial decree issued by Valentinian and Valens
against the practisers of magical arts, or possessors even of
magical books. A severe search was instituted after sus-
pected persons ; soldiers were everywhere on the watch to
detect offenders. The persecution was carried on with
peculiar cruelty at Antioch, where it had been provoked by
the detection of a treasonable act of divination. The twenty-
four letters of the alphabet were arranged at intervals round
the rim of a kind of charger, which was placed on a tripod,
consecrated with incantations and elaborate ceremonies.
The diviner, habited as a heathen priest, in linen robes,
sandals, and with a fillet wreathed about his head, chanted
a hymn to Apollo, the god of prophecy, while a ring in the
centre of the charger was slipped rapidly round a slender
thread. The letters in front of which the ring successively
stopped indicated the character of the oracle. The ring on
this occasion was supposed to have pointed to the first four
letters in the name of the future Emperor, E O A. Theo-
dorus, and probably many others who had the misfortune to
own the fatal syllables, were executed. There were, of
course, multitudes of eager informers, and zealous judges, who
58 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHEYSOSTOM. [en. v.
strove to allay the suspicious fears of the Emperors, and to
procure favour for themselves by vigorous and wholesale
prosecutions. Neither age, nor sex, nor rank was spared;
women and children, senators and philosophers, were dragged
to the tribunals, and committed to the prisons of Borne and
Antioch from the most distant parts of Italy and Asia.
Many destroyed their libraries in alarm so many innocent
books were liable to be represented as mischievous or criminal;
and thus much valuable literature perished. 1 It was during
this dreadful time, when suspicion was instantly followed by
arrest, and arrest by imprisonment, torture, and probably
death, that Chrysostom chanced to be walking with a friend
to the Church of the Martyr Babylas, outside the city. As
they passed through the gardens by the banks of the Orontes,
they observed fragments of a book floating down the stream.
Curiosity led them to fish it out ; but, to their dismay, on
examining it, they found that it was inscribed with magical
formulae, and, to increase their alarm, a soldier was approaching
at no great distance. At first they knew not how to act; they
feared the book had been cast into the river by the artifice
of an informer to entrap some unwary victim. They deter-
mined, however, to throw their dangerous discovery back
into the river, and happily the attention or suspicions of the
soldier were not roused. Chrysostom always gratefully
looked back to this escape as a signal instance of God's
mercy and protection. 2
It must have been soon after this incident and previous
to the edict of persecution against the monks issued by
Valens in 373, that Chrysostom exchanged what might be
called the amateur kind of monastic life passed in his own
home for the monastery itself. Whether his mother was
now dead or had become reconciled to the separation, or
whether her son's passionate enthusiasm for monastic
1 Zosimus, lib. iv. 13-15. Ammian. 2 Tn Act. Apost. Horn. 38, in fine.
Marcell. xxix. c. L
CH. v.] EISE OF MONASTICISM. 59
retirement became irresistible, it is impossible to determine.
His mother is not mentioned by him in his writings after
this point, except in allusion to the past, which is a strong
presumption that she was no longer living. Bishop Meletius
would probably have endeavoured to detain him for some
active work in the Church, but he was now in exile ; and to
Flavian, the successor of Meletius, Chrysostom was possibly
not so intimately known.
During the first four centuries of the Christian era, the
enthusiasm for monastic life prevailed with ever increasing
force. We are, perhaps, naturally inclined to associate
monasticism chiefly with the Western Christianity of the
Middle Ages. But the original and by far the most prolific
parent of monasticism was the East. There were always
ascetics in the Christian Church; yet asceticism is the
product not so -much of Christianity as of the East; of the
oriental temperament, which admires and cultivates it; of
the oriental climate, which makes it tolerable even when
pushed to the most rigorous extremes. Asceticism is the
natural practical expression of that deeply-grounded con-
viction of an essential antagonism between the flesh and
spirit which pervades all oriental creeds. Even the mon-
astic form of it was known in the East before Christianity.
The Essenes in Judaea, the Therapeuta3 in Egypt, were
prototypes of the active and contemplative communities of
monks.
The primitive ascetics of the Christian Church were not
monks. They were persons who raised themselves above
the common level of religious life by exercises in fasting,
prayer, study, alms-giving, celibacy, bodily privations of all
kinds. These habits obtained for them great admiration
and reverence. Such persons are frequently designated by
writers of the first three centuries as " an ascetic," " a fol-
lower of the religious ascetics." 1 But they did not form a
1 Cyril. Catech. x. u. 19. Athanas, Synopsis.
60 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. v.
class distinctly marked off by dress and habitation from the
rest of the world, like the monks or even the anchorites of
later time. They lived in the cities or wherever their home
might be, and were not subject to any rules beyond those
of their own private making. Eusebius calls them O-TTOV Satot,
" earnest persons ;" and Clemens Alexandrinus e/cXe/crcov
e/cXeKTorepot,, " more elect than the elect." 1 Midway between
the primitive ascetic and the fully-developed monk must be
placed the anchorite or hermit, who made a step in the direc-
tion of monasticism by withdrawing altogether from the city
or populous places into the solitudes of mountain or desert.
Persecution assisted the impulse of religious fervour. Paul
retired to the Egyptian Thebaid during the persecution of
Decius in A.D. 251, and Antony during that of Maximin in
A.D. 312. They are justly named the fathers or founders
of the anchorites, because, though not actually the first,
they were the most distinguished; and the fame of their
sanctity, their austerities, their miracles, produced a tribe
of followers. The further Antony retired into the depths of
the wilderness the more numerous became his disciples.
They grouped their cells around the habitation of the saintly
father, and out of the clusters grew in process of time the
monastery. A number of cells ranged in lines like an en-
campment, not incorporated in one building, was called a
" Laura " or street. 2 This was the earliest and simplest kind
of monastic establishment. It was a community, though
without much system or cohesion.
The real founder of the Ccenobia or monasteries in the
East was the Egyptian Pachomius; he was the Benedict
of the East. His rule was that most generally adopted, not
only in Egypt but throughout the oriental portions of the
Empire. He and Antony had now been dead about twenty
years, and Hilarius, the pupil and imitator of Antony, had
1 Euseb. lib. vi. c. 11. Clemens whence it appears that Laura, or Labra,
Alex., Horn., Quis Dives salvetur ? was the name of an ecclesiastical dis-
3 Vide Epiphan. 69. Haeres. n. i., trict in Alexandria.
CH. v.] PEOGRESS OF MONASTICISM. 61
lately introduced monasticism on the Pachomian model into
Syria. In about fifty years more, the nomadic Saracens
will gaze with veneration and awe at the spectacle of Simeon
on his pillar, forty miles from Antioch. Thousands will
come to receive baptism at his hands ; his image will have
been placed over the entrance of the shops in Home. 1 The
spirit had been already caught in the West. The feelings
of abhorrence with which the Italians first beheld the wild-
looking Egyptian monks who accompanied Athanasius to
Borne had soon been exchanged for veneration. The ex-
ample of Marcellina, and the exhortations of her brother
Ambrose of Milan, had induced multitudes of women to
take vows of celibacy. 2 Most of the little islands on the
coasts of the Adriatic could boast of their monasteries or cells. 3
St. Martin built his religious houses near Poitiers and Tours,
and was followed to his grave by two thousand brethren. 4
But St. Jerome, perhaps, more than any one else, promoted
the advance of monasticism in the West. Born on the
borders of East and West, 6 he mingled with the Eastern
Church at Antioch and Constantinople, and in the desert
of Chalcis had inured himself to the most severe forms of
oriental asceticism, and returned to Eome eager to impart
to others a kindred spirit of enthusiasm for the ascetic life.
A little later, early in the fifth century, John Cassianus,
president of a religious establishment in Marseilles, pro-
pagated monastic institutions of an oriental type in the
south of France, and made men conversant with the system
by his work on the rules of the cloister. These were the
scattered forces which in the West awaited the master mind
and strong hand of Benedict to mould and discipline them
into a mighty system. The nearest approach in the West
lr nieod. Lector, n. 1. c. col. 102- 3 Baron. 398, 49-52; Giesel. I.
104. 251.
4 Sozom. iii. 14 ; Sulp. Severus.
2 Jerome, Ep. 77, 5 ; Ambrose, de 6 At Stridon, on the frontiers of
Virgin, i. 10, 11. Pannonia and Dalmatia.
62 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. v.
to the Egyptian system of Pachomius was among the Bene-
dictines of Camaldoli.
There is every reason to suppose on general grounds, and
the supposition is corroborated by notices in the writings of
Chrysostom, that the monasteries near Antioch, like the
rest of the Syrian monasteries, were based on the Pacho-
mian model. Pachomius was a native of the Thebaid, born
in A.D. 292. He began to practise asceticism as a hermit, but,
according to the legend, was visited by an angel who com-
manded him to promote the salvation of other men's souls
besides his own, and presented him with a brazen tablet,
on which were inscribed the rules of the Order which he
was to found. He established his first community on
Tabennse, an island in the Nile, which became the parent
of a numerous offspring. Pachomius had the satisfaction
in his lifetime of seeing eight monasteries, containing in all
3000 monks, acknowledging his rule; and after his death,
in the first half of the fifth century, their numbers had
swelled to 50,000^ Chrysostom exulted with Christian
joy and pride over the spectacle of "Egypt, that land
which had been the mother of pagan literature and art,
which had invented and propagated every species of
witchcraft, now despising all her ancient customs, and
holding up the Cross, in the desert no less if. not more
than in the cities : ... for the sky was not more beautiful,
spangled with its hosts of stars, than the desert of
Egypt studded in all directions with the habitations of
monks," 2
By the Pachomian rule no one was admitted as a full
monk till after three years of probation, during which period
he was tested by the most severe exercises. If willing,
after that period, to continue the same exercises, he was
admitted without further ceremony beyond making a
1 Sozom. iii. 14. Palladius, Hist. Lausiaca, 38.
2 In Matt. Horn. 8, p. 87.
CH. v.] PACHOMIAN MONASTERIES. 63
solemn declaration that he would adhere to the rules of the
monastery. That no irrevocable vow was taken by the
members of the monastery near Antioch which Chrysostom
joined seems proved by his return to the city after a resi-
dence in the monastery of several years' duration. Accord-
ing to Sozomen, the several parts of the dress worn by
Pachomian monks had a symbolical meaning. The tunic
(a linen garment reaching as far as the knees) had short
sleeves, to remind the wearers that they should be prompt
to do such honest work only as needed no concealment.
The hood was typical of the innocence and purity of infants,
who wore the same kind of covering ; the girdle and scarf,
folded about the back, shoulders, and arms, were to admonish
them that they should be perpetually ready to do active ser-
vice for God. Each cell was inhabited by three monks. They
took their chief meal in a refectory, and ate in silence, 1 with
a veil so arranged over the face that they could see only
what was on the table. No strangers were admitted, except
travellers, to whom they were bound, by the rule of their
Order, to show hospitality. The common meal or supper
took place at three o'clock, 2 up to which time they usually
fasted. When it was concluded, a hymn was sung, of which
Chrysostom gives us a specimen, though not in metrical
form : 3 " Blessed be God, who nourisheth me from my youth
up, who giveth food to all flesh : fill our hearts with joy and
gladness, that we, having all sufficiency at all times, may
abound unto every good work, through Jesus Christ our
Lord, with Whom be glory, and honour, and power to Thee,
together with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
Glory to Thee, Lord ! Glory to Thee, Holy One ! Glory
to Thee, King, who hast given us food to make us glad !
Fill us with the Holy Spirit, that we may be found well
1 The custom of one monk reading Cass. lib. iv. c. 17 ; Sozom. iii. 14 ;
the Scriptures aloud during dinner Jerome's translation of the rule,
was first adopted, according to Cassian, 2 But sometimes later,
in the Cappadocian monasteries. 3 Horn, in Matt. 55, vol. vii. p. 545.
64 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. v.
pleasing in thy sight, and not ashamed when Thou rewardest
every man according to his works."
The whole community in a Pachomian monastery was
divided into twenty-four classes, distinguished by the letters
of the Greek alphabet; the most ignorant, for instance,
under class Iota, the more learned under Xi or Zeta, such
letters being in shape respectively the simplest and the
most complicated in the alphabet. Those hours which were
not devoted to services or study were occupied by manual
labour, partly to supply themselves with the necessaries of
life, partly to guard against the incursion of evil thoughts.
There was a proverbial saying attributed to some of the old
Egyptian fathers, that " a labouring monk was assaulted by
one devil only, but an idle one by an innumerable legion."
They wove baskets and mats, agriculture was not neglected,
nor even, among the Egyptian monks, ship-building. Pal-
ladius, who visited the Egyptian monasteries about the close
of the fourth century, found, in the monastery of Panopolis,
which- contained 300 members, 15 tailors, 7 smiths, 4 car-
penters, 12 camel-drivers, 15 tanners. Each monastery in
Egypt had its steward, and a chief steward stationed at the
principal settlement had the supervision of all the rest. All
the products of monkish labour were shipped under his
inspection on the Nile for Alexandria. With the proceeds
of their sale, stores were purchased for the monasteries, and
the surplus was distributed amongst the sick and poor. 1
A monastery founded on this model might be fairly
described as a kind of village containing an industrial and
religious population; and had the Eastern monks adhered
to this simple and innocent way of life, such communities
might have become more and more schools of learning,
centres of civilisation, and homes of piety. But they were
increasingly forgetful of the wholesome saying of Antony,
that a monk in the city was like " a fish out of water."
1 Sozom. iii. 14, 15 ; Cassian., de Coenob. Instit. iv. x. 22.
CH. v.] EASTERN AND WESTERN MONKS. 65
Instead of attending exclusively to their pious and industrial
exercises, they mixed themselves up with the theological
and political contests which too often convulsed the cities
of the Eastern Empire. Their influence or interference was
frequently the reverse of peace-making, judicious, or Christian.
They would rush with fanatical fury into the city, to rescue
the orthodox, or to attack those whom they considered here-
tical. The evil had grown to such a height by the reign of
Arcadius, that a law was passed by which monks were
strictly forbidden to commit such outrages on civil order,
and bishops were commanded to prosecute the authors of
such attempts. 1 Eastern monasticism, in fact, partook of
the character which distinguished the Eastern Church as a
whole, and which we may regard as one principal cause of
its corruption and decay. A certain stability, sobriety, self-
control, a law-making and law-respecting spirit, as it is the
peculiar merit of the Western, so the want of it is the
peculiar defect of the Oriental temperament. Hence a
curious co-existence of extremes ; the passions, unnaturally
repressed at one outlet by intense asceticism, burst forth
witli increased fury at another. He who had subdued his
body in the wilderness or on the mountains by fastings and
macerations entertained the most implacable animosity
towards pagans and heretics, and fought them like a ruffian
(the word is not too strong for truth), when some tumult in
an adjacent city afforded him an opportunity for this robust
mode of displaying and defending his orthodoxy. Western
monasticism, on the other hand, is distinguished by more
gravity, more of the old Eoman quality, a love of stern
discipline. It did not run to such lengths of fanatical
asceticism, and consequently was exempt from such disas-
trous reactions. It never produced such a caricature of the
anchorite as Simeon Stylites, or such savage zealots as the
monkish bands who dealt their sturdy blows in the religious
i Cod. Theod. ix. 40. 16.
E
G6 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. v.
riots of Constantinople and Alexandria. From the notices
scattered up and down Chrysostom's writings of the monas-
teries in the neighbourhood of Antioch, it appears that they
conformed in all essential respects to the Pachomian model.
"We might anticipate, indeed, that, where such a man as
Diodorus was president or visitor, they would be conducted
on a simple and rational system.
South of Antioch were the mountainous heights of Silpius
and Casius, whence rose the springs which in a variety of
channels found their way into the city, provided it with a
constant and abundant supply of the purest water, and
irrigated the gardens for which it was celebrated. 1 In this
mountain region dwelt the communities of monks, in separate
huts or cells (tcaXv^at, 2 ), but subject to an abbot, and a com-
mon rule. Chrysostom has in more passages than one fur-
nished us with a description of their ordinary costume, fare,
and way of life. He is fond of depicting their simple, frugal,
and pious habits, in contrast to the artificial and luxurious
manners of the gay and worldly people of the city. They
were clad in coarse garments of goat's hair or camel's hair,
sometimes of skins, over their linen tunics, which were worn
both by night and day. 3 Before the first rays of sunlight, the
abbot went round, and struck those monks who were still
sleeping with his foot, to wake them. When all had risen,
fresh, healthy, fasting, they sang together, under the pre-
centorship of their abbot, a hymn of praise to God. The
hymn being ended, a common prayer was offered up (again
under the leadership of their abbot), and then each at sunrise
went to his allotted task, some to read, others to write, others
to manual labour, by which they made a good deal to supply
the necessities of the poor. Four hours in the day, the
1 Vide Miiller de Antiq. Antioch. they received the Eucharist, which
c. 3. they did twice a week, on Sundays
2 Chrysost. in Matt. Horn. 69, vol. and Saturdays, they threw off their
vii. p. 652. coats of skin, and loosened their
3 In Matt. Horn. 68, c. 3. When girdles. Sozom. iii. 14.
CH. v.] DAILY LIFE OF THE MONKS. 67
third, the sixth, the ninth, and some time in the evening,
were appointed for prayers and psalms. When the daily
work was concluded, they sat down, or rather reclined, on
strewn grass, to their common meal, which was sometimes
eaten out of doors by moonlight, and consisted of bread and
water only, with occasionally, for invalids, a little vegetable
food and oil. This frugal repast was followed by hymns,
after which they betook themselves to their straw couches,
and slept, as Chrysostom observes, free from those anxieties
and apprehensions winch beset the worldly man. There
WMS no need of bolts and bars, for there was no fear of
robbers. The monk had no possession but his body and
soul, and if his life was taken he would regard it as an
advantage, for he could say that to live was Christ, and to
die was gain. 1 Those words " mine and thine," those fertile
causes of innumerable strifes, were unknown. 2 No lamen-
tations were to be heard when any of the brethren died.
They did not say, " such a one is dead," but, " he has been
perfected" (rereXetWat), and he was carried forth to burial
amidst hymns of praise, thanksgiving for his release, and
the prayers of his companions that they too might soon see
the end of their labours and struggles, and be permitted to
behold Jesus Christ. 3 Such was the simple and industrial
kind of monastic body to which Chrysostom for a time
nttaclu'd himself; and to the end of his life he regarded such
communities with the greatest admiration and sympathy.
But he never failed to maintain also the duty of work
against those who represented the perfection of the Christian
life as consisting in mere contemplation and prayer. Such a
doctrine of otiose Christianity he proved to be based on a too
exclusive attention to certain passages in the New Testament.
If, for instance, our blessed Lord said to Martha, " Thou art
careful and troubled about many things, but one thing is
1 In Matt. Horn. 68, c. 3 ; 69, c. 3 ; 2 i n Matt. Horn. 72, vol. vii. p. 671.
in 1 Tim. Horn. 14, c. 4, 5. 3 i n i Tim. Horn. 14, c. 5.
68 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. v.
needful;" or again, "Take no thought for the morrow;"
or, "Labour not for the meat that perisheth" all such
passages were to be balanced and harmonised by others, as,
for example, St. Paul's exhortation to the Thessalonians to
be " quiet and to do their own business," and " let him that
stole steal no more, but rather let him labour, working with
his hands that which is good, that he may have to give to
him that needeth." He points out that the words of our
Lord do not inculcate total abstinence from work, but only
censure an undue anxiety about earthly things, to the
exclusion or neglect of spiritual concerns. The contem-
plative form of monasticism, based on misconception of
Holy Scripture, had, he observes, seriously injured the cause
of Christianity, for it occasioned practical men of the world
to deride it as a source of indolence. 1
1 In Joh. Horn. 44, c. 1.
CHAPTEE VI.
WORKS PRODUCED DURING HIS MONASTIC LIFE-THE LETTERS TO
DEMETRIUS AND STELECHIUS TREATISES ADDRESSED TO THE
OPPONENTS OF MONASTICISM LETTER TO STAGIRIUS.
SEVERAL treatises were composed by Chrysostom during his
monastic life. Among the first must be placed two books
addressed to Demetrius and Stelechius. Of these the former
was evidently written soon after the commencement of his
retreat, for he speaks of having recently determined to take
the step, and of the petty anxieties about food and other
personal comforts which had at first unsettled his purpose a
little. But he had soon conquered these hankerings after
the more luxurious life which he had abandoned. It seemed
to him a disgrace that one to whom heaven and celestial joys
were offered, such as eye had not seen nor ear heard, should
be so hesitating and timorous, when those who undertook
the management of public affairs did not shrink from dangers
and toil, and long journeys, and separation from wife and
children, and perhaps unfavourable criticism, but only
inquired whether the office were honourable and lucrative. 1
The aim of the books is to animate torpid characters to
a warmer piety, first by drawing a lively picture of the
depravity of the times, secondly by a glowing description of
the fervent energy of apostles and apostolic saints, and
insisting that those lofty heights of Christian holiness were
not unattainable by the Christian of his own day, if he bent
1 De Compunct. i. c. 6.
70 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. vi.
the whole energy of his will, aided by Divine grace, to the
attempt.
" So great," he observes, " was the depravity of the times
that if a stranger were to compare the precepts of the Gospel
with the actual practice of society, he would infer that men
were not the disciples, but the enemies of Christ. And the
most fatal symptom was their total unconsciousness of this
deep corruption. Society was like a body which was out-
wardly vigorous, but concealed a wasting fever within; or
like an insane person who says and does all manner of shock-
ing things, but, instead of being ashamed, glories in the
fancied possession of superior wisdom." 1 Chrysostom ap-
plies the test of the principal precepts of morality in the
Sermon on the Mount to the existing state of Christian
morals. Every one of them was shamelessly violated. A
kind of regard, superstitious or hypocritical, was paid to the
command in the letter, which was broken in the spirit.
Persons, for instance, who scrupled to use the actual ex-
pressions " fool " or " Kaca," heaped all lands of opprobrious
epithets on their neighbours. 2 So the command to be
reconciled with a brother before approaching the altar was
really broken though formally kept. Men gave the kiss of
peace at the celebration of Holy Communion when ad-
monished by the deacon so to do, but continued to nourish
resentful feelings in the heart all the same. 3 Vainglory
and ostentation robbed prayer, fasting and almsgiving of
their merit; and as for the precept "Judge not," a most
uncharitable spirit of censoriousness pervaded every class of
society, including monks and ecclesiastics. 4 Contrast with
this false and hollow religion of the world the condition
of one in whom a deep compunction for sin, and a genuine
love of Jesus Christ, was awakened. The whole multitude
of vain frivolous passions was dispersed like dust before
the wind. So it was with St. Paul. Having once turned
i De Compunct. i. c. 1. 2 C. 2. C. 3. 4 C. 4, 5.
CH. vi.] EPISTLE TO DEMETEIUS. 71
the eye of his soul towards heaven, and being entranced by
the beauty of that other world, he could not stoop to earth
again. As a beggar, in some gloomy hovel, if he saw a
monarch glittering with gold and radiant with jewels, might
altogether for a time forget the squalor of his dwelling-place
in his eagerness to get inside the palace of the king, so
St. Paul forgot and despised the poverty and hardship of this
present world because the whole energy of his being was
directed to the attainment of that heavenly city. 1 But men
objected to the citation of apostolic examples. Paul and
Peter, they said, were superhuman characters; models
beyond our limited powers. " Nay," Chrysostom replies,
" these are feeble excuses. The Apostles were in all essential
points like ourselves. Did they not breathe the same kind
of air ? eat the same kind of food ? were not some of them
married men ? did they not follow mechanical trades ? nay
more, had not some of them deeply sinned ? Men at the
present day did not indeed receive grace at baptism to work
miracles, but they received enough to enable them to lead a
good and holy Christian life. 2 And the highest blessing of
Christ his invitation to those who were called ' blessed
children' to inherit the kingdom prepared for them was
addressed, not to those who had wrought miracles, but to
those who had ministered to himself through feeding the
hungry, entertaining the stranger, visiting the sick and the
prisoners, who were his brethren. But grace, though un-
doubtedly given by God, required man's own co-operation
to become effectual. Otherwise, since God is no respecter
of persons, it would have resided in equal measure in all
men ; whereas we see that with one man it remains, from
another it departs ; a third is never affected by it at all." 3
The second book on the same subject, addressed to another
friend, named Stelechius, is an expression of more rapturous
and highly-wrought feeling, and is more rhetorical in style.
i c. 7. 2 c. 8. 3 c. 9.
72 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. vi.
His description in the beginning of the blessed freedom of
the monk's life from secular vanities and cares, his remarks
on David and St. Paul, 1 two of his most favourite char-
acters, and still more his masterly enumeration of the
manifold ways in which God manifests his providential care
for man, 2 well deserve to be read. They are too long to be
translated here in full, and a paraphrase would very inade-
quately represent such passages, of which the peculiar beauty
consists in the language more even than in the ideas. One
special interest of these books, written immediately after his
retirement from the world, is that they put clearly before us
what it was which drove him and many another to the
monastic life. It was a sense of the glaring and hideous
contrast between the Christianity of the Gospel and the
Christianity of ordinary society. A kind of implacable
warfare, 3 as he expresses it, seemed to be waged in the
world against the commands of Christ; and he had there-
fore determined, by seclusion from the world, to seek that
kind of life which he saw exhibited in the Gospels, but
nowhere else. 4
But the largest and most powerful work which Chrysostom
produced during this period was occasioned by the decree of
the Emperor Yalens in A.D. 373 a decree which struck
at the roots of monasticism. It directed that monks should
be dragged from their retreats, and compelled to discharge
their obligations as citizens, either by serving in the army,
or performing the functions of any civil office to which they
might be appointed. 5 The edict is said to have been enforced
with considerable rigour, and in Egypt this seems to have
been the case. But it was evidently far from complete or
universal in its operation. None of Chrysostom's brethren
i De Compunct. ii. 1-3. 2 C. 5. military. Vide Suicer, sub v. <rrpa-
3 2x6 P a o,K7]pvKT03, lib. i. c. 5. reveiv. The Egyptian monks, how-
4 Lib. i. c. 4. ever, do seem to have been specially
5 The word in the decree is "mili- forced into the army. De Broglie, v.
tare," but this term appears to be 303 ; Gibbon, iv. ; Milman, History
applied to civil duties as well as of Christianity, iii. 47.
CH. vi.] PEESECUTION OF MONKS BY VALENS. 73
appear to have been compelled to return to the city ; certainly
he himself was not. But they were liable, of course, to the
persecution which, under the shelter of the decree, all the
enemies of their order directed against them. These enemies
of monasticism were of several kinds. There were the
zealous adherents of the old paganism ; men like Libanius,
who were opposed to Christianity on principle, and especially
to the monastic form of it, as encouraging idleness, and the
dereliction of the duties of good citizens. There were also
the more worldly-minded Christians who had adopted Chris-
tianity more from impulse or conformity than from convic-
tion, and who disliked the standing protest of monastic life
against their own frivolity. They were irritated also by the
influence which the monks often acquired over their wives
and children, sometimes alluring the latter from that lucra-
tive line of worldly life which their fathers had marked out
for them. And lastly, there were those who regretted that
some men should have taken up a position of direct antagonism
to the world, instead of mingling with it, and infusing good
leaven into the mass of evil. The treatise of Chrysostom
addressed " to the assailants of monastic life " was intended
to meet most of these objections.
A friend had brought the terrible tidings to his retreat of
the authorised persecution which had just broken out. He
heard it with indescribable horror. It was a sacrilege far
worse than the destruction of the Jewish Temple. That an
Emperor (an Arian, indeed, yet professing himself Christian)
should organise the persecution, and that some actually
baptized persons should take, as his friend informed him, a
part in it, was an intolerable aggravation of the infliction.
He would rather die than witness such a calamity, and was
ready to exclaim with Elijah, " Now, Lord, take away my
life ! " His friend roused him from this state of despondency
by suggesting that, instead of giving way to useless lam-
entations, he should write an admonitory treatise to the
74 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. vi.
originators and abettors of this horrible persecution. At first
Chrysostom refused, partly from a feeling of incompetency,
partly from a dread of exposing to the pagans by his writings
some of the internal corruptions, dissensions, and weaknesses
of the Church. His friend replies that these were already
but too notorious ; and as for the sufferings of the monks,
they formed the topic of public conversation, too often of
public jest. In the market-place and in the doctors' shops
the subject was freely canvassed, and many boasted of the
part which they had taken against the victims. " I was the
first to lay hands on such a monk," one would cry, " and to
give him a blow;" or, " I was the first to discover his cell ;"
or, " I stimulated the judge against him more than any one."
Such was the spirit of cruelty and profanity by which even
Christians were animated ; and, as for the pagans, they
derided both parties. Eoused by these dreadful communi-
cations, the indignation of Chrysostom no longer hesitated
to set about the task. 1
His pity, he says, was excited chiefly for the persecutors ;
they were purchasing eternal misery for themselves, while
the future reward of their victims would be in proportion to
the magnitude of their present sufferings, since "Blessed
were those whom men should hate, persecute, and revile for
Christ's sake, and great was to be their reward in heaven." 2
To persecute monks was to hinder that purity of life to
which Christ attached so deep an importance. It might be
objected, Cannot men lead lives uncontaminated at home ?
to which Chrysostom replies that he heartily wishes they
could, and that such good order and morality might be
established in cities as to make monasteries unnecessary.
But at present such gross iniquity prevailed in large towns,
that men of pious aspirations were compelled to fly to the
mountain or the desert. The blame should fall, not on those
who escaped from the city, but on those who made life there
1 Adv. Oppng. Vita? Hon., lib. i. c. 1-3. 2 C. 4.
CH. vi.] MONASTICISM : WHY NECESSARY. 75
intolerable to virtuous men. He trusted the time might
come when these refugees would be able to return with
safety to the world. 1
If it was objected that on this principle of reasoning the
mass of mankind was condemned, he could only reply, in the
words of Christ himself, " Narrow is the way which leadeth
unto life, and few there be that find it." We must not
honour a multitude before truth. If all flesh was once
destroyed except eight persons, we cannot be surprised if
the number of men eventually saved shall be few. " I see,"
he says, "a constant perpetration of crimes which are all
condemned by Christ as meriting the punishment of hell
adultery, fornication, envy, anger, evil speaking, and many
more. The multitude which is engaged in this wickedness
is unmolested, but the monks who fly from it themselves,
and persuade others to take flight also, are persecuted with-
out mercy." So much for the Christianity of the world. 2
In Book II. he expresses his astonishment that fathers
should so little understand what was best for their sons as
to deter them from studying " the true philosophy." But
in combating this error he will put forward all that can be
urged on their side. He imagines the case of a pagan father,
possessed of great worldly distinction and wealth. He has
an only son, in whom all his pride and hopes are centred ;
one whom he expects to surpass himself in riches and honour.
Suddenly this son becomes converted to monasticism ; this
rich heir flies to the mountains, puts on a dress coarser than
that of the meanest servant, toils at the menial occupations
of gardening and drawing water, becomes lean and pale. All
the schemes of his father for the future are frustrated, all
past efforts for his education seem to have been squandered.
The little vessel which was his pride and pleasure is wrecked
at the very mouth of the harbour from which it was setting
out on the voyage of life. The parent has no longer any
1 c. 5-7. 2 c. 8.
76 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. vi.
pleasure in life ; he mourns for his son as for one already
dead. 1
Having thus stated the case on his adversary's side as
strongly as possible, Chrysostom begins his own defence by
asking which would be best: that a man should be subject
to thirst all his life, or wholly exempt from it ? Surely to
be exempt from it. Apply this to the moral appetites
love, avarice, and the rest. The monk is exempt from them ;
the man of the world is distracted by them, if not over-
whelmed. Again, if the monk has no wealth of his own,
he exercises a powerful influence in directing the wealth of
others. Eeligious men will part with much of their riches
according to his suggestions; if one refuses, another will
give. The resources, in fact, of the monk are quite inex-
haustible; many will subscribe to supply his wants or to
execute his wishes, as Crito said that he and his friends
would subscribe for Socrates. It is impossible to deprive
the monk of his wealth or of his home ; if you strip him of
everything he has, he rejoices, and thanks you for helping
him to live the life which he desires ; and as for his home,
the world is his home ; one place is the same as another to
him ; he needs nothing but the pure air of heaven, whole-
some streams, and herbs. As for high place and rank,
history suffices to teach us that the desert does not destroy,
and the palace does not give, true nobility. Plato planting,
watering, and. eating olives was a far nobler personage
than Dionysius the Tyrant of Sicily, amidst all the wealth and
splendour of a monarch. Socrates clad in a single garment,
with his bare feet and his meagre fare of bread, and dependent
upon others for the mere necessaries of life was a far more
illustrious character than Archelaus, who often invited him,
but in vain, to court. Eeal splendour and distinction con-
sisted not in fine raiment, or in positions of dignity and
power, but only in excellence of the soul and in philosophy. 2
1 Lib. ii. c. 1, 2. 2 C. 2-5.
CH. vi.] INFLUENCE OF THE MONK. 77
He then proceeds to maintain that the influence of the
monk was more powerful than that of the man of the world,
however distinguished he might be. If he descended from
his mountain solitude, and entered the city, the people
flocked round him, and pointed him out with reverence and
admiration, as if he were a messenger from heaven. His
mean dress commanded more respect than the purple robe
and diadem of the monarch. If he was required to inter-
fere in matters of public interest, his influence was greater
than that of the powerful or wealthy; for he could speak
before an emperor with boldness and freedom, and without
incurring the suspicion of self-interested or ambitious
motives. He was a more effectual comforter of the mourners
than any one in a prosperous worldly condition was likely
to be. If a father had lost his only son, the sight of other
men's domestic happiness only revived his grief; but the
society of the monk, who disdained the ties of home and
family, and who talked to him of death as only a sleep,
soothed his grief. Thus the man who wished his son to
possess real honour and power would permit him to become
a monk ; for monks who were once mere peasants had been
visited in their cells and consulted by kings and ministers of
state.
Chrysostom concludes this book by relating the history
of one of his own brethren in the monastery, who, when first
he desired to become a monk, had been disowned by his
father, a wealthy and distinguished pagan, who threatened
him with imprisonment, turned him out of doors, and allowed
him almost to perish with hunger. But, finding him inflexible
in his purpose, the father at last relented, and, at the time
when Chrysostom wrote, honoured, he might say venerated,
that son, considering the others, who occupied distinguished
positions in the world, scarcely worthy to be his servant. 1
As the second book was intended to meet the objections
1 c. 6-10.
78 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. vi.
of a pagan father, so the third contains admonitions to one
who was professedly Christian, but worldly-minded, on the
duty of parents in regard to the moral and religious educa-
tion of their children.
It appeared to him that the fathers of that day gave their
sons none but worldly counsel, inculcated none but worldly
industry and prudence, and encouraged to the emulation
of none but worldly examples. 1 The force of habit was
intensely strong, especially when pleasure co-operated with
it, and parents, instead of counteracting habits of worldliness,
promoted them by their own example. God led the Israelites
through the wilderness as a kind of monastic training, to
wean them from the luxurious and sensual habits of an
Egyptian life ; yet even then they hankered after the land
of their bondage. How, then, could the children of parents
who left them in the midst of the Egypt of vice, escape
damnation ? If they achieved anything good of themselves,
it was speedily crushed by the flood of worldly conversation
which issued from the parent. All those things which were
condemned by Christ as wealth, popularity, strife, an evil
eye, divorce were approved by parents of that day, and
they threw a veil over the ugliness of these vices, by giving
them specious names. Devotion to the hippodrome and
theatre was called fashionable refinement; wealth was
called freedom; love of glory, high spirit; folly, boldness;
prodigality, benevolence; injustice, manliness. Virtues, on
the contrary, were depreciated by opprobrious names : tem-
perance was called rusticity ; equity, cowardice ; justice,
unmanliness ; modesty, meanness ; endurance of injury,
feebleness. He truly remarks, that nothing contributes so
much to deter men from vice as calling vices plainly by
their proper names. 2
" How can children escape moral ruin, when all the labour
Lib. iii. c. 6.
2 Compare similar remarks by Thu- the Corcyrsean sedition, on the mis-
cydides, book iii., in his account of application of names to vices.
CH. vi.] WOELDLINESS OF PARENTS. 79
of their fathers is bestowed on the provision of super-
fluous things fine houses, dress, horses, beautiful statues,
gilded ceilings while they take no pains about the soul,
which is far more precious than any ornament of gold?" 1
And there were worse evils behind : vice too monstrous
and unnatural to be named, but to which he was constrained
to allude, because he felt that it was poisoning with deadly
venom the very vitals of the social body. "Well," but
worldly men reply, "Would you have us all turn philo-
sophers, and let our worldly affairs go to ruin ? Nay," says
Chrysostom, " it is the want of the philosophic spirit and rule
which ruins everything now; it is your rich men with
troops of slaves and swarms of parasites, eager for wealth and
ambitious of distinction, building fine houses, adding field
to field, lending money at a usurious rate of interest who
propagate the strife and litigation, and envy, and murder,
and general confusion, by which life is distracted. These
are they who bring down the vengeance of Heaven, in the
shape of droughts, and famines, and inundations, and earth-
quakes, and submersion of cities, and pestilences. It is not
the simple monk, or the philosophic Christian, who is con-
tented with a humble dwelling, a mean dress, a little plot of
ground. These last, shining like bright beacons in a dark
place, hold up the lamp of philosophy on high, and endea-
vour to guide those who are tossing on the open sea in a
dark night into the haven of safety and repose." 2
"In spite of law, disorder prevailed to such an extent,
that the very idea of God's providence was lost. Men
assigned the course of events to fate, or to the stars, or to
chance, or to spontaneous force. God did, indeed, still rule ;
but He was like a pilot in a storm, whose skill in managing
and conducting the vessel in safety was not perceived or
appreciated by the passengers, owing to the confusion
and fright caused by the raging of the elements. In the
i Lib. Hi. c. 6, 7. 2 C. 8, 9.
80 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. vi.
monastery, on the other hand, all was tranquillity and peace
as in a community of angels. He strenuously combated
the error of supposing that sin was more pardonable in a man
of the world than in a monk. Anger, uncleanness, swearing,
and the like, were equally sinful in all. Christ made no
distinctions, but propounded one standard of morality for
all alike. Nothing had inflicted more injury on the moral
tone of society than the supposition that strictness of life
was demanded of the monk only." 1 He strongly urges
the advantage of sending youths for education to monas-
teries, even for so long a period as ten or twenty years.
Men consented, he says, to part with their children, for the
purpose of learning some art or trade, or even so low an
accomplishment as rope-dancing ; but when the object was
to train their souls for heaven, all kinds of impediments
were raised. To object that few attained through residence
in a monastery that perfection of spiritual life which some
expected of them, was a mere excuse. In the case of
worldly things, on which men's hearts were set, they thought
of getting as much as they could, not of reaching absolute
perfection. A man did not prevent his son from entering
military service because the chances of his becoming a
prefect were small ; why, then, hesitate to send your son to
a monastery because all monks do not become angels ? 2
These treatises are remarkable productions, and deserve
to be read, not only because they exhibit Chrysostom's best
powers of argument and style, but also because they throw
light upon the character of the man and the times in which
he lived. He pleads his cause with the ingenuity, as well
as eloquence, of a man who had been trained for the law
courts. We find, indeed, that his opinions on the advantages
of the monastic life were modified as he grew older; but
his bold condemnation of worldliness, his denunciation of a
cold secularised Christianity, as contrasted with the purity
i Lib. iii. c. 14, 15. 2 c. 18, 19.
CH. vi.] CHARACTER OF THE TREATISES. 81
of the Gospel standard, the deep aspirations after personal
holiness, the desire to be rilled with a fervent and overflow-
ing love of Christ, the firm hold on the idea of a superin-
tending Providence, amidst social confusion and corruption ;
these we find, as here, so always, conspicuous characteristics
of the man, and principal sources of his influence.
From the frightful picture here drawn of social depravity,
we perceive the value we might say, t the necessity of
monasteries, as havens of refuge for those who recoiled in
horror from the surrounding pollution. It is clear also
that the influence of the monks was considerable. Monas-
teries were recognised places of education, where pious
parents could depend on their children being virtuously
brought up. The Christian wife of a pagan or worldly
husband could here find a safe home for her boy, where he
could escape the contamination of his father's influence or
example. Chrysostom relates, in chapter 12, how a Christian
lady in Antioch, being afraid of the wrath of a harsh and
worldly-minded husband if she sent away her son to school
at the monastery, induced one of the monks, a friend
of Chrysostom's, to reside for a time in the city, in the
character of pedagogue. The boy, thus subjected to his
training, afterwards joined the society of the monks; but
Chrysostom, fearing the consequences both to the youth and
to the monastic body, should his father detect his secession,
persuaded him to return to the city, where he led an ascetic
life, though not habited in monkish dress. Out of these
monastic schools, after years of discipline and prayer, and
study of the Word, there issued many a pastor and preacher,
well-armed champions of the truth, strong in the Lord, and
in the power of His might ; like Chrysostom himself, instant
in season and out of season; stern denouncers of evil,
even in kings' courts ; holding out the light of the Gospel
in the midst of a dark and crooked generation.
The foregoing extracts and paraphrases from these treatises
F
82 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. vi.
prove also that as philosophy was considered the highest
flight in the intellectual culture of the pagan, so was asceti-
cism regarded as the highest standard of Christian life ; it
was to the education of the soul what philosophy was to
the education of the mind, and hence it was called by the
same name. Possessed by this idea, Chrysostom threw
himself at this period of his life into the system with all
the ardour of his nature. If asceticism was good, it was
right to carry it as far as nature could bear it. He adopted
the habits of an old member of the brotherhood named Syrus,
notorious for the severity of his self-inflicted discipline.
The day and greater part of the night were spent in
study, fastings and vigils. Bread and water were his only
habitual food. At the end of four years he proceeded a
step further. He withdrew from the community to one of
those solitary caves with which the mountains overhanging
Antioch on its southern side abounded. In fact, he ex-
changed the life of a monk for that of an anchorite. His
frame endured this additional strain for nearly two years,
and then gave way. His health was so much shattered
that he was obliged to abandon monastic life, and to return
to the greater comfort of his home in Antioch. 1
Meanwhile a friend of his, Stagirius by name a person
of noble birth, who, in spite of his father's opposition, had
embraced monasticism was reduced to a more deplorable
condition. While Chrysostom was confined to his house by
illness, a friend common to him and Stagirius brought him
the sad intelligence that Stagirius was affected with all the
symptoms of demoniacal possession wringing of the hands,
squinting of the eyes, foaming at the mouth, strange inarti-
culate cries, shiverings, and frightful visions at night. 2 We
shall perhaps find little difficulty in accounting for these
distressing affections, as the consequence of excessive
austerities. The young man, who formerly lived a gay
1 Pallad. Dial. c. v. 2 Ad Stag, a Dsem. vex., vol. i. lib. i. c. 1.
CH. vi.] EPISTLE TO STAGIEIUS. 83
life in the world, and in the midst of affluence, had in the
monastery fared on bread and water only, often kept vigil
all night long, spent his days in prayer and tears of peni-
tence, preserved an absolute silence, and read so many hours
continuously, that his friends and brother monks feared
that his brain would become disordered. 1 Very probably
it was, and hence his visions and convulsions ; but those
were not days in which men readily attributed any strange
phenomena, mental or bodily, to physical causes. We may
believe in the action of a spirit-world on the inhabitants of
this earth ; but we require good evidence that any violent
or strange affection of mind or body is due to a directly
spiritual agency, rather than to the operation of God accord-
ing to natural law. The cases of demoniacs in the Gospel
stand apart. Our Lord uses language which amounts to a
distinct affirmation that those men were actually possessed
by evil spirits. To use such expressions as " come out of
him," "enter no more into him," and the like, if there was
no spirit concerned in the case at all, would have been, to
say the least, a mere unmeaning piece of acting, of which it
would be shocking to suppose our Lord capable. But to
admit the direct agency of spirit, when confirmed by such
authoritative testimony, is widely different from the hasty
ascription to spiritual agency, by an uncritical and unscientific
age, of everything which cannot be accounted for by the
most superficial knowledge and observation. Chrysostom, of
course, not being beyond his age in such matters, did not for
a moment dispute the supposition that Stagirius was actually
possessed by a demon, but he displays a great deal of good
sense in dealing with the case. As the state of his own
health did not permit him to pay Stagirius a visit in person,
he wrote his advice instead. He perceived the fatal tempta-
tion to despair in a man who imagined that the devil had
got a firm hold upon him, and that every evil inclination
i Ibid. lib. ii. c. 1.
84 . LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. vi.
proceeded directly from this demoniacal invader. He will
not allow that the suggestion to suicide, of which Stagirius
complained, came direct from the demon, but rather from
his own despondency, 1 with which the devil had endeavoured
to oppress him, that he might, under cover of that, work his
own purposes more effectually, just as robbers attack houses
in the dark. But this was to be shaken off by trust in God ;
for the devil did not exercise a compulsory power over the
hearts of men ; there must be a co-operation of the man's
own will. Eve fell partly through her own inclination to
sin : " When she saw that the tree was good for food, and
pleasant to the eyes, she took of the fruit thereof and did
eat;" and if Adam was so easily persuaded to participate in
her sin, he would have fallen even had no devil existed.
Chrysostorn endeavours also to console his friend by going
through the histories of saints in all times who have been
afflicted. His sufferings were not to be compared to those of
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, and St. Paul. " These
afflictions were sent for remedial, purgatorial purposes that
the soul might be saved in the day of the Lord. It was not
easy to say why such a person was tried by this or that form
of suffering, but if we knew exactly God's motives, there
would be no test of faith. The indispensable thing was to
be firmly convinced that whatever God sent was right.
Some men were disturbed because the good were often
troubled, and the wicked prosperous ; but such inequality in
the distribution of reward and punishment in this life sug-
gested a future state where they would be finally adjusted.
The wicked who had here received his good things would
there receive his evil. 2 Stagirius had not been attacked by
any demon when he was living in carelessness and worldly
pleasure, but when he had buckled on his armour and
appeared as an antagonist, then the devil descended to the
Assault. Hence he had no need to be ashamed of his afflic-
i Ad Stag., vol. i. lib. ii. c. 1. 2 Ibid. c. 5-9.
en. vi.] CONSOLES STAGIKIUS. 85
tion ; the only thing to be ashamed of was sin, and it was
owing to his renunciation of sin that the devil assailed him.
The real demoniacs were those who were carried away by
the impulses of unregulated passions." His summaries of
the lives of the Old Testament saints, which fill the rest of
the second book and most of the third, are very masterly,
and display most intimate acquaintance with Holy Scripture
in all its parts. A powerful mind and retentive memory
had profited by six years of retirement largely devoted to
study.
LIBRARY
I' X I V K i;s IT Y OK
CALIFORNIA,
CHAPTER VII.
ORDINATION AS DEA'CON DESCRIPTION OP ANTIOCH WORKS COMPOSED
DURING HIS DI AGON ATE. A.D. S81-386.
PKOBABLY one of the last acts of Bishop Meletius before
he left Antioch to attend the Council of Constantinople in
381, was to ordain Chrysostoin a deacon. The bishop
never returned. He died during the session of the council
of which he was president, leaving both that and the see of
Antioch distracted by the most deplorable factions. It will
be remembered 1 that the Catholics of Antioch had, ever
since the ill-judged mission of Lucifer of Cagliari, been
divided between allegiance to Paulinus, a priest of the old
Eustathian party, who had been consecrated bishop by
Lucifer, and Meletius, bishop of the more moderate party.
With the laudable purpose of healing this schism, it is said
that several of the clergy at Antioch, who were considered
most likely to succeed to a vacancy, bound themselves under
an oath, that in the event of either bishop dying, they would
decline the offer of the see, if made, and acknowledge the sur-
vivor. But on the death of Meletius, their plan was frustrated.
Either the Asiatics, who generally favoured Meletius, refused
to submit to the authority of Paulinus, because he had been
ordained by a Western prelate, or the Eustathians who ac-
knowledged Paulinus were unwilling on their side to admit
Meletians into their fold. In any case, the earnest endeavours
of Gregory of Nazianzum, now President of the Council, to
i See ante, Chapter II.
en. vii ] DUTIES OF A DEACON. 87
unite the two factions under one prelate were unsuccessful. 1
The Meletians elected Flavian to be their bishop, one of
the very priests who had, under oath, renounced their pre-
tensions to the see. This appointment of course exposed
Flavian to the imputation of perjury, but we may hope that,
like Gregory, he yielded to a pressing necessity only, and to
a conviction that the dissension would have been aggravated
and protracted if he had obdurately refused. 2 At any rate,
as will hereafter appear, his conduct, wherever it comes
before us, is worthy of all admiration, and Chrysostom must
have filled the office of deacon with happiness under his
administration. A greater contrast than the initiation of
Chrysostom into clerical life, and that of a young deacon in
modern times, can scarcely be imagined. He was in his
thirty-seventh year, and had supplemented the good liberal
education of his youth by several years of devotion to close
study of Scripture, to rigorous mortification of the body, to
prayer and meditation, and to every means of promoting the
culture of the soul. After this long and careful training, he
enters the subordinate rankS of the clergy, not to discharge,
like a modern deacon, duties as laborious, and often as
responsible, as those which pertained to the priest, but such
light and irresponsible tasks as were suitable to men who
might be young, and were necessarily inexperienced in
pastoral work. The deacons were sometimes called the
Levites of the Christian Church. 3 It was their office to take
care of the holy table and its furniture, to administer the
cup to the laity, but not to a priest or a bishop, and occasion-
ally to read the Gospel. 4 They were in most churches
permitted to baptize. 5 But their peculiar duty in the ser-
vices of the Church was to call the attention of the people to
1 See preface to his Orat. xliii. Flavian was obtained in A.D. 398.
2 The bishops of Egypt and the 3 So Jerome, Ep. xxvii.
West generally adhered to Paulinus, Cone. Nic., can. 18. (Hefele,
Sozom. vii. 11, till by the united p. 426.)
efforts of Chrysostom and Theophilus 5 Tertull. de Bapt. cxvii. Jerome
the universal acknowledgment of Dial, contr. Lucif.
88 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. VH.
every fresh movement, to use a musical expression, in the
progress of the service. Thus at the close of the sermon,
the deacon's voice was heard crying : " Let the hearers [i.e. the
second order of catechumens who were permitted to hear the
sermon, but not the conclusion of the Eucharistic service]
and the unbelievers depart ! " l Then he bid the remaining
orders of the catechumens, i.e. the energumens, the compe-
tentes, and the penitents to pray for one another, and the
people also to pray for them; k/crevcos SerjOwfjiev, "let us
ardently pray for them " such was the form. Again when
they were dismissed by the command cnrokvecrOe, " disperse,"
the faithful were invited by the deacon to pray for the whole
state of Christ's Church. 2 Thus the deacons were the sacred
criers or heralds of the Church; they "proclaimed or bid
prayer," they announced each part as it was unfolded in the
sacred drama of the Liturgy. The frequent recurrence in
our own Liturgy, without much apparent significance, of the
form " Let us pray," is a remnant of these old diaconal invi-
tations. The deacons were not permitted to preach except
by a special direction of the bishop. Their duty in part
corresponded to that of our churchwardens; they were to
reprove any improper behaviour during divine service, 3 to
bring cases of poverty and sickness before the notice of the
bishop, to distribute the alms under his direction, and also
to report to him grave moral offences. 4 They were essen-
tially, as the name implies, ministers to the bishops and
priests, and were often styled, in symbolical language, " the
bishop's eyes," or " ears," or " right hand." The attitude of re-
spect, which they were bound to maintain in church towards
bishops and priests was in keeping with the servitorial
character of their office as a whole. While the priests had
their chairs ranged on either side of the central chair of
the bishop in the choir, the deacons stood humbly by, as if
1 Chrysost. Horn. ii. in 2 Cor. Chrysost. Horn. xxiv. in Act.
2 Constit. Apost. lib. viii. c. 10. 4 Constit. Apost. lib. ii. c. 31, 32.
3 Constit. Apost. lib. ii. c. 57. Cyprian, Ep. xlix.
en. vii.] CHKYSOSTOM AS A DEACON. 80
ready to receive and execute the directions of their superiors. 1
Even the Konian deacons, who rose rather above the natural
lowliness of their office, did not presume to sit in the church. 2
The duties of the diaconate must have brought Chrysostom
into constant intercourse with the Christian population of
Antioch, and especially with the poorer portion of it. The
whole population of the city amounted, according to Chryso-
stom's statement, to 200,000, 3 and the Christians to 100,000, 4
of whom 3000 were indigent, and mainly supported by the
bounty of the Church. 5 The deacon's function of searching
out and relieving the necessitous by distribution of alms
must have been peculiarly congenial to him. There is no
Christian duty on which he more constantly and earnestly
insists than that of almsgiving, not only in order to alleviate
the sufferings of poverty, but as a means of counteracting
the inordinate avarice and selfish luxury which were the
prevailing vices in the higher ranks of society, both in
Antioch and Constantinople. His hold upon the affections
of the common people, partly no doubt through his sympathy
with their needs, partly by his bold denunciation of the
vices of the wealthy, partly by his affectionate and earnest
])la in-speaking of Christian truth, was remarkably strong
throughout his life. As during the secluded leisure of his
monastic life he had acquired a profound intimacy with
Holy Scripture, so in the more active labours of his diaconate
he enlarged his knowledge of human nature, and stored up
observations on the character and manners of the people
among whom he moved ; qualifications no less important for
the formation of a great and effective preacher.
It may not be uninteresting to take a brief glance at the
character of the city and its inhabitants among whom he was
destined to labour for the next seventeen years of his life.
Both nature and art combined to make Antioch one of the
1 Cone. Nic., can. 18. (Hefele, p. 426.) Ibid. vol. vii. p. 762.
2 Jerome, Epist. Ixxxv. ad Evang. 5 ibid. p. 629.
3 Chrysost. vol. ii. p. 591.
90 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. vn.
most delectable and luxurious residences in the world. The
advantages of its situation, in some most important respects,
could scarcely be exceeded. The river Orontes, connecting it
with the sea about three miles distant, was the throat through
which the city was fed with merchandise from all parts of
the world. The wooded shores of the large lake of Antioch
some miles above the city, supplied the inhabitants with
fuel, and its waters yielded fish in great abundance. The
hills which impended over the town on the southern side
sent down numerous and copious streams, whose water,
unsurpassed in purity, bubbled up through the fountains
which stood in the court of every house. Northwards ex-
tended a fertile plain between the Orontes and Mount Cory-
phseus. The northern winds were occasionally keen and
searching, but the prevailing western breezes coming up
from the sea were so delicately soft, yet refreshing, that the
citizens delighted in summer to sleep upon the flat roofs of
their dwellings. These advantages, however, were in some
degree balanced by a liability to inundations and earth-
quakes. Those hill-streams, the blessing and delight of the
inhabitants in summer, were sometimes swollen in winter
by excessive rains into torrents of incontrollable fury, and
caused much damage to the buildings which were situated
near their course. But far more destructive were the earth-
quakes. More than once, indeed, especially in the reigns of
Caligula, Claudius, and Trajan, the whole city was almost
shattered to pieces; but on each occasion, through public
and private exertions, it arose from its ruins in new and, if
possible, increased magnificence. The peculiar glories of
Antioch were its gardens, and baths, and colonnaded streets.
As in its population, and religion, and customs, so also in its
architecture, it presented, as time went on, a remarkable
mixture of Asiatic, Greek, and Eoman elements. The aim
of each Greek king and Eoman emperor was to leave it more
beautiful than he had received it from the hands of his
CH. vii.] DESCRIPTION OF ANTIOCH. 91
predecessor. Each marked his reign by the erection of a
temple or basilica, or bath, or aqueduct, or theatre, or column.
The church in which Chrysostom officiated, usually called
" the great Church," to distinguish it from the smaller and
older church, called the Church of .the Apostles, was begun
by Constantine and finished by Constantius. In the main
principles of structure, we may find some parallel to it in
St. Vitale at Eavenna. It stood in the centre of a large
court, and was octangular in shape ; chambers, some of them
subterranean, were clustered round it ; the domed roof, of an
amazing height, was gilded on the inside; the floor was
paved with polished marbles ; the walls and columns were
adorned with images, and glistened with precious stones;
every part, indeed, was richly embellished with bronze and
golden ornament. 1 Among the principal wonders of Antioch
was the great street constructed by Antiochus Epiphanes,
nearly four miles in length, which traversed the city from
east to west; the natural inequalities of the ground were
filled up, so that the thoroughfare was a perfect level from
end to end; the spacious colonnades on either side were
paved with red granite. From the centre of this magnificent
street, where stood a statue of Apollo, another street, similar
in character, but much shorter, was drawn at right angles,
leading northwards in the direction of the Orontes. Many
of the other streets were also colonnaded, so that the inhabi-
tants, as they pursued their errands of business or pleasure,
were sheltered alike from the scorching sun of summer and
the rains of winter. Innumerable lanterns at night illumin-
ated the main thoroughfares with a brilliancy which almost
rivalled the light of day, and much of the business, as well
as the festivity, of the inhabitants was carried on by night. 2
1 Euseb. Vita Const, iii. 50. Chry- mainly collected from M tiller's ad-
sost. vol. iii. p. 160 and vol. xi. p. 78. mirable and exhaustive work on the
Vide also Mliller de Antiq. Antioch., Antiquities of Antioch. or from the
p. 103. authorities referred to therein.
2 This description of Antioch is
92 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHBYSOSTOM. [CH. vn.
The character of the inhabitants partook of the various
elements Asiatic, Syrian, Greek, Jewish, Roman which
composed the whole population. But the impulsive oriental
temperament, subject at times to fits of gloomy despondency,
and to outbursts of wild ferocity, was undoubtedly the most
dominant. When not driven under the pressure of excite-
ment to either of these extremes, they abandoned themselves
very freely to those voluptuous recreations for which the
character of their city and climate afforded every facility
and inducement. The bath, the circus, the theatre, were the
daily amusements of the citizen ; the Olympic games (insti-
tuted in the time of Commodus), which were celebrated in
the grove of Daphne, and the festivities held at particular
seasons in honour of different deities, were the greater
occasions to which he looked forward with all the eagerness
of a pleasure-loving nature.
These main characteristics of the people are abundantly
illustrated in detail, as will be seen hereafter, in the homilies
of Chrysostom. He is ever, in them, labouring with inde-
fatigable industry and earnestness to lift the Christians above
the frivolity and vices of the rest of the population. His
opportunities for investigating the condition of the Christian
community were great during his diaconate. He did not as
yet preach ; but by observations on life and manners, he laid
up copious materials for preaching. And he was not idle in
the use of his pen, for to this period may be assigned the
treatise on Virginity ; a letter addressed to a young widow ;
a book on the martyr Babylas; and, perhaps, though this
cannot certainly be determined, the six books on the Priest-
hood. 1
The letter to a young widow must have been written soon
after the destruction of the Emperor Valens and his army by
the Goths in A.D. 378, since it contains a reference to that
1 See Socrates vi. 1, and Montfaucon's preface to "De Sacerdotio."
CTI. VIL] LETTER TO A YOUNG WIDOW. 93
event as a recent occurrence, 1 yet it must have been ante-
cedent to the crushing defeats inflicted on them by Theo-
dosius in A.D. 382, because the writer implies that at the
time of composition the Goths were overrunning large tracts
of the empire with impunity, and mocking the helplessness
and timidity of the imperial troops. 2 The whole book is
penetrated with that profound sense of the misery and in-
stability of things human, which the corruption of society
and recent calamities of the empire impressed with peculiar
force on the minds of reflecting persons; which produced
among pagans either melancholy or careless indifference, but
made Christians cling with a more earnest and tenacious
trust to the hopes and consolations of the Gospel.
Therasius, the husband of the young widow, had died
after five years of married life. He is described by Chryso-
stom as having been distinguished in rank, in ability, and,
above all, in virtue ; as having held a high position in the
army, with a reasonable expectation of soon becoming a
prefect. But these very excellencies and brilliant prospects,
which seemed to aggravate the sense of his loss, "ought,"
Chrysostom observes, " to be regarded as sources of consola-
tion. If death were a final and total destruction, then
indeed it would have been reasonable to lament the extinc-
tion of one so benevolent, so gentle, so humble, prudent, and
devout, as her late husband. But if death was only the
landing of the soul in a tranquil haven, only a transition
from the worse to better, from earth to heaven, from men
to angels and archangels, and to Him who is the Lord
of angels, then there was no place left for tears. It was
better that he should depart and be with Christ, his true
King, serving Whom in that other world, he would not be
exposed to the dangers and animosities which attended the
service of an earthly monarch. They were, indeed, separated
1 Ad via. jun. c. 5. 2 C. 4.
94 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. vir.
in body, but neither length of time nor remoteness of place
could sunder the friendship of the soul. Endure patiently
for a little time, and you will behold again the face of your
desire ; perhaps even now, in visions, his form will be per-
mitted to visit you." 1 If it was the loss of the prefecture
that she specially deplored, let her think from what dangerous
ambitions her husband had been preserved; think of the
fate of Theodorus, who was tempted by his high station to
lay a plot against the Emperor, and suffered capital punish-
ment for his treason. 2 The loftier a man's ambitions in life,
the more probable a disastrous fall. Look at the tragical
fate of the Emperors in the course of the past fifty years.
Two only, out of nine, had died natural deaths ; of the other
seven, one had been killed by a usurper, 3 one in battle, 4 one
by a sedition of his domestic guards, 5 one by the man who
had invested him with the purple. 6 Julian had fallen in
battle in the Persian expedition. Valentinian i. died in a
fit of rage, and Valens had been burnt, together with his
retinue, in a house to which the Goths set fire. And of
the widows of these Emperors, some had perished by
poison, others had died of despair and broken hearts. Of
those who yet survived, one was trembling for the safety of
an orphan son, 7 another had with difficulty obtained per-
mission to return from exile. 8 Of the wives of the present
Emperors, one was racked by constant anxiety on account of
the youth and inexperience of her husband, 9 the other was
subject to no less anxiety for her husband's safety, who
ever since his elevation to the throne had been engaged in
1 Advid.jun., c. 3. The two who died natural deaths
2 C. 4. Executed in 371 in the were Constantine the Great and his
reign of Valentinian, Valens, and Gra- son Constantius.
tian ; Ammian. Marcell. xxix. 1, who 7 The widow of Jovian, whose son
calls him a Gaul, not, as Chrysostom, Varronian was deprived of an eye.
a Sicilian. See Gibbon, vol. iv. p. 222.
3 Constans by Magnentius. 8 Doubtful ; possibly first wife of
4 Constantine the younger. Valentinian i., divorced from him and
6 Jovian. sent into exile.
fi Callus Caesar by Constantius. Constantia, wife of Gratian.
en. viz.] FATE OF EMPEKORS. 95
incessant warfare with the Goths. 1 Human ambition was a
hard taskmistress, who employed arrogance and avarice as
her agents ; " do not then, mourn that your husband has been
emancipated from her tyranny." Most of the wisest and
noblest characters even of the pagan world had resisted the
allurements of ambition Socrates, Epaminondas, Aristides,
Diogenes, Crates. Shall the Christian then complain, if
God takes one away from these temptations ? He who
cared least about glory, who was natural and modest, and
unambitious, often acquired most glory, whereas he who was
most eager and anxious to secure it, often obtained nothing
but derision and reproach. She believed that her husband
might have obtained the prefecture; it was a reasonable
hope, but there was many a slip betwixt the cup and the lip,
and he who was king to-day was dead to-morrow. " Strive,
then, to equal and even surpass your husband in piety and
goodness, that you may be admitted into the same home,
and reunited to him in a bond far more lovely and enduring
than that of earthly wedlock."
In the long treatise " De Virginitate," Chrysostom boldly
declares his preference for celibacy, but at the same time
he exposes and denounces the mischievous error of Mar-
cionites and Manichseans, who condemned marriage altogether
as positive sin. "They were mistaken in supposing that
abstinence from marriage would procure them a high place
in heaven, because, even if it were granted that marriage
was a positive sin, it must be remembered that not those
who abstained from sin, but those who did positive good,
would receive the highest rewards; not one who abs-
tained from calling his brother 'Eaca/ but he who loved
his enemies. The celibacy of heretics, such as the Mani-
cheeans, was based on the false conception that all created
1 Flacilla, wifeofTheodosius. Com- of sovereigns with the splendid pas-
pare this mournful list of tragic deaths sage in Shakespeare's Richard n. :
" For Heaven's sake let 's sit upon the ground,
And tell sad stories of the death of kings," etc.
96 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. vn.
matter was evil, and that the Creator Himself was an
inferior being to the Supreme Deity. Hence their celibacy
was the work of the devil; they belonged to those men-
tioned only to be condemned in 1 Tim. iv. 1-3 'as forbid-
ding to marry.' 1 Chastity of body was worthless, if the
soul within was depraved; but celibacy rightly cultivated,
to preserve the purity of the soul towards God, was better
than marriage, better as heaven was better than earth, and
angels better than men." He confronts the common objec-
tion : if all men embraced celibacy, how would the race be
propagated? "Myriads of angels inhabit heaven, yet we
believe they are not propagated by matrimony, and it was
only by the special provision and will of God, that matri-
mony itself produced offspring. Sarah was barren till God
vouchsafed her Isaac. Marriage was the inferior state to
conduct us to the higher ; it was to celibacy as the Law to
the Gospel, it was a crutch to support those who would
otherwise fall into sin, but to be dispensed with when
possible. Let those, then, who reproached and derided
celibacy, put a restraint upon their lips, lest like Miriam,
or the children who mocked Elisha, they should be severely
punished for pouring contempt on so holy a state." 2
We are enabled to understand from this work why the
best Christianity in the East was so disparaging of the
married state. The woman had not attained her proper
place in society. She seems to have been ill-educated, to
have been kept, especially before marriage, in a state of
unnatural seclusion, which she broke when she could, and
was too often treated by the husband like a slave, with
severity and distrust. This degrading position was partly
a remnant of a pagan state of society, partly the offspring
of oriental character and habits of life. Christianity per-
ceived the evil, but had not effected much towards a remedy.
Instead of endeavouring to elevate, to soften, and refine the
1 De Virginitate, c. 15. 2 c. 14-22.
CH. viz.] TREATISE OX CELIBACY. 97
relation of one sex to the other, it encouraged rather a total
separation. The treatise now under notice presents curious
pictures of domestic life, if such it can be called, in that
age. Matrimonial matches were arranged entirely by the
parents, the attentions of the suitors were paid to the parents,
not to the maiden herself. She suffered an agony of sus-
pense, while the favourite of yesterday was supplanted by
the superior charms of some rival of to-day, who in his turn
was superseded by a third. Sometimes, on the very eve of
marriage, the suitor whom she herself preferred was dis-
missed, and she was finally handed over to another whom
she disliked. The suitors also, on their side, were racked
by anxiety ; for it was difficult to ascertain what the real
character, personal appearance, and manners were of the
maiden, who was always kept in the strictest seclusion.
Then there was often great difficulty in getting the dowry
paid by the father-in-law, which was an annoyance to each
of the newly -married pair. 1
He draws a highly-wrought picture, with some caustic
humour, of the miseries of jealous wives and husbands.
When a man constantly suspects "his dearest love," 2 for
whom he would willingly sacrifice life itself, what can console
him ? By day and night he has no peace, and is irritable
to all. Some men have even slain their wives, without? suc-
ceeding in cooling their own jealous rage. The trials of the
wife were more severe ; her words, her very looks and sighs,
were watched by slaves, and reported to her husband, who
was too jealous to distinguish false tales from the true. The
poor woman was reduced to the wretched alternative of
keeping her own apartment, or, if she went out, of rendering
an exact account of her proceedings. Untold wealth, sump-
tuous fare, troops of servants, distinguished birth, amounted
to nothing when placed in the balance against such miseries
as these. If it was the woman who was jealous, she
3 De Virginitate, c. 57. 2 rty /xdXurra, TTO.VTWV dyairai/j^v^v, c. 52.
G
98 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. vn.
suffered more than the man, for she could not keep him at
home, or set the servants to watch him. If she remonstrated
with him, she would be told that she had better hold her
tongue, and keep her suspicions to herself. If the husband
instituted a suit against the wife, the laws were favourable
to him, and he could procure her condemnation, and even
death ; but if she were the petitioner, he would escape. 1
It was very natural that the woman, who, before marriage,
was cooped up like a child in the parental home, should
break out afterwards into extravagance, dissipation, and
frivolity, if not worse. An inordinate amount of time and
money was bestowed upon dress, though perhaps not more
than by the fashionable ladies of modern times. Women
loaded themselves with ornaments, under the delusion that
these added to their charms, whereas, Chrysostom observes,
if the woman was naturally beautiful, the ornaments only
concealed and detracted from her charms. If she was ugly,
they only set off her ugliness by the glaring contrast, and
the effect on the spectator was ludicrous or painful. But
the adornment of the virgin who had dedicated herself to
God was altogether spiritual. She arrayed herself in gentle-
ness, modesty, poverty, humility, fasting, vigils. Incorporeal
graces and incorporeal beauty were the objects of her love
and 'contemplation. She treated enemies with such perfect
courtesy and forbearance, that even the depraved were put
to shame in her presence. The goodness of the soul within
overflowed into all her outer actions. 2 From this rapturous
description of a highly spiritual kind of life, Chrysostom
passes, with versatile quickness, to a somewhat ludicrous
picture of the petty cares of life in the world. " The worldly
lady thinks it a fine thing to drive round the Forum ; how
much better to be independent, and use her feet for the
purpose for which God gave them ! There was always some
difficulty about the mules : she and her husband wanted
1 De Virginitate, c. 52. 2 C. 62, 63.
CH. vii.] TRIALS OF MARRIED LIFE. 99
them at the same time; one or both were lame or turned
out to grass. A quiet and modestly-dressed woman needed
no carriage and attendants to protect her in her passage
through the streets, but might walk through the Forum, free
from any annoyance. Some might say it was pleasant to be
waited on by a troop of handmaids ; but, on the contrary, such
a charge was attended with much anxiety. Not only had the
sick to be taken care of, but the indolent to be chastised,
mischief, quarrels, and all kinds of evil doings to be corrected;
and if there happened to be one distinguished by personal
beauty, jealousy was added to all these other cares, lest the
husband should be so captivated by her charms as to pay
more attention to her than to her mistress. 1 If it was
replied to all these objections against married life, that
Abraham and other saints in the -Old Testament were all
married men, it must be remembered that a much higher
standard was required under the New Dispensation. There
were degrees of perfection. When Noah was said to be
' perfect in his generation,' it meant relatively to that age in
which he lived, for what is perfect in relation to one era
becomes imperfect for another. Murder was forbidden by
the Old Law, but hatred and wrath under the New. A
larger effusion of the Holy Spirit rendered Christian men
fully grown as compared with the children of the Old
Dispensation. Degrees of virtue, impossible then, were
attainable now ; and as the moral standard under the Old
Dispensation was lower, so the rewards of obedience were
less exalted. The Jews were encouraged to obedience by
the promise of an earthly country, Christians by the prospect
of heaven. The Jews were deterred from sin by menaces
of temporal calamity ; the Christian, of eternal punishment.
Let us, therefore, not spend our care upon money-getting
and wives and luxurious living, else how shall we ever
become men rather than children, and live in the spirit ? for
1 C. 66, 67.
100 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. vn.
when we have taken our journey to that other world, the
time for contest will have passed ; then those who have not oil
in their lamps will be unable to borrow it from their neigh-
bours, or he who has a soiled garment to exchange it for
another robe. When the Judge's throne has been placed,
and He is seated upon it, and the fiery stream is c coming
forth from before Him' (Dan. vii. 10), and the scrutiny of
past life has begun : though Noah, Daniel, and Job were to
implore an alteration of the sentence passed upon their own
sons and daughters, their intercession would not avail." 1
The long treatise "De S. Babyla contra Julianum et
Gentiles " presents several interesting subjects for considera-
tion. In the history of the grove of Daphne we have a
singular instance of the way in which Grecian legend was
transplanted into foreign soil. Daphne, the daughter of the
Grecian river-god Ladon, was, according to the Syrian version
of the myth, overtaken by Apollo near Antioch. Here it
was, on the banks, not of the Peneus, but of the Orontes,
that the maiden prayed to her mother earth to open her
arms and shelter her from the pursuit of the amorous god,
and that the laurel plant sprang out of the spot where she
disappeared from the eyes of her disappointed lover. The
horse of Seleucus Nicator, founder of the Syrian monarchy,
was said to have struck his hoof upon one of the arrows
which Apollo had dropped in the hurry of his chase ; in con-
sequence of which the king dedicated the place to the god.
A temple was erected in his honour, ample in proportions,
and sumptuous in its adornments; the interior walls were
resplendent with polished marbles, the lofty ceiling was of
cypress wood. The colossal image of the god, enriched with
gold and gems, nearly reached the top of the roof; the
draped portions were of wood, the nude portions of marble.
The fingers of the deity lightly touched the lyre which hung
from his shoulders, and in the other hand he held a golden
i De Virginitate, c. 83.
CH. vii.] THE GKOVE OF DAPHNE. 101
dish, as if about to pour a libation on the earth, "and
supplicate the venerable mother to give to his arms the cold
and beauteous Daphne." 1 The whole grove became conse-
crated to pleasure, under the guise of festivity in honour of
the god. A more beautiful combination of delights cannot
well be conceived. The grove was situated five miles to the
south-west of Antioch, among the outskirts of the hills,
where many of the limpid streams, rushing down towards
the valley of the Orontes, mingled their waters. The road
which connected the city with this spot was lined on the
left hand with large gardens and groves, baths, fountains,
and resting-places ; on the right were villas with vineyards
and rose-gardens irrigated by rivulets. Daphne itself was,
according to Strabo, 2 eighty stadia, or about ten miles, in
circumference. It contained everything which could gratify
and charm the senses ; the deep impenetrable shade of cypress
trees, the delicious sound and coolness of falling waters,
the fragrance of aromatic shrubs. Such a combination of
all that was voluptuous told with fatal and enervating effect
upon the morals of a people who were at all times disposed
to an immoderate indulgence in luxurious pleasures. Roman
troops, and even Roman emperors, fell victims to the allure-
ments of the spot. 3 The annual celebration of the Olympian
games instituted here by Commodus was especially the
occasion of shocking excesses of every kind. But by the
order of Gallus Ca?sar an attempt was made to introduce a
pure association into the spot hitherto abandoned to the
licentiousness of pagan rites. The remains of Babylas, the
Bishop of Antioch, who had suffered martyrdom in the reign
of Decius, were transferred from their resting-place in the
city to the grove of Daphne. The chapel or martyry erected
over the bones of the Christian saint stood hard by the
temple of the pagan deity. Here it confronted the Christian
1 Gibbon, iv. p. 111. ' Strabo, p. 750.
3 As Verus, Pescennius Niger, Macrinus, and Sevems Alexander. Herodian,
ii. 7, 8, v. 2, vi. 7.
102 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. vn.
visitor, as a warning to him not to take part in pagan and
licentious rites, abhorrent to the faith for which the Bishop
had died. But the remains of the martyr were not permitted
to rest in peace. When Julian visited Antioch, he consulted
the oracle of Apollo at Daphne respecting the issue of the
expedition which he was about to make into Persia. But
the oracle was dumb. At length the god yielded to the
importunity of repeated prayers and sacrifices so far as to
explain the cause of his silence. He was disturbed by the
proximity of a dead body : " Break open the sepulchres, take
up the bones, and remove them hence." The demand was
interpreted as referring to the remains of Babylas, and the
wishes of the crestfallen oracle were complied with. 1 But
the insult done to the Christian martyr was speedily avenged.
Soon after the accomplishment of the impious act, a violent
thunderstorm broke over the temple, and the lightning con-
sumed both the roof of the building and the statue of the
deity. At the time when Chrysostom wrote, some twenty
years after the occurrence, the mournful wreck was yet
standing ; but the chapel again contained the relics of the
saint and martyr, and conferred blessings on the pilgrims
who resorted thither in crowds. The ruined and deserted
temple, side by side with the carefully-preserved church of
the martyr, thronged by devotees, presented a striking
emblem of the fate of paganism, crumbling and vanishing
away before the presence of the new faith, blasted by the
lightning flash of a mightier force. A great portion of the
treatise of Chrysostom is occupied by an analysis of his old
master Libanius's elegy over the fate of the stricken shrine
of pagan worship. The affected and inflated tone of the
sophist's composition deserves the sarcasm and scorn which
his pupil unsparingly pours upon it.
i De S. Babyla, c. 14-16.
CHAPTER VIII.
ORDINATION TO THE PRIESTHOOD BY FLAVIAN INAUGURAL DISCOURSE
IN THE CATHEDRAL HOMILIES AGAINST THE ARIANS ANIMADVER-
SIONS ON THE CHARIOT RACES. A.D. 386.
CHRYSOSTOM had used the office of a deacon well. The lofty
tone of Christian piety, the boldness, the ability, the com-
mand of language manifested in his writings, marked him
out as eminently qualified for a preacher. His treatises,
indeed, are distinguished by a vehemence and energy which
belong more to the fervour of the orator than to the calmness
of the writer. No doubt also men had not forgotten the
talent for speaking which he had displayed when he began
to practise, nearly twenty years before, as a lawyer. The
Bishop Flavian ordained him a priest in 386, and imme-
diately appointed him to be one of the most frequent
preachers in the church. The bishop of a see like Antioch
at that time rather resembled the rector of a large town
parish than the bishop of modern times. He resided in
Antioch, and discharged the duties of a chief pastor, assisted
by his staff of priests and deacons. Where the whole
Christian population amounted to not more than 100,000
souls, as in Antioch, 1 that division into distinct districts,
such as were formed in Alexandria, 2 Rome, and Constan-
1 Horn, in Matt. vol. vii. p. 762. In Home, however, and Constan-
tinople, though the churches were
2 To the establishment of parochial numerous, the clergy seem to have
divisions with separate pastors in Alex- been more or less connected with the
audria we have the direct testimony mother Church. Vide Bingham, chap,
of Epiphanius, Ha-res. 69; Arian. c. 1. viii. 5, book ix.
104 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [cii. vm.
tinople, with separate churches, served by members of the
central staff in rotation, or by pastors especially appropriated
to them, does not seem to have been made. Chrysostom
officiated and preached in the great church, where the
bishop also officiated. The less learned and less able priests
were appointed to the less responsible duties of visiting the
sick and the poor, and administering the sacraments. The
vocation of Chrysostom, however, was especially that of
a teacher. It will be readily acknowledged how difficult,
how delicate an office preaching was, in an age when Chris-
tianity and Paganism were still existing side by side, and
when the opinions of many men were floating in suspense
between the old faith and the new, and were liable to be
distracted from a firm hold upon the truth by Judaism and
heresies of every shade.
Either on the occasion of his ordination, or very soon after
it, Chrysostom preached an inaugural discourse, in the pre-
sence of the bishop. It is distinguished by that flowery and
exaggerated kind of rhetoric which he occasionally displays
in all its native oriental luxuriance, and which is due to the
school in which he was brought up, rather than to the man.
On such a public and formal occasion he appears less as the
Christian teacher than as the scholar of Libanius the
Ehetorician. His self-disparagement at the opening of his
discourse, and his flattering encomiums on Flavian and
Meletius at the close, would to modern, certainly at least to
English, ears sound intolerably affected. No doubt, how-
ever, they were acceptable to the taste of his audience at
Antioch ; and, indeed, the whole discourse contains nothing
more overstrained or ornate than is to be found in some of the
most celebrated performances of the great French preachers
in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
A few paraphrases will suffice to illustrate the character
of his discourse.
" He could scarcely believe what had befallen him, that
CH. viii.] CHRYSOSTOM'S FIRST DISCOURSE. 105
he, an insignificant and abject youth, 1 should find himself
elevated to such a height of dignity. The spectacle of so
vast a multitude hanging in expectation on his lips quite
unnerved him, and would have dried up fountains of elo-
quence, had he possessed such. How, then, could he hope
that his little trickling stream of words would not fail, and
that the feeble thoughts which he had put together with so
much labour would not vanish from his mind ?
" Wherefore he besought them to pray earnestly that he
might be inspired with courage to open his mouth boldly in
this hitherto unattempted work. 2 He wished to offer the
first-fruits of his speech in praise to God. As the tiller of
the ground gave of his wheat, grapes, or olives, so he would
fain make an offering in kind; he would 'praise the name
of God with a song, and magnify it with thanksgiving.' But
the consciousness of sin made him shrink from the task, for
as in a wreath not only must the flowers be clean, but also
the hands which wove it, so in sacred hymns not only must
the words be holy, but also the soul of him who composed
them. The words of the wise man who said, ' praise is not
becoming in the mouth of a sinner/ 3 sealed up his lips, and
when David invited all creation, animate and inanimate,
visible and invisible, to ' praise the Lord of Heaven, to praise
him in the height/ he did not include the sinner in the
invitation. He would rather therefore dilate on the merits
of some of his fellow-men who were worthier than himself.
The mention of their Christian virtues would be an indirect
way, legitimate for a sinner, of paying glory and honour
to God himself. And to whom -should he address his praises
first but to their bishop, whom he might call the teacher of
their country, and through their country of the world at
large ? To enter fully, however, into his manifold virtues
eureXrjs Kal dirffipi/j.- 2 nyStiru irpfrrepov. This seems to
fj.fr os -applied by rather a strong rhe- prove that he had not preached during
torical licence to a man forty years his diaconate.
old. 3 Ecclus. xv. 9.
106 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. vm.
was to dive into so deep a sea that he feared he should lose
himself in its profundities. To do justice to the task would
require an inspired and apostolic tongue. He must confine
himself to a few points. Although reared in the midst of
affluence, Flavian had surmounted the difficulties which
impeded the entrance of a rich man into the kingdom of
heaven. He had been distinguished from youth by perfect
temperance and control over the bodily appetites, by con-
tempt of luxury and a costly table. Though untimely
deprived of parental care, and exposed to the temptations
incident to wealth, youth, and good birth, yet had he
triumphed over them all. He had assiduously cultivated his
mind, and had put the bridle of fasting on his body sufficient
to curb excess, without impairing its strength and usefulness ;
and though he had now glided into the haven of a calm old
age, yet he did not relax the severity of this personal disci-
pline. The death of their beloved father Meletius had caused
great distress and perplexity to the Church, but the appear-
ance of his successor had dispersed it, as clouds vanished
before the sun. When Flavian mounted the episcopal throne,
Meletius himself seemed to have risen from his tomb."
All that can be collected from history respecting Flavian's
character confirms and justifies these eulogiums, though
English taste would prefer them to have been uttered after
his death rather than in his actual presence. Chrysostom con-
cludes by saying that he had prolonged his address beyond the
bounds which became his position, but the flowery field of
praise had tempted him to linger. " He would conclude his
task by asking their prayers: prayers that their common
mother the Church might remain undisturbed and steadfast,
and that the life of their father, teacher, spiritual shepherd,
and pilot, might be prolonged ; prayers finally that he, the
preacher, might be strengthened to bear the yoke which was
laid upon him, might in the great day restore safely the
deposit which his Master had committed to his trust, and
en. vni.] STATE OF CHRISTIANITY AT ANTIOCH. 107
obtain mercy for his sins through the grace and goodness of
the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory, and power, and
worship for ever and ever."
We now enter on a period of ten years, during which
Chrysostom constantly resided in Antioch, and was occupied
in the almost incessant labour of preaching. The main bulk
of those voluminous works which have been preserved to
our times belongs to this period ; yet there can be no doubt
that, numerous as are the extant works, they represent but a
fraction of the discourses which he actually delivered. For
we know, on his own authority, that he frequently preached
twice, occasionally oftener, in the course of a week. 1
It does not fall within the scope of this essay to determine
how many of the homilies which we possess were delivered
in each year, or to enter into a critical examination of every
set. But an attempt will be made to extract from them
whatever seems to throw light upon the life and times of
their author, upon events in which he played a conspicuous
part, or which were of great public importance ; whatever
also illustrates the special condition of the Church, her
general practice, her merits and defects, the dangers and
difficulties with which, from dissension within or heresy
without, she had at this era to contend.
The field of subjects on which the preacher was called to
exercise his powers was varied and extensive. Christianity
was imperilled by corruption of morals and corruption of
faith. Not the laity only, but the clergy also, at least in the
great towns, had become deeply infected by the prevalent
follies and vices of the age. Again, between the orthodox
Christian and the Pagan every variety of heresy intervened.
The Arian, the Manichsean, the Marcionite, the Sabellian, the
Jew, all were, so to say, touching and fraying the edge of
pure Christianity ; the danger was, lest they should gradually
so wear it away as to injure the very vitals of the faith.
1 Horn. xi. in Act. Apost. in fine.
108 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHEYSOSTOM. [CH. vm.
Such were the evils which Chrysostom bent his energies to
redress, such the enemies whom he manfully endeavoured to
repel. He is alternately the champion of a pure morality
and of a sound faith.
Among the discourses which belong to the first year of his
priesthood falls one delivered in commemoration of Bishop
Meletius, the predecessor of Flavian. 1 He had died at Con-
stantinople about the end of May A.D. 381, and Chrysostom
in the commencement of his homily remarks, that five years
had now elapsed since the bishop had taken his journey to
the "Saviour of his longings." The tone of the discourse
illustrates a characteristic of the times ; a passionate devotion
to the memory of departed saints which was rapidly passing
into actual adoration ; a subject on which more will be said
hereafter. The shrine which contained the reliques of
Meletius was placed in the sight of the preacher and the
congregation, who swarmed round it like bees. 2 When
Chrysostom looked at the great multitude assembled he con-
gratulated the holy Meletius on enjoying such honour after
his death, and he congratulated the people also on the endur-
ance of their affection to their late spiritual father. Meletius
was like the sound root which though invisible proved its
strength by the vigour of its fruit. When he had returned
from his first banishment the whole Christian population
had streamed forth to meet him. Happy those who suc-
ceeded in clasping his feet, kissing his hand, hearing his
voice. Others who beheld him only at a distance felt that
they too had obtained a blessing from the mere sight. A
kind of spiritual glory emanated from his holy person, even
as the shadows of St. Peter and St. John had healed the sick
on whom they fell. " Let us all, rulers and ruled, men and
women, old and young, free men and slaves, offer prayer,
taking the blessed Meletius into partnership with this our
prayer (since he has more confidence now in offering prayer,
1 Vol. ii. p. 515. 2 c. 3.
CH. vin.] AKIANISM AT ANTIOCH. 109
and entertains a warmer affection towards us), that our love
may be increased and that as now we stand beside his
shrine, so one day we may all be permitted to approach his
resting-place in the other world."
The discourses of Chrysostom against Arians and Jews fall
within the first year of his priesthood. 1 They are among the
finest of his productions, and deserve perusal on account of
their intrinsic merit no less than of the important points of
doctrine with which they 'are concerned. Antioch, indeed,
may in some sort be regarded as the cradle of Arianism.
Paul of Samosata, who was deposed from the see of Antioch
in A.D. 272, advocated doctrines of a Sabellian character, but
that sophistical dialectical school of thought of which the
Arians were the most conspicuous representatives may be
traced to him. His original calling had been that of a
sophist, and he was therefore by training more fitted to attack
established doctrines than to build up a definite system of
his own. Hence it is not surprising that, though his own
tendency was to Sabellian opinions, Lucian, his intimate
friend and fellow-countryman, held doctrines diametrically
opposite, or what were afterwards called Arian. 2 Lucian,
when presbyter at Antioch, was the teacher of Eusebius,
Bishop of Nicomedia, of Leontius, the Arian Bishop of
Antioch, and perhaps also of Arius himself. 3 Aetius, and his
pupil Eunomius, originators of the most extreme and undis-
guised form of Arianism, resided in the beginning of their
career at Antioch. Eunomius, in fact, was the founder of
a sect which was called Eunomian after him ; or sometimes
Anomcean, because it denied not only equality but even
similarity (o/jLoiorrjs) between the Father and the Son in the
Holy Trinity. It was the most materialistic phase which
Arianism developed. Mystery was to be eliminated from
1 See the Monitum to these Homi- 8 Arius, in a letter to Eusebius,
lies, vol. i. p. 699. addresses him as <rv\\ovKiaviaTd }
2 See Newman's Arians, chap. i. " fellow Lucianist," Theod. i. 5.
sect. i.
110 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [cri. vm.
revelation as much as possible, sacramental grace was little
recognised, asceticism disparaged. Adherents of this school
seem to have existed still in some force at Antioch. A
system marked by so much of cold intellectual pride "was
especially repugnant to the fervid and humble faith of
Chrysostom. Yet in his assaults upon it he was neither
precipitate nor harsh. In his first homily " On the incom-
prehensible Nature of God," he says that, having observed
several persons who were infected by this heresy listening to
his discourses, he had abstained from attacking their errors,
wishing to gain a firmer hold upon their interest before
engaging with them in controversy. But having been in-
vited by them to undertake the contest, he could not decline
it, but would endeavour to conduct it in a spirit of gentleness
and love, since " the servant of the Lord must not strive, but
be gentle towards " all, as well as " apt to teach." He urges
all disputants to remember our Lord's answer when He was
buffeted, " If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil ;
but if well, why smitest thou me ? " 1
He dilates on the arrogance of the Anomceans in pretend-
ing to understand and to define the exact nature of God.
" Professing themselves wise they only discovered their folly.
Imperfect knowledge on so profound a subject was an in-
evitable part of the imperfection of our human state. The
condition of our present knowledge was this : we know many
things about God, but we do not know how they are or take
place. Tor example, we may know that He is everywhere
and without beginning or end, but how He is thus, we know
not. "We know that He begat the Son, and that the Holy
Spirit proceeded from Him, but how these things can be we
are unable to tell. This is analogous to our knowledge of
many things which are called natural. We eat various kinds
of food, but how they nourish us and are transmuted into
the several humours of the body we do not understand." 2
1 I. c. 6, 7. 2 c. 3.
CH. viii.] HOMILIES AGAINST ARIANS. Ill
"Again, if the wisest and holiest men have confessed
themselves incompetent to fathom the purposes and dispensa-
tions of God, how far more inscrutable must His essence be !
If David exclaims ' Such knowledge is too wonderful and
excellent for me, I cannot attain unto it ;' and St. Paul,
' Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom of God ! how un-
searchable are His judgments, how untraceable His ways!'
if the very angels do not presume to discuss the nature of
God, but humbly adore Him with veiled faces, crying ' Holy,
Holy, Holy/ how monstrous is the conceit and irreverence
of those who curiously investigate and pretend to define the
exact nature of the Godhead ! " l
He proceeds to dwell upon the littleness and feebleness of
man, as contrasted with the amazing and boundless power
of God. The Eunomians maintained that man could know
the nature of God as much as God Himself knew it. " What
mad presumption was this ! The Prophets exhaust all avail-
able metaphors to express the insignificance of man as com-
pared with God. Men are ' dust and ashes/ ' grass/ and the
' flower of grass/ ' a vapour/ ' a shadow.' Inanimate creation
acknowledges the irresistible supremacy of His power; 'if
He do but touch the hills they shall smoke/ ' He shaketh
the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble '
(Job ix. 6)." " Seest thou not yon sky, how beautiful it is,
how vast, spangled with what a choir of stars ? Five
thousand years and more has it stood, yet length of time has
left no mark of old age upon it: like a youthful vigorous
body it retains the beauty with which it was endowed at
the beginning. This beautiful, this vast, this starry, this
ancient firmament, was made by that God into whose nature
you curiously pry, was made with as much ease as a man
might for pastime construct a hovel: 'He established the
sky like a roof, and stretched it out like a tent over the
earth' (Isa. xl. 22). The solid, durable earth He made, and
i i. c. 4.
112 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. vm.
all the nations of the world, even as far as the British Isles,
are but as a drop in a bucket ; and shall man, who is but an
infinitesimal part of this drop, presume to inquire into the
nature of Him who made all these forces and whom they
obey?" 1 "God dwells in the light which no man can
approach unto. If the light which surrounds Him be inac-
cessible, how much more God Himself who is within it ?
St. Paul rebukes those who presume to question the dispen-
sation of God. ' Nay but, man, who art thou that repliest
against God? Shall the thing formed say unto him that
formed it, Why hast thou made me thus ?' How much more,
then, would he have reproved dogmatic assumptions respect-
ing the nature of the great Dispenser ? 2 The declaration of
St. John, that no man had seen God at any time, might
appear at variance with the descriptions in the prophets of
visions of the Deity. As : ' I saw the Lord sitting on His
throne, high and lifted up' (Isa. vi. 1). 'I saw the Lord
standing above the altar' (Amos ix. 1). 'I beheld till the
thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit,
whose garment was white as snow,' etc. (Dan. vii. 9). But
the very variety of forms under which God is said to ha.ve
appeared proves that these manifestations were merely
condescensions to the weakness of human nature, which
requires something that the eye can see and the ear can hear.
They were only manifestations of the Deity adapted to man's
capacity; not the Divine Nature itself, which is simple,
incomposite, devoid of shape. So also, when it is said of
God the Son that He is ' in the bosom of the Father/ when
He is described as standing, or sitting, on the right hand of
God, these expressions must not be interpreted in too
material a sense ; they are expressions accommodated to
our understandings, to convey an idea of such an intimate
union and equality between the two Persons as is in itself
incomprehensible." 3
i II. c. 3, 4. 2 ii. c. 4, 5 ; III. 3, 4, 5, 6. 3 iy. 4.
CH. VIIL] HOMILIES AGAINST ARIANS. 113
And this leads him on to consider the second error of the
Allans their denial of absolute equality between the three
Persons in the Godhead. His arguments are based, as usual,
entirely on an appeal to Holy Scripture. He makes a
skilful selection and combination of texts to prove his point :
that the titles " God " and " Lord " are common to the first
two Persons in the Trinity the names Father and Son being
added merely to distinguish the Personality. Had the
Father alone been God, then it would have been superfluous
to add the name Father at all : " there is one God " would
have been sufficient. But, as it was, the titles " God " and
" Lord " were applied to both Persons to prove their equality
in respect of Godhead. That the appellation of Lord no
way indicated inferiority was plain, because it was frequently
applied to the Father. "The Lord our God is one Lord,"
Exod. xx. 2. " Great is our Lord, and great is his power,"
Ps. cxlvii. 5. On the other hand, Christ is frequently
entitled God, e.g. " Immanuel God with us." " Christ
according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed for ever."
In some instances the Father and the Son are both called
Lord, or both God, in the same passage; as, for example,
" The Lord said unto my Lord, . . . Thy throne, God
(the Son), is for ever and ever; . . . wherefore God (the
Father), even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of
gladness," etc. 1
The reason why Christ sometimes acted and spoke in a
manner which implied human infirmity and inferiority to
the Father was twofold : First, that men might be convinced
that He did really, substantially, exist in the truth of our
human nature ; that He was not a mere phantom the error
of Marcion, Manes, and Valentinus an error which would
have been still more prevalent had He not so clearly mani-
fested the reality of his humanity. On the other hand, He
was reserved and cautious in declaring the highest mystery
1 v. 2, 3.
H
114 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHEYSOSTOM. [en. vm.
his divine union and equality with the Father out of
condescension to the weakness of man's intellect, which
recoiled from the more recondite mysteries. When He told
them that " Abraham rejoiced to see his day," that " before
Abraham was He was," " that the bread from heaven was
his flesh, which He would give for the life of the world,"
that " hereafter they should see the Son of Man coming in
the clouds," they were invariably offended. But, on the
contrary, He was chiefly accepted when He spoke words
implying more humiliation for example, " I can of my own
self do nothing, but as my Father taught me, even so I
speak." " As He spake these words," we are told, " many
believed on Him." 1
Two other reasons might be assigned for this language
of self-abasement. One was, that He came to teach us
humility, " Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart."
He " came not to be ministered unto but to minister." He
who bids others be lowly must first and pre-eminently be
lowly himself. Therefore He performed such acts as wash-
ing his disciples' feet; and the Incarnation itself was no
sign, as the Arian maintained, of inferiority, but only the
highest expression of that great principle of self-sacrificing
love which He came to teach. Lastly, by such language He
directs our minds to the apprehension of a clear distinction
between the Persons in the Godhead. If his sayings about
Himself had all been of the same type as "I and my
Father are one," the Sabellian error of confounding the
Persons would have become yet more prevalent than it was.
Thus, we find throughout our Lord's life, in his acts and
language, a careful mixture and variation of character in
order to present the two elements the human and divine
in equal proportions. He predicts his own sufferings and
death, yet quickly afterwards He prays the Father that He
might be, if possible, spared undergoing them. In the first
i VII. c. 3, 4.
CH. viii.] HOMILIES AGAINST ARIANS. 115
act is pure divinity ; in the second, humanity shrinking from
that pain which is abhorrent to human nature. 1
This very fact, however, of our Lord's praying, was laid
hold of by the Arians to prove the inferiority of his nature.
This argument Chrysostom meets in Homilies IX. and x.
The raising of Lazarus had been read in the Gospel for the
day. " I perceive," he says, " that many of the Jews and
heretics will find an excuse, in the prayer offered by Christ
before performing this miracle, to impugn his power, and
say He could not have done it without the Father's assist-
ance." But this fell to the ground, because on most other
occasions our Lord wrought his miracles without any prayer
at all. To the dead maiden he simply said, " Talitha cumi,"
and she arose ; the woman with an issue of blood was healed
without any word or touch from Him. In the case of
Lazarus He prayed, as He Himself declared, for the sake of
the people, that they might perceive that God heard his
prayers that there was a perfect unanimity between the
Father and the Son. Martha, in fact, had asked for a
prayer " I know whatsoever thou shalt ask of God God will
give it thee;" therefore He prayed; just as, when the cen-
turion said, " Speak the word only," He spake the word and
the servant was healed. If He had needed help He would
have invoked it before all his miracles. In fact there was
no kind of sovereign power which He hesitated to exercise.
" Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee " . . . " the
Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins ; " to an evil
spirit, " / charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more
into him;" . . . "to them of old it was said, Thou shalt
not kill ; but / say, whosoever is angry with his brother
without a cause," etc. He represents Himself as saying on
the final day, " Come, ye blessed ; " or " Depart, ye cursed."
Thus He claims authority to absolve, to judge, to legislate.
Homilies XL and xn., against the Anomceans, were
i VII. c. 6, 7.
116 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. vm.
delivered some ten years later at Constantinople, but as they
contain no special references to the events of that time, the
continuity of this 'subject may be maintained by extracting
from them the argument there employed to prove the
equality of the Son with the Father. It is based on the
passage, " My Father worketh hitherto, and I work " (St.
John v. 17); by which our Saviour justified Himself from
the accusation of breaking the Sabbath when He healed the
paralytic. The words "My Father worketh," Chrysostom
observes, refer to the daily operations of God's providence,
by which he sustains in being those things which he com-
manded into existence.
This upholding energy, our Lord declares, is active at all
times and on all days alike ; and if it were not, the fabric of
the universe would fall to pieces. He claims a similar right
to providential rule, which implies equality with the Father.
" My Father worketh, and I work." If the Son had been
inferior, such a method of justifying Himself would only
have added force to the charges of his enemies. If a subject
of the Emperor were to put on the imperial diadem and
purple, it would be no excuse to say that he wore them
because the Emperor wore them " the Emperor wears them,
and I wear them ; " on the contrary, it would augment the
offensiveness of his presumption and arrogance. If Christ
were not equal with the Father, it was the height of pre-
sumption to use those words, " My Father worketh hitherto,
and I work."
In dealing with such lengthy homilies, it has been impos-
sible to do more than give specimens in a very condensed
form of the main lines of argument which Chrysostom
adopts. They vary greatly in value ; but two points cannot
fail to arrest the notice of any one who reads these homilies
through : First, the profound acquaintance of their author
with Holy Scripture ; extending apparently with equal force
to every part of the sacred volume. Old and New Testament
en. viii.] CONGREGATION REBUKED. 117
and Apocrypha are almost equally employed for argument,
illustration, adornment ; he is at home everywhere. Secondly,
upon Scripture all his arguments are based : in none of his
controversial homilies does Chrysostom take his stand upon
the platform of existing tradition, or rely on the authority of
the Church alone; "to the law and to the testimony" is
always the way with him. And this was a test at that time
universally accepted. The dispute with the most rational-
istic and critical Arians seems never to have turned on the
authority, but only on the interpretation of Scripture. Scrip-
ture is appealed to as the supreme court for trying all their
differences ; the only question was, as to the exact meaning
of its decisions.
Again, we cannot fail to be struck by the ease and
rapidity with which he glances off from the most contro-
versial and theological parts of his discourse to practical
reproof and exhortation. Nothing provoked him more than
to see the bulk of that large concourse of people, who had
been listening with profound attention to his address, leave
the church just as the celebration of the Eucharist was
about to commence. " Deeply do I groan to perceive that
when your fellow-servant is speaking, great is your earnest-
ness, strained your attention, you crowd one upon another,
and stay till the very end ; but that, when Christ is about
to appear in the holy mysteries, the church is empty and
deserted. ... If my words had been laid up in your hearts
they would have kept you here, and brought you to the
celebration of these most solemn mysteries with greater
piety ; but as it is, my speech seems as fruitless as the per-
formance of a lute-player, for as soon as I have finished
you depart. Away with the frigid excuse of many : I can
say prayers at home, but I cannot at home hear homilies
and doctrine. Thou deceivest thyself, man; you may
indeed pray at home, but it is impossible to pray in the same
manner as at church, where there is so large an assembly of
118 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. vin.
your spiritual fathers, and the cry of the worshippers is
sent up with one accord ; where there is unanimity and
concert in prayer ; and where the priests preside, that the
weaker supplications of the multitude being supported by
theirs, which are more powerful, may ascend together with
these to heaven. First prayer, then discourse; so say the
Apostles " But we will give ourselves to prayer and to the
ministry of the word." 1
Again, as frequently in other discourses, he reproves the
congregation for testifying their admiration of his words by
applause. " You praise what I have said, you receive my
exhortation with tumults of applause ; but show your appro-
bation by obedience ; that is the praise which I seek, the
applause which comes through deeds." 2
His hearers, in fact, were so closely packed, and so much
absorbed in listening to his discourse, that pickpockets often
practised on them with some success. Chrysostom advises
them, therefore, to bring no money or ornaments about their
persons to church. It was a device of the devil, who hoped
by means of this annoyance to chill their zeal in attending
the services, just as he stripped Job of everything, not
merely to make him poor but to rob him if possible of his
piety. 3
But the most inveterate enemy with which Chrysostom
had to contend was the circus. Against this he declaims
with all the vehemence of Evangelical invectives against
horse-racing in modern times. The indomitable passion
for the chariot-races, and the silly eagerness displayed about
them by the inhabitants of Eome, Constantinople, and
Antioch, are among the most remarkable symptoms of the
depraved state of society under the later Empire. The
whole populace was divided into factions distinguished by
the different colours adopted by the charioteers, of which
green and blue were the two chief favourites. The ani-
1 III. c. 6. 2 III. c. 6, in fine. 3 IV. in fine.
en. VIIL] CENSURE ON CHARIOT RACES. 119
mosity, the sanguinary tumults, the superstitions, 1 folly,
violence of every kind, which were mixed up with these
popular amusements, well deserved the unsparing severity
with which they were lashed by the great preacher.
A few specimens shall be collected here from other
homilies, as well as from those immediately under con-
sideration.
" Again we have the horse-races ; again our assembly is
thinned. There were many indeed whose absence he little
regretted : they were to the faithful amongst the congrega-
tion only as leaves to fruit. 2 Sometimes, however, the church
was deserted by those of whom he had expected more fidelity.
He felt disheartened, like a sower who had scattered good
seed plentifully, but with no adequate result. Gladly and
eagerly would he continue his exertions could he see any
fruit of his labours ; but when, forgetful of all his exhorta-
tions and warnings, and solemn remindings of the terrible
doom, the unquenchable fire, the undying worm, they again
abandoned themselves to the diabolical exhibitions of the race-
course, with what heart could he return to the unthankful
task ? They manifested, indeed, by applause, the pleasure
with which they heard his words, and then they hurried off
to the circus, and, sitting side by side with Jew or Pagan,
they applauded with a kind of frenzied eagerness the efforts
of the several charioteers ; they rushed tumultuously along,
jostling one another, and shouting, 'that horse didn't
run fairly,' 'that was tripped up and fell,' and- the like. 3
Various excuses were pleaded for absence from church the
exigencies of business, poverty, ill health, lameness; but
these impediments never prevented attendance at the Hip-
podrome. In the church the chief places even were not
always all occupied, but there old and young, rich and poor,
crowded every available space for standing or sitting;
1 The colours represented the sea- prosperous navigation was indicated,
sons, and according as one or other 2 Contra Anom. vii. c. i.
was victorious a plentiful harvest or 3 De Laz. vii. c. 1.
120 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHEYSOSTOM. [CH. vm.
pushing, and squeezing, and trampling on one another's feet,
while the sun poured down on their heads : yet they appeared
thoroughly to enjoy themselves, in spite of all these dis-
comforts; while in the church the length of the sermon,
or the heat, or the crowd, were perpetual subjects of com-
plaint." 1
Such are a few illustrations of one, but perhaps the most
notable, form among many in which the impulsiveness and
frivolity of the people of Antioch were displayed. " The build-
ing which the preacher had so laboriously and industriously
reared in the hearts of his disciples was thus cruelly dashed
down and levelled to the very ground by a few hours of
dissolving pleasure and iniquitous frivolity." 2
Truly indeed might the lamentation of the prophet over
the evanescent piety of Ephraim and Judah have been
applied to these people : " Your goodness is as a morning
cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away " (Hos. vi. 4).
1 De Anna, iv. 1. 2 De Laz. vii. c. 1.
CHAPTEE IX.
HOMILIES AGAINST PAGANS AND JEWS-CONDITION OF THE JEWS IN
ANTIOCH JUDAISING CHRISTIANS HOMILIES ON CHRISTMAS DAY AND
NEW YEAR'S DAY CENSURE OF PAGAN SUPERSTITIONS. A.D. 386, 387.
IN dealing with the Arians, the contest mainly turned, as
has been pointed out in the previous chapter, on the inter-
pretation of Scripture ; but in doing battle with Pagans and
Jews, with the former especially, Chrysostom had of course
to take up a different attitude. The method which he adopts
towards the Jew is to demonstrate the fulfilment of Old
Testament prophecy in the person and work of Jesus Christ,
and to insist on the consequent abrogation of the Jewish
dispensation. The ground on which he mainly relies against
the Pagan is the miraculous establishment and progress of
Christianity in the face of unprecedented opposition, as an
evidence of its divine origin.
The treatise addressed to Jews and Gentiles combined
exhibits a powerful application of both these methods. 1
"He would first of all enter the lists against the Pagan.
And here caution was requisite. He would not say, when
the Pagan asked how the divinity of Christ was to be
proved, that Christ created the world, raised the dead, healed
the sick, expelled demons, promised a resurrection and a
1 It is a treatise, because too long promise we find redeemed in the homi-
for a homily, though mutilated of its lies against the Jews, and these homi-
proper conclusion. It must belong to lies, again, can be proved, by internal
the first two years of his priesthood, evidence, to have been delivered not
because it promises a more ample later than A.D. 387. See Montfaucon's
discussion of several points, which Monitum, vol. i. pp. 811 and 839.
122 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. ix.
heavenly kingdom, because these were the very questions
upon which they joined issue. But he would start from a
ground which even the Pagan would accept : no one would
venture to deny that the Christian religion was founded by
Jesus Christ, and from this simple fact he would undertake
to prove that Christ could be no less than God. No mere
man could, in so short a time, with such feeble instruments,
and in the face of such opposition arising from inveterate
custom and forms of faith, have subdued so many and such
various races of mankind. 1 How contrary to the common
course of events, that He who was despised, weak, and put
to an ignominious death, should now be honoured and adored
in all regions of the earth ! Emperors who have made laws,
and altered the constitution of states, who have ruled nations
by their nod, in whose hands was the power of life and
death, pass away ; their images are in time destroyed, their
actions forgotten, their adherents despised, their very names
buried in oblivion : present grandeur is succeeded by
nothingness. In the case of Jesus Christ all is reversed.
During his lifetime, all seemed failure and degradation, but
a career of glory and triumph succeeded his death. 2 Before
his death Judas betrayed him, St. Peter denied him ; after
his death, St. Peter and the rest of the Apostles traversed
the world to bear witness to his truth, and thousands of
people have died rather than utter what the chief of the
Apostles once uttered from fear of a maid-servant's taunts.
' His rest shall be glorious : ' this was true, not only of the
Master, but also of his disciples. In that most royal city
of Rome, monarchs, prefects, generals, flocked to the sepul-
chres of the fisherman and the tent-maker ; and in Constan-
tinople they who wore the diadem were content to lay their
bones in the porch of the Apostles' Church, and to become
as it were the door-keepers of humble fishermen. 3 Christ
1 C. 1. remarks on Christianity : " Table
2 See a singular parallel to this Talk and Opinions of Napoleon I."
thought in the Emperor Napoleon i.'s 3 C. 9.
CH. ix.] POWER OF THE CHURCH. 123
had made the most ignominious death, and the instrument of
it, glorious. It was written, ' Cursed is he that hangeth on a
tree,' yet the cross had become the object of desire and love ;
it was more honourable than the whole world, for the
imperial crown itself was not such an ornament to the head :
princes and subjects, men and women, bond and free, all
delighted to wear it imprinted on the brow. It was con-
spicuous on the Holy Table, and in the ceremony of ordain-
ing priests ; in houses, in market-places, by the wayside,
and on mountain sides, on couches and on garments, on
ships, on drinking vessels, in mural decorations, the cross
was depicted. Whence all this extraordinary honour to a
piece of wood, unless the power of him who died upon it
was divine?" 1
Christ had declared that the gates of hell should not
prevail against his Eock- founded Church. How far had
this prediction been verified ? In a short space of time
Christianity had abolished ancestral customs, plucked up
deeply-rooted habits, overturned altars and temples, caused
unclean rites and ceremonials to vanish away. Christian
altars had been erected in Italy, in Persia, in Scythia, in
Africa. " What say I ? even the British Isles, which lie
outside the boundaries of our world and our sea, in the
midst of the ocean itself, have experienced the power of the
Word, for even there churches and altars have been set up."
Thus the world had been, so to say, cleared of thorns, and
purified to receive the seed of godliness. What a proof of
superhuman power ! The progress of the Church had been
encountered by customs which were not only venerated but
pleasant; yet these traditions, handed down through long
lines of ancestors, were abandoned for a religion far more
severe and laborious, a religion which substituted fasting
for enjoyment, poverty for money-getting, temperance for
lasciviousness, meekness for wrath, benevolence for ill-will.
i c. 9.
124 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYS03TOM. [en. ix.
Men who had long been enervated by luxury, and accus-
tomed to the broad way, had been converted into the narrow,
rugged path, not by tens or twenties, but by multitudes
under the whole heaven. By whose agency had these
mighty results been wrought ? By a few unlearned obscure
men, without illustrious ancestors, without money, without
eloquence. 1 And all this in the teeth of opposition of the
most varied kind. For where the new doctrine penetrated,
it excited divisions and strife ; children were set at variance
with parents, brother with brother, husband with wife,
master with servant. Yet, in spite of persecution and dis-
ruption of social ties, the new faith grew and flourished.
How could such unprecedented marvels have come to pass
but through the divine power, and in obedience to that Word
of God which is creative of actual results ? Just as, when
He said " Let the earth bring forth grass," the wilderness
became a garden, so when the expression of His purpose had
gone forth, " I will build my Church," straightway the pro-
cess began, and though tyrants and people, sophists and
orators, custom and religion, had been arrayed against it,
yet the Word, going forth like fire, consumed the thorns,
and scattered the good seed over the purified soil. 2
In attempting to convince the Jews of the divinity of
Jesus Christ by proving the exact fulfilment of Old Testa-
ment prophecy in his person and work, Chrysostom displays
that intimate familiarity with every part of Scripture which
is his eminent characteristic.
The passages are, on the whole, most judiciously selected ;
some corresponding passage from the New Testament being
placed, if possible, against each, with a careful attention even
to verbal parallelism. For instance, against the passage in
Isaiah, " The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him," he
places the verse from St. John i. 32, " I beheld the Spirit
descending like a dove, and it abode upon him." 3 He refers
i c. 12. 2 c. 13. 3 c. 2.
en. ix.] HOMILIES AGAINST JEWS. 125
each event in Christ's life, his Incarnation, his rejection by
the Jews, his betrayal, crucifixion, burial, resurrection, the
descent of the Holy Ghost, and the beginning of the Apostolic
labours to some corresponding prediction. 1 He sometimes,
however, falls into the error, less common in him than in
other patristic interpreters, of seeing direct references to the
Messiah and the Messianic kingdom, to the almost total
exclusion of any other meaning. For instance, such passages
as " Their sound is gone out into all lands," " That thou
mayest make princes in all lands," are cited as if exclusively
predictive of the propagation of Christianity. In such words
as " The virgins that be her fellows shall bear her company,"
he sees a distinct foreshadowing of the honour to be paid to
virginity under Christianity. 2 In other passages, again, he is
misled by ignorance of the Hebrew, and a too literal adher-
ence to the Septuagint translation. In the passage, " I will
make thy officers peace," thine " exactors " being rendered in
the Septuagint bishops or overseers, he extracts from this
word a direct reference to the Christian priesthood. 3 " He
shall descend like rain into a fleece of wool " is interpreted
as significant of the extreme secrecy of Christ's birth, and
the noiseless gentleness with which his kingdom was founded. 4
Whereas, the strict translation being " like rain upon new-
mown grass," it is rather illustrative of the fruitful results of
Christ's advent. 5
Such occasional defects, however, will not prevent us from
according the praise due to the great skill with which, on
the whole, he has worked out this method of argument, and
the noble vindication of Christianity in this treatise has
seldom if ever been surpassed by Chrysostom elsewhere. The
several parts of his argument are unfolded in orderly proces-
sion, and expressed with an eloquence at once luminous and
earnest, and which, though at times copious and ornate, does
1 C. 2-5. 2 C. 6. 3 C. 7. 4 C. 3.
5 See Perowne, vol. i. in loco ; Ps. Ixxii. 6 ; and Delitzsch in Isa. Ix. 17.
126 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. ix.
not degenerate into the mere redundancy, still less into the
affectations and flowery artifices, of rhetoric ; he is always
real and earnest, he is sometimes sublime.
Closely connected with this treatise in subject, and not far
distant in time of composition, are the Homilies directed
against Jews and Judaising Christians. The Jews, ever since
the time of Antiochus the Great, were a considerable body in
Antioch, and over the Christian population exerted a seriously
pernicious influence. Their position, indeed, in the Empire
at large had been increasingly favourable from the reign of
Hadrian to Constantine. Though they were not permitted
to approach Jerusalem, yet the worship in their synagogues
was freely tolerated ; they were permitted to circumcise their
own children though not the children of proselytes ; and their
religious organisation in the Empire was held together under
the sway of the Patriarch of Tiberias. 1 After the recognition
of Christianity by the Empire, the Jews, as a natural con-
sequence, were less favourably treated. The statutes of
Constantine and Constantius were severe. Those Jews who
attempted the life of a Christian were to be burned. No
Christians were to become Jews, under pain of punishment.
Jews were forbidden to marry Christian women or to possess
Christian slaves. The national character of the Jew seems to
have deteriorated, as the race became more widely dispersed,
and as their wealth and importance increased. They were no
longer indeed so morosely and sullenly proud as when they
gloried in the possession of a holy city and distinct religious
ordinances, and a geographical position which isolated them
from the rest of mankind, but neither were their faith or
morals so pure. Self-indulgence, sensualism, and low cunning
corrupted their life; a superstitious and material cast of
thought depraved their faith. Their habits harmonised too
well with that propensity to luxury and licentiousness which
was the besetting vice of the people of Antioch ; their
1 Milman's History of the Jews, vol. ii. book xix.
en. ix.] CHARACTER OF THE JEWS. 127
materialism worked hand in hand with the prevailing Arian-
ism, if, indeed, Arianism may not be regarded as in some
sort its product. Certainly, whenever popular insurrections
caused by religious dissensions occurred either in Antioch or
in Alexandria, the Jews ranged themselves on the Arian side,
as if the spirit and character of the Arian sect were the most
congenial to their own. 1
Allowing for some exaggerations in the preacher, carried
away by the impulse of the moment, the invectives of
Chrysostom must be permitted to prove that the Jewish
residents in Antioch were of a low and vicious order. They
seem to have been regarded by the common people with a
mixture of dislike and awe ; the age was superstitious, and
the Jews availed themselves of superstitious terrors to make
a livelihood, especially through a kind of quackery in medicine.
Their quarters are denounced by Chrysostom as dens of
robbers and habitations of demons. 2 A whole day would not
suffice to tell the tale of their extortions, their thefts, their
deceptions, their base methods of traffic, such as the sale of
amulets and charms. 3 Their priests were no better than
counterfeits, because they had not gone through all the
elaborate rites of consecration. They had no sacred ephod,
no Urim and Thummim, no altar, no sacrifice, no prophecy.
The Festival of Trumpets was a scene of great debauchery,
more iniquitous than the proceedings in the theatre. Any
catechumen who was detected attending that festival was to
be excluded from the porch of the church ; any communicant
so detected was to be denied access to the Holy Table. The
booths erected at the Feast of Tabernacles were like taverns,
crowded with flute-players and ill-conditioned women. The
synagogues were frequented by the most abandoned charac-
1 Basnage's Hist, des Juifs, vi. 41. Ben Jochai went to Rome as ambas-
Newman's Arians, ch. i. sect. i. sador, in the reign of Antoninus Pius,
2 V. in fine ; robbers may possibly to obtain the abrogation of persecu-
be used in a figurative sense. ting edicts, he won the favour of the
3 I. c. 7. They seem early to have Emperor by curing his sick daughter,
claimed medical skill. When Simon Milman, ii. 443.
128 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. ix.
ters of both sexes, and dancers, actors, and charioteers were
largely drawn from the Jewish population. In spite of this,
many Christians were seduced to attend the Jewish festivals
and fasts, and even to swear Jewish oaths in the syna-
gogues, under the superstitious impression that such were
more solemn and binding than any Christian forms. He had
himself, only three days ago, rescued a woman being dragged
off, against her will, to take an oath of this kind, by a man
who professed himself a Christian. On stopping to rebuke
him in the sternest language, Chrysostom was shocked to
learn that the practice was extremely common among
Christians. He passionately exhorts the faithful to reclaim
their deluded brethren from these pernicious ways : If
twelve Apostles had converted the larger part of the world,
it would be a shame that the Christians, who were the
majority in the population of Antioch, should fail to allay
the plague of Judaism. What treason ! what inconsistency,
that they, who worshipped the Crucified One, should associate
with the race which crucified Him. 1 The synagogue ought
not to be an object of reverence because it contained the
Books of the Law and the Prophets, but rather of abhorrence,
because those who possessed the Prophets refused to recog-
nise Him of whom their writings spoke. Was the temple of
Serapis holy because it contained the Septuagint, deposited
there by Ptolemy Philadelphus ? 2
Christians seem to have attended Jewish services much
in that spirit of curiosity with which Protestants sometimes
go to Eoman Catholic churches, to be entertained by music,
incense, and a grand ritual. They maintained that the
effect was solemnising ; but, observes Chrysostom, the value
of the offering to God depends not on the nature of the
offering, but on the heart of the offerers. The worshippers
sanctify the temple, not the temple the worshippers. You
1 would not touch or address the murderer of your own son,
i II. 3 ; vii. in initio ; i. c. 3, 4. 2 I. c. 6.
CH. ix.] JUDAISING CHRISTIANS. 129
and will you court the society of those who slew the Son of
God ? 1 Let them consider that cry uttered by the deacon
from time to time in the celebration of the holy mysteries :
" Discern one another." 2 So let them do. " If you discern
any one Judaising, hold him fast and expose him, that you
may not yourself participate in the danger."
" In military camps, if any soldier be detected sympathis-
ing with the barbarian or the Persian^ not only does he
himself run a risk of his life, but also any of his comrades
who were conscious of his defection, but did not represent it
to the general. Since, then, you are the army of Christ,
search diligently whether any stranger has intruded into
your camp, and expose him, not that we may put him to
death, but that we may punish him, deliver him from his
error and impiety, and render him wholly our own ; but if
you willingly conceal him, be well assured that you will
sustain the same punishment with him." This homily is
concluded by a solemn adjuration : " In the words of Moses,
I call heaven and earth to record against you this day, that
if any of you now present or absent attend the Feast of
Trumpets, or enter a synagogue, or observe a fast, or a
sabbath, or any Jewish rite whatever, I am guiltless of your
blood. These discourses will rise up for both of us in the
great day of our Lord : if you shall have obeyed them, they
will give you confidence ; but if otherwise, they will stand
as severe accusers against you." Therefore he implored
them to institute the most rigorous search after the Judais-
ing brethren. "When their mother the Church had lost a
child, it was criminal to conceal either the captor or the
captured; let the men seek out the men, the women the
women, the slave his fellow-servant, and present the culprit
to him before the next assembly.
1 i. c. 7. So the idle youth of This admonition "Discern one an-
Rome turned for amusement into the other" was uttered just at the close
Synagogue. Horace, Sat. ix. 69. of the Missa Catechumenorum, when
2 tirtyivuffKere dXX^Xovs. i. 4. all but the baptized had to depart.
130 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. ix.
Another Judaising practice, which he condemns in the
severest language, was the custom of keeping Easter on
the 14th day of the month, according to Jewish calcu-
lation, irrespective of the week-day on which it might fall ;
thus sometimes feasting when the rest of the Church was
fasting, or fasting when the rest was feasting. The existence
of such a practice at this time was a remarkable instance of
the increasing influence of the Jews in Antioch and the
neighbouring regions. For up to the year A.D. 276, the
Antiochene patriarchate had observed Easter in conformity
with the Catholic usage ; the adoption of the Jewish cal-
culation was made after that date, when most of the rest of
Christendom had dropped it, and was therefore the subject
of special condemnation at the Council of Nice. 1 Such a
discrepancy in practice was regarded as a most serious rent
in the unity of the Church. Chrysostom denounces it
especially as a contumacious disregard of the Council of
Nice, which had distinctly ordained by the mouths of three
hundred bishops that Easter should be kept at one and
the same time throughout Christendom. He implores the
Judaisers to desist from the idle inquiry into the exact
dates of seasons ; to follow the Church, and to place harmony
and charitable peace before all things. It was impossible,
in fact, to fix the actual day on which Christ rose ; therefore
let them observe that day which the Church through her
bishops had prescribed. It was a less offence to fast on the
wrong day than to rend the unity of the Church. " How
long halt ye between two opinions?" if Judaism be true,
embrace it altogether, and " cease to annoy the Church ; if
Christianity be true, abide in it, and follow it." 2
The Jews themselves could not, in Chrysostom's opinion,
legally perform sacrifices, or observe festivals of any kind.
Jerusalem was the only place in which such observances
1 Newman's Arians, ch. i. p. 16. Hefele, pp. 305, 306.
2 In Jud. iii. c. 6, iv. c. 4.
en. ix.] QUARTO-DECIMANS. 131
were commanded ; and Jerusalem being destroyed they
became void. 1 They had been suspended during the Cap-
tivity, to be resumed when the people returned to the holy
soil. If the Jews of the present day also expected restora-
tion, let them likewise suspend their rites ; but, in fact, this
never would occur. The Temple never would be rebuilt,
and restoration was a vain hope. Jerusalem was to be
trodden down of Gentiles till the times of the Gentiles were
fulfilled ; and by the fulfilment of those times Chrysostom
understood the end of the world. 2 All four Captivities of
the Jews their subjection to the Egyptians, Babylonians,
Antiochus, and the Romans had been distinctly foretold. To
each of the first three prophecy had assigned a limit ; but to
the last none it reached into all time ; there was no sign or
intimation of any probable cessation. 3 The revolt of the
Jews under Hadrian, and under Constantine, 4 had ignomini-
ously failed ; the attempt of Julian to rebuild the Temple
had been frustrated by portents: fire issuing from the
foundations had consumed some of the workmen, and scared
the spectators; the naked substructions, left just as they
were when the work was abandoned, presented a visible
monument of the divinely-arrested work. 5
The eager exhortation reiterated in his last homily, that
the faithful should seek out their brethren who had been
caught in the Jewish snare, is a powerful rush of indignant
eloquence, and a wholesome admonition on the responsibility
of all for the spiritual welfare of their fellow-men. " Say
not within thyself, I am a man of the world ; I have a wife
and children ; these matters belong to the priests and the
1 According to Theod. iii. 20, the 2 In Jud. v. c. 1.
Jews had ceased to offer sacrifices by 3 Ibid. c. 4-7.
the reign of Julian, and when he in- 4 He punished the captives by
quired the reason, said, because it was cutting off their ears. It is singular
unlawful except on the site of the that there is no record of this rebellion
Temple ; and this was one chief reason in history.
why Julian commanded the Temple to 5 For a full relation of this singular
be restored. event, see Milman's Jews, book xx.
132 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [OH. ix.
monks. The Samaritan in the parable did not say, Where
are the priests ? where are the Pharisees ? where are the
Jewish authorities ? but seized the opportunity of doing a
good deed, as if it was a great advantage. In like manner,
when you see any one requiring bodily or spiritual care, say
not within thyself, Why did not this or that man attend to
him ? but deliver him from his infirmity. If you find a
piece of gold in your path, you do not say, Why did not
some other person pick it up ? but you eagerly anticipate
others by seizing it yourself. Even so, in the case of your
fallen brethren, consider that you- have found a treasure in
them and give the attention necessary for their wants."
He besought them not to proclaim the calamity of the
Church by idly gossiping about the numbers of those who
had observed some Jewish custom, but to- -search them out;
and, if necessary, to enter their houses, tax them with their
guilt, and solemnly warn them against the iniquity of con-
sorting with the enemies of Jesus Christ. " Listen not to
any excuses which they may plead on the ground of cures
effected by the Jews ; expose their impostures, their incan-
tations, their amulets, their charms, their drugs." Even if
they really effected cures, it would be better to die and save
the soul, than resort to the enemies of Christ to heal the
body. Let them rather appeal to the assistance of the
martyrs and saints who were His friends, and had great
confidence in addressing Him. " Why did the Son of Man
Himself enter the world ? Was it not to seek and to save
wandering sheep ? This do thou, according to thy ability.
I will not cease to speak, whether you hear or whether you
forbear. If you heed not, I shall do it, but with grief ; if
you listen and obey, I shall do it, but with joy." l
It is difficult for us, in our altered position towards Jews
and heretics of all kinds, to sympathise with the vehemence
of Chrysostom's feelings and language. Yet there can be no
1 Horn. viii. 4, and. in fine.
CH. ix.] MISCHIEVOUS INFLUENCE OF JEWS. 133
doubt that such dabbling, if the word may be used, in the
customs, the observances, the ritual of an obsolete dispensa-
tion, and a debased people, did seriously imperil purity of faith
and morals, and unity of discipline, in the Christian Church.
Towards dissentient Christians, not infected by Judaism,
Chrysostom adopts a milder tone, and indeed restrains the
immoderation of party feeling in others with wholesome
censure. He laments 1 the distracted state of the Church
in Antioch, which was now divided into the three sections
of Meletians, Eustathians, and Arians; but he denounces
the practice of anathematising. .It was uncharitable and
presumptuous. St. Paul anathematised once only ; the cast-
ing off of a heretic ought to be as painful as plucking out an
eye or cutting off a limb. A holy man before their times,
one of the successors of the Apostles, and judged worthy of
the honour of martyrdom, used to say, that to assume the
right to anathematise was as great a usurpation of Christ's
authority as for a subject to put on the Imperial purple.
In dealing with erring brethren, the Christian should "in
meekness instruct those that oppose themselves, if God,
peradventure, will give them repentance to the acknowledg-
ing of the truth." " If a man accepts your counsel and
confesses his error, you have saved him, and delivered your
own soul also ; but if he will not, do you nevertheless con-
tinue to testify with long-suffering and kindness, that the
Judge may not require his soul at thy hand. Hate him not ;
turn not from him ; persecute him not, but catch him in the
net of sincere and genuine charity. The person whom you
anathematise is either living or dead; if living, you do
wrong to cut off one who may still be converted ; if dead,
much more you do wrong ; ' to his own master he standeth
or falleth ;' and ' who hath known the mind of the Lord, or
who hath been his counsellor?' You may anathematise
1 Honi. de Anathemate, delivered soon after the discourses against the
Aiiomceans. See Monitum, vol. i. 944.
134 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. ix.
heretical dogmas, but towards the persons who hold them
show the greatest possible forbearance, and pray for their
salvation."
In the winter of 386, Chrysostom preached a sermon on
Christmas Day, which, though not distinguished by any
unusual merit, possesses an interest of its own. We learn
from it, that this festival was not originally celebrated in
the Eastern Church; it had been adopted from the West,
and, in Antioch at least, less than ten years before the year
of Chrysostom 's discourse. It had gradually increased in
popularity, and this year Chrysostom rejoiced to observe
that the church was crowded to overflowing. Eome had
fixed the observance of the 25th of December, and this was
the day kept throughout Christendom from Thrace to Gades;
but the propriety of the date was much debated in the
Eastern Churches, and the observance of the festival at all
was considered by some as a questionable innovation.
Chrysostom energetically vindicates the dignity of the
festival and the correctness of the date. 1 It was the metro-
polis, so to say, of all other festivals, and as such it was the
most solemn and awful. For the incarnation of Christ was
the necessary condition of all the succeeding events of His
career on earth, and in the profundity of its mystery it
exceeded them all. That Christ should die was a natural
consequence of human nature once assumed ; but that He,
being God, should have stooped so low as to assume that
nature, was a mystery unfathomable to the mind of man !
" Wherefore I specially welcome and belove this day, and
desire to make you partakers in my affection. I pray and
implore you all to come with zeal and alacrity, every man
first purging his own house, to behold our Lord wrapped in
swaddling clothes and lying in a manger; for if we come
with faith, we shall indeed behold Him lying in the manger;
1 The former chiefly in the Horn. the Horn, in Nat. Diem Christi, vol. ii.
cle Philog. vol. i. 752 ; the latter in p. 552.
CH. ix.] SERMON ON CHRISTMAS DAY. 135
for this Table supplies the place of the manger, and here
also the body of the Lord will lie, not wrapped in swaddling
clothes, but invested on all sides by the Holy Spirit. The
initiated (or the baptized) understand what I mean." 1 But
he warns his hearers against crowding in a tumultuous and
disorderly manner to partake of the holy feast. " Approach
with fear and trembling, with fasting and prayer, not making
an uproar, hustling and jostling one another: consider,
man, what kind of sacrifice thou art about to handle ; con-
sider that thou, who art dust and ashes, dost receive the
body and blood of Christ." 2 This irreverent conduct at the
reception of the Eucharist frequently provoked the indig-
nation and censure of Chrysostom. It occurred especially
at the greater festivals, because on those days multitudes
received the Eucharist who did not enter the church at
other times. " How," he cries in the homily on the Epiphany,
" shall we teach you what is necessary concerning your soul,
immortality, the kingdom of heaven, the long-suffering and
mercy of God, and a future judgment, when you come to us
only once or twice in the year ?" Many of those who pushed
and kicked one another in the eagerness of each to get
foremost to the holy Table, withdrew from the church
before the final thanksgiving. " What," Chrysostom cries,
" when Christ is present, and the angels are standing by,
and this awe-inspiring Table is spread before you, and your
brethren are still partaking of the mysteries, will you hurry
away ? " Too often they who thronged the church on these
great occasions led worldly and even vicious lives; they
hurried away before the sacred feast was ended, like Judas,
to do the devil's work. 3 Such is one among many examples
which may be elicited from Chrysostom's works of that
Pagan grossness and superstition which was mingled
with the faith and the most solemn observances of Chris-
1 De Beato Philog. vol. i. p. 753. 2 j n N at cimsti, vol. ii. p. 560.
3 De Bapt. Cbristi, c. 4.
136 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. ix.
tianity. The vitality of superstitious customs, the subtlety
with which they have grafted themselves upon Christianity,
the tenacity with which they have clung to 'men in spite of
it late into modern times, is indeed extraordinary ; but for
centuries their existence and influence were not appreci-
ably if at all affected by Christianity. A half Oriental, half
Greek, partly Jewish population, like that of Antioch, whose
purer feelings and nobler reason were seriously impaired by
habits of licentiousness and luxury, was naturally liable to
superstitious terrors, and addicted to superstitious practices
of all kinds. Chrysostom is frequently reproving his people
for being anxious and afraid where there was no cause, while
they abandoned themselves to vice, the only worthy cause
for fear, without scruple or alarm. If Christmas Day was
observed as a Christian festival, though without becoming
reverence, New Year's Day was given up to riotous festivity,
thoroughly Pagan in character. The houses were festooned
with flowers, the inns were scenes of the most disgraceful
intemperance; men and women drinking undiluted wine
there from an early hour in the morning; auguries and
omens were consulted by which the horoscope of the year
was cast. Good luck in the coming year was supposed to
depend (how is not clearly stated) on the manner in which
the first day was spent. This is the theme of the preacher's
righteous indignation. The real happiness of the year was
determined, not by the observation of particular feasts, but
by the amount of goodness which we put into it. Sin was
the only real evil, virtue the only real good ; therefore, if a
man practised justice, almsgiving, and prayer, his year could
not fail to be propitious ; for he who had a clean conscience
carried about with him a perpetual holy day, and without
this, the most brilliant and joyous festival was obscured by
darkness. "When thou seest the year completed, thank
God that He has brought thee safely to the conclusion of
the cycle : prick thine heart, reckon up the time of thy life,
CH. ix.] PAGAN SUPERSTITION. 137
and say to thyself, The days are hurrying along, the years
are being fulfilled, I have advanced far on the road, the
judgment is at the doors, my life is pressing on towards old
age : well ! what good have I done ? shall I depart hence
destitute and empty of all righteousness ?" 1
There is a fuller notice, in some of his homilies on the
Epistle to the Ephesians, of the many gross and senseless
forms of superstition which prevailed even among the com-
municants in the Christian Church. He laments the decay
of discipline, by which a more rigorous scrutiny was once
instituted into the characters of those who came to the holy
feast. If any one were to examine the lives of all those who
partake of the mysteries on Easter Day, he would find
amongst them persons who consulted auguries, who used
drugs, and omens, and incantations ; even the adulterer,
curser, and drunkard, dared to partake. Iniquitous, men
had crept into the Church, the highest places of command
were bought and sold, till the pure livers had betaken them-
selves to the mountains to escape from the contamination. 2
Some of the vulgar superstitions of the day were ludicrously
puerile. " This or that man was the first to meet me as I
walked out; consequently innumerable ills will certainly
befall me : that confounded servant of mine, in giving me
my shoes, handed me the left shoe first; this indicates dire
calamities and insults : as I stepped out, I started with the
left foot foremost ; this too is a sign of misfortune : my right
eye twitched upwards as I went out ; this portends tears." 3
To strike the woof with the comb in a particular way, the
braying of a donkey, the crowing of a cock, a sudden sneeze,
all these were indications of something or other. " They
suspect everything, and are more in bondage than if they
were slaves many times over. But let not us, brethren, fear
such things, but laughing them to scorn as men who live in
1 In Kalend. c. 2. 3 Perhaps that convulsive twitching
2 In Ephes. Horn. vi. c. 4. which we call "quick blood."
138 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [OH. ix.
the light, and whose citizenship is in heaven, and who have
nothing in common with this earth, let us regard one thing
only as terrible, and that is, sin." 1
1 InEphes. Horn. xii. c. 3. In Horn. it that name which was attached to
viii. and xii. on 1 Cor. he rebukes the the candle that burned longest out of
heathenish ceremonies performed at a row of candles,
the birth of a child. One was, to give
CHAPTER X.
SURVEY OF THE FIRST DECADE OF THE REIGN OF THEODOSIUS-HIS
CHARACTER HIS EFFORTS FOR THE EXTIRPATION OF PAGANISM AND
HERESY THE APOLOGIES OF SYMMACHUS AND LIBANIUS. A.D. 379-389.
BEFORE Chrysostom had laboured two full years in " con-
firming the souls of the disciples" at Antioch, that city
became the scene of events memorable in history; and
events in which the great preacher played an honourable
and distinguished part.
The foremost man of the age, not only by position but
also to a great extent in character, was Theodosius the
Emperor ; Theodosius the Great, deservedly so called in spite
of one prominent defect in character, and a few glaring
misdeeds which tarnish his reputation. The military exploits
of his father, Theodosius the elder, had provoked the jealousy
of the court 1 and cost him his life, and the son, who had
manifested ability almost equal, in serving under him both
by land and sea against Scots and Saxons, Moors and Goths,
was glad to escape a similar ungrateful return for his
services, by retiring to the obscurity of his native village
in Spain. He was disgraced when the Empire had been
liberated from danger by the exertions of his father and
himself ; but in the hour of its utmost jeopardy, and direst
distress, he was recalled to more than his former position.
The total defeat and death of Valens, and the almost
extermination of his army before Hadrianople in A.D. 378,
1 He was executed at Carthage in A.D. 376.
140 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. x.
placed the Empire at the mercy of victorious barbarians
within the frontier, and on the edge of the horizon more
storm-clouds of Gothic or Hunnish invasion were lowering.
There was but one person to whom the mind of Gratian,
the young Emperor of the West, and his advisers, over-
whelmed by the prospect of impending calamity, instinc-
tively turned as capable of saving the State in this crisis.
For three years Theodosius had been quietly cultivating
his farm between Valladolid and Segovia, when he was
summoned to accept the title of Augustus, together with all
the responsibilities and perils which attended the possessor,
at such a time, of that venerable name. He was equal to
the situation; handsome with a manly beauty, courageous
and determined of purpose, just and politic in intention if
not always in act, he was endowed with some of the noblest
qualities of a soldier and a statesman, by which to rescue
and reorganise a panic-stricken and crumbling State. This
is not the place to narrate the military achievements of
Theodosius. The original materials for information respect-
ing them are scanty; but they have been collected and
arranged by that historian whose indefatigable industry
brings order out of confusion, and whose luminous style lights
up with interest even the darkest and most meagre annals. 1
It is sufficient to remind the reader of Gibbon, that Theo-
dosius subdued the Goths, not in any one or two great
battles, but by frequent and skilfully contrived engage-
ments on a smaller scale. He thus gradually revived the
drooping courage and discipline of the imperial troops, and
wore out the enemy. The several tribes, on their submission,
were settled in the waste tracts of country, which they were
to occupy free of taxation, on the wise condition that they
kept the land in a state of cultivation. So a numerous
colony of Visigoths was established in Thrace, and of Ostro-
goths in Phrygia and Lydia, The ability of Theodosius is
1 See Gibbon, c. xxvi. xxvii.
CH. x.] THEODOSIUS MADE EMPEROR. 141
proved more by the results of his energy than by anything
that we know of the manner in which he accomplished
them. He not only vanquished the Goths, but arrested the
progress of the usurper Maximus in the West, who was
leading his victorious legions to Italy, flushed with success
after the ignominious flight and assassination of Gratian.
Theodosius was not in a position, surrounded as he was
by half- vanquished barbarians, to dispute the passage of the
conqueror ; but by assuming a firm tone in negotiations, he
secured for Valentinian, Gratian's brother, and successor, the
sovereignty of Italy, Africa, and Western Illyricum, sur-
rendering for the present to the usurper the regions north
of the Alps.
Theodosius was a Christian; as a Spaniard he was a
Trinitarian, and as a soldier he was anxious to establish one
uniform type of religious faith and ecclesiastical discipline
throughout the Empire. But such a task proved more
impracticable than the reduction of military foes. Neither
Paganism nor Arianism could be extinguished in a few
years by suppressive edicts. Theodosius himself had been
baptized in the first year of his reign, A.D. 380, when his
life was threatened by a severe illness, and he had then
announced his will and pleasure that his own solemn
declaration of faith should be accepted by his subjects
also. That faith which was "professed by the Pontiff
Damasus, and Peter, Bishop of Alexandria " was to be the
faith of the Empire. " Let us believe the sole deity of the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, under an equal
majesty and a pious Trinity. We authorise the followers
of this doctrine to assume the title of Catholic Christians,
and as we judge that all others are extravagant madmen,
we brand them with the infamous name of heretics." 1 Their
places of assembly were not to enjoy the title of churches,
and they themselves were to expect severe civil penalties
i Cod. Theod. xvi. 1, 2.
142 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. x.
as well as the Divine condemnation. Damophilus, the
Arian Bishop of Constantinople, preferred exile to signing
the creed of Nice ; and Gregory of Nazianzus was con-
ducted by the Emperor in person through the streets of
Constantinople (though not without a strong guard) to
occupy the episcopal throne. A project for another general
council (after the Council of Constantinople, A.D. 381) was
entertained but abandoned, for the factious demeanour of the
several prelates and their partisans on their arrival did not
augur a very successful settlement of differences by that
method. The Emperor fell back, for the accomplishment
of his object, on his own authority. On July 25, A.D. 383,
an edict was posted in Constantinople, prohibiting all the
heretics therein named, Arians, Eunomians, Macedonians,
and Manichseans, from holding any kind of assembly, public
or private, either in the cities or in the country. Any
ground or building used for such illegal purpose was to be
confiscated to the State ; and the penalty of banishment was
pronounced against those who allowed themselves to be
ordained priests or bishops of the heretical sects. Historians
concur in the opinion that few of these penalties were
actually enforced. The heretical sects were not animated
by a spirit of martyrdom; the intimidation was generally
sufficient. 1 The hypocrite or the indifferent conformed, the
more conscientious retired into obscurity. There seem to
have been few if any Arian prelates of great and command-
ing ability. All the leading ecclesiastics of the day
Chrysostom, Jerome, Basil, the two Gregories, and Ambrose
were by conviction on the side of the Emperor, and added
all the weight of their influence to his decrees.
When measures had been taken for the suppression of
heresy, it was the Pagan's turn to suffer. The spectacle of
temples standing open for worship side by side with Chris-
1 Sozom. vii. c. 12 ; Gibbon, c. xxvii. ; De Broglie, " L'Eglise et 1'Empire,"
vi. p. 93.
CH. x.] LAWS AGAINST HERETICS AND PAGANS. 143
tian churches was a painful incongruity in the eyes of
Theodosius, with his soldier-like ideas of uniformity and
discipline. The first blow was directed against those dis-
loyal sons of the Church who had seceded to Paganism.
They were deprived of the power to make wills or to receive
bequests. 1 The second step was absolutely to prohibit all
sacrifices in those temples which were still open. Nearly
twenty years before, the sacrifice of animals had been
forbidden by Valentinian and Valens, owing to their con-
nection with arts of divination, which were used for political
purposes. As long as such sacrifices were permitted, the
priests could not refrain from consulting the entrails of the
victims, and pretending to read therein future events : the
death of this Emperor, the elevation of that, the success or
failure of expeditions, and the like, were intimated to the
people, always eager to know what is beyond the limits of
human knowledge. Such divinations encouraged a restless
spirit in the subjects, and often disaffected them towards the
ruling power. That these laws of Valentinian were renewed
by Theodosius in 381, and again in A.D. 385, proves that
they had been imperfectly obeyed. 2
They were followed up by a yet more decisive step in
A.D. 392. Cynegius, the Praetorian Prefect of the East, the
Counts Jovinus and Gaudentius in the West, were com-
missioned to shut up the temples, to destroy their contents,
images, and vessels, and to confiscate their property. In
many instances the executors of the edict, aided by the
fanatical fury of monks, seem to have exceeded their in-
structions. The great temple of Jupiter, at Apamea, in
Syria, of which the roof was supported on sixty massive
columns, fell, but not unavenged ; for the Bishop Marcellus,
who headed the assailants, fell a victim to the rage of the
1 Cod. Theod. xvi. v. 7, lib. 1, 2. Eugenius, the usurper, after the death
2 Cod. Theod. xvi. v. 10, lib. 7. 9. of Valentinian II., was persuaded by
Sozomen informs us (vii. 22) that divinations to take up arms.
144 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. x.
exasperated rustics who defended it. 1 The safety of the
universe was represented by Pagans to depend on the pre-
servation of the colossal gold and silver image of Serapis at
Alexandria. Even Christians beheld with some trepidation
an audacious soldier deal a blow with a battle-axe on the
cheek of this awful deity ; but as the only result of the gash
was the issue of a swarm of rats who had harboured in the
sacred head, instead of the avenging thunders which had
been expected, a revulsion of feeling was experienced. The
huge idol was hewn to pieces, the limbs were dragged
through the streets, and the remains of the carcase burned
in the amphitheatre, amidst the derision of the populace.
These were shattering blows to Paganism. But the
religion of sentiment and custom long survives the extinc-
tion of more solid if not reasonable convictions. Chryso-
stom's homily on New Year's Day is only one among many
illustrations of the way in which Pagan rites and superstitions
lingered, especially in connection with public festivals. All
the Pagan concomitants of these festivals in the country
districts hymns, libations, garlands, incense, lights were
strictly prohibited, under heavy penalties, by Theodosius in
A.D. 392, but, in the "West especially, the extirpation was
very incomplete. The Bishops of Verona and of Brescia
protested, but in vain, against the proprietors of land in-
dulging their tenantry in these practices. Sicily, Corsica,
and Sardinia, were strongholds of Paganism as late as
A.I). 600. Sacrifices were offered to Apollo on Monte Casino
till the establishment of St. Benedict's monastery in A.D.
529.
The riotous populace of towns, and the simple country folk
attached to old customs, thus evinced some spirit in their
resistance to repressive enactments. But the hold which
Paganism retained upon intellectual people was feeble indeed.
Two apologists only, with any pretensions to ability, stepped
1 Sozomen, vii. 15. Theod. v. 21.
en. x.] SYMMACHUS AND AMBROSE. 145
forward to plead for the sinking cause : Symmachus 1 in the
West, and Libanius in the East ; and their intercessions are
addressed to sentiments of affection for .antiquity, and com-
passion for oppressed weakness, rather than to the reason.
Symmachus, as is well known, pleaded twice for the retention
of the altar and statue of Victory in the senate-house at
Eome. Eloquent and touching, his appeal is directed to
patriotic feeling and a sense of political expediency, not to
religious conviction. He does not profess to believe in the
Pagan deities, but regards with a philosophic eye the various
kinds of faith in the world as so many forms of homage to
the great unknown Being who presides over the universe.
" It is right to recognise that what all adore can be at bottom
but one Being only. We contemplate the same stars ; the
same sky covers us ; the same universe encloses us. What
matters it by what reasonings each seeks the truth ? a single
path cannot conduct us to the grand secret of nature. As
an individual, a man may be a worshipper of Mithras, or
of Christ, but as a citizen it is his duty to conform to
that worship which is bound up with the history and
glory of his country; to part from it is heartless and dis-
loyal." 2
The memorial of Symmachus got into the hands of Ambrose,
and was rather rudely treated by him. He subjects it to a
stern test of facts. Had the national gods indeed protected
the Eomans from disaster ? It was maintained that by their
aid the conquest of Italy by Hannibal had been averted.
Why then did they permit the invader to inflict such ravages
as he had done ? Would not the Gauls also have captured
the Capitol, but for the timely cry of the goose ? Where was
Jupiter then ? but perhaps he was speaking through the
goose. The Carthaginians worshipped some of the same
1 The most distinguished scholar tor, praetor, and proconsul of Africa,
and orator, and one of the most up- 2 Fragments of his speeches pre-
right statesmen of his time quses- served in Mai's collection, vol. i.
146 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. x.
deities as the Eomans. If then the gods conquered with the
Eomans they yielded with the Carthaginians. Paganism
declined, notwithstanding support ; the Church flourished, in
spite of opposition. As to the abandonment of ancient
customs, was not progress the law of improvement ? The
glimmering dawn gradually brightened into the full and
perfect day ; the riches of harvest and vintage came in the
maturity of the year ; even so the faith of Christ had gradually
planted itself on the ruins of a worn-out creed, and was now
reaping an abundant harvest among all nations of the earth. 1
The whole reply of Ambrose is pitched in the positive, confi-
dent, authoritative tone of one who speaks from a conviction
that he stands on the platform of absolute truth, and that his
cause is therefore inevitably destined to win.
If the appeal of Symmachus was addressed to the sentiment
of reverence for national antiquity, that of Libanius was
directed to a sentiment of attachment to classical antiquity.
The citizen mourns over the suppression of a worship which
was bound up with the history and the glory of his country ;
the scholar sighs over the degradation of that which was
connected with all that was most beautiful in the literature
and life of the olden time with the poetry of Homer and
the tragedians with the festive song and dance with the
hills, and fountains, and groves of Greece. He clings to the
past with the love of the antiquarian. Though his actual
belief in the myths of the classical era may not have been
very deep or earnest, there is no doubt that he entertained a
genuine animosity towards the new faith which was usurping
their place. A flowery description of the origin and antiquity
of the honour paid to the gods is followed by a vehement
invective against the monks, " those black-robed creatures,
more voracious than elephants, who rush upon the temples,
armed with stones, wood, and fire ; who break up the roofs,
destroy the walls, throw down the statues, raze the altars."
1 Ambrose, Op. vol. ii. Ep. 18.
CH. x.] APPEAL OF LIBANIUS. 147
They glaringly exceeded the edicts of the Emperor, which had
forbidden the offering of sacrifice in the temples, but had not
commanded the actual destruction of the buildings. 1 There
is real feeling also in his description of the distress caused in
country districts by the demolition of the temples. " They
were the centres round which human habitations and civilisa-
tion grew ; in them the labourer placed all his hopes ; to them
he commended his wife, his children, his plantation, his crops.
Deprived of the gods, from whom he expected the rewards
of toil, he felt as if henceforth his labours would be vain.
Sometimes the very land was wrested from them on the
pretext that it had been consecrated to gods; if the poor
despoiled owners sought redress from the pastor (i.e. the
bishop) of the neighbouring town (falsely called pastor, since
there was no gentleness in his nature), he praised the robber
and dismissed the complainers." No doubt to a great extent
this was a true picture, and such harshness and injustice
must have retarded (as always happens when an attempt is
made to coerce opinion) the cause of Christianity, which the
law was intended to promote.
Theodosius, however, was in principle far too upright to
treat the Church with a blind partiality. Cynegius, the
Prefect, was ordered to enforce the law at Alexandria with
full rigour against those despicable beings who sought to
make traffic by informing against Pagans. Constantine had
exempted the clergy from serving in curial offices; Theo-
dosius compelled them to pay for substitutes, and renounce
their claims to patrimony. They were to enjoy immunity
from torture when brought to trial, but if detected in false-
hood were to be visited with penalties of peculiar severity,
because they had abused the shelter of the law which
favoured them. 2
1 Libanius : Pro templis non exscind. The oration was certainly not spoken
before the Emperor, and probably not even sent to him.
2 Cod. Theod. xii. 104-115.
148 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. x.
Such was Theodosius a prudent and skilful general, a
firm and upright ruler ; a sincere and simple-minded believer
in Christianity, who did his best, as head at once of the
army, the civil government, and the Church, to consolidate
the fabric of the Empire. The barbarians were repelled, or
held down ; taxes were collected with honesty and firmness,
some of the most burdensome were taken off; Paganism
and heresy languished, however far from being extinguished,
and the Emperor fondly hoped that uniformity in faith and
discipline would soon be established throughout Christen-
dom.
The good genius of his life was the Empress Flacilla ; she
was a Christian of a pure and noble type ; imperial state
had not corrupted the simplicity or hardened the tenderness
of her disposition. She was accustomed to visit the hospitals
in Constantinople, not attended by a single slave or waiting-
woman; administered food and medicine to the patients,
and dressed their wounds with her own hands. She was
wont to remind her husband of the great change in their
worldly position, as a motive to humility and gratitude to
God. " It behoves thee to consider what thou wert and
what thou hast become ; by constantly reflecting on this
thou wilt not be ungrateful to thy benefactor, but wilt guide
the kingdom which thou hast received with a due regard to
law, and by so doing wilt pay homage to Him who gave it
thee."
She, we may well believe, restrained the impulses of that
choleric temper which was the principal defect in the
Emperor's character, and which occasionally after her death
burst forth into acts of deplorable violence. This wise and
pious monitress was taken from him in A.D. 385. She died
at a watering-place in Thrace, whither she had gone to
recover her health after the shock caused by the death of the
infant Princess Pulcheria. Her body was brought back to
Constantinople on a melancholy day in autumn, when the
CH. X.]
THE EMPRESS FLACILLA.
149
skies poured down a gentle rain, as if mingling their tears
with those of the disconsolate people. 1
This condensed survey of the character and work of
Theodosius, during the first ten years of his reign, will assist
us in forming a proper estimate of his conduct in that
memorable occurrence which brings his life into contact
with the life of Chrysostom.
1 Theodor. v. 19. A funeral ora-
tion on her and the infant was pro-
nounced by Gregory Nyssen, Op. vol.
iii. pp. 515, 527, 533.
L I H K A K Y
' V KKSITY OF
\U1-X>!,'N!.\.
CHAPTER XL
THE SEDITION AT ANTIOCH THE HOMILIES ON THE STATUES THE
RESULTS OF THE SEDITION. A.D. 387.
THE wise counsel and softening influence of the Empress
were removed from her husband at an inopportune season.
Political storms were approaching, and the passionate temper
of Theodosius was soon to be subjected to a most severe
trial.
The year 388 would have completed the first decade of
his reign. The year 387 was the fifth of the reign of his son
Arcadius, whom he had nominally associated with himself
in the government. The celebration of these two events
Theodosius, from motives of prudent economy and con-
venience, resolved to combine. The army on such occasions
claimed a liberal donative, five gold pieces to each man. It
was obviously desirable, therefore, to avoid, if possible, the
repetition of such a donative within a short space of time.
It was always a strain on the royal treasury, and at the pre-
sent juncture the strain was increased, for the Goths were
assuming a menacing attitude on the Danubian frontier. It
was necessary to mass troops in that direction, and, with a
view to provide for these expenses, it was proposed to raise
a special subsidy from the opulent cities of the Eastern
empire. But the inhabitants of Alexandria and Antioch
were loath to part with any of the wealth which they had
accumulated during nearly ten years of peace and exemp-
tion from onerous taxation. Large meetings were held by
the citizens of Alexandria in the theatres and other public
en. XL] THE SEDITION AT ANTIOCH. 151
places; inflammatory and seditious speeches were made.
" If we are to be treated thus," they cried, " a simple remedy
is open : we will appeal to Maximus in the West ; he knows
how to shake off a troublesome tyrant." Fortunately the
Prefect Cynegius was a man of firmness and promptitude ;
lie made some arrests of the most conspicuous leaders of the
mutinous faction, and enforced an immediate payment of the
tribute, and by these decisive measures public order was
restored. Either the people of Antioch were more deeply
disaffected, or no such energetic officer was in that city to
nip the spirit of rebellion in the bud. It is said that the
inhabitants entertained a grudge against the Emperor,
because he had never visited their city, which had been
frequently graced by the royal presence of his predecessors. 1
The edict which enjoined the levying of the tribute was
proclaimed by a herald on February 26. Large numbers
of the people assembled on the spot, collected chiefly into
groups, amongst which were some persons of distinction,
senators and other civic functionaries, noble ladies, and
retired soldiers. An ominous silence succeeded the an-
nouncement of the edict. The crowd then dispersed, but
reassembled about the prsetorium, where the governor
resided. 2 There they stood in gloomy silence, save that
the women, from time to time, raised a wailing lamenta-
tion, crying that the ruin of the city was determined, and
that since the Emperor had abandoned them, God alone
from henceforth could come to their succour. At last a
little band detached itself from the mass, shouting that
they must go and seek the Bishop Flavian, and constrain
him to intercede with the Emperor on their behalf.
Flavian, by accident or design, was absent from the epi-
scopal residence, and the mob returned to the prsetorium,
1 Libanius, Or. 12, pp. 391-395. of the East, \vho from that time re-
2 Probably the praetorium built in sided in Autioch ; vide Muller, Antiq.
the reign of Constautine for the Count Antioch., ii. 16.
152 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xi.
crying that the governor must do them justice. The people
appear to have been excited to violence chiefly by those
turbulent foreign adventurers who abounded in Antioch,
sordid venal creatures, often hired by actors to get up
applause in the theatres, or by great men not over popular
to raise cheers when they appeared in public places. But
however stimulated, the passions of the mob were thoroughly
roused, and their fury vented itself in a tumultuous rush
into one of the great public baths, where they soon tore
everything to pieces. Having completed this work of de-
struction, they hurried back once more to the hall of the
unfortunate governor. Here they were kept at bay by a
guard for a sufficient time to enable the governor to escape
by a back-door, and when they at last succeeded in bursting
in, the vacancy of the place aggravated their rage. The
governor was not seated in the judicial chair, but they found
themselves face to face with the statues of the imperial
family, which as emblems of authority were ranged above it.
They paused for a few moments; highly excited as they
were, imperial majesty, even so represented, had some deter-
rent influence upon their fury.
But, unfortunately, there were boys in the crowd; the
love of stone-throwing without respect of persons was as
ardent in boy nature fifteen hundred years ago as it is now.
A stone was cast by one of these juvenile hands, which hit
one of the sacred statues. The momentary feelings of rever-
ence which had arrested the people were dissipated. The
images were mutilated, almost battered to pieces, and the
fragments dragged through the streets. Other images of the
imperial family with which the city was adorned were
treated in the same manner ; the equestrian statue of Count
Theodosius, father of the Emperor, was dislodged from its
pedestal and hacked about, amidst derisive shouts of " Defend
thyself, grand cavalier !" 1
i Liban. Or. 12, p. 395, and p. 527. Theod. vii. 20. Sozom. vii. 23. Zos. iv. 41.
CH. XT.] OUTRAGE ON THE ROYAL STATUES. 153
The unrestrained fury of the people was inflamed by
success ; they began to bring up torches and actually set
fire to one of the principal buildings of the city, when the
governor, who had escaped their hands, returned at the head
of a company of archers. As usual with disorderly mobs,
however furious, they were unable to face the discipline of
military force; the soldiers were no sooner drawn up and
preparing to fix their weapons than rage turned to panic,
and the mob, lately so formidable, melted away.
The whole tumult had not lasted more than three hours ;
before noon, every one had returned to his home, the streets
and squares were empty, and a death-like stillness pervaded
the city. Eemorse was mingled with great terror respecting
the consequences of the outrage which had been perpetrated.
The Emperor, indeed, was humane and forgiving of wrongs
which concerned himself alone, but how would he brook the
insults done to the memory of his father and his tenderly
beloved Empress ? One hope remained : Flavian, the bishop,
was a favourite at court ; his intercessions might avail ; the
people besought him with tears to stand their friend in this
distress. From Antioch to Constantinople was a long and
perilous journey of 800 miles, and the winter was not yet
ended. Flavian was old, his only sister was seriously ill,
and the approaching season of Lent required his presence at
Antioch, but a sense of the emergency prevailed over all
these obstacles. Animated by the spirit of the Good Shep-
herd the intrepid old man was ready to lay down his life
for his flock, and set out upon his errand of mercy with all
possible speed, in the hope of overtaking the messengers
who had started before him, but had been detained at
the foot of Mount Taurus by a fall of snow. 1
During the absence of Flavian all the powers of Chryso-
1 Chrys. Horn, de Stat. iii. 1 ; trace of his having gone, either in his
xxi. 1. Zosimus (iv. 41) sends Li- own Orations or in any other his-
banius also to Constantinople, but torian.
this is a palpable error. There is no
154 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. XL
stom as an orator, a pastor, and a citizen, were called forth
in attempting to calm the fears and revive the deeply-
dejected spirits of the people. Perseveringly did he dis-
charge this anxious and laborious task ; almost every day,
for twenty-two days, that small figure was to be seen either
sitting in the Ambo, from which he sometimes preached on
account of his diminutive stature, or standing on the steps
of the altar, the preacher's usual place; 1 and day after day,
the crowds increased which came to listen to the stream of
golden eloquence which he poured forth. With all the
versatility of a consummate artist, he moved from point to
point. Sometimes a picture of the city's agony melted his
hearers to tears, and then again he struck the note of en-
couragement and revived their spirits by bidding them take
comfort from the well-known clemency of the Emperor, the
probable success of the mission of Flavian, and, above all,
from trust in God.
" The gay and noisy city, where once the busy people
hummed like bees around their hive, was petrified by
fear into the most dismal silence and desolation; the
wealthier inhabitants had fled into the country, those who
remained shut themselves up in their houses, as if the town
had been in a state of siege. If any one ventured into the
market-place, where once the multitude poured along like
the stream of a mighty river, the pitiable sight of two or
three cowering dejected creatures in the midst of solitude
soon drove him home again. The sun itself seemed to veil
its rays as if in mourning. The words of the prophet were
fulfilled, ' Their sun shall go down at noon, and their earth
shall be darkened in a clear day ' (Amos viii 9). Now they
might cry, ' Send to the mourning women, and let them come,
and send for cunning women that they may come' (Jer. ix.'
17). Ye hills and mountains, take up a wailing, let us invite
1 Socrat. vi. 5. The most common practice was for the preacher to sit, the
people to stand.
CH. XL] MISSION OF FLAVIAN. 155
all creation to commiserate our woes, for this great city, this
capital of Eastern cities, is in danger of being destroyed out
of the midst of the earth, and there is no man to help her,
for the Emperor, who has no equal among men, has been
insulted ; therefore let us take refuge with the King who is
above, and summon Him to our aid." l
The chief reason of the people's extreme dejection was,
that the governor and magistrates, probably to disarm any
suspicion at court of their own complicity in the sedition,
were daily seizing real or supposed culprits, and punishing
them with the utmost rigour. Even those who might have
been pardoned on account of their tender age were merci-
lessly handed over to the executioner. Chrysostom speaks
of some even having been burnt, and others thrown to wild
beasts. The weeping parents followed their unhappy off-
spring at a distance, powerless to help but fearing to plead,
like men on shore beholding with grief shipwrecked sailors
struggling in the water, but unable to rescue them. 2
But the object of Chrysostom was, not to utter ineffectual
lamentations. He aimed at rousing the people from their
profound dejection, and printing, if possible, on their hearts,
humbled and softened by distress, deep and lasting impres-
sions of good. He* told them that there was everything to
be hoped for from the embassy of Flavian. " The Emperor
was pious, the bishop courageous, yet prudent and adroit;
God would not suffer his errand to be fruitless. The very
sight of that venerable man would dispose the royal mind
to clemency. Flavian would not fail to urge how especially
suitable an act of forgiveness was to that holy season, in
which was commemorated the Death of Christ for the sins
of the whole world. He would remind the Emperor of the
parable of the two debtors, and warn him not to incur the
risk of being one day addressed by the words, ' Thou wicked
servant, I forgave thee all that debt ; shouldest not thou also
1 Horn. ii. 2. 2 iii. 6.
156 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xi.
have had compassion on thy fellow-servants?' He would
represent that the outrages had not been committed by the
whole community, but chiefly by some lawless strangers.
He would plead that the inhabitants, even had they all
offended, had already undergone sufficient punishment in
the anxiety and alarm which they endured. It would be
unreasonable to visit the crime of a few by the extirpation
of a whole city, a city which was the most populous capital
of the East, and dear to Christians as the place where they
had first received that sweet and lovely name." l
Meanwhile he earnestly calls upon the people to improve
this season of humiliation by a thorough repentance and
reformation in respect of the prevailing vices and follies.
The words of St. Paul in writing to the Philippians, "To
write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous,
and for you it is safe," might be aptly applied to Chrysostom.
He is never tired of denouncing special sins and exhorting
to the renunciation of them in every variety of language.
Ostentatious luxury, sordid avarice, religious formalism, a
profane custom of taking rash oaths, were the fashionable sins
against which he waged an incessant and implacable warfare.
His exhortations are generally based on some passage
read in the lesson of the day. " What have we heard to-
day ? ' Charge them that are rich in this world, that they
be not high-minded.' He who says ' the rich in this world '
proves thereby that there are others rich in regard to a
future world, like Lazarus in the parable." Wealth of this
world was a thankless runaway slave, which, if bound with
thousands of fetters, made off, fetters and all. Not that he
would quarrel with wealth ; it was good in itself, but became
evil when inordinately desired and paraded, just as the evil
of intoxication lay not in wine itself, but in the abuse of it.
The Apostle did not charge those who were rich to become
poor, but only not to be high-minded. " Let us adorn our
* iii. 1, 2.
CH. XL] HOW TO KEEP LENT. f , 'iff.
^y ' s /
own souls before we embellish our houses. Is it n6i/dis- /' j
graceful to overlay our walls with marbles and to negleofj'>
Christ, who is going about unclothed ? What profit is v / }
there, man, in thy house ? Wilt thou carry it away with
thee ? Nay, thou must leave thy house ; but thy soul thou
wilt certainly take with thee. Lo ! how great the danger
which has now overtaken us : let our houses, then, be our
defenders ; let them rescue us from the impending peril ;
but they will not be able. Be those witnesses to my words
who have now deserted their houses, and hurried away to
the wilderness as if afraid of nets and snares. Do you wish
to build large and splendid houses ? I forbid you not, only
build them not upon the earth ; build yourselves tabernacles
in heaven tabernacles which never decay. Nothing is more
slippery than wealth, which to-day is with thee and to-morrow
is against thee ; which sharpens the eyes of the envious on all
sides ; which is a foe in your own camp, an enemy in your
own household. Wealth makes the present danger more in-
tolerable ; you see the poor man unencumbered and prepared
for whatever may happen, but the rich in a state of great
embarrassment, and going about seeking some place in which
to bury his gold, or some person with whom to deposit it.
Why seek thy fellow-servants, man ? Christ stands ready
to receive and guard thy deposits yea, not only to guard,
but also to multiply and to return with rich interest. No
man plucks out of His hand; men, when they receive a
deposit from another, deem that they have conferred a favour
upon him ; but Christ, on the contrary, declares that He
receives a favour, and, instead of demanding a reward,
bestows one upon you." l
He entreated them to make the present Lent a season of
spiritual renovation. Lent fell in the spring, when the
stream of industry which the winter had frozen began to
flow again. The sailor launched his vessel, the soldier
i ii. 5.
158 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xi.
furbished his sword, the farmer whetted his scythe, the
traveller set out confidently on his long journey, the athlete
stripped for the contest. " Even so let this fast be to us a
spiritual spring- tide ; let us polish our spiritual armour, let
us breast the waves of evil passions, set out like travellers
on our journey heavenwards, and prepare like athletes for
the combat. For the Christian is both husbandman, and
pilot, and soldier, and athlete, and traveller. Hast thou seen
the athlete? hast thou seen the soldier? if thou art an
athlete thou must strip to enter the lists; if thou art a
soldier thou must put on armour before taking thy place in
the ranks. How then to the same man can both these
things be possible ? How, dost thou ask ? I will tell
thee. Strip thyself of thy worldly business, and thou hast
become an athlete ; clothe thyself with spiritual armour, and
thou hast become a soldier. Strip thyself, for it is a season
of wrestling ; clothe thyself, for we are engaged in a fierce
warfare with devils. Till thy soul, and cut away the thorns ;
sow the seed of piety, plant the good plants of philosophy,
and tend them with much care, and thou hast become a
husbandman, and St. Paul will say to thee, ' The husbandman
which laboureth must first be a partaker of the fruits.'
Whet thy sickle which thou hast blunted by surfeiting;
sharpen it, I say, by fasting. Enter on the road which leads
to heaven, the rugged and narrow road, and travel along it.
And how shalt thou be able to set out and travel ? By
buffeting thy body and bringing it into subjection ; for where
the road is narrow, obesity, which comes from surfeiting, is
a great impediment. Repress the waves of foolish passions,
repulse the storm of wicked imaginations, preserve the vessel,
display all thy skill, and thou hast become a pilot." l The
originator and instructor of all these arts was abstinence ;
not the vulgar kind of abstinence, not abstinence from food
only, but also from sins. " If thou fastest, show me the
i iii. 3.
CH. XL] AGAINST RASH OATHS. 159
results by thy deeds. What deeds, do you ask ? If you see
a poor man, have pity on him ; if an enemy, be reconciled ;
if a friend in good reputation, regard him without envy.
Fast not only by thy mouth, but with thine eyes, thine ears,
thy hands, thy feet ; avert thine eyes from unlawful sights,
restrain thy hands from deeds of violence, keep thy feet from
entering places of pernicious amusement, bridle thy mouth
from uttering, and stop thine ears from listening to tales of
slander." This kind of fast would be acceptable to God,
only it should be co-extensive with life. To spend a few
days in penance and then to relapse into the former course
of life was only an idle mockery. 1 He disparaged that
rigorous kind of fasting which some had carried to the
extent of taking no food but bread and water. Many boasted
of the number of weeks they had fasted; this excessive
abstinence was likely to be followed by a reaction. Let
them seek rather to subdue evil passions and habits ; let one
week be devoted to the suppression of swearing, another of
anger, a third of slander, and so gradually advancing they
might at last attain the consummation of virtue, and pro-
pitiate the displeasure of God. 2 " Let us not do now what
we have so often done, for frequently when earthquakes,
or famine, or drought have overtaken us, we have become
temperate for three or four days, and then have returned to
our former ways of life. But, if never before, now at least
let us remain steadfast in the same state of piety, that we
may not again require to be chastised by another scourge." 3
Almost all the homilies are concluded by an admonition
against the sin of swearing, and the greater portion of some
is devoted to this topic. The passionate impetuous people of
Antioch seem to have been constantly betrayed into the
folly of binding themselves by rash oaths. The master, for
instance, would take an oath to deprive his slave of food, or
the tutor his scholar, till a certain task was accomplished, a
1 Hi. 4, 5. 2 xvj. 6. 3 m 7.
160 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. xi.
threat which it was of course often impossible to enforce.
Hence perjury on the part of a superior, and loss of respect
on the side of the subordinate. Chrysostom himself had
often dined at a house where the mistress swore that she
would beat a slave who had made some mistake, while the
husband would with another oath forbid the punishment.
Thus one of the two would be inevitably involved in
perjury. 1 He frequently exhorted his hearers to form a
kind of Christian club amongst themselves for the suppres-
sion of this vice. In one place he suggests a stern remedy :
" When you detect your wife or any of your household
yielding to this evil habit, order them supperless to bed,
and if you are guilty impose the same penalty on yourself." 2
Near the close of Lent he declares that he will repel from
the holy Table at Easter those whom he detects still addicted
to this vice. 3
On the whole, the eager and earnest pastor may be said
to have rejoiced at the grand opportunity afforded by the
humiliation of the city, to effect a reformation in the moral
life of the people. He observed with great satisfaction, that
if the forum was deserted the church was thronged, just as
in stormy weather the harbour is crowded with vessels. 4
Many an intemperate man had been sobered, the head-
strong softened, or the indolent quickened into zeal. Many
who once assiduously frequented the theatre now spent
their day in the church. Meanwhile they must abide God's
pleasure for the removal of their affliction. He had sent it
for the purpose of purifying and chastening them ; He was
1 xiv. 1. was a paltry excuse, perseverance
2 v. 7. could conquer any difficulty. To un-
3 xx. 9. A passage in another learn a habit of swearing could not be
homily on this subject is curious, as more impossible than to acquire the
proving that just the same jugglers' art of throwing up swords, and catch-
feats were performed in Antioch in ing them by the handle, or balancing
the fourth century as at the fairs and a pole on the forehead with two boys
races of the present day : "Persons at the top of it, or dancing on a tight-
pretended it was next to impossible rope." Horn, in Dom. Serv.
to conquer an inveterate habit : this 4 iv. 1.
en. XL] SIGNS OF A CREATOR. 161
waiting till He saw a genuine, an unshakeable repentance,
like a refiner watching a piece of precious nietal in a crucible,
and waiting the proper moment for taking it out. 1 As for
those who said what they feared was not so much death, as
ignominious death by the hand of the executioner, he pro-
tested that the only death really miserable was a death in
sin. Abel was murdered and was happy, Cain lived and
was miserable. John the Baptist was beheaded, St. Stephen
was stoned, yet their deaths were happy. To the Christian
there was nothing formidable in death itself. To dread
death but not to be afraid of sin was to act like children
who are frightened by masks whilst they were not afraid of
fire. " What, I pray you, is death ? It is like the putting
off of a garment, for the soul is invested with a body 2 as it
were with a garment, and this we shall put off for a little
while by death, only to receive it again in a more brilliant
form. What, I pray you, is death ? It is but to go a jour-
ney for a season, or to take a longer sleep than usual."
Death was but a release from toil, a tranquil haven.
" Mourn not over him who dies, but over him who, living
in sin, is dead while he liveth." 3
Chrysostom's own calmness, and his skill in diverting the
thoughts of his flock from present alarm, are manifested by
the power and ease with which he dilates on such grand
topics as the creation, Divine Providence, the nature of man,
and his place in the scale of created beings. His best
thoughts, expressed in his best style on these subjects, are
to be found in the homilies now under consideration.
The size and beauty of the universe, but still more the
perfect regularity with which the system worked, proclaimed
a designing power. The succession of day and night, the
series of the seasons, like a band of maidens dancing in a
circle, the four elements of which the world was composed,
1 iv. 2. " When we have shuffled off this mortal
2 v. 3. 7-6 <7u)/ia TT; t/'i'xi? ireplKfLTai coil."
ep 1/j.dTiov. Coinp. Shakespeare : 3 v. 3.
L
162 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. XT.
mingling in such exquisite proportions that they exactly
balanced one another, the sun tempering the action of water,
the water that of the sun, the sea unable to break its bounds
or reduce the earth to a mass of clay ; who could contem-
plate all these forces at work and suppose that they moved
spontaneously, instead of adoring Him who had arranged
them all with a wisdom commensurate with the results ?
As the health of the body depended on the due balance of
those humours of which it was composed, if the bile in-
creased fever was produced, or if the phlegmatic element
prevailed many diseases were engendered, so was it in the
case of the universe: each element observed its proper
limits, restrained, as it were, with a bridle by the will of the
Maker; and the struggle between these elements was the
source of peace for the whole system. As the body failed,
languished, died, in proportion as the soul was withdrawn
from it, so if the regulating and life-giving power of God's
providence were removed from the earth, all would go to
rack and ruin, like a vessel deserted by her pilot. 1
In treating this subject, he manifests a keen appreciation
of natural beauties. The infinite varieties of flowers and
herbs, trees, animals, insects, and birds the flowery fields
below, the starry fields above the never-failing fountains
the sea receiving countless streams into its bosom, yet
never overflowing, all proclaimed a Creator and an Up-
holder, and drew from man the exclamation, " How manifold
are Thy works; in wisdom hast Thou made them all!"
Yet, lest they should be worshipped instead of the Maker,
conditions of change, as decay or death, were imposed upon
all. 2 His observation of nature appears in some of his
similes. The poor female relatives hovering about the
courts of justice, when the culprits of the outrage on the
statues were being tried, he compares to parent birds, which
wildly flutter round the hunter who has stolen the young
i ix. 3, 4. 2 x. 2, 4.
CH. xi.] ETHICAL DOCTRINE. 163
from their nest, in an agony of grief, but impotent from
weakness and fear. 1 He perceives in some of the lower
animals characteristics to be imitated or avoided, and de-
scribes them with a kind of humour. The bee especially
was a pattern for imitation, not merely because it was
industrious, but because it toiled with an unconscious kind
of self-sacrifice for the benefit of others as well as itself. It
was the most honourable of insects ; the spider, on the con-
trary, was the most ignoble, because it spread its fine web
for its own selfish gratification only. The innocence of the
dove, the docility of the ox, the light-heartedness of birds,
were all examples for imitation. The ferocity, or the cunning
of other animals or insects, were examples for avoidance.
The good which brutes had by nature man might acquire
by force of moral purpose ; and the sovereign of the lower
animals ought to comprise in his nature all the best qualities
of his subjects. 2 The plumage of the peacock, excelling in
variety and beauty all possible art of the dyer, evinced the
superhuman power of the Maker of all things. 3
His ethical doctrine bears singular resemblance to that of
Butler. God has bestowed on man a faculty of discerning
right from wrong ; He has impressed upon him a natural law,
the law of conscience. Hence some commands are delivered
without explanation : for instance, the prohibition to kill, or
to commit adultery, because these merely enjoin what is
already evident by the light of the natural law. On the
other hand, for the command to observe the Sabbath a reason
is assigned, because this was a special and temporary enact-
ment. The obligation of the law of conscience was universal
and eternal. As soon as Adam had sinned, he hid himself,
a clear evidence of his consciousness of guilt, although no
written law existed at that time.
The Greeks might attempt to deny the universality of this
inherent law, but to what other origin could they ascribe the
1 xiii. 2. 2 xii. 2. 3 x. 3.
164 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xi.
laws which had been made by their own ancestors concerning
respect for life, the marriage bond, covenants, trusts, and the
like ? They had indeed been handed down from generation
to generation ; but whence did the first promulgators derive
the idea of them, if not from this moral sense ? To the law
of conscience was added the energy of a moral purpose, 77730-
aipeaw, which enabled man to practise what conscience pre-
scribed : conscience informs man that temperance is right ;
moral purpose enables him to become temperate. God had
also endowed man with some natural virtues : indignation at
injustice, compassion for the injured, sympathy with the joys
and sorrows of our fellow-men. 1 At the same time Chryso-
stom fully allows the value of training and teaching as
supplementary to and co-operating with all these natural
gifts. 2 If conscience grew languid, the admonition of parent
and friend, and, in the case of public offences, the law, stepped
in, to effect what conscience failed to do ; and frequently
God sent afflictions for the same remedial purpose. 3
Thus day after day the indefatigable preacher sounded the
note of encouragement, or warning, or instruction. He not
only held the Christian flock together, but largely increased
its numbers. His eloquence frequently excited rapturous
applause, which was invariably repressed with sternness.
On one occasion the congregation yielded to a panic ; a false
rumour was circulated that a body of troops was entering
the city, to take vengeance on the inhabitants. The Prefect
entered the church to allay the fears of the affrighted people
who had fled thither, but Chrysostom was overwhelmed with
shame, and sharply upbraided them that a Christian con-
1 xii. 2-4 ; xiii. 3. Corap. Aris- 2 Comp. again what Aristotle says
totle's distinction between natural and of the necessity of training to improve
conventional law or justice, Eth. v.7. 1: the natural gifts, b. x. 9, and of the
<t>v<jiKt)v and VO^IKOV S'IKOLLOV. Com- formation of habits by repeated acts.
pare also his description of irpoalp<rts Comp. Chrys. Horn. xiii. 3, with Arist.
as the d/3%77 /cw^crews in b. iii. , and Eth. ii. 4, 5.
of <f>p6i>rj<ris (nearly = Butler's " Con-
science") in b. vi. 3 xiii. 4.
CH. XL] ANTIOCH DEGRADED. 165
gregation should owe the restoration of calmness to a Pagan,
whom they ought to have impressed, like Paul before
Agrippa, by a display of Christian firmness and fortitude. 1
About the middle of Lent, two commissioners, Hellebicus
and Csesarius, arrived at Antioch, invested with full powers
to inquire into the late outrage. Their authority was
backed by a considerable military force. They were men
not only of intelligence and humanity, but Christians in
faith ; and they had many friends in Antioch. They entered
the city, surrounded by a large multitude, who turned weep-
ing faces and held out supplicating hands towards them.
The commissioners were moved, and in deep silence entered
the lodging provided for them; but it was necessary for
them to perform their duty, which was in the first place to
announce that Antioch was degraded from the rank of
capital of Syria, and its metropolitan honours were trans-
ferred to the neighbouring city of Laodicea. Secondly, all
the public baths, circuses, theatres, and other places of
recreation, were to be closed for an indefinite time. Thirdly,
the commissioners were to revise the trials already held by
the local governor, and to inflict rigorous sentences upon
all the guilty, especially any persons of distinction. These
judicial proceedings were to begin on the following day.
The scene at the entrance of the court was a melancholy
spectacle; the wives and daughters of the accused hung
around it in mean garments sprinkled with ashes, and in
attitudes of supplication or despair.
There were no lawyers to plead for the prisoners ; they
had run away or concealed themselves, to evade the perilous
duty. Libanius alone, towards evening, crept timidly into
the court. Cfesarius, to whom he was known, observed him,
beckoned him to approach, and placed him by his side. In
a low voice he bade him take courage ; he and his colleague
would endeavour as much as possible to spare life. Libanius
i xvi. 1.
166 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xi.
earnestly thanked him, and promised if he kept his word to
immortalise him by an oration in his honour. 1
An appeal, however, more effectual, was made to the
mercy of the commissioners, by persons widely different
from Libanius. As they were riding in state to the hall of
justice on the second day, they saw amongst the people a
group of strange half-wild-looking beings, in rough coarse
garments, with long unkempt hair. These were hermits,
who had descended from their solitudes in the neighbouring
mountains some who for years had not been seen in the
streets of the city, but now appeared to plead on behalf of
the offending people. An old man, diminutive in stature,
whose clothing was in tatters, started forward from the
group as the commissioners passed by, seized the bridle of
one, and commanded them in a tone of authority to dis-
mount. "Who is this mad fellow?" inquired the commis-
sioners. They were informed that he was the revered hermit
Macedonius, surnamed Crithophagus, or the barley-eater,
because barley was his only sustenance. Hellebicus and
Csesarius immediately alighted, and, falling on their knees
before him, craved his pardon for having received him so
rudely. " My friends," replied the solitary, " go to the
Emperor and say, ' You are an emperor, but also a man, and
you rule over beings who are of like nature with yourself.
Man was created after a Divine image and likeness ; do not,
then, mercilessly command the image of God to be destroyed,
for you will provoke the Maker if you punish his image.
For, consider that you are doing this from displeasure at the
injury inflicted on a statue of bronze ; and how far does a
living rational creature exceed the value of such an inani-
mate object ! Let him consider that it is easy to manufacture
many statues in the place of those destroyed, but it is wholly
impossible for him to make a single hair again of those men
who have been put to death.' " 2 The other hermits declared
i Liban. Or. 21, in Helleb. and 20, 517. 2 Theodor. v. 20.
CH. XL] INTERCESSION OF HERMITS. 167
that they were all prepared to shed their blood and lay down
their lives for the culprits ; that they would not withdraw
from the city until they were sent as ambassadors to the
Emperor, or until the city itself had been acquitted. The
joy of Chrysostom at the courage displayed by these hermits
was extreme ; their noble conduct compensated for the sad
pusillanimity lately exhibited by the congregation in the
church. He triumphantly contrasts them with the so-called
philosophers of Antioch, who appear to have displayed any-
thing but philosophic calmness in the hour of danger.
" Where now are those long-bearded, cloak- wearing, stafi'-
bearing fellows cynic refuse, more degraded than dogs
licking up the crumbs under the table, doing everything
for their belly ? Why, they have all hurried out of the city
and hidden themselves in caves and dens, whilst those who
inhabited the caves have entered the city, and boldly walk
about the forum as if no calamity had happened. Their
conduct illustrates what I have never ceased to maintain,
that even the furnace cannot injure one who lives in virtue.
Such is the power of philosophy introduced to man by
Christ." 1 The result of this singular intercession was, that
the commissioners consented to suspend the execution of
their sentence on those pronounced guilty, until an appeal
had been made to the Emperor. Meanwhile the prisoners
were to remain in confinement, and their property to be
held by the State.
The hermits were anxious to repair to the court of Theo-
dosius, but the commissioners wisely refused, making the
length of the journey an objection, but perhaps really
because they feared such excitable zealots might frustrate
the object of their embassy by imprudent behaviour. It
was finally decided that Hellebicus should remain to pre-
serve order in Antioch, while his colleague went to Constan-
tinople, carrying with him an intercessory letter signed by
i xvii. 1, 2.
168 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xi.
the hermits, and declaring that they were ready to give their
own lives in ransom for the city.
Csesarius departed amidst the blessings and acclamations
of the people. 1
What had the energetic preacher, who had sustained the
spirits of the people so long, been doing, since the arrival of
the Emperor's legates ? It had been, indeed, a relief to find
that the city was not to be surrendered to the sword ; but to
a proud and luxurious people the loss of metropolitan rank,
and the closing of the public baths, theatres, and public
places of amusement, were severe blows. Loud and general
was the lamentation over their fallen grandeur and their
lost enjoyments. Chrysostom expostulated with them on
their discontent. The real dignity of a city did not con-
sist in pre-eminence of rank or vastness of population, but
in the virtue of its citizens. What constituted the noblest
distinction of Antioch ? the fact that the disciples there
were the first to be called Christians that they had sent
relief to the distressed brethren in Judaea in the time of the
famine (Acts xi. 28, 29) that they had sent Paul and
Barnabas to that Council at Jerusalem which had emanci-
pated the Gentile Christians from Judaic bondage. These
were honourable distinctions, which no other city, not even
Eome itself, could rival. They enabled Antioch to look the
whole Christian world in the face, for they proved how
great had been her Christian courage and her Christian love.
These were her true metropolitan honours ; and, if these
were in aught diminished, not by the size or beauty of her
buildings, not by her airy colonnades or her spacious
porticos and promenades, 2 not by the sacred Grove of
Daphne, not by the number and loftiness of her cypresses,
not by her fountains or her multitudinous population, or her
1 Liban. Orat. 20. De Broglie, vi. through the city from east to west ;
150, 151. Chrys. Horn. xvii. 2. the Trepnrdrovs or promenades were
2 xvii. 2. The colonnades, espe- lined by colonnades with seats. Vide
cially of the great street which ran Mu'ller, Antiq. Ant. ii. 12.
CH. xi.] THE PUNISHMENT OF ANTIOCH. 169
genial climate, not by these could she recover her tarnished
reputation, but by equity, almsgiving, vigils, prayers, tem-
perance. External size and beauty did not constitute real
greatness. David was little of stature, yet he prostrated by
a single blow a very tower of flesh. Away with these
womanish complaints ! " I have heard many in the forum
saying, ' Woe to thee, Antioch ! what has become of thee ?
how art thou dishonoured !' and when I heard I laughed
at the childish understanding of those who say such things.
It behoves you not to speak thus now ; but, when you see
dancing, and drunkenness, and singing, and blaspheming,
and swearing, then utter the cry, ' Woe to thee, city !
what has become of thee ? ' but when you see only a few
equitable, temperate, and moderate men in the forum, then
call the city happy." 1
He remonstrates indignantly with them for their queru-
lous complaints of the prohibition to use the public baths.
Bathing, indeed, was a luxury so indispensable to the bodily
health and comfort of the people, that they now resorted to
the river in large numbers, with very little regard to decency.
He reminds those who murmured over this deprivation of
their favourite indulgence, that a short time ago, when they
were daily expecting an incursion of soldiers, and were
flying to the desert and mountains, they would have been
too thankful to escape with so cheap a penalty. He urges the
duty of reconciliation with enemies as specially incumbent
on them when such great efforts were being made to obtain
mercy for themselves. They should have one enemy alone,
the devil, with whom they should wage an implacable warfare. 2
Thus the prophet, ever vigilant for the true welfare and
honour of his people, ceased not to lift up his voice.
Csesarius travelled day and night, and in the course of a
week accomplished the eight hundred miles which separated
Antioch from Constantinople. But his arrival and his
1 xvii. 2. 2 xx. 5, and xviii. in fine.
170 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. xi.
errand had been anticipated. Flavian had reached the
court a week before, and the pardon of Antioch was already
secured. The aged bishop returned to Antioch just in time
to celebrate Easter, and to augment the natural joyfulness of
the festival by the tidings which he brought. He had, how-
ever, been preceded a few days by an express courier, who
delivered the imperial rescript to Hellebicus. When the
contents were publicly proclaimed, the pent-up feelings of
the people burst forth into demonstrations of almost frantic
joy. Hellebicus was received with ovation wherever he
went. Libanius walked by his side, reciting passages from
his orations, in honour of Theodosius and praise of the two
commissioners. 1 On Holy Saturday, Flavian himself entered
the city, partly attended, partly borne along, by vast crowds
of grateful people. On that night the forum was decorated
with garlands and illuminated by lanterns. On the next
morning, Easter Day, a vast concourse thronged the church,
and once more the well-known voice, which had exhorted
and encouraged and warned, during the days of their gloom,
now poured forth in the sunshine of their joy a paean of
thanksgiving and praise.
" Blessed be God, who hath vouchsafed us to celebrate
this holy feast with great joy and gladness, who has restored
the Head to the body, the Shepherd to the sheep, the Master
to his disciples, the Pontiff to the priests. Blessed be God,
who hath done exceeding abundantly above all that we ask
or think, for it seemed to us sufficient to be for a time
released from the impending calamities ; but the merciful
God, ever exceeding in His gifts our petitions, has restored
to us our father sooner than all our expectation. And not
only has our beloved prelate escaped all the perils incident
to so long a journey in the winter season, but has found his
sister, whom he left on the point of death, still living to
welcome his return." 2
i Liban. Or. 21, p. 536. 2 xxi. 1.
c;i. XL] FLAVIAN AND THE EMPEROR 171
He then proceeds to describe the interview of Flavian
with Theodosius, as it had been related to him by an eye-
witness. The bishop, when introduced into the royal pre-
sence, stood at a distance, silently weeping, bending low,
and covering his face, as if he himself had been the author
of all the late offences. By this attitude he hoped to expel
emotions of anger, and introduce the emotion of pity into
the Emperor's breast, before he undertook the actual defence
of the city.
Theodosius was moved ; he advanced to the bishop, and
used no harsh or indignant language, but only mildly re-
proached with ingratitude a city which he had always
treated with lenity, and had long desired and intended to
visit. Even had the people been able to accuse him of any
injury done to them, they might at least have respected the
dead, who could do them no harm (alluding to the destruc-
tion of his wife's and father's images).
The aged prelate no longer remained silent. With a fresh
flood of tears, he poured forth his pathetic appeal to the
Christian clemency and forbearance of the Emperor. " He
would not attempt to extenuate the offence, the sense of
their ingratitude caused them the deepest distress, and they
frankly confessed that it deserved the severest chastisement
which could be inflicted. Yet the noblest kind of revenge
which he could take was freely to forgive the insult ; thereby
he would defeat the malice of those demons who had tried
to work the ruin of the people by seducing them from their
allegiance. In like manner, the devil had tried to compass
the death of the human race, but his malevolence had been
frustrated by God, who offered even heaven to those who
had been excluded from paradise. A free pardon would
secure for him a station in the hearts of all his subjects, far
more enduring than those statues which had been broken
down. He reminded him, how once his great predecessor,
Constantine, when urged to revenge some insult done to
172 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xi.
one of his statues, passed his hand over his face, and
observed, with a quiet smile, that he did not feel the blow ;
a saying which had endeared him to his people more than
his military exploits. But why need he refer to Con-
stantine? Theodosius himself, on a previous Easter, had
commanded a general release of prisoners, and had nobly
exclaimed, ' Would that it were possible also for me to recall
the dead to life I' 1 Now he might in some sort realise that
wish, by restoring to life a whole city, which lay, as it were,
dead under remorse and fear. Such an act of clemency
would both strengthen his own throne and the cause of Chris-
tianity. Greeks, Jews, and barbarians were waiting to hear
his decision. If it was on the side of mercy, all would
applaud it, saying, ' Heavens ! how mighty is the power of
Christianity, which has restrained the wrath of a monarch
who has not his peer in the world.' How noble a tale for
posterity to hear, that what the governor and magistrates
of a great city dared not ask, had been granted to the prayer
of an old man, because he was the priest of God, and from
reverence to the Divine laws. He would solemnly remind
him of the words, ' If ye forgive not men their trespasses,
neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive you
your trespasses.' He begged him to remember that there
was a day coming in which all men would render an account
of their actions, and to imitate the example of God, who,
though daily sustaining insults from man, did not cease to
bestow blessings upon him. He concluded by declaring that
he would never return to Antioch unless he could take back
the imperial pardon, but would enrol himself in another city." 2
1 It was the custom to signalise the in A.D. 384-385, that it should apply
great festivals by acts of mercy. "The only to those accused of petty offences :
oil of mercy glistens on the Festivals the grosser crimes of robbery, adultery,
of the Church," says Ambrose, Serm. magic, murder, sacrilege, were to be
14, on Ps. cxviii. 7. Leo the Great excepted from claims to this indulg-
also, Serm. 39, alludes to the custom. ence.
But, to prevent any abuse of the
practice, it was enacted by Theodosius 2 xxi. 1-4.
CH. XL] ANTIOCH PARDONED. 173
If Flavian's intercession was thrown into the form of an
oration at all, it is clear that Chrysostom's version of it,
which has been here greatly condensed from the original,
must be his own, rather than the speech actually delivered.
If it had been only half as long, it could not have been ac-
curately related to him from memory, or faithfully rehearsed
by him afterwards. The excitement of addressing so large
an audience, on so great an occasion, would naturally stimu-
late him to amplify and embellish.
There is, however, no reason to doubt that Chrysostom
has furnished us with an accurate description of Flavian's
conduct in the interview, and given us the main substance
of his arguments. The whole narrative of the occurrence
illustrates the difference between the Eastern and Western
character. Compare the demeanour of Ambrose and of
Flavian. The first speaks in a tone of majestic authority,
which brooks no disputing; the other, though far from
deficient in courage, approaches the Emperor with that
deferential and submissive manner which the Oriental is
accustomed to adopt in the presence of a potentate. His
tone is that of an appeal, though based upon the highest
grounds ; not of a command. There is something of the
courtier in Flavian; in Ambrose there is more of the
pope.
To conclude Chrysostom's account: the Emperor was
deeply affected, though, like Joseph, he refrained himself in
the presence of spectators. He declared his intention of
granting a free pardon, in language eminently Christian.
" If the Lord of the earth, who became a servant for our
sakes, and was crucified by those whom He came to benefit,
prayed for the pardon of his crucifiers, what wonder was it
that a man should forgive his fellow-servants ?" He begged
Flavian to return with all expedition, that he might release
the people from the agony of their suspense. The bishop
entreated that the young prince Arcadius might accompany
174 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xr.
him as a pledge of imperial favour to the city. But Theo-
dosius said that he designed to confer on Antioch a greater
honour. He requested the bishop to offer up prayers for
the termination of the present war, that he might ratify
his pardon by a visit to the city in person. The express
courier was then despatched, while Flavian followed at a
pace more suitable to his dignity and advanced age.
Chrysostom concludes his discourse by a moral exhorta-
tion suggested by those festive demonstrations of joy already
described. " Let the lanterns and the chaplets be to them
emblems of spiritual things. Let them not cease to be
crowned with virtue or to light up a lamp in their soul by
the diligent practice of good works ; let them rejoice with
holy joy, and thank God not only for rescuing them from
destruction, but for sending them so wholesome a chastise-
ment, the salutary effects of which would, he trusted, extend
to many generations." 1
Thus terminated the celebrated sedition of Antioch. It
is a singular and instructive picture of the times : the im-
pulsive character of the people in the great Eastern cities
of the Empire, alternating between frantic rage and abject
despondency ; the expectation of violent imperial vengeance,
nothing less than the extermination of the city ; the remark-
able veneration paid to monks, these are points which
stand out in vivid colours. But still more remarkably does
this event supply an example of the softening, humanising
influence of Christianity, in a fierce and heartless age. The
issue reflects the greatest honour on those who brought it
to pass ; and they were all Christians : the intrepid old
bishop, sacrificing comfort and risking life to intercede, the
generous Emperor who yielded to the persuasion of his
Christian arguments ; the humane commissioners ; and last,
but. not least, the pastor and preacher, who with unwearied
patience, invincible courage, unfailing eloquence, sustained
i xxi. 4.
CH. XL] CONVERSION OF PAGANS. 175
the fainting spirits of his flock, and endeavoured to convert
their calamity into an occasion of lasting good.
One great and happy result of the recent trouble was
a large accession of Pagans to the ranks of the Church.
When the city lay under ban, the baths, theatres, and circus
were closed, and the panic-stricken people had no heart to
pursue their ordinary business. But one place had been
constantly open. All knew that in the church prayer was
being offered up day by day ; and to the first portion of the
service, up to the end of the sermon, there was free admission
for all without respect of creed. Curiosity alone, if not any
deeper feeling, would lead many Pagans to turn into the
church, to hear what consolations, what encouragements, the
Christian preacher had to offer in this season of general
distress and painful suspense. And what had they heard ?
They had heard an unsparing exposure and denunciation of
the follies and vices which prevailed in that great and
dissolute city, a trumpet-call to repentance and reformation ;
they had heard the fleeting nature of earthly honour and
earthly riches, their impotence to satisfy the heart or to save
the life in the time of danger and distress vividly contrasted
with the Christian's aim of laying up incorruptible treasure
in an imperishable world ; they had heard of the Christian's
faith that righteousness was the only permanent good, as
sin was the only real evil, that to a good man death was
only the transition to a more blessed life, and that affliction
was useful in purifying and elevating the soul. They had
heard the proofs of a Creator, and of His providential care
for the things which he had made as evinced by the majesty,
beauty, and organisation of the universe, by the conscience
and moral faculties of man, as well as by the more direct
testimony of the written word. 1 There is no evidence as
to the number of converts reclaimed from Paganism.
1 Horn. i. de Anna, vol. iv. c. 1, which he had used in the Homilies on
where he recapitulates the arguments the Statues.
176 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xi.
Chrysostom only informs us 1 that he was occupied for
some time after the return of Flavian with confirming in
the faith those who " in consequence of the calamity had
come to better mind and deserted from the side of Gentile
error."
The sermons themselves are lost.
1 Horn, de Anna, i. 1.
CHAPTER XII.
ILLNESS OF CHRYSOSTOM HOMILIES ON FESTIVALS OF SAINTS AND
MARTYRS - CHARACTER OF THESE FESTIVALS PILGRIMAGES
RELIQUES CHARACTER OF PEASANT CLERGY IN NEIGHBOURHOOD
OF ANTIOCH. A.D. 387.
VERY probably the physical labour and mental strain which
Chrysostom had undergone during the events recorded in
the previous chapter may have brought on the illness to
which he alludes in the homily preached on the Sunday
before Ascension Day. 1 He was prevented by this attack
from taking part in the services which were held some time
after Easter under the conduct of Bishop Flavian at the
chapels built over the remains of martyrs and saints. 2 A
variety of homilies delivered by Chrysostom at such " niar-
tyries " on other occasions are extant, and it may be as well
to introduce here such indications as can be collected from
them of the general feeling of the Church, as well as of
himself, with regard to saints, and such kindred subjects as
pilgrimages and reliques.
Churches had in most instances been erected to com-
memorate the death of a martyr, or to mark the spot where
he died. Tertullian's saying that " the blood of martyrs was
the seed of the Church " thus became verified in a literal,
1 Called Kvpiaic}) TT?S ^Trto-wfo/i&T/s, completed by his return into heaven,
this last word being the name of ( Vide Leo Allatius, quoted in Suicer,
Ascension Day among the Cappado- Thesaur., sub verbo " Episozomene,"
cians, possibly because Christ's work and Bingham, Antiq. b. xx. sect. 5.)
on earth for man's redemption was 2 Horn, de Stat. xix. 1, vol. ii.
M
178 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xn.
material sense. Socrates (iv. 23) even speaks of the churches
of St. Paul and St. Peter at Eome as their " martyries," as
Eusebius 1 also calls the church which Constantine built
on Golgotha the " martyry" of our Saviour. By the age of
Chrysostom the festivals of martyrs and saints had grown
so numerous that frequently more than one occurred in the
same week. 2 Good Friday and Ascension Day, and the
Sunday after Whitsun Day (not observed as Trinity Sunday
till much later), were especially dedicated to the com-
memoration of saints. 3 The congregation kept a vigil the
night before, or very early before dawn on the Saints' day
itself. The vigil consisted of psalms, hymns, and prayers,
and was followed early in the day by a full service, when,
in addition to the ordinary lessons of the day, the acts or
passions of the saint or martyr were read. St. Augustine
permitted his people to sit during the reading of them
because they were often of great length. Pope Gelasius
forbade them to be read because they were so seldom
authentic. 4 The martyries were generally outside the city
walls, not always built over the grave of the saint, but
close to it; in which case the congregation assembled at
the grave first, and walked in procession from it to the
church, singing hymns as they went. There can be no
doubt that Chrysostom believed in the intercessory power of
departed saints, and encouraged the invocation of their inter-
cession. They were nearer to the Divine ear, and by virtue
of their glorious deaths had justly obtained more confidence
in making their requests to God than had the inhabitants
of earth. He implores Christians not to resort for medical
assistance to Jews, who were the enemies of Christ, but
1 Euseb. de Vita Constant, lib. iv. All Saints' Day. SeeBingham, b. xx.
2 Chrys. Horn. xl. in Juvent. c. 7, sect. 14.
3 Horn, de Csemet. et Cruce, vol. ii. 4 Aug. Horn. xxvi. Gelas. Decret.
c. i. in Ascens. Christi, vol. ii., and de in Grabe, vol. i. The word "legend"
Sanct. Martyr, vol. ii. p. 705. The is perhaps derived from these Acts of
Sunday corresponding to the present the Saints, which were to be read
Trinity Sunday was kept as a kind of " legenda."
CH. xii.] HOMILIES ON MARTYRS. 179
to seek aid from His friends the saints and martyrs, who
had much confidence in addressing God. 1 At the close of
his homily on the festival of two soldiers who had been
beheaded by Julian for obstinate adherence to Christianity,
he says : " Let us constantly visit them, touch their shrine,
and with faith embrace their reliques, that we may derive some
blessing therefrom; for like soldiers who converse freely
with their sovereign when they display their wounds, so
these, bearing their heads in their hands, are easily able to
effect what they desire at the court of the King of Heaven." 2
So, again, in the homily on Bernice and Prosdoke : " Let us
fall down before their reliques ... let us embrace their
shrines : not only on their festival, but at other times, let us
resort to them and invoke them to become our protectors ;
for they can use much boldness of speech when dead, more,
indeed, than when they were alive, for now they bear in
their bodies the marks of Jesus Christ ... let us there-
fore procure for ourselves, through them, favour from God." 3
Thus the saint is to be appealed to as a kind of friend at
court, who will present petitions, and use his influence to
obtain a favourable answer from the Monarch; but the
further step of invoking saints as the direct dispensers of
spiritual and other benefits had not yet been taken. The
feeling of the Church of Smyrna towards their beloved
martyr and bishop Polycarp, as expressed in A.D. 160 to the
Church of Philomelium, still represented the general state of
feeling in the Church. 4 The Jews and other malignants had
suggested, when the remains of Polycarp had been earnestly
asked for, that the Christians intended to worship him ; and
" this they said, being ignorant that we should never be able
to desert Christ, or worship any other Being. For Him,
being the Son of God, we adore, but the martyrs, as the
1 Adv. Judseos via. c. 7. 3 De Bern, et Prosd. vol. ii, p. 640.
2 Horn, in Juvent. et Maxim, vol. ii. 4 See the letter in Euseb. lib. iv.
p. 576. c. 15.
180 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xn.
disciples and imitators of the Lord, we love with a deserved
affection ; desiring to become partners and fellow-disciples
with them." The language of St. Augustine and St. Chryso-
stom thoroughly corresponds to that in the passage just
cited. " Our religion," says Augustine, " consists not in
the worship of dead men ; because if they lived piously they
are not considered likely to desire that kind of honour ; but
would wish Him to be worshipped by us through whose
illumination they rejoice to have us partners with them in
their merit. They are therefore to be honoured for the sake
of imitation, not to be worshipped as a religious act." 1 And
in another place : " Christian people celebrate the memory
of martyrs with religious solemnity, to stimulate imitation,
to become partners in their merits, and to be assisted by
their prayers ; but in doing this we never offer sacrifice to a
martyr, but only to Him who is the God of martyrs." 2 A
multitude of passages might be cited from Chrysostom's
homilies on Saints' Festivals, in which he passionately
exhorts to the imitation and emulation of their noble lives
and glorious deaths, and dwells on the great advantages to
the Church arising from these solemn commemorations.
The very memory of the martyrs wrought upon the minds
of men in confirming them against the assaults of wicked
spirits, and delivering them from impure and unseemly
thoughts ; . . . the death of the martyrs was the exhortation
of the faithful, the confidence of Churches, the confirmation
of Christianity, ... the reproach of devils, the condemna-
tion of Satan, a consolation in affliction, a motive to patience,
encouragement to fortitude, the root, fountain, mother of all
which is good. 3
But if no inculcations to direct worship of saints are to be
found in Chrysostom, it is evident that no small virtue was
ascribed by popular faith (and, in his opinion, justly) to
1 Aug. de Vera Relig. c. 55. 2 Aug. contra Faustum, lib. xx. c. 21.
3 Da Droside, vol. ii. p. 685.
CH. xii.] VENERATION OF SAINTS. 181
their remains. 1 Miracles of healing were wrought, or sup-
posed to be wrought, at their tombs ; demons were expelled
by the application of their ashes to the persons possessed.
It is obvious that, where such a belief has taken possession
of the popular mind, prayer will very soon be addressed to
the saint for the direct bestowal of those advantages which
are supposed to be derivable from his reliques. Pilgrimages
were fashionable in all parts of Christendom. Prefects and
generals, when they visited Eome, hastened to pay their
devotion at the tombs of the tentmaker and fisherman ;
journeys were made into Arabia to visit the supposed site of
Job's dunghill. 2
Two different causes seem to have led on the mind of the
Church to an increasing veneration of martyrs. First, the
Church owed to them a real debt ; the heroic steadfastness
of their deaths contributed much to promote and establish
Christianity. Chrysostom observes how the sight of the
aged Ignatius going to die at Home for his faith going not
only with calmness, but even with alacrity mightily con-
firmed the souls of the disciples in the several cities through
which he passed. 3 " As irrigation made gardens fruitful,
so the blood of martyrs gave drink to the Churches." 4
Honour, affection, veneration, easily pass into actual adora-
tion.
Secondly, there is a natural desire to bridge over the
chasm which divides the human nature from the Divine,
and earth from heaven, by enlisting the agency of some
intermediate being. In its earliest conflicts with heresy,
theology was chiefly engaged in zealously defending the
i Flavian caused the remains of the remains of less saintly, if not here-
some much-revered saints who were tical, characters. Horn, in Ascen.
buried beneath the pavement of the 2 D e S Babyla, c. 12. De Stat.
church to be taken up, and placed in . 2 and ' yiii 2 . Quod Christus sit
another separate grave, because the j^ c 7 De Sta t. v. 1.
people were distressed that the re-
liques of such venerated personages J In S - I S nat Mart ' c ' 4>
should repose in the same vaults with 4 In Juvent. et Maxim, c. 1.
182 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xn.
pure divinity of Christ his co-equal, co-eternal power and
majesty with the Father. The more He was withdrawn
into a less accessible region of exalted deity, the more this
need of the half-deified human interpositor was felt, and
worked itself out at last into a distinct article of faith.
Some of those abuses of saints' days, which we are apt to
associate more especially with medieval times, were far
from uncommon in the days of Chrysostom. The day which
had begun in fasting, and was preceded by a vigil, too often
terminated in a very carnal kind of revelry. " Ye have
turned night into day by your holy vigils : do not turn day
into night by drunkenness, surfeiting, and lascivious songs ;
let not any one see you misbehaving in an inn on your
return home/' 1 A custom prevailed of holding a "love-
feast," at or near the tomb of the saint, which was furnished
by the oblations of the wealthier devotees. Chrysostom
on one occasion urges his congregation to attend such a
sacred banquet when they dispersed after service, instead
of hurrying off to the diabolical entertainments at Daphne.
The sight of the martyrs, standing as it were near their
table, would prevent their pleasure from running to excess. 2
But there is abundant evidence in other contemporary
writers that these meetings too often did degenerate into
scenes of mere conviviality and intemperance. St. Augus-
tine speaks of those who "made themselves drunk at
the commemoration of martyrs." 3 St. Ambrose prohibited
all such feasts in the churches of Milan; and St. Augus-
tine cited his example to obtain a similar prohibition
from Aurelius, the Primate of Carthage. 4 St Basil repro-
bates a growing custom of trading near the martyries on
festival days, under pretence of making a better provision
for the feasts, to which we may fairly, perhaps, attribute
1 Horn, in Martyres, vol. ii. p. 663. 4 Aug. Confess, lib. vi. 2. Epist.
2 In Sanct. Jul. vol. ii. p. 673. 64, ad Aurel. Cone. Carth. iii. c.
8 Aug. cont. Faustura, lib. xx. c. 21. 30.
en. xii.] ABUSE OF SAINTS' DAYS. 183
the universal custom in Christendom of holding fairs on
saints' days. 1 As they were in medieval times, so in
Eoman Catholic countries at the present day, the booths of
the fair are in close contiguity with the walls of the church,
and they who attend mass in the morning, as well as those
who do not attend it at all, may disgrace themselves by
drunkenness and all kinds of folly in the evening. Such
abuses are an inevitable consequence of keeping up the
observance of days after the real enthusiasm for the person
or cause which they commemorate has begun to grow, or has
altogether grown, cold. Little may ever have been really
known about the saint whose memory is celebrated, and that
little ceases to speak with any meaning to the minds of later
generations. The service, which was once a living reality,
becomes a cold and empty form, or the place of religious
enthusiasm is supplied by some form of sensual excitement.
Crowds of peasants will not fail to be attracted to a church
which blazes with thousands of candles arranged in fantastic
patterns, and which rings with noisy sensational music :
they probably place a superstitious faith in the tutelary
power of their patron : but how different is all this from the
hearty, genuine, reasonable devotion of more enlightened
worshippers to the Lord Himself, and the less strong but
more real respect and honour paid by such to His day! It is
surely one among many proofs of the deep and lasting hold
of Christ's character upon the mind of men, of the applica-
bility of its influence to all times and places, and of its
Divine superiority to that of all His followers, however
exalted, that abuses which have accompanied the com-
memorations of saints have never extended in the same
degree to His day. 2
As already remarked, Chrysostom was prevented this year
by illness from attending the festivals of saints and martyrs,
1 Basil. Regul. Major., quaest. 40.
2 See Dr. Hessey's Bampton Lectures, " on Sunday."
184 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xn.
which fell very thickly between Easter and Whit-sun Day.
He commences his homily preached on the Sunday before
Ascension Day with an allusion to his recent sickness, and
tells his congregation that, though absent in body from their
sacred festivities, he had been present and rejoiced with
them in spirit ; and now, though he had not fully recovered
his health, he could not refrain from meeting his beloved
and much-longed-for flock again. He was the more anxious
also to occupy his accustomed place on that day, because
large numbers of the rustic population from the neighbour-
ing country had flocked into the city and attended the
services of the church. They spoke a different dialect, but
they were one with the Christian inhabitants of the town in
the soundness of their faith ; and their habits of simple piety,
pure morality, and honourable industry, put to shame the
dissolute manners and indolence which prevailed in the city.
Their peasant clergy were a noble race of men ; they might
be seen, one while yoking their oxen to the plough, and
marking out furrows in the soil, another while mounting
the pulpit and ploughing the hearts of their flock ; now
cutting away thorns from the ground with a sickle, now
cleansing men's minds from sin by their discourse : for they
were not ashamed of hard work, like the people of the city,
but of idleness, knowing that it was idleness which taught
men vice, and had been from the beginning to those who
loved it the schoolmaster of all iniquity. Though little
skilled, by training, in reasoning or rhetoric, they proved
more than a match for those counterfeit philosophers who
paraded themselves about the streets with their professional
cloak, staff, and beard, but who could not give any satisfac-
tory information on the subjects upon which they expended
such a heap of words, as the immortality of the soul, the
creation of the world, Divine Providence, a future world and
judgment. The rustic pastor, being simply and firmly per-
suaded of the truth of these things, could instruct men with
en. xii.] PRAISE OF PEASANT CLERGY. 185
clearness and decision about them ; he could give solid
matter, the others only polished language, like a man who
should have a sword with a silver ornamented hilt, but a
weak blade. Their wives were not luxurious creatures,
covering themselves with unguents, paints, and dyes, but
simple, sober, quiet matrons ; which increased the influence
of the pastor over the people committed to his charge, and
caused the precept of St. Paul, " having food and raiment,
let us be therewith content," to be strictly observed l among
them.
1 Whether it was a regular custom the first great influx for trade and
for the rustic population to visit An- legal business after the recent suspen-
tioch on this day, or whether it was sion of all business, does not appear.
CHAPTER XIII.
SURVEY OP EVENTS BETWEEN A.D. 387 AND A.D. 397 AMBROSE AND
THEODOSIUS-REVOLT OF ARBOGASTES DEATH OF THEODOSiUS
THE MINISTERS OF ARCADIUS RUFINUS AND EUTROPIUS.
SOME account has now been given of the most remarkable
among the homilies delivered by Chrysostom during the first
year of his priesthood ; not only because to follow the course
of the Christian seasons through the cycle of one year seemed
the most convenient method of giving specimens of his
ordinary style of preaching, but also because these first
efforts were seldom if ever surpassed in power and beauty
by his later productions. A more extensive survey of his
theology, under its several heads, is reserved for the conclud-
ing chapter; and the remainder of the ten years during
which he resided at Antioch being uneventful as regards his
life, it will be profitable to fill up the gap by taking a glance
at the world outside his present sphere. Some knowledge of
contemporary events and men is indeed necessary to a just
appreciation of his position and conduct, when he is sum-
moned to occupy a more public and exalted station.
It is a melancholy scene which meets the eye. The
mighty fabric of the Empire crumbles, perhaps more rapidly
in this decade than in any previous period of equal length
like an old man whose constitution is thoroughly broken.
Effeminate luxury in the civilised population is matched
by .the rude ferocity of the barbarians who hem it in or
mingle with it, and the new barbarian patch agrees ill with
the old garment, which is not strong enough to bear it. The
CH. XIIL] AMBROSE AND CHRYSOSTOM. 187
pages of historians are filled with tales of murder, massacre,
treachery, venality, corruption, everywhere and of all kinds.
There is no national greatness, but great men move across
the stage : Theodosius himself, generous, just though pas-
sionate, vigorous when roused to a sense of emergency ; the
last Emperor who deserved the name of " great ;" Ambrose,
the intrepid advocate of religious duty to God and man, the
champion of the rights of Church and hierarchy ; Stilicho,
the skilful commander of armies and able guardian of the
Empire after the death of Theodosius ; Alaric, the very type
of Gothic force ; Eufinus and Eutropius, the clever, scheming
adventurers, destitute of all nobility, who in a degenerate
court contrive to raise themselves to the pinnacle of power,
and are suddenly toppled headlong from it.
The most commanding public character in the West at
this time was, and for some years had been, Ambrose,
Archbishop of Milan. Disliked but feared by the Arian
court, respected and beloved by the people, he fought in
some respects a similar battle to that in which Chrysostom
was afterwards engaged in the East, and amidst many differ-
ences there are also many parallels in the character and
history of the two men : the same fearless courage to speak
what they believed to be God's truth, in the face of royalty
itself, animated both ; in both cases was it rewarded by
virulent persecution; both had to contend with an imperious,
passionate woman ; both were protected from her fury by
the populace keeping guard night and day before the walls
of the church. In A.D. 384, Ambrose had been summoned
before a royal council, and, in the presence of the young
Emperor Valentinian II. and the Queen-mother Justina, had
been commanded to surrender the Portian Basilica for the
use of the Arians. But Ambrose had replied undauntedly,
that not one inch of ground which had been consecrated to
truth would he concede to error. 1 For more than two years
1 Ambr. Ep. xx.
188 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xm.
Ambrose maintained his ground against all the stratagems
of his adversaries. On one occasion they seized the Portian
Basilica, but dared not hold it in the face of the infuriated
people. Messengers from court endeavoured to maintain
before the archbishop that the Emperor had a right to dispose
of the churches as he pleased, but the argument was con-
temptuously dismissed as a base sophistry. "What!" he
cried ; " the Emperor has no right to violate the house of a
private individual, and think you that he may do violence
to the house of God ? No ! let him take all that is mine
my land, my money, though these belong to the poor ; if he
seeks my patrimony, let him seize it ; if my person, I will
present it to him : but the church it is not lawful for me to
surrender, or for him to accept." 1 Force was not more
successful than argument. Soldiers were sent to dislodge
him and his congregation from one of the basilicas, but
instead of drawing their swords they fell on their knees, and
declared that they came not to attack the archbishop, but to
pray with him. The effect of an edict was tried in A.D. 386, 2
which permitted free worship to all who professed the creed
of Eimini (an Arian creed), and rendered liable to capital
punishment any who should impede the action of the edict,
as offenders against the imperial majesty. Under shelter of
this edict, the Portian Basilica was again demanded, but
Ambrose refused to recognise such an edict, which militated
against his sense of duty to a higher power. " God forbid
that I should yield the heritage of Jesus Christ. Naboth
would not part with the vineyard of his fathers to Ahab,
and should I surrender the house of God ? the heritage of
Dionysius, who died in exile for the faith; of Eustorgius
the confessor ; of Miroclus, and all the faithful bishops which
were before me?" 3 But though Ambrose disobeyed, the
penalties of the edict were not enforced upon him. An
1 Ambr. Ep. xx. p. 854. 3 Ambr. Ep. xxi. Sermo contra
2 Sozomen, vii. 13. Ruf. ii. 16. Aux. p. 868.
CH. XIIL] AMBROSE AND AUGUSTINE. 189
order of banishment was served upon him, expressed in
vague terms : " Depart from the city, and go where you
please." But Ambrose did not please to go anywhere, and
remained where he was, moving up and down the city, and
officiating as usual in the churches, using in his sermons
the same Scripture parallels to indicate the Queen-mother,
" Herodias " and " Jezebel," which Chrysostom afterwards
applied to the Empress Eudoxia. He preaches day after
day, guarded by his faithful flock, who during passion-tide
suffered him not to quit the cathedral for fear of violence to
his person. Amongst that crowd, touched by the spell of
the chants and hymns which Ambrose taught the people 1
to beguile the tediousness of their watch, and impressed by
his pungent and decisive doctrine, are two remarkable
persons, a mother and her son. They are Monica and
Augustine. Monica is among the most faithful in watch-
ing, the most earnest in praying for the welfare of the bishop
and the church. Augustine is about thirty-two years old ;
he has been in many places and passed through many phases
of thought. He has subdued the vices and follies which
stained his youth ; he has shaken off the errors of Mani-
cheism which for a time enthralled him; he has been a
teacher of rhetoric at Tagaste, at Carthage, at Eome ; and
Symmachus has now obtained for him a professorial chair
at Milan. But Pagan literature is losing its hold upon him.
Plato no longer fascinates him equally with Holy Scripture.
He is gravitating steadily towards Christianity, and in
another year, April 38 7, just about the time that Chrysostom
is delivering his homilies on the Statues, he will crown his
mother's hopes by making a public confession of his faith,
and receiving baptism at the hands of Ambrose. 2
1 Ignatius is said to have first intro- allowed to have introduced it to the
duced antiphonal singing at Antioch, Western Church, and on this occasion.
Flavian and Diodorus to have estab- Vide Suicer.
lished it there ; Socr. v. 8 ; Theod.
ii. 19. Basil refers to it as a common 2 Aug. Conf. ix. 7, and preceding
practice, but Ambrose is generally books.
190 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xm.
One more effort was made to win the contest, this time
through diplomacy. The court proposed that the question
under dispute should be settled by arbitration, the judges to
be selected by Ambrose and Auxentius the Arian bishop.
But Ambrose would not accept the arbitrators nominated by
Auxentius, four of whom were Pagans and one a catechumen.
In the name of himself and the clergy of his province he
denied the validity of the tribunal. In an address to the
people the same lofty tone of independence was maintained.
" He would pay deference to the Emperor, but never yield
in things unlawful : the Emperor was ' in the Church, not
above it.' " x So he remained master of the field. The
unfinished basilica, which had been the prize contended for,
was consecrated by Ambrose with great pomp, and the joy
of the people was completed by the discovery of the martyrs'
skeletons beneath the pavement, pronounced to be those of
Gervasius and Protasius, who had suffered in the persecution
of Diocletian. When demoniacs shuddered on being placed
in proximity to these reliques, and a blind man was cured
by the application to his eyes of a handkerchief which
had been placed in contact with these same reliques, the
crown was put on the triumph of Ambrose ; the people
were more firmly convinced than ever that his cause was
the cause of God. 2
He was so indisputably the ablest man of the time in
the West, that, when danger impended over the state, the
very court which persecuted him turned to him to rescue
the country. Threatening messages came from the court
of Maximus at Treves. Ambrose was the ambassador
selected to go and pacify or intimidate the tyrant. Maxi-
mus was a Catholic, and a ruthless persecutor of those whom
he deemed heretics, especially Priscillianists ; yet Ambrose
did not hesitate to denounce his cruelty to brethren who
were Christians, however erring, as well as his disloyal
1 Ambr. Ep. xxi. 2 Ambr. Ep. xxii. Aug. Conf. ix. 7.
CH. xni.] AMBROSE AND MAXIMUS. 191
attitude towards Valentinian. The embassy was unsuccess-
ful, but the dignity of the ambassador and of the court
which he represented was fully maintained. The artifices
by which another ambassador, the Syrian Domninus, was
blinded to the preparations of Maximus for the invasion of
Italy ; the passage of the Alps by the usurper ; the flight of
Justina and her son to Thessalonica ; the prompt march of
Theodosius to the succour of Italy, and his complete victory
over Maximus, near Aquileia, belong to the secular
historian; but the connection between Theodosius and
Ambrose will be related here more in detail.
There is no account of the first meeting between the two
great characters of the day the Emperor and the arch-
bishop. That Ambrose immediately exercised influence
over the imperial mind may be inferred from the mildness
of the measures by which the embers of the late revolution
were extinguished. No bloody executions took place ; no
rigorous search for rebels was made ; the mother and
daughter of Maximus who had been himself beheaded
were provided with a maintenance. Ambrose, in one of his
letters, thanks the Emperor for granting liberty, at his
request, to several exiles and prisoners, and for remitting
the sentence of death to others.
Theodosius c.ould be generous to enemies, and was the
zealous friend of Catholic Christianity, but he was a strict
punisher of any violations of civil order, even when the
offenders were Christian. The people of Callinicum in
Osrhoene, instigated by the bishop and some fanatical monks,
had set fire to a Jewish synagogue, and to a church of the
sect of Valentinians. The Emperor directed the Count of
the East to punish the offenders, and commanded the bishop
to restore the buildings at the expense of the Church. But
the extension of such favour to heretics was in the sight of
Ambrose intolerable. It might, indeed, have been wrong to
disturb civil order, but it was far more wrong to reinstate
192 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xin.
error : to order Christians to rebuild a place of worship for
those who set Christ at naught was, in his eyes, simple pro-
fanity. He expressed his opinion to the Emperor in a letter.
It is the first great instance of the Church distinctly claim-
ing a pre-eminence of authority superseding that of civil
law. " If I am not worthy to be listened to by you, how
can I be worthy to transmit, as your priest, your vows and
prayers to God ? " Basing on this ground his right to speak
out his mind, he declares that " if the Bishop of Callinicum
obeyed the imperial command, he would be guilty of culp-
able weakness, and the Emperor would be responsible for it.
If he refused to obey, the Emperor could execute his will by
force of arms only ; the labarum, perhaps the standard of
Christ, would be employed to rebuild a temple where Christ
would be denied. What a monstrous inconsistency ! " The
last words which it contained were : " I have endeavoured to
make myself heard in the palace ; do not place me under
the necessity of making myself heard in the church ; " but
the letter was unanswered, and so Ambrose put his threat
into execution. He preached in Milan in the presence of
the Emperor ; " he compared the Christian priest to the pro-
phets of the Old Testament, whose duty it was to proclaim
God's message to the king himself, as Nathan did to David.
As the Israelites were warned not to say, when they entered
the land of Canaan, ' My virtue has deserved these good
things,' but ' the Lord God has given them,' so the Emperor
should remember that he was what he was by the mercy of
God. Therefore, he ought to love the body of Christ, the
Church to wash, kiss, and anoint her feet, that all the
dwelling where Christ reposes might be filled with the
odour ; that is, he ought to honour his least disciples, and
pardon their faults; every one of the members of the
Christian body was necessary to it, and ought to receive his
protection."
Having uttered such words, he descended from the altar
CH. xiii.] AMBROSE AND THEODOSIUS. 193
steps. Theodosius perceived that the archbishop had taken
up his parable against him, and as Ambrose was going out
of the church he stopped him, saying, " Is it I whom you
have made the subject of your discourse?" "I have said
that which I deemed useful for you," Ambrose replied. " I
perceive it is of the synagogue that you would speak," re-
joined Theodosius. " I own that my commands have been
a little severe, but I have already softened them, and these
monks are troublesome men." " I am going to offer the
sacrifice," said Ambrose ; " enable me to do so without fear
for you; deliver me from the load which oppresses my
spirit." " It shall be so," responded the Emperor ; " my
orders shall be mitigated; I give you my promise." But
Ambrose was not satisfied with so vague an assurance.
" Suppress the whole matter," he said ; " swear it to me, and,
on your sworn promise, I proceed to offer the sacrifice."
The Emperor swore ; Ambrose celebrated mass ; " and never,"
said he, in a letter written the day after to his sister, " did I
experience such sensible marks of the presence of God in
prayer." 1
In the spring of A.D. 389, Theodosius made his triumphal
entry into Kome, accompanied by Valentinian and his own
son Honorius, a boy of ten. His arrival was preceded by
two popular enactments : one a decree, renouncing for him-
self and family all bequests made by codicils striking a
blow at a vicious custom, which had long prevailed, of bribing
imperial favour for particular families, by bequeathing large
legacies to the reigning sovereign. By heathen emperors
these bequests had been sought with great cupidity ; sick or
old men were sometimes threatened with an acceleration of
death, unless they satisfied the royal expectations in this
way. The other, no less popular, decree was, to abolish the
custom by which royal couriers, when conveying news of
victory, exacted donations from the villages through which
1 Ambr. Ep. xl. and xli.
N
194 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHEYSOSTOM. [CH. xm.
they passed. The victory of Theodosius over Maximus was
the first which had been gratuitously proclaimed along the
route to Rome ; and the people greeted the Emperor as he
made his progress to the capital with all the warmer welcome
in consequence. 1
Eome had at this period scarcely recovered from the fer-
ment into which society had been thrown by the three years'
residence of Jerome, A.D. 382-385. His denunciations of
clerical luxury ; his cutting satires on the vices and follies
of the laity; his allurement to monastic life of some of the
wealthiest and noblest of the Roman ladies, had stirred up
a tumult of feeling for the most part adverse to him. But
Theodosius prudently abstained from interfering with the
religious debates of Rome. In Constantinople he was the
absolute sovereign ; in Rome he desired to appear simply as
the successful general and the foremost citizen. He assumed
no imperial or Asiatic splendour ; he exhibited no fastidious
abhorrence of statues, temples, and other remnants of
Paganism. Symmachus, the most eminent Pagan citizen,
was cordially received, and gratified by the promise of consul-
ship. The result of this amiable and moderate conduct was
that some of the most powerful Roman families embraced
the faith of the Emperor.
A.D. 390. But the generosity which Theodosius had
manifested towards the people of Antioch, his moderation
after the defeat of Maximus, and during his triumphal resi-
dence in Rome, was presently stained by one of those
paroxysms of anger to which he was occasionally subject.
The intercession of Flavian had averted any such outburst in
the case of the sedition of Antioch ; the authority of Ambrose,
too late to prevent the crime, enforced penance for the cruel
vengeance executed on the people of Thessalonica.
Botheric, the governor of Thessalonica, had imprisoned a
favourite charioteer for attempting to commit a disgusting
1 Cod. Theod. iv. v. 4, lib. 2. De Broglie, vi. 257.
en. xiii.] SEDITION AT THESSALONICA. 195
crime. The people, passionately attached to the races of the
circus, demanded his release on a certain day to take part
in the contest. The governor refused, and the people then
broke out into rebellion ; the tumult was with difficulty
quelled by the troops, and not before Botheric had been
mortally wounded, several other officers torn to pieces, and
their mangled remains dragged through the streets. The
irritation of the Emperor, on hearing of this barbarous
violence, was extreme ; and all the more so, because of
Thessalonica he could have expected better things. It did
not contain, like Antioch, Kome, or Alexandria, a large
mixed population, but one almost exclusively Christian, and
for the most part even Catholic. The city was the scene of
his early triumphs, and frequently honoured by his visits.
It is possible that Ambrose may have pushed his exhorta-
tions to clemency too far in the first glow of the Emperor's
resentment. At any rate, the counsel of those rivals or
enemies of Ambrose, who represented that the affair belonged
purely to civil government, and should be decided inde-
pendently of all clerical interference, prevailed. Rufinus,
the flattering, heartless courtier, persuaded Theodosius that a
public offence of such magnitude deserved the most merciless
punishment which could be inflicted. Orders were issued to
the officials at Thessalonica to assemble the populace, as if
for a fete, in the circus, and then to let in the troops upon
them. This barbarous mandate was too faithfully executed.
The unsuspecting victims crowded into their favourite place
of amusement ; at a given signal the soldiers rushed in, and
in the course of two or three hours the ground was strewn
with some 7000 corpses of men, women, and children. 1 The
horror of the people of Milan was only equalled by their
astonishment. Was it possible that he who had displayed
such magnanimity and Christian moderation could be guilty
of an act which savoured of the most heathen treachery and
1 Sozom. vii. 25. Theod. v. 17. Ambr. Ep. li. De Broglie, vi. 302, etc.
196 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xin.
ferocity ? When the Emperor returned from Rome, Ambrose
withdrew from Milan into the country, and thence wrote to
him a letter expressing his horror at the recent massacre ;
exhorting him to the deepest repentance and humiliation as
the only hope of obtaining mercy from God, and declaring
that he could not celebrate mass again in his presence. The
mode by which the Emperor was to expiate his guilt is not
indicated in this epistle, and he presented himself soon after-
wards at the doors of the cathedral church with his usual
royal retinue. But he was confronted by Ambrose in his
pontifical robes, who with flashing eyes expressed his astonish-
ment at such audacity, and barred the entrance with his
person. " I see, Emperor, you are ignorant of the flagrancy
of the murder which you have perpetrated. Perhaps your
unlimited power blinds you to your guilt, and obscures your
reason. Yet consider your frail and mortal nature ; think of
the dust from which you were formed, and to which you will
return, and beneath the splendid veil of your purple recog-
nise the infirmity of the flesh which it covers. You rule over
men who are your brethren by nature, and by service to a
common King, the Creator of all things. How then will you
dare to plant your feet in His sanctuary, and elevate your
hands towards Him, all dripping as they are with the blood
of men unjustly slain ? How will you take into your
hands the sacred body of the Lord, or dare to put His
precious blood to those lips, which by a word of anger have
spilt the blood of so many innocent victims ? Withdraw,
then, and add not a fresh crime to those with which you are
already burdened." The Emperor returned, conscience -
stricken and weeping, to his palace. For eight months no
intercourse took place between him and Ambrose. Christ-
mas approached ; exclusion from the church at such a season
seemed insupportable to the Emperor. Eufinus found him
one day dissolved in tears. " The church of God," he cried,
" is open to the slave and the beggar, but to me it is closed,
CH. xiii.] PENANCE OF THEODOSIUS. 197
and Avith it the gates of heaven ; for I remember the words
of the Lord : ' Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be
bound in heaven.' " Rufinus sought to console him : " I will
hasten to Ambrose, and force him to release you from this
bond." " No" said the Emperor, " you will not persuade
Ambrose to violate divine law from any fear of imperial
power." Rufinus, however, sought an interview with the
archbishop ; but Ambrose spurned him indignantly from him,
as being the chief counsellor of the late massacre. Rufinus
informed him that the Emperor was approaching. " If he
comes," said the prelate, " I will repel him from the vestibule
of the church." The minister returned to the Emperor
discomfited, and advised him to abstain from visiting the
church ; but Theodosius had subdued all pride, and replied
that he would now go and submit to any humiliation which
Ambrose might see proper to impose. He advanced to the
church. Perceiving the archbishop in the exterior court or
;itiium, he cried, " I have come ; deliver me from my sins."
" What madness," replied Ambrose, " has prompted you to
violate the sanctuary, and to trample on divine law?" " I
ask for my deliverance," said the humbled monarch ; " shut
not the door which God has opened to all penitents." " And
where is your penitence?" said the archbishop; " show me
your remedies for healing your wounds." " It is for you to show
them to vie" Theodosius replied; " for me to accept them."
Once more Ambrose had gained the day. He could prescribe
his own terms. First, he required that the recurrence of a
similar crime should be guarded against by a decree which
should interpose a delay of thirty days between a sentence of
confiscation or death and the execution of it. At the expira-
tion of this period the sentence was to be presented to the
Emperor for final reconsideration. Theodosius consented,
ordered the law to be drawn up, and subscribed it with his
own hand. He was then admitted within the walls, but in
deeply penitential guise ; stripped of imperial ornaments,
198 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xin.
prostrate on the pavement, beating his breast, tearing his
hair, and crying aloud, " My soul cleaveth unto the dust,
quicken thou me according to thy word." So he remained
during the first portion of the Liturgy. When the offertory
began, he rose, advanced within the choir to present his
offering, and was about to resume the place which at Con-
stantinople he usually occupied a seat in the midst of the
clergy, in the more elevated portion of tlie choir. But
Ambrose determined, by taking advantage of the Emperor's
present humiliation, to put a stop to this custom. An
archdeacon stepped up to Theodosius, and informed him
that no layman might remain in the choir during the cele-
bration. The submissive Emperor withdrew outside the rails.
When he had returned to Constantinople, he was invited
by Nectarius, the archbishop, to occupy his accustomed
chair in the choir. " No !" replied Theodosius, with a sigh ;
" I have learned at Milan the insignificance of an Emperor
in the Church, and the difference between him and a
bishop. But no one here tells me the truth. I know not
any bishop save Ambrose who deserves the name." 1 He
had hit the truth. The difference between the conduct of
Ambrose and of Nectarius symbolised the difference between
the character of the Western and Eastern Church generally :
the one stern, commanding, jealous of any encroachment of
the civil power ; the other, subservient, submissive, courtier-
like ; the one aspiring and advancing, the other receding and
decadent. Chrysostom would have told him the truth ; but
Chrysostom, in his uncompromising and fearless honesty of
purpose and speech, is such a grand exception among the
patriarchs of Constantinople, that he proves the general rule.
Even Flavian had only supplicated mercy from the Emperor ;
Ambrose commanded it.
On one subject the deference of Theodosius for the opinion
of Ambrose caused him some embarrassment. Ambrose, in
1 Theod. v. 18. De Broglie, vi. 302 et seq.
CH. xiii.] STRIFE ABOUT THE SEE OF ANTIOCH. 199
common with the other Western prelates, had recognised
Paulinus as Bishop of Antioch the priest of the Eustathian
party who had been consecrated by Lucifer of Cagliari ; and
he now acknowledged Evagrius, his successor. Theodosius
was distracted between his friendship for Flavian, the rival
of Evagrius, and for Ambrose. Flavian was summoned to
court. The Emperor implored him to go to Rome and
justify his claims before the Pope ; but Flavian refused. At
the suggestion of Ambrose, the Western Bishops assembled
in council at Capua, and there delegated the decision to
Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria. Once more Flavian
was summoned to court, and advised to submit to the
arbitration of Theophilus; but he was still intractable.
" Take my bishopric at once, and give it to whom you
please ; but I will submit neither my honour nor my faith
to the judgment of my equals." Nearly eighteen months
were consumed in these negotiations. The West grew
impatient. The letters of Ambrose took a severer tone :
"Flavian has something to fear; that is why he avoids
examination. Will he place himself outside the Church, the
communion of Rome, and intercourse with his brethren?"
The strife was mercifully broken off by the sudden death
of Evagrius, before he had time to designate a successor ;
and the wound was salved, though not healed. That final
good work was destined to be accomplished by Chrysostom. 1
A.D. 392. Only a few years more of life remained for
Theodosius, and his reign was occupied at the -end as at the
beginning by quelling rebellion in the West. When he
returned to the East, in A.D. 391, after the defeat of Maxi-
mus, he had generously left the youthful Valentinian in full
possession of all his hereditary dominions, which he had
rescued for him from the usurper. Arbogastes, a Gaul, was
appointed general of the forces ; Ambrose was a kind of
general counsellor. But Arbogastes was bold, ambitious,
i Sozom. vii. 15. Socr. v. 15. Ambr. Ep. Ivi. TLeod. v. 23.
200 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xnr.
unscrupulous. He possessed much power; he determined
to acquire the whole. He obeyed the commands of his
young sovereign or not, as suited his pleasure and purposes,
and surrounded him with creatures of his own, who, under
the semblance of courtiers, acted as spies and gaolers.
Valentinian's residence at Yienne, in Gaul, became his
prison rather than his palace. The sequel belongs to secular
history, and is well known. An open rupture took place.
Arbogastes threw off the mask. Yalentinian was found
strangled, too late to receive baptism at the hands of Am-
brose, whose coming he had awaited with great eagerness
as soon as he knew that his life was in danger. 1 Once more
Italy became the prey of a usurper ; once more the veteran
Emperor of the East roused himself from his well-earned
repose, collected a huge force, consulted John, the hermit of
the Thebaid, on the issue of the war, solicited the favour of
Heaven by visiting the principal places of devotion in the
city, and kneeling on flint before the tombs of martyrs
and apostles, then set out on his inarch, and by the summer
of A.D. 394 again looked down from the Alps on the plains
of Venetia, near the scene of his former victory over one
usurper, and now covered with the tents belonging to the
army of another. He prosecuted the campaign in the same
religious spirit in which he had undertaken it. The first
assault made on the 5th of September against the enemy was
repulsed. Theodosius rallied and harangued the troops
lifted up his eyes to heaven, and cried: "0 Lord, Thou
knowest that I have undertaken this war only for the
honour of thy Son, and to prevent crime going unpunished ;
stretch forth, I pray Thee, thy hand over thy servants, that
the heathen say not of us, 'Where is their God?" 3 The
second assault was more successful ; the night was spent by
the Emperor in prayer, who was rewarded towards dawn by
a vision of two horsemen, clothed in white, who bade him be
i Ambr. de ob. Val.
CH. xiii.] DEFEAT OF AKBOGASTES. 201
of good cheer, for that they were the apostles St. Philip and
St. John, and would not fail to" come to his succour on the
following day. The issue of that L day was decisive ; the
overthrow of Arbogastes complete ; his army routed ; him-
self slain. 1
The conqueror was received by Ambrose, at Milan, with
transports of joy. The victory was nobly signalised by a
display of Christian clemency. Free pardon was proclaimed
in the church (whither the offenders had fled for refuge)
to all those Milanese who had joined the side of the usurper.
Among them were the children of Arbogastes, and of the
puppet king whom he had set up, Eugenius. They were
made to expiate the crimes of their Pagan fathers by sub-
mitting to baptism. 2
Hut there was an increasing shade of gloom which over-
cast the general sunshine of joy. The health of Theodosius,
long undermined by a disease, was now manifestly fast
giving way. He was sensible of his danger, and despatched
a message to Constantinople, desiring that his younger son,
Honorius, should be sent to join him at Milan. The young
prince, accompanied by his cousin Serena (the wife of
Stilicho) and his little sister Placidia, set off without delay.
They reached Milan early in the year A.D. 395. Some shocks
of earthquake, and terrific storms, which coincided with
their arrival, were regarded as portents of future evil. The
malady of Theodosius, a dropsical disorder, was rapidly gain-
ing ground. He revived a little at the sight of his son, and
received the Eucharist from the hands of Ambrose, which
he had hitherto refused, as having too recently been engaged
in the sanguinary scenes of war. He gave audience to a
deputation of Western bishops, who came to pay him homage,
and besought them to heal the schism of Antioch by acknow-
ledging Flavian. He besought the Pagan members of the
1 Theod. v. 24. Socr. v. 25. Sozom. vii. 24. De Broglie, vi. 8.
- Ainbr. Ep. Ixi. Ixii.
202 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xni.
senate of Rome to embrace the Christian faith, adding the
somewhat potent argument, that Pagan worship must no
longer expect any pecuniary aid from the State. He ap-
peared for a few times at the circus, where races were held
in honour of his victory and the arrival of the young prince ;
but one day, while dining, he was taken suddenly worse, and
expired early the next morning, Jan. 17th, A.D. 395, in the
fiftieth year of his age, and the sixteenth of his reign. Those
who watched by his bedside thought they detected the name
of Ambrose faintly murmured by his dying lips. 1
So passed away the last great Emperor of the Eoman
world. 2 He had persistently kept in view a single and
noble aim the consolidation of the Empire. He had re-
pelled invasion, crushed rebellion, laboured to extirpate
heathenism, to suppress heresy, to reconcile opposing fac-
tions in the Church ; and the work seemed advancing
when he was called away, and years ensued of misrule and
disorder, Gothic devastation, and internal corruption and
decadence.
The history of the Empire under Arcadius and Honorius
presents a pitiable picture of imbecility on the part of the
sovereigns ; of infidelity and unscrupulous ambition on the
part of their ministers. Theodosius himself, as he lay on
his death-bed, was perhaps conscious of impending troubles.
The words supposed by Claudian to be spoken by the shade
of Theodosius to his son Arcadius .: " Kes incompositas fateor
tumid asque reliqui," 3 express at any rate the true condition
of affairs. To Stilicho he commended his younger son,
Honorius, and the interests of the Western Empire, but
added a request that he would not neglect Arcadius and the
1 Socr. v. 26. Sozom. vii. 29. Am- turies more, but the elevation of
brosii Vita a Paul, scripta, de obit. Charles the Great was a revolt against
Theod. the old order of things. He can
hardly be regarded as a successor of
2 Of course I do not forget that the Theodosius so truly as Theodosius was
idea and name of Roman Emperor a successor of Augustus.
and Roman Empire lived on for cen- 3 Claud, de Bello Gild. 293.
CH. xin.] CHARACTER OF RUFINUS. 203
Eastern portion of the Empire also. The legal guardian,
however, of Arcadius was not a man who would tamely
submit to any supervision, or to any encroachment, fancied
or real, upon the rights of his office. He was as jealous
of Stilicho as Constantinople was of Rome. Discernment of
character cannot be reckoned among the great qualities of
Theodosius; otherwise he would not have intrusted his
two sons to the guardianship of two men dissimilar in all
respects but one an insatiable love of power. He had
placed the two weak princes in the hands of deadly rivals.
Rufinus, the guardian of Arcadius and regent of the East,
was an Aquitanian Gaul, born at Elusa, the modern Eauze,
at the foot of the Pyrenees. 1 He was the very model of
an accomplished adventurer. Sprung from poverty and
obscurity, he was gifted by nature with a handsome figure,
a noble demeanour, a ready tongue, an inventive, versatile
wit. 2 He made his way, after residing in Milan and Rome,
to the court of Constantinople ; and found in Theodosius a
patron who could appreciate his talents without detecting
his vices. He rapidly rose till he had attained the high dis-
tinction of " Master of the Offices," in A.D. 390 ; of consul, in
connection with Arcadius, in A.D. 392; and, in A.D. 394,
praetorian prefect in presenti, a position second only to that
of the Emperor himself. 3 He affected the warmest zeal for
the Catholic faith, and threw himself heartily into the
schemes of Theodosius for the suppression of heresy, no less
than into those for the consolidation of the social and
political fabric.
But underneath this appearance of patriotic enthusiasm
he indulged what Claudian terms an " accursed thirst " for
gain. 4 By unjust law-suits he wrested patrimonies from the
1 Claud, in Ruf. i. v. 137. work by M. Amedee Thierry : " Les
2 Philostorg. xi. 3. For much as- trois mmistres des fils de Theodose "
sistance in his notices of Rufinus and Rufin, Eutrope, Stilicon.
Eutropius, the writer must pay his 3 Gibbon, iii. 67. Zosim. iv. 51.
acknowledgments to the admirable 4 Claud, in Ruf. i. v. 220.
204 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xm.
poor, and manoeuvred to marry the daughters and widows of
the wealthy to his own favourites, in order that he might
reap their legacies and gifts. If any exposure of these
iniquities was threatened, he stopped the mouths of accusers
by large bribes, and compensated his extortions from towns
by making presents to their churches or enlarging their
public buildings.
When Theodosius departed for the Italian war, Eufinus,
being left as guardian of Arcadius, began to conceive the
project of elevating himself to the imperial throne. He
made a magnificent display of his piety. Hard by his villa,
or rather palace, in the suburb of Chalcedon, called the Oak, a
spot which afterwards acquired a melancholy notoriety in the
history of Chrysostom, he had built a church and a monastery
attached to it. This church he now determined to .dedicate
with great pomp, and at the same time to be baptized himself.
For this purpose he assembled nineteen Eastern bishops,
chiefly metropolitans, and a number of Egyptian hermits;
strange-looking figures, who, with their raiment of skins,
their flowing beards and long hair, excited much supersti-
tious reverence. In the midst of this august assembly, the
depredator of the East descended into the baptismal waters,
arrayed in the white robes typical of innocence. The cele-
brated Egyptian solitary, Ammonius (who will come before
us again), administered the sacrament, and Gregory of Nyssa
delivered a discourse. 1 Eufinus now surrounded himself
with a powerful party of followers ; Arcadius was too stupid
to see, or too timid to oppose, the dangerous ambition of his
so-called protector.
But the death of Theodosius and the elevation of Stilicho
to the guardianship of the West brought the intriguer face
to face with an able and determined soldier, who united
some of the ferocity of the barbarian with the steadfast
patriotism of an old Eoman. This last, indeed, was the
1 See references in Thierry, p. 19.
en. xni.] CHARACTER OF STILICHO. 205
character which Stilicho, a Vandal by birth, but educated at
Kome, more especially emulated. It was his ambition to be
compared to Fabricius, Curtius, Camillus. 1 Great was his
delight when Claudius, himself called a second Virgil,
likened him in his verses to Scipio. 2 The poet declared that
Theodosius had never fought without Stilicho, though Stilicho
had fought without Theodosius. He was made not only the
guardian but father-in-law of Honorius, who was betrothed
to his eldest daughter beside the death-bed of Theodosius ;
the father dying in the happy assurance that, by creating
this parental tie, he had secured the fidelity of his minister.
The boy and girl were brought into the sick-room, ex-
changed rings, and repeated the words which were dictated
to them. 3
The regent of the East naturally became profoundly
jealous of the regent of the West, and in point of royal con-
nection determined to be even with him. He humoured
Arcadius into a consent to marry his own daughter ; and his
scheme seemed on the point of completion when an inoppor-
tune matter of business took him away to Antioch, and his
enemy, the chamberlain Eutropius, took advantage of his
absence to frustrate the plan. A Frankish general, called
Bautho, who had been elevated to the consulship, but had
prematurely died, left a daughter of rare beauty named
Eudoxia. The orphan girl was brought up by a friend of
Bautho, the son of Promotus, a magister militum, whom
Eufinus, in revenge for an insult, had caused to be assassi-
nated. Eutropius introduced a portrait of the young beauty
to the notice of Arcadius. Curiosity, and soon a tenderer
sentiment, were excited in the young Emperor's breast ; the
cunning chamberlain fanned the flame, till he was able to
persuade the royal youth that Eudoxia was a more eligible
1 De Laud. Stil. ii. v. 379.
2 "Noster Scipiades Stilicho." De Consulat. Stilic. praef. v. 21.
3 Claud, de Nupt. Honor, et Mariae.
206 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xm.
bride than the daughter of the low-born Gaul. 1 The intrigue
was conducted with such secrecy that Eufinus, on his return
from Antioch, remained unsuspicious, and his boastful re-
marks on the approaching nuptials excited the indignation
of the public. The wedding-day was fixed for April 25,
A.D. 395. Eutropius selected from the imperial wardrobe
some of the costliest female robes and jewels which it con-
tained. They were placed on litters, which, escorted by a
large train of splendidly apparelled serving -men, paraded
the streets, on the way, as was supposed, to the house of
Eufinus. What was the astonishment of the populace when
the procession suddenly turned in another direction, and
presently stopped in front of the house of Prornotus ! A
loud shout of joy burst from the lips of the multitude, and
proclaimed to Eufinus the unpopularity of his project, and
the general satisfaction at its'* defeat. The bride thus cun-
ningly substituted was destined to play a conspicuous part
in the later scenes of Chrysostom's career. She inherited
the fair beauty, the energetic spirit, the impulsive, sometimes
fierce, temper of the race from which she sprang. Her
father had remained firmly attached to the Pagan religion of
his ancestors, but, in deference to Theodosius, his patron, he
had allowed his daughter to be baptized and educated in the
Christian faith. 2 Impatient of control, she resolved to
possess herself of her husband's confidence in order to govern
through him, and gradually to disengage herself from the
management alike of Eufinus and Eutropius.
Eufinus had been thoroughly outwitted in his matrimonial
scheme, but his resources were far from being exhausted.
The sequel of his life belongs too exclusively to secular
history to be more than glanced at here. He played a
subtle and desperate game, seldom if ever surpassed in
villainy. Some Hunnish tribes, encouraged by him, made
incursions into Armenia, Pontus, Cappadocia, and even as
1 Zosim. v. 3. 2 Symmach. Ep. iv. 15 and 16.
cii. XIIL] DESCENT OF ALARIC. 207
far as the vicinity of Antioch. 1 The court was in the
extremity of alarm, for the main forces of the army and
treasury had been drained to the West when Theodosius
marched against Arbogastes, and remained in the hands of
Stilicho. Worse still, the formidable chieftain Alaric, of
the royal race of the Visigoths, who had lately distinguished
himself in the Italian wars under Theodosius, began to
complain of unrequited services, and with a motley force of
Huns, Alani, Sarmatians, and Goths, descended into Thrace,
and ravaged the country up to the walls of Constantinople.
The inhabitants were convulsed with panic ; all except the
artful intriguer, who had already struck his bargain with
the invaders. He rode out of Constantinople accoutred as
a Gothic warrior, went through the farce of an interview
with Alaric, and returned with the joyful intelligence that
his intercessions had saved the city, and that the Gothic
prince had consented to withdraw his troops. And so he
did ; not, however, to retire to the Gothic settlements in the
north, but to pour southwards in a devastating flood over
Greece. This was the plot of Rufinus. The possession of
the Illyrian provinces was disputed between the courts of
East and West. Alaric occupied these. Stilicho, with ex-
traordinary energy, collected a large army, advanced against
the devastator, who was supposed to be the common enemy
of the whole Empire ; but when on the point of attacking
him, he was arrested by a message from Constantinople,
which commanded him to abstain from any hostilities
against the ravager of Greece. " He was the good friend of
Arcadius : he occupied the province of Illyria as his ally,
which Stilicho was to evacuate immediately, and to restore
the troops and treasure which belonged to the East." The
troops were sent back by Stilicho under the command of
1 Possibly alluded to by Chrysostom among other recent calamities. These
in Horn. iv. de Penitentia, c. 2, where homilies were probably delivered in
he mentions "incursions of enemies" A.D. 395.
208 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [OH. xm.
Gainas, but with the secret understanding that he should
compass the death of Eufinus. The result is well known.
Eufinus fell just as he was placing his foot on the topmost
round of his ladder of ambition. He was standing on the
tribune, where Arcadius was to proclaim him Caesar, in
the presence of a vast multitude ; he was making a flowery
harangue to the troops, complimenting them on their exploits,
congratulating them on their restoration to their homes, when
those very troops closed in upon him, plunged their swords
into his body, and presently hacked it to pieces. A soldier
who got hold of his right arm, and having crooked the fingers
of the hand, went about the town, holding it in front of him,
and crying, " An obol, an obol for him who never had enough,"
collected a large sum by his grim and savage jest. 1
Arcadius was quite incapable of handling the reins of
government himself, and the downfall of one all-powerful
minister would in any case have been quickly followed by
the rise of another ; but, as it happened, there was one ready
to step immediately into the vacant place. The fortunes of
this person, the eunuch Eutropius, ran a strange career.
Born a slave, somewhere in the region of the Euphrates, and
condemned in infancy to the most degraded condition pos-
sible even to slavery, he passed in boyhood and youth through
the hands of many owners. He performed the most menial
offices as a household slave, cutting wood, drawing water, or
whisking the flies from his mistress's face with a large fan.
Arinthus, an old magister militum, who had become pos-
sessed of him, presented him to his daughter on her marriage ;
and, in the words of Claudian, "the future consul of the
East was made over as part of a marriage dowry." 2 But the
young lady grew tired of the slave, who was getting elderly
and wrinkled, and without attempting to sell him, simply
turned him out of doors. 3 He lived for a time, picking
1 Thierry, pp. 35-78. Claud, in Ruf. lib. ii.
2 In Eutrop. i. v. 104, 105.
3 " Contemptu jam_liber erat." Claud, in Eutrop. i. v. 132.
CH. xiii.] RISE OF EUTROPIUS. 209
up a precarious livelihood, and often in great want, till an
officer about court at Constantinople took pity on him, and
with some difficulty obtained for him a situation in the
lowest ranks of the imperial chamberlains. 1 This was the
beginning of his rise. By the diligence and precision with
which he discharged his ordinary duties, by occasional witty
sayings, and the semblance of a fervent piety, he attracted
the notice of the Emperor Theodosius, and gradually acquired
his confidence so as to be employed on difficult and delicate
missions. He it was whom the Emperor sent to consult the
hermit John in Egypt before undertaking the Italian cam-
paign in A.D. 394. 2
On the death of Theodosius he became, in the capacity
of grand chamberlain, the intimate adviser and constant
attendant of Arcadius ; and, when Eufinus was removed, the
government was practically in his hands, though he was
careful to avoid the error of his late rival, and was content
with the reality without the display of power. He con-
tinued to execute all the household duties which fell to his
lot as chamberlain with humble assiduity, and sought no
other title than what he possessed. 3 But it was soon
apparent, to the amusement of the East and the indignation
of the West, that the eunuch slave was really master of the
Emperor of half the Roman world. He gradually removed
by his arts the friends of Theodosius from the principal posts
of trust, and replaced them by creatures of his own. By
surrounding his royal charge with a crowd of frivolous com-
panions; by dissipating his thoughts amidst a perpetual
round of amusement, public spectacles, chariot races, and
the like ; by taking him evrry spring to Ancyra in Phrygia,
where he was subjected to the soft enchantments of a de-
licious climate and luxurious manner of life, he made the
naturally feeble mind of Arcadius more feeble still, and
1 Claud, in Eutrop. i. v. 148, ]49.
2 Sozom. vii. 22. 3 philostorg. xi. 5.
210 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xm.
withdrew it from the influence of every superior intellect
but his own. 1
Whilst the effeminate monarch languished in inglorious
ease in Phrygia, the fairest and most renowned portions of
his Empire were overrun by the barbarian forces of Alaric.
The sacred pass of Thermopylae was violated by the Gothic
prince, and the ravager spread his devastations over Pelo-
ponnesus. Once more Stilicho hastened to the rescue;
once more his hand was stayed by the astonishing an-
nouncement that Alaric was rewarded for his career of
spoliation by being made commander-in-chief of the forces
of the East. Thus the invader was turned into the position
of friend, and the defender into the position of rebel, who
had to withdraw with feelings of shame, disappointment,
and rage. To such base arts did the court of Arcadius,
under the direction of Eutropius, stoop to protect itself in
its pitiful jealousy of its rival in the West. 2
Eutropius mounted to the summit of power by the simple
process of putting all dangerous competitors out of the way,
under various pretexts, as treasonable or otherwise public
offenders. 3 He deprived them of their last hope of escape,
by abolishing the right of the Church to afford asylum to
fugitives. 4 He sold the chief functions of the State, and the
command of the provinces, to the highest bidders. He was
ambitious even of military glory ; and, to the amusement of
the enemy, as well as of the imperial army, appeared in
military costume at the head of the troops, to repel an
incursion of Huns. He succeeded, however, more in his
negotiations by which he bought off the enemy, than in his
martial exploits, and returned mortified by the ridicule
which had attended his attempts in war. 5
From the pettiest detail of domestic life to the most
serious affairs of state, the minister was supreme. Arcadius
1 Claud, in Eutrop. i. 427, etc. ; ii. 3 Zosim. v. 8, 9, 12.
97, etc.
2 Thierry, pp. 97-126. Zosim. v. 5.
Claud, in Eutrop. ii. * Claud, in Eutrop. i. 235, etc.
CH. xni.] TYRANNY OF EUTROPIUS. 211
was little more than a magnificently dressed puppet. The
descriptions of his palace read like accounts in fairy tales : it
swarmed with slaves of every conceivable variety of race,
profession, and costume ; the floors of the imperial apart-
ments were sprinkled with gold dust, in the carriage of
which from Asia a special service of vessels and wagons
was constantly engaged. 1 The great annual public spectacle
was the departure of the Emperor for his summer sojourn
in Phrygia. From an early hour the streets were thronged
with people eagerly waiting for the pageant. At length,
from the portals of the palace there issued a gorgeous
procession; soldiers in white uniform, with gold-brocaded
ensigns ; then the body guard, called domestics, with their
tribunes and generals arrayed in robes flashing with gold,
mounted on horses with golden caparisons ; each rider bore
a gilded lance in the right hand, and in the left a gilded
shield studded with precious stones. In the rear, surrounded
by a grand cortege of state officials, came the imperial car,
drawn by milk-white mules, clothed in purple housings,
which were tricked out with gold and jewels. The sides of
the car also were gilded, and flashed out rays of golden light
as it moved along towards the harbour, where rode a fleet
of barges richly decorated, waiting to convey the royal
traveller to the opposite shore of the Bosporus. In strange
contrast to all this splendour appeared in the centre of the
car the dull and somnolent countenance of the young
Arcadius and the wrinkled visage of his old minister. The
multitude, ever greedy of show, would eagerly strain forward
their necks to catch a glimpse, if it were only of the imperial
ear-rings, or the circlet of his diadem, or the strings of pearls
upon his robe. With such empty exhibitions of their
puppet king did the wily minister seek to amuse the
frivolous inhabitants of the capital, while he himself enjoyed
the exercise of real power. 2
1 Synes. de Regno, p. 16.
2 Claud, in Eutrop. ii. 95. Thierry, p. 162, etc.
CHAPTER XIV.
DEATH OF NECTARIUS, ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE EAGER COM-
PETITION FOR THE SEE ELECTION OF CHRYSOSTOM-HIS COMPUL-
SORY REMOVAL FROM ANTIOCH CONSECRATION REFORMS -HOMILIES
ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS MISSIONARY PROJECTS.
SUCH was the political and social condition of the Empire
in the year A.D. 397. In September of that year died
Nectarius, Archbishop of Constantinople, a man of an easy,
amiable disposition, who, not taking a very elevated or
severe view of the duties of his position, had administered
the see for sixteen years, without annoyance, but without
distinction. 1 A conscientious discharge, indeed, of episcopal
duties was at this epoch beset by no small difficulties in the
great cities of the Empire. Bishops of important sees now
occupied a high social rank. 2 This had to be assumed
(in Constantinople at least) in the midst of an intriguing,
factious court, a corrupt, frivolous people, and a demoralised,
or at least secularised, clergy. " Nothing," said St. Augustine,
"can in this life, and especially at this time, be easier or
more agreeable than the office of bishop, presbyter, or deacon,
if discharged in a perfunctory and adulatory manner; no-
thing can in this life, and especially at this time, be more
laborious and perilous than such an office, if discharged as
our heavenly Commander bids us." 3 And the testimony of
Chrysostom's friend, Isidore, Abbot of Pelusium, is to the
1 Socr. vi. 2. in Ch. iv., and in Act. Apost. Horn.
2 See Chrysostom's own remarks in iii. 5.
De Sacerdotio, lib. iii., cited above 3 Epist. xxi. ad Valerium.
CH. xiv.] COMPETITION FOK THE SEE. 213
same effect : " True freedom and independence are not to be
found in these distinguished positions : it is so difficult to
rule some, and to submit to others ; to direct some, and to
be directed by others ; to be complaisant to some and severe
to others." Into this difficult and delicate position the
pious, single-minded, unworldly, but courageous preacher of
Antioch was to be suddenly transplanted, and that in a city
where the difficulties incident to such a position existed in
peculiar force.
At the time of the decease of Nectarius, several bishops
happened to be sojourning in Constantinople on business,
and as tidings of the vacancy of the see got abroad, the
number of episcopal visitors largely increased ; some coming
as candidates, others by the invitation of the Emperor, who
wished to make the ceremony of consecration as dignified
and august as possible. 1 Constantinople became convulsed
by all those factious disputes and dissensions which usually
attended the election of a bishop to an important see, and
which Chrysostom has so vividly described in his treatise
on the priesthood. 2 From dawn of day the places of public
resort were occupied by the "candidates and their partisans
paying court, or paying bribes to the common people ; can-
vassing the nobles and the wealthy not without the potent
aid of rich and costly gifts, some statue from Greece ur silk
from India, or perfumes from Arabia. 3 One of the most
conspicuous candidates was ^ Isidore, a presbyter of Alex-
andria. His claims were eagerly pushed by Theophilus,
Archbishop of Alexandria, who had a strong personal interest
in securing his success. For Isidore was in possession of a
rather awkward secret in the past history of Theophilus
himself. When the war between Theodosius and the usurper
Maximus was impending, Isidore had been despatched by
the Archbishop to Italy with letters of congratulation to be
1 Socrat. vi. 2. Sozom. viii. 2.
2 Lib. iii. c. 15, 17. 3 Pallad. Dial. c. 5.
214 . LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xiv.
presented to him who should prove the conqueror. Isidore
waited till victory had declared itself in favour of Theo-
dosius ; presented the humble felicitations of the patriarch,
and returned to Alexandria. But he was unable on his
return to produce the other letter, designed for Maximus had
he proved the victor. According to his own account, it had
been abstracted by the reader who had accompanied him on
the journey. Theophilus, however, suspected the fidelity of
Isidore himself, and that some ugly stories which began to
circulate respecting the affair had emanated from him. The
see of Constantinople, if secured through his interest, would
be an effectual means, he thought, of stopping the mouth of
Isidore. 1 But he was doomed to disappointment. While
the several candidates and their patrons were exhausting all
their arts on the spot to obtain the favour of the electors, the
clergy and people, distracted by conflicting bribes and argu-
ments, unanimously decided to summon a man from a
distance who had not come forward at all. They submitted
the name of Chrysostoni to the Emperor, who immediately
approved their choice. 2 In fact, the election of Chrysostoni
was in all probability the suggestion of Eutropius. During
a recent visit on public business to Antioch, he had heard
and recognised the eloquence of the great preacher. Even
if the heart of the man was not touched by the pungent
warnings, or warmed by the kindling exhortations of Chryso-
stoni, he had plenty of astuteness to perceive, if only such an
eloquence could be employed in the service of the Government,
what a powerful engine it would be. 3 The appointment, at
any rate, was certain to be welcomed by the people, and of
popularity Eutropius stood greatly in need. By the people
of Antioch indeed Chrysostom was so deeply and ardently
beloved, that the question was how to remove him without
causing a disturbance of the public peace. The excitable
1 Socr. vi. 2. Sozom. viii. 2. Pallad. 2 Socr. vi. 2. Sozom. viii. 2.
Dial. 3 Pallad. Dial. c. 5.
'>,,**
CH. xiv.l JOURNEY TO CONSTANTINOPLE. ( , 2L6
* / / ' ''>
feelings of the populace at Antioch were at all times a ty&yn, v>
of powder which needed but the application of a spark to ^/^
cause a serious explosion of tumult. The difficulty was Vf
solved by a mixture of force and fraud highly characteristic
of the chief designer and executor of the project. Eutropius
addressed a letter to Asterius, the Count of the East, who
resided in Antioch, and who promptly acted on his instruc-
tions. He proposed to the unsuspecting Chrysostom that
they should pay a visit together to one of the martyries
outside the^city walls. Well pleased to make this pious
pilgrimage, the saintly preacher accompanied his captor
through the Eoman gate, and turned his back on his beloved
native city, which he was destined never to revisit. At the
martyxy he was seized by some Government officials, and
carried on to Pagrae, the first station on the high road for
Constantinople. Here a chariot and horses awaited them,
together with one of the imperial chamberlains, a " magister
militum," and an escort of soldiers. The bewildered Chry-
sostom was hurried into the chariot, without any attention
being paid to his remonstrances or inquiries ; the horses were
put into a smart gallop, and the pace well kept up to the
next stage, where a similar equipage was in waiting. Such
was the rapid, but, considering all the circumstances,
undignified approach of the future archbishop to take pos-
session of his see. 1
Great was the joy of the people on his arrival, great the
mortification and consternation of the rival candidates.
Theophilus loudly declared that he would take no part in
the ordination. " You will ordain him," said Eutropius, " or
take your trial on the charges contained in these documents ;"
producing certain papers of accusations brought against him
from various quarters, at the sight of which Theophilus
turned pale. His opposition was effectually silenced, though
he nourished his revenge for a future day. 2 And we may
1 Sozora. viii. 2. Pallad. Dial. 5. 2 Socr. vi. 2.
216 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. xiv.
presume that he took the lead, by virtue of his rank, in the
ceremony of consecration that is, that he pronounced the
consecration prayer and blessing, while two other bishops
held the gospels over the head, and the other prelates who
were present laid their hands on the head of the recipient of
consecration. 1 The ceremony took place on February 26,
A.D. 398, in the presence of a vast concourse of people, who
came, no doubt, not only to witness the spectacle, but to hear
from the lips of one so famed for eloquence the " Serino
enthronisticus," or homily on the lesson for the day, which
was delivered by the new Patriarch 2 after he had been con-
ducted to his throne, and which was regarded as a test of his
powers. This discourse has not been preserved, but Chryso-
stom alludes to it in the homily numbered xi. against the
Anomceans, which was the second discourse he delivered as
archbishop. He there reminds his hearers how in his first
discourse he had promised, in his warfare with heretics, to
trust, not in the carnal weapons of human dialectic, but in
the spiritual armour of Holy Scripture, even as David had
confronted and prevailed over the Philistine with weapons
which the warrior despised, but which were crowned with
success because blessed by God. 3 In the review already
taken of his discourses against Arians and other heretics,
it has been seen how faithfully he adhered to this prin-
ciple.
The disadvantages of a monastic, secluded training, in one
who was called upon to occupy a large and important see,
have been pointed out by no one better than by Chrysostom
himself, 4 and he now experienced the truth of his own
1 Bingham, b. ii. c. 11, sec. 8. acts of the Council of Chalcedon, A.D.
2 The title Patriarch is occasionally 451, where it is applied especially to
used in the following pages, although Leo i. of Rome. Can. 28. Labbe,
it does not appeal 1 to have been a for- vol. iv.
mally recognised title till fifty years
later Socrates (A.D. 440 about) uses ' Hom ' X1 " m Anom ' Vo1 ' L *>' 795 '
it (vide c. 8), but the first occurrence 4 De Sacerd. lib. vi. c. 6-8, quoted
of it in any public document is in the above, p. 53.
CH. xiv.] UNPOPULAR REFORMS. 217
observations. His genius was not of that practical order
which displays itself in great discernment of character and
tact in the management of men ; and his virtues were of that
austere kind, the virtues of the monk rather than of the
Christian citizen, joined to a certain irritability of temper and
inflexibility of will, which were ill calculated to first con-
ciliate and then delicately lead on to a purer way of life the
undisciplined flock committed to his care. 1 If Nectarius
had been too much the man of the world, his successor was,
for the position in which he was placed, too much the saint of
the cloister. The new wine burst the old bottles. He began
immediately to reform with an unsparing hand first of all
within the limits of his own palace. The costly store of
silken and gold-embroidered robes, the rich marbles, orna-
ments, and vessels of various kinds which his courtly
predecessor had accumulated, were sold in exchange for
homelier articles, and the surplus was applied to the aid of
hospitals and the relief of the destitute. 2 The bishop, and
many of the clergy of Constantinople, had been accustomed
to entertain and be entertained by the wealthy and the great.
Aminianus Marcellinus contrasts the luxurious style of
living affected by the bishops of great cities, who "rode
about in their carriages, elaborately dressed, and gave
princely banquets," with the frugal fare, the cheap clothing,
the modest deportment of the provincial bishops. 3 The
admonition of Jerome also to an episcopal friend demon-
strates the tendency at this period to an immoderate and
worldly hospitality on the part of the clergy. " Avoid," he
says, "giving great entertainments to the laity, and especially
to those who occupy high stations ; for it is not very reput-
able to see the lictors and guards of a consul waiting outside
the doors of a priest of Jesus Christ, nor that the judge of a
province should dine more sumptuously with you than in
1 Soc. vi. 3. Sozom. viii. 9.
2 Pallad. Dial. c. v. p. 20. 3 Lib. xxvii. c. 3.
218 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xiv.
the palace. If it be pretended that you do this only to be
able to intercede with him for poor criminals, there is no
judge who will not pay greater respect to a frugal priest
than to a rich one, and show more deference to your piety
than to your wealth." 1 Chrysostom, like Jerome, was an
uncompromising ascetic in his views on clerical life. He
ate in solitude the spare and simple diet of a monk, and
declared that he would never set foot at Court except on
pressing affairs concerning the welfare of the Church.
When one considers what the character of that Court was,
it must be confessed that the resolution highly became a
Christian bishop. 2 His own seclusion might have been
easily tolerated if he had not exacted the same severe
simplicity of life in his clergy. He denounced their para-
sitical flatteries, and their propensity to seek entertainments
at the tables of the wealthy, and insisted that their stipends
must be quite sufficient to supply them with the necessaries
of life. He suspended many from their cures on account
of worldly or immoral conduct, and repelled others from
the Eucharist. Several of these became the most active
organisers of hostile cabals.
But there was another cause of the archbishop's unpopu-
larity with his clergy, which arose from his vigorous assaults
upon a deep and apparently most prevalent evil.
Celibacy appears never to have been made obligatory on
the clergy of the Eastern Church. The Synod of Elvira,
which enjoins celibacy, was a purely Spanish synod ; 3 and
the decree of Pope Siricius to the same effect, in A.D. 385,
could not affect any countries beyond Italy, Spain, and
perhaps Southern Gaul. That decree is a remarkable in-
stance of the law-giving spirit of the Western Church, which
hardened tendencies into binding statutes. But sentiment
and opinion were quite as strong in favour of clerical celibacy
1 Epist. ii. ad Nepotianum. 3 See Hefele, p. 131, and on the date
2 Fallad. Dial. c. v. and xii. of this synod.
CH. xiv.] CLERICAL CELIBACY. 219
in the East as in the West. It was proposed at the Council
of Nice that a canon should be passed enforcing it upon
every order of the clergy; a proposal which was defeated
only by the influence of the aged Egyptian monk Paphnu-
:ius, who, though he had never been married, and had always
lived an ascetic life, earnestly deprecated the imposition of
:i burden upon all men which some men only were able to
bear. The result was that the clergy were permitted to
retain their wives whom they had married before ordination,
but were forbidden to marry after ordination. And this is
called " the ancient tradition of the Church." 1 There can be
no doubt, however, that a profound conviction possessed the
minds of all the most earnest Christians in Eastern Christen-
dom that the unmarried life was inherently better than the
married; and, consequently, clerical celibacy was honoured
and encouraged, though marriage was allowable. On the
other hand, there grew up, side by side with the practice of
celibacy, a custom which broke it in the spirit while it was
preserved in the letter. The same Council of Nice which
by one canon freely granted to the clergy the society of their
lawful wives, by another prohibits unmarried clergy of every
rank to have any woman dwelling under the same roof who
was not their mother, sister, or aunt. 2 It was the transgres-
sion of this canon which was indignantly complained of by
several writers 3 and at councils 4 in or near the time of Chry-
sostom, as well as by Chrysostom himself. Under the name
of spiritual sisters, young women, often consecrated virgins
of the Church, lived, as they maintained, in all innocent and
sisterly affection with unmarried priests. But the risk to
the morals of both was imminent, and the scandal which it
brought upon the clergy in the eyes of the world was certain.
i Stanley, Eastern Church, lecture v. 2 Can. 3. Hefele, p. S79.
Socr. i. 11. Sozom. i. 23. The truth Jerome, Ep. xxii. ad Eustoch.
of the story has been disputed, but Epiphan. Haer. 63.
apparently on insufficient grounds. 4 See references in Bingham, b. vi.
Vide Hefele, p. 436. c. ii. 13.
220 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHKYSOSTOM. [CH. xiv.
Chrysostom denounces the custom on both these grounds.
Whether two treatises, one addressed to the men, the other
to the women, were composed at Constantinople, or, as
Socrates says, during his diaconate, they embody his views
on the whole subject, and afford a curious insight into
clerical life in the great cities at this epoch. 1
He places the offenders on the horns of a dilemma. " If
you are weak, the temptation to evil is so great, that for
your own sake you ought to avoid it ; if you are strong, you
ought to abandon the practice for the sake of those who are
weak." They brought a great scandal on the Church and
opened the mouths of adversaries. An isolated sin would
be less severely visited than one which, though comparatively
small in itself, caused others also to offend. They should
imitate the wisdom of St. Paul, who would not do a thing in
itself desirable or harmless, if the evil resulting to some
exceeded any possible advantage to others. 2 A pretext for
the reception of these unmarried women was made on the
ground that they were orphans who had no protectors. But
this became a great snare both to the women and the clergy:
they were occupied with the management of property instead
of devoting themselves to spiritual concerns. It would be
far better that a maiden should marry, than, by abstaining
from marriage, involve herself and others in worldly business
who ought to be free from it. If poor, it was better she
should remain poor and friendless, than be received into
a home where the danger incurred by the soul would far
exceed the advantages procured for the body. There were
many aged women who were poor, friendless, maimed, or
diseased ; the city was full of them. These were the most
deserving objects of clerical charity, and on them it could
be exercised without fear of reproach. 3 These "spiritual
sisters" appear from Chrysostom's account to have often
lived very much like fine ladies of fashion. " How incon-
i Contra eos, etc., vol. i. p. 495. 2 Ibid. c. 3, 4. 3 Ibid. c. 7.
CH. xiv.] "SPIRITUAL SISTERS" OF PRIESTS. 221
gruous and ludicrous," he says, " when you enter the house
of one who calls himself a single man, to see articles of
female dress and instruments of female occupation lying
about girdles, head-gear, wool-baskets, spindles, distaffs ! "
In the elaboration of their dress these companions often
surpassed actresses ; they were gossips and match-makers.
The man who ought to have renounced all worldly calls
might be seen inquiring at the silversmith's if his lady's
mirror was ready, her casket finished, her flask returned;
from the silversmith's he hurried to the perfumer's to see
about her scents; from the perfumer to the linen-draper,
and so on upon a round of shopping. All this business and
worldly worry made them harsh to the servants, who retali-
ated by secretly abusing their master and mistress. 1 This
was bad enough, but the clergy were not ashamed to display
their servile attachment to these women even in the churches.
They received them at the doors, forced others to make way
for them, and walked in front of them with a proud air,
when they ought not to have been able to lift up their heads
for shame. 2
Chrysostom implores the clergy as a suppliant, to free
themselves from these disgraceful and degrading connections.
"Christ would have them be strenuous soldiers and com-
batants. He did not arm them with spiritual weapons to
help women sew and weave, biit to engage with the invisible
powers, to put to flight the forces of Satan, and to lead
captive the rulers of spiritual darkness. If a soldier who
was fully equipped were to run in- doors and sit down with
the women just at the moment of the enemy's attack, when
the trumpet summoned every one to the combat, would you
not run your sword through the craven on the spot ? How
much more would God be offended with the Christian
soldier who evaded the combat with the spiritual enemy ? " 3
The rigour with which Chrysostom pressed reformation
i Contra eos, etc., c. 9. 2 Ibid. c. 10. 3 Ibid. c. 10.
222 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xiv.
upon the clergy in these and many other points, not being
tempered by a conciliatory manner or genial way of life,
excited a vehement spirit of opposition. He was encouraged
in his severity by his Archdeacon Serapion, who on one
occasion had said, in the hearing of a large body of clergy :
" You will never subdue these mutinous priests, my Lord
Bishop, till you drive them all before you as with a single
rod." l In fact, a large body of the more worldly clergy
seem to have regarded the archbishop and his deacon with
much the same mingled feelings of fear and aversion which
unruly schoolboys entertain towards an austere master.
The rigorous discipline exacted from the clergy was
probably by no means distasteful to the people or the Court,
and by the eloquence of their new bishop they were en-
tranced so long as his declamations were poured forth
against the vices and follies of society in general. The
Empress and archbishop stood for a time high in each
other's favour. She conducted with him a vast torchlight
procession in which the reliques of some martyrs were
conveyed to the martyry of St. Thomas in Drypia, a con-
siderable distance outside the city. A rapturous homily
was delivered by Chrysostom when they reached the chapel
at dawn of day. "What shall I say? I am verily mad
with joy ; yet such a madness is better than even wisdom
itself. Of what shall I most discourse ? the virtue of the
martyrs, the alacrity of the city, the zeal of the Empress, the
concourse of the nobles, the worsting of the demons ? " . . .
" Women, more delicate than wax, leaving their comfortable
homes, emulated the stoutest men in the eagerness with
which they made this long pilgrimage on foot. Nobles,
leaving their chariots, their lictors, their attendants, mingled
in the common crowd. And why speak of them when she
who wears the diadem, and is arrayed in purple, has not
consented along the whole route to be separated from the
i Socr. vi. 4.
CH. xvi.] CHRYSOSTOM AND THE EMPRESS. 223
rest even by a little space, but has followed the saints like
their handmaid, with her finger on the shrine and upon the
veil covering it she, visible to the whole multitude, whom
not even all the chamberlains of the palace are usually per-
mitted to see ?" The mixture of races in Constantinople is
indicated in one passage, where, comparing the Empress to
Miriam leading the chorus of triumphant Israelites, he says :
" She, indeed, led forth a people of one language only, but
thou innumerable bands, chanting the Psalms of David,
some in the Eoman, some in the Syrian, some in a barbarian,
some in the Greek tongue." The procession moved along
like a stream of fire, or continuous golden chain ; the moon
shone down upon the crowd of the faithful, and in the midst
the Empress, more brilliant than the moon itself; for what
was the moon compared to a soul adorned with such faith ?
He called her blessed, for the ends of the earth would hear
of and extol this glorious act of piety. If the deed of the
poor sinful woman in the Gospel, who anointed our Lord's
feet, was to be proclaimed throughout the world, how much
more that of a modest, dignified, chaste woman, who dis-
played such piety in the midst of imperial state. And
there is much more of the same Oriental, rhapsodical,
rhetoric. 1
The Emperor made a pilgrimage on the following day
to the shrine, accompanied by all the great officials of the
Court; and another discourse, similar in tone though not
quite so extravagantly rapturous, was delivered by the
archbishop.
As in Antioch, so also and with still greater vehemence
in Constantinople, the voice of Chrysostom was incessantly
lifted up against those vices which specially beset a large
mixed population living under a corrupt despotism. Here,
as there, the avarice and luxury of the wealthy are the
themes of his indignant invective ; the wrongs and pitiable
i Vol. xii. p. 468.
224 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xiv.
poverty of the poor the occasions of his pathetic appeal.
One day lamenting the paucity of worshippers, he exclaims :
" tyranny of money which drives the greater part of our
brethren from the fold ! for it is nothing but that grievous
disease, that never-quenched furnace, which drives them
hence ; this mistress, more ferocious than any barbarian or
wild beast, fiercer than the very demons, taking her slaves
with her, is now conducting them round the Forum, inflict-
ing upon them her oppressive commands, nor suffers them
to take a little breath from their destructive labours." . . .
" May you derive great good from the zeal with which you
listen to these words, for your groanings and the smitings of
'your foreheads prove that the seed which I have sown is
already bearing fruit." 1
A signal instance of the passionate attachment of the
people to the Circensian and theatrical exhibitions occurred
about the close of the first year of his episcopate. 2 A violent
rain had half inundated the fields and almost destroyed the
growing crops; solemn processional litanies were made to
the churches of the Apostles on both sides of the Bosporus ;
yet two days later the majority of that multitude, which
had just been invoking the intercession of saints and sup-
plicating the mercy of God, poured into the circus, and
might be seen wildly applauding and cheering on the chariots ;
and from that they hastened to witness with eager eyes
the indecent performances of the theatre: "while I," said
the archbishop, " sitting at home and hearing your shouts,
suffered worse agonies than those who are tossed by storms
at sea." 3 . . . " What defence will you be able to make when
you have to render an account of that day's work ? For
thee the sun rose, the moon lit up the night, choirs of
stars spangled the sky ; for thee the winds blew, and rivers
ran, seeds germinated, plants grew, and the whole course of
1 Vol. xii. p. 485.
2 Contra Lud. et Theat. vol. vi. p. 269, in fine. 3 Ibid. c. 1.
CH. xiv.] DENUNCIATIONS OF THE CHAEIOT RACES. 225
nature kept its proper order : but thou, when Creation is
ministering to thy needs, thou fulfillest the pleasure of the
devil." 1 . . . "Say not that few have wandered from the
fold ; though it were but five or two or one, the loss would
be great. The shepherd in the Gospel left the ninety-and-
nine, and hastened after the one, nor did he return till he
had made up the complete number of the flock by its
restoration. Though it be only one, yet it is a soul for
which this visible world was created, for which laws and
statutes and the diverse operations of God have been put
in motion, yea, for whose sake God spared not His only
Son." ..." Therefore I loudly declare that if any one after
this admonition shall desert the fold for the pestilent vice
of the theatre, I will not admit him inside these rails. 2
I will not administer to him the holy mysteries or allow
him to touch the holy table, but expel- him as shepherds
drive out the diseased sheep from the fold lest they should
contaminate the rest."
The iniquity of the people's defection had been aggravated
on this occasion by the fact that the days on which they
had rushed in such crowds to the circus and theatre were
Good Friday and Holy Saturday. On the Sunday following
Easter Day the church was fully thronged. An aged
Galatian bishop, being present, was requested, according to
a polite custom of that time, to preach. But the congrega-
tion expressed their disapproval by shouts of dissent, and by
withdrawing in large numbers. They wanted to hear what
more their eloquent castigator had to say on the subject
on which he had so vehemently declaimed on Easter Day.
Chrysostom was so much gratified and encouraged by the
alacrity which the people had thus manifested to listen to
his objurgations that his censures of the chariot races, the
1 Contra Lud. et Theat. c. 2. to the altar. This was the most pri-
2 From this and what follows it mitive custom. Sometimes the reel-
would appear that communicants went pients stood; vide passages cited iu
within the rails to receive, and close Bingham, b. viii. ch. 6', sec. 7.
P
226 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xiv.
next time he preached, were milder than usual. He con-
tents himself with observing that the shocking accident of
the day before, when a young man about to be married had
been run over in the course and cut to pieces by the chariot
wheels, was a damning proof of the wild folly and wicked-
ness of these spectacles. Nor does he rebuke them very
sharply for their discourtesy to the Galatian prelate. 1 They
always resented the preaching of a stranger; on several
occasions Chrysostom had to appeal to their feelings of
respect for the custom of the Church, or enlarge on the
reverence due to the preacher, either on account of his age
or his great virtues, before they would listen patiently.
It is impossible to determine in the case of every homily
or set of homilies whether they were delivered at Antioch or
Constantinople, but the character of society seems to have
been in its main features so similar in the two cities that
it may be allowable to collect into one place notices on
various social subjects scattered up and down Chrysostom's
works.
The extremes of wealth and poverty, barbaric splendour,
and abject beggary, existed side by side in hideous and
glaring contrast. The passion for the use of the precious
metals was amazing. Vessels for the meanest purposes
were made of silver ; superfluous display without regard to
utility prevailed everywhere. " If it were in their power, I
verily believe that some men would have the ground they
walk on, 2 the walls of their houses, and perhaps even the
sky and air, made of gold." Clothes were in the opinion of
Chrysostom a memorial of man's fall from that state of
innocence in which they had been unnecessary, and were
therefore to be made of as little consequence as possible.
" Say, ye who indulge in such grandeur as to discard all
woollen garments and array yourselves in silk only, and have
even advanced to such a height of madness as to weave gold
1 Vol. xii. Horn. ix. 2 In Coloss. Horn, vii., vol. xi. p. 350.
CH. xiv.] DENUNCIATIONS OF FASHIONABLE FOLLIES. 227
into your robes (for most women do this), to what purpose
do you deck out your persons in these things, not perceiving
that the covering of dress was devised for us after the trans-
gression in the place of a severe punishment ? >a
The particular make of shoes worn by the fashionable
young ladies and gentlemen of the day seems to have excited
his special indignation. " To put silk threads into your
boots, how disgraceful, how ridiculous! 2 Ships are built,
sailors hired, pilots appointed, the sails are spread, the sea
crossed, wife, children, and home left behind, the country of
the barbarian entered, and the life of the merchant exposed
to a thousand perils, in order that after it all you may trick
out the leather of your boots with these silken threads : what
form of madness can be worse?" . . . "He who ought to
bend his thoughts and eyes heavenwards casts them down
upon his shoes instead. His chief care, as he walks delicately
through the Forum, is to avoid soiling his boots with mire
or dust. Will you let your soul grovel in the mire while
you are taking care of your boots ? Boots were made to be
soiled ; if you cannot bear this, take them off and wear them
on your head instead of on your feet. You laugh when 1
say these words, but I rather weep for your folly." 3 Again,
" You may see one sitting in his chariot with haughty brow,
touching as it were the clouds in the senseless pride of his
heart ; but think him not really lofty, for it is not the
sitting up in a chariot drawn by mules, but only virtue
mounting to the vault of heaven which really elevates a
man. Or if you see another on horseback, attended by a
troop of lictors driving the multitude out of his way in the
1 Horn, xviii.in Genes., vol.iv.p.150. hitherto confined to female dress. See
2 The use of silk seems from its Gibbon, vol. vii. c. 40, and his in-
first introduction into the Empire to teresting account of the introduction
have been regarded as the ne plus of silk-worms from China to Constan-
ultra of luxury. It was condemned by tinople by some Persian monks in the
Pliny, vi. 20, xi. 21. Elagabalus was reign of Justinian.
the first man as well as the first Em- 3 In Matt. Horn, xlix., vol. vii. p.
peror who ventured to wear a material 501.
228 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. xiv.
Forum, call him not happy on that account. How ridicu-
lous ! why, prithee, do you drive your fellow-creatures before
you ? Were you made a wolf or a lion ? Your Lord Jesus
Christ raised man to heaven; you do not condescend to
share even the market-place with him. When you put a
gold bit on your horse, a gold bracelet on your slave's arm,
when your clothes even to your shoes are gilded, you are
feeding that most ferocious of monsters, avarice; you are
robbing the orphan, denuding the widow, and acting as the
common enemy of all. When your body is committed to
the ground the memory of your ambition will not be buried
with you, for each passer-by, as he contemplates the height
and size of your grand mansions, will say to himself or his
neighbour, ' How many tears did it cost to build that house !
how many orphans were left naked! how many widows
wronged! how many persons deprived of wages !' Thus the
exact contrary of what you expected comes to pass: you
desired to obtain glory during your life, and lo ! even after
death you are not delivered from accusers." 1
Such are the natural expressions of indignation on the
part of one trained in a monkish school of piety and austere
simplicity of life, when brought into practical contact with
a corrupt civilisation. Every denunciation of inordinate
luxury is coupled with an exhortation to the relief of dis-
tress. Almsgiving is represented as the one certain method
of laying up treasure in heaven, and the true riches are
increased in proportion as this world's goods are given away.
He lived in the days when social science and political
economy did not exist ; he only perceived the moral wrong
of profuse luxury and extreme destitution side by side, and
the only method which he could suggest for rectifying the
evil was to impress on the wealthy the duty of almsgiving
on a large scale. Beggars swarmed in the streets, and
thronged the entrances of the churches and public baths; 2
1 In Psalm, xlviii., vol. v. p. 514. 2 Horn. i. de Lazaro, c. 8.
CH. xiv.] PORTRAIT OF A CHRISTIAN WIFE. 229
and he is for ever exhorting his congregations to relieve
these unfortunate people. All honour to his simple Chris-
tian charity ! though of course he could not have given worse
advice with a view to curing the evil which he deplored.
The man who wore shoes inwoven with silk or gold threads
may have been a ridiculous fop, and yet have done more
good by buying his finery, the produce of honest labour, than
did the pious member of Chrysostom's congregation who
flung his money to the beggars congregated at the church
doors.
The luxurious habits and extravagant dress of the ladies
were especial objects of Chrysostom's attack ; but he draws
a charming picture, on the other side, of the influence which
good Christian wives might, and which many did, exercise
upon their husbands. The close of the exhortation in our
own " Marriage Service " seems almost as if suggested by a
passage in which he quotes Sarah the wife of Abraham as a
pattern of dutiful obedience to her husband, as adorned with
virtue, instead of the outward adorning of " plaiting the hair
and putting on of apparel." 1 " The good wife, as she remains
more at home than the man, and has more leisure for
' pious contemplation ' (<fc\ocro</>/a), can calm and soothe the
husband when he returns harassed by business, cut off his
superfluous cares, and so send him back free of the troubles
contracted in the Forum, and carrying with him the good
lessons which he has learned at home." ..." No influence
is more potent than that of a careful and discreet wife to
harmonise and mould the soul of a man." ..." I could
mention many hard, intractable men who have been
softened in this manner." And this influence would be in
proportion to the Christian purity and simplicity of her own
life. " When thy husband shall see thee modest, not a lover
of ornament, not demanding an unnecessary allowance, then
he will listen to thy counsel. When you seek not gold
1 In Gen. Horn, xli., p. 382.
230 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xiv.
or pearls, or costly array, but modesty, temperance, and
benevolence, in proportion as you manifest these virtues
yourself, you may demand them of him ; these are the
ornaments which never fail to attract ; this is the adornment
which old age does not dissolve or disease destroy." . . .
" When your husband sees you laying aside luxury, he will
lay aside the love of gain, and will be more inclined to deeds
of charity. With what face, ye wives, can you exhort
your husbands to almsgiving, when you consume the largest
portion of his means on the decoration of your own per-
sons ? " l
He urgently represents to the wealthy proprietors of land
in the country the solemn duty incumbent on them of pro-
viding for the spiritual welfare of the people on their estate,
by building a church and maintaining a pastor among them.
" There are many who possess farms and fields, but all their
anxiety is to make a bath-house to their mansion, to build
entrance courts and servants' offices ; but how the souls of
their dependants are cultivated they care not." ..." If you
see thorns in a field, you cut them down and burn them ;
but when you see the souls of your labourers beset with
thorns and cut them not down, tell me, do you not fear
when you reflect on the account which will be exacted from
you for these things ? Ought not every Christian estate -
holder to build a church and to make it his aim before
all things else that his people should be Christian ? " . . .
" Therefore I exhort, I supplicate as a favour, or rather I
affirm it as a principle, that no one should be seen in pos-
session of an estate which is not provided with a church."
He concludes by drawing a pleasing picture of the benefit
derived from the residence of a pastor in the quiet country
village ; the softening, humanising, civilising effect of his
presence ; the relief given to the needy, the comfort to the
sick and dying; the pleasant repose which the proprietor
i In Joau. Horn. Ixii., p. 340, and Horn. Ixix., p. 380.
CH-. xiv.] CHKISTIAN KESPONSIBILITIES. 231
may enjoy when he withdraws for a time from the turmoil
of city life, and worships among his grateful people in the
church which he has founded, and where his name will be
blessed for many future generations. "And think of the
reward in heaven ; Christ said, ' If thou lovest me feed my
sheep.' If you were to see any of the royal sheep or horses
destitute of shelter and exposed to attack, and were to house
them, provide stabling for them, and appoint some one to
tend them, with how great a gift would the sovereign requite
you. And think you that, if you fold Christ's flock and set
a shepherd over them, He will not do some great thing for
you ?" l
The responsibility indeed of every Christian man to pro-
mote the spiritual welfare of his brethren is one of the
topics on which Chrysostom most constantly and earnestly
dilates. " Nothing can be more Chilling than the sight of a
Christian who makes no efforts to save others. Neither
poverty, nor humble station, nor bodily infirmity can exempt
men and women from the obligation of this great duty. To
hide our Christian light, under pretence of weakness, is as
great an insult to God as if we were to say that He could
not make His sun to shine." 2
The practice of swearing deep oaths about trifles appears
to have been as prevalent at Constantinople as at Antioch,
1 In Act. Apost. p. 147 et seq. their authenticity. In a letter to
Tonstal, Bp. of Durham, he declares
2 Horn. xx. in Act. Apost. p. 162. that he could have written better
This set of fifty-five Homilies on the matter himself even when "ebrius ac
Acts of the Apostles, of which much stertens." But most persons familiar
use is made in this chapter, was de- with Chrysostom's productions will
livered in A.D. 400, between Easter agree with Montfaucon and Savile that
and Whitsuntide, in which interval it these homilies could have flowed only
was customary to read through the from that golden vein, though the ore
Acts in the Lessons for the day : vide is not so much refined as usual, and
Bingham, vol. iv. These homilies are that some passages are in bis very
among the least polished of Chryso- best style. None of his homilies,
stem's productions. Erasmus, who except those on the Statues and St.
translated them into Latin, was tho- Matthew, contain more curious reve-
roughly disappointed and out of hu- lations of the manners and customs
mour with them, and even doubts of the age.
232 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xiv.
and equally to have excited the indignation of the Arch-
bishop. He would not cease to denounce this devilish habit,
and that vehemently, lest he should incur the condemnation
pronounced on Eli, who rebuked, but not with sufficient
severity. He would unsparingly repel from the threshold of
the Church any who persisted in this pernicious vice, were he
emperor or prince. Men might deride his vehemence, but
they forgot that he was only the servant of Jesus Christ ;
their mockery fell on the Master rather than the minister.
Let them laugh and jest as much as they would ; he was
placed there to suffer it. " Obey my voice or depose me
from this my office. I cannot consent to mount this throne
unless I accomplish something great. If I cannot do this, it
were better for me to stand below. As long as I sit here I
cannot refrain, not so much out of fear of punishment to
myself as on account of your salvation, which I earnestly
desire." 1
Immoderate addiction to the pleasures of the table is a
frequently recurring subject of censure. He depicts in lively
terms the freshness, activity, and good health of the tem-
perate man; the lethargy, the headaches, the cramps, the
gout, the sickness of the glutton. Here is his portrait of a
fat gourmand : " To whom is not the man disagreeable who
makes obesity his study, and has to be dragged about like a
seal ? I speak not of those who are such by nature, but of
those who, naturally graceful, have brought their bodies into
this condition through luxurious living. The sun has risen,
he has darted everywhere his brilliant rays, he has roused
every one to his work : the tiller has taken his hoe, the
smith his hammer, each workman his proper tool; the
woman sets to work to spin or weave ; while he like a hog
goes forth to the occupation of filling his stomach, seeking
how to provide for a costly table. When the sun has filled
the market-place, and other men have already tired them-
i In Act. Apost. pp. 74 and 98.
CH. xiv.] CHARACTER OF CHRYSOSTOM'S FLOCK. 233
selves with work, he rises from his bed, stretching himself
like a fatting pig. Then he sits a long time on his couch
to shake off the drunkenness of the previous evening, after
which he adorns himself and walks out a spectacle of ugli-
ness, not so much like a man as a man-shaped beast." . . .
" Who might not justly say, ' this fellow is a burden to the
earth ; he has come into the world in vain ; nay, not in vain,
alas ! but to the injury both of himself and other people ?' 5>1
Such passages as these prove that the power of Chry-
sostom to captivate his hearers consisted not always in
eloquence or ornate rhetoric, but in a kind of bold and
rough plain-speaking, which dragged out into broad day-
light the most flagrant evils of the time, and painted them
in strong coarse colours, to excite derision or disgust. But
the fickleness and impulsiveness of the people were fatal
obstacles to the retention of fixed and durable impressions.
The population upon whom Chrysostom poured forth his
torrents of exhortation or invective was more debased than
that to which Savonarola preached ; not so vigorous, not so
homogeneous, not so much animated by a sentiment of
citizenship, not under the refining influence of a taste for
literature and art. 2 It was a vast, disorderly medley of
incoherent elements, destitute of those political privileges,
and of that industrial commercial spirit, which inspire the
character with manly energy and independence. A pas-
sionate, invincible love of pleasure, an abandoned devotion
to such public amusements as in no way appealed to the
intellect, and were calculated to debase and relax the finer
moral feelings, these were insuperable bars to the sub-
stantial success of the Christian reformer. A large propor-
tion of his hearers seem to have listened to his discourses as
pleasant exhibitions of bold satire and eloquent declamation ;
they applauded, they laughed, they wept, they were smitten
with something like compunction ; and Chrysostom confesses
1 In Act. Apost. p. 256. 2 See Villari's Life of Savonarola, b. i. c. 3.
234 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xiv.
that at the moment he could not repress a natural feeling of
gratification at the effect produced ; but that when he went
home, and reflected that the benefit which his hearers should
have derived generally evaporated in empty applause, instead
of manifesting itself in some solid improvement, he wept and
groaned from vexation. What men learned in the church
was undone in the theatre : " his work was like that of a
man who attempted to clean a piece of ground into which a
muddy stream was constantly flowing." 1
His letters to individuals, and the eulogia which he passes
at the beginning of some of his homilies on the zeal, piety,
and attention of his flock, prove indeed that there were
bright exceptions, but the mass of the people remained
irreclaimable. On grand festivals, such as Easter Day, vast
crowds attended the church ; the very precincts were
thronged, and the multitude surged backwards and forwards
like the waves of the sea. A large portion was composed of
the fashionable and rich ; but Chrysostom greatly preferred
those smaller congregations, consisting chiefly of poor, who
attended regularly, and on whose attachment to the Church
he could depend. He enjoyed these quiet services, free from
the bustle and disturbance of large crowds. 2 The wealthy
and the gay spared little time for the services of the
Church, though they never pleaded business as an excuse
for absence from the theatre. If they came now and then,
they did so as a kind of condescension and favour shown to
God and his priest. They lazily slumbered, or idly gossiped
during the service ; yet they boasted of their attendance
afterwards. 3
After the account in previous chapters of Chrysostom's
method of dealing with the prevalent heresies of the day at
Antioch, there is no occasion to say much more. The same
forms of error had to be encountered at Constantinople by
1 In Act. Apost. p. 191. 2 Horn, in Inscrip. Altaris, i. in initio.
3 In Act. Apost. pp. 189, 190.
CH. xiv.] NOVATIANS AND ARIANS. 235
much the same arguments. Only one, Novatianism, appears
to have been more prominent in this city than at Antioch.
The exclusive pretensions to purity of doctrine and moral
life made by the Novatians excited his special indignation.
" What arrogance ! what boastfulness is this ! Can you,
being a man, call yourself clean ? Nay, what madness is it ?
As well call the sea free from waves ; for as waves never
cease to move on the sea, so do sins never cease to work in
us." 1 The harshness of the Novatians, in refusing the re-
admission of apostates on repentance, was peculiarly offen-
sive to his merciful and hopeful view of human nature.
Sicinnius, the Novatian bishop in Constantinople, wrote a
book against him, in which he makes a handle of particular
expressions in Chrysostom's homilies detached from their
context ; such as, " Eepent a thousand times, and enter the
Church;" . . . "let the unclean person, the adulterer, the
thief, enter;" but omitting the words which follow "that
he may learn to do these things no more. I draw all, I
throw my net over all, desiring to catch not those only who
are sound, but those who are sick." 2 A hopefulness and
love, which never despaired of the sinner, are eminently
characteristic of Chrysostom ; and the strong words of
encouragement and comfort which he used were of course
susceptible of a construction injurious to him, by those
who prided themselves on enforcing a very rigid standard
of moral and ecclesiastical discipline.
Twenty years had elapsed since Gregory Nazianzenus,
with much reluctance and trembling, had accepted the See
of Constantinople. The city was at that time a very strong-
hold of Arianism. Arians had held the see for nearly forty
years. The sendees of the orthodox were held in a private
house, and were at first exposed to violent disturbance from
1 Vol. xii. Horn. vi. adv. Cath. pp. may estimate the man from the ac-
143 and 491. count by Socrates, his admirer, who
2 Vol. xii. Horn, i., "Quod fre- relates a number of his so-called wit-
queuter," etc. Socrates, vi. 22. If we ticisms, the book is no great loss.
236 LIFF OF ST. JOHN CHEYSOSTOM. [en. xiv.
the populace, which, hounded on by the Arian clergy, hooted
and threw stones at the worshippers. But the eloquence,
combined with the holiness, of Gregory had subdued this
violent opposition. The ranks of the orthodox were swelled,
and the little house was enlarged into a noble church, under
the name of Anastasia, as significant of the revival of the
true faith. 1 Imperial authority completed the work which
Gregory had begun. The Arians and other sectaries were
prohibited by various enactments from assembling for wor-
ship within the city walls ; 2 but in the time of Chrysostom
they began again to molest the faithful. On Saturdays and
Sundays they made a practice of assembling in colonnades
and public places, and there loudly singing Arian songs
songs, that is, embodying Arian doctrine, like the Thalia
composed by Arius; abstract statements of theology, very
unpoetical in form, very incapable, as we should have sup-
posed, of exciting popular feeling. 3 This noisy singing went
on during the greater part of the night ; at dawn they
marched through the streets singing antiphonally, and then
held assemblies for worship outside the gates. Chrysostom,
with more of zeal perhaps than wisdom, organised rival
processions of antiphonal singers ; the Empress supplied
them with tapers mounted on silver crosses. Street frays
were the inevitable consequence of these counter demonstra-
tions ; the Arians took to their old practice of stone-throw-
ing ; Briso, one of the Emperor's chamberlains, was wounded
by a stone in the forehead, and several persons killed on
both sides, after which the Arian assemblies were suppressed
by royal order.
The practical energy of Chrysostom was not confined
within the limits of his own diocese. He did not forget his
native city, but laboured, and laboured successfully, to heal
1 Greg, de Vita sua, pp. 585-1097. Eastern Church, pp. 131, 132, for
Orat. xxii., xxvii., xxxii. specimens of these Thalia; e.g. one
2 Vide Gibbon, v. p. 30. commences," Where are those who say
3 Socrates, vi. 8. Vide Dean Stanley, that the Three are but one power?"
CH. xiv.] MISSIONS IN SCYTHIA, SYRIA, PALESTINE. 237
the schism by which the Church of Autioch had been so
long distracted. Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria, con-
sented at his earnest request to join with him in the despatch
of an embassy to Eome, to supplicate the recognition of
Flavian as sole bishop. Acacius, Bishop of Bercea, and
Isidore, for whom Theophilus had striven to obtain the See
of Constantinople, were selected to carry the petition, and
they returned with a favourable answer from the Bishops of
the West. It is a satisfaction to find Chrysostom united in
this charitable work with those who afterwards became his
most malignant enemies. 1
His missionary efforts extende northwards to the Danube,
and southwards to Phoenicia, Syria, and Palestine. He
sought out men of apostolic zeal to evangelise some Scythian
tribes on the banks of the Danube, and appointed a Gothic
bishop, Unilas, who accomplished great things, but died in
A.D. 404, when Chrysostom was in exile, and unable to
appoint a successor. 2 A novel spectacle was witnessed one
day in the Church of St. Paul. A large number of Goths
being present, Chrysostom ordered some portions of the
Bible to be read in Gothic, and caused a Gothic presbyter to
address his countrymen in their native tongue. The Arch-
bishop, who preached afterwards, rejoiced in the occurrence
as a visible illustration of the diffusion of the Gospel among
all nations and languages, a triumph before their very eyes
over Jews and Pagans, and a fulfilment of such prophecy as
" Their sound is gone out into all lands ; " " The wolf and the
lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like
the ox." " Where is the philosophy of Plato and Pythagoras ?
Extinguished. Where is the teaching of the tent-maker and
the fisherman? Not only in Judaea, but also among the
barbarians, as ye have this day perceived, it shines more
brilliantly than the sun itself. Scythians, and Thracians,
Samaritans, Moors, and Indians, and those who inhabit the
1 Sozom. viii. 3. Socrat. v. 15. 2 Epist. xiv. vol. iii.
238 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xiv.
extremities of the world, possess this teaching translated
into their own language; they possess such philosophy as
was never dreamed of by those who wear a beard and thrust
passengers aside with their staff in the Forum, and shake
their wise locks, looking more like lions than men." . . .
"Nay ! our world has not sufficed for these evangelists ;
they have betaken themselves even to the ocean, and
enclosed barbarian regions and the British Isles in their
net." 1 Chrysostom assigned a church in Constantinople for
the use of the Scythian inhabitants (probably Gothic, for
the Greek historians used the word Scythian very vaguely),
ordained native readers, deacons, and presbyters, and fre-
quently preached there himself through the medium of an
interpreter. 2 Some of his letters when in exile are addressed
to Gothic monks, who occupied the house where Promotus
had lived. 3 They were staunch friends to him during his
exile, and the monastic body established in this house
existed in the seventh century.
Porphyry, Bishop of Gaza, wrote a letter to Chrysostom
in A.D. 398, urging him to obtain an order from the Emperor
for the destruction of Pagan temples in that city. Chryso-
stom did not cease to solicit Eutropius till he had procured
an edict, not indeed for the destruction, but for the closing
of the temples, and the demolition of the idols which they
contained. In the following year, however, A.D. 399, an
edict was issued addressed to Eutychianus, Prefect of the
East, directing that the temples should be demolished
throughout the country. This appears to have been obtained
chiefly through the influence of Chrysostom ; and large
bodies of monks were sent by him into Phoenicia, where
especially paganism prevailed, who were to use every
effort to extirpate it, both by assisting in the destruction
of temples, and by the propagation of Christian truth. The
i Vol. xii. Horn. viii. 2 Theod. v. 30.
3 Epist. xiv. and ccvii.
CH. xiv.] MISSIONS IN SCYTHIA, SYRIA, PALESTINE. 239
money required for this missionary expedition was supplied
by the liberality of some ladies in Constantinople, rich not
only in faith, but also in the wealth of this world. The
welfare of these missionary projects continued, as will here-
after be seen, to engage his most anxious attention through-
out his exile to the very close of his life. 1
i Theod. v. 29. Tillemont, xi. p. 155.
CHAPTER XV.
THE FALL OF EUTROPIUS HIS RETREAT TO THE SANCTUARY OF THE
CHURCH RIGHT OF SANCTUARY MAINTAINED BY CHRYSOSTOM
DEATH OF EUTROPIUS REVOLT OF GOTHIC COMMANDERS TRIBIGILD
AND GAlNAS DEMAND OF GAlNAS FOR AN ARIAN CHURCH REFUSED
BY CHRYSOSTOM DEFEAT AND DEATH OF GAlNAS. A.D. 399401.
THE Empress Eudoxia had rejoiced to discover that the new
Archbishop, although he mainly owed his promotion to the
supreme minister of the Court, was by no means disposed to
be ruled by him. If, indeed, Eutropius had expected to be
rewarded for the elevation of Chrysostom by finding in him
a complaisant servant, he sustained a severe disappointment.
Some little pretences which the minister made of assisting
the Church, by patronising Chrysostom's missionary projects,
could not disguise the iniquitous venality of his administra-
tion, or protect him from the solemn warnings and severe
censure of one who was no respecter of persons. In fact,
when the Archbishop declaimed against the cupidity, in-
justice, and extortions of the rich, it was obvious to all that
Eutropius was the most signal example of those vices.
Eudoxia was anxiously aiming to compass the fall of the
detested minister ; detested by her more especially, not only
because he thwarted her influence with Arcadius generally,
but had also persuaded him to withhold from her the title
of Augusta until she should present a male heir to the
throne. She spared no pains therefore to conciliate the
Archbishop, who might prove a valuable ally to her cause.
CH. xv.] EUTROPIUS MADE CONSUL. 241
It has been seen with what an appearance at least of humble
piety she took part in the nocturnal procession which con-
ducted some sacred reliques to their resting-place outside
Constantinople.
Her chamberlain, Amantius (himself distinguished for
unaffected Christian piety), was the frequent bearer to the
Archbishop of her liberal contributions to the support of
churches, or the relief of the poor. With her own hands,
it is said, she traced designs for basilicas to be erected at her
expense in some of the country districts. 1 Chrysostom was
always ready to welcome as genuine any manifestations of
religious feeling. Such practical proofs of her attachment
to the Church completely captivated him, and for the
present his rich vocabulary could hardly furnish language
adequate to express his admiration and gratitude. 2
Meanwhile, the poor doomed minister, not content to
remain as he began, enjoying the reality of power without
the name, prepared the way for his own destruction by
inducing the Emperor to bestow on him the titles of
Patrician and Consul. The acquisition of these venerated
and venerable names by the eunuch slave caused a profound
emotion of indignation and shame throughout the Empire,
but especially in the Western capital, where they were
bound up with all the most noble and glorious memories in
the history of the nation. It is true the consulship was now
an empty honour, destitute of all the great duties and respon-
sibilities which formerly were attached to it. But the year
was still named after the consul, and the character of the
man was by a superstitious feeling projected on to the year
which he inaugurated. The name of the odious Eutropius,
eunuch and slave, if prefixed to the year, would seem to
overshadow it with a kind of ominous and baleful blight,
1 Marc. Diac. ap. Baron, an. 401, 49. till after his return from his first
2 Vol. xii. 471. The titles " mother exile, vol. iii. p. 446. M. Thierry
of churches," "nurse of monks," "staff has erroneously introduced them into
of the poor," etc., were not bestowed this earlier stage of his life.
242 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xv.
and to be in itself a portent of incalculable disaster. In
short, after their indignation had vented itself in much bitter
sarcasm, the Eomans resolved that the consulship of
Eutropius should never be inscribed at the Capitol. A
solemn deputation from the people and senate waited on
Honorius and Stilicho at Milan, to submit their decision,
and to implore the imperial assent. Their spokesman
recounted the glorious exploits of Theodosius and (by a
flattering courtesy) of his son. The Saxon by the ocean,
defeated ; Britain delivered from the Picts ; Gaul protected
from the menaces of Germany ! " Through thee Eome
beholds the Frank humbled at her feet, the Suevian discom-
fited, and the Ehine, submissive to thy rule, salutes thee
under the name of Germanicus. But the East, alas ! envies
us our prosperity; abominable conspiracies are fermenting
there which tend to break up our unity "... the revolt of
Gildo, the destruction of African towns, the famine of Eome,
all these calamities were the work of Eutropius, and for
these he was rewarded with the consulship ! The East,
accustomed to stoop under the sceptre of women, might
accept the rule of a eunuch slave ; but that to which the
Orontes and the Halys submitted as ordinary custom would
be a foul stain on the waters of the Tiber. The image of
Eutropius should never be placed in the same rank with
those of JEmilius, of Decius, of Camillus, the saviours and
supporters of their country, the champions of Eoman
freedom ! . . . " Eise from your tombs, ancient Eomans,
pride of Latium ; behold an unknown colleague on your
curule chairs ; rise and avenge the majesty of the Eoman
name!" 1
Honorius, prompted no doubt by Stilicho, accorded a
1 Claud, in Eutrop. lib. i. The probably have assisted at this audi-
pathetic appeal is by Claudian put ence. He is a valuable guide to the
into the mouth of an allegorical ira- history of this period, and especially
personation of the city. Claudian as an indicator of public opinion on
was the intimate friend and com- the great events of his day.
panion of Stilicho, and may not im-
CH. xv.] INDIGNATION IN THE WEST. 243
favourable reply to the supplication of the Eoman people.
Mallius Theodoras, praetorian prefect of Italy, a man eminent
in virtue and ability as lawyer, soldier, and writer, and
not less popular than distinguished, was nominated Consul
by Honorius amidst general approbation, and his name
appears in the Fasti of the West without a colleague. 1
No doubt some of the virtuous indignation of the Komans
is to be attributed to the jealousy which now ran high
between East and West, but we may also not fancifully
discern genuine sparks of the independent spirit of their
forefathers. Amidst the general decadence and degeneracy
of the whole Empire, the West did not descend, could not
have descended, to such depths of servile adulation as did
the Byzantines on the occasion of the inauguration of
Eutropius as Consul. When, arrayed in an ample Roman
robe, he assumed his seat in the palace of the Caesars, the
doors were thrown open to an eager crowd of flatterers. The
senate, the generals, all the high functionaries of the state,
poured in to offer their homage to the great personage;
emulated each other in the honour of kissing his hand, and
even his wrinkled visage. They saluted him as the bulwark
of the laws, and the parent of the Emperor. Statues of
bronze or marble were placed in various parts of the city,
representing him in the costume of warrior or judge, and
the inscriptions on their pedestals styled him third founder
of the city after Byzas and Constantine.
No wonder that Claudian declaimed with bitter sarcasm
against " a Byzantine nobility and Greek Quirites," and
even invokes Neptune by a stroke of his trident to unseat
and submerge the degenerate city which had inflicted such
a deep disgrace upon the Empire. 2
And in truth a blow of no mean force, though directeu
not by the hand of a mythic deity, but of a stout barbarian
1 Gibbon, vol. v. p. 3ol. Claudian, De Consul. Mall. Theod.
2 In Eutrop. ii. 39, 136.
244 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xv.
was about to descend on the Eastern capital. The con-
sequences of it were averted only by the sacrifice of the
new consul who had chiefly provoked it ; upon him it came
with crushing effect: he fell never to rise again. In the
final scene of this curious drama the Archbishop plays a
conspicuous part, and therefore it must be unfolded from
the beginning. But, independently of this, it throws light
upon the condition of the Eastern Empire at that period.
Tribigild, a Gothic soldier of distinction, had been, accord-
ing to a usage now prevalent, promoted to the rank of Tribune,
and placed in command of a military colony of Gruthongi (a
large branch of the Ostrogoths), established in the region of
Phrygia, near the town of Nacolea, The recent elevation of
Alaric to the rank of Commander-in-chief of the Koman
forces in the East had encouraged the pretensions and raised
the expectations of all barbarian commanders. In the
February or March next after the appointment of Eutropius
to the consulship, Tribigild appeared at court to solicit pro-
motion for himself and a higher rate of pay for his martial
colonists, who, too ignorant or too proud to maintain them-
selves by cultivating the soil, were perishing of hunger in
the midst of the most productive regions of Asia Minor.
His suit was one among many of similar applications at
that time constantly brought before the Court, and it was
coldly dismissed by the Emperor's minister. Tribigild was
not one to return home and brood in sullen and ineffective
silence over his repulse. Gainas, the Gothic leader, to whom
it will be remembered Stilicho had confided the task of
putting Eufinus to death, was still in Constantinople ; and
he was a relation of Tribigild, who found in him a sym-
pathiser to inflame rather than soothe his sense of wrong.
In this irritated frame of mind, like a train of powder only
needing the application of a match to produce an explosion,
he returned to Phrygia. According to Claudian, -that match
was applied by his wife. He dramatically describes her
CH. xv.] TRIBIGILD REVOLTS. 245
welcome of the returning husband : " She flies to meet him,
embraces him with her snow-white arms, and eagerly
inquires what honours or rewards he brings back from the
generous prince." When the chieftain relates his ineffectual
errand, and the cold disdain with which he had been treated
by Eutropius, the chieftainess tears her face with her nails,
and with bitter irony bids her husband sheathe his sword
and attend to his plough or his vine. She contrasts her
own condition with the happy wives and sisters of other
warriors; they enjoyed rich spoils in the shape of adorn-
ments or of beautiful Grecian handmaids. "Alaric, who
broke treaties, was rewarded for it, but those who observe
them remain poor. Alaric invaded and pillaged Epirus, and
was made commander of the forces ; you go humbly to
solicit your due and are repulsed. Enrich yourself with
booty, and you will be a Roman citizen as soon as you
please." l No doubt this scene, whether wholly imaginary
or not, faithfully represents the feelings which, since the
fatal promotion of Alaric, must have encouraged treasonable
designs on the part of many barbarian chiefs. At any rate,
whether the resentment of Tribigild was inflamed or not by
the irony of his wife, he resolved to cast off allegiance to
the Empire. He mustered his forces, which gladly aban-
doned their feeble attempts at husbandry to return to the
more congenial pursuit of war and plunder. The rich
country of Phrygia was rapidly overrun, and some of the
fortified towns, owing partly to the decay of their walls,
were captured. All Asia Minor was convulsed with appre-
hension, and appealed to Constantinople for protection.
Eutropius affected to treat the rebellion as a petty insur-
rection, the suppression of which belonged rather to the
judge armed with instruments of torture than to a military
force. He declined the proffered assistance of Gainas, but
secretly negotiated with Tribigild, in the hope of subduing
1 Claud, iu Eutrop. ii. 187 et seq.
246 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xv.
him by means of promotion or of a bribe in money. The
Goth, proud to have turned the tables upon the minister
who had recently treated him with scorn, steadfastly declined
to accept any satisfaction but one the head of Eutropius
himself. Thus war was inevitable ; but who was to conduct
it? Eutropius dared not trust Gainas to act against his
own countryman and kinsman. He retained him therefore
at Constantinople in command of the city troops, and com-
mitted the management of the legions to one of his favourites,
Leo, described by Claudian as a man " abounding in flesh,
but scant of brains;" 1 once a wool-carder, but, under the
administration of the eunuch, a military commander. His
obesity made him an object of derision to the army, and,
joined to his natural incapacity and ignorance, rendered him
the most unfit man to conduct an expedition against the
subtle and active barbarian. Leo crossed the Bosporus
with a large, ill-disciplined army, whose approach was
welcomed by the devastated provinces, which vainly rejoiced
at the prospect of speedy deliverance from the ravager.
The enemy, meanwhile, had retreated southwards through
Pisidia, and after a narrow escape from destruction in the
defiles of Mount Taurus, where the inhabitants made a fierce
stand, he emerged into Pamphylia, and awaited Leo in the
vast plain of the Eurymedon and Melas, which extends
between the chain of Taurus and the sea. The doughty
commander of the imperial forces eagerly pursued the Goths,
and flattered himself, as the artful chieftain pretended to
retreat in alarm, that he had cooped him up by the sea.
In the confident anticipation of success, the discipline, such
as it was, of Leo's camp became still more relaxed. Little
or no watch was kept ; festivity, drunkenness, and disorder
of all kinds prevailed ; while the general had allowed him-
self to be drawn into a fatal position between a wary enemy
in front and an impassable morass in his rear. In the depth
i In Eutrop. ii. 377.
CH. xv.] TRIBIGILD DEFEATS LEO. fc47
of a dark night, the Goth swooped down upon his prey : all
were asleep in the camp, the slumbers of many deepened by
drunkenness. Those who were not killed on the spot fled
in wild confusion, but only to flounder in the marsh, in the
oozy bed of which large numbers were absorbed. A few
scattered remnants reached the Bosporus by devious routes,
to carry tidings of the disaster to Constantinople. Leo him-
self had plunged on horseback into the morass ; the animal
soon sank under the weight of his bulky rider, who, after
vain struggles to extricate himself, was finally sucked beneath
the quag. To such a bathos have the annals of Roman war-
fare descended ! A Roman general suffocated in mud I 1
The news of this disaster struck panic into the popula-
tion and Court of Constantinople. There was but one who
rejoiced, for he saw himself master of the situation. This
was Gainas ; he was the only man at hand capable of con-
fronting Tribigild, and he was despatched across the Bos-
porus with his barbarian auxiliaries. But he did nothing to
check the enemy, who had resumed his career of pillage.
He represented that the forces opposed to him were insuper-
able, but expressed a firm conviction that Tribigild would
become as loyal a servant as himself on one condition the
surrender of the minister Eutropius, the principal author of
all the evils of the State. 2
Arcadius was placed in a state of cruel perplexity. We
need not suppose that he was attached to Eutropius, but
his weak and indolent nature shrank from the responsibility
and labour to which, through the industry of his ambitious
minister, he had been a stranger. Now, however, from all
quarters the truth was forced upon him, that if he would
save his throne, he must part with his newly-made consul.
Ugly rumours were prevalent that Stilicho was meditating
a march to the East, and at the same time a new king,
1 The above account is taken from Zosimus, lib. v. ; Claudian in Eutrop. ii.
Thierry, "Trois Ministres ; Eutrope." 2 Zosim. v. 17.
248 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xv.
hostile to the Empire, had ascended the throne in Persia. 1
But a nearer and more persuasive enemy of Eutropius was at
nand to give the finishing impulse to his fall. The profound
jealousy of his power entertained by Eudoxia has been
already intimated. Not only had the title of Augusta been
withheld from her through his influence, but he had even
carried his arrogance so far at this time as to declare that
his hand, which had elevated her, could also depose her from
her present position altogether. The proud Frankish blood
of the Empress could ill brook such words from the lips of
an upstart menial, consul though he now was. With a
passionate gesture she dismissed him from her presence,
hastened to her two young children, Flaccilla and Pulcheria,
and with them made her way into the apartment of Arca-
dius. To his inquiries as to the purpose of her sudden
appearance she made at first no reply save by a flood of
tears, in which the children, from natural sympathy, joined ;
but presently, in language broken by sobs, she related a tale
of insults received at the hands of Eutropius, an'd the
crowning insult of the whole series. This was the blow
which was completely to fell the tottering minister. He
was summoned to the imperial presence, and having been
informed that he was deprived of his official dignity, and his
property confiscated, he was commanded instantly to quit
the palace under pain of death. 2
The poor wretch, who had mounted from the lowest dregs
of society to the grandest position a subject could occupy, was
thus by a single blow suddenly reduced to the position from
which he had started ; and even worse, for death stared him
in the face. The bows and smiles with which courtiers had
greeted him that morning, when he was still the royal
favourite, concealed, he well knew, a hatred and a scorn
which were not confined to them, but animated the whole
population, and only needed opportunity to declare them-
1 Claud, in Eutr. ii. 474 and 534, etc. 2 Philostorg. xi. 6. Zosim. v. 18.
CH. xv.] EUTROPIUS DEGRADED. 249
selves. That opportunity had come. He had no friends ;
whither should he fly ? There was but one place to which
he could in his extremity naturally turn the sanctuary of
the Church ; but here, by the cruel irony of his fate, a law
emanating from himself barred his entrance.
The right of asylum, which was once possessed by many
of the Pagan temples, passed over, by a natural transition,
about the time of Constantiue, to Christian churches. How- 1
ever useful in ages of great rudeness and ferocity this right
may be, either to shelter the innocent from lawless violence,
or to give offenders protection from vindictive rage till the
time of equitable trial, it inevitably becomes, sooner or later,
an intolerable interference with the natural course of law
and justice. Tiberius had found it expedient to restrict or
abolish such rights attached to many of the Greek and
Asiatic temples. Their suppression was resisted partly
from feelings of pride, partly of mercenary interest, partly
of respect for the sanctity of the places, as in the case in our
own country of the sanctuary of Westminster. 1 In the reign
of Theodosius I. a law was passed which excepted gross
criminals and public debtors, and another in the reign of
Arcadius, which excepted Jewish debtors who pretended to
be Christians, from the privileges of asylum ; 2 but by a law
of September, A.D. 397, suggested by Eutropius, clergy and
monks, in whose churches or convents fugitives might shelter,
were obliged to surrender them to the officers of justice,
though they might appeal to the Court in their favour. 3
The special object of Eutropius had been to cut off all
retreat from the victims of his jealous ambition or avarice ;
and now he was one of the first to want the protection
which he had himself abolished. But he knew, no one
better, that the law had excited much resentment and
resistance on the part of the Church ; and it might well be
1 Stanley, (Appendix,) Memorials of Westminster."
2 Cod. Theod. lib. ix. tit. 45. 3 Tbid.
250 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xv.
that the Archbishop would gladly connive at the violation
of the obnoxious measure by the very person who had
framed it. He resolved to make the attempt. In the
humblest guise of a suppliant, tears streaming down his
puckered cheeks, his scant grey hairs smeared with dust, he
crept into the cathedral, pushed aside the curtain which
divided the chancel or sanctuary from the nave, and, clinging
closely to the holy table, 1 awaited the approach of the Arch-
bishop or any of the clergy. 2 The enemy was on his track.
As he lay quaking with terror, he could hear on the other
side of the thin partition the trampling of feet, mingled with
the clattering of arms and voices raised in threatening tones
by soldiers on the search. At this crisis he was found by
the Archbishop, in a state of pitiable and abject terror ; his
cheek blanched with a death-like pallor, his teeth chattering,
his whole frame quivering, as with faltering lips he craved
the asylum of the Church. 3
He was not repulsed as the destroyer of that shelter which
he now sought. Chrysostom rejoiced in the opportunity
afforded to the Church of exhibiting at once her clemency
and power, by taking a noble revenge upon her former adver-
sary. The clamour of the soldiers on the other side of the
veil increased. Chrysostom led the unhappy fugitive to the
sacristy ; and having concealed him there, he confronted his
pursuers, asserted the inviolability of the Church's sanctuary,
and refused to surrender the refugee. " None shall penetrate
the sanctuary save over my body ; the Church is the Bride
of Jesus Christ, who has intrusted her honour to me, and I
will never betray it." The soldiers threatened to lay violent
hands on the Archbishop ; but he freely presented himself
to them, and only desired to be conducted to the Emperor,
that the whole affair might be submitted to his judgment.
1 The altar was sometimes called &<rv\os rpdnefa (Synesius, Ep. Iviii.)
2 Claud. Prolog, in Eutrop. ii. 25. Chrysost. in Eutrop., c. 3. vol. iii.
3 Chrysost. in Eutrop. c. 2.
en. xv.] EUTROPIUS PROTECTED BY CHRYSOSTCM. 251
He was accordingly placed between two rows of spearmen,
and marched like a prisoner from the cathedral to the palace. 1
The populace meanwhile had heard of the wonderful event
of the day. The news of the detested minister's degradation
had circulated through the Hippodrome, where a grand per-
formance had attracted large multitudes. The spectators
rose in a mass, uttered a shout of exultation, and vociferously
demanded the head of the culprit. 2
Chrysostom meanwhile maintained before the Emperor
his lofty tone of authority in vindication of the Church's
right of asylum. Human laws could not weigh in the
balance against divine ; the very man who had assailed the
Church's divine right was now forced, in his day of distress,
to plead in favour of it. The Emperor was moved, as he
always was by any one who possessed some of that force
of character which he himself lacked. Some feelings of
compassion also for his late minister's humiliation may
have mingled themselves with superstitious dread of incur-
ring Divine wrath. He promised to respect the retreat of
Eutropius. But, on learning his decision, the troops which
were in the city became indignant and furious in their
demands that the culprit should be surrendered to justice.
The Emperor made an address to them, entreating them
even with tears to remember that they had received benefits
as well as wrongs from the object of their present rage, and,
above all things, imploring them to respect the sanctity of
the holy table, to which' the suppliant was clinging. By
such words he restrained them with difficulty from the
commission of any immediate violence. 3
The following day was Sunday ; but the places of public
amusement and resort were deserted, and such a vast con-
course of men and women thronged the cathedral as was
rarely seen except on Easter Day. 4 All were in a flutter of
1 De Capto Eutrop. vol. iii. 3 De Capto Eutrop. c. 4.
2 In Eutrop. i. 4 In Eutrop. c. 3.
252 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xv.
expectation to hear what the "golden mouth" would utter,
the mouth of him who had dared, in defence of the Church's
right, to defy the arm of the law, and to stem the tide of
popular feeling. But few perhaps were prepared to witness
such a dramatic scene as was actually presented, and which
gave additional force and effect to the words of the preacher.
It was a common practice with the Archbishop, on account
partly of his diminutive stature and some feebleness of voice,
to preach from the " ambo," or high reading-desk, which
stood a little westward of the chancel, and therefore brought
him into closer proximity with the people. 1 On the present
occasion, he had just taken his seat on the ambo, and a sea
of upturned faces was directed towards his thin pale counte-
nance in expectation of the stream of golden eloquence,
when the curtain which separated the nave from the chancel
was partially drawn aside, and disclosed to the view of the
multitude the cowering form of the unhappy Eutropius,
clinging to one of the columos which supported the holy
table. Many a time had the Archbishop preached to light
minds and unheeding ears on the vain and fleeting character
of worldly honour, prosperity, luxury, wealth ; now he would
enforce attention, and drive his lesson home to the hearts of
a vast audience, by pointing to a visible example of fallen
grandeur in the poor unhappy creature who lay grovelling
behind him. Presently he burst forth : " ' ^araior^ pa-
TcuorrjTtov ! vanity of vanities !' " words how seasonable
at all times, how pre-eminently seasonable now. " Where
now are the pomp and circumstance of yonder man's consul-
ship ? where his torch-light festivities ? where the applause
which once greeted him ? where his banquets and garlands ?
Where is the stir that once attended his appearance in the
streets, the flattering compliments addressed to him in the
amphitheatre ? They are gone, they are all gone ; one rude
blast has shattered all the leaves, and shows us the tree
1 Socrat. vi. 5.
en. xv.] HIS SERMON ON EUTROPIUS. 253
stripped quite bare, and shaken to its very roots." . . .
" These things were but as visions of the night, which fade
at dawn ; or vernal flowers, which wither when the spring is
past ; as shadows which flitted away, as bubbles which burst,
as cobwebs which rent." ..." Therefore we chant con-
tinuously this heavenly strain : ^araior^ ^araconjrcov teal
Trdvra /zarator???. For these are words which should be
inscribed on our walls and on our garments, in the market-
place, by the wayside, on our doors, but above all should
they be written in the conscience, and engraved upon the
mind of every one." Then, turning towards the pitiable
figure by the holy table : " Did I not continually warn thee
that wealth was a runaway slave, a thankless servant ? but
thou wouldst not heed, thou wouldst not be persuaded.
Lo ! now experience has proved to thee that it is not only
fugitive and thankless, but murderous also; for this it is
which has caused thee to tremble now with fear. Did not
I declare, when you rebuked me for telling you the truth,
' I love thee better than thy flatterers ; I who reprove thee
care for thee more than thy complaisant friends ? ' Did I not
add that the wounds inflicted by a friend were to be valued
more than the kisses given by an enemy? If thou hadst
endured my wounds r the kisses of thy enemies would not
have wrought thee this destruction." ..." We act not like
thy false friends, who have fled from thee, and are procuring
their own safety through thy distress ; the Church, which
you treated as an enemy, has opened her bosom to receive
thee ; the theatre, which you favoured, has betrayed thee, and
whetted the sword against thee." 1 He thus depicted, he
said, the abject condition of the minister, not from any desire
to insult the prostrate, not to drown one who was tossed on
the billows of misfortune ; but to warn those who were still
sailing with a fair wind, lest they should be hurried into the
same abyss. Who had been more exalted than this man ?
1 In Eutrop. c. 1.
254 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xv.
Had lie not surpassed all in wealth ? had he not climbed to
the very pinnacle of grandeur ? yet now he had become more
miserable than a prisoner, more pitiable than a slave. . . .
It was the glory of the Church to have afforded shelter to
an enemy ; the suppliant was the ornament of the altar.
" What ! " you say, " is this iniquitous, rapacious creature an
ornament to the altar ?" Hush ! the sinful woman was per-
mitted to touch the feet of Jesus Christ Himself, a permis-
sion which excites not our reproach, but our admiration and
praise. . . . The degradation of Eutropius was a wholesome
example both to the rich and poor. " Let some rich man
enter the church, and he will derive much advantage from
what he sees. The spectacle of one, lately at the pinnacle of
power, now crouching with fear like a hare or a frog, chained
to yonder pillar not by fetters, but by fright, will repress
arrogance, and subdue pride, and will teach him the truth of
the Scripture precept : * All flesh is grass, and all the glory
of man as the flower of grass/ On the other hand, let a poor
man enter, and he will learn not to be discontented, or to
deplore his lot ; but will be grateful to his poverty, which
is to him as a most secure asylum, a most tranquil haven, a
most impenetrable fortress." 1 The Archbishop concluded by
exhorting the people to mercy and forgiveness, following the
example of their Emperor. How else could they with a clear
conscience join in the Holy Mysteries about to be celebrated,
or join in the prayer : " Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive
them that trespass against us ? " He did not deny that the
offender had committed great crimes, but the present was a
season not for judgment but for mercy. If they would enjoy
the favour of God, who had declared, " I will have mercy and
not sacrifice," they would intercede with the Emperor for the
life of their enemy. So would they obtain the mercy of
God for themselves, and remission of their own sins; so
would they shed glory on their Church, and win the praise
1 In Eutrop. c. 2-4.
CH. xv.] FLIGHT OF EUTROPIUS. 255
of their humane sovereign, while their own clemency would
be extolled to the ends of the earth."
The people probably thought that sufficient mercy had
already been exercised by respecting the asylum of the
Church as against the law, and no further effort, so far as
is known, was made on behalf of the fallen minister. He
remained for several days more in the sanctuary, and then
secretly and suddenly quitted it. Whether he fled designedly,
mistrusting the security of his retreat, perhaps even, with
the suspiciousness natural to a deceitful person, mistrusting
the fidelity of his protectors, and hoping to make his escape
from Constantinople in disguise ; or whether he surrendered
himself on the condition that exile should be substituted for
capital punishment, cannot with perfect certainty be deter-
mined. It is implied by one writer 1 that he was seized and
forcibly removed from the sanctuary. Chrysostom, on the
other hand, declares that he would never have been given up,
had he not abandoned the Church. 2 However and wherever he
may have been captured, some promise appears to have been
made that his life at least should be spared. He was put on
board a vessel which conveyed him to Cyprus, that island
being designed, it was said, to be the place of his banish-
ment for the remainder of his life. 3 But his enemies had
determined that his life should be brief. A suit was insti-
tuted against him at Constantinople on a variety of charges
under the presidency of Aurelian, Praetorian Prefect. Over
and above all his other crimes, he was found guilty of
mingling with the ordinary costume of the consul certain
ornaments or badges which belonged exclusively to the
Emperors, and even of harnessing to his chariot animals of
the imperial colour and breed. These were found to be
treasonable offences, on the strength of which, in spite of
some misgivings and hesitation on the part of Arcadius,
which were overruled by Eudoxia and Gainas, the miserable
1 Zosinms, v. 18, (^apTrdaavres. 2 De Capto Eutrop. c. 1. 3 Zosim. v. 18.
256 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHKYSOSTOM. [CH. xv.
culprit was recalled from Cyprus to Chalcedon, and there
beheaded. As he entered that city, he might have seen
affixed to the walls the imperial sentence, by the terms of
which his property was declared confiscated to the State, his
acts as consul were cancelled, the title of the year was
changed, the world invited to rejoice at the purification of
the consulship, and to cease to groan over the sight of the
monstrosity which had disgraced and disfigured the divine
honour of that sacred office. Finally, it was commanded
that all statues or representations whatever of Eutropius
in public places should be thrown down and broken in
pieces. 1
Thus the earnest desire of Eudoxia was accomplished:
she remained mistress of the field, mistress, as she fondly
hoped, of the Empire. The government for the present
passed from the hands of a eunuch and slave into the hands
of a woman. The possible rivals to her supremacy were
the Gothic commander Gainas and the Archbishop. In
what manner she was brought into hostile collision with
these two very different personages remains now to be
related. The Goth was determined in the ambitious pursuit
of power, the Archbishop equally determined in the con-
scientious discharge of duty. The collision of the ruling
powers with him was yet to come, but the contest with
Gainas immediately succeeded the fall of Eutropius.
The Empress procured the elevation of Aurelian, Prae-
torian Prefect, to the consulship, and of her favourite (some
said her criminal lover 2 ), Count John, to the office of Comp-
troller of the Eoyal Treasury, or sacred largesses. The
public affairs of the Empire were discussed and settled in
a sort of cabinet council by her and her friends, of whom
three wealthy but avaricious ladies, Castricia, Eugraphia,
and Marcia, were the most influential. The haughty and
manly spirit of the Gothic warrior naturally disdained to
i Zosim. v. 18. Cod. Theod. ix. 40, 17. Fhilostorg. xi. 6. 2 Zosim. v. 18.
; x />
' l //. "/^
en. xv.] SURRENDER OF THE THREE FAVQUtflTES. /257 /
be directed by a coterie of women. He united n'is/jyrniy /^
with that of Tribigild, and the two forces assumed a meiia6 r t
ing attitude in the vicinity of Constantinople, on the Asiatic-
side of the Bosporus. Gainas opened negotiations with the
Emperor, refusing to communicate with any lesser power,
complained that his services had been inadequately requited,
and demanded, as a preliminary to any further correspond-
ence, the surrender of three principal favourites at Court
Aurelian the Consul, Saturninus the husband of Castricia,
and the Count John. The embarrassment of the Court was
extreme ; but the three ministers, in a genuine spirit, to all
appearance, of Roman courage and self-sacrifice for the good
of the State, crossed the Bosporus, and sent word to the
camp of Gainas that they had come to surrender themselves
into his hands. The chieftain subjected them to a grim
practical jest. He caused them to be loaded with chains,
and received them in his tent in the presence of an execu-
tioner. After all manner of insults had been heaped upon
them, the executioner approached and swung his sword over
them with a furious countenance as if on the point of decapi-
tating, but, checking the impending blow, only made a
slight scratch on their necks so as just to draw blood.
This savage farce having been' performed, the three were
simply detained in the camp without suffering further
violence. 1
Chrysostora appears to have laboured diligently to miti-
gate the demands of Gainas. His language, in a homily
delivered just after the surrender of the three captives,
implies that some degree of success had attended his efforts,
but it manifests also a feeling of great depression, caused
by the unsettled, indeed anarchical, state of public affairs.
"After a long interval of silence, I return to you, my
beloved disciples a silence occasioned, not by any indif-
ference or indolence, but by my absence spent in earnest
1 Zosim. v. 18. Socrat. vi. 6. Sozom. viii. 4.
258 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xv.
endeavours to allay a tempest, and to bring into a haven
those who were beginning to drown." . . . "For this pur-
pose I have withdrawn from you for a time, going back-
wards and forwards" [across the Bosporus], "exhorting,
beseeching, supplicating, so as to avert the calamity which
was impending over the higher powers. But now that these
dismal matters have been concluded I return to you. . . ."
He had gone to rescue those who were falling and tempest-
tossed ; he came back to confirm those who were still stand-
ing and at rest, lest they should become victims of some
calamity. " For there is nothing secure, nothing stable in
human affairs; they are like a raging sea, every day pro-
ducing strange and fearful shipwrecks. The world is full of
tumult and confusion ; everywhere are cliffs and precipices,
rocks and reefs, fearfulness and trembling, peril and sus-
picion. No one trusts any one ; each man is afraid of his
neighbour. The time is at hand which the prophet depicted
in those words : ( Trust not in a friend, put not confidence in
a guide ' (Micah vii. 5) ; civil strife prevails everywhere,
not honest open warfare, but veiled under ten thousand
masks. Many are the fleeces beneath which are concealed
innumerable wolves; so that one might live more safely
among enemies than among those who appear to be friends." 1
It is possible that the intercessions of Chrysostom may
have saved the lives of the three captives, or averted any
immediate assault of the Gothic army ; but Gainas was in
a position to dictate any terms he pleased, and his army
was like a great swelling wave, threatening at any moment
to break in overwhelming force upon the capital. An inter-
view with the Emperor, protected from any insidious attack
by the solemn oath of each party, took place in the church
of St. Euphemia, situated on a lofty eminence above the city
of Chalcedon. The Gothic leader no longer pretended to
disguise his ambitious designs. He demanded to be made
1 Horn, cum Saturn, et Aurel. vol. iii.
CH. xv.] GAINAS MADE CONSUL. 259
Consul and Commander-in-chief of the Imperial army,
cavalry and infantry, Koman as well as barbarian troops ; in
short, he aspired to be in position the Stilicho of the East.
The Emperor yielded to these ignominious terms, which in
effect placed his capital at the mercy of a foreign invader.
The troops were rapidly transported from the Asiatic side
of the Bosporus and occupied Constantinople. They waited
but the word of their commander to fly upon the booty with
which the wealthy and luxurious city teemed, and which
they beheld with hungry eyes; but for a time the signal
was not given. 1
Gainas, either from sincere attachment to the Arian form
of faith, or possibly from ambition to display his power
to his countrymen, who were mainly of the Arian persua-
sion, demanded the abolition of that law of Theodosius by
which Arians were prohibited from public worship inside
the city walls. He represented that it was specially in-
decorous for the Commander-in-chief of the Imperial forces
to go outside the city to pay his public devotions. Arcadius,
intimidated, and as usual on the point of yielding, referred
the matter to the Archbishop. Chrysostom earnestly and
indignantly deprecated any concession ; to give up one of
the Catholic churches to the Arians would be to cast things
holy to the dogs, and to reward the impious at the expense
of the reverent worshippers of Jesus Christ. He begged
the Emperor to allow the whole matter to be discussed
between himself and Gainas in the royal presence, when
he trusted that, by the help of God, he should succeed
in silencing the Gothic heretic, and in repressing any re-
petition of his profane demand. 2 Gainas was not averse
from the interview ; he rather prided himself on his skill
in theological debate, and boasted of having vanquished
the monk Nilus on the question of the identity, or
1 Socr. vi. 6. Sozom. viii. 4. Theocl. v. 31.
2 Sozom. viii. 4. Theod. v. 32.
260 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xv.
similarity, of substance in the first two Persons of the Holy
Trinity. 1 The Emperor was well satisfied to act the part of
a quiet, irresponsible auditor. Accordingly, on the following
day, Chrysostom appeared at the palace, accompanied by all
those bishops who were in- Constantinople at the time.
Gainas put forward his demand. The Archbishop replied
that it was impossible for a prince who laid claim to piety
to take any step adverse to the interests of the Catholic
faith. If Gainas wished to worship inside the walls, all the
churches in the city were open to him. When the Goth
claimed a right to possess one for his own sect, in considera-
tion of his great services to the State, Chrysostom repelled
the demand with indignant scorn. " You have already
rewards far exceeding your deserts ; you are Commander-in-
chief and Consul. Consider what once you were, and what
now you are; consider your former destitution and your
present abundance. Look at the magnificence of your con-
sular robes, and remember the rags in which you crossed
the Danube. Speak not then of ingratitude on the part of
those who have laden you with honours. Eem ember the
oaths by which you swore fidelity to the great Theodosius
and to his children." He then cited the prohibitory law
issued by Theodosius in A.D. 381, called upon the Emperor to
enforce it, and on the Gothic commander to observe it. The
ecclesiastical historians concur in affirming that the Goth
was completely vanquished by the authoritative demeanour
and eloquence of the Archbishop, and for the time at least
desisted from pressing his demand; but it appears that
Arcadius was obliged to satisfy his rapacity by melting the
plate of the Apostles' Church. 2
Possibly, indeed, extortion of money had been the object
of Gainas from the beginning in making his demand for an
Arian church. The plunder-loving spirit of his army was
i Nili Mon. Epist. i. 70, 79, 114, 2 Sozom. viii. 4. Socr. vi. 6. Theod.
116, 205, 206, 286. v. 32.
CH. xv.] FLIGHT OF GAlNAS. 261
aroused, and the gold and silver visible on the counters of
money-changers, and in the shops of wealthy jewellers, was
a temptation constantly dangling before their eyes, till a
rumour of violent intentions, or perhaps common prudence,
caused the owners to remove these alluring treasures into
secret places of safety. If the enemy had entertained any
design upon the shops, it was transferred from them to the
palace, upon which they made a nocturnal assault. Accord-
ing to some accounts, it was repulsed by the vigorous
courage of the citizens, who fell with arms upon the assail-
ants ; according to others, Gainas was scared in several
attempts by a vision of an angelic host planted in bright
array around the walls of the palace. 1 The materials for
the history of these occurrences are so meagre that it is
impossible to ascertain details, but, from whatever cause,
Gainas resolved to escape from the city. Fearing that if
he attempted to quit it openly with his troops, he might
be forcibly stopped or impeded in his departure, he
pretended to be under the influence of a demon and that
he desired to offer up prayers for relief from his affliction at
the martyry of St. John at Hebdornon, seven miles outside
Constantinople.
As he was going out, however, by one of the gates on this
pretext, the guards stationed at the gate perceived that his
followers were taking with them a quantity of arms which
they endeavoured to conceal. The guards refused to let
them pass ; a fray ensued in which the guards were killed.
The inhabitants were seized with mingled rage and terror.
Gainas was declared by royal decree a public enemy. He
himself was outside the walls, and the city gates were now
all closed to cut him off and such forces as were with him
from those who were left inside Constantinople. A large
number of these assembled in and around the church of the
1 Sozom. viii. 4. Rocr. vi. 6. Zosirn. v. 19.
262 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xv.
Goths. Here they were attacked by the infuriated populace,
which set fire to the building. The Goths perished whole-
sale in the flames or by the sword. Gainas, with the re-
mainder of his followers, betook himself to a life of plunder
in the Thracian Chersonese. But he found the inhabitants
generally prepared to offer a stout resistance to his pillaging
bands, which were soon reduced to great straits for subsist-
ence. Meanwhile, a countryman of his in Constantinople
was organising measures for his destruction. Fravitta was
one of those Goths who had become assimilated to the people
among whom they lived. He had married a Eoman lady,
and was eminent alike for refinement of manners, for valour
in arms, and for honest fidelity to the government which he
served. 1 He offered to lead out such forces as could be
placed at his disposal, pledged himself to clear the Chersonese
of the rebels, and drive them, if necessary, beyond the
Danube. The offer was accepted with joy, and Fravitta
defeated the enemy in several engagements. Gainas
attempted to cross the Hellespont, and throw his troops
again into the fertile regions of Asia Minor ; but his flimsy
fleet of hastily-constructed rafts, being attacked by a well-
managed body of galleys in the middle of the passage, was
dispersed or broken in pieces, and a large part of his army
was drowned. Gainas then determined, with the remnant
of his followers, to beat a hasty retreat in the direction of
the Danube, where he hoped to be joined by some of his
own countrymen, and renew the offensive. The accounts of
his march are not quite harmonious, and somewhat obscure.
According to Zosimus, 2 he was hotly pursued by Fravitta
from place to place, across the range of Hsemus up to the
shores of the Danube, into the waters of which he plunged
on horseback, and with a scanty band of followers gained
the opposite bank, intending thence to make his way to the
i Eunap. Sard. Pragm. 60. Sozom. viii. 4. 2 vide c. 21.
CH. xv.] HIS DEFEAT AND DEATH. 263
settlements of his forefathers on the banks of the Pruth or
Borysthenes. But his design was frustrated by an unex-
pected enemy. The Huns occupied at that time the region
immediately north of the Danube, and their king, Uldes or
Uldin, was disposed to enter into friendly relations with
the Eoman Empire. He took up the pursuit which Fravitta
had abandoned at the river frontier, chased the unhappy
Goth like a wild beast from one hiding-place to another, till
at last the prey was caught and killed. His head was
carried on the point of a lance to Constantinople, as a visible
pledge of the good-will of the Hunnish chief. Sozomen and
Socrates, 1 on the other hand, represent him to have been
overtaken, routed, and slain by Eoman troops in Thrace. 2
Theodoret has a vague story of his own, that when Gainas
was ravaging Thrace, neither warrior nor ambassador could
be found courageous enough to encounter him but Chryso-
stom, who, yielding to the public appeal, set forth to inter-
cede, and was most respectfully received by the barbarian,
who placed the right hand of the Archbishop on his own
eyes, and brought his children to his knees it may be pre-
sumed, to receive his blessing. Theodoret does not venture
to affirm that the mission availed to induce the Goth to lay
down his arms, and the whole story has an unreal and
romantic character. 3
Three aspirants to the absolute control of the Eastern
Empire, widely different in race, character, and original
condition of life Eufinus, Eutropius, Gainas had alike
perished by a violent death. Fravitta was made consul, but
he was too loyal or too unambitious to go beyond the line
of his legitimate power. Eudoxia now stood without a rival
1 Sozom. viii. 4. Socr. vi. 6. which his head was brought into Con-
2 The Alexandrian Chronicle is pre- stantinople. This certainly leaves a
cise in fixing Dec. 23, A.D. 400, as the very insufficient interval for the events
date of his defeat on the Hellespont, recorded in Zosimus.
and Jan. 3, A.D. 401, as the day on 3 Vide c. 33.
264 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xv.
in the management of the Emperor and the kingdom. Her
influence over her husband was enhanced by the birth of a
prince, who afterwards mounted the throne as Theodosius n. ;
and thus the final obstacle was removed to her being solemnly
proclaimed Empress under the venerable title of Augusta.
CHAPTER XVI.
CHRYSOSTOM'S VISIT TO ASIA-DEPOSITION OF SIX S1MONIACAL BISHOPS
-LEGITIMATE EXTENT OF HIS JURISDICTION RETURN TO CONSTAN-
TINOPLERUPTURE AND RECONCILIATION WITH SEVERIAN, BISHOP
OF GABALA-CHRYSOSTOM'S INCREASING UNPOPULARITY WITH THE
CLERGY AND WEALTHY LAITY HIS FRIENDS-OLYMPIAS THE DEACON-
ESS-FORMATION OF HOSTILE FACTIONS, WHICH INVITE THE AID OF
THEOPHILUS, PATRIARCH OF ALEXANDRIA. A.D. 400, 401.
UP to this point the episcopal career of Chrysostom may be
pronounced eminently successful. He had distinguished
himself not only as a vigorous reformer of ecclesiastical
discipline, an eloquent master of pure Christian doctrine,
and preacher of lofty Christian morality, but he had done
good service to the State ; and even while he upheld with
inflexible firmness the full rights of the Church, he had not
by overbearing or haughty independence forfeited the good-
will, respect, and admiration of the Emperor and Eudoxia.
But now the horizon gradually darkens. We have to begin
unravelling a tangled skein of troubles, to trace a series of
subtle intrigues, against which the single-minded honesty of
Chrysostom was ill matched, ultimately bringing about his
degradation, exile, and death. We are fortunate in possess-
ing, to guide us among these complicated proceedings, the
narrative of one who was not only an eye-witness, but an
actor in many of the scenes which he relates. 1
i Palladius, author of the Dialogue . the same Bishop of Hellenopolis who
prefixed to Migne's edition of Chry- wrote the Lausiaca, vide Tillemont, xi.
sostonx's works. On the debated " Vie de Pallade."
question whether this Palladius was
266 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHEYSOSTOM. [CH. xvi.
In the spring of the year A.D. 400, during the military
usurpation of Gainas, twenty-two prelates had assembled in
Constantinople to confer with the Archbishop on ecclesias-
tical business. 1 Palladius has mentioned the names of a
lew, Theotimus from Scythia, Ammon an Egyptian from
Thrace, Arabianus from Galatia. One Sunday when the
conclave was sitting, Eusebius, bishop of Valentinopolis in
Asia, apparently not himself a member of the synod, entered
the place of assembly, and presented a document addressed
to the Archbishop as President, which contained seven grave
charges against Antoninus, bishop of Ephesus : " He had
melted down some of the sacred vessels to make plate for
his son ; he had transferred some of the marble at the
entrance of the baptistry to his own bath ; he had placed
some fallen columns which belonged to the Church in his
own dining-room ; he had retained in his employment a
servant who had committed murder ; he had taken posses-
sion of some property in land which had been left to the
Church by Basilina, the mother of Julian ; he had resumed
intercourse with his wife, and had children born to him,
after his ordination ; lastly, the worst offence of all, he had
instituted a regular system of selling bishoprics on a scale
proportioned to the revenue of the sees." Chrysostom pro-
bably perceived, or suspected from the eagerness of the
accuser, that he entertained some personal animosity towards
the accused. He replied with calmness and caution:
" Brother Eusebius, since accusations made under the in-
fluence of agitated feelings are often not easy to prove,
let me beseech you to withdraw the written accusation,
while we endeavour to correct the causes of your annoy-
ance." Eusebius waxed hot, and repeated his tale of
charges with much vehemence and acrimony of tone. The
hour of service was approaching; Chrysostom committed
1 There was in fact what might be the Patriarch being ex officio Presi-
called a floating synod of this kind dent. Tillemont, xv. 703, 704.
always in existence in Constantinople;
en. xvi.] THE AFFAIR OF ANTONINUS. 267
to Paul, bishop of Heraclea, who appeared friendly to
Antoninus, the task of attempting to conciliate Eusebius,
and passed with the remainder of the prelates into the
cathedral.
The opening salutation, " Peace be with you," was pro-
nounced by the Archbishop as he took his seat in the centre
of the other bishops, ranged, according to custom, on either
side of him round the wall of the choir or tribune. The
service was proceeding, when, to the amazement alike of the
clergy and the congregation, Eusebius abruptly entered the
choir, hurried up to the Archbishop, and again presented
the document of charges, adjuring him by the life of the
Emperor and other tremendous oaths to attend to its con-
tents. From the agitation of his manner, the people
imagined that he must be a suppliant entreating the Arch-
bishop to intercede with the Emperor for his life. To avoid
a disturbance in the face of the congregation, Chrysostom
received the paper of charges, but when the lessons for the
day had been read, and the Liturgy of the Faithful (Missa
Fidelium) was about to begin, he desired Pansophius, bishop
of Pissida, to "offer the gifts," and, with the rest of the
prelates, quitted the church. His serenity of mind was
ruffled by the impetuous behaviour of Eusebius, and he
dreaded the possibility of infringing our Lord's command
to abstain from bringing a gift to the altar when "thy
brother hath aught against thee." After the conclusion of
the service, he took his seat with the other bishops in the
baptistry, and summoned Eusebius into the presence of the
conclave. Once more the accuser was warned not to
advance charges which he might not be able to substantiate,
and was reminded that when once the indictment had been
formally lodged, he could not, being a bishop, retract the
prosecution. Eusebius, however, intimated his willingness
to accept all the responsibility of persevering with the
accusation. The list of charges was then formally read.
268 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHKYSOSTOM. [en. xvi.
The bishops concurred in pronouncing each of the alleged
offences to be a gross violation of ecclesiastical law, but
recommended that Antoninus should be tried upon the
cardinal crime of simony, since this transcended, and in a
manner comprehended, all the rest. " Love of money was
the root of all evil ; " and he who would basely sell for
money the highest spiritual office, would not scruple to
dispose of sacred vessels, marbles, or land belonging to the
Church. The Archbishop then turned to the accused :
" What say you, brother Antoninus, to these things ?" The
Bishop of Ephesus replied by a flat denial of the charges.
A similar question being addressed to some of the bishops
there present, described as purchasers of their sees, was
answered by a similar denial. An examination of such
witnesses as could be procured lasted till two o'clock in the
day, when, owing to the lack of further evidence, the pro-
ceedings were adjourned. Considering the gravity of the
affair, and the inconvenience of collecting the witnesses
from Asia, the Archbishop announced his intention of paying
a visit to Asia Minor in person. Antoninus, conscious of
guilt, and aware of the rigorous scrutiny to which his con-
duct would be subjected, was now thoroughly alarmed. He
made interest with a nobleman at court, whose estates he
managed (contrary to ecclesiastical law) in Asia, and be-
sought him to prevent the visit of the Archbishop, pledging
himself to present the necessary witnesses at Constantinople.
The Archbishop, accordingly, found his intended departure
opposed by the Court. It was represented that the absence
of the chief pastor from the capital, undesirable at all times,
might be especially inconvenient at a crisis when tumults
were apprehended from the movements of Gai'nas; and it
was unnecessary, as the appearance of witnesses from Asia
in due time was guaranteed. 1 Any delay was an immediate
1 We are in the summer of A.D. 400, and the capture and death of Gaiuas
occurred in Jan. A.D. 401.
en. xvi.] CHRYSOSTOM VISITS ASIA. 269
relief to the accused; and there was a further hope that,
by bribery or intimidation, the ultimate production of the
witnesses might be prevented. But he was disappointed;
for though the Archbishop consented to defer his own visit
to Asia, he appointed, with the sanction of the synod, three
delegates to proceed thither immediately and institute an
inquiry into the case of Antoninus.
The delegates were instructed to hold their court at
Hypcepoe, a town not far from Ephesus, in conjunction with
the bishops of the province ; and the Archbishop and his
synod further determined, that if .either the accuser or
accused failed to appear there within two months, he should
lie excommunicated. One of the delegates, Hesychius,
bishop of Parium on the Hellespont, was a friend of
Antoninus, and withdrew from the mission under the pre-
tence of illness; the other two, Syncletius, bishop of
Trajanopolis in Thrace, and Palladius, bishop of Helleno-
polis in Bithynia, proceeded to Smyrna, announced their
arrival to the accuser and defendant by letter, and sum-
moned them to appear at Hypcepce within the appointed
time. The summons was obeyed, but the appearance of the
two was only for the purpose of playing off a farce before
the commissioners. Strange to relate, a reconciliation had
taken place between Antoninus and his apparently impla-
cable accuser. Eusebius had yielded to the temptation to
commit the very crime which he had so vehemently de-
nounced. A bribe of money had quelled his righteous
indignation ; plaintiff and defendant were now accomplices,
whose one interest was to conceal their joint iniquities.
They professed great willingness to produce their witnesses,
but pleaded the difficulty of collecting persons who lived in
different and distant places, and were engaged in various
occupations. The commissioners requested the accuser to
name a period within which he could guarantee the appear-
ance of his witnesses. Eusebius required forty days. As
270 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. xvi.
this space of time covered the hottest part of the summer, it
was hoped that the patience or health of the commissioners
would be too much exhausted at the expiration of it to
prosecute the inquiry. Eusebius then departed, ostensibly to
search for witnesses ; but, in fact, he quietly sneaked away
to Constantinople, and concealed himself in some obscure
corner in that great city. The forty days expired, and,
Eusebius not * appearing, the two delegates wrote to the
bishops of Asia, pronouncing him excommunicated for con-
tumacy. They lingered a whole month longer in Asia, and
then returned to Constantinople. Here they chanced to
light upon Eusebius, and upbraided him with his faithless
conduct. He affected to have been ill, and renewed his
promises to produce witnesses. During these prolonged
delays Antoninus died; and Chrysostom now received
earnest solicitations from the clergy of Ephesus, and from
the neighbouring bishops, to apply a healing hand to the
wounds and diseases of the Asiatic Church. "We beseech
your Dignity 1 to come down and stamp a divine impress on
the Church of Ephesus, which has long been distressed,
partly by the adherents of Arius, partly by those who, in the
midst of their avarice and arrogance, pretend to be on our
side ; for very many are they who lie in wait like grievous
wolves, eager to seize the episcopal throne by money." 2
The death of Gainas in January, A.D. 401, set Chrysostom
free to comply with this earnest appeal to his authority and
aid. It was the depth of the winter season ; his health was
infirm and impaired by the strain of the past year's anxiety
and toil; but the zeal of the Archbishop disregarded these
impediments. He embarked at Constantinople without
delay, leaving Severian, Bishop of Gabala, to act as deputy
bishop in his absence. Such a violent north wind sprang up
soon after starting, that the crew of the vessel, afraid of being
; sometimes we have oo-iuTrjra, "your Holiness."
2 Pallad. Dial. c. 14 and 15.
CH. xvi.] HOLDS SYNOD AT EPHESUS. 271
driven on Proconnesus, lay at anchor for two days under
shelter of the promontory of Trito. On the third day they
took advantage of a southerly breeze to land near Apamea
in Bithynia, where Chrysostom was joined by three bishops,
Paul of Heraclea, Cyrinus of Chalcedon, and Palladius of
Hellenopolis. With these companions he proceeded by land
to Ephesus. There he was received with hearty welcome by
the clergy and by seventy bishops.
The first business to which the Archbishop and this
council of prelates addressed themselves was the election of
a new bishop to the see of Ephesus. As usual there were
many rival candidates, and factions supporting each with
equal vehemence. Chrysostom fell back on the expedient of
putting forward a candidate regarded with indifference by all
parties. The plan succeeded, and Heracleides was elected.
He was a deacon of three years' standing, ordained by Chryso-
stom, and in immediate attendance on him; a native of
Cyprus, who had received an ascetic training in the desert of
Scetis, a man of ability and learning. He comes before us
again as a fellow-sufferer with the Archbishop, to whom he
had owed his elevation.
Not long after the arrival of Chrysostom, Eusebius, the
original persecutor of Antoninus and of the simoniacal
bishops, appeared, and requested to be re-admitted to com-
munion with his brethren. The request was not immediately
granted ; but it was determined to proceed with the trial of
the accused bishops, to prove whose guilt Eusebius affirmed
that he could produce abundant evidence. The witnesses
were examined, and the crime being considered fully proven
in the case of six bishops, the offenders were summoned into
the presence of the council. At first they stoutly denied
their guilt, but finally gave way before the minute and
circumstantial depositions of lay, clerical, and even female
witnesses as to the place, time, and quality of the purchases
which they had transacted. They pleaded partly the pre-
272 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xvi.
valence of the custom in excuse for their crime, and partly
their anxiety to be exempted from the burden of discharg-
ing curial duties ; that is, from serving on the common and
municipal council of their city. Every estate-holder to the
amount of twenty-five acres of land was bound to serve in
the curia of his city. Many of the functions incident to
that office, such as the assessment and collection of imposts,
were (especially under an ill-administered despotism) in-
vidious and onerous. Constantine had exempted the clergy
from curial office, and the consequence was that many men
got themselves ordained simply to evade the disagreeable
duty; and this becoming detrimental both to the Church
and State, the law of Constantine underwent modifications
by his successors. The Church passed canons forbidding
those who were curiales to be ordained, the effect of which
was to diminish the number of wealthy men who entered
the ranks of the clergy. 1 The Asiatic bishops, therefore, if
curiales when ordained, had acted against the laws of the
Church, and could not legally have claimed exemption from
curial duties on the ground of their orders. They sued for
mercy to the council; they entreated that, if deprived of
their sees, the money which they had paid to obtain them
might be returned. In many cases it had been procured
with much difficulty ; some had even parted with the furni-
ture of their wives to raise the requisite amount. The
Archbishop undertook to intercede with the Emperor for
their exemption from curial duty ; the ecclesiastical question
he submitted to the council. The decision of the prelates,
under the influence of their president, was temperate and
wise. The six bishops were to be deprived of their sees, but
allowed to receive the Eucharist inside the altar rails with
the clergy, and the heirs of Antoninus were required to
restore their purchase-money to them. The deposed prelates
1 See, on this whole subject, Bing- 187 and 318, and the authorities there
ham, viii. 13. 6 ; and Eobertson, i. pp. cited.
en. xvi.] DEPOSITION OF GERONTIUS. 273
were superseded by the appointment of six men, unmarried,
eminent for learning and purity of life. 1
On his return through Bithynia the Archbishop was
detained by a not less difficult and delicate piece of business.
Gerontius, Archbishop of Nicomedia, the metropolitan of
Bithynia, was a singular specimen of an ecclesiastical
adventurer. He had been a deacon at Milan, but was
expelled by Ambrose for misconduct. He made his way to
Constantinople, where, by general cleverness, and by some
real or pretended skill in medicine, he became a favourite
with people of rank, and through the interest of some in-
fluential friends obtained the See of Nicomedia. He was
consecrated by Helladius, bishop of Heraclea, for whose son
Gerontius had managed to procure a high appointment in
the army. The new bishop of Nicomedia gained the attach-
ment of his people, again it is said, through his skill in
curing diseases of the body rather than of the soul. Ambrose
incessantly demanded of Nectarius, then Patriarch of Con-
stantinople, that he should be deposed ; but Neetarius did
not venture to incur the displeasure of the Nicomedians.
The bolder spirit and more scrupulous conscience of Chry-
sostom did not hesitate to strike the blow which his more
worldly and courtly predecessor had shrunk from striking.
Gerontius was deposed, whether by the sole authority of the
Archbishop, or by the decree of a council acting under his
influence, is not stated. Pansophius, formerly tutor to the
Empress, a man of piety, wisdom, and gentleness, was pro-
moted to the see. But the Nicomedians bewailed the loss of
their favourite ; they went about the streets in procession,
singing litanies, as if in the time of some great national
calamity. 2
Before quitting Asia, Chrysostom is also said to have
1 Pallad. Dial. c. 14, 15. Sozomen synod may have inquired into other
(viii. 6) says that Chrysostom deposed simoniacal cases beyond the original
thirteen bishops of Asia, Lycia, and six.
Phrygia. This is possible, as the 2 Sozom. viii. 6.
274 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xvi.
taken active measures for the suppression of the worship
of Midas at Ephesus, and of Cybele in Phrygia. 1 All
these proceedings are worth recording, not only as of
some ecclesiastical interest in themselves, but also because
they were all remembered and turned against him by his
enemies. It has been much debated whether Chrysostom,
by his acts in Asia, overstrained his legal powers, or rather,
whether he exceeded the legal boundaries of his jurisdiction
as Patriarch of Constantinople. The fact seems to be that
the importance of his see was in that growing state which
enabled the possessor of it, if a man of energy and ability, to
go great lengths without any exception being taken to his
authority, unless and until a hostile feeling was provoked
against him. By the Council of Constantinople, A.D. 381,
the Patriarch of that city was restricted in his jurisdiction to
the diocese of Thrace. 2 His authority over the dioceses of
Asia Minor and Pontus was not established till the Council
of Chalcedon, A.D. 451, when there was a long discussion on
the subject, and the papal legates especially resisted any
claim to such an extension; but it was affirmed that the
Patriarchs had long enjoyed the privilege of ordaining metro-
politans to the provinces of those dioceses, and so it was
finally conveyed to them by that Council ; and the additional
right was granted them of hearing appeals from these
metropolitans. 3 Theodoret (c. 28) simply observes that the
jurisdiction of Chrysostom extended not only over the six
provinces of Thrace, but also over Asia and Pontus. The
Council of Constantinople gave the bishop of that see the
first rank after the Bishop of Eome, because Constantinople
1 Tillemont, xi. p. J70. and twenty provinces. The Ecclesi-
2 Labbe, ii. p. 947. It must always astical divisions followed more or less
be borne in mind that Diocese was the plan of the civil. An archbishop
the name of the largest civil division of was bishop of the metropolis of a
the Boman Empire. Each diocese con- Province, a Patriarch of one or more
tained several provinces, e.g. Thrace, Dioceses.
six ; Asia, ten ; Pontus, eleven. The
whole Empire was divided into thir- 3 Can. xx\iii. ; and Can. ix. Chalced.
teen dioceses, and about one hundred in Labbe, iv. pp. 769 and 798.
CH. XVL] CHKYSOSTOM RETURNS. 275
was " a new Eome." The Council of Chalcedon declared
him for the same reason to be invested with equal privileges.
Chrysostom was welcomed, on his return to Constanti-
nople, with hearty demonstrations of joy. On the following
day he was at his post in the cathedral, and once more
addressing his beloved flock. In somewhat rapturous lan-
guage he expresses his thankfulness at learning that their
fidelity to the Church, and their attachment to their spiritual
father, had not been impaired by his absence, which had
lasted more than a hundred days. They were disappointed
that he had not returned in time to celebrate Easter with
them. But he consoles them by representing that every
participation of the Eucharist was a kind of Easter. " As
often as ye eat this bread, ye do show forth the Lord's death
till He come." " They were not tied to time and place like
the Jew. Wherever and whenever the Christian celebrated
that holy feast with joy and love, there was the true Paschal
Festival." 1 They regretted also that so many had been
baptized by other hands than his. " What then ? that does
not impair the gift of God ; / was not present when they
were baptized, but Christ was present." " In a document
signed by the Emperor, the only question of importance is
the autograph ; the quality of the ink and paper matters not.
Even so in baptism, the tongue and the hand of the priest
are but as the paper and pen : the hand which writes is the
Holy Spirit Himself." 2
The thankfulness and joy of Chrysostom at the affectionate
reception with which he was greeted by the people were
probably felt and expressed the more warmly, owing to some
unpleasant accounts which had been forwarded to him by
his deacon Serapion, that Severian, Bishop of Gabala, had
been endeavouring to undermine his influence in his absence.
1 Comp. Keble, Christian Year, for Easter Day :
" Sundays by thee more glorious break,
An Easter Day in every week. "
" Vol. iii. p. 421.
276 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. xvi.
It will be remembered that to Severian Chrysostom had
intrusted his episcopal duties during his visitation journey
in Asia. The circumstance of a bishop of Syria residing for
so long a time in Constantinople is worth considering, and
affords a curious insight into the character of the times.
Antiochus, Bishop of Ptoleniais in Phcenicia, had a reputation
as a learned and eloquent man ; he paid a visit to Constanti-
nople, and excited much admiration by his discourses.
Severian, hearing of his success, was animated by a spirit of
emulation, if not envy, which could not be satisfied till he
had exhibited his powers on the same theatre. He carefully
composed a large stock of sermons, and set out to try his
fortune in the capital. The unsuspicious and generous
Archbishop received him cordially, and frequently invited
him to preach. Severian possessed some powers of speaking,
though he had a harsh provincial accent, and he exerted all
his eloquence in the church, and all his arts of flattery out
of it, to win the confidence and admiration, not only of the
Archbishop, but also of the chief personages at court, and
even the Emperor and Empress. It was with their full
approval that he remained as deputy of the Archbishop
during his sojourn in Asia. But he found himself narrowly
and suspiciously watched by the Archdeacon Serapion, who
opposed some of his proceedings as arbitrary, and made no
concealment of his dislike. One day after the return of
Chrysostom, Severian passed through an apartment of the
episcopal palace where Serapion was sitting. Serapion rose
not to make the customary salutation of respect. Severian,
irritated by his discourtesy, exclaimed in a loud voice : " If
Serapion dies a Christian, then Jesus Christ was not incar-
nate." The last clause only of the sentence was repeated by
Serapion to Chrysostom. It was corroborated by witnesses ;
the indignation of the Archbishop was excited. Severian
was peremptorily commanded to quit the city. The Empress
resented the expulsion of a favourite preacher, and com-
CH. xvi.] SEVEKIAN EECALLED. 277
manded the Arclibisliop to recall him. Chrysostom yielded
so far, but was inflexible in his refusal to admit the offender
to communion, till Eudoxia came in person to the Church of
the Apostles, placed her infant son Theodosius on his knees,
and conjured him by solemn oaths to listen to her request.
The Archbishop then, but with some reluctance, consented. 1
He was, however, thoroughly honest in doing that to which
he had once made up his mind. Fearing that his congrega-
tion, in their zealous attachment to him, might disapprove of
the reconciliation, he delivered a short address on the subject.
He was their spiritual father, and he trusted therefore they
would extend to him the respect and obedience of affectionate
and dutiful children. He came to them with the most
appropriate message that could be delivered by the mouth of
a bishop a message of peace and love. There was also a
further duty incumbent on all respectful submission to the
civil powers. If the apostle Paul said, " Be subject to
principalities and powers" (Tit. iii. 1), how especially was this
precept incumbent on the subjects of a religious sovereign
who laboured for the good of the Church ? He besought them
to receive Severian with a full heart and with open arms.
The request was received by the congregation with expres-
sions of approbation. He thanked them for their obedience,
and concluded with a prayer that God would grant a fixed
and lasting peace to His Church.
Severian addressed them the next day in a rhetorical and
artificial discourse on the beauty and blessings of peace a
subject painfully incongruous with the subsequent conduct
of the speaker ; for this misunderstanding with the Bishop of
Gabala was the first muttering of the storm which was soon
to burst over the head of the doomed Archbishop. 2
The inevitable fate of one who attempts to reform a deeply
corrupt society, and a secularised clergy, on an ascetic model
befell Chrysostom. He lashed with almost equal severity
1 Socrat. vi. 11. Sozom. viii. 10. 2 y^. m p . 424 et seq.
278 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xvi.
the most unpardonable crimes and the more venial foibles
and follies of the age. His denunciations of heartless
rapacity, sensuality, luxury, addiction to debasing and
immoral amusements, might have been borne ; but he pre-
sumed an intolerable offence ! to censure the fashionable
ladies for setting off their complexions with paint, and sur-
mounting their heads with piles of false hair. The clergy,
too, might have tolerated his condemnation of the grosser
offences, such as simony or concubinage, but they resented
his restraint of their indulgence in the pleasures of society,
and of their propensity to frequent the entertainments of the
noble and wealthy. He was, as Palladius expresses it, " like
a lamp burning before sore eyes," for what he bade others
be, that he was pre-eminently himself. 1 None could say that
he was one man in the pulpit and another out of it. To set
an example to his worldly clergy, and to avoid contamina-
tion, he gave up his episcopal income, save what sufficed to
supply his simple daily wants. He resolutely abstained from
mingling in general society, and ate his frugal meals in the
seclusion of his own apartment. Thus, with the exception
of a few deeply attached friends, who measured practical
Christianity by the same standard as himself, he became
deeply unpopular among the upper ranks of society. With
the poor it was otherwise ; they regarded him as a kind of
champion, because he denounced the oppressions and extor-
tions of the rich, and the tyranny of masters over slaves,
and because he was ever inculcating the duty of almsgiving.
In the eyes of his friends he was the saint, pure in life, severe
in discipline, sublime in doctrine ; in the eyes of his enemies
he was the sacerdotal tyrant, odious to the clergy as an
inexorable enforcer of a rule of life intolerably rigid, odious
to clergy and laity as an inhospitable, if not haughty recluse;
a vigilant and merciless censor who rode roughshod over
established customs. Individuals at last, among clergy and
i Pallad. Dial. c. 18, pp. 62 and 67.
CH. xvi.] HIS FRIENDS. 279
laity, who conceived that they themselves, or at any rate
the section of society to which they belonged, were the butts
at which more especially the Archbishop aimed his shafts,
began to discuss their grievances, till their conferences
gradually assumed the shape of positive organised hostility
against the disturber of their peace. But before entering on
the troublous history of his enemies' machinations, it may
be well to take a glance at the most conspicuous of Chryso-
storn's friends.
The list of those who are known to us by more than their
mere names is soon exhausted. Among the clergy may be
reckoned Heracleides, made Bishop of Ephesus in the place
of Antoninus; Proclus, afterwards (in A.D. 434) Patriarch
of Constantinople, at present the receiver of those who
demanded audiences with the Patriarch ; Cassianus, founder
of the Monastery of St. Victor at Marseilles, and his friend
and companion Germanus; Helladius, the priest of the
palace, probably equivalent to private chaplain; Serapion,
the deacon 1 or archdeacon, 2 afterwards made Bishop of
Heraclea in Thrace, from which see he was expelled in the
persecution which befell Chrysostom's followers. With
most of these men he maintained a constant and affectionate
intercourse or correspondence during his exile to the close
of his life. With such intimate companions and friends the
austerity and reserve of manner which he assumed towards
those outside this circle vanished. All the natural amiability
and playful humour of his disposition shone out when he
was in their company ; he called some of them by nicknames
of his own invention, especially those who practised such
ascetic exercises as he specially approved. 3
Three ladies are distinguished as among his most faithful
friends. Salvina was the daughter of the African rebel
Gildo, and had been married by Theodosius to Nebridius,
nephew of his Empress, in the hope a vain one as it proved
1 Socrat. vi. 4. 2 Sozom. viii. c. 9. 3 Pallad. Dial. c. 19.
280 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xvi.
that this tie would attach Gildo to the Empire. Her
husband died young ; she vowed perpetual widowhood, and
became the patroness and protectress at the court of Arcadius
of oriental churches and ecclesiastics.
Pentadia was wife of the consul Timasius ; and when her
husband was banished by Eutropius to the Oasis of Egypt,
she had been persecuted by the merciless tyrant, and fled
for refuge to the Church, where she was protected in
sanctuary by the Archbishop in spite of the opposition of
her persecutor.
But by far the most eminent of Chrysostom's female
friends was the deaconess Olympias. She sprang from a
noble but Pagan family. Her grandfather, Ablavius, was a
praetorian prefect, highly esteemed and trusted by Constan-
tine the Great, and her father, Seleucus, had attained the
rank of count. She was early left an orphan, endowed with
great personal beauty, and heiress to a vast fortune. Her
uncle and guardian, Procopius, was a man of probity and
piety, a friend and correspondent of Gregory Nazianzenus.
Her instructress also, Theodosia, sister of St. Amphilocius,
was a woman of piety; one whom Gregory recommended
Olympias to imitate as a very model of excellence in speech
and conduct. Under this happy training, the girl grew
up to emulate and surpass her preceptress in goodness.
Gregory delighted to call her " his own Olympias," and to
be called " father " by her. 1 There could be no difficulty in
finding a suitor for a lady possessed of every attraction.
The anxiety of Procopius was to secure a worthy one.
Nebridius was selected ; a young man, but high in official
rank; Count or Intendant of the Domain in A.D. 382, Prefect
of Constantinople in A.D. 386. They were wedded in A.D.
384. Many bishops assisted at the ceremony, but Gregory
was prevented from attending by the state of his health.
He wrote a letter to Procopius, saying that in spirit, never-
1 Greg. Naz. Epp. Ivii. Iviii.
CH. xvi.] HISTORY OF OLYMPIAS. 281
theless, he would join their hands to one another and to
God. Part of the letter is written in a vein of sprightly
humour. " It would have been very unbecoming for a gouty
old fellow like himself to be seen hobbling about among the
dancers and merry-makers at the nuptials." 1 He also
addressed a poem to Olympias, in which he gives her advice
how she ought to conduct herself as a married woman. She
did not long need his counsel. Nebridius died about two
years after their marriage. Olympias regarded this early
dissolution of the marriage-bond as an intimation of the
Divine will that she should henceforth live free from the
worldly entanglements and cares incident to married life.
The Emperor Theodosius desired to unite her to a Spaniard
named Elpidius, a kinsman of his own, but she steadfastly
refused. The Emperor acted in that despotic manner which
occasionally marred his usually generous character. He
ordered the property of Olympias to be confiscated till she
should be thirty years of age ; she was even denied freedom
of intercourse with her episcopal friends, and of access to
the Church. But she only thanked the Emperor for those
deprivations, which were intended to make her hanker after
worldly life. "You have exercised towards your humble
handmaiden a virtue becoming a monarch and suitable even
to a bishop ; you have directed what was to me a heavy
burden, and the distribution of it an anxiety, to be kept in
safe custody. You could not have conferred a greater
blessing upon me, unless you had ordered it to be bestowed
upon the churches and the poor." The Emperor was softened;
at any rate he perceived the uselessness, if not the injustice,
of his treatment. He cancelled the order for the confiscation
of her property, and left her in the undisturbed enjoyment
of single life and of her possessions. Henceforward her
time and wealth were devoted to the interests of the Church.
She was the friend, entertainer, adviser of many of the most
1 Greg. Naz. Ep. Ivii.
282 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xvi.
eminent ecclesiastics of the day; the liberal patroness of
their works in Greece, Asia, Syria, not only by donations of
money but even of landed property. We may not admire
what was regarded in those days as among the most admir-
able traits of saintliness, a total disregard to personal neatness
and cleanliness ; but we can admire her frugal living, and
entire devotion of her time to ministering to the wants of
the sick, the needy, and the ignorant. Her too indiscriminate
liberality was restrained by Chrysostorn, who represented to
her that, as her wealth was a trust committed to her by God,
she ought to be prudent in the distribution of it. This
salutary advice procured for him the ill-will of many
avaricious bishops and clergy, who had profited, or hoped
to profit, by her wealth. 1 She, on her side, repaid the Arch-
bishop for his spiritual care by many little feminine atten-
tions to his bodily wants, especially by seeing that he was
supplied with wholesome food, and did not overstrain his
feeble constitution by a too rigid abstinence. 2
The leaders of the faction hostile to Chrysostorn among
the clergy were the two bishops already mentioned Severian
of Gabala and Antiochus of Ptolemais. To these was added
a third in the person of Acacius, Bishop of Beroea, He had,
in A.D. 401 or A.D. 402, paid a visit to Constantinople, and,
in a fit of rage at what he considered the mean lodging and
inhospitable entertainment of the Archbishop, had coarsely
exclaimed, in the hearing of some of the clergy, " 1 11 season
a dainty dish for him." 3 The ladies who acquired a melan-
choly pre-eminence among the enemies of the Archbishop
were the intimate friends of the Empress, already mentioned
Marsa, widow of Promotus, the consul whom Eufinus
murdered ; Castricia, wife of the consul Saturninus ; and
1 Theophilus is said to have fallen 2 Pallad. Dial. c. 16, 17. Sozom.
down before her and kissed her knees, viii. 9.
an obeisance prompted by avaricious
hopes on his part, and repelled by 3 Pallad. Dial. c. 6. Tillemont xiv.
genuine humility on hers. p. 219 seq.: ^yu> avr$ aprvw
en. XVL] CHRYSOSTOM'S ENEMIES. 283
Eugraphia, a wealthy widow, all rich women " who used
for evil the wealth which their husbands had through
evil obtained." Proud, intriguing, licentious, they were all
exasperated against the Archbishop for the censure which
he had unsparingly pronounced upon their moral conduct, as
well as their vain and extravagant display in dress. The
house of Eugraphia became the rendezvous of all clergy
and monks, as well as laity, who were disaffected to him.
Among the clergy was Atticus, who was obtruded on the
see as Archbishop after the banishment of Chrysostom.
This worthy cabal collected, and disseminated with praise-
worthy industry, whatever tales could damage the character
and influence of the Archbishop. His real failings were
exaggerated, others were invented, and his language mis-
represented. He was irascible, inhospitable, uncourteous,
parsimonious ; he had unmercifully assailed Eutropius with
harsh language when he fled for refuge to the Church ; he
had behaved disrespectfully to Gaiuas when he was "magister
militum ;" but, worse than all, he had audaciously attacked
the Augusta herself, and had insulted her sacred majesty by
indicating her under the name of Jezebel. This is scarcely
credible in itself, and is distinctly contradicted by the most
trustworthy authorities ; but it is stated that he had reproved
the Empress for appropriating with harshness, if not
violence, a piece of land ; and of course the blows which he
directed against inordinate luxury, unseemly parade of dress
and the like, fell heavily upon the most prominent leader in
these follies. She was probably mortified also to find that
her display of religious zeal, her pious attendance on the
services of the Church, her pilgrimages, her really liberal
donations to good works, did not protect her from censure in
other things. Chrysostom was not one of those who would
connive at evil for the benefit, as some might have repre-
sented it, of the Church. He would not sacrifice what he
believed to be the interests of morality, for the supposed
284 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xvi.
advantage either of himself or of the Church over which he
ruled. Wrong was wrong and must be rebuked, though
the actor was the Empress herself, though that Empress
was inclined to be the benefactress and patroness of the
Church, and though she might become, as she did become,
his implacable foe.
The clergy only needed an equally potent leader on their
side, and then the organisation of the hostile forces would
be complete. Such a chief was to be found in the Patriarch
of Alexandria, Theophilus, who had already displayed a
malignant spirit at the ordination of the Archbishop, though
intimidated by Eutropius into submission. He was only
waiting his opportunity for revenge, which a concurrence of
circumstances now put into his hands.
After making the most of such charges as gossip, aided
by malice, could manufacture at Constantinople, the enemy
employed one of the party, a despicable Syrian monk named
Isaac, to make a scrutinising inquiry at Antioch into the
previous life of Chrysostom. A youth passed in such a
licentious and voluptuous city could not fail, they thought,
to betray some stains if submitted to a rigorous inspection.
But their malevolent expectations were disappointed, for
their miserable spy could bring back nothing but unmixed
praise of an immaculate youth and a pious manhood. 1
At this juncture the intriguers applied to Theophilus, and
they could not have secured a more willing and able director
of their plans. The character of this prelate, and his pro-
minent position in the final events of Chrysostom's career,
demand some notice. Of his family and early life little is
known. He had a sister who sympathised with him in his
ambitious schemes; and Cyril, who succeeded him in the
patriarchate, and too largely inherited his spirit, was his
nephew. He spent a portion of his younger manhood as a
recluse in the Mtrian desert, where he became familiar with
i Pallad. Dial. c. 5, 6, 18, 19.
CH. xvi.] THEOPHILUS OF ALEXANDEIA. 285
the most eminent anchorites of that period, Elurion, Ammon,
Isidore, and Macarius. He was secretary to Athanasius,
and a presbyter of Alexandria under Peter, his successor ;
and, on the death of Timothy in A.D. 385, who succeeded
Peter, he was elevated to the see. All historians concur in
admitting that he possessed great ability ; that he was cap-
able of conceiving great projects, and executing them with
courage and address. Jerome has described him as deeply
skilled in science, especially mathematics and astrology, and
highly praises his eloquence. 1 He had a passion for building,
and his episcopate was distinguished equally by the de-
struction of Pagan temples and the erection of Christian
churches. The most splendid of these were the church of
St. John the Baptist at Alexandria, and another at Canopus.
l>ut to gratify this expensive taste he was grasping of money,
too often to the neglect of those indigent people who were
dependent on the alms of the Church. He combined his
efforts with Chrysostom's, as has been already related, in
healing the schism of Antioch in A.D. 399, after which little
is known of his history, till he becomes Chrysostom's im-
placable and too successful foe. 2
1 Jerome in Ruf. lib. ii. c. 5. Ep. xxxi. p. 203.
2 Tillemont, xi. : Vie de Theophile.
CHAPTEE XVII.
CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH LED TO THE INTERFERENCE OF THEOPHILUS
WITH THE AFFAIRS OF CHRYSOSTOM CONTROVERSY ABOUT THE
WRITINGS OF ORIGEN PERSECUTION BY THEOPHILUS OF THE MONKS
CALLED "THE TALL BRETHREN" THEIR FLIGHT TO PALESTINE TO
CONSTANTINOPLE THEIR RECEPTION BY CHRYSOSTOM THEOPHILUS
SUMMONED TO CONSTANTINOPLE. A.D. 395-^03.
IN tracing to its starting-point the interference of Theo-
philus with the affairs of Chrysostom, we have to unravel a
curious and tangled skein of controversy. The doctrines of
Origen were as much an occasion of strife a hundred and
fifty years after his death, as he himself had been during his
life. With one hand holding on to the philosophy of the
past, and with the other firmly grasping the Christianity of
the present, he was persecuted by Pagans, yet never univer-
sally accepted and cordially trusted by the Church. 1 So
with his system of doctrine ; it became a sort of debatable
ground for the possession of which contending parties
strove. The prize was worth the struggle ; for the genius
of Origen could not be questioned, but the quantity of
his writings being enormous, 2 and the range of his doctrine
wide and many-sided, narrow-minded partisans, grasping
only a part of it, condemned or extolled him unfairly
on a single issue. The mystical element in his teach-
ing was carried by some of his admirers to extremes
of fanciful, allegorical, interpretation of Scripture, such
1 Euseb. Hist. vi. 3, 19. composed more books than most men
2 Jerome declared that Origen had would find time to copy. Epist. xxix.
CH. XVIL] WRITINGS OF ORIGEN. 287
as he himself would never have devised or approved.
To others of a more prosaic, material cast of thought
this same mystical vein was repugnant, and was denounced
by them with characteristic coarseness. Men of larger
minds, who had patience to peruse his voluminous works,
and ability to criticise them, admired his genius, recognised
his great services to Christianity, heartily embraced much of
his teaching, questioned some portions, and rejected others.
Such were Gregory Nazianzenus, Basil, Chrysostom, and
Jerome, who would never have been so great as writers, or
commentators, had they hot been students of Origen. As a
general statement, it may be true to say that he was less
acceptable to the colder, more practical, more realistic mind
of the Western Church, than to the lively imagination and
speculative spirit of Oriental churchmen. The most contro-
verted points, indeed, in his system were of a kind with
which the Western mind did not naturally concern itself.
The pre-existence of souls ; their entrance into human bodies
after the fall as the punishment of sin ; their emancipation
from the flesh in the resurrect: on ; the ultimate salvation of
all spirits, including Satan himself, these are questions
singularly congenial to Oriental, singularly alien from
Western, thought. The Origenistic controversy fell into
abeyance before the engrossing interest and importance of
the Arian contest ; but when that wave had spent itself, it
revived, and just at this period all the greatest names of the
day became engaged on one side or the other. As usual,
the real questions at issue were too often forgotten amidst
the personal jealousies, intrigues, angry recriminations to
which the discussion of them gave birth.
In spite of his doubtful orthodoxy, the Egyptian Church
could not fail to be proud of so distinguished a son as
Origen, and Theophilus was at first his earnest defender.
Some of the more illiterate Egyptian monks had recoiled
from Origen 's highly spiritual conception of the Deity into
288 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHKYSOSTOM. [CH. XVH.
an opposite extreme. Interpreting literally those passages
of Scripture where God is spoken of as if possessing human
emotions and corporeal parts, they altogether humanised His
nature; they conceived of Him as a Being not "without body,
parts, or passions ;" they obtained, in consequence, the
designation of " Anthropomorphites." Against this humanis-
ing, material conception Theophilus, in a paschal letter,
directed argument and proof. 1 It was received by many of
the monks with dismay, sorrow, and resistance. Serapion,
one of the most aged, burst into tears when informed that
the mind of the Eastern Church concurred, on the whole,
with the doctrine of Theophilus, and exclaimed, " My God
is taken away, and I know not what to worship." 2
Eufinus, a monk of Aquileia, and for a time the ardent
friend of Jerome, was, during a visit to Egypt, initiated by
Theophilus into the doctrines of Origen, conceived a warm
admiration for them, extolled him as the light of the Gospel
next to the Apostles, and imparted some of his own enthu-
siasm to John, bishop of Jerusalem, whom he soon after-
wards visited. Jerome fully appreciated the merits of
Origen, though his larger mind and more extensive knowledge
were not blind to his defects.
Such were the amicable relations between the leading
churchmen of the East in A.D. 395, when a visitor from the
West threw among them the apple of discord. This was
Aterbius, a pilgrim, who had a reputation as a subtle theo-
logian, and appears, immediately on his arrival in Jerusalem,
to have applied himself to the business of detecting heresy.
He entered into friendly intercourse for a short time with
the bishop and Eufinus, and then suddenly included Jerome
with them both in a public denunciation as Origenists, and
1 The Paschal Letter was a circu- Lent and of Easter Day, whence the
lar addressed to clergy and monks name ; but other matters were, as in
throughout the diocese soon after the the present instance, frequently intro-
Epiphany ; the primary object was to duced. See Tillemont, xi. 462.
announce the date of the first day of 2 Socrat. vi. 7. Sozom. viii. 11, 12.
CH. xvii.] STRIFE ABOUT ORIGEN. 289
declared the whole diocese of Jerusalem to be infected with
that heresy. Jerome immediately and indignantly repudiated
the charge ; he declared that he was not an Origenist, for
that he merely read the works of Origen with reservations,
as he might those of a heretic. 1 Eufinus would not con-
descend to make any defence, oral or written, but shut
himself up in his cloister in sullen silence till Aterbius had
quitted Jerusalem, fearing, so Jerome affirms, to condemn
what he really approved, or to incur the reproach of heresy
by an open resistance. 2 John of Jerusalem was equally
indignant at the accusation, but displeased with Jerome for
publicly exculpating himself independently of his bishop.
In fact, the episcopal pride -of the Bishop of Jerusalem was
severely wounded at this time, both by the pre-eminence of
the metropolitan see of Csesarea, 3 and by the reputation
of Jerome's monastic establishment at Bethlehem, which
attracted visitors from all parts of Christendom.
When the minds of all were thus ruffled, a second and far
more mischievous visitor arrived in the person of Epiphanius,
the octogenarian Bishop of Constantia, Metropolitan of
Cyprus. He was one of those men who, joining some
erudition and a high reputation for rigid orthodoxy to a
narrow mind and impulsive temper, figure prominently in
theological warfare as the very personifications of discord.
Shocked at the intelligence of the heretical tendency in
Palestine, and vexed that it should have been detected by a
stranger rather than by himself, who was a native of Palestine,
and the visitor of a monastery between Jerusalem and
Hebron, he lost not a moment in setting out for the Holy
City. He accepted the hospitality of the Bishop John, and
spent the evening in all amity with him, nor was the
obnoxious subject of dispute mentioned between them. 4
1 Jerome in Ruf. iii. ; and Ep. Ixi. archate in the reign of Theodosius u.,
2 In Ruf. iii. 33. and its jurisdiction fixed to the three
3 The contest for precedence was Palestines by the Council of Chalce-
eventually decided in favour of Jem- don, A.D. 451.
salem. The see was made a Patri- 4 Jerome, Ep. xxxviii.
T
290 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xvn.
. A strange scene took place on the following day.
In the church of the Holy Sepulchre, in the presence of
a large congregation, Epiphanius fulminated a discourse
against Origen, his doctrines, and all who favoured them.
Bishop John and his clergy expressed their contempt by
grimaces, sneers, and impatient scratchings of their heads.
At last an archdeacon stepped forward, and required
Epiphanius, in the name of the bishop, to desist from his
discourse. The assembly was dissolved, but met again in
the afternoon, largely augmented, in the church of the Holy
Cross. This time Bishop John discoursed, and denounced
the Anthropomorphites, or Humanisers, under which oppro-
brious name the partisans of Origen endeavoured to include
all their opponents. Pale and trembling, and in a voice
quivering with passion, the bishop directed his discourse,
and turned his body, towards Epiphanius, who sat motion-
less in his chair. The invective being concluded, the aged
Bishop of Constantia rose and pronounced these words with
solemn deliberation : " All that John, my brother in the
priesthood, my son in age, has just said against the heresy
of the Anthropomorphites I thoroughly approve ; and as we
both condemn that absurd belief, it is only just that we
should both denounce the errors of Origen." 1 A general
laugh and acclamation on the part of the assembly pro-
claimed their sense of this speech as a successful hit. John
made one more effort to right himself. He preached again
in the church of the Holy Cross, this time on the chief
verities of the faith, the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Atone-
ment, the condition of souls before and after this life. It
was intended to be a grand and convincing display of his
orthodoxy, and at the moment Epiphanius expressed even
approbation. On subsequent reflection, however, the aged
critic thought he discovered that it teemed with error. He
abruptly quitted Jerusalem, repaired to Bethlehem, resisted
1 Jerome, Ep. xxxviii.
en. xvii.] AT JERUSALEM. (
the solicitation of Jerome and his friends to' be recOtffejIed,
and addressed a circular letter to all the monasteries'* of \.
Palestine, requiring them to break off communion with the %
Bishop of Jerusalem.
Eufinus ranged himself immediately on the side of Bishop
John ; but Jerome, though with somewhat balanced feelings,
sided on the whole with Epiphanius. Then the pent-up
jealousy of John towards the monasteries of Bethlehem burst
forth ; they were placed under interdict, and the church of
the Holy Manger closed against them. They were in despair
for want of a priest to celebrate the Eucharist; but Epi-
phanius provided one through a forcible ordination. The
young Paulinian had always steadfastly declined holy orders,
though considered eminently qualified by his learning and
virtue. He was now on a visit to the monastery of Epi-
phanius, near Eleutheropolis. When Epiphanius was cele-
brating the Eucharist, the young man was seized by the
deacons, dragged to the steps of the altar, and there made to
kneel. Epiphanius approached, cut off some of his hair,
ordained him deacon, and obliged him to assist in the cele-
bration on the spot. At a fresh sign from the bishop he
was a second time seized, gagged to prevent his adjuring the
bishop in the name of Jesus Christ, and when he rose from
his knees he was declared to be a priest. 1 The joy which
filled the monasteries of Bethlehem was only to be equalled
by the indignation of their opponents at Jerusalem. John
actually applied (not without money, it is said) to Eufinus
at Constantinople, then Praetorian Prefect, and even pro-
cured a decree of banishment against Jerome; 2 but, the
murder of Kufinus taking place soon afterwards, the gover-
nor of Csesarea evaded the execution of the decree. Jerome
retaliated by one of those fierce, nervous philippics which
exhibit more command of language than of temper. The
governor of Palestine made a praiseworthy but ineffectual
1 Jerome, Ep. ex. 2 Ibid. Ep. xxxviii. and xxxix.
292 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xvn.
effort to bring about a reconciliation. John had determined
to invite an arbitrator, from whom he expected a strong
partiality for his own cause. He appealed to Theophilus,
from whom Kufinus, the monk, had derived his first
acquaintance with Origen. Jerome indignantly complained
of this invocation of a foreign jurisdiction. Was not Csesarea
the metropolitan see of Palestine ? why this contempt of
ecclesiastical law ?* Theophilus, however, had no scruples in
accepting the appeal. It was just one of those recognitions
of pre-eminence which the Patriarch of Alexandria, like
the Bishops of Eome, joyfully welcomed. The gratification
of ambition was pleasantly disguised from others, and per-
haps from themselves, under the semblance of peacemaking.
Theophilus despatched Isidore as his legate to Palestine.
His arrival was preceded by two letters, one intended for
the Bishop of Jerusalem, the other for Vincentius, the pres-
byter and friend of Jerome at Bethlehem.
Unfortunately the letter intended for the bishop was
delivered to Vincentius, and he and Jerome read with indig-
nation assurances of sympathy and friendship towards John,
and expressions of contempt for Jerome and his party, the
language, in short, of an accomplice rather than of an arbi-
trator. It set forth in flowery oriental terms the confi-
dence of the legate in the success of his mission ; " as smoke
disperses in the air, as wax melts before the fire, so will
these enemies, who always resist the faith, and seek to dis-
turb it now, by means of simple ignorant men be dispersed
on my arrival." 2 The legate took up his abode at Jerusalem,
and spent his time in familiar intercourse with the bishop
and Eufinus. To Bethlehem he paid occasional visits, where
he conducted himself with dictatorial haughtiness. Jerome
and the monks plainly perceived that the so-called arbi-
trator was committed to one side which was not theirs.
But on a sudden, in A.D. 398, the Patriarch wheeled
1 Jerome, Ep. xxxviii. 2 Ibid.
CH. XVIL] THEOPHILUS CHANGES SIDES. 293
round ; he discovered that he had been in error. " The
writings of Origen were fraught with danger to the un-
learned, however profitable to philosophic minds." Such
was the reason alleged for this sudden revulsion of opinion.
The real reasons appear to have been of a less calm and
philosophic character. One of the most distinguished pres-
byters in Alexandria at this time was Isidore, an octo-
genarian. His youth had been spent in pious seclusion,
among the monks of Scetis and Mtria, and his piety had
attracted the notice of Athanasius, whom he accompanied to
Eome in A.D. 341, and by whom he was afterwards ordained
priest. He became the Hospitaller of the Church in Alex-
andria, whose duty it was to attend to the reception of
Christian visitors. In spite of great personal austerity, he
was, as became his position, gentle and amiable to all men,
even Pagans, when brought into contact with them. In
A.D. 398, at the age of eighty, he had been employed to carry
to Eome the recognition by Theophilus of Flavian as bishop
of Antioch ; and now, in the extremity of age, he was
destined to become the first victim of a persecution by
Theophilus, which, beginning with him, culminated in the
deposition and exile of Chrysostom. 1
An opulent widow committed to Isidore a large sum of
money to be expended on clothing for the poor of Alexandria,
and adjured him by a solemn oath to conceal the trust from
Theophilus, lest the Patriarch's well-known cupidity should
be tempted to appropriate the money to aid his grand
operations in building. The precaution, however, was vain :
nothing said or done in his diocese could escape the vigi-
lance of informers in the employ of Theophilus. Isidore
was questioned by the Patriarch concerning the charitable
gift, and required to place the money at his disposal ; but
the hospitaller refused, and boldly maintained that it would
be better bestowed on the bodies of the sick and poor, which
1 Pallad. Lausiaca, p. 901. Tillemont, vol. xi.
294 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xvn.
were the temples of God, than on the erection of buildings.
The Patriarch was astounded at the temerity of his dis-
obedience, but dissembled for the moment the depth of
his resentment. Two months later, in a convocation of the
clergy, he produced a paper containing the charge of a
horrible and unmentionable crime against Isidore, which the
Patriarch said he had received eighteen years ago, but had
been unable to prove from the absence of the principal
witness. The whole charge turned out to be a baseless
fabrication; but Isidore was ejected from the priesthood
by the contrivance of Theophilus. 1
The aged hospitaller fled to the peaceful retreat of his
earlier days, the desert of Nitria. The most distinguished
of the monks in this seclusion were four brothers Ammon,
Dioscorus, Eusebius, and Euthymius eminent alike for their
piety and the height of their stature, whence they were
known by the name of the " tall brethren." They were vener-
ated as the fathers of the Mtrian monks. Theophilus had
in former times professed the highest admiration and respect
for their virtues. He had made the eldest, Dioscorus, bishop
of Hermopolis, and had persuaded, if not compelled, Eusebius
and Euthymius, much against their will, to be presbyters in
Alexandria. 2 Their simple piety was so much shocked by
the avarice and other failings of the Patriarch, that they
implored him to release them from clerical duties and
restore them to the freedom of the desert. When Theophilus
discovered their real reason for requesting this permission he
was furious, and tried to intimidate them into submission
by fierce menaces, but in vain. They withdrew, and for a
time the Patriarch was at a loss how to execute vengeance
on men who had few possessions of any kind to be deprived
of. But now the opportunity arrived. Isidore, the excom-
municated hospitaller, had been sheltered in their friendly
1 Pallad. Dial. c. 6. Other causes viii. 12, but not incompatible with the
of the enmity of Theophilus are men- account of Palladius.
tioned by Socrates, vi. 9, and Sozomen, 2 Socrat. vi. 7.
CH. xvii.] PERSECUTES THE " TALL BRETHREN." 295
retreat. Theophilus devised a malignant plan for disturbing
their peace. The "tall brethren" belonged to that more
mystical order of monks which embraced Origen's doctrine
of a purely spiritual Deity, and were determined adversaries
of the more sensuous and anthropomorphite school. Theo-
philus now scrupled not to declare himself in favour of the
Anthropomorphites, whom he had formerly denounced. He
encouraged the more coarse and ignorant to make violent
and tumultuous assaults on the monastic retreat of Nitria,
and directed the bishops of the neighbourhood to eject
several of the most distinguished monks, including Ammon.
They repaired to Alexandria, sought an interview with
Theophilus, requested to hear the cause of their ejection,
and remonstrated on the treatment of Isidore. Theophilus
burst into a violent rage, changed colour at every moment,
glared on them with bloodshot eyes, dealt blows to Ammon
on his face, and, while the blood trickled down, shouted,
" Heretic, anathematise Origen." One of the number was
put in prison to intimidate the rest ; but they all entered it
voluntarily together, and refused to come out unless their
companion also was released. This was at length permitted,
but the design of persecution was followed up. The Patri-
arch's paschal letter of A.D. 401 is chiefly occupied with a
condemnation of Origen and his disciples. He confesses,
indeed, that he had himself at one time been cast into that
fiery furnace of error, but, like the three children, he had
come out unscathed; "not even his hair or garments had
been singed." He describes himself as having now returned
from the land of captivity to the true Jerusalem ; Origen
and his doctrines are condemned with much heat; and a
prominent place is assigned to him and all his disciples in
the infernal regions. 1
But Theophilus was far from being contented to stop at
1 Pasch. Epist. of Theoph. quoted in Tillemont, xi. p. 470. Pallad. Dial. 6.
Sozom. viii. 12.
296 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xvn.
this point. He convoked a synod of neighbouring bishops.
The monks were not informed of it, nor invited to appear
and make their defence. Three of the most eminent were
excommunicated as heretics and magicians. It was in vain
that the monks protested against the injustice of condemn-
ing Origen or his readers on the strength of a few passages
only, and those, as they maintained, in many instances
garbled or interpolated. A synodical letter was published,
addressed to the Catholic world, reprobating the writings of
Origen. It produced a profound sensation in Eome, where
the Pope Anastasius anathematised Origen. 1 But the humi-
liation of the Mtrian brethren was not yet complete. Five
most insignificant monks, scarce worthy, according to Pal-
ladius, to discharge menial offices as lay brethren, were
ordained by Theophilus, one to a bishopric, one to be priest,
and the three others to be deacons. A small town was
created a see, there being none vacant to receive the new
bishop. With these tools the Patriarch could rapidly
execute his designs. His creatures prepared, under his
direction, a list of complaints and charges against the
Nitrian monks, which they publicly presented to him in
church. Armed with this, he had an interview with the
governor of Egypt, and obtained from him an order for the
forcible expulsion of insubordinate monks from the settle-
ment at Nitria. With a troop of soldiers and a rabble of
rascals, such as in all large towns are ready for the perpetra-
tion of any mischief, whom he had previously primed with
drink, the Patriarch fell by night upon the monastic dwell-
ings. Dioscorus was the first victim of his rage. He was
one of the "tall brethren," who had been compelled by
Theophilus to become bishop of Hermopolis. He was now
dragged before the Patriarch by some rude Ethiopian slaves,
and told that he was deprived of his see. Diligent search
was made for the three other brethren, but they were undis-
1 Sulpic. Sever, lib. i. c. 3.
en. XVIL] THEY FLY TO PALESTINE. 297
coverably hidden in a well. The fury of the Patriarch
expended itself principally upon inanimate objects; the
dwellings of the monks were pillaged and burned, together
with their valuable libraries, and, to the horror of the pious,
even some of the Eucharistic elements 1 were consumed in
the general destruction.
The havoc being completed, Theophilus returned to
Alexandria. The terrified monks came out of their hiding-
places, and, wrapping themselves in their sheepskins, their
only remaining property, set out from their beloved solitudes
to seek shelter and a new home elsewhere. Three hundred,
following the "tall brethren," took their journey towards
Palestine; the rest dispersed in different directions. Not
more than eighty arrived with the four brethren at Jeru-
salem, whence they shortly afterwards withdrew northwards
to Scythopolis, a place eminently adapted to their wants by
its situation in a well- watered valley rich in palm-trees, of
which the leaves furnished materials for mats, baskets, and
the other articles usually wrought by monkish labour. 2 But
distance did not dimmish the malice of their persecutor.
They were pursued by letters from Theophilus addressed to
all the bishops of Palestine, who were admonished not to
grant ecclesiastical communion or shelter to the heretical
fugitives. Jerome mentions two commissioners who scoured
Palestine, and left no hole or cave unexplored in the dili-
gence of their search for the offenders. 3 Thus hunted and
harassed, the poor monks at length resolved to embark for
Constantinople, throw themselves on the generosity of the
Emperor and Archbishop, and submit their cause to their
decision. They reached the capital, fifty in number ; their
foreign aspect, bare arms and knees, and primitive garb of
white sheepskins, excited much curiosity and interest among
the people of Constantinople. . They repaired first of all
to Chrysostom, in the hope that his authority would be
1 Pallad. Dial. c. 7. 2 Sozom. viii. 13. 3 Jer. Ep. Ixx.
298 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xvn.
sufficient to procure them justice, without an application to
the civil powers. The Archbishop received them with great
kindness and respect, and shed tears of compassion when he
heard the tale of their sufferings and wanderings. But he
acted with caution ; he consulted some Alexandrian clergy
who were at this time in Constantinople engaged in distri-
buting presents to conciliate, or, more properly speaking, to
bribe, the favour of persons just appointed to civil offices in
Egypt. They admitted the virtues and hard usage of the
monks, but recommended him not to incur the displeasure
of Theophilus by admitting them to communion. The monks
were lodged in the precincts of the church of Anastasia;
Olympias and other pious women attended to their wants,
which were to some extent supplied by the produce of their
own manual labour. They were admitted to prayer in the
church, but excluded from the Eucharist until the merits of
their cause should have been carefully sifted, and their
excommunication revoked. Chrysostom, unsuspicious of
others, in his own innocence, was sanguine of his power to
obtain their restitution. He despatched a letter to Theo-
philus, in which he besought him in courteous and friendly
terms to be reconciled with the fugitives, and thereby to
confer a favour on himself, his spiritual son and brother.
But no notice was taken of the request ; and meanwhile the
agents of Theophilus were busily employed at Constantinople
in disseminating injurious tales about the monks they were
heretics, magicians, rebels.
Throughout the rest of Christendom Theophilus pursued
a different method. He toiled with diligence worthy of a
better cause to obtain a wide condemnation of Origen and
his works. Could he once secure such a general condemna-
tion, and then prove Chrysostom and the monks to be at
variance with it, he would possess a powerful engine in
working the ruin of both. It is difficult to believe that
even Theophilus would have pursued the monks with such
en. xvii.] IX CONSTANTINOPLE. 299
insatiable animosity had they not fled to the patriarch of
that see which was regarded with peculiar jealousy by the
bishops of Alexandria, and had not the present occupant
of that see been elected in preference to the candidate put
forward by himself. Thus he clutched at the opportunity
of depressing his rival, and punishing his victims, the
monks, at the same time.
He found a faction hostile to the Archbishop already
existing in Constantinople, and quite ready to submit the
management of their interests to his skilful direction. The
persecution of the monks was quickly dropped. Their sup-
posed offence was only the handle by which to compass the
destruction of a more formidable foe. Jerome contributed
powerful aid to the designs of Theophilus by favourable
notices of him in his letters, depreciating the conduct of the
monks. 1 But a more active auxiliary appeared in the
Bishop of Constantia, whose advanced age seems never to
have diminished the alacrity with which he entered the
lists of controversy. Theophilus, in his Origenistic days,
had attacked Epiphanius with some vehemence as an an-
thropomorphite ; but he now wrote a letter to the bishop
expressing regret for his former language, and his increasing
conviction of the mischievous tendency of Origen's doctrines. 2
He implored his holy brother to convene a council of the
bishops of Cyprus without delay, for the purpose of con-
demning the heretic, and of drawing up letters, announcing
their decision, to be sent round to the principal sees, espe-
cially Constantinople, where the heretical and contumacious
monks were harboured. Epiphanius flattered himself that
he had converted the Patriarch, and was delighted to receive
such a powerful accession to his side. The council was
summoned, the condemnation carried, and the letters de-
spatched. 3 Theophilus himself, at the commencement of
1 Jer. Ep. Ixxviii. in Ruf. Epp. Ixvii. 3 Socrat. (vi. c. 13) says that the
Ixxiii. writings only of Origen, not the man
2 Socrat. vi. 9. Sozom. viii. 14. himself, were condemned.
300 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xvn.
A.D. 402, issued a paschal letter, which contained a subtle
exposition and refutation of the Origenistic errors. The
letter was translated, and highly commended, both for
matter and expression, by Jerome. 1
To Chrysostom himself Theophilus wrote a sharp com-
plaint of his protecting heretics, and violating the canon of
Nice, which prohibited any bishop from exercising jurisdic-
tion in matters relating to another see. The cause of the
Mtrian monks, he asserted, could not be decided legally
anywhere but in a council of Egyptian bishops. It will be
borne in mind, however, that Chrysostom had carefully
abstained from pronouncing any decision, through a council
or otherwise, on the affair of the monks. They, indeed,
became provoked with him that he did not espouse their
cause more heartily. The agents of Theophilus were busily
engaged in damaging their character ; a little money easily
persuaded the sailors and others employed in the Alexan-
drian corn trade to point at the monks in the streets as
magicians and heretics. The monks declared to Chrysostom
their resolution to appeal to the civil powers to obtain a formal
prosecution of their accusers as base calumniators. Chryso-
stom remonstrated, and declined, if that step were taken, to
mediate any more in their affair. Some of his enemies in
Constantinople did not fail to represent this as a cruel
desertion of those whom he had at first befriended. 2
Thus hostile forces were on all sides closing round the
Archbishop, but he continued apparently unconscious of the
snares which were being woven for him. The Origenistic
controversy, into the vortex of which his enemies sought
to drag him, possessed little interest for him. The more
mystical, abstract speculations of Origen's theology were
alien from his practical sphere of work and practical habit
of mind ; and, in common with the other chief representa-
tives of the Antiochene school, Diodorus and Theodore, he
1 Ep. Ixxviii. 2 Pallad. Dial. c. 8.
CH. xvii.] PLOTS OF CHRYSOSTOM'S ENEMIES. 301
neither wholly embraced nor wholly rejected his system of
doctrine. At any rate, he paid no attention to the letter
from Cyprus, which requested him to join in the condemna-
tion of Origen and his writings. This was precisely what
his enemies wanted.
The Nitrian monks, cast off by the Archbishop when
they had announced their intention of appealing to secular
authority, drew up documents filled with charges of the
most flagrant crimes against their accusers and against
Theophilus. They demanded that their calumniators in
Constantinople should be immediately tried by the prefect,
and that Theophilus should be summoned to defend his
conduct before a council under the presidency of Chryso-
stom. One day, as the Empress was riding in her litter to
worship in the church of St. John the Baptist at Hebdomon,
she was accosted by some of those strange skin-clad beings
of whom, and of whose wanderings and wrongs, she had
heard much. She caused her litter to stop, bowed graciously
to the monks, and implored the favour of their prayers for
the Empire, the Emperor, herself, and her children. The
monks presented their petition; Eudoxia courteously ac-
cepted it, and promised them that the council which they
desired should be convened; that Theophilus should be
summoned to attend it, and that the accusers now in Con-
stantinople should either substantiate their charges, or suffer
the penalties of calumnious defamation. This inquiry was
immediately instituted; the poor culprits confessed that
they had been paid agents of Theophilus, and that their
accusations had been dictated by him. They therefore
entreated that their trial might be deferred till his arrival.
Meanwhile, however, they were put in prison, where one of
them died; and as the arrival of Theophilus continued to
be delayed, they were banished to Proconnesus for libel. An
officer was despatched to Alexandria to serve Theophilus
with a peremptory summons to appear at Constantinople,
302 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHEYSOSTOM. [CH. xvn.
and empowered to enforce his obedience, if he was reluc-
tant. 1
Thus the preparations for a judicial investigation of the
affair of the monks emanated not from Chrysostom, but
from the throne, although he was represented by his enemies
as the originator, and by Jerome he is styled a parricide
for labouring to condemn Theophilus. 2 Chrysostom seems,
in fact, to have dismissed alike the business of the monks
and the theological question of Origenism from his mind.
Intent on edifying the Church, instead of agitating it by
personal or polemical strife, he quietly pursued his daily
routine of duties as chief pastor, feeding his flock with the
wholesome food of the Word and of the bread of life.
Theophilus was unable to evade obedience to the summons
which commanded him to repair to Constantinople. His
only hope now was to change his position from that of the
accused into that of the accuser. The council which was
called together for the purpose of investigating his conduct
should, by his contrivance, be transferred into a council for
arraigning Chrysostom of heresy and misdemeanour. The
letters of Epiphanius and Theophilus having failed to obtain
from Chrysostom that condemnation which they demanded
of the writings of Origen, the Bishop of Constantia, at the
urgent request of Theophilus, set forth at the beginning of
A.D. 403 for Constantinople, bringing the decree of the
Council of Cyprus for the signature of the Archbishop.
Theophilus slowly proceeded overland from Egypt through
Syria, Cilicia, and Asia Minor, in order to bring up as many
bishops as possible to the council, who would be prepared
to act under his direction. Epiphanius, having landed,
halted at the church of St. John, outside Constantinople,
held an assembly of clergy, and even, it is said, committed
the irregularity of ordaining a deacon. 3 Chrysostom, how-
ever, acted with all due courtesy and discretion. He sent
i Sozorn. viii. 13. Pallad. Dial. c. 8. 2 Ep. xvi. 3 Socrat. vi. c. 12.
CH. xvii.] ARRIVAL OF EPIPHANIUS. 303
out a large body of clergy to welcome the visitor by inviting
and conducting him to the hospitable lodging prepared for
him in the archiepiscopal palace. Epiphanius, acting on
preconceived judgment of the two chief subjects in dispute,
declined the offer unless the Archbishop would consent to
expel the monks, and to sign the decree against Origen.
Chrysostom justly replied that he could not anticipate
the decision of a council which was being summoned for
the very purpose of considering both these questions.
Epiphanius, therefore, found a lodging elsewhere, and dili-
gently strove to induce such bishops as he could collect to
sign the decree. 1 His reputation for learning, orthodoxy,
and piety secured the consent of many, but on the part of
many more there was determined opposition. Eminent
among these was Theotimus, a Goth by birth, but educated
in Greece, who had been made Bishop of Tomis and Metro-
politan of Scythia. He was a man of genuine sanctity,
ascetic habits, and courageous spirit. Tomis was a great
central market of Gothic and Hunnish tribes, and the bishop
used boldly to enter the motley concourse and try to win
converts. He would invite savage Huns to partake of some
hospitable entertainment in his house, and by gifts and little
attentions, and courteous treatment, he sought to soften their
ferocity, and effect an opening in their hearts for the recep-
tion of Christian teaching. He came to be regarded by them
with a kind of superstitious reverence, and was commonly
called by them " the god of the Christians." Over his half-
episcopal, half-barbarian costume flowed the long hair which
betokened his Gothic origin. He lifted up his voice with
boldness to denounce the present ill-considered condemnation
of the works of Origen. It was unseemly and unjust, he
maintained, to pass a coarse and sweeping sentence on the
entire works of one whose genius had been acknowledged by
the whole Church. He produced a volume of Origen, and
1 Socrat. vi. 12. Sozom. viii. 14.
304 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. XVIT.
from it read some beautiful, powerful passages of irreproach-
able orthodoxy. Then, turning to Epiphanius, he asked
him how he could attack a man to whom the Church owed
a thousand similar, and even more beautiful, passages. " How
call him a son of Satan ? Place what is good in him on one
side, and what is bad on the other, and then choose." l
This courageous protest, however, did not divert Epiphanius
and his partisans from their course of action. In fact, they
proceeded a step further. It was arranged that when a
large congregation was collected in the Church of the
Apostles, Epiphanius should enter and harangue the assembly,
denouncing both the writings of Origen and his admirers,
especially the " tall brethren," and even Chrysostom himself
as their protector. Chrysostom, however, received intimation
of their design, and by his direction Serapion confronted
Epiphanius at the entrance of the church, and told him that
" he had already violated ecclesiastical law by ordaining a
deacon in the diocese and church of another bishop, but to
minister and preach without permission was a still grosser
outrage; a popular tumult would probably ensue, and
Epiphanius would be held responsible for any violence
which might be committed." Epiphanius, though not
without angry remonstrances, desisted. 2
Eudoxia seems to have placed special faith in the inter-
cessions of ecclesiastical visitors of distinction. As she had
formerly asked the prayers of the " tall brethren," so now,
the young prince her son (afterwards Theodosius u.), being
attacked by an alarming illness, she implored the prayers
of Epiphanius on his behalf. The bishop replied that her
child's recovery depended on her repudiation of the heretical
refugees. The Empress, however, declared that she should
prefer simply to resign her son's life to the will of God
who gave it without complying with the requisition of
Epiphanius. 3
1 Sozom. viii. 14 and 26. 2 Socrat. vi. 14. 3 Sozom. viii. 14.
CH. xvii.] DEPARTURE OF EPIPHANIUS. 305
It may be that these incidents were beginning to tell
upon the reason of the aged zealot, and open his eyes to the
irregularity of his proceedings; at any rate, shortly after
this, he granted an interview to Ammon and his brothers.
The record of the conversation is instructive. " Allow me
to ask, holy father," said Ammon, " whether you have ever
read any of our works or those of our disciples?" Epi-
phanius was obliged to confess that he had not even seen
them, and that he had formed his judgment simply from
general report. " How then," replied Ammon, " can you
venture to condemn us when you have no proof of our
opinions? We have pursued a widely different course.
We conversed with your disciples, we read your works,
among others one entitled the 'Anchor of Faith;' and when
we met with persons who ridiculed your opinions, and
asserted that your writings were replete with heresy, we
have defended you as our father. Is it just, on such slender
ground as common report, to condemn those who have so
zealously befriended you ?" These bold and pungent remarks
are said to have wrought compunction in the heart of the
aged bishop. He began to perceive that he had been made
the agent of a plot, and he lost no time in extricating himself
from it by departing from Constantinople. His farewell
words to some of the bishops who accompanied him to the
ship were : " I leave to you the city, the palace, and this
piece of acting." l
1 Sozom. c. 15.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THEOPHILUS ARRIVES IN CONSTANTINOPLE ORGANISES A CABAL AGAINST
CHRYSOSTOM THE SYNOD OF THE OAK CHRYSOSTOM PRONOUNCED
CONTUMACIOUS FOR NON-APPEARANCE AND EXPELLED FROM THE
CITY EARTHQUAKE-RECALL OF CHRYSOSTOM OVATIONS ON HIS
RETURN FLIGHT OF THEOPHILUS. A.D. 403.
REGARDLESS of the forces which had been set in motion
against him, Chiysostom pursued his usual course of work
without any variation. The reins of discipline were held
tightly as ever ; the Word was preached, in season and out
of season, with unabated diligence ; the people were exhorted,
admonished, rebuked with the same irrepressible earnestness.
His enemies took advantage of a sermon, specially directed
against the follies and vices of fashionable ladies, to represent
it as an attack upon the Empress herself. 1 Eudoxia, credu-
lous and impulsive by nature, and probably irritated because
the Archbishop did not pay her servile homage, complained
to the Emperor of the insult which had been cast upon her,
and was induced by the hostile party to expect the arrival
of Theophilus as an opportunity for redressing her wrongs.
That prelate was now rapidly approaching, with a large
number of bishops collected from Egypt, Syria, and Asia
Minor. Twenty-eight, on whose partisanship he could
reckon, travelled by sea to Chalcedon. Many bishops had
become disaffected to Chrysostom in Asia Minor, owing to
the rigorous investigation recently made by him into the
1 Socrat. vi. 15. Sozom. viii. 15.
en. XVIIL] ARRIVAL OF THEOPHILUS. 307
state of the Church in that region, and they readily joined
the camp of Theophilus. Prominent among them was
Gerontius of Nicomedia, whom, as will be remembered, he
had deposed. The whole force was at length (June 403)
assembled at Chalcedon, and a council of war was held, to
determine the plan of operations. None was more virulent
in his denunciation of Chrysostom, as tyrannical, proud, and
heretical, than Cyrinus, bishop of Chalcedon. He was an
Egyptian by birth, and Theophilus reckoned on him as a
valuable ally, but was deprived of his services by a curious
incident. Maruthas, bishop of Mesopotamia, accidentally
trod on the foot of Cyrinus : a wound ensued, the wound
gangrened, the foot had to be amputated, but the mortifi-
cation spread, and, after two years of lingering pain, put an
end to his life. 1
Theophilus made his entrance into Constantinople about
the middle of June. He had been summoned as a defendant,
but, according to his design already indicated, he appeared
surrounded by all the pomp and dignity of a judge. None
of the bishops, indeed, or clergy of Constantinople came to
greet him on landing, but the crews of the Alexandrian corn-
fleet gave him a hearty welcome, and he was accompanied
by a large retinue, not only of bishops and clergy, but of
Alexandrian sailors, laden with some of the costliest produce
of Egypt and the East, a very potent auxiliary in obtaining
partisans. As on the arrival of Epiphanius, so now, Chryso-
stom did not fail to offer the customary hospitality due to
a brother bishop ; but Theophilus disdainfully declined it,
passed by the palace and the metropolitan church, which
episcopal visitors usually entered on their arrival, and pro-
ceeded to the suburb of Pera, where a lodging had been
prepared for him in a house of the Emperor's, called the
Palace of Placidia.
During the three weeks that he resided here, he refused to
1 Socrat. vi. 15. Sozom. viii. 16.
308 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xvin.
hold any communication with Chrysostom, or to enter his
church; nor did he vouchsafe any reply to the frequent
entreaties of the Archbishop that he would state his reasons
for such conduct. His house became the resort of all the
disaffected clergy or affronted ladies and gentlemen in the
city, who were drawn thither, not only by a common hatred
to Chrysostom, but also by the handsome gifts, the elegant
and dainty repasts, and the winning flattery with which
they were treated by Theophilus. 1 These arts were the
more necessary because Theophilus had a double part to
play : to arrest the course of the accusation instituted against
himself, as well as to organise a powerful cabal against
Chrysostom. In the former he was helped by the scruples
or peacefulness of Chrysostom himself. The Archbishop
was directed by the Court to repair to Pera, and preside over
an inquiry into the crimes of which Theophilus was accused.
But he declined, on the plea that the ecclesiastical affairs of
one province could not, according to the Canons of Nice, be
judged in another ; partly also, as he affirmed, out of respect
for his brother Patriarch. The truth probably was, that he
foresaw the vindictive and turbulent spirit of Theophilus
would never submit to the decisions of a council under the
presidency of his rival in that see of which Alexandria was
especially jealous. Otherwise there is no doubt that a
General Council at Constantinople would have been com-
petent to judge the Patriarch of Alexandria ; whereas a Pro-
vincial Council in Egypt could not have judged him, he being
supreme there by virtue of his position as Patriarch. 2
Chrysostom himself also might legally have been arraigned
before a General Council ; but, as will be seen, the synod
composed by Theophilus was far from being entitled to that
appellation.
The obstacle of his own trial being thus disposed of, it
1 Pallad. Dial. c. 2 (Epist. of Chrys. to Innocent), and c. 8.
2 See Tillemont, vol. xi. ch. 71.
CH. xviii.] SYNOD MEETS AT "THE OAK." 309
only remained for Theophilus to prosecute his design against
his rival with mingled subtlety and boldness. The first step
was to secure a sufficient number of witnesses, and a list of
accusations, which, being presented to the Emperor, would
furnish a plausible reason for summoning a council. The
next step would be to pack that council with bishops hostile
to Chrysostom. Two despicable deacons, who had been
expelled from their office by the Archbishop for homicide
and adultery, were well content to draw up a list of charges
on a promise from Theophilus that they should be restored
to their former position. The accusations seem to have been
of a puerile character ; and if the source of them was known,
it would seem inconceivable that the Court should have
entertained them, did we not remember that the influence
of the Empress, as well as of many of the most powerful
courtiers, was now turned or rapidly turning against the
Archbishop, and that the bribes of Theophilus were per-
meating the whole city.
The attachment of the people, however, to Chrysostom
was known to be so strong, that it was deemed prudent by
the enemy to hold the synod at a safe distance from the city.
A suburb of Chalcedon, called " The Oak," where Eufinus,
the late prefect, had built a palace, church, and monastery,
was selected as a convenient place for the assembly. 1 The
bishops, after all the exertions of Theophilus, did not amount
to more than thirty-six, of whom twenty-nine were
Egyptians. 2 Among the latter was Cyril, the successor of
Theophilus. . Chrysostom was summoned to appear before
the synod. The scene in the archiepiscopal palace imme-
diately preceding the summons has been described by
Palladius, with the vivid and minute exactness of an eye-
witness.
l . Vide ante, Ch. xin. the most trustworthy authority.
Photius, Biblioth. (c. 59), says there
2 So Palladius, c. 8, on the whole were ibrty-nve.
310 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. xvni.
" We were sitting, to the number of forty bishops, in the
dining-hall of the palace, marvelling at the audacity with
which one, who had been commanded to appear as a culprit
at Constantinople, had arrived with a train of bishops, had
altered the sentiments of nobles and magistrates, and per-
verted the majority even of the clergy. Whilst we were
wondering, John, inspired by the Spirit of God, addressed
to us all the following words : ' Pray for me, my brethren,
and, if ye love Christ, let no one for my sake desert his see,
for I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my
departure is at hand. Like him who spoke these words, I
perceive that I am about to relinquish life, for I know the
intrigues of Satan, that he will not endure any longer the
burden of my words which are delivered against him. May
ye obtain mercy, and in your prayers remember me.' Seized
with inexpressible sorrow, some of us began to weep, and
others to leave the assembly, after kissing, amid tears and
sobs, the sacred head and eyes, and eloquent mouth, of
the Archbishop. He, however, exhorted them to return,
and, as they hovered near, like bees humming round their
hive, ' Sit down, my brethren,' he said, ' and do not weep,
unnerving me by your tears, for to me to live is Christ, to
die is gain. Recall the words which I have so frequently
spoken to you. Present life is a journey; both its good and
painful things pass away. Present time is like a fair : we
buy, we sell, and the assembly is dissolved. Are we better
than the Patriarchs, the Prophets, the Apostles, that this life
should remain to us for ever ? ' Here one of the company
uttering a cry exclaimed : ' Nay, but what we lament is our
own bereavement and the widowhood of the Church, the
derangement of sacred laws, the ambition of those who fear
not the Lord, and violently seize the highest positions ; the
destitution of the poor, and the loss of sound teaching.'
But John replied, striking, as was his custom when cogitat-
ing, the palm of his left hand with the forefinger of his
en. XVIIL] CHEYSOSTOM SUMMONED TO THE SYNOD. 311
right : c Enough, my brother no more ; only, as I was
saying, do not abandon your churches, for neither did the
office of teaching begin with me, nor in me has it ended.
Did not Moses die, and was not Joshua found to succeed
him ? Did not Samuel die, but was not David anointed ?
Jeremy departed this life, but Baruch was left ; Elijah was
taken up, but Elisha prophesied in his place ; Paul was
beheaded, but did he not leave Timothy, Titus, Apollos, and a
host of others to work after him V To these words Eulysius,
bishop of Apamea, in Bithynia, observed : ' If we retain our
sees, it will become necessary for us to hold communion with
the authors of your deposition, and to subscribe to your con-
demnation/ 1 To which the holy John replied : * Communi-
cate by all means, so as to avoid rending the unity of the
Church ; but abstain from subscribing, for I am not conscious
of having done anything to deserve deposition.' "
At this point in the conference it was announced that
certain emissaries from the " Synod of the Oak " had arrived.
Chrysostom gave orders that they should be admitted,
inquired, when they entered, to what rank in the hierarchy
they belonged, and, on being informed that they were
bishops, requested them to be seated, and to declare the
purpose of their coming. The two bishops, young men
recently raised to the episcopate in Libya, replied, " We are
merely the bearers of a document which we request that you
will command to be read." Chrysostom gave the order, and
a servant of Theophilus read the missive. " The holy Synod
assembled at the Oak to John" (thus did his enemies deprive
him of all his titles). " We have received a list containing
an infinite number of charges against you. Present yourself,
therefore, before us, bringing with you the priests Serapion
and Tigrius, for their presence is necessary." The bishops
who were with Chrysostom were very indignant at the
1 The language is not very clear in this passage, but such is, I conceive, the
drift of it. c. 8.
312 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xvm.
insolent tenor of the message. A reply to the following
effect was drawn up, addressed to Theophilus, and despatched
by the hand of three bishops and two priests : " Subvert
not nor rend the Church for which God became incarnate ;
but if, in contempt of the canons framed by 318 bishops at
Nice, you choose to judge a cause beyond the boundaries of
your jurisdiction, cross the straits into our city, which is at
least strictly governed by law, and do not, after the example
of Cain, call Abel out into the open field. For we have
charges of palpable crimes against you, drawn up under
more than sixty heads ; our synod, also, is more numerous
than yours, and is assembled, by the grace of God, after a
peaceful manner, not for the disruption of the Church. For
you are but thirty-six in number, collected out of a single
province; 1 but we are forty, from several provinces, and
seven are metropolitans. It is only reasonable that the less
should be judged, according to the canons, by the greater."
Chrysostom approved of this answer of the bishops, but
sent a separate letter on his own behalf : " Hitherto I am
wholly ignorant whether any one has anything to say against
me ; but if any one has assailed me, and you wish me to
appear before you, eject from your assembly my declared
enemies. I raise no question respecting the place where I
ought to be tried, although the most proper place is the
city." He proceeds to say that he objected to his declared
and implacable enemies, Theophilus, Acacius, Severian, and
Antiochus, being allowed to sit on the council at all. " He
could convict Theophilus of having said in Alexandria and
Lycia, ' I am setting out for the capital to depose John ; '
which, indeed, is true, for, since he set foot in Constanti-
nople, he has refused to meet or communicate with me.
What, then, will one do, after the trial, who has acted as my
enemy before it?" When these men should have been
1 This must have been a slight exaggeration, but the members do seem to have
been mainly Egyptian.
CH. xviii.] THE SYNOD OF THE OAK. 313
eliminated from the synod, or legally constituted as his
accusers, he would appear before a council, even if composed
of members from all Christendom ; but till this condition
was complied with, he would refuse to present himself
though summoned ten thousand times over. l
He demanded, in short, to be tried by an oecumenical
synod, as the only tribunal which could legally exact obedi-
ence from him. The Synod of the Oak, composed as it was
mainly of Egyptians and of declared enemies, could not
possibly pretend to that character. If the Imperial Court had
been upright and courageous, not susceptible of flattery and
bribes, not induced by personal animosity against the Arch-
bishop to favour or connive at the proceedings of his
enemies, such a synod could not have been held. That it
was held, and succeeded in the purpose for which it met,
will ever be a stain upon the Church and the Empire of the
East.
But although viciously constituted, and, indeed, all the
more on that very account, the synod made much display of
complying in formalities with the established order of an
ecclesiastical court of judicature. The prosecution was to be
carried on in the name of a plaintiff who was to be present,
and to submit his charge in writing. The defendant was to
be cited to appear and defend himself ; and if he failed to
appear after three or four citations, he would be pronounced
contumacious, and as such be punishable by the synod with
excommunication and deposition. The further penalties of
imprisonment, exile, or death could not be inflicted by any
but the secular power.
Theophilus was president of the synod, and the prosecu-
tion was conducted in the name of John, Archdeacon of
Constantinople, who cherished malice against Chrysostom
because he had once been suspended by him for ill-treating
a slave, though afterwards restored. The charges were
i Pallad. Dial. c. 8.
314 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. xvm.
drawn up under twenty-nine heads. The evidence of most
worthless witnesses was accepted, or, more properly speak-
ing, invited. A strange medley of monstrous and incredible
offences was included in the list of charges prepared by the
Archdeacon John acts of personal violence, as well as
violations of ecclesiastical discipline. " He had struck people
on the face, had calumniated many of his clergy, had called
one Epiphanius fool and demoniac, had imprisoned others,
had accused his archdeacons of robbing his pallium for an
unlawful purpose ; he had despotically and illegally deposed
bishops in Asia, and had ordained others without sufficient
inquiry into their qualifications, mental or moral; he had
alienated the property and sold the ornaments of the Church ;
he held private interviews with women, he dined on Cyclopian
fare, he ate a small cake after holy communion, he had
administered both sacraments, after he himself or the re-
cipients had eaten." 1 The crowning charge was that of
treasonable language against the Empress " he had called
her Jezebel." This was the trump card of the cabal. If
the Emperor's Court could be persuaded to believe him
guilty on this point, exile at least, and probably death,
would be the inevitable consequence.
Such were the principal charges in the list presented by
the Archdeacon John. A second list, presented by Isaac
the monk, accused him of extending sympathy and hospitality
to Origenists, of instigating the people to sedition, of using
unseemly expressions in his sermons, such as " I exult, I am
1 Phot. c. 59. Chrys. Ep. 125 ad in horror from the supposition of such
Cyr., where he indignantly repels the a gross violation of ecclesiastical rule
charge : " had he done so, might his as the act in his case would have
name be blotted out from the roll of been, but refuses to place it on the
bishops ;" but at the same time he same footing with the commission of
deprecates the treatment of such an a flagrant moral crime, or direct dis-
oflfence (had it been committed) with obedience to any command of Christ,
extreme severity : for had not our Lord There are, however, some doubts
Himself instituted that holy feast, and whether this letter is genuine. See
had not St. Paul baptized without pre- infra, p. 317, and note,
viously fasting ? Chrysostom shrinks
en. XVIIT.] CHEYSOSTOM EEFUSES TO ATTEND IT. 315
beside myself with joy," or language which gave a dangerous
encouragement to sinners ; for example, " as often as you sin
come to me and I will heal you."
By artfully making slight alterations in expressions actu-
ally used, and tearing them from their context, it was easy
to represent them as mischievous or blasphemous. It is not
surprising then that Chrysostom steadfastly refused to answer
in person such a list of partly monstrous, partly puerile, accu-
sations before such a synod. He pursued the only dignified
course possible under the circumstances. When a notary
from the Emperor came to him with a rescript, and showed
him the petition inserted in it from the synod, that the
Emperor would compel the attendance of the Archbishop ;
and when, presently, a second deputation from the synod,
consisting of a renegade priest of his own clergy, and Isaac
the monk, brought a peremptory summons from the synod,
he inflexibly maintained the same attitude. " I will not
attend a synod which is composed of my enemies, and to
which I am summoned by my own clergy. I appeal to a
lawfully constituted General Council." The citations were
rapidly repeated three or four times, and always met by
the same response. The cabal expended their fury on
the messengers of the Archbishop; they beat one bishop,
tore the clothes of another, and placed on the neck of a
third the chains which they had designed for the person
of Chrysostom himself, their intention having been to put
him secretly on board ship, and send him off to some remote
part of the Empire. Some of the clergy were so much
intimidated by these violent proceedings that they dared not
return to Constantinople. Demetrius, however, Bishop of
Pessina, denounced the conduct of the synod, quitted it, and
returned to the Archbishop. After several more ineffectual
citations, the synod, at its twelfth session, declared that it
Avould proceed to judgment against Chrysostom as contuma-
cious. Either by a happy coincidence, or by the contrivance
316 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. xvm.
of Theophilus, a message arrived from the Court on the same
day, urging the bishops to decide the cause as speedily as
possible. With much alacrity the request was obeyed.
They drew up a despatch to the Emperor a formal state-
ment : " Whereas John, being accused of crimes, has declined
to appear before us, and that in such cases ecclesiastical law
pronounces deposition, we have hereby deposed him ; but as
the indictment against him contains charges of treason as
well as ecclesiastical offences, we leave these to be dealt
with by you, since it belongs not to us to take cognisance of
them." The synod waited for the Imperial ratification of
their verdict, and meanwhile issued a circular to the clergy
of Constantinople, informing them of the deposition of their
spiritual father. 1
Having attained, as he believed, the object of his intrigue,
Theophilus went through the form of reconciliation with the
" tall brethren " in the presence of the synod. The facility
with which they were restored to favour on a simple request
for pardon is in strange contrast to the relentless animosity
with which they had been hitherto pursued, and indicates
that their persecution had been maintained simply as the
means to securing a more important victim.
Both Dioscorus and Ammon had recently died, the latter
predicting with his dying lips that the Church was about to
be distressed by a furious persecution, and torn by a deplor-
able schism. He was buried in that church of the Apostles,
in the suburb of The Oak, where, nine years before, he had
baptized the founder, the Prefect Rufinus. The monks of
the foundation celebrated his obsequies with great pomp ;
and Theophilus, his bitter persecutor, condescended to weep
over his death, and publicly declare that he had never known
a monk of more exalted saintliness. 2
The triumph of the synod seemed to be completed by the
receipt of an Imperial rescript, ratifying the sentence of
i Pallad. Dial. 8. Socr. vi. 15. Soz. viii. 17. 2 Tillemont, vol. xi.
en. xvm.] HIS SERMON BEFORE DEPARTING. 317
deposition, and announcing that the Archbishop would be
banished. Many members of the synod were probably dis-
appointed at the mildness of the penalty ; but the people of
Constantinople were enraged, and impeded the execution of
the sentence. It was evening when the impending degrada-
tion of their Archbishop became known. During the whole
of the night, crowds of people watched outside the Arch-
bishop's palace and the cathedral to guard against his forcible
abduction. Early in the morning they thronged the church,
loudly protested against the injustice of the sentence, and
demanded with shouts the submission of his cause to a
General Council. For three days and nights the flock inces-
santly guarded their beloved pastor. Under their protection
he passed to and from the palace and the church. On the
second day he delivered a discourse to them in the cathedral.
The first portion of it is in all respects worthy of Chryso-
stom; the conclusion, involved and rugged, seems to have
IMM-H added by another hand, and extracts will not be made
from it here. 1
" Many are the billows, and terrible the storms, which
threaten us; but we fear not to be overwhelmed, for we
stand upon the rock. Let the sea rage, it cannot dissolve
the rock ; let the billows rise, they cannot sink the vessel
of Jesus Christ. Tell me, what is it we fear? death ? 'To
me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.' Or exile ? ' The
earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof.' Or confiscation
of goods ? ' We brought nothing into this world, and it is
certain we can carry nothing out.' " ..." I fear not poverty,
I desire not wealth ; I dread not death, I do not pray for
life, save for the sake of your advancement. I beseech you
be of good courage ; no man will be able to separate us, for
1 It contains the celebrated passage : indignant repudiation of the offence
" Herodias again dances and demands of administering baptism after eating,
the head of John;" which recurs as vol. iii. 427. Socrates, vi. 16.
the exordium of another and spurious Sozom. viii. 17, 18.
homily (vol. viii. p. 485), and also an
318 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. xvm.
'that which God hath joined together no man can put
asunder.' If man cannot dissolve marriage, how much less
the Church of God ! Thou, oh my enemy ! only renderest
me more illustrious, and wastest thine own strength, ' for it
is hard to kick against the pricks/ Waves do not break the
rock, but are themselves dispersed into foam against it.
Nothing, oh man ! is stronger than the Church, ... it is
stronger even than Heaven, 'for Heaven and earth shall
pass away, but my words shall not pass away.' What words ?
' Thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church,
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.' If thou
disbelievest the words, yet believe the facts. How many
tyrants have attempted to overcome the Church ; how often
have wild beasts, and the sword, and the furnace, and the
boiling caldron, been employed against it, yet have they no1
prevailed. Where are those who made war upon it ? The}
have been silenced and consigned to oblivion. Where is th(
Church ? It shines above the brightness of the sun. Le
none of the things that have been done disturb you. Granl
me one favour only, unwavering faith. Was not St. Petei
on the point of sinking, not because of the uncontrollable
onset of the waves, but because of the weakness of his faith
Did man's votes bring me here, that man should put me
down? I say not this in a spirit of boastfulness God
forbid but in the desire to settle your agitated minds.' 1
..." Let no one trouble you ; give heed to your prayers.
This disturbance is the devil's work, that he might destroy
your zeal in the sacred Litanies ; but he does not succeed.
We find you even more earnest than before. To-morrow I
shall go out with you in the Litany, for where you are, there
I am. Though locally separated, we are in spirit united ;
we are one body, the body is not separated from its head ;
even death cannot separate us." ..." For your sakes I am
ready to be slaughtered ten thousand times over, since death
is to me the warrant of immortality. These intrigues are to
en. XVIIL] HIS SERMON BEFORE DEPARTING. 319
me but the occasion of security. I say these things to listen-
ing ears ; so many days have you watched, and nothing has
moved you from your purpose. Neither length of time nor
threats have enervated you; you have done what I have
always been desiring, despised the things of this world,
bidden farewell to earth, released yourselves from the, fetters
of the body : this is my crown, iny consolation, my anointing;
this the suggestion to me of immortality."
Another discourse 1 contains much to the same effect, and
a declaration of his belief that the real cause of his deposi-
tion was his sturdy opposition to the corrupt manners and
morals of the age. " You know," he says, " why they are
going to depose me because I spread no fine carpets, and
wear no silken robes; because I have not pampered their
gluttony, or made presents in gold and silver." He would
comfort and encourage himself with the prospect of being
reckoned among those who had suffered for righteousness'
sake. The cruel and capricious woman, who one day called
him " a thirteenth apostle," and the next " a Judas," would
receive a just retribution for her conduct.
The attachment of the people to the Archbishop, and
their sense of the injustice with which he was treated, were
so strong that, with his powers of swaying their feelings, he
ini^lit easily have raised a formidable sedition, and defied,
for an indefinite time, the sentence of the synod and the
edict of the Emperor. But his sentiments were too loyal,
too Christian, too peaceful, for any such desperate and
violent measures. He might have continued to demand the
reference of his cause to a General Council ; but, had this
been granted, there was the extreme probability that his
enemies would refuse, and persuade many more to refuse,
a recognition of its decision. Then would follow one of those
1 The authenticity of which has from exile he apparently alludes to
been questioned. The style is perhaps some quotations from Job made in
not quite worthy of Chrysostom ; but this discourse.
in one of his sermons after his return
320 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. xvm.
melancholy schisms, of which the Church already knew too
well the misery. He determined to bow to the storm. On
the third day after his deposition by the council, and about
noon, when the people were not guarding the approaches to
the church quite so vigilantly, he passed out, unperceived,
by one of the side entrances, and surrendered himself to
some of the Court officials, who conducted him at nightfall
to the harbour. In spite of the darkness, he was recognised
by some of the people, who followed him with loud cries of
distress. He besought them to abstain from the commission
of violence, commended them to the care of Jesus Christ,
cited the example of Job blessing and thanking God in the
midst of trouble, and declared that he patiently waited for
the decision of an (Ecumenical Council. The vessel in which
he embarked conveyed him the same night to Hieron, 1 on
the Bithynian coast, at the mouth of the Euxine. Perhaps
owing to the dangerous proximity of this place to Chalcedon,
the headquarters of his enemies, he removed (being appar-
ently uncontrolled in his movements) to a country-house
belonging to a friend, near Prsenetum, on the Astacene gulf
opposite Mcomedia.
When the departure of the Archbishop became generally
known on the succeeding day, the indignation of the people
burst into a blaze. The places of public resort were thronged
with clamorous crowds denouncing the synod and demanding
a General Council. They flocked into the churches to pour
forth their lamentations, and to invoke the Divine interven-
tion on behalf of their injured Patriarch. A revulsion of
feeling in his favour took place among many of the clergy
who had hitherto been opposed to him. The arrival of
Theophilus with a large retinue was not calculated to allay
the agitation. Force was employed to dislodge the people
1 More strictly speaking, "the Hier- offered sacrifice to Zeus on their re-
on," "the sacred spot" where the turn from Colchis.
Argonauts were supposed to have
CH. xviii.] EARTHQUAKE CHRYSOSTOM RECALLED. 321
from the churches ; the struggle occasioned bloodshed, and
even some loss of life, chiefly among monks. The worthless
clergy who had been deposed by Chrysostom, some of them
for flagrant crimes, were restored by Theophilus. Severian
of Gabala mounted a pulpit in one of the churches, and
extolled the act of deposition. " Even were the Patriarch,"
he said, " guiltless of other offences, the penalty was due to
his arrogance, for ' God resisteth the proud,' even if He for-
gave other sins." The people were furious at this barefaced
attempt to justify injustice. They thronged the approaches
to the Imperial palace itself, and with loud shouts demanded
the restoration of the Patriarch. 1
A natural phenomenon, not rare in Constantinople, but
regarded under the circumstances as a Divine visitation,
opportunely concurred with this demand. The city, the
palace, but more especially the bedchamber of the Empress,
were agitated by a severe shock of earthquake. The friends
of Chrysostom rejoiced at this manifestation of the wrath of
Heaven ; his enemies were alarmed. The terrified Empress
eagerly promoted the demand of the people for the restora-
tion of the exile. Messengers were sent across the Bosporus
to seek him, for the exact place of his retreat appears to have
been unknown. Briso, the Empress's chamberlain, a man
of Christian piety and a personal friend of Chrysostom, dis-
covered him at Praenetum. He was the bearer of a humble,
we might say abject, letter of self-exculpation from the
Empress. " Let not your holiness (77 ar/uaa-vvrf) imagine that
I was cognisant of what has been done. I am guiltless of
thy blood. Wicked and corrupt men have contrived this
plot. I remember the baptism of my children by thy
hands. God whom I serve is witness of my tears." She
informs him how she had fallen at the feet of the
Emperor, and had represented to him that there was no
1 Sozom. viii. 18, 19. Socrat. vi. 16, 17. Zosim. v. 23.
X
322 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xvm.
hope for the Empire except through the restoration of the
Archbishop. 1
Chrysostom yielded to the solicitation so far as to embark
and cross the Bosporus, but he declined at first to advance
nearer Constantinople than the suburb of Mariamna, two
leagues from the capital by sea. He declared that he would
not enter the city until he had been acquitted by a General
Council. But the impetuosity of the people would brook
no delay. Tidings of his approach had preceded him. The
Bosporus was studded with boats crowded with his friends,
bearing torches and chanting psalms of welcome. The halt
at Mariamna was suspected to be a contrivance of the enemy,
who wished to deprive the Patriarch of the honours await-
ing him. Their denunciations of the Emperor and Empress
grew loud and menacing. An Imperial secretary arrived at
Mariamna, urging Chrysostom to enter the city without loss
of time. The Archbishop consented, and, attended by about
thirty bishops, amidst the acclamations of the populace, was
conducted to the Church of the Apostles. Again he remon-
strated, and expressed scruples at entering till the sentence
of deposition should have been revoked by a legitimate
council. But the eagerness of the people was irrepressible.
He was borne into the church, and compelled to take his seat
on the episcopal throne and pronounce a benediction upon
the assembly. When he had complied with their request,
they would not be satisfied till he had addressed them in an
extempore discourse. The address exists only in a Latin
translation. Its brevity, and the abrupt style of the opening
sentences, indicate the extemporaneous character of it. 2
" What shall I say, or how shall I speak ? ' Blessed be
God.' So spoke I when I departed, and I utter the same
again : yea, even in my exile I did not cease to say these
words. Ye remember how I quoted Job, and said, ' Blessed
1 Theod. v. 34. Chrys. vol. iii. p. 446.
2 Socr. vi. 16. Soz. viii. 18. Chrys. Ep. ad Innoc. in Dial. Pall. p. 10.
CH. XVIIL] SERMON AFTER RECALL. 323
be the name of the Lord for ever.' Such was the pledge I
left with you when I set forth ; such is the thanksgiving I
repeat on my return. ' Blessed be the name of the Lord for
ever.' Our lot varies, but our manner of giving glory is one.
I gave thanks when I was expelled, I give thanks when I
return. The conditions of summer and winter are different,
but the end is one the prosperity of the field. Blessed be
God who permitted the storm, blessed be God who has dis-
persed it and wrought a calm. These things I say, that I
may prepare you to bless God at all times. Have good
things happened to you ? Bless God, and the good remains ;
have evil things occurred ? bless God still, and the evil is
removed." ..." Behold what great results have been
wrought by the stratagems of my enemies. They have
augmented your zeal, inflamed your affectionate longing for
me, and procured me lovers in hundreds. Formerly I was
beloved by my own people only ; now even the Jews pay
me respect. My enemies hoped to sever me from my own
friends; and, instead, they have brought even aliens into
our ranks." ..." To-day the Circensian games take place,
but no one is present there ; all have poured like a torrent
into the church, and your voices are as streams which flow
to Heaven and declare your affection towards your father."
He congratulates them on putting the enemy to flight.
" Many are the sheep, yet nowhere is the wolf seen ; the
devouring beasts are overwhelmed, the wolves have fled.
Who has pursued them ? Not I the shepherd, but ye the
sheep. noble flock ! in the absence of the shepherd ye
have routed the wolves. beauty and chastity of the wife!
how hast thou repulsed the adulterer, because thou lovedst
thy husband !" . . . " Where are our enemies? in ignominy;
where are we ? in triumph." 1
1 It appears from subsequent events discomfited from the field of active
that Theophilus had not yet actually opposition ; and this would justify
quitted Constantinople, but he and the language of Chrysostom, who is
his partisans had retired for the time speaking under excitement.
324 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xvm.
On the following day the Archbishop delivered another
address, pitched in the same strain, but amplified and more
ornate. It opens with a singular comparison between the
meditated seduction of Abraham's wife by Pharaoh, and the
plot of Theophilus to corrupt the chastity of the Church of
Constantinople. The courage and faith of the flock in
resisting the wolf during the absence of their shepherd, their
enthusiastic welcome of his return, when the sea, as he
expresses it, became a city (alluding to the crowds who had
gone out to meet him on the Bosporus), and the market-
place was converted into one vast church these are again
the topics on which he dilates with thankful joy. He
applies to himself the verse : " They that sow in tears shall
reap in joy ; he that now goeth on his way weeping, and
beareth forth good seed, shall doubtless come again with joy,
and bring his sheaves with him." The Empress is extolled
in language which to any but oriental ears must sound
painfully fulsome and adulatory. She had sent a message
to him on the previous evening, saying, " My prayer is ful-
filled, my object accomplished. I have obtained a crown
better than the diadem itself. I have received back the
priest, I have restored the head to the body, the pilot to the
ship, the shepherd to the flock, the husband to the home."
In return for this complimentary greeting (complimentary,
it must be confessed, to herself as much as to the Arch-
bishop) she is styled by him " most devout Queen, mother
of the churches, nurse of monks, protectress of saints, staff
of the poor." The people were so much delighted with
these laudations of the Empress, that the address was con-
stantly interrupted by their acclamations. 1
When the object of the Synod at the Oak had eventually
failed through the recall of Chrysostom, many of the members
lost no time in returning to their several sees. Theophilus
and a few of his most resolute partisans appear to have
1 Sermones 1 and 2, post red. ab exsil. vol. iii.
CH. xviii.] FLIGHT OF THEOPHILUS. 325
lurked in the city, waiting a possible opportunity for resum-
ing their intrigues. This they attempted, according to two
historians, 1 by instigating accusations against Heracleides,
who had been consecrated Bishop of Ephesus by Chrysostom.
The friends of Heracleides and of the Archbishop protested
against the illegality of such proceedings in the absence of
the defendant. The question was taken up by the populace.
Fierce and sanguinary frays were fought in the streets
between the citizens and the Alexandrian followers of
Theophilus. At length he and his followers consulted their
safety by a precipitate flight. This account is not incom-
patible with the assertion of Chrysostom himself in his letter
to Innocent, that after his recall he incessantly demanded
the convocation of a General Council to absolve him from
the verdict of the false synod, and to reinstate him in pos-
session of his see ; that the Emperor consented, and that, as
soon as the imperial summonses were issued in all direc-
tions, Theophilus, dreading the scrutiny of his conduct,
cmliarkuil in the dead of night, and sailed in haste for Alex-
andria. 2 The citation of the council, and the hostility of the
people, may well have concurred to hasten his departure.
The General Council seems never to have regularly assem-
bled. Theophilus was cited to attend it after he had
returned to Alexandria, but excused himself on the plea
that the Alexandrians were so deeply attached to him, he
feared a sedition would take place if he were again to absent
himself. No less than sixty bishops, however, who had
congregated in Constantinople, though not apparently con-
vened in synodal form, solemnly declared their sense of the
illegality and injustice of the late proceedings at the Synod
of the Oak, and confirmed Chrysostom in the resumption of
his see.
1 Socrat. vi. 17. Sozom. viii. 19.
2 Ep. ad Innoc. in Pallad. Dial. p. 10.
CHAPTER XIX.
AN IMAGE OF EUDOXIA PLACED IN FKONT OF THE CATHEDRAL-
CHRYSOSTOM DENOUNCES IT ANGER OF THE EMPRESS THE ENEMY
RETURNS TO THE CHARGE ANOTHER COUNCIL FORMED- CHRYSO-
STOM CONFINED TO HIS PALACE-VIOLENT SCENE IN THE CATHEDRAL
AND OTHER PLACES CHRYSOSTOM AGAIN EXPELLED. A.D. 403, 404.
THE storm had passed over for the moment, and the atmo-
sphere seemed serene : but in reality it was charged with all
the old elements of disturbance. The Archbishop owed his
restoration to a mere superstitious impulse on the part of the
Empress, seconded by the enthusiastic devotion of the com-
mon people to his person and his cause. But as the revul-
sion of feeling which had led to his recall died away, and
he himself resumed with unabated zeal his former work
of moral and ecclesiastical reformation, the irritation and
animosity of the more corrupt portion of the clergy and
laity revived. In two months after his return an occasion
arose which brought him into serious collision with the
Court. This was the signal for the reappearance of his
enemies; they flocked from far and near Egypt, Syria,
Asia, as well as his own more immediate diocese and
swooped down upon their prey with the avidity of vultures.
The pride and ambition of Eudoxia were not satisfied by
the enjoyment of a power really greater than her husband's,
and of respect outwardly equal; she was determined to
receive that half-idolatrous kind of homage which custom,
handed down from Pagan times, still paid to the Emperor,
en. xix.] IMAGE OF EUDOXIA. 327
but to him alone. The smaller forum of Constantinople
was a great square, 1 on one side of which stood the grand
curia or senate-house, which Constantine had enriched with
the sumptuous spoils of many Pagan temples, and especially
with the statues of the Muses brought from the grove of
Helicon ; opposite to it was the entrance of St. Sophia, and
the remaining sides of the forum were bounded by hand-
some public and a few private buildings all faced with
colonnades. Tn the centre was a stone platform paved with
various marbles, from which speeches were delivered on
great public occasions. On this platform the Empress
determined to gratify her vanity by the erection of a lofty
column of porphyry surmounted by a silvern image of
herself. This design was accomplished in September A.D.
403, and the erection of the statue was celebrated by all
the Pagan ceremonies and festivities, including music and
dancing, with \vliich the adoration of the Emperor's image
was usually attended. These rites had been retained by
the Christian Emperors because they were supposed to be
useful in maintaining a loyal spirit among the people,
but the Pagan elements were afterwards suppressed by
Theodosius n. 2
The position of Eudoxia's column in front of the vestibule
of St. Sophia, and the disturbance caused to the sacred
services within by the noisy, tumultuous proceedings out-
side, were regarded by the Patriarch as a disgrace to an
Empress calling herself Christian, an outrage and insult
flung in the very face of the Church. He denounced the
heathenish ceremony with his usual vehemence before the
people, and complained of it to the prefect of the city. The
prefect was a Manichaean, and no friend to Chrysostom.
Instead of endeavouring to conciliate both parties, he reported
to the Empress, probably with some exaggeration, the con-
1 As distinguished from the Forum of Constantine, which was elliptical in
shape. 2 Cod. Theod. vi. 102.
328 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. xix.
damnation . pronounced by the Patriarch on the indulgence
of her pride. The resentment of Eudoxia was fierce. She
rallied the enemies of Qhrysostom around her to devise
means for crushing the audacious prelate. Acacius, Severian,
and others of the old troop were soon upon the scene, and
conferring with their old confederates, the Marsas and
Castriccias, the rich worldly dames, and the dandy young
clergy of Constantinople. There was no diminution mean-
while in the tide of invective poured forth from the golden
mouth, and the pungency of his sarcasms did not lose force
in the reports of them which were carried to the royal
ears. 1
Once more the faction applied to the Patriarch of Alex-
andria, inviting him to come and conduct their operations.
But he was too wary to involve himself personally in another
campaign, to terminate perhaps in a second ignominious
flight. His influence, however, even at a distance, was
potent. The stratagem adopted this time was to counterfeit
that General Council which had been constantly demanded
by Chrysostom ; packing it with hostile bishops who were
ostensibly convened to revise, but in reality to confirm, the
decision issued by the Synod of the Oak. Theophilus, then,
having excused attendance at Constantinople in person, sent
three " pitiful bishops " (e\eelvov 9 eTrio-KOTrovs) , creatures of
his own on whom he could rely, to execute his designs. 2
They were armed with the 12th Canon of the Council of
Antioch held in A.D. 341, which declared that any bishop
who, after deposition, appealed to the secular power for
1 The celebrated exordium of a their verdict seems reasonable. The
homily supposed to be directed against discourse is the production of a
Eudoxia " Again Herodias rages, again thorough misogynist, describing with
she demands the head of John" if much coarseness and acrimony the
actually spoken with reference to John misery and trouble caused by the
the Baptist, may easily have been re- wickedness of women. Most will
presented by the malevolent as aimed agree with Savile, that it is "scarcely
at the Empress. But the whole homily worth reading, and quite unworthy
has been pronounced spurious by Savile emendation." Vol. viii. p. 485.
and Moutfaucon, and on perusal of it 2 Pallad. Dial. c. 9.
CH. xix.] FRESH PLOTS OF ENEMIES. 329
restoration, should, for that very act, he regarded hy.the
Church as permanently and irrevocably deposed. The
Council of Antioch had been swayed by Arian influence, and
this same canon had been aimed against Athanasius, who
had returned from exile to Alexandria under the Imperial
sanction. It had been repudiated by the Western bishops,
and some of the Eastern, at the Council of Sardica, and
indeed by all who maintained communion with Athanasius.
Theophilus, however, proposed to base the present proceed-
ings against Chrysostom on this foundation; to* turn, in fact,
against the greatest luminary of Constantinople the engine
which had been originally constructed against the greatest
ornament of the Alexandrian see. The instrument would
work well if proper hands could be procured to work it.
Syria, Cappadocia, Pontus, Phrygia, were once more ran-
sacked to supply the council with disaffected prelates. To
the old names of Acacius of Bercea, Severian of Gabala,
Antiochus and Cyrinus, may be added, as leaders of the
malignants, Leontius, bishop of Ancyra in Galatia, Brison of
rhilippopolis in Thrace, Animon of Laodicea in Pisidia ;
among those honourably distinguished as friendly to the
Patriarch were Theodore of Tyana, Elpidius of Laodicea,
Tniuquillus (see unknown), and Alexander of Basilinopolis
in Bithynia. Theodore, however, perceiving the malevolent
intention with which the council was convoked, quitted
Constantinople soon after bis arrival
The council met about the close of the year A.D. 403. It
was customary for the Emperor to attend Divine service in
state on Christmas Day, but he was induced by the enemies
of Chrysostom to refuse on this occasion, alleging that it was
impossible to be present where the Patriarch officiated till
he had been cleared of the serious charges brought against
him. It was proposed at first to affect to meet the demand
of Chrysostom for an equitable trial, and to hear all the
charges which had been preferred at the Synod of the Oak.
330 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xix.
But. the witnesses were so backward to appear, and the
attitude of the defendant betokened such confidence in his
cause, that it was deemed more prudent by his enemies to
stake the whole issue on the canon of the Council of
Antioch. If that was once admitted, there would be an end
of the whole matter. The Archbishop, having been deposed
already once for all, was not competent to appear and plead
his cause before a council. Chrysostom and his friends
opposed the adoption of such a course with two powerful
arguments. They represented that the Council of Antioch
had been managed by an Arian bishop and influenced by an
Arian emperor, and the object of it had been to harass the
great Athanasius. In the next place, the Synod of the
Oak had been illegally constituted; sixty-five bishops had
repudiated its decision ; Chrysostom, therefore, was not
legally deposed, and the canon of Antioch was in conse-
quence not applicable to his case. This last objection was
not permitted by his enemies. Leontius boldly declared,
what appears to have been a palpable lie, that a larger
number of bishops than sixty-five had voted against Chryso-
stom in the Synod. 1
Thus the question as to the validity of the Council of
Antioch became the knot of the whole affair. It was
debated with such vehemence on both sides, that at length
the adversaries of the Patriarch proposed that a deputation
from the two contending parties should plead the case before
the Emperor, and submit the decision to him. It may be
presumed from their making the proposal that they felt
secure of a verdict favourable to their side, and, at the same
time, by this step a semblance of impartiality would be
imparted to the proceedings. The deputies met in the
royal presence. When the heat which marked the begin-
ning of the discussion had cooled down a little, Elpidius of
Laodicea with much gentleness of manner made an astute
i Sozom. viii. 20. Socrat. vi. 18. Pallad. Dial. c. 9.
en. xix.] PROPOSAL OF ELPIDIUS. 331
proposal. He was an old man, eminent for stainlessness of
character, as well as for learning in ecclesiastical lore. " Let
us not/' he said, " weary the clemency of your Majesty any
longer ; only let our brethren, Acacius and Antiochus, sub-
scribe a declaration that they are of the same faith with
those who promulgated these canons, which they maintain
to be the production of orthodox men, and the controversy
will be at an end." The Emperor perceived the adroitness
of the proposal, and observed with a smile to Antiochus,
that the plan struck him as the most expedient which could
be devised. Antiochus and his colleagues turned livid with
perplexity and rage, but, being fairly caught in the dilemma,
were forced to dissemble their feelings, and simulated a
willing consent to sign the proposed declaration. The
promise was made, but never executed. The deputies retired,
and the adversaries of the Patriarch laboured with redoubled
energy to procure his final condemnation ; but we have no
record of any formal session or formally declared sentence.
Chrysostom continued to preach and discharge his other
functions with, if possible, increased diligence, and still
acted as president over the floating synod of more than forty
bishops who constantly adhered to his cause. His enemies,
on the other hand, acted as if the sentence of condemnation
had been passed, and continually requested the Emperor to
put it into execution. 1
A.D. 404. As Easter approached, they became more im-
portunate in their demand. They dreaded the demonstra-
tions which might be made in favour of their victim by the
large congregations which on Holy Saturday and Easter Day
were wont to assemble in the churches. They succeeded in
prevailing on the Emperor to prohibit the Patriarch, as
having been deposed and excommunicated by two councils,
from entering or officiating in the church at Easter-tide.
Chrysostom had always expressed an earnest desire to be
i Pallad. Dial. c. 9.
332 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHEYSOSTOM. [CH. xix.
tried before a lawful council, and to abide by its decision.
This request had been systematically evaded even when
ostensibly complied with. His whole soul rebelled with
honest indignation against these insidious and persistent
attempts to misrepresent his conduct, and he determined
now to resist them by taking his stand on the lofty ground
of his Divine mission. " I received this church from God
my Saviour, and am charged with the care of the salvation of
this flock, nor am I at liberty to abandon it. Expel me by
force if you will, since the city belongs to you, that I may
have your authority as an excuse for deserting my post." 1
The Emperor, though with some shame, sent officials who
removed the Archbishop from the church to his palace, with
a strict injunction that he should not attempt to leave it.
This was a cautious preliminary to final expulsion, suggested
by superstitious dread of any earthquake or other manifesta-
tion of Divine displeasure. Should any such occur again,
the Archbishop could be released in a moment ; if not, they
might proceed to further measures.
Easter Eve arrived, the greatest day in the year for the
baptism of converts. Three thousand were to be " initiated "
this year. Chrysostom was again commanded to abstain
from entering the church, but answered according to the
tenor of his former reply, that he would not desist from
officiating unless compelled by actual force. The feeble
Arcadius was alarmed, and hesitated how to act. He
scrupled to use force on so sacred a day, and dreaded an
insurrection of the populace. As usual, he tried to shift
responsibility from his own shoulders. He sent for Acacius
ant ^tiochus, and requested their advice in the present
emei^ y. They were too far committed now to draw back,
and promptly replied that they would take on their heads
the deposition of the Archbishop.
One more effort was made to avert the impending cala-
i Pallad. Dial. c. 9.
CH. xix.] TUMULT IN ST. SOPHIA. 333
niity. The forty bishops who maintained a close friendship
with Chrysostom accosted the Emperor and Empress as they
were visiting, according to their custom at this season, some
of the martyr chapels outside the city. They entreated
their majesties with tears to spare the Church her chief
pastor, especially on account of the season, and for the
sake of those who were about to be baptized. But Arcadius
and Eudoxia turned a deaf ear to their piteous appeal. The
bishops retired, grief-stricken, to mourn over the wrongs of
their Church and Patriarch; but not before one of them,
Paul, bishop of Crateia, had lifted up his voice in bold and
solemn warning: "Take heed, Eudoxia; fear God; have
pity on your children. Do not outrage by bloodshed the
sacred and solemn festival of Jesus Christ." 1
The church of St. Sophia became the scene, on the night
of that Easter Eve, of shocking tumult. A vast congrega-
tion from the city and surrounding towns, including many
of the catechumens, was keeping vigil to greet the dawn of
the Eesurrection morning. Suddenly a body of soldiers
burst in with noise and violence, and took possession of the
choir. The confusion may be imagined. Women and chil-
dren fled shrieking in wild disorder. Many of the female
catechumens, only half-dressed, in preparation for the recep-
tion of baptism, were hurriedly driven out of tho baptistry
witli the deaconesses who attended them. Some were even
wounded, and the sacred fonts stained with blood. Some of
the soldiers, unbaptized men, penetrated even to the chamber
where the Eucharistic elements were kept, and profaned
them with their gaze and touch. The clergy were forcibly
ejected in their vestments, and several were wounded ' ffhe
pitiable spectacle of the mingled troop of men, -yvmen,
children, and clergy, violently chased along the streets by
the brutal soldiery, moved even Jews and Gentiles to com-
Pallad. Dial. c. 9. Chrysostom (Ep. ad Innoc. vol. iii.) speaks of more than
forty friendly bishops.
334 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xix.
passion. The clergy, however, rallied the scattered flock in
the Baths of Constantine, the largest public baths in the
city. Here they proceeded with the Easter services in due
order ; some reading the Scriptures, others baptizing. The
churches of Constantinople were deserted, which the adver-
sary wished to force the people to attend in the absence of
the Archbishop, in the hope that the Court might thus
suppose him to be unpopular.
Such is the description of these violent scenes as drawn
by the pen of Chrysostom himself, in a letter 1 written soon
after the occurrences, and addressed to Innocent I., bishop
of Home, Yenerius, bishop of Milan, and Chromatius, bishop
of Aquileia. " You may imagine the rest," he concludes ;
" great as these calamities are, there is no prospect of their
immediate termination ; on the contrary, the evil extends
every day. The spirit of insubordination is rapidly spread-
ing from the capital to the provinces, from the head to the
members. Clergy rebel against their bishop, and one bishop
assails another. People are, or soon will be, split into
factions. All places are racked by the throes of coming
trouble, and the confusion is universal. Having been in-
formed of all these things, then, my most reverend and
prudent lords, display, I pray you, the courage and zeal
which becomes you in restraining this lawlessness which has
crept into the churches. For if it were to become a prevail-
ing and allowable custom, for any at their pleasure to pass
into foreign and distant dioceses, and to expel whomsoever
any one may choose, and act as they like on their own private
authority, be sure that all discipline will go to pieces, and a
kind of implacable warfare will pervade the world, all expel-
ling or being themselves expelled. Wherefore, to prevent
the subjection of the world to such confusion, I beseech you
to enjoin that these acts so illegally performed in my absence,
when I had not declined fair judgment, may be reckoned
1 Vol. iii. p. 533.
CH. xix.] CHRYSOSTOM WRITES TO INNOCENT. 335
invalid, as indeed in the nature of things they are, and that
those who have been detected taking part in these iniquitous
proceedings may be subjected to the penalty of ecclesiastical
law ; while we who have not been proved guilty may con-
tinue to enjoy your correspondence and friendship as afore-
time." He closes his letter by affirming that he was still
prepared to prove his innocence and the guilt of his accusers
before a legally constituted council.
This letter is interesting not only in itself, but because it
illustrates remarkably the growing tendency of Christendom
to appeal to the arbitration of the Western Church, and
especially of the Bishop of Rome, in matters of ecclesiastical
discipline. The law-making, law-protecting spirit of the
West is invoked to restrain the turbulence and licentiousness
of the East. The Patriarch of the Eastern Rome appeals to
the great bishops of the West, as the champions of an
ecclesiastical discipline which he confesses himself unable to
enforce, or to see any prospect of establishing. No jealousy
is entertained of the Patriarch of the old Rome by the
Patriarch of the new. The interference of Innocent is
courted, a certain primacy is accorded him, but at the same
time he is not addressed as a supreme arbitrator ; assistance
and sympathy are solicited from him as from an elder
brother, and two other prelates of Italy are joint recipients
with him of the appeal. The effect of this letter will
shortly be related ; for the present, the course of events at
Constantinople must be followed.
It did not suit the purpose of Acacius and his party to
allow the congregation which had been hunted out of St.
Sophia to proceed with their service in the baths unmolested.
If the Emperor entered the church in the morning and found
it deserted, the vacancy on so great a day would reveal too
plainly the intense devotion of the people to their bishop.
The aim of the conspirators was to force the people to attend
the services, which were to be marked by the absence of
336 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xrx.
Chrysostom alone. They accordingly applied to Anthemius,
Master of the Offices, to disperse the congregation, if neces-
sary by force. Anthemius, however, was a moderate, pru-
dent man, and kindly disposed towards the Patriarch. He
refused to interfere, pleading the advanced hour of the night,
the vastness of the assembly, and the risk of serious tumult.
He yielded, however, to their persevering and urgent de-
mands so far as to direct Lucius, a subordinate officer, com^
mander of a Thracian corps called the Scutarii, to present
himself with his troops at the entrance of the baths, and
exhort the people to return to the church, as the more
proper place for conducting the services. He was strictly
charged to abstain from violence. He acted on his instruc-
tions, and harangued the congregation, but without effect.
The chanting of the Psalms and the administration of
baptism to crowds of catechumens were proceeded' with.
Lucius returned and reported his errand ineffectual. Acacius
and his colleagues urged him with all their eloquence, and
with promises of rich reward, probably more effective than
their golden words, to make another effort, and to use force
if persuasion were not regarded. They gave him some
ecclesiastics to accompany him and, as it were, sanction
their proceedings. Whether they began by exhortation is
not recorded ; at any rate, if it was given, no attention was
paid to it, and it was quickly seconded by barbarian
violence. Lucius himself pushed his way to the place of
baptism, and laid about him with a truncheon upon candi-
dates, deacons, and priests, some of them aged men, and
dispersed them in all directions. The soldiers seized and
plundered the women of their ornaments, the clergy of their
vestments, and the sacred vessels belonging to the Church ;
they beat the fugitives and dragged them off to the prisons.
The natural solitude and silence of the streets, in the hour
immediately preceding dawn, were disturbed by the cries of
the captives and the shouts of their brutal captors.
en. xix.] FRESH SCENES OF VIOLENCE. 337
In the morning the street walls were covered with pro-
clamations, menacing with severe punishment any who
persisted in maintaining intercourse with the Patriarch. 1
The baths were effectually emptied of the congregation ;
but to fill the churches could not so easily be accomplished ; in
fact, they were entirely deserted. Large numbers of the dis-
persed congregation who had escaped the hands of the soldiers
fled outside the walls of Constantinople,and, with indefatigable
zeal, sought to complete the celebration of the Paschal rites
as best they could in the secure recesses of woods or valleys.
A large number assembled in a field called Pempton, because
five miles from the Forum of Constantine, an open space
surrounded by wood and intended to be used as a Hippo-
drome. In the course of the day Easter Day the Emperor
and his retinue happened to ride, or perhaps were maliciously
conducted, near the spot. The eye of Arcadius was attracted
by the sight of a large body of people, many of them clothed
in white, crowded together outside the Hippodrome. Un-
happily, the Emperor was attended by courtiers inimical to
the Archbishop. They replied to his inquiries respecting
the nature of the concourse, that it was a body of heretics
who had met to worship there in order to escape interference.
Arcadius was weak enough to allow, without further inquiry,
a number of soldiers who formed part of his escort to ride in
upon the assembly and seize the most conspicuous leaders.
A number of priests were captured, and several rich and
noble ladies, whom the soldiers despoiled of their head-
dresses and earrings with great barbarity, in one instance
even tearing away with the appendage a portion of the ear
itself.
One more attempt was made to assemble in a wooden
hippodrome, built by Constantine, called the Xulodrome;
but once more they were driven out, and hunted from place
to place with relentless diligence. These repeated assaults
i Pallad. Dial. c. 9.
Y
338 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xix.
broke up the flock of Clirysostom ; the prisons were filled
with the Johnites, as they were called after the name of
their bishop, and the churches were empty. The prison
walls echoed to the sound of the chants and hymns of the
martyrs, but the churches to the noise of scourge and fierce
threats administered to those who ventured to enter. This
was done in the hope that they might be coerced by torture
to anathematise the Archbishop. 1
He himself, however, meanwhile continued to reside two
months in his palace, though not without risk. Twice, as it
was believed, attempts were made to assassinate him, but
frustrated. Suspicion fell first on a man who affected demo-
niacal possession, and hovered much about the precincts
of the palace. A dagger was found upon his person ; the
people seized him and dragged him before the prefect ; but
Chrysostom procured his release through the intercession of
some bishops, just as he was about to be examined by torture.
A second attempt was supposed to be intended by a slave,
who ran at full speed towards the entrance of the palace, and
plunged a dagger, in some instances with fatal effect, into
several passers-by who endeavoured to stop him. He was
at last surrounded and captured by the people, when he
confessed that he had been bribed by his master, a priest
named Elpidius, to try and assassinate the Archbishop.
The fury of the people was appeased by the imprisonment
of the man ; but they now resolved to take the protection of
their Archbishop into their own hands. They divided them-
selves into companies, which kept watch by turns, night
and day, over the episcopal palace. The hostile party,
dreading any further impediments to the execution of their
iniquitous sentence, now hurried matters to their conclusion.
Five days after Pentecost, four bishops Acacius, Antiochus,
Severian, and Cyrinus ; obtained an interview with the
Emperor. They represented that the city never would be
i Pallad. Dial. c. 9. Sozom. viii. 21.
CH. xix.] CHRYSOSTOM AGAIN EXPELLED. 339
tranquil till the removal of the Archbishop had been effected,
and that his remaining in the palace after his condemnation
was a gross violation of ecclesiastical law. They avowed
themselves willing to take the responsibility of his de-
position on their own heads, and besought the Emperor
not to be more lenient and concessive than were bishops
and priests. 1
June, A.D. 404. The long-hoped-for mandate was at
length issued. It was conveyed to the Archbishop by the
notary Patricius, and informed him that Acacius and three
other bishops having charged themselves with the responsi-
bility of his deposition, he must commend himself to God,
and quit the church and the palace without delay. The
martyr received the cruel order with meek submission, and
prepared to act upon it with prompt obedience. He passed
from his palace to his church, saying to the bishops who
accompanied him, " Come, let us pray and say farewell to
the Angel of the Church. At my own fate I can rejoice,
I only grieve for the sorrow of the people." One of his
friends, a nobleman, conveyed a warning to him to avoid
by a secret departure the risk of exciting popular tumult.
He informed him that Lucius was waiting with troops in
one of the public baths to compel his removal in the event of
any delay or resistance, and that the consequences of any
attempt at a rescue by the populace might be serious.
Chrysostom acted on his advice. He entered the choir
with his friendly bishops, bestowed on them a farewell kiss
and farewell words ; then bidding them wait for him there
while he went to repose, he entered the baptistry, and sent for
the deaconesses, Olympias, Pentadia, Procla, and Salvina.
" Come hither, my daughters," he said, " and hearken to me :
my career, I perceive, is coming to an end ; I have finished
my course, and perchance ye will see my face no more.
Now I exhort you to this : let not any of you break off her
i Pallad. Dial. 10. Sozom. viii. 21, 22. Socrat. vi. 18.
340 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHEYSOSTOM. [CH. xix.
accustomed benevolence towards the Church. If any man
is appointed my successor without having canvassed the
office, and against his own will, but by the common consent
of all, submit to his authority as if he were Chrysostom
himself ; so may ye obtain mercy. Kemember me in your
prayers." The women threw themselves at his feet dissolved
in tears. The Archbishop made a sign to one of the priests
to remove the women, lest, as he said, their wailing should
attract the attention of the people outside. He directed
that the mule on which he was accustomed to ride should
be saddled and taken to the western gate of the cathedral ;
and while the people's attention was diverted by this feint,
he passed out, unobserved, by a small door near the east
end, and surrendered himself to some soldiers who were at
hand to convey him to the port. So he departed from the
church, the scene of his indefatigable labours, whose walls
were never again to resound to his eloquence. He went
out, and, in the emphatic words of the historian to whose
narrative we are indebted for the minute picture of these
occurrences, " the Angel of the Church went out with him."
Two bishops, Cyriacus of Synnada in Phrygia, and Eulysius
of Apamea in Bithynia, accompanied him on board the vessel
which conveyed him across the straits to the Bithynian
coast. 1
i Pallad. Dial. c. 10.
CHAPTER XX.
FURY OF THE PEOPLE AT THE REMOVAL OF CHRYSOSTOM DESTRUCTION
OF THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH AND SENATE-HOUSE BY FIRE PERSECU-
TION OF CHRYSOSTOM'S FOLLOWERS FUGITIVES TO ROME LETTERS
OF INNOCENT TO THEOPHILUS TO THE CLERGY OF CONSTANTINOPLE
TO CHRYSOSTOM DEPUTATION OF WESTERN BISHOPS TO CONSTAN-
TINOPLE REPULSED SUFFERINGS OF THE EASTERN CHURCH TRIUMPH
OF THE CABAL. A.D. 404, 405.
THE people, meanwhile, both within the church and outside,
were not long in discovering that the Archbishop had dis-
appeared from the building and its precincts. They became
furiously agitated : some rushed to the harbour, but too late
to obstruct the embarkation. The doors of the cathedral,
which had been locked by some of the cabal, who anticipated
a rush of the people as soon as the departure of Chrysostom
should have been discovered, were fiercely battered by the
crowd on both sides. Jews and Pagans looked on, and jeered
derisively at the tumult. The horror of this scene of wild
confusion was suddenly increased by the apparition of fire
bursting forth from the building. How kindled, by accident
or design, it is impossible to determine. Each party fiercely
charged the other with the guilt of the catastrophe, and some
attributed it to miraculous interference of heavenly powers.
The conflagration broke out in or near the throne of the
Archbishop, which it consumed, and then spread to the roof.
In three hours the edifice, whose erection and embellishment
had been the work of many years, was reduced to a heap of
cinders. The only portion not destroyed was the treasury
342 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xx.
which contained the sacred vessels of silver and gold, as if
expressly to confute one of the charges made against the
Archbishop, that he had sold all the most valuable ornaments
belonging to the church. Germanus and Cassian, the
custodians of the treasury, when they fled to Kome, carried
with them a copy of the inventory of all these articles,
which, when they surrendered their office, had been handed
over to the prefect and some of the other chief functionaries
of the city.
The conflagration, however, did not confine itself to the
cathedral. A violent north wind carried the flames across
the Forum, and ignited the great curia or senate-house ; not,
however, that side of it which faced the cathedral, but the
further side, which looked into the little forum where the
royal palace was situated. The whole senate-house was
destroyed. The statues of the' Muses which Constantine
had brought from Helicon were consumed, and all the
other principal adornments. The images of Zeus and Athene
alone were found intact, beneath a heap of ruins and of
masses of molten lead which had dropped upon them from
the burning roof. 1
The real or affected suspicion that the Archbishop and his
flock were the incendiaries was quite a sufficient pretext for
treating them with rigour. He himself, with Cyriacus and
Eulysius, was detained in chains under a strict guard in
Bithynia. These two companions were taken from him and
conveyed bound to Chalcedon, but after examination were
dismissed as innocent. But at Constantinople the persecu-
tion was enforced with merciless severity under the auspices
of Optatus, a Pagan, now prefect in the place of Studius.
All the followers of the Archbishop, clerical and lay, high
and low, were subjected, if caught, to rigorous inquisition,
and most of them to severe punishment. Chrysostom wrote
a letter from Bithynia to the Emperor, imploring that he
i Pallacl. Dial. c. 10. Zosim. v. 24. Sozom. viii. 2.
CH. xx.] CHRYSOSTOM'S FRIENDS PERSECUTED. 343
might at least be allowed to appear and defend himself and
his clergy from the atrocious charge of incendiarism, but the
letter received no attention ; and as the poor exile continued
his journey to Nice, his sufferings were enhanced by pitiable
intelligence of the persecution inflicted on bishops, priests,
and deacons who refused to anathematise him or recognise the
validity of his deposition. But the spirit of the exile was
not only brave to support his own troubles, but could spare
some of its energy to encourage those, who were suffering in
his cause, to patience, fortitude, resignation, and even joy. 1
In times of religious persecution, the language of the New
Testament, about the blessedness of tribulation as a pledge
of future happiness and a means of preparation for it, comes
home to men's hearts with a reality and force which seem to
exceed our present application of it to the troubles and
sorrows of ordinary life. Those who were firmly persuaded
that their cause was the cause of truth and of Jesus Christ
read the words, " Blessed are ye when ye are persecuted for
righteousness' sake," or, " Happy are ye when men revile you
and persecute you," as if spoken directly to themselves ; and
they really did " rejoice in that day, and leap for joy." Such
are the texts which Chrysostom cites for the consolation
of his suffering friends. He speaks of their exposure to
intimidation by threats, imprisonment, frequent appearance
in judges' courts, torture at the hands of the executioner,
shameless false evidence, coarse ribaldry, and scurrilous jests;
but " blessed were they, yea, thrice blessed, and more than
that, to endure imprisonment and chains, for not only was
their fortitude the subject of admiration everywhere, but
their present sufferings were the measure of their future
happiness, and their names had been inscribed in the Book
of Life." 2
The destruction of the church and senate-house was the
first pretext for instituting persecution against the adherents
1 Fallad. Dial. c. 11. 2 p. ad Episcop. vol. iii. pp. 541 and 673.
344 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. xx.
of Chrysostom ; the second was, their refusal to recognise
his successor. One week after his deposition, Arsacius,
brother of Nectarius the predecessor of Chrysostom, was,
apparently by the simple exercise of Imperial authority,
elevated to the see. He was eighty years old, and is
quaintly described by Palladius as " muter than a fish, and
more incapable than a frog." 1 The probable aim of the
Empress was to secure a man whose servility might be
depended on. His brother, ISTectarius, had once desired
to make him Bishop of Tarsus; and, on his declining to
accept the promotion, had taunted him with ambitiously
reserving himself for the see of Constantinople ; whereupon
Arsacius had taken an oath that he never would accept any
bishopric. But ambition and Imperial authority overcame
his scruples. He is described by the historians as a man of
pious disposition and mild conduct ; with one exception :
that he persecuted with relentless vigour the contumacious
adherents of his predecessor. By Chrysostom he is
denounced as a wolf, and in a figurative sense as an
adulterer, on account of his usurpation of the see during
the lifetime of its legitimate occupant. 2 Arsacius applied
to the civil powers for assistance to compel the Johnites to
attend the churches where he and his clergy officiated. A
tribune was directed to attack a body of them who had
assembled for worship in some remote part of the city. The
soldiers dispersed the assembly, took several of the most
eminent persons prisoners, and, as usual, stripped the women
of their golden girdles, jewels, and earrings. The only con-
sequence of this was, that the Johnites became more attached
to the cause and memory of their late Archbishop. Some of
them fled the city, and many more refrained as much as
possible from appearing in public places, such as the Forum
and the baths. Meetings of some kind for worship were
not discontinued, or were soon resumed, for we find Chryso-
i C. 11. 2 Epist. cxxv.
< . ,.
4
CH. xx.] CHRYSOSTOM'S FRIENDS PEB^EOTEED. ' : 35 V^
stom, in one of his letters written during his exile, rep*6^inor <^ -
two priests, Theophilus and Salustius, for slackness in attenV \ .
ing such assemblies. 1 But worshippers ran great risks. '^
The prefect Optatus, who succeeded Studius, probably
because the latter was considered too lenient, appears to have
entertained all the animosity of a thorough Pagan against
Christians, and to have rejoiced in the present opportunity
of inflicting sufferings upon them. He combined the two
charges of incendiarism and contumacy in his prosecution of
the Johnites, and endeavoured to extort confessions of guilt
from his victims with merciless barbarity.
A few instances are recorded, and they are quite enough
to sicken us of the tale of such horrors. Eutropius, a reader,
was commanded to name the persons who had set fire to the
church. He refused. He was young and delicate, and it
was thought a confession might be wrung from him under
the agony of torture. He was lashed with a scourge, his
cheeks were scraped, and his sides lacerated with iron teeth,
after which lighted torches were applied to the wounded
parts. No information could be extorted from him : he was
therefore conveyed to prison, and thrown into a dungeon,
where he expired. Some priests, adherents of Arsacius,
buried him by night, that his mangled body might not be
seen by any eyes but those of his enemies. Celestial music
was said to have been heard at the time of his interment.
Tigrius, the priest, whose presence with Serapion had
been demanded at the Synod of the Oak, was another victim.
He was stripped, scourged on his back, and then stretched
on the rack till his bones were dislocated. He survived the
torture, and was banished to Mesopotamia. Serapion himself,
now bishop of Heraclea in Thrace, was seized, tried on several
calumnious charges, barbarously scourged, and sent into exile.
Those ladies also who were most distinguished for their
friendship with the deposed Archbishop, and for the dedica-
1 Epist. ccxii.
346 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xx.
tion of their time and money to the Church, were marked
objects of persecution. They were brought before the pre-
fect, and admonished by him to acknowledge Arsacius, and
so save themselves from future annoyance. A few from
timidity complied; but Olympias, who was subjected to a
severer examination, confronted it with a dauntless spirit.
She was bluntly asked why she had set fire to the "-Great
Church." " My manner of life," replied the accused, " is a
sufficient refutation of such a charge ; a person who has
expended, large sums of money to restore and embellish the
churches of God is not likely to burn and demolish them."
" I know your past course of life well," cried the prefect.
" If you know aught against it, then descend from your place
there as judge, and come forward as my accuser," replied the
undaunted Olympias. Perceiving that she was not to be
browbeaten, Optatus proposed the same course to her which
had been adopted by some other women as a means of
exemption from further persecution, namely, communion
with Arsacius; but she scornfully rejected the base com-
promise. "I have been publicly calumniated by a charge
which cannot be proven, and I will not accede to any terms
till I have been cleared from this accusation. Even if you
resort to force, I will not hold communion with those from
whom I ought to secede, nor do anything contrary to the
principles of my holy religion." She made a request, which
was granted, that she might be allowed a few days to consult
with lawyers on the proper means of legally refuting the
libellous accusation. The prefect, however (on what pre-
tence is not stated), sent for her again, and exacted a heavy
fine, in the hope that she would be induced to yield. The
fine was paid without any reluctance, but her refusal to
acknowledge the usurper was inflexible; and to avoid, if
possible, further pressure and persecution, she retired to
Cyzicus, on the other side of the straits. 1
i Sozom. viii. 24. Palla-l. Dial. c. 20.
CH. xx.] CHRYSOSTOM'S FEIENDS PERSECUTED. 347
The tidings of her fortitude and loyalty were conveyed to
the exiled Chrysostoni, and so cheered his spirit in the
midst of depression and sickness that his sufferings seemed
to him as nothing. " When many men and women, old and
young, highly reputed for their virtue, had turned their backs
on the enemy almost before the conflict had begun, she,
on the other hand, after many encounters, so far from being-
enervated, was even invigorated ; she spread forth the sails
of patience, and floated securely as on a calm sea ; so far
from being overwhelmed by the storm, she was scarcely
sprinkled by the spray. In the seclusion of her little house
she was able to inspire courage into the hearts of others,
and had been to them a haven of comfort and a tower of
strength." 1
The deaconess Pentadia, widow of the consul Timasius,
was another victim. She led the life of a recluse, never
going beyond the walls of her house except to church. She
was now dragged from her retreat through the Forum to the
prefect's tribunal, and thence to prison, charged with being
an accomplice in the late fire. Several persons were put to
the torture before her eyes, in order to intimidate her into a
confession; but in vain. Her firm demeanour, courageous
answers, and powerful demonstrations of her innocence, con-
founded and silenced her adversaries, and elicited the admira-
tion of the public. Beyond imprisonment, no indignities
seem to have been inflicted on her ; and when desirous to
quit the capital, she was persuaded by Chrysostom to remain,
who represented the great value of her presence and example
in animating others to undergo their present afflictions. She
had apparently intended to try and join him in his place of
exile, when he had been removed to Cucusus, on the con-
fines of Lesser Armenia, for he dwells on the great risk to
her delicate health from a journey in winter, and the danger
of being plundered by the Isaurian robbers, who were just
. ad Olymp. vi.
348 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHKYSOSTOM. [CH. xx.
then, he says, in a powerful condition. He, therefore, on all
grounds, begs her to remain where she is, but to relieve his
mind from anxiety about her affairs and health by con-
stantly writing to him. 1
Meanwhile, the injured Church of Constantinople did not
cease through letters and emissaries to solicit the interfer-
ence of the Western Church. The first intimation of the
calamities we have been describing which reached the ears
of Kome was through a messenger despatched by Theophilus.
The letter which he brought was inscribed " From Pope
Theophilus to Pope Innocent," and stated in the barest
manner, without assigning his reasons or mentioning any
assessors in his judgment, that he had deposed Chrysostom,
and that it behoved Innocent to break off communion with
him. The Pope was displeased by the cool and curt char-
acter of the letter, and somewhat perplexed how to notice or
reply to so inexplicit a despatch. Eusebius, a deacon from
Constantinople, who was in Kome at the time on some
ecclesiastical business, obtained an interview with Innocent,
and entreated him not to act till information should be
received from Constantinople, which, he added (on what
grounds does not appear), he had good reason to expect
would arrive in a short time. Three days afterwards four
bishops did arrive, bearing the letter from Chrysostom to
Innocent which contained that pathetic and perspicuous
narrative of the recent occurrences, from which extracts have
been made in the preceding chapter. They brought two
other letters, one from the forty friendly bishops, another
from the clergy of Constantinople.
Innocent no longer hesitated to pronounce an opinion.
His letter to Theophilus is brief, decisive, almost peremptory
in tone. " The See of Kome," he said, " would maintain
communion with Alexandria and Constantinople to avoid
rending the unity of the Church ; but he annulled (aOe
1 Epp. xciv. and civ.
CH. xx.] APPEALS TO THE POPE. 349
the deposition of John apparently made by Theophilus. It
was impossible to recognise the validity of a sentence pro-
nounced by such an irregular synod as that lately convened
at Chalcedon. If Theophilus had confidence in the justice
of that sentence, he must appear in person to prove it before
a General Council called together and regulated according to
the Canons of Nice." A few days after the despatch of this
letter, Peter, an Alexandrian priest, arrived with a deacon
from Constantinople, bearing another letter from Theophilus,
and certain minutes, so called, of the acts of the Synod of
the Oak. Innocent, having perused the minutes, was indig-
nant at the mingled monstrosity and levity of the charges
brought against Chrysostom, and at the condemnation
having been pronounced in the absence of the defendant.
He ordered special prayers and fasts to be observed by
the Church for the restoration of concord, and addressed
to Theophilus a sharp letter of reproof. 1
It is not easy to make out precisely how many communi-
cations passed each way between the Churches of Eome and
Constantinople, or the exact date of each ; but several letters
are distinctly mentioned. Theotecnus, a priest from Con-
stantinople, brought a letter from twenty-five of the forty
bishops who had constantly adhered to Chrysostom, in
which they described the expulsion of the Patriarch and the
conflagration of the church. Innocent replied by a letter of
condolence, and exhortation to bear their trial with Christian
fortitude and patience, for at present he confessed, with deep
regret, that he saw small prospect of rendering much effectual
aid, " owing to the opposition of certain persons powerful for
evil," alluding probably to the jealousies between the Courts
of the two brothers, Honorius and Arcadius. The cabal also
sent a letter to Innocent, containing their version of the
late transactions. Their emissary was Paternus, who called
himself a priest of Constantinople ; " an ugly little fellow,"
i Pallad. Dial. cc. 1, 2, 3.
350 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xx.
says Palladius, " and very unintelligible." The letter was
written in the names of Arsacius, Paulus, Antiochus, Cyrinus,
Severian, and some others; and, among other opprobrious
charges, distinctly accused Chrysostom of setting fire to the
church. Innocent treated the letter with much disdain, and
would not condescend to answer it. Some days afterwards,
Cyriacus, bishop of Synnada, arrived in Eome as a fugitive,
in consequence of an Imperial edict, which directed the
deposition of any bishop who refused to communicate with
Arsacius and Theophilus, and the confiscation of his pro-
perty, if he had any. After Cyriacus arrived Eulysius,
bishop of Apamea in Bithynia, bringing a letter from fifteen
of the forty friendly bishops, which described all the past
and present distress of the Church caused by Chrysostom's
enemies, and in all respects confirmed the oral account of
Cyriacus. In the course of another month, Palladius, bishop
of Hellenopolis, fled to Eome from the intolerable harshness
of magisterial decrees, which now subjected to confiscation
the house of any one who should be found to have harboured
bishop, priest, or even layman, who communicated with
Chrysostom. From a letter of Chrysostom 1 it appears that
Palladius and many others lived for some time in conceal-
ment at Constantinople, in the hope of escaping persecution.
They were courteously lodged in Eome by one Pinianus and
his wife, by Juliana, Proba, and other Eoman ladies, whom
Chrysostom warmly thanks for their kindness in letters
written by him from Cucusus. 2 Germanus the priest, and
Cassian the deacon, custodians of the Church treasury at
Constantinople, also came to Eome, bringing a letter from
the whole body of the clergy who adhered to Chrysostom,
describing the violent deposition and expulsion of the Arch-
bishop, and the tyranny of their adversaries under which
they were now suffering. 3
The reply of Innocent to this letter from the clergy of
1 Ep. cxiii. 2 Epp. clxviii. clxix. et alice. 3 Pallad. Dial. c. 3.
CH. xx.] LETTER FROM THE POPE. 351
Constantinople is dignified as well as sympathetic. He
exhorts, as usual, to patience, and to the derivation of com-
fort from the remembrance of the sufferings of all God's
saints in past times. But he deeply deplores their wrongs,
and again expresses his reprobation in the strongest terms
of the illegality of the late proceedings. " The canon which
prohibited the ordination of a successor during the lifetime
of the reigning bishop had been grossly violated. The
Canons of Antioch, on which the synod had relied, were
invalid, having been composed by heretics, and they had
been rejected by the Council of Sardica. The Canons of
Nice alone were entitled to the obedience of the Church;
but adversaries and heretics were always attempting to sub-
vert them." ..." What steps, then, should be taken in the
existing crisis? Plainly a General Council must be con-
voked : that was the only means of appeasing the fury of
the tempest. He was watching an opportunity to accom-
plish this : meanwhile, they must wait in patience, and trust
the goodness of God for the restoration of tranquillity and
good order."
To Chrysostom Innocent wrote, as friend to friend, as a
bishop to a brother bishop, a letter of Christian consolation
and encouragement, not entering into the legal questions of
the case, and not pledging himself to decisive action of any
kind. It was not necessary to remind one, who was himself
the. teacher and pastor of a great people, that God often tried
the best of men, and put their patience to the severest tests,
and that they are firmly supported under the greatest calami-
ties by the approving voice of conscience. ... A good man
may be severely tried, but cannot be overcome, since he is
preserved and guarded by the truth of Holy Scripture.
Holy Scripture supplied abundant examples of suffering
saints who did not receive their crowns until they had under-
gone the heaviest trials with patience. " Take courage, then,
honoured brother, from the testimony of conscience. When
352 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xx.
you have been purified by affliction, you will enter into the
haven of peace in the presence of Christ our Lord." 1
Innocent, however, not only wrote commonplace letters
of condolence, but exerted himself to obtain the council
which he had recommended to the Church of Constantinople
as the only means of redressing her wrongs. He wrote a
letter to Honorius, then at Eavenna, representing the
lamentable condition of the Church of Constantinople, which
elicited from the Emperor an order for the convention of an
Italian synod. This synod, after a due consideration of all
the circumstances, was to submit its decision and suggestions
to himself. The result of the deliberations of the Italian
bishops, swayed no doubt by Innocent, was to request the
Emperor to write to his brother Arcadius, urging the con-
vocation of a General Council to be held in Thessalonica,
which would be a convenient meeting-point for the prelates
of East and West. Honorius complied, and the letter was
despatched under the care of a deputation from the Italian
Church, consisting of five bishops, two priests, and a deacon.
The Emperor calls it the third letter 2 which he had written
relative to the affairs of Constantinople. He professes
great solicitude for the peace of the Church, " on which," he
observes, " the peace of our Empire depends ; " and with a
view to this object, he urges the convocation of a council at
Thessalonica, and specially entreats that the attendance of
Theophilus, who was, he is informed, author of all these
disturbances, should be insisted upon. He commends the
deputation to the honourable care of Arcadius ; and that he
may know the sentiments of the Italian Church on the
present state of affairs, he sends him two letters as samples
of many, one from the Bishop of Borne, the other from the
Bishop of Aquileia.
1 Sozom. viii. 26. in the Church of St. Sophia, and at
2 One previous letter we possess in the gross violation of justice and law
Chrys. vol. iii. p. 539, in which he ex- in the recent so-called trial of Chry-
presses his horror at the late outrages sostom.
< :i. xx.] ENVOYS FROM THE WEST MALTREATED. 353
The only bishop on the deputation whose see is men-
tioned was JEmilius, bishop of Beneventum. The Oriental
refugees, Cyriacus, Demetrius, Palladius, and Eulysius,
accompanied the Italians. They were the bearers not only
of letters from Honorius, Innocent, and the bishops Chro-
matius of Aquileia and Venerius of Milan, but also of a
memorial from the Italian synod, which recommended that
Chrysostom should be reinstated in his see before he was
required to take his trial before a council. He would then,
it was observed, have no reasonable excuse for declining to
attend it. The deputation was absent four months. On
their return the members had a pitiful tale to tell of failure
in their errand, and of personal suffering from maltreatment.
The} 7 touched at Athens on their voyage out, whence they
had intended to proceed to Thessalonica, and lay the letters
first of all before Anysius, bishop of that place; but at
Athens they were arrested by a military officer, who placed
them on board two vessels under charge of a centurion, to
l>e conveyed to Constantinople. A furious southerly gale
sprang up soon after their departure, and, after a voyage of
some danger, they arrived, late on the third day, at the
suburb of Constantinople called Victor. But, instead of
being allowed to proceed to the city, they were shut up in a
fortress named Athyra, on the coast the Eomans in a single
chamber, the Orientals in separate apartments. No servant
even was permitted to attend them. They were commanded
to deliver up the letters which they had brought, but refused,
as being ambassadors, to surrender them to any but to the
Emperor himself. Secretaries and messengers were sent in
succession, but the ambassadors steadfastly adhered to their
refusal. The letters were at length wrested from their
possession by sheer violence : one bishop's thumb was
broken in the struggle. On the following day a large bribe
was offered them if they would recognise Atticus- (the aged
Arsacius was now dead) as Patriarch, and say no more
z
354 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xx.
about the trial of Chrysostom. This base proposal was
iirmly resisted ; and, seeing the utter hopelessness of their
mission, they requested to be released as soon as possible,
and suffered to return to their dioceses in safety. The
Italians saw no more of their companions from the East.
They themselves were thrust into a miserable vessel, with
twenty soldiers of various grades, and conveyed to Lampsa-
cus, on the Asiatic coast, where they embarked in another
vessel, and, after a tedious voyage of twenty days, arrived at
Hydruntum, in Calabria. 1
Neither the Papacy nor the Empire of the West" was
sufficiently powerful at this time to insist further upon
justice being done to the Patriarch, in the face of the
determined animosity of the ruling powers at Constanti-
nople ; but the friends of the martyr deemed that they
read unequivocal signs of the Divine displeasure in the mis-
fortunes which befell some of Chrysostom's greatest personal
enemies. Thrace and Illyria were ravaged by an incursion
of Huns, and the Isaurians, a predatory barbarian race,
which inhabited the fastnesses of Mount Taurus, committed
fearful havoc in Syria and Asia Minor. Cyrinus, bishop of
Chalcedon, one of the four who had taken on them the
responsibility of Chrysostom's condemnation, died in great
agony from the wound in his foot, originally caused when his
foot had been trodden upon by Bishop Maruthas, more than
a year ago, just before the Synod of the Oak. At the end
of September, Constantinople was visited by a destructive
fall of hailstones of extraordinary size ; and on October 6,
A.D. 404, died the Empress Eudoxia. Nilus, one of the most
eminent anchorites of the day, once prefect of Constanti-
nople, who had abandoned wealth, family, and position for
the solitudes of Mount Sinai, addressed two letters of reproof
and warning to Arcadius on the iniquitous banishment of
Chrysostom and inhuman persecution of his followers.
i Pallad. Dial. c. 4.
CH. xx.] SUFFERINGS OF THE EASTERN ENVOYS. 355
" How can you expect to see Constantinople delivered from
visitations of earthquake and fire from Heaven, after the
enormities which have there been perpetrated ; after crime
has been established there by the authority of laws ; after
the thrice-blessed John, the pillar of the Church, the lamp
of truth, the trumpet of Jesus Christ, has been driven from
the city ? How can I grant my prayers (Arcadius had
apparently begged the intercession of the saint to remove
the national troubles) to a city stricken by the wrath of
God, whose thunder is every moment ready to fall upon
her?" 1
But human and divine warnings were alike wasted ; the
enemies of the Patriarch had complete sway over the Court,
and suffered it not to swerve from the path of persecution.
The Western bishops and presbyters, after the disastrous
termination of their embassy to Constantinople, returned
home, without honour indeed, but unmolested. Their
Eastern colleagues did not escape so easily. They were
conveyed to places of exile in the most distant and opposite
quarters of the Empire. Cyriacus was confined in a Persian
fortress beyond Emessa ; Eulysius in Arabia ; Palladius on
the confines of Ethiopia; Demetrius was to have been con-
fined in one of the Egyptian oases, but died of the harsh
treatment to which he was subjected on the journey. The
exiles suffered such brutal insults and indignities from the
soldiers who conducted them to these places, that the desire
of life was extinguished. The little money which they had
collected for the expenses of their journey was taken from
them by their guards, who divided it among themselves.
They were forced to perform in one day the distance of two
days' journey. They were not permitted to enter any
churches on their route, but forced into Jewish or Samaritan
synagogues, and lodged at night in low inns, where their
ears were shocked by the filthy conversation of abandoned
1 Nilus, 2 Epp. cclxv. and cclxxix. Sozom. viii. 25.
356 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. xx.
characters of both sexes. Yet even some of these degraded
people were won to a more respectful behaviour, if not
actually converted, by the Christian exhortations and in-
struction of the captives. The "Word of God was not
bound." Some of the bishops friendly to Theophilus bribed
the soldiers to hurry the exiles out of their dioceses as
quickly as possible. Distinguished among these malignants
were the bishops of Tarsus, Antioch, Ancyra, and of Csesarea
in Palestine. Most of the bishops of Cappadocia, on the
other hand, especially Theodorus of Tyana, and Bosporius
of Colonia, accorded them a compassionate and courteous
reception. 1
Arsacius died in November A.D. 404. Out of many ambi-
tious candidates for the vacant throne, Atticus, a presbyter,
who had taken an active part in the persecution of Chrysostom,
a native of Sebaste in Armenia, was appointed. He was a
man of moderate abilities and generally mild disposition,
but relentless in his determination to crush out the party of
the exiled Patriarch. By his influence an Imperial rescript
was obtained, which decreed that " any bishop who did not
communicate with Theophilus, Porphyry of Antioch, and
Atticus, should be ejected from the Church, and his property
confiscated." The wealthy, for the most part, bowed to the
storm ; the poor sought peace of body and of conscience in
flight either to Rome or monasteries. This rescript, aimed
at the bishops, was followed up by another directed against
the laity. Any layman who refused to recognise the above-
mentioned prelates was, if a civilian, to be deprived of any
office which he might hold ; if a soldier, of his military girdle ;
if an artisan, to be heavily fined or banished. Bishops and
presbyters were dispersed as fugitives into all parts of the
Empire. Some sought retirement in some secluded little
country property of their own, and obtained a precarious
livelihood by manual labour, farming, or fishing. 2
1 Pallad. Dial. 20. 2 Sozom. viii. 27. Pall ad. Dial. 20.
CH. xx.] STATE OF THE EASTERN CHURCH. 357
But, in spite of all the various means of coercion at Con-
stantinople, in spite of trials, torture, imprisonment, banish-
ment, the bulk of the people could not be brought to attend
the ministration of Atticus and his clergy. Their churches
were comparatively empty, while the persecuted adherents
of the exile persistently held their services in some sequestered
valley, or on some lonely hillside. In fact, persecution, as
has always been the case, only intensified the attachment of
many to the person and the cause which it was intended to
crush, and so far defeated its own object. Chrysostom
himself observes, 1 that many of those who had enjoyed a
high reputation for piety were the first to fall away when
brought to the test of persecution ; whereas others, who had
formerly been abandoned to frivolity and vice, now renounced
the theatre and circus, hastened into the desert to attend the
assembly of the Catholics at worship, and displayed the
greatest fortitude before the judge when brought to trial, in
the face of torture, and with the prospect of imprisonment
or exile.
The party now in power could not convert the hearts of
clergy or people to their side, but they could, and did, change
the outward aspect of the Church. The men of probity and
piety with whom Chrysostom had replaced the six simoniacal
bishops deposed in Asia were expelled, and the delinquents
restored. The Church in that region was reduced to a
disgraceful state. Ordinations were conducted, not amidst
prayer and fasting, but feasting, drunkenness, and gross
bribery. The see of Heracleides, the good bishop of
Ephesus, appointed by Chrysostom, was occupied by a
eunuch, a monster of iniquity. The people in disgust
deserted the churches.
The death of Flavian, bishop of Antioch, nearly coincided
with the banishment of Chrysostom. The people of Antioch
were much attached to a priest named Constantius, a man
1 Ep. ad eos qui scandalizati sr.nt, c. 19.
358 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHEYSOSTOM. [CH. xx.
described by Palladius as a faithful and incorruptible servant
of the Church from his earliest youth, first as a messenger
who carried ecclesiastical despatches, then as reader, deacon,
priest. He had won the love and admiration of the people
by his gentle, amiable disposition, his intelligence, strict
integrity, and exemplary piety. There was a general desire
to make him bishop, but an ambitious priest named Porphyry
frustrated the design. By bribery, and calumnious stories
conveyed to the Court at Constantinople, he procured an
Imperial rescript condemning Constantius to be banished to
one of the oases as a disturber of the people. With the
assistance of his friends Constantius escaped to Cyprus.
Porphyry meanwhile imprisoned several of the clergy of
Antioch, and seized the opportunity of the Olympian festival
(when most of the inhabitants had poured out to the cele-
brated suburb of Daphne) to enter the church with a few
bishops and clergy ; and then, with doors fast closed, he was
hurriedly ordained, so hurriedly that some portions of the
service were omitted. Acacius, Severian, and Antiochus,
who had officiated, immediately fled. The people were en-
raged when they discovered the trick, surrounded Porphyry's
house, and threatened to burn it to the ground. He applied
for protection to the prefect, who lent him a body of troops,
with which he forcibly took possession of the church. He
contrived to get an unscrupulous and cruel man sent from
Constantinople to be captain of the city guards, terror of
whom drove the people to attend the churches, though they
did so with disgust, and earnestly prayed for retribution from
Heaven on the authors of this wickedness. 1
Innocent remained inflexibly attached to the cause of
Chrysostom. The Church of Rome and the Italian bishops
broke off all communion with Theophilus and Atticus, and
ceased not to demand the convocation of a General Council,
as the only tribunal by which the Patriarch could be lawfully
i Pallad. Dial. cc. 15 and 16.
c:i. xx.] DEGRADATION OF THE CHURCH. 359
acquitted or condemned. 1 But the Court of Eavenna was
not in a position to support these demands by intimidation
or actual force. All the skill of Stilicho and all the resources
at his command were barely sufficient to repel the persevering
efforts of Alaric and Ehadagaisus to take the great prize
which they so eagerly coveted, the capital of the Roman
Empire. The inevitable fall of Rome was averted only for a
little while.
Thus the spirit of lawlessness and selfishness took ad-
vantage of the impotence of the secular power both in
Rome and Constantinople to work its will upon the Church.
It dealt a blow to Christian morality and ecclesiastical dis-
cipline from which the Church at Constantinople never
recovered, and which caused a throb of pain from one end of
Christendom to the other ; for, in spite of all differences and
divisions, Christendom was one then, so that, if one member
suffered, all the members suffered with it; and what was
done and said, and thought and felt, in the Church of Alex-
andria, or Antioch, or Constantinople, was not unknown or
unregarded by the Churches of Rome or Milan, and through
them made its impress on the Churches even of Gaul and
Spain.
i Theod. v. 34.
CHAPTER XXI.
CHRYSOSTOM ORDERED TO BE REMOVED TO CUCUSUS-PERILS ENCOUN-
TERED AT C^SAREA HARDSHIPS OF THE JOURNEY REACHES
CUCUSUS LETTERS WRITTEN THERE TO OLYMPIAS AND OTHER
FRIENDS. A.D. 404.
IT now only remains to follow the illustrious exile along his
painful journey to its melancholy or, if we regard him as
the Christian martyr, its glorious termination.
He was removed, as has been already seen, from Con-
stantinople on June 20, and conveyed, in the course of a
few days, to Nicsea. Here he remained till July 4, and
several of his letters to Olympias were written from this
place. The soft yet fresh sea air revived his health, which
had suffered from the feverish and harassing scenes that he
had gone through at Constantinople, and from the journey
begun in the very middle of the summer heat. Nothing
could exceed the kindness of the soldiers under whose
custody he travelled, who discharged towards him all the
duties of servants as well as of guards. 1 His ultimate
destination was not known for some time by himself or his
friends. Common report sent him to Scythia, 2 but the
intention of his enemies appears to have changed from time
to time. Sebaste in Armenia had been first proposed, but
finally Cucusus, a village in the Tauric range on the edge of
Cilicia and the Lesser Armenia, was fixed upon. It was a
remote and desolate spot, subject to frequent attacks from
1 Epp. x. xi. 2 Ep. xiii.
CH. xxi.] THE MISSION IN PHOENICIA. 361
the marauding Isaurians ; and at first Chrysostom earnestly
entreated his friends in Constantinople to try and procure a
more agreeable place of exile, a favour frequently granted to
criminals. Olympias, Bishop Cyriacus, Briso the chamber-
lain, and a lady named Theodora, repeatedly interceded on
his behalf; but their efforts were ineffectual. 1 The Empress
herself, it would appear, selected Cucusus, and was inexor-
able in her decision. 2
From beginning to end of his exile Chrysostom's mind
was occupied with organising such work as yet remained
possible to him. It has been seen with what zeal he had
planted a missionary settlement in Phoenicia. This project
continued to the close of his life to be an object of his most
solicitous interest. On July 3, the eve of his departure
from Niciea, he addressed a letter to a priest named Con-
stantius, 3 apparently the superintendent of the missionary
work in Phoenicia and the surrounding countries. He im-
plores him to prosecute his labours for the extirpation of
Paganism with zeal undiminished, and undismayed by the
present afflicted state of the bishop and the see, to whom the
mission owed its origin. " The pilot and the physician, far
from relaxing their efforts when the ship and the patient are
in peril, redouble their efforts to save them." He begs Con-
stantius to inform him year by year how many temples are
destroyed, how many churches built, how many good Chris-
tians immigrate into Phoenicia. He had himself persuaded a
recluse, whom he found at Nicsea, to go and place himself
under the direction of Constantius in the missionary work.
He had, he says, happily concluded, just about the time of
his deposition, arrangements for the suppression of Mar-
cionism, which was very prevalent at Salamis, in Cyprus.
He begs Constantius to write to his friend Bishop Cyriacus,
if still in Constantinople, and request him to carry these
plans into effect. Finally, he implores the prayers of Con-
1 Epp. cxx. cxxi. 2 Ep. cxxv. in fine. 3 Ep. ccxxi.
362 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xxi.
stantius and all faithful people for the cessation of the
present calamities of the Church, especially of the intoler-
able evils which had befallen it in Asia ; alluding no doubt
to the restoration of the simoniacal bishops.
On July 4 or 5 the exile started from Nicsea on his toil-
some and perilous journey in the midsummer heat, across
the scorching plains of Galatia and Cappadocia. He de-
scribes himself 1 as an object of great compassion to travellers
whom he met coming from Armenia and the East, who
stopped to weep and wail over his distress. His route lay
in a diagonal line across the centre of Asia Minor, ascending
first of all near the stream of the river Sangarius, which in
its upper course winds through vast plains of black bitumi-
nous soil, scantily cultivated, but supplying pasture to great
herds of cattle. Chrysostom had always been an ascetic
liver, but he had not a robust frame, and he had been accus-
tomed to wholesome food and the frequent use of the bath.
Continuous travelling by night as well as day, the scorching
sun, hot dust, hard bread, brackish water, and deprivation of
the bath, threw him into a fever ; but either from fear of the
Isaurians, or of Leontius, bishop of Ancyra, in Galatia, one
of his most virulent enemies, the journey was pursued
without intermission till he arrived, more dead than alive,
at Csesarea, in Cappadocia.
He has left us a detailed account of the perils which
befell him here, and a melancholy picture indeed it is
of the ferocity and cunning of which bishops and monks
were capable under the influence of fanatical partisan-
ship. 2 Having escaped, he says, from the Galatian (pro-
bably meaning Leontius), he was met, as he approached
Caesarea, by several persons, who informed him that Pha-
retrius the bishop was eagerly expecting him, and pre-
paring to welcome him with affectionate hospitality. He
confesses that he himself mistrusted these specious offers,
i Ep. viii. 2 Ep. xiv.
err. XXL] VIOLENT SCENES AT C.ESAREA. 363
but he kept his suspicions to himself. On his arrival at
Csesarea, in a state of extreme exhaustion, Pharetrius did
not appear, but he was enthusiastically received by the
people as well as some monks and nuns. The extreme
kindness and skill of physicians (one of whom declared his
intention of accompanying him to the end of his journey),
wholesome food, and the use of the bath, so much renovated
his strength and diminished his fever, that he became anxious
in a day or two to resume his journey. But just at this
juncture the city was thrown into consternation by tidings
that a large body of Isaurians was ravaging the neighbour-
hood, and had already burned a town with much slaughter.
All the available troops in Csesarea were marched out, and
the whole male population, including old men, turned out
to man the walls. During this time of suspense, the house
in which Chrysostom lodged was besieged by a large body
of monks, who with furious cries and gestures demanded
his surrender. The prsetorians who guarded him were terri-
fied by the fierce behaviour of these fanatics, and declared
that they would rather face the Isaurians than fall into the
hands of these "wild beasts." The governor of the city
succeeded in protecting the person of Chrysostom, but not
in quelling the fury of the monks, who renewed their assault
still more hotly on the following day. The Bishop Phare-
trius was very generally suspected to be the instigator of
these attacks, and an appeal was made to him to interpose
his authority, that the Archbishop might at least enjoy a
few days' repose, which the state of his health greatly needed.
But the envy of Pharetrius was embittered by the popu-
larity of Chrysostom, and the great kindness and compassion
which his hardships had elicited from clergy and people.
He refused to interfere; but Chrysostom's friends took
advantage of a brief lull in the hostile visits of the monks
to convey him in a litter outside the town, amidst the
lamentations of the attendant people, and imprecations on
364 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xxi.
the author of the malevolent assaults. When he was once
outside the town several of the clergy joined him, and be-
sought him not to think of trusting himself to Pharetrius ;
it would be worse, they declared, than falling into the hands
of the Isaurians : " only escape from our hands, and where-
ever you fall you will fall safely."
At this crisis a lady named Seleucia, the wife of Kufinus,
a man of rank and a friend of Chrysostom, entreated him to
accept a lodging at her country house, about five miles out
of the city. He accepted the offer ; but, unknown to him,
Pharetrius, whose rage was inflamed by the rescue of his
prey, visited the house, and threatened to take vengeance on
the mistress if her guest was not surrendered. This demand
was refused, and the lady gave orders to her steward, in the
event of any attack by monks, to collect all the labourers on
the estate and repel the assault by force. But her courage
at last gave way under the pressure of incessant menaces
from Pharetrius, and it was resolved to remove the Arch-
bishop, not less for his own safety than for that of the
person whose roof had afforded him shelter. In the dead of
night, when Chrysostom was sleeping, unconscious of im-
pending danger, he was roused by a companion, the priest
Evethius, who told him that he must instantly prepare for
flight. It was midnight, and the sky murky and moonless ;
but they dared not light torches for fear of attracting the
observation of their enemies. The road was rugged and
rocky ; the mule which carried the Archbishop's litter fell,
and he was thrown out. Evethius took him by the hand
and led, or rather dragged, him along. In such a pitiable
plight, faint with fatigue and fever-stricken, did the bishop
of the second see in Christendom stumble and totter in
the darkness along the Cappadocian mountain path. " Were
not these calamities," he writes to Olympias, " sufficient to
blot out many sins, and suggest to me a hope of future
glory?"
CH. xxi.] ARRIVAL AT CUCUSUS. 365
Of the remainder of his journey to Cucusus we possess no
detailed narrative. He only speaks in general terms of his
sufferings for thirty days from fever, aggravated by the want
of a bath, and by deficient accommodation of every kind in
a journey made along a rough road, through a desolate moun-
tainous country, liable to an attack at any moment from
Isaurian bandits. 1 Desolate though the region was, how-
ever, he speaks of monks and nuns occasionally meeting
him in large numbers, and loudly bewailing his calamities,
exclaiming that it "had been better the sun should have
hidden his rays, than that the mouth of Chrysostom should
have been closed." 2 About seventy days 3 after his departure
from Constantinople, that is, about the end of August or
beginning of September, Cucusus was reached. After the
fatigues and dangers of his journey, it was a haven of rest
to the exhausted exile, though he describes it as in itself the
most desolate place in the world ; a mere village high up
in the eastern range of Taurus, on the confines of Lesser
Armenia, Cilicia, and Cappadocia. 4 But it was protected
from the Isaurians by a strong garrison, and it contained
many warm-hearted friends of the Archbishop, who emu-
lated one another in showing him attention. Several had
sent invitations to him, before he left Caesarea, to accept a
lodging at their houses, but more especially one whom he
calls " my Lord Diodorus," who had known him in Constan-
tinople. This generous personage not only placed his whole
house at the disposal of Chrysostom, betaking himself to a
country villa to make room for his guest, but furnished it
with every possible defence against the cold of the approach-
ing winter, in that altitude very severe. The Bishop of
1 Epp. xiii. Ixxxiv. appears iu the Itinerary of Antonine
- Ep. cxxv. as Cocusus (PP- 10 > 13 )- Tt stood at
the confluence of several roads, but
Ep. ccxxxiv. apparently not high-roads, one of
4 Epp. ccxxxiv. ccxxxvi. It is not which connected Antioch with Asia
mentioned in Pliny or Ptolemy, but Minor.
366 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xxi.
Cucusus not only received him with great civility, but
even desirous that his own throne should be occupied by
the illustrious exile, that his flock might profit by the
eloquence of the greatest teacher and preacher of the day ;
but Chrysostom thought it prudent to decline the honour. 1
Many of his friends in Constantinople and other places,
who owned property near Cucusus, directed their stewards
to provide in various ways for the comfort of the exile, and
some of his friends actually came to share his fortunes in
person. The aged deaconess, Sabiniana, arrived from Con-
stantinople with the fixed determination of accompanying
him to his final place of exile, whatever that might be.
Constantius, the presbyter of Antioch, whom the people had
wished to make bishop, also took up his abode at Cucusus,
as well to escape from the persecution of Porphyry as from
his zealous attachment to Chrysostom. 2 Thus the natural
disadvantages of the place, the want of good physicians and
of a plentiful market, the severity of the heat in summer
and cold in winter, were largely compensated by the enjoy-
ment of freedom, rest, and the kind attention of friends.
He warns his supporters in Constantinople, who were
endeavouring to procure a change of destination for him,
to be careful that he was not removed to a place worse than
Cucusus, where he possessed all substantial necessaries and
comforts of life. If, however, they thought there was a
chance of obtaining Cyzicus or Mcomedia, they were not to
desist from their efforts ; but he was convinced that another
long and fatiguing journey to a spot as remote and desolate
as Cucusus would kill him. 3
The leisure of the exile was profitably employed in writ-
ing letters to every variety of friends men of rank, ladies,
deaconesses in Constantinople, bishops, clergy, missionary
monks, and his kind acquaintances in Cassarea, especially
the physician Hymnetius, who had attended him there with
1 Ep. cxxv. in fine. 2 Ep. xiii. 3 Epp. xiii. xiv. ccxxxiv.
CH. XXL] LETTERS TO OLYMPIAS. 367
affectionate care. As might be expected, none of his letters
describe his condition so minutely or pour forth so un-
restrainedly his fears and hopes, his causes of distress or
joy, as those written to Olympias. The style in which she
is usually addressed is at once respectful, affectionate, and
paternal: "To my lady, the most reverend and religious
deaconess Olympias, Bishop John sends you greeting in the
Lord." They are seventeen in number, written at different
stages of his exile ; nor is it possible to determine precisely
the date of each. The first three seem to have been written
from Cucusus, and are mainly devoted to the aim of con-
soling her under the present calamities of the Church ; to
dissipating, as he expresses it, that cloud of sorrow which
surrounded her. 1 " Come now, let me soften the wound of
your sadness, and disperse the sad cogitations which com-
pose this gloomy cloud of care. What is it which upsets
your mind, and occasions your grief and despondency ? Is
it the fierce and lowering storm which has overtaken the
Churches and enveloped all with the darkness of a moonless
night, which is growing to a head every day, and has already
wrought many lamentable shipwrecks ? All this I know ;
it shall not be gainsaid : and, if you like, I can form an
image of the things now being done so as to represent the
tragedy more distinctly to thee. We behold a sea heaved up
from its lowest depths, some sailors floating dead, others
struggling in the waves, the planks of the vessel breaking up,
the masts sprung, the canvas torn, the oars dashed out of the
sailors' hands, the pilots, seated on the deck, clasping their
knees with their hands, and crying aloud at the hopelessness
of their situation ; neither sky nor sea clearly visible, but all
one impenetrable gloom, and monsters of the deep attacking
the shipwrecked crew on every side. But why attempt
further to describe the indescribable ? Yet, when I see all
this, I do not despair, when I consider who is the Disposer
1 Vol. iii. p. 549 et seq.
368 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xxi.
of this whole universe One who masters the storm, not by
the contrivance of art, but can calm it by His nod alone.
He does not always destroy what is terrible in its beginning,
but waits till it has come to its consummation ; and then,
when most men are in despair, He works marvels and does
things beyond all expectation, displaying a power which
belongs to Him alone. Wherefore, faint not, for there is only
one thing, Olympias, which is really terrible, there is only
one real trial and that is sin. All things else, whether
they be insidious assaults of foes, or hatred, or calumny, or
abuse, or confiscation of goods, or exile, or the sharpened
sword, and war raging throughout the world, are but as a
tale ; they endure but for a season, they are perishable, and
have their sphere in a mortal body, and do no injury to the
vigilant soul." . . . "Why, then, do you fear temporal
things, which flow away like the stream of a river?" . . .
" Let none of these things which happen vex you ; cease
to entreat the help of this person or that, but continually
beseech Jesus Christ, whom you serve, merely to bow the
head, and all these troubles will be dissolved ; if not in an
instant of time, that is because He is waiting till wickedness
has grown to a height, and then he will suddenly change the
storm into a calm. . . "
He enters into an eloquent review of the sufferings and
persecution to which our blessed Lord was subjected from
His birth to His death, in order to prove that apparent failure
is a fallacious test of the truth and real value of man's
character and work. .
" Why are you troubled because one man has been
expelled and another introduced into his place? Christ
was crucified, and the life of Barabbas, the robber, was
asked. How many must have been shocked and repelled
by this ignominious termination to a life of miracles ! But
in every stage of His life there was much to surprise and
offend and try the faith. His birth was the cause of deatli
en. XXL] LETTERS TO OLYMPIAS. 369
to many innocent children in Bethlehem ; poverty, danger,
exile, marked His infancy. He was misunderstood and
suspected throughout His ministry. ' Thou art a Samaritan,
and hast a devil;' 'He deceiveth the people ;' ' He casteth
out devils through the chief of the devils ; ' ' He was a
gluttonous man and wine bibber, a friend of publicans and
sinners/ His discernment of purity and goodness was
questioned, because He permitted the sinful woman to
approach Him ; ' neither did His brethren believe on Him.'
You speak of many having been frightened out of the
straight path by the present calamities. How many of
Christ's disciples stumbled at the time of His crucifixion !
One betrayed Him, another denied Him, the others fled, and
He was led to trial bound and alone. How many, think
you, were offended when they beheld Him, who a little while
ago was raising the dead, cleansing the lepers, expelling
devils, multiplying loaves, now bound, forlorn, surrounded
by coarse soldiers, followed by a crowd of tumultuous
priests? How many when He was being scourged, and
they saw Him torn by the lash, and standing with bleeding
body before the governor's tribunal? How many, again,
whon He was mocked, now with a crown of thorns, now
with a purple robe, now with a reed in His hand ? How
many when He was smitten on the cheek, and they cried,
' Prophesy, who is he that smote Thee ? ' and dragged Him
hither and thither, consuming a whole day in jesting and
revilement in the midst of the throng of Jewish. spectators?
How many when He was led to the cross with the marks of
the scourge upon His back? How many when the soldiers
divided His raiment among themselves ? How many when
fastened to the cross and crucified ? " And, after our Lord's
Ascension, what had been the lot of the early Church ?
Calamity, persecution, discomfiture, weakness, the offence of
many and the defection of many. Yet the truth of Jesus
Christ's Gospel had not been obscured ; it had shone more
2 A
370 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHEYSOSTOM. [CH. xxi.
and more brightly : God had wrought out the triumph of
His Church.
The above is a much-condensed rendering of passages
which can hardly be too much admired for the spirit as well
as style in which they are written. The union of a Christian
philosophy and a Christian faith, a philosophy which traces
a principle in God's modes of operation, and a faith which
contentedly accepts whatever happens, in the firm belief
that, be it pleasant or painful, it is part of some purpose of
God ; a philosophy which traces in every suffering of Christ's
servants for the cause of truth a reflection of the Master's
sufferings, and a faith which enables the sufferer not only
to be cheerful himself, but to cheer others, form, indeed, a
noble object of contemplation. In a letter written to
Olympias, just after his hardships and perils at Csesarea, he
begs her to rejoice, as he declares he can himself rejoice, in
suffering as a pledge of future glory. He never had
desisted, and never would desist, from declaring that the
only real calamity to a man's self was sin ; all other evils
were as dust and smoke. Spoliation of goods was freedom ;
banishment was but a change of abode ; death was but the
discharge of nature's debt, which all must eventually pay.
So much has been at all times, and is still, uttered by
Christian writers and preachers about patience and joy in
affliction, that we may be disposed to pass over language of
this kind sometimes as a hackneyed commonplace ; but it
must be remembered that, in Chrysostom's case, the speaker
was an actual sufferer. His words were not the sentimental
utterances of a rhetorical preacher addressing an admiring
audience, but convictions deliberately expressed by a per-
secuted sufferer, who was really living by the principles
which he was accustomed to preach.
The rapturous and lavish praise which in some of his
letters he bestows upon the virtues of Olympias would by a
lady of piety in modern times be distrusted as flattery, and
err. xxi.] PRAISE OF OLYMPIAS. 371
distasteful as a dangerous encouragement to self-righteous-
ness and conceit; but the language of ornate compliment,
which would be offensive to Western taste, seems natural to
Orientals : and it may therefore be supposed that its effect
in elating the mind of the recipient is faint in proportion.
Chrysostom begins his second letter by recommending
Olympias to divert her mind from those calamities and sins,
for which she was no way responsible, by directing it to the
final judgment. The awe with which she must contemplate
that scene, in which she, together with all others, is indi-
vidually concerned and interested, will expel the useless
grief which mourns over iniquity wrought by others. But
he breaks off suddenly from such a line of argument, as
inapplicable to the case of so angelic a being as Olympias.
" To me, indeed, and those who, like me, have been plunged
beneath a sea of sins, such discourse is necessary, for it
excites and alarms ; but you, who abound in goodness, and
who have already touched the very vault of Heaven, cannot
even be pricked by such language ; wherefore, in addressing
you, I will chant another strain and strike another string."
He does indeed ; he invites her to count over her own per-
fections, and to dwell with complacent satisfaction on the
heavenly rewards which are surely in store for her. . . .
" It would fill a volume to relate the history of her patience,
tried in such a variety of ways from her youth. She had
laid such vigorous siege to her body, though naturally delicate
and nurtured in the lap of luxury, that it might truly be
called dead ; and these austerities had raised for her such a
s \vnrm of maladies as defied the skill of physicians, and
involved her in continual suffering. To speak, indeed, of
patience and self-control, in reference to her fasts and vigils,
would be inaccurate, because those expressions implied a
conquest over oppugnant passions. But she had no desires
to conquer : they were not merely subdued but extinguished.
It was as easy and natural to her to fast as it was to others
372 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. xxi.
to eat, as natural to her to pass the night in vigil as to others
to sleep." With an admiring comment on her squalid and
neglected attire he closes this singular enumeration of her
perfections, lest, as he expresses it, he should lose himself in
an illimitable sea if he attempted to wade further ; his
object being, not to make an exhaustive catalogue of her
virtues, but only such as might be sufficient to lift her out
of her present state of depression.
It is worth making such extracts as these, because they
enable us to see how widely remote Chrysostom was from
the mind and taste of our own times in some points, although
in others he seems so nearly congenial. There is another
vein of thought in this letter which is still more alien. " If,"
he says, " in addition to the rewards of her chastity, her fasts,
her vigils, her prayers, her boundless hospitality, she wishes
to enjoy the sight of her adversaries, those iniquitous and
blood-stained men undergoing punishment for their crimes,
that pleasure also shall be hers. Lazarus saw Dives tor-
mented in flames. This you will experience. For if he,
who neglected but one- man, suffered such punishment, if it
was expedient for the man who should offend one little one
to be hanged or cast into the sea, what penalty will be
exacted of men who have offended so large a part of the
world, upset so many churches, and surpassed the ferocity
of barbarians and robbers ? You will see them fast bound,
tormented in flames, gnashing their teeth, overwhelmed with
useless sorrow and vain remorse; and they, in their turn,
will behold you wearing a crown in the blessed mansions,
exulting with angels, reigning with Christ; and they will
cry aloud and groan, repenting of the contumely which they
fastened upon thee, supplicating, but in vain, thy pity and
compassion." 1
To our ears of course such language is extraordinarily
shocking ; but it is valuable as a warning, in estimating the
1 Ep.. ii. c. 10,
CH. xxi.] EEMARKS ON THESE LETTERS. 373
character of Chrysostom, not to judge him or any individual
by words or deeds, which are not so much the offspring of
the man as of the age and circumstances in which he lived.
Chrysostom had exercised as well as taught meekness, for-
bearance, and charity towards all men, enemies as well as
friends; but he lived when the minds of Christians had
for generations been inured to scenes of persecution, and to
such a rigorous system and barbarous execution of criminal
law as are hardly conceivable by us. Fierce opposition of
party against party, violence and bloodshed put down, if at
all, by the stern hand of force, hardened public feeling,
and the individual, however amiable and gentle by nature,
inevitably becomes infected by the prevailing mode of
thought ; he must look at things and judge of things more
or less from the same point of view as the generality of
men amongst whom he lives. What would seem revolt-
iugly cruel to a humane man now, appeared to a man
who lived some hundreds of years ago, though perhaps
equally Immune by nature, and in private life amiable, a
merely natural and just retribution.
The letters of Chrysostom to those bishops l who remained
loyal to his cause are full of asseverations that his affection
for them cannot be diminished by separation or distance.
He exhorts them to continue their labours with unabated
zeal, and carefully to abstain from all communion with the
adverse party. Small though their numbers were, yet their
fortitude under persecution would so much encourage others
that their conduct might be the salvation of the Church.
Several of his letters to laymen in Constantinople are models
of wise Christian counsel. He is never less than the pastor,
while he is always the friend. He writes to one Gemellus, 2
on his promotion to some high magisterial office, that,
" while others congratulated him merely on his new honours,
he would ^rather dwell with thankfulness on the abundant
i e.fj. Epp. Ixxxviii. Ixxxix. et alice. 2 Ep. cxxiv.
374 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. xxi.
opportunities Gemellus would now possess of exercising
wisdom and gentleness on a large scale. He doubted not
Gemellus would prove to those who were attached to the
vain glories of this earth, that the true dignity of the
magistrate consisted not in the robe or the girdle of office,
or in the voice of the herald, but in reforming what was
evil, and repairing what was falling to pieces, in punishing
injustice, and preventing the right from being oppressed by
might. He knew the boldness of Gemellus, his freedom of
speech, his magnanimity, his contempt for the things of
this world, his mildness, his benevolence ; and he was
persuaded that he would be as a haven to the shipwrecked,
as a staff to the fallen, a tower of defence to those who were
oppressed by tyranny." Gemellus appears to have been on
the point of receiving baptism, and perhaps on that account
to have been exposed to a rather trying degree of persecu-
tion. Ghrysostorn begs him not to delay baptism in the hope
of receiving it from his hands, because the grace of the
sacrament would be equally effectual by whatever hands
administered, and his own joy would be none the less. 1
So again, in his letter to Anthemius, who had recently
been made prefect and consul : " Nothing has been really
added to you; it is not the prefect or the consul whom I
love, but my most dear and gentle Lord Anthemius, full of
philosophy and understanding. I do not felicitate thee
because thou hast climbed to this throne, but because thou
hast gained a grander sphere wherein to exercise thy bene-
volence and wisdom." 2
He was less distant from Antioch than Constantinople,
and was cheered by visits from not a few of his old friends
in his native city, and maintained a correspondence by letter
with many more ; but intercourse of either kind was much
impeded by the dangers and difficulties of the roads, and at
times by the severity of the climate. 3 The illegal seizure of
1 Ep. cxxxii. 2 Ep. cxlvii. 3 Epp. cxxx. ccxxii.
en. xxi.] LETTEES TO CLEEGY AND OTHEES. 375
the see of Antioch by Porphyry, and the harsh treatment to
which the orthodox were subjected under his administration,
caused them to turn to Chrysostom, not only with sympathy
as a fellow-sufferer, but also for guidance, comfort, and some
kind of episcopal superintendence. Their presents to him
were so numerous that he felt compelled sometimes to
decline them, or to request permission that they might be
transferred to the aid of the missionary work in Phoenicia. 1
Much of his thought and correspondence was concerned
in providing for the welfare of the Church in Persia, Phoe-
nicia, and among the Goths. In his fourteenth letter to
Olympias he begs her to use her best endeavours to detach
Maruthas, bishop of Martyropolis in Persia, from the influ-
ence of the hostile party ; " to lift him out of the slough "
is his expression, for he greatly needed his assistance on
account of affairs in Persia; and he was very anxious to
know what Maruthas had accomplished there, and whether
he had received two letters recently sent by himself. From
this it would seem as if Maruthas, who had been present at
the Synod of the Oak (when he caused the fatal injury to
the foot of Cyrinus), had returned to Persia and again visited
Constantinople, and that Chrysostom had hopes of working
in connexion with him for the good of the Church in Persia. 2
In the same epistle he expresses his sorrow at having heard,
through some Gothic monks with whom Serapion had
sought shelter, that the Gothic bishop Unilas, whom he
had recently consecrated, was dead, after a short but active
career, and that the Gothic king had written to request that
a new bishop should be sent out. Chrysostom was fearful
lest Atticus and his party should appoint one ; and he urges
that everything should be done to delay the appointment if
possible till winter came, when the season would prevent
1 Epp. 1. li. Ixi. et alice. stories of his skill in exposing some
2 There seems no doubt that Maru- tricks of the magi, by which they
thas was an able and active missionary attempted to prejudice the Persian
bishop. Socrates (vii. 8) tells strange king Isdigerdes against Christianity.
376 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xxi.
any one being sent till the following spring. Meanwhile,
Moduarius, the deacon who had brought the letter from the
Gothic prince, was to repair secretly and quietly to Cucusus,
and there confer with Chrysostom on this important matter,
to avert if possible the appointment of an improper person
to so difficult a charge.
But of course the exile's interest was pre-eminently
centred on that city of which he could not but consider
himself still the chief pastor, although deprived of his
external authority over it. Banishment, imprisonment, and
intimidation had thinned the ranks of the orthodox; and
among the remaining pastors there were some whose neglect
of duty, the result of indolence or faint-heartedness, called
forth severe rebukes from their former chief. "He had
heard with concern, and was vexed that the information had
not come direct from the clergy themselves, that a priest,
Salustius, had preached only five times between the end
of June and October, and that he and Theophilus, another
priest, rarely attended Divine service at all." 1 To Theo-
philus he writes a letter of mingled sorrow and reproof,
expressing a hope that the report may be incorrect, and
begging him to refute it, or to amend his conduct. He
reminds him of the dreadful punishment which was inflicted
on the servant who buried the talent which he ought to
have used, and of the fearful responsibility of neglecting
that most beautiful flock, which, by the grace of God, was
being strengthened in goodness, though now agitated by so
terrible a tempest. 2 Several of his clergy and friends are
upbraided with more or less of affectionate expostulation for
slackness in writing to him; others are praised for their
unshakable fortitude, patience, and zeal under affliction. He
had learned with much concern from Domitianus, to whom
the care of the widows and virgins of the Church was con-
fided, that they were reduced to extreme indigence, and he
i Ep. ccx. 2 Ep. ccxii.
' '\-
<l /
O '/-
CH. XXL] LETTEKS TO CLERGY AND OTHERS/ /
entreats his friend Valentinus to sustain his wel
character for benevolence by relieving their necessities. 1 * \y
Peanius, a man of rank and position in Constantinople, is
thanked and praised for the unremitting zeal, yet tempered
with moderation, with which he had resisted the usurping
party, had stood inflexible in loyalty when others had fled,
and had exerted himself for the welfare of the Church, not
only in Constantinople, but also in Phoenicia, Palestine, and
Cilicia. Chrysostom observes in the same letter that the
members of the Church in those regions had, with very few
exceptions, refused to recognise Arsacius. 2
Those clergy and other persons who had been imprisoned
on the charge of incendiarism were released in the begin-
ning of September; 3 and Chrysostom, having heard of their
liberation, was eagerly expecting a visit from them when
he wrote (about the end of October probably) to Elpidius,
bishop of Laodicea, 4 in Syria, a prelate venerable in years
and eminent in piety, who had as a priest accompanied
Meletius to the Council of Constantinople in A.D. 381, and
was his counterpart in the moderation and gentleness of his
disposition. Chrysostom wrote to thank him for his zeal
in endeavouring to retain the bishops, not only in his own
region, but in all parts of the world, in loyal fidelity to the
exiled Patriarch. Elpidius proved the sincerity of his own
attachment to his friend by suffering deposition from his
see, and imprisonment for three years in his own house.
Alexander, the successor of the usurper Porphyry in the see
of Antioch, restored Elpidius to his see about A.D. 414 a
recognition of his merits which received the high approba-
tion of Pope Innocent. 5
Thus by letters did the exile maintain his influence over
all varieties of people in distant and opposite quarters of
1 Ep. ccxvii. feet of Constautinople. Cod. Theod.
2 Ep. cciv. vol. ii. p. 16.
3 As appears from an edict dated 4 Ep. cxiv.
August 29, addressed to Studius, Pre- 6 Tilleinont, xi. 274.
378 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xxi.
the Empire. Exhortation and reproof, consolation and en-
couragement, or the mere expression of affectionate goodwill,
are the main chords struck, as circumstances require. But
there is one tone which pervades all alike the unshakable
Christian faith of the writer. His deep belief that all
suffering was sent for a remedial chastening purpose, and
that, if resignedly borne, it enhanced the glory of the reward
reserved ibr those who should suffer for righteousness' sake ;
that sin is the only real evil, that expatriation and persecu-
tion, and even death, since they touch only the external and
temporal, are to be regarded as mere shadows, cobwebs, and
dreams ; that distance and material obstacles cannot impede
the wings of affection and prayer, and that the cause of right
and truth, although long depressed, will eventually triumph
these are convictions firmly rooted, which he never tires
of repeating, and on the strength of which he lived cheerful
and contented.
The wide range of his influence, and the nobility of his
Christian resignation and fortitude, maintained during his
exile, have elicited the admiration of a historian not lavish
of his compliments to Christian saints. " Every tongue," says
Gibbon, " repeated the praises of his genius and virtue ; and
the respectful attention of the Christian world was fixed on
a desert spot among the mountains of Taurus." 1
1 Vol. v. ch. xxxii.
CHAPTER XXII.
CHRYSOSTOM'S SUFFERINGS FROM THE WINTER COLD DEPREDATIONS
OF THE ISAURIANS-THE MISSION IN PIKENICIA-LETTERS TO INNO-
CENT AND THE ITALIAN BISHOPS- CHRYSOSTOM'S ENEMIES OBTAIN
AN nlM'Ki; FOR HIS REMOVAL TO PITYUS HE DIES AT COM AN A,
A.D. 407 RECEPTION OF HIS RELIQUES AT CONSTANTINOPLE, A.D. 438.
THUS the autumn of A.D. 404 wore away. The time of the
exile was occupied, not unpleasantly, by sending and receiv-
ing letters, and his spirits were cheered by occasional visits
from friends. The destitute in the neighbourhood of Cucusus
were relieved by his alms ; the mourners comforted by his
affectionate sympathy ; some persons taken captive by the
Isaurians obtained a release through his intercession or
ransom. But the winter, always severe in that elevated
region, set in this year with unusual rigour : all communica-
tion with the outer world was cut off by the impassable
condition of the roads, and the cold told cruelly on the
delicate constitution of the poor exile. In a letter to
Olympias, written just on the return of spring A.D. 405, he
draws a pitiable picture of his winter sufferings. For days
together he lay in bed ; but, in spite of being wrapped under
a very pile of blankets, with a fire constantly burning in his
room, he could not keep out the cold. He suffered from
constant sleeplessness, headache, sickness and aversion from
all food ; but, with the return of milder weather in spring,
" he was brought up again from the gates of death ;" and he
compares the softness of the climate at that season to the
380 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xxn.
amenity of the air of Antioch. His spirits also were raised
by the arrival of messengers from Constantinople, bringing
letters from Olympias and other friends. 1
But the blessings of restoration to health and warm
weather were counterbalanced by the misery of constant
disturbance from the Isaurian bandits, who commenced
their marauding campaigns as soon as the break-up of
winter made the country practicable for their operations.
They swarmed over the whole neighbourhood, and the roads
which had been impassable from snow were now impassable
from robbers, who mingled much merciless bloodshed with
their plunder. When the full blaze also of summer heat
came, Chrysostom found it almost as injurious to his health
as the excessive cold; but he kept up his correspondence
with his friends with unabated assiduity. 2
The mission in Phoenicia occupied a great deal of his
attention during this year. He had written, as already
related, from Nice to Constantius, the superintendent of the
mission, exhorting him not to allow the work to flag, owing
to his own deposition and banishment, but rather to carry it
on with additional energy. The efforts of the missionaries
had begun to provoke a rather fierce opposition on the part
of the Pagans, and attempts were made to deprive them of
the bare necessaries of life. But Chrysostom's confidence
and zeal never failed for a moment. The missionaries were
to keep him informed of their wants, for, through the
liberality of his friends, he could supply them with all that
they required. He was ably seconded by Mcolaus, a priest,
who, though living at a distance, supplied the mission not
only with money but with men. Gerontius, a presbyter whom
Chrysostom had persuaded to abandon a solitary ascetic way
of life for missionary work, was anxious to visit Cucusus
on his way to Phoenicia ; but Chrysostom begs him not to
delay, as the work was urgent and winter was approaching.
1 Ep. vi. 2 Epp. cxl. cxlvi.
CH. xxii.] THE MISSION TO PHOENICIA. 381
He represents the greater advantages of the active life
Gerontius was now embracing. There would be nothing to
prevent him observing his fasts, vigils, and other ascetic
practices, as before, for the good of his own soul, and at the
same time, by his missionary labours, he would reap the
reward of those who save the souls of others. 1
The Pagan resistance assumed more alarming proportions
as time went on. A letter written to the missionaries seems
to imply, by its tone of mingled warning and exhortation,
that their courage was beginning to fail. Chrysostom had
recourse to his favourite comparisons of the pilot and the
physician, who exert twofold energy as the violence of
the storm and the disease increase. Eufinus, a presbyter,
seems to have been sent into Phoenicia as a kind of special
agent to restore peace, and is stimulated to his work by an
animated letter. " I hear that the rage of the Greeks in
Phoenicia has burst forth again, that several monks have
been wounded, and some even killed. Wherefore I urge
you the more earnestly to set out upon your journey with
great speed, and take up your position." . . . "If you saw
a house in a blaze you would not retreat, but advance upon
it as quickly as possible, so as to anticipate the flames.
AVI urn all is tranquillity it is within the compass of almost
any one to make converts, but when Satan is raging and the
devils are in arms, then, to make a gallant stand and rescue
those who are falling into the hands of the enemy, is the
work of a noble, vigilant spirit, a work which befits an
alert and lofty mind like yours, an apostolic achievement
worthy of crowns innumerable and rewards which defy
description." He entreats Eufinus to write to him from
eveiy halting-place on his journey, and to keep him constantly
informed of all which might take place after his arrival.
He would send, if necessary, ten thousand times to Con-
stantinople, in order to provide Eufinus with all things
i Epp. liii. liv.
382 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. xxn.
necessary to facilitate his journey and procure his ultimate
success. The letter closes with a passage which remarkably
illustrates the importance attached to reliques. " With
regard to the reliques of the holy martyrs, feel no anxiety,
for I immediately despatched the most religious presbyter,
my Lord Terentius, to my Lord Oneius, the most religious
Bishop of Arabissus, who possesses many reliques indis-
putably genuine, which in a few days we will forward to
you into Phoenicia." ..." Use diligence to get the churches
which are yet unroofed completed before the winter." 1
There is no further record of the future progress or
ultimate issue of this mission, in which the heart of the
exile was so deeply wrapped up. Theodoret (v. 29) merely
says that through the energy of Chrysostom the extirpa-
tion of idolatry in Phoenicia, and the destruction of Pagan
temples, were successfully carried on. But there are in-
stances of the existence of Paganism mentioned in the
middle of the fifth century; 2 and it is only too certain that,
under the feeble and degenerate successors of Chrysostom,
the work would not receive any powerful impulse. Partly
from the absence of a great central organising force like
the Papacy, partly from the irregular and unpractical tem-
perament of the Eastern nature, missionary enterprises have
not proceeded in great number from the Eastern Church.
The preaching of Ulphilas to the Goths, the missions
organised by Chrysostom among the Goths and in Phoenicia,
and the missionary labours of the Nestorians in Asia, are
but the rare exceptions which prove the rule.
The misery and desolation caused in the neighbourhood
of Cucusus by the Isaurians seem to have culminated in
the winter of A.D. 405-406 and the ensuing spring. The
inhabitants of the villages fled from their homes at the
approach of these formidable robbers, and sought a pre-
carious refuge in woods and caves. Many perished from
1 Epp. cxxiii. cxxvi. 2 Photius, p. 1048.
cu. xxn.j LETTERS TO ITALIAN BISHOPS. 383
cold in these wild retreats, and many more at the hands of
the ruffian robbers, who showed no mercy even to the aged,
the women and children. Chrysostom himself was, like
others, frequently moving from place to place, now in this
village, now in that, sometimes in the woods or secluded
places. The only spot in which the poor harassed people
seem to have found tolerable security was in the strong
fortress of Arabissus, a neighbouring town, Yet even here
they ran considerable risks. A body of 300 Isaurians
attacked and very nearly captured it in the middle of the
night ; and the discomfort was extreme at all times, for the
castle was crowded like a prison ; the difficulty of obtaining
food was often very great, and the difficulty of corresponding
with friends still greater. Privation, anxiety, and frequent
hurried movements in cold weather brought severe illness
on Chrysostom again. Physicians attended him with great
kindness, but the impossibility of procuring comforts and
wholesome food rendered their services almost nugatory.
His greatest grief, however, seems to have been the diffi-
culty of maintaining regular correspondence with friends.
The bearer of a letter from Olympias actually fell into the
hands of the robbers, but was released ; in consequence of
which Chrysostom entreats her not to send any more special
messengers, but only to avail herself of such persons as
were obliged by business to pass through his place of exile.
He would not add to his present sufferings the distress of
knowing that any life had been lost on his account. 1
To the year A.D. 406 belong those letters of affectionate
gratitude, written to the bishops of the West, for their zeal
in supporting his cause, especially those who had under-
taken a long and perilous voyage to Constantinople to in-
tercede in his behalf. These letters were sent by the hands
of Evethius, the presbyter, who had for some time been
his companion in exile. One letter may be quoted as an
1 Epp. Ixi. Ixix. cxxvii. cxxxi.
384 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. xxn.
example : " I had already been amazed at your zeal, on
behalf of the reformation of the Church, displayed for a
long time; but most of all am I now astonished at your
great earnestness, in having undertaken so long a journey
by sea, full of labour and toil, on behalf of the interests of
the Church. I have longed continually to write to you,
and offer you the salutation due to your piety; but since
that is not possible, living as I now am in a region almost
inaccessible, I take advantage of a most honourable and
reverend presbyter to send you greeting, and to beseech
you to persevere to the end in harmony with such a noble
beginning. For ye know how great will be the reward of
your patience, how vast the return from a benevolent God
to those who labour for the common peace, and undergo so
great a conflict." 1
To Chromatius, bishop of Aquileia, he writes thus : " The
loud-voiced trumpet of your warm and genuine affection
has sounded forth even as far as to me, a clear and far-
reaching blast indeed, extending to the very extremities of
the world. Distant as we are, we know, not less than those
present with thee, thy exceeding and burning love ; where-
fore we long extremely to enjoy a meeting with thee face
to face. But, since the wilderness in which we are im-
prisoned precludes this, we fulfil our desire, as well as we
can, by writing to you through our most honourable and
reverend presbyter, expressing our great gratitude for the
zeal which you have for so long a time displayed in our
behalf ; and we beg you, when he returns, or by the hands
of chance messengers who may visit this desolate spot, to
send tidings of your health, for you know how much pleasure
it will afford us to hear frequently of the welfare of those
who are so warmly disposed towards us." 2
The letter written by Chrysostom in A.D. 406 to Innocent
is full of grateful acknowledgments for all the efforts which
1 Ep. civil. 2 Ep. civ.
CH. xxn.] LETTERS TO ITALIAN BISHOPS. 385
he had made, and was still making, on his behalf. " Though
separated by so vast a length of journey, yet are we neat
your Holiness, beholding with the eye of the soul your
courage, your genuine, inflexible firmness, and we derive
constant and abiding consolation from you. For the higher
the waves are lifted up, the more numerous the rocks and
reefs, the more does your untiring vigilance increase. . . .
This is now the third year of my exile, spent in the midst
of famine, pestilence, continual sieges, an indescribable
wilderness, and the pillage of the Isaurians. In the midst
of these distresses and dangers, your constant and firm
affection is no ordinary solace to me." 1
There is a letter also addressed to Aurelius, 2 bishop of
Carthage, thanking him for bold and persevering interces-
sion in his behalf. The Church of Africa appears to have
adhered to what was at first the resolution of the Boman
Church, to maintain communion with both Chrysostom and
Theophilus. St. Augustine has bestowed a high eulogium
on Chrysostom, 3 and an African council, in A.D. 407, passed
a resolution to address a letter to Innocent, praying that the
intercourse between the Churches of Rome and Alexandria
might be resumed.
The health of the exile appears to have suffered less
than usual, in the winter of A.D. 406-7, from the effects of
the cold. By carefully remaining in the house,, and for
the most part in bed, wrapped up in blankets in an apart-
ment where a fire was kept constantly burning, and by
use of a medicine sent him by a lady, his attacks of head-
ache and of sickness were averted or alleviated. He had
become inured to the want of exercise, the deprivation of
the bath, and the smokiness of the room; and even the
natives were astonished at the firmness with which so feeble
and "spidery" (apaxyw&ij?) a frame endured the severity
of the climate. He began to feel a persuasion that God
1 Vol. iii. p. 535. 2 Ep. cxlix. 3 Aug. cont. Jul. p. 370.
2 B
386 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xxn.
would not Lave preserved him so miraculously through such
various perils, if it were not His purpose to restore him to
his former position, that he might accomplish some work
for the Church. 1
But the chief work which he was destined to accomplish
was to exhibit to the close of his life, now rapidly approach-
ing, a noble spectacle of Christian fortitude and patience, of
one continuing to the last to hope in God, to put his trust
in God, and still to give Him thanks. The malicious envy
of his enemies was augmented by the admiration and affec-
tion which pursued their victim from all parts of Chris-
tendom, and the correspondence which was maintained with
him even in the mountain fortress which they had selected
for his prison. The only remedy was to remove him yet
further, to a more remote and still more inaccessible region.
They worked upon the Emperor and the Court, whose
jealousy had been already excited by the interference of the
West ; and, in the middle of June, A.D. 407, an order was
obtained by them for the removal of the exile to Pityus, on
the eastern coast of the Euxine, near the very frontier of
the Empire, in the most desolate country, inhabited by
savage, barbarous people. The two praetorian soldiers
charged with conveying him thither were instructed to
push on the journey with the most inexorable haste, and
encouraged to hope for promotion should their prisoner die
on the road. One of the two had some sparks of humanity,
and furtively showed some little kindness to the sufferer;
but the other followed out the cruel directions given him
with merciless fidelity. Chrysostom had, some time ago,
expressed his conviction that he could not survive the
fatigue of another long and laborious journey, yet for three
months his fragile frame endured the strain till he reached
Comana in Pontus. A former bishop of that place, Basilis-
cus, had suffered martyrdom in the persecution of Maxi-
i Ep. v.
CH. xxii.] DEATH OF CHRYSOSTOM. 387
minus, together with. Luciau of Antioch. Chrysostoni was
lodged in the precincts of the church erected in honour of
Basiliscus, above five miles outside the town. Here, so runs
the story, the martyred bishop appeared to him in the
night, stood beside him, and said, " Be of good cheer, for by
to-morrow we shall be together." A similar vision was
vouchsafed to one of the presbyters of the church. He was
bidden " to prepare a place for our brother John." In the
morning, Chrysostom entreated his guards to allow him to
stay where he was till eleven o'clock; but they were in-
flexible, and the weary march was resumed. When, how-
ever, they had proceeded about thirty stadia, he became
so ill that they were compelled to return to the martyry.
Here he asked for white garments, and having been clothed
in them, he distributed his own raiment among the clergy
who were present. The Eucharist was administered to him,
he spoke a few farewell words to the ecclesiastics who
stood around him, and with the words "Glory be to God
for all tilings, Amen," on his lips, the weary exile breathed
his last.
" Rest comes at length ; though life be long and dreary,
The day must dawn, and darksome night be past ;
All journeys end in welcomes to the weary,
And heaven, the heart's true home, will come at last."
The promise of Basiliscus was literally fulfilled he was
buried in the same grave with the martyr, in the presence
of a large concourse of monks and nuns. 1
The enemies of Chrysostom thus succeeded in wreaking
their vengeance to the full upon the person of their victim
" Non missura cutem, nisi plena cruoris hirudo ;" but
they were powerless to obliterate his memory. A sense
of the cruelty and injustice with which he had been treated
grew throughout Christendom, and he was more honoured
1 Pallad. Dial. pp. 38, 39, who says be if it took three months to con-
that they came out of Syria, Cilicia, vey Chrysostom from Cucusus to
and Armenia : but how could this Coinana ?
388 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xxn.
and admired after his death than he had been during his
life. His followers in Constantinople, under the appella-
tion of Johnites, persisted in refusing to hold any communion
with Atticus ; and in the course of ten years, Atticus himself
was constrained, by the solicitations of the Court and people,
by the example of other prelates, especially Alexander of
Antioch, and by a natural desire to maintain communion
with the Western Church, to admit the name of Chryso-
stom into the diptychs of the Church of Constantinople.
Cyril, the nephew and successor of Theophilus, who in-
herited in too many points his uncle's spirit as well as
his see, yielded a more tardy and reluctant consent to the
recognition of his uncle's foe. 1
But a still higher honour was yet to be paid to his
memory by the Church from which he had been so violently
expelled. In A.D. 434, Proclus, formerly a disciple of
Chrysostom, was elevated to the see of Constantinople.
He conceived that the only effectual means of doing justice
to the injured saint, and reconciling the Johnites to the
Church, would be to transport his remains to the city. The
consent of the Emperor Theodosius II. was obtained. On
January 27, 2 A.D. 438, the reliques of the banished Arch-
bishop were brought to the shores of the Bosporus. As
once before in his lifetime, to greet him on his return from
exile, so now, and in still greater numbers, the people,
bearing torches, crowded the waters of the strait with their
boats to welcome the return of all which remained of their
beloved and much-wronged spiritual father. The young
Emperor, stooping down, laid his face on the reliquary, and
implored forgiveness of the injuries which his parents had
inflicted on the saint whose ashes it contained. That
reliquary was then deposited near the altar of the Church
1 Tillemont, xi. 349.
2 This is his day in the Calendar of the Eastern and Western Church.
CH. XXII.]
HONOURED AFTER HIS DEATH.
389
of the Apostles. 1 It is the sad story, so often repeated in
history, of goodness and greatness, unrecognised, slighted,
injured, cut short in a career of usefulness by one genera-
tion, abundantly, but too late, acknowledged in the next ;
when posterity, paying to the memory and the tomb the
honours which should have been bestowed on the living
man, can only utter the remorseful prayer
" His saltern accumulem donis, et fungar inani
Munere . . "
1 The Roman martyrology states
that the remains of the saint . were
afterwards translated to St. Peter's,
Rome, but the statement is not sup-
ported by any trustworthy historical
evidence. Tillemont, xi. 352.
CHAPTER XXIII.
SURVEY OP CHRYSOSTOM'S THEOLOGICAL TEACHING PRACTICAL TONE OF
HIS WORKS REASON OF THIS- DOCTRINE OF MAN'S NATURE ORIGI-
NAL SIN GRACE FREE-WILL HOW FAR CHRYSOSTOM PELAGIAN-
LANGUAGE ON THE TRINITY ATONEMENT JUSTIFICATION THE TWO
SACRAMENTS NO TRACE OF CONFESSION, PURGATORY, OR MARIOLATRY
RELATIONS TOWARDS THE POPE LITURGY OF CHRYSOSTOM HIS
CHARACTER AS A COMMENTATOR VIEWS ON INSPIRATION - HIS
PREACHING PERSONAL APPEARANCE-REFERENCES TO GREEK CLAS-
SICAL AUTHORS COMPARISON WITH ST. AUGUSTINE.
THE main characteristics of Chrysostom as a theologian and
interpreter of Scripture, as well as a pastor and preacher,
have, it is hoped, been already indicated in the course of
the preceding narrative ; but it may be desirable to supple-
ment, by a fuller and more methodical survey, notices
which were necessarily sometimes brief and incidental in
the biographical chapters. 1
Some evidence, therefore, of his theological teaching and
method of interpretation will first of all be collected from
his writings, and arranged under different heads. Two
difficulties in the way of executing this task faithfully
should be borne in mind : first, the voluminous bulk of
Chry sos torn' s works (as Suidas observed, that it belonged to
God rather than man to know them all), which renders a
successful search for the selection of what are really the
1 I must acknowledge my obligations " Chrysostomus in seinem Verhaltniss
in the composition of this chapter to zur Antiochenischen Schule." Gotha,
the very useful and instructive work 1869.
of Dr. Th. Foerster, Berlin, entitled
CH. xxin.] THEOLOGY OF THE EAST AND WEST. 391
most telling passages in illustration of each point far from
easy; secondly, that Chrysostom, being a preacher rather
than a writer, was of course liable to slip into inexact or
exaggerated language, under the influence of excitement, or
a desire to make an impression on the feelings of his hearers.
An attentive perusal, however, of his writings leads the
reader to the conclusion that he was very seldom carried
away by the impulse of the moment into merely vague or
rhetorical expressions, and that he was especially preserved
from this failing by his habit of combining the expository
with the practical and hortatory line of preaching. His
discourses are careful commentaries as well as practical
addresses. Week after week it was his custom to go
through some book of Holy Scripture, verse by verse, clause
by clause, almost word by word; endeavouring with all
diligence and patience to ascertain the exact meaning of the
passage before him, to place it clearly before his audience,
and to base his practical exhortation upon it.
The remark has been so often repeated, as to have
become almost a truism, that the theology of the East is
distinguished from the theology of the West by its more
speculative, metaphysical character. It deals more especi-
ally with the most profound and abstract mysteries the
being and nature of the Godhead, of angels, of the whole
spiritual realm. It might, therefore, occasion some surprise
to find the homilies of Chrysostom marked by such an
eminently practical tone. But the apparent contradiction
is easily explained. It is precisely because Greek philo-
sophy and theology were chiefly concerned with the most
abstract questions, that the Greek preacher, speaking on
matters not abstract, but practical, relating to moral conduct,
is especially free in his language from philosophical or
technical terms. On the other hand, in the Western Church
exactly the reverse occurs. The best intellectual powers of
the Roman having been mainly exercised on jurisprudence,
392 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHEYSOSTOM. [ce. xxm.
the mind of Roman theologians naturally turned most
powerfully towards practical questions which had most
affinity to that science with which they were chiefly con-
versant such as the relation of man to God, the nature of
sin, the means of discharging the debt owed by man, the
problem of the free-will of man, and providence of God.
Western theology is coloured by the language of Roman
law, as Eastern theology is coloured by the language of
Greek philosophy. " Merit," " satisfaction," " decrees," " for-
ensic justification," " imputed righteousness," are terms which
do not occur in the writings of the Greek theologian, because
they are the expressions of ideas in which he felt no interest.
They are the offspring of the Roman mind, in which legal
ideas were dominant. Hence the Western theologian is
most technical and scientific in the region of practical ques-
tions ; the Greek, on the other hand, is more entirely free
from the influence of philosophy in that region than in any
other.
In accordance with this distinction, we find that Chryso-
stom, in treating of those practical questions with which,
as a preacher and pastor, he was mainly concerned the
nature and the work of Jesus Christ, providence, grace,
the nature of man, sin, faith, repentance, good works, and
the like casts his thoughts into the most free, natural,
untechnical, and therefore forcible language possible.
To consider first of all his exposition of man's nature.
The majority of the Oriental fathers made a triple division,
into body, soul, and spirit the soul fyvxy) being equivalent
to the animal life, the spirit (irvev^a or ^v^n Xoy^') to the
reason. Chrysostom makes a twofold division only, into
body and soul, and reserves the word* " spirit" to designate the
Holy Spirit. 1 Man, when first created, came like a pure
golden statue fresh out of the artist's hands, destined, if he
had not fallen, to enjoy a yet higher and nobler dignity than
1 In Rom. Horn. xiii. 2. 1 Cor. Horn. xiii. 3. In Phil. vii. 5.
en. xxiii.] VIEWS ON NATUEE OF MAN. 393
he then possessed. 1 His being made " in the image of God "
Chrysostoin interprets to signify that dominance over the
lower animals which God Himself exercises over the whole
creation, and the peculiar superiority of man's nature to
theirs consists in his reasoning power, as well as in his
endowment with the gift of immortality. 2 Man fell through
his own weakness and indolent negligence (paOv/juia), and
then became deprived of that immortality and divine wisdom
with which he had been previously gifted ; but his nature
was not essentially changed, it was only weakened. 3 Evil is
not an integral part of man ; it is not an inherent substantial
force (Svvafus evvTroo-Taros) : 4 it is the moral purpose (irpoai-
peai<$) which is perverted when men sin. If evil was a part
of our nature, it would be no more reprehensible than
natural appetites and affections. If man's will was not
unfettered, there would be no merit in goodness and no
blame in evil. There is no constraint either to holiness or
to sin; neither does God compel to the one, nor do the
fleshly appetites compel to the other. 6 The body was not,
as the Manichseans erroneously maintained, the seat of sin ;
it was the creation of God equally with the soul; the
whole burden, therefore, of responsibility in sin must be
thrown on the " moral purpose." Here was the root of all
evil ; the conception of necessity and immutability is bound
up with the idea of nature. We do not try to alter that
which is by nature (</>vo-) : sin therefore is not by nature,
because by means of education, laws, and punishments we
do seek to alter that. 6 Sin is through the moral purpose
which is susceptible of change, and till the moral purpose
has come into activity sin cannot properly be said to exist :
1 Horn, de Stat. xi. 2. 6 Comp. Jeremy Taylor, " On Ori-
2 In Genes. Horn. xxi. 2. ginal Sin," ch. vi. : " A man is not
3 Ibid. xvi. and xvii. naturally sinful as he is naturally
4 In Rom. Horn. xii. 6. heavy, or upright, naturally apt to
5 In Genes. Horn. xx. 3. In 1 Cor. weep and laugh ; for these he is
Horn. ii. 2. In Matt. Horn. lix. always and unavoidably." Comp.
1, 2. also Aristot. Eth. ii. c. 1.
394 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xxm.
infants, therefore, and very young children, are free from sin. 1
Our first parents fell through moral negligence (paOv/juta) ;
and this is the principal cause of sin now. They marked
out a path which has been trodden ever since ; they yielded
to appetite, and the force of the will has been weakened
thereby in all their posterity, who have become subject to
the punishment of death; so that though sin is not a part
of man's nature, yet his nature is readily inclined to evil
(o^vppeirris TT/OO? Kcuctav) : but this tendency will be con-
trolled by the moral purpose if that is in a healthy condition. 2
Chrysostom would thus readily allow the expressions
"hereditary tendency to sin," "hereditary liability to the
punishment of death," but he shrinks from the expression
"hereditary sin." His anxiety to insist on the complete
freedom of the human will was very natural in the earnest
Christian preacher of holiness, who lived in an age when men
were frequently encountered who, in the midst of wickedness,
complained that they were abandoned to the dominion of
devils or to the irresistible course of fate. They transferred
all guilt from themselves to the powers of evil, all responsi-
bility to the Creator Himself, who had withdrawn from
them, as they maintained, the protection of His good pro-
vidence. To counteract the disastrous effects of such philo-
sophy, which surrendered the will to the current of the
passions, like an unballasted ship cast adrift before the
storm, it was indeed necessary to maintain very resolutely
and boldly the essential freedom of the will, to insist on
man's moral responsibility, and the duty of vigilant, strenuous
exertion. Chrysostom frequently exposes the absurdity as
well as the moral evil of a doctrine of necessity. If human
actions are necessary and preordained results of circum-
stances, then teaching and government become mere pieces
of acting, destitute of any practical influence ; they are also
unjust, since you have no right to punish a person who has
1 In Matt. Horn, xxviii. 3, and Iviii. 3. 2 In Heb. Honi. xii. 2 and 3.
CH. xxiii.] FREEDOM OF THE WILL. 395
acted under compulsion. Such a theory ought, also, logically
to paralyse human industry. If a plentiful harvest is pre-
determined by the decrees of fate, you may spare yourself
the trouble of ploughing, sowing, and other laborious opera-
tions ; or, if Clotho has turned her distaff in the other direc-
tion, all your exertions will fail to produce an abundant
crop. Such a doctrine is repugnant to our natural sense,
and contradicts our own consciousness and inward experi-
ence. We feel that we are free, and all human action
proceeds on the principle of supposing man to be free. We
teach and we punish. The plea of necessity would be
rejected in a court of law as an impudent and futile excuse
for crime. Such a theory is utterly at variance also with
God's mode of addressing man, which always implies freedom
of volition ; as, for instance, " If ye will hearken unto me,
ye shall eat the fat of the land ; but if ye will not hearken,
the sword shall devour you." 1
Profoundly convinced, therefore, of a universal tendency
to sin on the one hand, but of an essential freedom of the
will on the other, Chrysostom sounds alternately the note
of warning and of encouragement warning against that
weakness, indolence, languor of the moral purpose which
occasions a fall; encouragement to the full use of those
powers with which all men are gifted, and to avoid that
despondency which will prevent a man from rising again
when he has fallen. St. Paul repented, and, not despairing,
became equal to angels; Judas repenting, but despairing,
was hurried into self-inflicted death. Despair was the
devil's most powerful instrument for working the destruc-
tion of man. 2 Chrysostom therefore earnestly combated any
view of Christian life which daunted and discouraged man's
efforts, by winding them too high, or placing before them
an unattainable standard. Men sometimes said we cannot
1 De Fato, Horn, iii.-vi. Corap. Jer. 2 De Pcenit. Horn. i. 2; et ad Theod.
Taylor, Unum Necessar. ch. 6. sec. 5. lapsum.
396 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xxm.
be like St. Peter and St. Paul, because we are not gifted
with their miraculous power. But, he replies, you may
emulate their Christian graces : these are within the reach
of all, and these are, by our Lord's own declaration, the most
important. "By Ms shall all men know that ye are my
disciples, if ye have love one to another ;" the moral works
of the Apostles, works of love, mercy, and faith, were far
more instrumental in the conversion of the world than their
merely miraculous powers. 1
Urgently, however, as Chrysostom, in his desire to stimu-
late exertion and strengthen the moral life, insists on the
absolute freedom of the will, he maintains no less clearly
the insufficiency of man's nature to accomplish good without
the Divine assistance. No one has described in more forcible
language the powerful hold of sin upon human nature. Sin
is like a terrible pit, containing fierce monsters, and full of
darkness. 2 It is more terrible than a demon, 3 it is a great
demon ; 4 it is like fire ; when once it has got a hold on the
thoughts of the heart, if it is not quenched it spreads further
and further, and becomes increasingly difficult to subdue ; 5 it
is a heavy burden, more oppressive than lead. 6 Christ saw
us lying cast away upon the ground, perishing under the
tyranny of sin, and He took compassion on us. 7 In the
infant weakness and liability to sin are inherent, though not
sin itself. The moral nature of the infant is like a plant,
which will grow healthily by a process of natural develop-
ment, unless exposed to injurious influences ; but it requires
the protection of grace, "therefore we baptize infants to
impart holiness and goodness, as well as to establish a
relationship with God." This passage is quoted by St.
Augustine in his earnest vindication of Chrysostom from
1 In Inscrip. Act. ii. 6. . 5 De Sanct. Babyla, vol. ii.
2 In Psalm, cxlii. 5. 6 In Johan. vol. viii. p. 482.
3 In Act. Horn. xli. 4. ? In Hebr. Horn. v. i.
4 In Matt, xxxii.
CH. xxiii.] REMARKS ON THE POWER OF SIN. 397
Pelagianism. 1 But the passages on which Augustine mainly
depends to prove Chrysostora's adherence to the tenet of
original sin are in his exposition of Komans v. 12-14:
" Death reigned from Adam to Moses. How reigned ? In
likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a figure of
One to come. How a figure? Because, as he became a
cause of death to those who were born from him, although
they had not eaten of the tree, even so Christ has become
to His posterity the procurer of righteousness, though they
have not done righteousness, which He has bestowed upon
us all through His cross." Augustine quotes also his obser-
vation on Christ's tears over the grave of Lazarus : " He
wept to think that men, who were capable of immortality,
had been made mortal by the devil;" and his remarks on
Genesis i. 28, about the subjection of the lower animals to
man : " that man's present dread of wild beasts was entirely
owing to the Fall, and had not existed previous to that : it
was inherited by all Adam's posterity, because they inherited
his degradation through the Fall." All these passages, how-
ever, do not amount to more than the doctrine of a univer-
sally inherited tendency to sin, and therefore liability to its
punishment, death. In his interpretation of the passage,
"the free gift is of many offences unto justification," this
last word is plainly taken by him in the sense of making
man righteous, not accounting him as such. 2
His conception of the relation between the will and
power of God on the one hand, and man's freedom on the
other, appears to be this: All men, without exception,
are through Christ called to salvation; predestination
means no more than God's original design, conceived prior
to the Fall, of bringing all men to salvation. So, after the
Fall, His redemptive plan or purpose embraces all men ; but,
on the other hand, it constrains no one. According to His
i Contra Julianum, bk. i. ed. Bened. p. 630 ; but I have failed to find the
passage in Chrysostom's works. 2 In Rom. Horn. x. 2. .
398 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xxm.
absolute will all men are to be saved ; but the accomplish-
ment of His purpose is limited by the freedom of choice
which He has Himself bestowed on man, whereby man may
either accept the proffered favour and be eternally blessed,
or reject it and be eternally condemned. God's election of
those who are called is not compulsory, but persuasive; 1
hence, many of those who have been called perish through
their rejection of grace : they, and not God, are the authors
of their own condemnation. God knows beforehand what
each man will be, good or bad ; but He does not constrain
him to be one or the other. 2 The illustration of the potter
in Romans ix. 20 must not be pressed too closely; St.
Paul's object simply is to enforce the duty of unconditional
obedience. A vessel of wrath is one who obdurately resists
God's grace ; he was never intended by God to be a vessel
of wrath. " The vessels of mercy are said to have been pre-
pared afore by God unto glory," but the vessels of wrath to
be fitted (not by God He is not mentioned but by sin)
unto destruction. 3 So again, he acutely observes that, in the
account of the final judgment (St. Matt, xxv.), the destiny
of the good only is referred to God. " Come, ye blessed of
my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you;" but,
" Depart, ye cursed " (not " of my Father"), "into everlasting
fire, prepared " (not for you, but) " for the devil and his
angels."
On St. John vi. 44, he remarks, it is perfectly true that
only they who are drawn and taught by the Father can
come to Christ; but away with the paltry pretence that
those who are not thus drawn and taught are emancipated
from blame; for this very thing, the being led and instructed,
depends on their own moral choice. Two factors, therefore,
Divine grace which presents, and human will which appro-
1 trpoTpeTTTiKT) ov (3ia<TTiKri, in Johan. Horn, xlvii. 4 ; et in Matt. H. Ixxx. 3.
2 In 1 Cor. Horn. vii. 2. In Ephes. Horn. i. 2. In 1 Cor. Horn. ii. 2.
3 In Rom. Horn. xvi. cc. 8, 9.
en. xxin.] PASSAGES ABOUT DIVINE GRACE. 399
priates, are co-efficients in the work of man's salvation;
God's love and man's faith must work hand in hand. God
provides opportunities, encourages by promises, arouses by
calls ; and the moment these are responded to, the moment
man begins to will and to do what is right, he is abundantly
assisted by grace. But Chrysostom recognises nothing
approaching the doctrine of final perseverance. St. Paul
might have relapsed, Judas might have been saved (De
Laud. Ap. Pauli, Horn. ii. 4). In his commentary on
Phil. ii. 12-13, " It is God which worketh in us both to will
and to do of his good pleasure," the spontaneity of man's
will is carefully maintained. It may be said, if God works
the will in us, why does the apostle exhort us to work ? for
if God wrought the wish, it is vain to speak of obedience ;
the whole work is God's from the beginning. No ! Chryso-
stom says, what St. Paul means is, that if your will works,
God will augment your will, and quicken it into activity and
zeal. Hast thou given alms? you are the more prompted
to give; hast thou abstained from giving? negligence will
increase upon you. The histories of Abraham, Job, Elijah,
St. Paul, and other saints, are frequently cited to prove his
central principle, that God in the moral and spiritual sense
helps those only who help themselves. "When He, who
knows the secrets of our hearts, sees us eagerly prepare for
the contest of virtue, He instantly supplies us with His
assistance, lightening our labours, and strengthening the
weakness of our nature. In the Olympian contests the
trainer stands by as a spectator merely, awaiting the issue,
and unable to contribute anything to the efforts of the con-
tender; whereas our Master accompanies us, extends His
hand to us, all but subdues our antagonist, arranges every-
thing to enable us to prevail, that He may place the amar-
anthine wreath upon our brows." 1 God does not anticipate
man's own volitions (/3oi;A?/o-et<?), but when these
1 In Genes. Horn. xlii. c. 1.
400 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xxm.
are once bent in the right direction, God's grace powerfully
promotes them ; and without this divine co-operation holi-
ness is unattainable. 1 But as, according to Chrysostom's
conceptions, the first movement towards good moral practice
comes from the man himself, he often speaks of a man's
salvation depending on his own moral choice. He is not,
therefore, in harmony with the mind of our Church as
expressed in the Article, that " we have no power to do good
works, pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of
God preventing us, that we may have a good will;" but his
language thoroughly concurs with the subsequent clause,
" and working with us when we have that good will." In
the technical language of theology, he recognises assisting,
but not prevenient, grace.
It has been well remarked by Mr. Alexander Knox
("Kemains," vol. iii. 79), that "the advocates for efficient
grace have been too generally antiperfectionists, and the
perfectionists, on the other hand, too little aware that we
are not sufficient so much as to think anything as of our-
selves, but that it is God which worketh in us both to will
and to do of His good pleasure." The perfect conception of
the true Christian standard of character could only be found,
he thought, in a union of the systems of St. Chrysostom
and St. Augustine. It must not be imagined, however, that
Chrysostom regarded Divine grace as merely accessory or
subsidiary to man's own will and purpose. He fails not to
represent it as indispensable to every human soul, however
powerfully inclined of itself to good. The human will,
weakened and depraved by evil, is not for a moment to rank
as co-ordinate in its action with the work of the Holy
Spirit : the real efficient force in the work of sanctification
is the Holy Spirit. The beginnings, indeed (ap^ai), are our
own, and we must contribute what we can, small and cheap
though it be, because, unless we do our part, we shall not
1 In Johan. Horn, xviii. 3.
ai. xxiii.] AND THE HOLY TKINITY. 401
obtain the Divine assistance ; but though the initiatory step
is ours, the accomplishment of the work is altogether God's,
and, since the major part is His, we commonly say that the
whole is His. 1
He invariably speaks of the Old Dispensation as a period
when Divine grace was given in less measure than under
the Gospel, because then sin had not been blotted out, nor
death vanquished. The achievements of holy men like
Abraham and Job in this period were therefore deserving
of peculiar praise, and their faults, on the other hand, were
entitled to more indulgent judgment, because they laboured
under disadvantages. When the Lamb which taketh away
the sins of the world had been slain, and the reconciliation
between man and God had been effected, then spiritual gifts
of a higher order were imparted as a sign and a pledge that
the old hostility had ceased. 2
Turning now to theology, strictly so called, to the being
and nature of the Godhead, we find comparatively little said
by Chrysostom, except incidentally, on a subject more con-
genial to the theologian and student than to the earnest,
practical preacher. In opposition to the rationalistic doc-
trine of the Arians, who affected to comprehend the Divine
Nature, he strenuously maintained, as we have seen, 3 its
inscrutability, and denounced any curious investigation of it
as at once foolish and profane. God has condescended to
appear to us in a form which is intelligible, and it is pre-
sumption to attempt to penetrate beyond the limits which
He has placed to a knowledge of Himself. Chrysostom
takes the dogma of the one substance (o/zooiWa), established
at Nice, as the basis of his position against the Arians, and
seeks to prove it, not by speculative argument, after the
manner of the Alexandrian school, but by reference to Holy
Scripture. He uses the word " substance " (ovaia) to
designate the essential nature and " person " (vTroo-rao-t,^,
i In Heb. Horn. xii. c. 3. 2 De Mac. i. 3. 3 Ch. vm.
2 C
402 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [en. xxm.
the personality of the Godhead, and points out that words
which relate to the ovala, as Lord and God, are applied to
all the Persons; whereas the other terms Father, Son,
Holy Spirit indicating distinction of personality, are each
applied to one Person only in the Godhead. Yet the
Persons are not related to the substance as parts to the
whole : God the Son is to God the Father as a beam of the
sun, inseparable from Him, identical with Him in sub-
stance, yet retaining His own personality. 1 He is equally
careful to guard the divinity of Christ against the rational-
ising school of Paul of Samosata, and the distinctness of
His personality as against the Sabellians. St. Paul, he
observes, does not dwell too much upon the abasement of
Christ, lest Paul of Samosata should take advantage;
neither does he dwell exclusively upon the exaltation, lest
Sabellius should spring upon him. 2
The equal divinity and distinct personality of the Holy
Ghost are no less clearly and forcibly demonstrated by a
collection and comparison of passages. St. Paul, for
instance, in 1 Cor. xii. 6, speaks of God as " working all in
all;" in verse 11 of the same chapter, he uses the same
language of the Holy Spirit. Into any metaphysical,
abstract discussion of the nature of the Godhead Chrysostom
does not enter. He simply endeavours to guard the faith
of the Church by a careful exposition of Holy Scripture,
on which that faith was based, and by an exposure of the
one-sided, or perverted, interpretations on which the current
forms of heresy depended.
The union of the two natures in the person of our blessed
Lord was, as is well known, a subject of constant speculation
and of prolific error in the first five centuries. Here, again,
the good sense of Chrysostom, united to his careful study of
Holy Scripture, enabled him to hold the balance between
two divergent methods one which attended too exclusively
i In Johan. Horn. iii. 2. 2 111 Heb. Horn. ii. c. 2.
CH. xxiii.] MANHOOD AND GODHEAD IN CHRIST. 403
to the humanitarian point of view, the other which brought
out the divinity, but at the expense of the manhood. He
earnestly maintains the veritable assumption of humanity
by the Word. Our nature could not have been elevated to
the divine if the Saviour had not really partaken of it ;
neither could He have brought help to our race if He had
appeared in the unveiled glory of His Godhead, for sun and
moon, earth and sea, and even man himself, would have
perished at the brightness of His presence. Therefore He
veiled his Godhead in flesh, and came not as the Lord in
outward semblance, but in lowliness and abasement. 1 And
this very condescension enhanced His dignity and extended
His dominion : before the Incarnation He was adored by
angels only, but afterwards by the whole race of redeemed
man. 2 He assumed our nature, even in its liability to death,
but not as contaminated by sin. 3 There were in Him three
elements body and soul making up the human nature, and
the Logos or Word making up the divine. These two
natures were united but not fuse.d. " We, indeed, are body
and soul, but He is God and soul and body ; remaining what
He was, He took that which He was not, and having become
flesh, He remained God, being the Word. The one He
became He assumed ; the other He was. Let us not then
confound, neither let us divide; one God, one Christ the
Son of God ; and when I say one, I speak of union, not
fusion" (evoww \eyco ov avyxycriv)-* Jesus Christ was
subject to death, susceptible of pain and all those emotions
and sensations which belong to the human body, otherwise
His would not have been a real body, but the weakness per-
taining to human nature was entirely overruled by the
constant operation of the Logos. If He is said to have been
lowered or exalted, this was only as man, since the Godhead
was incapable of either, being absolutely perfect. When the
1 In Psal. li. Expos. 3 In Horn. Honi. xiii. 5.
2 In Heb. Horn. iv. 2, 3. 4 In Phil. Horn. vii. c. 3.
404 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xxm.
Holy Ghost is said to have descended upon Him at His
baptism, this must be considered to refer to His human
nature only; the manhood, not the Godhead, is anointed.
Or when we read that He walked not in Judaea, because the
Jews sought to kill Him, and then, just afterwards, that He
passed through the midst of His enemies unscathed, we
have a direct manifestation, in close correspondence, of the
Godhead and the manhood. 1
In speaking of the redemptive work of our blessed Lord,
Chrysostom's language is too rapturously eloquent to be very
precise. There are in him several traces of the idea which
began with Irenseus, and was developed by Origen, that the
devil through the Fall acquired an actual right over man,
and that a kind of pious fraud was practised upon him to
deprive him of this right through the Incarnation and death
of Jesus. By the noiseless, unostentatious manner in which
our Saviour assumed humanity, veiling His Godhead under
it, He, as it were, stole unawares upon the devil, who
was not fully conscious of the majesty and might of his
adversary. The devil assaulted Christ as if Christ had been
merely man, and he was disappointed in his expectation.
He was vanquished by his own weapons, his tyranny was
destroyed by means of those very things which were his
strength; the curse of sin and of death were his most
trusted pieces : Christ submitted Himself to be bruised by
them, and yet crushed them by His submission. 2
On the other hand, we find also in Chrysostom the cus-
tomary conception of a debt discharged, a ransom paid, a
sacrifice offered once for all. " Adam sinned and died ;
Christ sinned not and yet died. Wherefore ? that he who
sinned and died might be able, through Him who died but
sinned not, to throw off the grasp of death. This is what
takes place also in money transactions. Often some one
1 In Heb. Horn, iii., Horn. iv. c. iii. 2 i n Matt. Horn. iii. ; Expos, in Ps.
In Philog. Beat. In Johan. Horn. li. ; in 1 Cor. Horn. xxiv. 4.
xlviii. c. i.
en. xxiii.] VIEWS ON REDEMPTION. 405
who is a debtor, not being able to pay, is detained in bonds ;
another, who owes nothing but is able to lay down the sum,
pays it and releases the responsible person. Thus has it
been in the case of man. Man was the debtor, was detained
by the devil, and could not pay ; Christ owed nothing, nor
was He holden by the devil, but He was able to pay the
debt. He came and He paid down death on behalf of him
who was detained in bondage. 1
From this point of view the person to whom the debt is
due and is discharged is the devil ; from another, the satis-
faction is regarded as due to God, owing to the violation of
man's obedience, and is paid to Him through the sacrifice
of a sinless life. " It was right that all men should fulfil
the righteousness of God ; but, since no one did this, Christ
came and completely fulfilled it." 2 He was Himself both
the sacrificer and the victim ; the cross being the altar. He
suffered outside the city that the prophecy, " He was
numbered with the transgressors," might be fulfilled, and
also that the universality of the sacrifice might be pro-
claimed. 3 Chrysostom is not careful to distinguish between
the alienation of man from God, and of God from man
through the Fall. He represents the hostility as in some
sort existing on both sides. Christ did the work of a
mediator by interposing Himself between the two parties,
and reconciling each to the other. The references to such a
fundamental verity are of course numerous, often full of
beauty of expression and tenderness of feeling, and glowing
earnestness. What he specially delights to dwell upon, as
might be expected from his warm, affectionate disposition,
is the exceeding love of Christ to man, and the hearty return
which gratitude for such a benefit ought to draw forth from
us. Like St. Paul, he often will break forth, in the midst
of some argument or practical address, into a burst of
1 De Resur. J. Chr. c. 3.
2 De Bapt. Christ!, c. 3. 3 De Coeraet. et Cruce, i.
406 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xxm.
rapturous and adoring praise. " What reward shall I give
unto the Lord for all the benefits which He hath done unto
me ? Who shall express the noble acts of the Lord, or show
forth all His praise? He abased Himself that He might
exalt thee ; He died to make thee immortal ; He became a
curse that thou mightest obtain a blessing. . . . When
the world lay in darkness, the light of the Cross was held
up like a torch shining in a dark place, and the light at the
top of it was the Sun of Eighteousness Himself." x
Chrysostom's doctrine of justification is naturally coloured
by his ethics. Maintaining, as he did, that the corruption
of man's nature consisted in a weakness of the moral purpose,
a crooked tendency of the will, rather than in any inherent
indelible stain in that nature itself, his exhortations are
directed rather to inculcate energetic action, a gradual
process of improvement of the will with the Divine help,
than that entire dependence through faith on the mercy of
God which springs out of a deep conviction of the sinner's
own insufficiency. The logical tendency of the Augustinian
view of the intense and radical depravity of man's nature is
to induce a total repudiation of the efficacy of personal
effort, a total disavowal of all personal merit. Hence
justification comes to be regarded as purely an act of
acquittal on God's part, a boon which the despairing sinner
by an act of faith thankfully accepts. Such is not the
position of Chrysostom, or of those who, like the Cambridge
Divines of the seventeenth century, have trodden in his
footsteps. With him the condition of a pardoned sinner
consists rather in that renovation of the spiritual and moral
life which is the result of long and laborious effort, aided of
course by Divine grace, a succession of moral acts eventually
producing " a new creature." Faith is not so much regarded
merely as the instrument or hand held out, by which God's
1 De Coemet. et Cruce, 3. See also in Ephes. Horn. xx. ; and esp. In Ascens.
J. Chr. c. 2.
CH. xxni.] FAITH AND GOOD WORKS. 407
gift is appropriated, as the first in a row of good works, a
fruitful source of all good action. "Abraham," he says,
" believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.
Why ? To prove that belief itself, in the first instance, and
obedience to the call of God, come from our own good
judgment (evyva)/j,oo-vvrj) ; but as soon as the foundation
of faith is laid, we require the alliance of the Holy Spirit,
that it may remain constantly unshakable and inflexible." *
"Faith is the mother of all good, the sure staff of man's
tottering footsteps, the anchor of his tempest-tossed soul,
without which he would be like a ship cast adrift on the
sea to the mercy of winds and waves." 2 " It is more stable
and secure than reason, for it carries its own proof with it ;
the conclusions of reason may be diverted by counter-
arguments, but faith stands above argument, and is not
distracted by it." 3
He does not, indeed, shrink from a bold declaration of
the value of good works, but he is far from teaching men to
depend on them as efficient causes of salvation. They are
to be stored up as a kind of viaticum for our journey to the
other world. " As those who are in a foreign country, when
they wish to return to their own land, take pains, a long
time beforehand, to collect means sufficient for their journey,
so surely ought we, who are but strangers and settlers on
this earth, to lay up a store of provisions through spiritual
virtue, that when our Master shall command our return into
our native country, we may be prepared and may carry part
of our store with us, having sent the other in advance." 4
On the other hand, he constantly insists that it is the favour
and mercy of God alone which, in the end, bestows salvation
on us. Faith and good works are necessary conditions, but
not efficient causes of salvation. God has graciously willed
that they who have faith and good works shall be saved :
1 De Verb. Apost. vol. iii. p. 276. 3 In Rom. Horn. viii. c. 5.
2 In Johan. Horn, xxxiii. c. 1. 4 In Gen. Horn. v. c. 1.
408 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. XXTII.
let no man therefore boast. We could not do good works
without God's assisting grace, nor could they in the end and
at the best save us if it were not His merciful and gracious
will. 1 Therefore, let no one pride himself on his good works ;
above all things, let him cultivate a spirit of humility and
modesty : St. Paul, after all his labours, confessed that he
was not meet to be called an apostle, but was what he was
by the grace of God. 2 "What is impossible with men is
possible with God." " Tell me not I have sinned much, and
how can I be saved ? Thou art not able, but thy Master is
able so to blot out thy sins that no trace even of them shall
remain. In the natural body, indeed, though the wound
may be healed, yet the scar remains ; but God does not suffer
the scar even to remain, but, together with release from
punishment, grants righteousness also, and makes the sinner
to be equal to him who has not sinned. He makes the sin
neither to be nor to have been. . . . Sin is drowned in the
ocean of God's mercy, just as a spark is extinguished in a
flood of water." 3
It was, no doubt, the trustful dependence of Chrysostom
on Divine grace, coupled with his firm conviction of the free
capacity of man to turn to what is good, which enabled him
to pitch all his exhortations to Christian holiness in such a
singularly cheerful, hopeful tone. To his sanguine tempera-
ment it seemed as if man's natural capacities for good, aided
by grace obtained through prayer, could accomplish anything.
" The effect of prayer on the heart is like that of the rising
sun upon the natural world ; as the wild beasts come forth
by night to prowl and prey, but the sun ariseth, and they
get them away together and lay them down in their dens,
so,' when the soul is illuminated by prayer, the irrational and
brutal passions are put to flight, anger is calmed, lust is
extinguished, envy is expelled ; prayer is the treasure of the
1 In Ephes. Horn. iv. c. 2.
2 In Gen. Horn. xxxi. 2. 3 De Poenit. Horn. viii. 2.
.
CH. xxiii.] PASSAGES ABOUT BAPTISM. . / > 409 :
'- '4
4
''V
poor, the security of the rich ; the poorest of all men is fi<fli^
if he can pray, and the rich man who cannot pray is miser- V i .
ably poor. Ahab without prayer was impotent amidst his
splendour; Elijah with prayer was mighty in his coarse
garment of sheepskin." l " It is impossible, impossible that
a man who calls constantly on God with proper zeal should
ever sin ; his spirit is proof against temptation so long as the
effect of his praying lasts, and when it begins to fail, then he
must pray again. And this may be done anywhere, in the
market or in the shop, since prayer demands the outstretched
soul rather than the extended hands." 2 Long prayers were
to be avoided; they gave great opportunities to Satan to
distract the attention, which could not easily bear a length-
ened strain. Prayers should be frequent and short; thus
we should best comply with the direction of St. Paul to pray
without ceasing. 3
It remains to collect some notices of Chrysostom's teach-
ing with reference to the two Sacraments.
The number of those who, as Christian children of de-
cidedly Christian parents, were baptized in infancy appears
to have been small at this period, compared with those who,
like Chrysostom himself, joined the ranks of the Church at
a later epoch of life. There were many whose parents, or
who themselves, hovered not so much between Christianity
and any definite form of paganism, as between Christianity
and worldliness. The sermons addressed by Chrysostom
and his contemporaries to catechumens, and the frequent
allusions to them, the minute directions respecting their
instruction, their division into classes, the custom of calling
the first part of the service to which they were admitted the
Missa Catechumenorum, prove that numerous they must
have been. I have failed to find any passages in whicli
Chrysostom urgently inculcates infant baptism, and, con-
sidering his views respecting original sin, this is not surpris-
1 Cont. Anom. vii. 7. 2 De Anna, iv. 5. 3 Ibid. ii. 2.
410 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xxm.
ing ; but he earnestly denounces a custom of deferring
baptism, prevalent among those who were already believers,
or professing to be such. Often it was delayed till men
believed themselves to be at the point of death a practice
which he especially deprecates, because at such a time
"the recipient was often in a restless, suffering state of
mind and body, most unfit to receive that holy sacrament ;
the entrance of the priest was regarded by the sorrowful
attendants as a certain evidence of the approaching end ;
and when the sick man could not recognise those who were
present, or hear a voice, or answer in those words by which
he was to enter into a blessed covenant with our Lord, but
lay like a log or a stone, what possible advantage could
there be in the reception of the sacrament ? " 1 Again, it
was often delayed till a man conceived that he had received
a distinct call and intimation that it was the will of God.
This Chrysostom regarded as being too often a mere cloak
for moral indolence, a reluctance of men to bind themselves
under the high responsibilities of the Christian vocation. 2
He certainly considered baptism as being not merely a
solemn initiation into the Christian covenant, and instru-
ment of remission of sin, but also of moral renovation.
This, however, is represented as a blessing naturally deriv-
able from the entrance into the new and holy federal
relation with God. In his comment on the passage, "and
such were some of you; but ye are washed, but ye are
sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ," he observes that such words signify that they
were not only purified from past uncleanness, but had
become holy and righteous. " For such is the benevolence
of the Divine gift ; if an imperial letter consisting of a few
lines discharges men from liability to punishment for any
number of offences, and advances others to great honour,
much more will the Holy Spirit of God, which can do all
i Ad ilium. Catech. i. c. 3. 2 D e Mut. Norn. iv. in fine.
CH. XXIIL] THE HOLY EUCHAEIST. 411
things, release us from all wickedness, bestow on us
abundant righteousness, and fill us with much confidence."
The nature of the baptized was, therefore, like a vessel
which had not only been cleansed from past defilements, but
recast in the furnace so as to come out in a new shape. 1
He is far, however, from regarding such a change as final.
The virtue of baptism is effectual at the time, but the grace
then given is as a trust to be carefully guarded; a talent
to be traded with, a seed of righteousness to be diligently
cultivated, the dawning of a light to shine more and more
unto the perfect day. As Christ becomes at that time the
clothing, the food, the habitation of the Christian, the reci-
pient of these favours has to take care that he does not
wrong this intimate relationship. Therefore he is ordered to
say at baptism, "I renounce thee, Satan;" that is the
declaration of a covenant with his Master. A firm deter-
mination to abandon past sin and eradicate evil habits in
a word, repentance should take place previous to baptism.
"Just as the painter freely alters the lineaments of his
picture, when it is sketched in outline, by rubbing out or
putting in, but when once he has added the colour, he is no
longer at liberty to make alterations ; in like manner erase
evil habits before baptism, before the true colouring of the
Holy Spirit has been thrown over the soul : take care
when this has been received, and the royal image shines
forth clearly, that you do not blot it out any more, and
inflict wounds and scars on the beauty given thee by
God." 2
In another place he contrasts the baptism of the Jews, of
John the Baptist, and of Jesus Christ. " The first was only
a cleansing of the body from ceremonial defilements, the
second was a means of enforcing an exhortation to repent-
ance, the third was accompanied by remission of sins: it
releases and purges the soul from sin, and gives a supply
i Ad ilium. Catech. i. 3. 2 Ibid. ii. 3.
412 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xxm.
of the Holy Spirit." 1 "When the merciful God saw the
extremity of our weakness, and the incurable nature of our
sickness, requiring a great work of healing, He conferred
upon us that renovation which comes through the laver of
regeneration, in order that, being divested of the old man,
that is, of evil works, and having put on the new, we might
go forward in the path of virtue." 2
In considering those passages which relate to the Holy
Eucharist, it must be carefully borne in mind that Chryso-
stom lived in an age when that Sacrament had not become
a battle-field of controversy. He was under no constraint
in his language, because he did not feel that every word he
used was liable to be criticised, or misunderstood, or torn to
pieces in the strife of contending parties. He enjoyed
because he disputed not. Filled with thankfulness and joy
to overflowing for the unspeakable benefits derived from that
Sacrament, he is not cautious or scrupulously precise in his
expressions, but gives the freest rein to the enthusiasm of
his feelings; his object being not to support any rigidly
defined theory or system, but to infuse a certain spirit, to
encourage a proper moral tone and temper in reference to
the whole subject.
Three ideas, however, are apparent as dominant in his
mind a sacrifice, a presence of Christ, a reception of Christ.
In several of the passages about to be presented, all the three
points will appear in similar and simultaneous force. In
one homily, 3 where he severely censures the too prevalent
custom of attending the Eucharist on great festivals only,
and then behaving in a disorderly manner, the worshippers
hustling and trampling on one another in their tumultuous
haste to approach the holy table, and then hurrying out of
church immediately after the reception, without waiting for
the conclusion of the service " What," he exclaims, "
man, art thou doing? When Christ is present, and the
1 De Bapt. Chr. c. 3.
2 In Geu. Horn. xl. c. 4. 3 D e Bapt. J. Chr. c. 7.
CH. xxiii.] A SACRIFICE AND A FEAST. 413
angels are standing by, and the awe-inspiring table is spread
before thee, dost thou withdraw? ... If you are invited
to a feast and are filled before the other guests, you do not
dare to withdraw while the rest of your friends are still
reclining at the table; and here, when the mysteries of
Christ are being- celebrated, and the holy feast is still going
on, dost thou retreat in the middle ?" Again : " Since, then,
we are about to see this evening, as a lamb slain and sacri-
ficed, Him who was crucified, let us approach, I pray you, with
trembling awe. The angels, who surpass our nature, stood
beside His empty tomb with great reverence ; and shall we,
who are about to stand beside, not an empty sepulchre, but
the very table which bears the Lamb, shall we approach
with noise and confusion?" 1 Again: "It is now time to
draw near the awe-inspiring table. . . . Christ is present,
and He who arranged that first table, even He arranges this
present one. For it is not man who makes the things which
are set before us become the body and blood of Christ, but
it is Christ Himself, who was crucified for us. The priest
stands fulfilling his part (o-^fjba) by uttering the appointed
words, but the power and the grace are of God. ' This is
my body,' He says. This expression changes the character
(/jit-rap pvOfil^et) of the elements, and as that sentence, ' in-
crease and multiply,' once spoken, extends through all time,
enabling the procreative power of our nature, even so that
expression, 'this is my body/ once uttered, does at every
table in the churches from that time to the present day,
and even till Christ's coming, make the sacrifice perfect." 2
Speaking of the sacrifice of Isaac, he observes that it was
perfect so far as Abraham was concerned, because his inten-
tion did not fail, though the knife was not actually drawn
across his son's throat; "for a sacrifice is possible even
without blood the initiated (i.e. the baptized) know what
I mean : on this account, also, that sacrifice was made
1 De Ccemet. et Cmce, in fine, vol. ii. 2 De Prod. Jud. vol. ii. Horn, i. c. 6.
414 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xxm.
without blood, since it was destined to be a figure of this
sacrifice of ours." 1
Perhaps the most significant passage with reference to the
sacrificial idea is one where, after contrasting the many
and ineffective sacrifices of the Jews with the one perfect,
efficacious sacrifice of Christ, he proceeds : " What then ? do
we not offer every day ? We do offer certainly, but making
a memorial of His death; and this memorial is one, not
many. How one, not many? Because the sacrifice was
offered once for all, as that great sacrifice was in the Holy
of Holies. This is a figure of that great sacrifice as that
was of this; for we do not offer one victim to-day and
another to-morrow, but always the same: wherefore the
sacrifice is one. Well, on this ground, because He is offered
in many places, are there many Christs ? Nay, by no means,
but one Christ everywhere, complete both in this world and
in the other ; one body. As then, though offered in many
places, He is but one body, so is there but one sacrifice.
Our High Priest is He who offers the sacrifice which cleanses
us. We offer that now which was offered then ; which is
indeed inconsumable. This takes place now for a memorial
of what took place then : ' Do this,' said He, * for my me-
morial.' We 'do not then offer a different sacrifice as the
high priest formerly did, but always the same ; or, rather, we
celebrate a memorial of a Sacrifice"*
There are other passages in which the idea, no less pro-
minently set forth, is that of a holy feast. Elijah bequeathed
his mantle and a double portion of his spirit to Elisha, " but
the Son of God, when He ascended, left us His own flesh.
. . . He who did not decline to shed His blood for all, and
imparts to us again His flesh and blood, what will He refuse
to do for our salvation?" 3 Again : " Consider, man, what
kind of sacrifice thou art about to touch, what kind of table
1 In Eustath. Ant. vol. ii. p. 601.
2 In Ep. ad. Hebr. Horn. xvii. c. 3. 3 Horn. ii. De Stat. c. 9.
CH. xxiu.] LANGUAGE NOT TO BE PEESSED. 415
to approach ; reflect that thou who art but dust and ashes
receivest the body and blood of Christ." 1 The sedulous care
with which he urges the duty of moral cleansing before
venturing to approach the holy table proceeds chiefly from
regarding it as a holy feast. "How shall we behold the
sacred passover ? How shall we receive the sacred feast ?
Ilnvr partake of the adorable mysteries with that tongue
whereby we trampled on the Law of God and defiled our
soul ? for if one would not touch a royal robe with denied
hands, how shall we receive the Lord's body with an unclean
tongue?" 2
These passages, which are but a few specimens extracted
from a large number on the same subject, are yet sufficient
to show how easy it would be for the partisans of contend-
ing schools to press the language of Chrysostom into support
of their own system. The truth is, that in the case of this,
as of other subjects, we find in Chrysostorn and his contem-
poraries the raw material, which has been wrought out by
the toil and strife of later times into definite sharply chiselled
dogmas. Nothing, therefore, can really be more unfair than
to regard, as a direct friend or opponent, one who lived and
wrote long before controversy had arisen on the subjects of
which he treated. He might innocently employ expressions
which we should deem it incautious to use, because we
know the interpretation of which they are susceptible, or
because we see in them incipient symptoms of an idea which
in process of time grew into a mischievous error. It is
instructive also to notice how harmless doctrines which
afterwards became mischievous were when they were not
pushed to an extremity, not made integral parts of a system
of belief. It does not occur to us, for instance, for a moment
to suppose that such invocation of saints as was manifestly
1 De Nat. Christi, c. 7. here the celebrated passage which it
2 De Stat. xi. c. 5. The authenticity contains on this subject. It will be
of the letter to Cffisarius is so doubtful found in the Appendix, where the
that I have not ventured to introduce curious history of this letter is related.
416 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [cu. xxm.
approved by Chrysostom was the least detrimental to that
free intercourse which ought to exist between the soul
of man and God Himself. As Dr. Pusey has observed:
" Through volumes of St. Augustine and St. Chrysostom there
is no mention of any reliance except on Christ alone." 1
There is not the least approach to that system of stepping-
stones or halting-places between God and man, which the
Eoman Church established by means of confession, saint-
worship, and, above all, Mariolatry.
There is no trace in Chrysostom of priestly confession as
an ordinance of the Church. When he speaks of the misery
which ensues on the commission of sin, he urges the sinner
to relieve his conscience by a free confession with repentance
and tears. "And why are you ashamed to do so ?" he pro-
ceeds, " for to whom do you confess ? Is it to a man or a
fellow-servant who might reproach or expose you ? Nay, it
is to the Lord, tender and merciful : it is to the physician
that you show your wound." 2 Again, in speaking of prayer,
he contrasts the freedom of access to God with the difficulties
and impediments which encounter the delivery of a petition
to some great man. " This last could be reached only through
porters, flatterers, parasites ; whereas God is invoked without
the intervention of any one, without money, without expense
of any kind." 3 This reads like a prophetical sarcasm on a
Church which ultimately made a traffic of dispensing what
cannot really be dispensed by man, because it is the free gift
of God.
Nor is there any symptom in Chrysostom of a tendency
to the theory of Purgatory. The condition of man after
death is always represented by him as final and irrevocable.
His tone, when exhorting to repentance, is always in har-
mony with the following passage : " For the day will come
when the theatre of this world will be dissolved, and
1 Eirenikon, part i. p. 112.
2 De Laz. Horn. iv. 4. 3 De Pcenit. Horn. iv. 4.
CH. xxiii.] THE VIRGIN MARY. 417
then it is not possible to contend any longer : this is the
season of repentance, that of judgment ; this of contest, that
of crowning ; this of labour, that of repose." 1
But of all medieval additions to the purer faith of primi-
tive times, Mariolatry has grown to the most extraordinary
dimensions. 2 Of any tendency to this error there is in
Chrysostom a remarkable absence. In fact, his notices of
the Blessed Virgin, not very frequent, are on the whole, we
might almost say, unnecessarily disparaging. In his com-
mentary on the Marriage Feast at Cana, he suggests that the
Virgin, in mentioning the failure of wine to our Lord, may
have been anxious to draw out His miraculous powers,
partly to place the guests under an obligation to Him,
partly to enhance her own dignity through the display of
her Son's divine powers. He considers that the appeal
sprang from the same feeling which prompted His brethren
to say, " Show Thyself to the world ;" and he proceeds to
observe that our Lord, while never failing to manifest duti-
ful reverence and affectionate care towards His mother, has
taught us, by His conduct and language to her, that the tie
of mere earthly kindred entitled her not to higher privileges,
and placed her in no more intimate spiritual relationship
with Himself than any one might through love and obedience
enjoy. "Who is my mother, and who are my brethren?
and looking round about on His disciples, He said, Behold
my mother and my brethren ; for whosoever shall do the will
of my Father, the same is my brother, and my sister, and
mother." " Heavens !" Chrysostom exclaims, " what honour !
what reward ! to what a pinnacle does He exalt those who
follow Him! How many women have blessed the Holy
Virgin and her womb, and have longed to be such mothers !
What then prevents it ? Behold, he opens a broad way for
us: not women only, but men also are permitted to be
1 De Poenit. Horn. ix. cultus and its mischievous effects, in
2 See Dr. Pusey's history of the Parts i. and ii. of the "Eirenikon."
2 D
418 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xxur.
placed in the same rank." " The demand to see Him was
made by His mother in an ambitious spirit : she wished to
show to the people how much authority she possessed over
Him; at any rate, the request was unreasonable and un-
seasonable. If she and His brethren desired to speak with
Him on matters of doctrine, they might have done so in the
presence of the others; but if on private matters, it was
an ill-timed interruption to His discourse on weightier sub-
jects." 1 Again : " When a woman in the company cried
out, 'Blessed is the womb that bare Thee!' He instantly
corrected her : ' Yea, rather blessed are they that hear the
word of God and keep it.' " It is possible that the general
sentiment of the age may have regarded the Virgin with
more veneration, but Chrysostom could not have ventured
to use such language had the cultus been in any but its
very earliest stage, if then. She is called holy by him ; she
intercedes 2 for Eve, who is a type of herself, but of worship
paid to her there is not the slightest evidence. 3
It is almost superfluous to observe that Chrysostom knew
and acknowledged nothing of papal supremacy, in the sense
which those words conveyed to the minds of later genera-
tions. In common with the rest of Christendom, he paid
great deference and respect to the metropolitan at Eome,
and he was quite free from those feelings of jealousy which
were entertained by the patriarchs of Constantinople, as
time went on, owing to the increasing pretensions and exac-
tions of the Eoman See. If he respects Innocent, as occu-
pying the chair of St. Peter, he equally respects Flavian,
bishop of Antioch (who was not in communion -with Eome),
for the same reason ; he calls him " our common father and
1 In Job an. Horn. xxi. 2 ; and in Chrysostom to our people, to their
Matt. Horn. xliv. 1. edification and without offence : were
_.,, ,.^ . , A a Roman Catholic preacher to confine
2 De Mundl Creat V1 ' 10 " himself to their preaching, he would
3 Vide Dr. Pusey, Eiren. i. p. 113 : (as it has been said among themselves)
"We could preach whole volumes of be regarded as 'indevout towards
the sermons of St. Augustine or St. Mary.'"
en. xxiii.] LITUEGICAL FORMS. 419
teacher, who has inherited St. Peter's virtue and his chair."
The letter written to Innocent during exile was addressed
also to the Bishops of Milan and Aquileia. In his com-
mentary on Galatians ii. he proves the equality of St. Paul
with St. Peter. No doubt he assigns an eminent rank to St.
Peter, speaking of him as " leader of the band " (icopvfyalos)
of apostles, and as intrusted with the "presidency" (777)0-
o-ra&iav) of the brethren : but these words do not imply
absolute authority, and the same appellations are applied
to St. Paul also.
Scattered up and down the discourses of Chrysostom there
are abundant references to the liturgical forms, and manner
of using them, which were in vogue in his time. If we had
no other authority, we could learn from him alone that
the service consisted of two parts the first, called Missa
Catechumenorum, because the catechumens were permitted
to be present at it, which included an opening salutation of
" Peace be with you," with the response, " And with thy
spirit;" psalms sung antiphonally ; appointed lessons accord-
ing to the season or the day (as Genesis was read during
Lent, the Acts of the Apostles in Pentecost, that is, during
the fifty days between Easter and Whitsun Day) ; the sermon,
frequently in Chrysostom's case on the lesson for the day,
the preacher usually sitting, and the people standing ; then
prayers, announced by the deacon, for the catechumens, the
"possessed," and the penitents; the benediction by the
bishop, and dismissal by the deacon, who bade them " depart
in peace." The second part of the service then began, called
Missa Fidelium, because the baptized only were permitted
to be present. Chrysostom strongly denounces an increasing
tendency on the part of many to remain during this second
and more sacred portion without participating. He plainly
declares that all those who were baptized should communi-
cate, and tells them, if they were not worthy to receive the
Eucharist, neither could they be worthy to join in the
420 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHKYSOSTOM. [CH. xxm.
prayers which preceded the reception, and therefore they
ought to quit the church, with the catechumens and peni-
tents, when the deacon commanded all unbaptized, ungodly,
and unbelieving persons to depart. 1 The usual order of the
Missa Fidelium was " the silent prayer " (ev^rj Sia crtwTn}?),
on part of the priest and people (which the latter too often
abused, Chrysostom feared, to imprecate vengeance on their
enemies 2 ); then a prayer somewhat equivalent to our bidding
prayer in form, and to our prayer for the Church Militant in
substance, the deacon bidding or proclaiming the forms, and
the people responding ; then, a prayer of invocation made by
the bishop, which was also called " collecta," because in it
the prayers of the people were considered to be gathered
or summed up ; the oblations of the people presented by the
deacons ; the kiss of peace, the reading of the diptychs, the
ablution of the priest's hands, the bringing of the elements
to the bishop at the altar, while the priests stood on each
side, and deacons held large fans to drive away the flies ; a
secret prayer offered by the bishop ; the benediction, " The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ," etc., to which the people
responded "And with thy spirit;" followed by "Lift up
your hearts" "We lift them up unto the Lord;" "Let us
give thanks to our Lord God " " It is meet and right so to
do ;" a long thanksgiving, terminating with the Ter Sanctus,
in which the people joined ; the consecration prayer, includ-
ing the words of our Lord at the time of institution, and an
invocation of the Holy Spirit to make the elements become
the body and blood of Christ ; a prayer for all members of
the Church, living and dead; the doxology, the Creed;
a prayer of the bishop for sanctification ; the words pro-
nounced by him, "Holy things for holy people" (ra ajta
rot? aytois) ; the reception by the clergy and laity in both
kinds, taking the elements into their hands ; concluding
prayers, and dismissal by the deacon proclaiming, " Go in
i In Ephes. Horn. iii. in fine. 2 Vol. iii. p. 362.
CH. xxiii.] LITURGY OF CHRYSOSTOM. 421
peace." Nearly all of the forms indicated in this sketch are
more or less clearly referred to or quoted in Chrysostom's
works, and from these, with the aid of other contemporary
writers and documents, we might construct a liturgy which
would more nearly resemble that actually used by him than
the liturgy called by his name resembles it. 1 For in this,
as in the so-called liturgy of Basil, it is impossible now to
determine how much was actually composed by the Father
who gave his name to it. It cannot be proved that Chry-
sostom actually corrected or improved at all the liturgy
which he found in use at Constantinople. It may only have
come to be called after him as being the greatest luminary
who ever occupied the see. The statement, however, made
in a tract ascribed to Proclus, Patriarch of Constantinople in
the fifth century, is not in itself improbable, that Chrysostom
found the existing liturgy so long that many of the congre-
gation, being men of business, and pressed for time, left
before the service was concluded, or came in after it had
begun, and therefore he abridged and otherwise altered it.
In any case, many alterations were made by different
churches and bishops in the course of time, as in other
liturgies, so also in those which bear the name of Basil and
Chrysostom; and hence, as Montfaucon, Savile, Cave, and
others have remarked, you cannot find any two copies which
are exactly alike.
A critical estimate of Chrysostom's value as a commentator
hardly falls within the scope of an essay on his life, but a
few general observations on this head may not be deemed
out of place here. The same fact was the cause in him of
1 I have not thought it expedient to p. 104 ; x. pp. 200 and 527 ; xi. p. 323.
crowd the margin with references to The so-called prayer of St. Chrysostom
Chrysostom's works for every one of in our Prayer-Book is found in the
the liturgical forms above mentioned. Liturgies of St. Basil and St. Chryso-
They may nearly all be consulted in stom, but cannot certainly be traced
Bingham, book xv., who has collected to either of those fathers. It was in-
them with great care. The fullest serted at the end of the Litany in 1544,
passages occur in vol. ii. p. 345 ; iii. and of the Daily Service in 1661.
422 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xxm.
much excellence and some defect in this department. He
was a preacher whose primary object was to convert souls.
This earnest, practical aim, of which he never lost sight,
helped to protect him from lapsing into idle, fanciful, mystical
interpretations of Scripture; but, on the other hand, it
hindered his entering so fully into all the historical, gram-
matical, or even doctrinal questions which might be raised
about a passage as he would have done had he been exclu-
sively a commentator. His dominant aim being to affect
the heart and the moral practice of his hearers, he is content
when he has elicited from the passage all that will be most
useful for that purpose, and the continuity of the commentary
is frequently marred by sudden digressions. His ignorance
of Hebrew was of course fatal to his being an accurate
interpreter of the Old Testament, since he was entirely
dependent on the Septuagint translation. And even in
Greek, though few would deny him the merit of fine scholar-
ship on the whole, though his command of the language as
an orator is masterly, his style luminous, his diction copious
and rich without being offensively ornate or redundant, yet
his hold upon the language for critical purposes is neither
that of a man who spoke it when it was in its purest stage,
nor that of a scholar who, living in a later age and speaking
a different tongue, has made a careful, laborious study of it
as a dead language.
But two invaluable qualifications for an interpreter Chry-
sostom did possess a thorough love for the Sacred Book,
and a thorough familiarity with every part of it. There is
no topic on which he dwells more frequently and earnestly
than on the duty of every Christian man and woman to study
the Bible; and what he bade others do, that he did pre-
eminently himself. He rebukes the silly vanity of rich
people who prided themselves on possessing finely written
and handsomely bound copies of the Bible, but who knew
little about the contents. Study of the Bible was more
CH. xxm.] CHRYSOSTOM AS A COMMENTATOR. 423
necessary for the layman than the monk, because he was
exposed to more constant and formidable temptations. The
Christian without a knowledge of his Bible was like a
workman without his tools. Like the tree planted by the
water-side, the soul of the diligent reader would be continu-
ally nourished and refreshed. There were no difficulties
which would not yield to a patient study of it. Neither
earthly grandeur, nor friends, nor indeed any human thing,
could afford in suffering such comfort as the reading of Holy
Scripture, for this was the companionship of God. 1
The honest, straightforward common sense which marks
his practical exhortations was a useful quality to him also
as an interpreter. One of his principles is, that sound doc-
trine could not be extracted from Holy Scripture but by a
careful comparison of many passages not isolated from their
context. 2 Allegorical interpretations were by no means to
be rejected, but to be used with caution ; men too often made
the mistake of dictating what Scripture should mean instead
of submitting to be taught by it : they introduced a meaning
instead of eliciting it. 3 Thus, though he often accepts
popular types as Boaz and Euth are figures of Christ and
His bride the Church ; and Noah, Joseph, Joshua, are all in
different ways representative of our Lord ; though sometimes
particular expressions in Messianic prophecies are forced,
for instance, in Isaiah's description of Immanuel, the " butter
and honey " there spoken of he supposes to be intended to
indicate the reality of our Lord's humanity 4 yet his custom-
ary aim is to discover the literal sense and direct historical
bearing of the passage. At the same time he fully recognises
a general foreshadowing of Jesus Christ, and the complete
fulfilment in Him ultimately of prophecies which immedi-
ately refer to persons and events nearly, if not quite, con-
temporaneous with the utterance. He fails not also to point
1 Vol. ii. pp. 17, 92, 522, et passim. 3 In Isai. v. 3, and vi.
2 Vol. vi. 157. * Ibid. vii. 6.
424 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xxm.
out the moral aspect of prophecy as a system of teaching
rather than prediction, as preparatory to the advent of Jesus
Christ in the flesh, not only by informing men's minds, but
disciplining their hearts to receive Him. 1 Hence the holy
men who lived, under the Old Dispensation, in faith on
God's promises, knew Christ as it were by anticipation, and
were to be reckoned as members of the one body. 2
He had a clear conception of the essential coherence
between the Old and New Testament. He observes that
the very words " old " and " new " are relative terms : new
implies an antecedent old, preparatory to it. The condition
of the recipients, the circumstances and age in which they
lived, being different, necessitated a difference in the treat-
ment. A physician treated the same patient at different
times by directly contrary methods ; sometimes administering
sweet, sometimes bitter medicines, sometimes using the
lancet, sometimes cautery, but always with the same ultimate
end in view the health of his patient. So the Old and
New Testaments were different, but not, as the Manichseans
maintained, antagonistic. The commandment, " Thou shalt
not kill," attacked the fruit and consequence of vice ; the
precept, "Whosoever is angry with his brother without a
cause," etc., struck at the root. This was an illustration in
a small instance of the general truth that the New Dispen-
sation was only a completion and expansion of the Old.
Those, therefore, who rejected the Old Testament dishonoured
the New, which was based upon it, and presupposes it. 3
He is equally rational in his manner of accounting for
the variations in the Gospel narratives. That they differ
in details, but agree in essential matters, he regards as a
powerful evidence of veracity. Exact and verbal coincidence
in every particular would have excited in the minds of
opponents a suspicion of concerted agreement. 4 Authors
1 In Is. vii. c. i. 3 De Verb. Apost. vol. iii. p. 282.
2 In Ephes. Horn. x. 1. 4 In Matt. Horn. i. 2.
CH. xxiii.] VIEWS ON INSPIRATION. 425
might write variously without being at variance; if there
had been ten thousand evangelists, yet the Gospel itself
would have been but one. 1 Each evangelist tells substan-
tially the same tale, but varied according to the readers for
whom he wrote, and the special object which he had in
view. So St. Matthew wrote in Hebrew for the Jews, St.
Mark for the disciples in Egypt, St. John to set forth the
divine aspect of our Lord's life. Thus we have variety in
unity, and unity in variety. 2
In his commentaries on the Epistles he is careful to con-
sider each as a connected whole ; and, in order to impress
this on his hearers, he frequently recapitulates at the
beginning of a homily all the steps by which the part under
consideration has been reached. In his introductions to
each letter he generally makes useful observations on the
author, the time, place, and style of composition, the
readers for whom it was intended, the general character
and arrangement of its contents. He regarded the Bible
as in such a sense written under the inspiration of God, that
110 passage, no word even, was to be despised; 3 that men
wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, but not to
the total deprivation of their own human understanding
and personal character. The prophet was not like the seer
who spoke under constraint, not knowing what he said ; he
retained his own faculties and style; only all his powers
were quickened, energised by the Spirit to the utterance of
words which unassisted he could not have uttered. 4
Chrysostoni's influence as a preacher was not aided by
any external advantages of person. Like so many men who
have possessed great powers of command over the minds of
others like St. Paul, Athanasius, John Wesley he was
little of stature ; his frame was attenuated by the austerities
of his youth and his habitually ascetic mode of life; his
1 In Galat. i. 6. * In Rom. Horn. xxxi. 1.
2 In Matt. i. et in Johan. i. 4 In Psalm xliv. ; in 1 Cor. Horn. xxix. 1.
426 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xxm.
cheeks were pale and hollow ; his eyes deeply set, but bright
and piercing ; his broad and lofty forehead was furrowed by
wrinkles ; his head was bald. He frequently delivered his
discourses sitting in the ambo, or high reading-desk, just
inside the nave, in order to be near his hearers and well
raised above them. But these physical disadvantages were
more than compensated by other more important qualities.
A power of exposition which unfolded in lucid order, passage
by passage, the meaning of the book in hand ; a rapid tran-
sition from clear exposition, or keen logical argument, to
fervid exhortation, or pathetic appeal, or indignant denun-
ciation ; the versatile ease with which he could lay hold of
any little incident of the moment, such as the lighting of
the lamps in the church, and use it to illustrate his dis-
course ; the mixture of plain common-sense, simple boldness,
and tender affection, with which he would strike home to
the hearts and consciences of his hearers all these are not
only general characteristics of the man, but are usually to
be found manifested more or less in the compass of each
discourse. It is this rare union of powers which constitutes
his superiority to almost all the other Christian preachers
with whom he might be, or has been, compared. Savonarola
had all, and more than all, his fire and vehemence, but
untempered by his sober, calm good sense, and wanting his
rational method of interpretation. Chrysostom was eager
and impetuous at times in speech as well as in action, but
never fanatical. Jeremy Taylor combines, like Chrysostom,
real earnestness of purpose with rhetorical forms of expres-
sion and florid imagery ; but, on the whole, his style is far
more artificial, and is overlaid with a multifarious learning
from which Chrysostom's was entirely free. Wesley is
almost his match in simple, straightforward, practical
exhortation, but does not rise into flights of eloquence like
his. The great French preachers, again, resemble him in
his more ornate and declamatory vein, but they lack that
CH. XXIIL] CHARACTERISTICS AS A PREACHER. 427
simpler common-sense style of address which equally dis-
tinguished him. Whether the sobriquet of Chrysostomos,
" the golden mouth/' was given to him in his lifetime is
extremely doubtful ; at any rate, it seems not to have been
commonly used till afterwards. John is the only name by
which he is mentioned in the writings of historians who
were most nearly contemporaneous, but the other was a well-
known appellation before the end of the fifth century. 1
The preservation of Chrysostom's discourses we owe
mainly to the custom, prevalent in the Eastern Church at
that time, of having the sermons of famous preachers taken
down by shorthand writers as they were spoken ; but some
of them Chrysostom published himself. 2 To what extent
they may have been written before preaching it is impossible
to say. The expository parts were evidently the result of
previous study and preparation; the actual diction of the
practical portions he may have left to the suggestion of the
moment, though the main subjects of his address had been
always decided upon beforehand. Extempore remarks were
frequently called forth by the behaviour of the congregation,
or some passing incident. The discourse delivered after
his return from exile we also know to have been purely
impromptu; and Suidas observes that he "had a tongue
which exceeded the cataracts of the Nile in fluency, so
that he delivered many of his panegyrics on the martyrs
extempore without the least hesitation." 3 His hearers were
sometimes rapt in such profound attention that pickpockets
took advantage of it : 4 sometimes they were melted to tears,
or beat their breasts and faces, and uttered groans and cries
to Heaven for mercy; at other times they clapped their
hands or shouted marks of approbation frequently paid at
that time to eloquent preachers, but always sternly reproved
by Chrysostom.
1 Vide Tillemont, xi. p. 37. 8 Suidas; vide verb. Johannes.
2 Socrat. vi. 4. 4 Cont. Anom. Horn, iv.
428 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHKYSOSTOM. [CH. xxm.
Although his style is generally exuberantly rich, yet it is
seldom offensively redundant, for every word is usually
telling ; and at times he is epigrammatically terse. A few
instances will suffice : " The fire of sin is large, but it is
quenched by a few tears ;" " Pain was given on account of
sin, yet through pain sin is dissolved;" " Kiches are called
possessions (/cr^ara) that we may possess them, not be
possessed by them;" " You are master of much wealth, do
not be a slave to that whereof God has made you master;"
" Scripture relates the sins of saints, that we may fear ; the
conversion of sinners, that we may hope." He refers to a
visitation of Antioch by an earthquake, as God "shaking
the -city, but establishing your minds ; making the city
crumble, but consolidating your judgment."
His familiarity with classical Greek authors is apparent
sometimes in direct references. He speaks of " the smooth-
ness of Isocrates, the weight of Demosthenes, the dignity
of Thucydides, the sublimity of Plato." 1 He quotes the
beginning of the "Apology," to show that if Socrates did
not put a high value on mere fine talking, how much less
should the Christian. 2 He illustrates the readiness of men
to supply the wants of the monk by a passage from Plato,
where Crito says that his money, and that of Cebes and
many others, is at the disposal of Socrates ; and, go where
he will, he may rely on finding friends. 3 Sometimes we
detect a thought derived, it may have been unconsciously,
from classical sources. When he compares the crowd of the
congregation before him to the sea, and the play upon the
surface of that sea of heads to the effect of a strong west
wind stirring and bending the ears of corn, 4 it is impossible
not to think that the idea was suggested by the well-known
simile in Homer (II. ii. 147). Again, when, in speaking of
David's sin, he compares the body to a chariot and the soul
1 De Sacerdot. iv. 6. 3 Adv. Oppugn. Vit. Mon. ii. 4.
2 Adv. Oppugn. Vit. Mon. iii. 2. * De Poenit. vi. 1.
CH. xxiii.] CLASSICAL ALLUSIONS. 429
to the charioteer, and says that, when the soul is intoxicated
by passion, the chariot is dragged along at random, it can
hardly be fanciful to see a reflection of Plato's celebrated
image of the charioteer and horses in the " Phsedrus." *
But whatever admiration Chrysostom may have retained
of those authors whom he had studied in his youth, it was
confined to their language, for with their ideas and modes
of thought he had, so far as we can judge, abandoned all
sympathy. Nor was this unnatural. Christianity existed in
such close contact with Pagan corruption, and it had suffered
so much from Pagan persecution, that the revulsion of earnest
Christians from all things Pagan was total and indiscrimi-
nating. " The old order changeth, yielding place to new ;"
and the new, having fought a hard struggle with the old, is
for a long time incapable of recognising merit in anything
belonging to it. There are several allusions in Chrysostom
to the " Eepublic " of Plato, but they are always depreciative.
He fastens on a few points, such as the regulations about
marriage and female work, and condemns it on these as
absurd and childish, quite failing to consider the idea in its
grandeur as a whole. 2 Yet it is instructive to notice that
he never hesitates to assign to Plato the first place among
the heathen philosophers, dignifying him with the title of
Coryphreus. 3 He often compares the failure of Plato's
teaching to regenerate men in every rank with the successful
labours of St. Paul and the other apostles ; but while he
rejoices that the writings and doctrine of the philosopher
were eclipsed by the tentmaker and fisherman, and well-nigh
forgotten, he evidently regarded it as the most signal triumph
which Christianity had achieved. 4
1 De Pcenit. ii. 1. legit? quanti Platonis vel libros no-
2 In Johan. Horn. ii. 2, and vol. vere, vel nomen ? Vix in angulis
vii. 30. otiosi eos senes recolunt ; rusticanos
8 Vol. xi. p. 694. vero et piscatores nostros totus orbis
4 Vol. ix. p. 407. Comp. Jerome : loquitur, universus mundus sonat."
" Quotusquisque nunc Aristotelem In Galat. iii.
430 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. [CH. xxm.
Unquestionable as the intellectual genius of Chrysostom
was, yet it is rather in the purity of his moral character, his
single-minded boldness of purpose, and the glowing piety
which burns through all his writings, that we find the secret
of his influence. If it was rather the mission of Augustine
to mould the minds of men so as to take a firm grasp of
certain great doctrines, it was the mission of Chrysostom to
inflame the whole heart with a fervent love of God. Kightly
has he been called the great teacher of consummate holiness,
as Augustine was the great teacher of efficient grace ; l
rightly has it been remarked that, like Fe'ne'lon, he is to be
ranked among those who may be termed disciples of St. John,
men who seem to have been pious without intermission from
their childhood upwards, and of whose piety the leading
characteristics are ease, cheerfulness, and elevation; while
Augustine belongs to the disciples of St. Paul, those who
have been converted from error to truth, or from sin to
holiness, and whose characteristics are gravity, earnestness,
depth. 2 If Augustine has done more .valuable service in
building up the Church at large, Chrysostom is the more
loveable to the individual, and speaks out of a heart over-
flowing with love to God and man, unconstrained by the
fetters of a severe and rigid system. Yet it is precisely on this
account that he has not been so generally appreciated as he
deserves. His tone is too catholic for the Eomanist, or for
the sectarian partisan of any denomination. " It would be
easy to produce abundant instances of his oratorical abilities ;
I wish it were in my power to record as many of his evan-
gelical excellencies." Such is the verdict of a narrow-minded
historian, 3 and the comparative estimation in which he held
St. Augustine and St. Chrysostom may be inferred from the
number of pages in his History given to each : St. Augustine
is favoured with 187, Chrysostom with 20. But he whose
1 Alex. Knox, "Remains," vol. iii. 2 Jebb, "Pastoral Discourses," ii.
pp. 75-77. 3 Milner, Hist. ii. p. 302.
en. XXIIL] CHKYSOSTOM AND AUGUSTINE. 431
judgment is not cramped by the shackles of some harsh and
stiff theory of Gospel truth will surely allow that Chrysostom
not only preached the Gospel but lived it. To the last
moment of his life he exhibited that calm, cheerful faith,
that patient resignation under affliction, and untiring per-
severance for the good of others, which are pre-eminently
the marks of a Christian saint. The cause for which he
fought and died in a corrupt age was the cause of Christian
holiness; and, therefore, by the great medieval poet of
Christendom he is rightly placed in Paradise between two
men who, widely different indeed in character and circum-
stances from him and from one another, yet resembled him
in this, that they freely and courageously spoke of God's
" testimonies even before kings, and were not ashamed "
Xathan the Seer, and Anselm the Primate of all England:
" Natan profeta, e '1 metropolitano
Crisostomo, ed Anselmo. . . ."*
i Dante, Parad. xii. 136.
APPENDIX.
[ Vide ante, p. 415 note.]
ON THE LETTER TO C^ESARIUS (CHRYS. OP. vol. iii. p. 755).
THE history of this letter, and the controversy connected with
it, are curious and interesting. Peter Martyr transcribed a
Latin translation of it, which he found in a manuscript at
Florence, carried it with him to England, and deposited it in
the library of Archbishop Cranmer. After Cranmer's death,
and the dispersion of his library, the letter disappeared. Peter
Martyr had not stated the source from which he had derived it,
and, therefore, when the assailants of the doctrine of Tran sub-
stantiation wished to make use of it, their opponents always
maintained that it did not exist. In 1680, however, Emericus
Bigotius discovered a copy in the library of St. Mark's Con-
vent, at Florence, probably the same which Peter Martyr, him-
self a Florentine, had transcribed. Emericus appended it to
his edition of Palladius's " Life of Chrysostom," and in his pre-
face endeavoured to vindicate its authenticity ; but the Doctors
of the Sorbonne suppressed the letter, and such portions of the
preface as related to it. Emericus, however, had retained in
his own possession some of the entire copies after they were
printed, before they came into the licenser's hands. The trans-
lation was published by Stephanus Le Moyne in 1685, by
Jacob Basnage in 1687, and in 1689 by Harduin, a Jesuit,
who strenuously maintained the Roman Catholic interpretation
of the passage on the Eucharist. Montfaucon adopted Harduin' s
version of it, annexing a few fragments in the Greek, picked
out of Anastasius and John Damascene.
2 E
434 APPENDIX.
John Damascene, Anastasius, and Nicephorus refer to the
letter as authentic, nor does Harduin venture to dispute it ;
but there are several points of evidence which seem to mark it
as belonging to a later age than that of Chrysostom. It is not
quoted before Leontius, in the latter part of the sixth century,
although it might usefully have been employed against the
Eutychians. There are expressions in it which were not in
common use till after Cyril of Alexandria had employed them
against Nestorius. The language generally is that of one who
had lived in the midst of the Nestorian and Eutychian con-
troversies, and the style of the Greek fragments, as well as the
tone of the Latin translation, are extremely unlike Chrysostom's
manner : the sentences are abrupt and rugged, and a kind
of scholastic, dogmatic tone pervades the whole composition.
The general scope of the letter is clear : it is to maintain the
doctrine of the two natures under one person in Jesus Christ,
against the heresy of the Apollinarians ; or, if we accept the
theory of Montfaucon, the intention of the author, living in the
time of the Eutychian heresy, was to strike a blow at that by
forging a letter supposed to be addressed by Chrysostom to a
friend, warning him against Apollinarian errors, which had
much in common with the Eutychian. The passage in which
the writer illustrates his position by a reference to the Holy
Eucharist has been construed by Roman Catholics and Pro-
testants in a sense agreeable to their own views on the subject.
The writer has been labouring to prove that there were two
distinct natures in the one person of God the Son Incarnate,
and he proceeds as follows : " Just as the bread before con-
secration is called bread, but when the Divine grace sanctifies it
through the agency of the priest it is liberated from the appella-
tion of bread, and is regarded as worthy of the appellation of
the Lord's body, although the nature of bread remains in it,
and we speak not of two bodies, but one body of the Son ; so
here, the Divine nature being seated in the human body, the
two together make up but one Son, one Person."
INDEX
ABLAVIUS
ABLAVIUS, the prefect, grandfather
of Olympias, 280.
Acacius, bishop of Beroea, carries a peti-
tion to Rome, 237 ; a leader of the
faction hostile to Chrysostom, 282 ;
plots against Chrysostom after his
recall, 329 ; undertakes the responsi-
bility, with Antiochus, of the arch-
bishop's deposition, 332, 339 ; bribes
Lucius to disperse the people at the
Baths, 336 ; assists in ordaining Por-
phyry, 358.
Acacius of Csesarea preaches at Antioch,
19.
^Emilius, a champion of Roman freedom,
242.
^Emilius, bishop of Beneventum, one of
the Italian deputation, 353.
Aetius, an extreme Arian, 109.
Africa, Church of, maintains communion
with Theophilus and Chrysostom, 385.
African Council, resolution of, wishing
for intercourse between Rome and
Alexandria, 385.
Alarie, a royal Visigoth, 187 ; descends
into Thrace and ravages the country
round Constantinople, 207 ; mock in-
terview with Rufinus, 207 ; overruns
Greece, 207 ; spreads devastation over
Peloponnesus, 210 ; made commander-
in-chief of the forces of the East, 210 ;
efforts to gain Rome, 359.
Alexander, governor at Antioch, 11.
Alexander of Basilinopolis, a friend of
Chrysostom, 329.
Alexander Severus, Emperor, 46.
Alexander succeeds Porphyry in the see
of Antioch, 377 ; pays honour to Chry-
sostom, 388.
Alexandria, vices of the Christian popu-
lation of, 11; tumults at, 30 ; products
of monks shipped to, 64 ; religious riots
at, 65 ; parochial divisions, 103 note ;
sedition at, 151 ; order restored by
AMMON
Cynegius, 151 ; its mixed population,
195 ; flight of Theophilus to, 325.
Alexandrian school, allegorical interpre-
tations of, 28.
Almsgiving, Chrysostom on the duty of,
228.
Amantius, chamberlain of Eudoxia, 241.
Ambrose, archbishop of Milan, 41 note ;
a layman when consecrated, 56 ; con-
verts multitudes of women to celibacy,
61 ; sides with Theodosius, 142 ; reply
to the appeal of Symmachus, 145, 146 ;
prohibits feasts in the churches, 182 ; his
character, 187 ; before the royal council,
187 ; refuses to surrender the Portian
Basilica, 187 ; will not recognise the
edict, 188 ; served with an order of
banishment, but refuses to depart, 189 ;
declines the proposal of arbitration, and
remains master of the field, 190; his
triumph, 190; mission to Maximus,
190 ; letter to Theodosius on his com-
manding the bishop of Callinicum to re-
store the Jewish synagogue, 192; sermon
at Milan on the same subject, 192, 193 ;
the Emperor succumbs, 193 ; mission
to obtain clemency for the Thessa-
lonians, 195 ; withdraws from Milan
into the country, 196; exhorts the
Emperor to deep repentance, 196 ; re-
fuses Theodosius admittance to the
cathedral, 196 ; repulses Rufinus the
minister, 197 ; prescribes penance to
the Emperor, 197 ; testimony of Theo-
dosius to his nobility of character, 198 ;
strife with Flavian, 199 ; receives the
Emperor after his defeat of Arbogastes,
201 ; administers the Eucharist to
Theodosius, 201 ; urges Nectarius to
depose Gerontius, 273.
Ammianus Marcellinus on the luxury of
bishops of great cities, 217.
Ammon, bishop of Laodicea, 266 ; a
leader of Chrysostom's enemies, 329.
436
INDEX.
AMMONIUS
Ammonius, a Nitrian monk, baptizes
Rufinus, 204; one of the "tall brethren,"
294 ; struck by Theophilus, 295 ; inter-
view with Epiphanius, 305 ; his death,
316 ; prediction of persecution to the
Church, 316; buried at "the Oak,"
where he had baptized the minister
Rufinus, 316; Theophilus weeps over
his death and eulogises him, 316.
Anastasius, Pope, anathematises Origen,
296.
Anathematising denounced by Chryso-
stom, 133.
Anchorites, the, 60.
Ancyra in Phrygia, the summer retreat
of Arcadius, 209 ; spectacle of the
Emperor's departure to, 211.
Anomoean doctrine, 110, 111; Chryso-
stom's homilies against, 115-117.
Anthemius, master of the offices, appealed
to, to disperse the congregation at the
Baths, 336; refuses to interfere, but
directs Lucius to exhort the people to
return to the churches, 336 ; Chry-
sostom's letter to, on his being made
prefect and consul, 374.
Anthropomorphites, or Humanisers, 288 ;
denounced by John, bishop of Jeru-
salem, 290 ; Theophilus declares him-
self in their favour, 295.
Anthusa, mother of Chrysostom, 9; a
widow at twenty, 10 ; great love for
her son, 10 ; abstains from marrying
again, 11 ; appeals to Chrysostom not
to enter into retirement, 25-27.
Antioch, the birthplace of Chrysostom,
9 ; vices of its Christian inhabitants,
11 ; Chrysostom resident at, 57 ; per-
secutions at, 57, 58 ; St. Jerome at
Church of, 61 ; monasteries near, 62,
63 ; monks in the mountainous heights
near, 66 ; population of, 89 ; descrip-
tion of, 90, 91 ; "the great church" at,
91 ; character of the inhabitants, 92.;
bishop's relations to the city, 103 ;
Chrysostom appointed preacher at, 104 ;
resides here ten years, 107 ; the cradle
of Arianism, 109 ; passion of the people
for chariot- races, 118; influence of the
Jews, 126, 127 ; character of its popu-
lation, 137 ; its paganism, 137 ; sedi-
tion at, 150 ; proclamation of edict
levying the tribute, 151 ; sedition at,
150-153 ; dejection of the people, 153 ;
arrival of the commissioners from the
Emperor, 165 ; the city degraded, 165 ;
Chrysostom remonstrates against the
prevalent discontent, 168, 169; the
city is pardoned, 170 ; joy of the people,
ARBOGASTES
170 ; excitable feelings of the populace,
215 ; Chrysostom 's forcible removal
from the city, 215.
Antioch, Church of, vicissitudes in the,
17-22; the see in the hands of the
Arians for some time, 17 ; its Arian
bishops, 17-20 ; split into three parties,
20 ; its three rival bishops, Paulinus,
Meletius, and Euzoius, 20 ; a fourth
added by the Apollinarians, 20 ; the
people favour Meletius, 21 ; the schism
finally healed by Chrysostom, 21 ; its
three sections of Meletiaiis, Eustathians,
and Arians, 133.
Antioch, Council of (A.D. 341), Twelfth
Canon of the, 328 ; swayed by Arian
influence, 329 ; its object the harass-
ment of Athanasius, 330 ; Chrysostom's
enemies stake their whole issue on its
Twelfth Canon, 330 ; question as to its
validity, 330 ; its Canons pronounced
by Innocent invalid, 351.
Antiochus, bishop of Ptolemais, discourses
at Constantinople, 276 ; a leader of the
faction hostile to Chrysostom, 282 ;
plots against the archbishop after his
recall, 329 ; rage at the proposal of
Elpidius, 331 ; undertakes the respon-
sibility, with Acacius, of Chrysostom's
deposition, 332, 339 ; urges the Emperor
to remove him from the city, 339 ;
assists in ordaining Porphyry, 358.
Antiochus Epiphanes, 91.
Antiochus the Great, 126.
Antiphonal singing, 189 note.
Antoninus, bishop of Ephesus, grave
charges against, 266 ; flatly denies the
charges, 268 ; is alarmed when the
archbishop proposes to visit Asia Minor,
268 ; his interest at court produces
opposition to Chrysostom's departure,
268 ; is reconciled to his accuser, 269 ;
the farce of the inquiry, 269 ; his
death, 270.
Antonius, a reader, made bishop, 56.
Antony, the Anchorite, 60 ; wholesome
saying of, 64.
Apollo, oracle of, at Daphne, 100.
Apostolical constitutions, 56.
Applause of the congregation, 118;
sternly repressed, 164.
Arabianus, bishop, at the assembly at
Constantinople, 266.
Arabissus, a fortified town near Cucusus,
383 ; attacked and nearly captured by
Isaurians, 383.
Arbogastes, Valentinian's general of the
forces, 199 ; his ambition and treachery,
200 ; repulses the first attack of Theo-
INDEX.
437
ARCADIUS
dosius, 200 ; is overthrown, his army
routed, and himself slain, 201 ; his
children pardoned and baptized, 201.
Atvadius, son of Theodosius, 150; Rufinus
appointed his guardian, 203 ; does not
oppose the ambition of Rufinus, 204 ;
Kutropius gains complete mastery of
his feeble mind after the death of
Rufinus, 209; neglect of his empire,
210 ; becomes a mere puppet, 211 ; his
palaces and pageants, 211 ; dismisses
Eutropius, 248 ; promises Chrysostom
to respect his minister's retreat in the
church, 251 ; entreats the troops to re-
frain from violence towards Eutropius,
2.1 1 ; misgivings as to beheading his late
minister, 255 ; yields to the demands
of Gainas, 259 ; ratifies the deposition
of Chrysostom by the "Synod of the
( );ik, " 316 ; refuses to attend church on
Christmas Day until the archbishop has
cleared himself, 329 ; the patriarch's
(iso pleaded before him, 330, 331 ;
orders Chrysostom to be removed from
the church to his palace, 332 ; his
alarm, 332 ; sends for Acacius and
Autiochus, 332 ; turns a deaf ear to
the entreaty of the forty bishops, 333 ;
permits a concourse of Christians at
IVmpton to be dispersed, .",:>7.
Archelaus invited Socrates to court, 76.
Aii.iu controversy, the, 17---.
Arianism, at Antioch, 109, 110; Chry-
snstom'.s homilies against, 110-117.
Ai-ians, the, 50 ; their danger to Chris-
tianity, 109 ; forbidden by Theodosius
to hold assemblies, 142 ; stronghold
of, at Constantinople, in the time of
Gregory of Nazianzus, 235 ; molest
the peace in Chrysostom 's time, 236.
Aristides, resistance of, to ambition, 95.
Arius, probably instructed by Lucian,
109 ; his Thalia, 236.
Arsacius elevated to the see of Constan-
tinople, 344 ; his character, 344 ; per-
secution of the Johnites, 344; his death,
371.
Ascension Day, Sunday before, 177 note.
tic life, commencement of, 24 ; re-
lapse from, 31, 32.
ticism considered the highest form
of life, 82.
Ascetics, youthful association of, 27 ;
primitive, 59 ; called by Eusebius
"earnest persons," and by Clemens
Alexandrinus "more elect than the
elect, " 60.
Asia, Church of, disgraceful state of the,
373.
BASIL
Asia Minor, Chrysostom desires to visit,
268 ; three delegates appointed to visit,
269 ; the Church of, needs a healing
hand, 270 ; Chrysostom visits, 271 ;
Theophilus travels through, seeking
for disaffected bishops, 306.
Asterius, count of the East, assists in re-
moving Chrysostom from Antioch, 215.
Aterbius, a pilgrim, applies himself to
the detection of heresy at Jerusalem,
288 ; denounces John the bishop,
Jerome, and Rufinus as Origenists, 289.
Athanasius, archbishop of Alexandria,
obscurity of the early years of, 9 ;
return to Alexandria from exile, 20 ;
consecrated at an early age, 56 ; ac-
companied to Rome by monks, 61 ;
the Twelfth Canon of the Council of
Antioch aimed against, 329.
Atticus, a presbyter, an opponent of
Chrysostom, elected to the see of Con-
stantinople during the archbishop's
banishment, 283, 356 ; obtains imperial
rescripts against the clergy and laymen,
356 ; the Johnites refuse to hold com-
munion with him, 388 ; admits the
name of Chrysostom into the diptychs
of the Church at Constantinople, 388.
Augustine, St. , 40 ; permits sitting dur-
ing the reading of the Acts of the
Saints, 178 ; on the honour due to
saints and martyrs, 180 ; prohibits
feasts in the churches, 182 ; traits of
earlier life and baptism, 189 ; on the
discharge of episcopal duties, 212 ;
eulogium on Chrysostom, 385 ; com-
parison with Chrysostom, 430.
Aurelian, praetorian prefect, presides over
the suit instituted against Eutropius,
255 ; the Empress procures his eleva-
tion to the consulship, 256 ; his sur-
render demanded by Gainas, 257 ;
insulted by Gainas, and afterwards
delivered up, 257.
Aurelius, bishop of Carthage, 182 ; re-
ceives a letter from Chrysostom, 385.
Auxentius, the Arian bishop, 190.
Avarice, denunciations of, 223, 224.
BABYLAS, the martyr, Chrysostom's
book on, 92 ; his remains taken to
the grove of Daphne, 101 ; removed
hence by Julian, but afterwards
brought back, 102.
Basil, bishop of Raphanea, 14 ; his friend-
ship with Chrysostom, 14 ; his line
of life the "true philosophy," i.e.
monasticism, 15 ; project for a life of
438
INDEX.
BASIL
seclusion, 27 ; reluctance to be made
a bishop, 40-42 ; remonstrates with
Chrysostom, 42 ; parting from Chryso-
stom on his appointment to a bishop-
ric, 54.
Basil, bishop of Seleucia, 14.
Basil (the Great), bishop of Csesarea, 14 ;
contends against the misconceptions of
baptism, 16 ; sides with Theodosius,
14*2 ; reprobates trading near the ' ' mar-
tyries," 182 ; qualified admiration of
Origen's teachings, 287.
Basiliscus, bishop of Comaria, suffered
martyrdom, 386 ; story of his appear-
ing to Chrysostom, 387.
Baths of Constantine, interrupted services
carried on at, 334 ; people refuse to
leave, 336 ; scenes of violence at, 336.
Bautho, father of Eudoxia, 205.
Benedict, St., 60 ; establishment of his
monastery, 144.
Benedictines of Camaldoli, 62.
Bequests made by codicils renounced by
Theodosius, 193.
Bethlehem, Jerome's monastic establish-
ment at, 289.
Bishops, mode of electing, 40, 46, 47 ;
violence at elections of, 47, 48 ; age at
which eligible for, 56, 57 ; laymen con-
secrated, 56 ; their high social position,
212 ; canvassing and bribery at their
elections, 213; luxurious style of living,
217.
Bithynia, Chrysostom conveyed to, 340.
Bosporus, the, Chrysostom crosses, to
intercede with (Jamas, 257 ; a messen-
ger sent across to seek for Chrysostom,
321 ; studded with boats on the patri-
arch's return, 322 ; "the sea became a
city," 324; its waters crowded to wel-
come the reliques of Chrysostom, 388.
Botheric, governor of Thessalonica, im-
prisons a favourite charioteer, 194 ; re-
fuses to release him, 195 ; is mortally
wounded, 195.
Briso, Eudoxia's chamberlain, wounded in
a street fray, 236 ; the bearer to Chry-
sostom of a letter from the Empress,
321 ; intercedes for Chrysostom, 361.
Brison, bishop of Philippopolis, a leader
of Chrysostom 's enemies, 329.
British Isles, 112 ; reached by Chris-
tianity, 123 ; evangelised, 238.
, pre-eminence of the see of,
V over that of Jerusalem, 292 ; Chry-
sostom arrives at, on his exile, 362 ;
violent scenes at, 363.
CHRISTIANITY
CaBsarius, Chrysostom's letter to, 433,
434.
Csesarius, commissioner to Antioch, 165 ;
goes to the Emperor to intercede for
the people, 166 ; his arrival at Con-
stantinople, 170 ; his errand antici-
pated, 171.
Csesarius of Aries made reader at the age
of seven, 23.
Caligula, destruction of Antioch in the
reign of, 90.
Callinicum, 191 ; its people destroy a
Jewish synagogue, 191 ; the bishop
commanded to restore the building,
192 ; Ambrose objects to this, and
Theodosius gives way, 192, 193.
Camillus, a champion of Roman freedom,
242.
Capua, council of Western bishops at,
199.
Carterius superintends the studies of
youthful ascetics, 27.
Carthage, Fourth Council of, 23.
Cassianus, John, founder of a monastery
at Marseilles, 61 ; his rules of the clois-
ter, 61 ; remains a friend of Chrysostom,
279 ; custodian of the church treasury
at Constantinople, 342 ; flies to Home,
350.
Castricia, 257 ; an enemy of Chrysostom,
282, 328.
Catechumens, period of probation for, 15.
Celibacy of the clergy, Chrysostom on,
95, 96 ; canons of the Council of Nice
upon, 219; "the ancient tradition of
the Church" concerning, 219.
Chalcedon, Council of (A.D. 451), 14 ;
the title of "Patriarch" first appears
in its Acts, 2lQnote; extends the juris-
diction of the Patriarch of Constanti-
nople, 274 ; grants him equal privileges
with the Patriarch of Rome, 275;
decides on the precedence of the see
of Jerusalem over that of Csesarea, 289
note.
Chalcedon, "The Oak" a suburb of, where
the synod hostile to Chrysostom was
held, 204 ; a church, monastery, and
palace built here by Rufinus, 309.
Character, Eastern and Western, com-
pared, 173.
Chariot-races censured, 119, 224-226.
Christian morals, Chrysostom on the
state of, 70.
Christian responsibilities, 231.
Christian wife, portrait of a, 229.
Christianity, recognised position of, 10 ;
partially paganised, 11 ; "the philo-
sophy " of, 15, 24 ; imperilled by cor-
INDEX.
439
CHRISTMAS
ruption of morals and faith, 107 ; its
progress, 123 ; recognition by the em-
pire, 126 ; its humanising intluence in
a heartless age, 174.
Christmas, observance of, 134, 136.
< 'liristmas Day, the Emperors attend
divine service in state on, 329.
Christ's equality with the Father, 113-
116; zealous defence of His pure
divinity, 181, 182.
Chromatius, bishop of Aquileia, sends a
letter by the Italian deputation, 368 ;
Chrysostom's letters to, 334, 335, 384.
Chrysostom, St. John :
Probable date of his birth, 9.
His birthplace Antioch in Syria, 9.
His parents, 9.
Father's death, 10.
Early training, 12.
Destined for the legal profession, 12.
Attendance at the lectures of Libanius,
12.
Nascent powers of eloquence, 13.
Appellation of Chrysostomos, or the
"Golden Mouth," 13, 427.
Libanius praises his speech in honour
of the Emperors, 13.
Commences practice as a lawyer, 13.
I >is.:ust with a secular life, 14.
Study of Holy Scripture, 14.
Early friendship with Basil, bishop of
Raphanea, 14.
Forms acquaintance with Meletius,
bishop of Antioch, 15.
Delay in his baptism, 15 ; alleged cause
for the delay, 21, 22.
Baptized by Meletius, 22.
Becomes for a time an enthusiastic
ascetic, 22.
His intense piety and love to God,
>.)
( >rdained reader by Meletius, 23.
Project for retiring into seclusion, 25.
Frustrated by his mother's entreaties,
25-27.
Letters of exhortation to Theodore,
32-39.
Reluctance to be consecrated a bishop,
40, 41.
His "pious fraud," 42.
Dissension with Basil, 42, 43.
Books on the priesthood, 40-55.
Reasons for declining a bishopric, 53.
X arrow escape from persecution, 58.
Retirement into a monastery, 58.
Exults at the growth of monasticism in
Egypt, 62.
Description of the daily life of the
monks, 66, 67.
CHRYSOSTOM
Chrysostom, St. John :
Admiration for monastic communities,
67.
Treatises composed during monastic
life, 69.
Epistle to Demetrius, 70, 71.
Epistle to Stelechius, 71, 72.
Treatise addressed "to the assailants
of monastic life," 73-80.
Becomes an ardent ascetic, 82.
Enters a cave near Antioch, 82.
Breakdown of health, and abandonment
of monastic life, 82.
Returns to his home at Antioch, 82.
Epistle to Stagirius, 82-85.
Ordained a deacon by Meletius, 86.
Congenial duties of the diaconate, 80.
Treatise "On Virginity," 92.
Letter to a young widow, 92-95.
Views on marriage and celibacy, 95-
100.
Treatise, "De S. Baby la contra Ju-
lianum et Gentiles," 100-102.
Ordained to the priesthood by Flavian,
103.
Chrysostom, St. John, as preacher at
Antioch :
Inaugural discourse at Antioch, 104-
106.
Preaches at Antioch for ten years, 107.
Sermon on bishop Meletius, 108.
Homilies against Arians, 109-115.
Profound acquaintance with Scripture,
116.
All argument based upon Scripture,
Rebukes his hearers for their neglect
of the celebration of the Eucharist,
117 ; for applauding his words, 118 ;
and for their love of the circus, 118-
120,
Homilies against Pagans, 121-124.
Occasional defects of interpretation of
the Scriptures, 125.
Homilies against Jews and Judaising
Christians, 126-133.
Homily against anathematising, 133.
Sermon on Christmas Day, 134, 135.
Indignation at riotous festivity, 136.
Homily on New Year's Day, 136, 137,
151.
Rebukes gross and senseless supersti-
tions, 137.
Agrees with the Emperor Theodosius,
142.
Immense efforts after the tumult at
Antioch, 154.
Encourages the people to hope for cle-
mency, 154.
440
INDEX.
CHRYSOSTOM
Chrysostom, St. John, as preacher at
Antioch :
Homilies on the statues, 154-164.
Exhortations to repentance, 156 ; on
this world's wealth, 156, 157 ; on the
method of keeping Lent, 157, 158 ;.
on fasting, 159 ; against rash oaths,
159 ; on death, 161 ; on the signs of
a Creator, 162, 163.
Similes from Nature, 163.
Ethical doctrine, 163.
Praise of the hermits for their courage,
166, 167.
Expostulates with the people on their
discontent, 169.
Thanksgiving for the pardon of An-
-- tioch, 170.
Describes the interview between Fla-
vian and the Emperor, 171-174.
His illness, 177, 184.
"Homilies on festivals of saints and
martyrs, 177-183.
- Belief in the intercessory power of
saints, 179.
"Exhorts the people to imitate the lives
of the martyrs, 180.
Homily on the Sunday before Ascen-
sion Day, 184.
Praise of the peasant clergy, 184.
Elected to the see of Constantinople,
214.
Force and fraud employed to remove
him from Antioch, 215.
Chrysostom, St. John, as archbishop of
Constantinople :
Arrival at Constantinople, 215.
His consecration as archbishop, 216.
v The "sermo enthronisticus," 216.
Too much the saint of the cloister for
his new position, 217.
His unpopular reforms, 218.
Denounces " spiritual sisters," and im-
plores the clergy to liberate them-
selves from these disgraceful connec-
tions, 219-221.
Exacts rigorous discipline from the
clergy, 222.
Conducts, with the Empress, a torch-
light procession on the removal of
some martyrs' reliques, 222, 223.
Eulogiiim on the Empress, 223.
Denunciations of avarice, 224.
-^Censures the people for their attach-
ment to chariot-races, 224, 225.
-Denounces fashionable follies, 226-228.
"Portrays the character of a Christian
wife, 229.
.Represents to property holders their
duties, 230.
CHRYSOSTOM
Chrysostom, St. John, as archbishop of
Constantinople :
- Dilates on Christian responsibilities,
231.
Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles,
231 note.
~ Indignation at the practice of oath-
taking, 231, 232.
""Censures addiction to the pleasures of
the table, 232.
Character of his flock, 233, 234.
Combats the errors of the Novatians
and Arians, 235, 236.
Labours to heal the schism at Antioch,
237.
Missionary efforts in Scythia, Syria,
and Palestine, 237.
Assigns a church at Constantinople for
the Scythians (or Goths), 238.
Endeavours to extirpate paganism,
238, 239.
Affords protection to Eutropius, 250.
Maintains, when taken before the Em-
peror, the Church's right of asylum,
251.
Sermon on the degradation of Eutro-
pius, 252-254.
Intercedes with Gamas, 257.
' Homily after returning from his inter-
cession, 257, 258.
Contest with Gainas, who desired the
law prohibiting Arian worship within
the city to be abolished, 280.
Proposes to visit Asia Minor to investi-
gate the charges against Antoninus,
268.
His visit opposed by the court, 268.
Appoints delegates to proceed to Asia,
269.
Solicited by the clergy of Ephesus to
come to them, 270.
Proceeds to Ephesus, and is welcomed by
the clergy and seventy bishops, 271.
Proposes Heracleides as bishop of Ephe-
sus, who is elected, 271.
Holds a synod at Ephesus, and deprives
six simoniacal bishops of their sees,
272.
Returning through Bithynia, he deposes
Gerontius,- 273.
Extent of his jurisdiction as Patriarch
of Constantinople, 274.
Received with demonstrations of joy
on his return, 275.
Dismisses Severian from the city, but
recalls him by command of the
Empress, 276, 277.
Denounces crimes and follies, and be-
comes unpopular, 278.
INDEX.
441
CHRYSOSTOM
Chrysostom, St. John, as archbishop of
Constantinople :
His friends, 279, 280.
Leaders of the hostile faction, 282.
Qualified admiration of Origen's teach-
ing, 287.
Reception of the Nitrian monks, 298.
Letter to Theophilus, beseeching him
to be reconciled with the fugitives,
298.
Refuses to join in the condemnation of
Origen and his writings, 301.
The plots of his enemies, 302.
Farewell to Epiphanius, 319.
Irritates the Empress by a sermon
against the follies of fashionable
ladies, 306.
Th. ophilus refuses his hospitality, and
declines all communication, 307, 308.
Directed by the court to preside at the
inquiry at Fera into the conduct of
Theophilus, 308.
Declines to judge him out of his pro-
vince, 308.
Scene at the palace with his bishops,
310, 311.
S ui iimoned to appear before the "Synod
of the Oak," 311.
Indignation of his bishops, and their
reply to Theophilus, 312.
Letter refusing to attend the synod
until his declared enemies are ejected,
312, 313.
Charges laid against him by archdeacon
John and Isaac the monk, 313, 314.
Steadfastly refuses to attend the synod,
and appeals to a general council, 315.
Deposed by the synod, 316.
Deposition ratified by the Emperor,
and sentenced to banishment, 317.
Sermon before departing, 317, 319.
Bows to the storm, and surrenders
himself, 320.
Embarks, and is conveyed to Hieron,
320.
Removes to Praenetum, opposite Ni-
comedia, 320.
Receives an abject letter from the Em-
press, entreating him to return, 321.
Crosses the Bosporus, and refuses at
first to enter Constantinople until
acquitted by a general council, 322.
Urged to enter the city, and consents,
322.
Halts before the Church of the Apos-
tles, but is borne in by the people,
322.
Compelled to sit on the throne, and
pronounce a benediction, 322.
CHRYSOSTOM
Chrysostom, St. John, as archbishop of
Constantinople :
^An extempore address, 322, 323.
-Sermon after recall, in which he extols
the Empress, 324.
Denounces the ceremony at the erection
of the image of Eudoxia, 327.
Incurs the resentment of the Empress,
328.
Further plots of his enemies, 328.
Continues to discharge his duties, "331.
Will not cease to officiate unless com-
pelled by force, 332.
Removed from the church to his palace,
332.
-Letter to Innocent i. on the disturbances
at Constantinople, 334, 335.
His flock, after many trials, broken up,
338.
Attempts made to assassinate him, 338.
Receives the mandate of deposition, 339.
'Farewell to his bishops and deaconesses,
339.
Departure from the Church "the
Angel of the Church went out with
him," 340.
Chrysostom, St. John, in exile :
Conveyed to the Bithynian coasts, 340.
Suspected of incendiarism, and loaded
with chains, 342.
Implores the Emperor to be allowed to
defend himself and clergy against
the atrocious charges, 342, 343.
Journeys to Nice, 343.
Encourages his suffering friends, 343.
Cheered by the fortitude and loyalty
of Olympias, 346, 347.
Persuades Pentadia to remain at Con-
stantinople, to support the afflicted,
347.
^-Letter to Constantius, missionary
priest, 361.
Travels from Nice to Caesarea, where
fanatical monks besiege the house in
which he is lodged, 362, 363.
Falls ill with fever, 362.
Is removed from Caesarea to the house
of Seleucia, who is menaced by
Pharetrius, 364.
Taken thence, and totters in darkness
along the Cappadocian mountains, 364.
Monks and nuns meet him on the road,
and bewail his calamities, 365.
Cucusus, the place of his exile, is
reached, 365.
Received with much consideration and
kindness, 366.
Letters to Olympias from Cucusus,
367, 372.
442
INDEX.
CHRYSOSTOM
Chrysostom, St. John, in exile :
--Letters to friendly bishops and laymen,
to Gemellus, and to Anthemius,
373, 374.
Receives old friends from Antioch,
who come to him for guidance, 374.
- Letters to clergy and others, 376.
Influence over the empire in his exile,
377, 378.
Sufferings from the winter cold, 379.
Interest in the mission in Phoenicia,
380.
Letters to Gerontius and Rufinus the
Presbyter, 380-3S2.
Privation, anxiety, and rapid removals,
bring on illness, 383.
Letters to the Italian bishops, to
Chromatius, to Innocent, and to
Aurelius, 383-385.
Suffers less, and thinks God will restore
him to his position in the Church,
385, 386.
His enemies get him removed to Pityus,
in a desolate country, 386.
Arrives at Comana, in Pontus, 386.
Story of the vision of the martyred
Basiliscus, 387.
Wishes to remain at the church, but is
hurried on by his guards, 387.
Is taken ill, and brought back to the
martyry, where he dies after partak-
ing of the Eucharist, 387.
Honoured after his death, 388.
His reliques brought to Constantinople,
and deposited in the Church of the
Apostles, 388, 389.
Chrysostom, St. John, theological teach-
ing of :
Survey of his theological teaching, 390.
Practical character of his works, 391.
His natural and forcible language, 391.
On the nature of man, 392, 393.
Sin and necessity, 393, 394.
Free-will and grace, 394-396.
God's will and man's freedom, 397, 398.
Co-operation of God's will with man's,
398.
Divine grace, 399, 400.
Nature of the Godhead, 401, 402.
Manhood and Godhead in Christ, 402-
404.
The Redemption, 404-406.
Justification, 406, 407.
Faith and good works, 407, 408.
The efficacy of prayer, 408, 409.
baptism, 409-412.
The Holy Eucharist, 412-415.
No trace of confession, purgatory, or
Mariolatry, 416-418.
CONGREGATION
Chrysostom, St. John, theological teach-
ing of :
No acknowledgment of papal supre-
macy, 418, 419.
Liturgical forms, 419-421.
Character as a commentator, 421-424.
The New Testament a completion of
the Old, 424.
Variations in the Gospel narratives,
424, 426.
Inspiration of the Bible, 425.
Characteristics as a preacher, 425, 426.
Personal appearance, 425, 426.
Preservation of his discourses, 427.
Style of language, 428.
Allusions to Greek classical authors,
428, 429.
Depreciation of Pagan modes and ideas,
429.
Compared with St. Augustine, 430.
His fight in the cause of Christian holi-
~ - ness, 431.
Church, the, Chrysostom does not rely
on the tradition of, 117 ; its power and
progress, 123, 124 ; claims pre-eminence
over civil law, 192 ; tradition with
regard to clerical celibacy, 219 ; custom
concerning the preaching of strangers,
226 : its stability, 318 ; its degradation,
359.
Claudian, his verses on Stilicho, 205, 208 ;
his appeal against the consulship of
Eutropius, 242 ; companion of Stilicho,
242 note ; sarcasm aimed at the adula-
tion of the Byzantines, 243 ; dramatic
account of Tribigild's meeting with his
wife, 244, 245 ; his description of Leo,
246.
Claudius, Antioch shattered in the reign
of, 90.
Clemens Alexandrinus terms ascetics
" more elect than the elect," 60.
Clergy, the, treatment of, by Constantino
and Theodosius, 147 ; Jerome on their
worldly hospitality, 217 ; exempted
from curial office by Constantino, 272 ;
those who were curiales forbidden to
be ordained, 272.
Ccenobia, the, founded by Pachomius,
60.
Comana, in Pontus, Chrysostom arrives
at, 386; dies at the martyry outside
the town, 387.
Commodus, the Olympic games instituted
in the time of, 92, 101.
Communicants received within the rails
and close to the altar, 225 and note.
Congregation rebuked by Chrysostom,
117; its applause of Chrysostom's
INDEX.
443
CONSCIENCE
words, 118 ; customary to stand while
the preacher sat, 154 note.
Conscience, the law of, 163.
Constantia, sister of the Emperor, 17.
('onstantine favours the Arians, 17; de-
poses the Catholic bishops, 17 ; com-
mences building "the great church"
of Antioch, 91 ; statutes concerning
the Jews, 126 ; exemptions of the
clergy, 147 ; his forgiveness of an in-
jury, 171, 172 ; right of asylum trans-
ferred in his time from Pagan temples
to Christian churches, 249 ; exempted
the clergy from curial office, 272.
( 'uiistantinople, vices of the Christian
IK)] mlation of, 11 ; Arian synod at, 18 ;
tumults at, 30 ; St. Jerome at church
of, 61 ; religious riots at, 65, 66 ; divi-
sion into districts, 103 ; passion of the
people for chariot-races, 118; edict of
Theodosius, 142 ; surrounding country
ravaged by Alaric, 207 ; competition
for its see, 213 ; Chrysostom appointed
archbishop, 214; mixture of popula-
tion, 223 ; its forms of error, 234, 235 ;
stronghold of Arianism in the time of
Gregory of Nazianzus, 235 ; occupied
by Gainas and the Goths, 259 ; circular
to its clergy announcing Chrysostom's
deposition, 316 ; the people, enraged at
the sentence, guard him against abduc-
tion, 317 ; the populace demand the
restoration of the patriarch, 321 ;
visited by an earthquake, 321 ; san-
guinary frays in the streets, 325 ; flight
of Theophilus from, 325 ; shocking
tumult at St. Sophia on Easter Eve, I
333 ; its churches deserted during
Chrysostom's absence, 334 ; the inter- '
rupted services continued at the Baths, I
334 ; fresh scenes of violence, 336-338 ; j
fury of the people on discovering the
removal of Chrysostom, 341 ; the cathe- j
dral-church and senate-house burnt '
down, 341, 342 ; visited by destructive j
hailstorms, 354 ; coercion ineffectual j
in bringing the people to submit to
Atticus and his clergy, 357.
Constantinople, Council of {A.D. 381),
14 ; presided over by Meletius, 21,
86 ; project for a general council after,
142 ; restricts the jurisdiction of the
archbishop of Constantinople, 274 ;
gave him h'rst rank after the bishop of
Rome, 274.
Constantius, a missionary in Phoenicia,
receives a letter from Chrysostom, 361.
Constantius, a priest, described by Pal-
ladius, 357, 358 ; the people of Antioch
DEACONS
desire to make him their bishop, 358 ;
Porphyry procures his banishment,
358 ; escapes to Cyprus, 358 ; follows
Chrysostom into exile, 366.
Constantius, Emperor, 17 ; deposes Ste-
phen, bishop of Antioch, 17 ; summons
a general council, 18 ; orders the creed
of Rimini to be signed, 18 ; visits An-
tioch, 19; finishes " the great church"
at Antioch, 91 ; statutes concerning
the Jews, 126.
Cornelius, bishop of Rome, 47.
Crates resists ambition, 95.
Creator, signs of a, in the universe, 161,
162.
Crito, 76.
Cross, honour paid to the, 123.
Cucusus, a village in the Tauric range,
subject to attacks from Isaurians, 360 ;
selected by Eudoxia as the place of
Chrysostom's exile, 361 ; arrival of the
archbishop at, 365 ; ravaged by the
Isaurians, 382.
Cynegius, prefect of the East, 143 ; en-
forces the law against informers, 151 ;
quells the sedition at Alexandria, 151.
Cyprian on a legitimate ordination, 47;
consecrated bishop when a layman, 56.
Cyprus, Council of, decree of the, 299.
Cyriacus, bishop of Synnada, accompanies
'Chrysostom on board the vessel, 340 ;
detained in chains at Bithynia, 342 ;
taken to Chalcedon, 342 ; dismissed,
342 ; a fugitive to Rome, 350 ; accom-
panies the Italian deputation, 353 ;
confined in a Persian fortress, 355 ; in-
tercedes for Chrysostom, 361.
Cyril, successor of Theophilus, reluctant
to recognise Chrysostom, 388.
Cyrinus, bishop of Chalcedon, joins Chry-
sostom at Bithynia, 271 : denounces
the archbishop, 307 ; plots against
him after his recall, 329; urges the
Emperor to remove Chrysostom from
Constantinople, 338, 339; his death,
307, 354.
DAMASUS contests the see of Rome,
47.
Damophilus exiled by Theodosius, 142.
Dante, the position assigned in Paradise
to Chrysostom by, 431.
Daphne, grove of, 92 ; description of,
101 ; destruction of its temple, 102.
Deacons, called "Levites of the Christian
Church," 87; duties of, 88; their
peculiar office in the early Church, 88,
89.
444
INDEX.
DEATH
Death, Chrysostom on, 93, 161.
Decius, persecution of, 60.
Demetrius, bishop of Pessina, Chryso-
stom's epistle to, 69-71 ; denounces the
"Synod of the Oak," and returns to
Chrysostom, 315 ; accompanies the
Italian deputation, 353 ; dies of harsh
treatment when being conveyed to one
of the Egyptian oases, 355.
" De Sacerdotio," Chrysostom's, 40-46.
Diocese, meaning of, 274 note.
Diodorus, influence of, upon Chrysostom
and Theodore, 27 ; founder of a method
of Biblical interpretation, 28 ; made
bishop of Tarsus by Meletius, 28 ; at-
tacked by Julian, 28 ; commentary on
the Old and New Testaments, 28, 29 ;
his theology, 29-31 ; its rationalistic
tendency, 30 ; writings condemned by
the Fifth (Ecumenical Council, 31 ;
rational system of conducting monas-
teries, 66.
Diogenes, 95.
Dionysius, the tyrant of Sicily, 76.
Dioscorus, a Nitrian monk, one of the
"tall brethren," 294 ; made bishop of
Hermopolis by Theophilus, 294 ; a vic-
tim of the rage of Theophilus, 296 ; his
death, 316.
Dispensations, teaching of the Old and
New, 99.
Divination, arts of, 143.
Domitianus, widows and virgins in the
care of, 376.
Domninus blinded to the preparations of
Maximus, 191.
Doxology, Arian form of the, 18.
EASTER DAY, vast crowds attend the
church on, 234, 331.
Easter Eve, a great day for the baptism
of converts, 332 ; the vigil on, inter-
rupted at St. Sophia, 333.
Easter kept according to Jewish calcula-
tion, 130 ; this practice condemned by
the Council of Nice, 130; and de-
nounced by Chrysostom, 130.
Eastern Church, the, acknowledges Me-
letius as bishop of Antioch, 20 ; the
parent of asceticism, 59 ; the festival
of Christmas in, 134 ; favourable to
clerical celibacy, 218 ; finds the teach-
ing of Origen congenial, 287 ; the
"Synod of the Oak" a stain upon,
313; appeals to the Western Church,
335, 348 ; not famed for missionary
enterprise, 382 ; desire to maintain
communion with the West, 388.
EUDOXIA
Education in monasteries, Chrysostom
urges the advantage of, 81.
Elpidius, a priest, bribes a slave to assas-
sinate Chrysostom, 338.
Elpidius, bishop of Laodicea, friendly to
Chrysostom, 329 ; his adroit proposal,
331 ; deposed and imprisoned for his
attachment to Chrysostom, 377 ; the
archbishop writes thanking him for his
zeal, 377 ; restored to his see by Alex-
ander, bishop of Antioch, 377.
Elvira, synod of, enjoins celibacy of the
clergy, 218.
Emperors, fate of, 94; half idolatrous
homage paid to, 326, 327 ; custom of
attending church in state on Christmas
Day, 329.
Epaminondas not allured by ambition, 95.
Ephesus, Chrysostom arrives at, 271 ;
election of a bishop to the see of, 271 ;
synod at, 271, 272 ; worship of Midas
suppressed at, 274 ; its see occupied by
a monster of iniquity, 357.
Epiphanius, bishop of Constantia and
Cyprus, 289 ; visits Jerusalem, and
accepts the hospitality of Bishop John,
289 ; preaches against the doctrines of
Origen, 290 ; leaves Jerusalem, and
breaks off communion with its bishop,
290, 291 ; forcibly ordains Paulinian
deacon and priest, 291 ; receives an
apologetic letter from Theophilus, 299 ;
goes to Constantinople, irregularly or-
dains a deacon, and refuses the hospi-
tality of Chrysostom, 302, 303 ; his
attempt to enter the church and de-
nounce the writings of Origen prevented
by Serapion, 304 ; his prayers implored
by the Empress on her son's behalf, 304;
interview with Ammon and his breth-
ren, 305 ; his compunction and de-
parture from Constantinople, 305.
Essenes, the, 59.
Eucharist, congregation neglect the ce-
lebration of the, 117 ; Chrysostom
censures irreverent conduct at, 135 ;
character of some of its partakers, 233.
Eucharistic elements burned at the pil-
lage of the Nitrian monks, 297 ; pro-
faned by soldiers at St. Sophia, 333.
Eudoxia, 189 ; weds Arcadius, 206 ; bap-
tized and educated in the Christian
faith, 206 ; Chrysostom's eulogium of,
at the removal of the remains of some
martyrs, 222, 223 ; aims at the fall of
Eutropius, and makes an ally of
Chrysostom, 240 ; contributes to the
support of the churches and the relief
of the poor, 241 ; profound jealousy of
INDEX.
445
EUDOXIUS
the power of Eutropius, 248 ; relates
the minister's insults to her to Arca-
dius, 248 ; remains mistress of the field
after the death of Eutropius, 256;
stands unrivalled in the management
of the empire, 263, 264 ; gives birth to
a male heir to the throne, 264 ; pro-
claimed Empress under the title of
Augusta, 264 ; commands Chrysostom
to recall Severian and admit him to
communion, 276, 277 ; becomes the
enemy of Chrysostom, 283, 284 ; ac-
costed by the Nitrian monks, and
promises that the council they desire
shall be convened, 301 ; implores the
prayers of the monks, 301 ; asks the
prayers of Epiphanius on her son's
behalf, 304 ; terrified by an earthquake,
321 ; sends a humble letter to Chry-
sostom, entreating him to return, 321 ;
her image placed in front of the cathe-
dral, 327 ; ceremony at its erection
denounced by Chrysostom, 327 ; her
fierce resentment, 328 ; will not listen
to the entreaty of the forty bishops,
333 ; receives a solemn warning from
Paul, bishop of Crateia, 333 ; her death,
354.
Eudoxius, bishop of Germanicia, seizes
the see of Antioch, 18 ; made arch-
bishop of Constantinople, 18.
Eugenius's children pardoned and bap-
tized, 201.
Eugraphia, 256 ; an enemy of Chryso-
stom, 283 ; her house the rendezvous
of the disaffected, 283.
Eulysius, bishop of Apamea, accom-
panies Chrysostom on board the vessel,
340 ; detained in chains at Bithynia,
342; taken to Chalcedon, 342; dis-
missed, 342 ; a fugitive to Rome, 350 ;
accompanies the Italian deputation,
353 ; imprisoned in Arabia, 355.
Eunomians forbidden by Theodosius to
hold meetings, 142.
Eunomius, an extreme Arian, 109 ;
founder of the Eunomian or Anomoaan
sect, 109.
Euphronius, Arian bishop of Antioch, 17.
Eusebius, a deacon, seeks an interview
with Innocent I., 348.
Eusebius, a Nitrian monk, one of the
" tall brethren," 294 ; made presbyter
by Theophilus, 294.
Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia, instructed
by Lucian, 109.
Eusebius, bishop of Valentinopolis, pre-
sents grave charges against Antoninus,
266 ; commits the crime he has de-
EVETHIUS
nounced, and is reconciled to Antoninus,
269 ; postpones the production of
witnesses, 269 ; departs for Constanti-
nople, and affects illness, 270 ; is
excommunicated, 270 ; requests to be
readmitted to communion with his
brethren, 271.
Eusebius, bishop of Vercelli, goes to
Antioch to heal the division, 20.
Eusebius, of Csesarea, calls ascetics " ear-
nest persons," 60; use of the word
"martyry," 178.
Eustathius, bishop of Antioch, deposed
by Constantine, 17.
Euthymius, a Nitrian monk, one of the
"tall brethren, "294.
Eutropius, a reader and Johnite, tortured
to the death, 345.
Eutropius, the chamberlain, 187 ; frus-
trates Rufinus's scheme for marrying
his daughter to Arcadius, 205 ; strange
career and rise, 208 ; became the ad-
viser of Arcadius, and virtually his
master, 209 ; tyrannous conduct, 209,
210 ; abolishes the right of asylum
in the Church, 210 ; probably
suggested Chrysostom 's election,
214 ; scheme for removing Chryso-
stom from Antioch, 215 ; threatens
Theophilus for refusing to assist at
Chrysostom 's ordination, 215 ; does not
find Chrysostom a complaisant servant,
240 ; induces the Emperor to make him
consul, 241 ; adulation of the Byzantines
at his inauguration, 243 ; indignation in
the West, 243 ; treats the rebellion of
Tribigild as a petty insurrection, and
offers him a bribe, 245 ; appoints Leo
a commander of the legions, 246 ; his
arrogance towards the Empress Eu-
doxia, 248 ; degraded by the Emperor,
248 ; seeks asylum in the church, 250 ;
protected by Chrysostom, 250 ; the
populace demand his death, 251 ; his
degradation made the subject of a ser-
mon by Chrysostom, 252-254 ; secretly
quits the sanctuary, 255 ; banished to
Cyprus, 255 ; accused of treason, re-
called from Cyprus to Chalcedon, and
there beheaded, 256.
Euzoius, an associate of Arius, made
bishop of Antioch, 19.
Evagrius, 28 ; recognised by Ambrose as
bishop of Antioch, 199 ; sudden death,
199.
Evethius, a priest, companion of Chryso-
stom in his exile, 364 ; takes letters to
the Italian bishops from Chrysostom,
383.
446
INDEX.
FASHIONABLE
TUSHIONABLE follies censured, 227-
i 1 229.
Fasting, Chrysostom on, 157-159.
Flaccilla, daughter of Eudoxia, 248.
Flacilla, the Empress, 148 ; her humility
and gratitude, 148 ; influence upon
Theodosius, 148 ; her death, 148.
Flavian, bishop of Antioch, 59 ; elected
by the Meletians, 87 ; accused of per-
jury, 87 ; ordains Chrysostom to the
priesthood, 103 ; Chrysostom 's enco-
mium on, 105, 106 ; besought by the
people of Antioch to intercede for them
after their rioting, 153 ; undertakes the
mission of mercy, 153 ; Chrysostom is
hopeful of his mission, 155 ; arrives at
Constantinople, and obtains pardon for
Antioch, 170 ; returns to Antioch in
time for the Easter celebration, 170 ;
reception by the people, 170 ; inter-
view with the Emperor, 171-174 ;
removes the remains of some saints,
181 note; rivalry with Evagrius pro-
duces strife with Ambrose, 199 ; his
death, 357.
Fravitta, a loyal Goth, defeats Gainas in
several engagements, 262 ; pursuit of
the enemy, 262 j made consul, 263.
C\ AINAS returns with Stilicho's troops,
\J 207, 208 ; is commanded to compass
the death of Rufinus, 208 ; sympathises
with his relative Tribigild, 244 ; is re-
tained at Constantinople in command
of the city troops, 246; despatched,
after Leo's defeat, to confront Tribigild,
247 ; believes the surrender of Eutro-
pius would cause Tribigild to become
loyal, 247 ; disdains to be directed by
the Empress and her lady advisers, and
joins his forces with those of Tribigild,
256, 257 ; menaces Constantinople, 257 ;
opens negotiations with the Emperor,
and demands the surrender of three
court favourites, 257 ; subjects them to
insults and a grim practical jest, 257 ;
interview with the Emperor, 258 ; de-
mands to be made consul and com-
mander in-chief, to which the Emperor
yields, 259 ; demands the abolition of
the law forbidding Arian worship, 259 ;
is opposed in this by Chrysostom, who
debates the question with him, 259,
260 ; his rapacity, 260 ; flight from the
city, 272 ; declared by royal decree a
public enemy, 261 ; takes to a life of
plunder, 262 ; defeated in several en-
gagements by Fravitta, and a large
GREGORY
portion of his army afterwards drowned
in crossing the Hellespont, 262 ; retreat
towards the Danube, 262 ; final defeat
and death, 263.
Gallus Caesar endeavours to reform the
licentiousness of Daphne, 101.
Gaudentius, Count, appointed to suppress
paganism, 143.
Gelasius, Pope, forbade reading the Acts
of the Saints, 178.
Gemellus, Chrysostom 's letter to, 373.
General Council, Chrysostom is willing
to be judged by, 315 ; demanded by
the people of Constantinople, 317, 320 ;
summonses issued, 325 ; counterfeited,
and packed with bishops hostile to
Chrysostom, 328 ; desired by Innocent,
352 ; suggested by Honorius to be held
at Thessalonica, 352.
George of Laodicea discourses at Antioch,
19.
Germanus, a priest, friend of Chrysostom,
279 ; custodian of the church treasury
at Constantinople, 342 ; goes to Koine,
350.
Gerontius, archbishop of Nicomedia, 273 ;
skill in curing diseases,. 273 ; deposed
by Chrysostom, 273 ; accompanies
Theophilus to Constantinople to oppose
Chrysostom, 307.
Gerontius, a presbyter, anxious to visit
Cucusus, 380; persuaded by Chryso-
stom to go direct to Phoenicia, 380.
Gervasius, the martyr, discovery of the
remains of, 190.
Gibbon, his character as an historian,
140 ; his admiration of Chrysostom in
exile, 378.
Gluttony censured by Chrysostom, 232.
God, nature of : Chrysostom on the, 110-
112.
Godhead, Three Persons of the : Chryso-
stom on the, 110-112.
Goths, the, 93 ; menace the Danubian
frontier, 150 ; hear the Bible read in
their own tongue at Constantinople,
238 ; revolt under Tribigild, 244 ;
defeat the army of Leo, 247 ; occupy
Constantinople, 259 ; numbers perish
after the flight of Gainas, 262.
Gratian, the Emperor of the West, 140 ;
his flight and assassination, 141 ; suc-
ceeded by his brother Valentinian, 141.
Grecian legend, 100.
Greek theology, 391, 392.
Gregories, the two, 16, 142.
Gregory of Nazianzus, 86 ; made arch-
bishop by Theodosius, 142 ; elected to
the see of Constantinople when it was
INDEX.
447
GREGORY
a stronghold of Arianism, 235 ; subdued
the Arian opposition, 236 ; letter on the
marriage of Olympias, 280 ; sends a
poem to Olympias on her duties, 281 ;
qualified admiration of Origen's teach-
ings, 287.
Gregory of Nyssa, funeral oration of, on
Meletius, 21 ; preaches the sermon at
the baptism of Kufinus, 204.
HADRIAN, 126.
Heaven and hell, Chrysostom on,
34-36.
Helladius, bishop of Heraclea, consecrates
Gerontius, 273 ; a friend of Chrysostom,
279.
Hellebicus, commissioner to Antioch,
165 ; remains at Antioch to keep order,
167 ; receives the rescript of pardon for
the city, 170 ; received everywhere
with ovation, 170.
Heracleides, a deacon, elected to the see
of Ephesus, 271 ; friend of Chrysostom,
279 ; accusations made against him by
Theophilus and his partisans, 325 ; his
friends and Chrysostom protest against
the illegality of such proceedings, 325.
Heretics, edict of Theodosius against, 142.
Hermione, Theodore wishes to marry,
31 ; Chrysostom's reference to, 36, 38 ;
abandoned by Theodore, 39.
Hermits, intercession of, for the people
of Antioch, 166 ; Chrysostom's joy at
their courage, 166, 167 ; their letter to
Theodosius, 167.
Hesychius, bishop of Parium, withdraws
from his appointment as delegate to
Asia, 269.
Hieron, Chrysostom is conveyed to, 320
and note.
Hilarius introduces Pachomian monasti-
cism into Syria, 60, 61.
Hilary of Aries charged with ordaining
bishops without the people's consent,
47.
Hippodrome, the, 118-120.
Holy Saturday, vast crowds assemble in
the churches on, 331.
Holy Scripture, Chrysostom's intimate
acquaintance with, 85, 116, 117 ; Arians
do not deny its authority, 117 ; dis-
putes as to its interpretation, 117 ;
Chrysostom's occasional defects of in-
terpretation, 125.
Honorius accompanies his father Theo-
dosius to Rome, 193 ; is sent for to
Milan by his father, 201 ; Stilicho
appointed his guardian, 202 ; receives
ISAURIANS
a deputation of Romans on the consul-
ship of Eutropius, 242 ; gives a favour-
able reply, and nominates Mallius
Theodoras consul, 243 ; convenes an
Italian synod to consider the state of
the Church at Constantinople, 352 ;
suggests to his brother Arcadius a
general council to be held at Thessa-
lonica, 352.
Hymn of Pachomian monks, 63.
TGNATIUS, effect of the death of, in
J_ confirming souls, 181.
Illyria ravaged by Huns, 354.
Illyrian provinces occupied by Alaric,
207.
Infant baptism the ordinary practice of
the early Church, 15 ; popular reasons
for delaying, 15, 16 ; the two Grego-
ries, the great Basil, and Chrysostom
contend against its misconceptions, 16.
Innocent I. , bishop of Rome, appealed to
by Chrysostom, 334, 335 ; is advised
by Theophilus to cease communion
with Chrysostom, 348 ; four bishops
bring him Chrysostom's letter, 348 ;
decisive letter to Theophilus, 348 ;
receives another letter from him, on
the minutes of the ' ' Synod of the Oak, "
349 ; sends a second letter of reproof
to Theophilus, 349 ; orders prayers
and fasts for the restoration of concord,
349 ; letter of condolence to the clergy
of Constantinople, 349 ; treats the let-
ter of the cabal with disdain, 350 ; re-
ply to the letter brought by Germanus,
350, 351; writes to Chrysostom a letter
of encouragement and consolation, 351,
352 ; intercedes with Honorius for the
Church of Constantinople, 352 ; remains
attached to Chrysostom's cause, 358 ;
approves of the restoration of Elpidius
to his see, 377 ; letter from Chrysostom
in exile, 384, 385.
Isaac, a Syrian monk, sent to Antioch to
inquire into Chrysostom's early life,
284 ; brings a list of charges against
the archbishop at the "Synod of the
Oak," 314; comes to the archbishop
with a peremptory message, 315.
Isaurians ravage Syria and Asia Minor,
354 ; Cucusus, the destination of Chry-
sostom, subject to attacks from, 360,
361 ; ravage the neighbourhood of
Caesarea, 363 ; molest the roads round
Cucusus, 380 ; cause extreme misery
to the inhabitants of Cucusus and the
neighbourhood, 382, 383.
448
INDEX.
ISIDORE
Isidore, abbot of Pelusium, on the dis-
charge of episcopal duties, 212.
Isidore, presbyter of Alexandria, a can-
didate for the see of Constantinople,
213 ; the depositary of an awkward
secret of Theophilus's, 213 ; carries a
petition to Rome, 237 ; despatched to
Palestine, 292 ; some account of his
life, 293 ; accepts a charitable trust,
293 ; refuses to surrender the money
to Theophilus, who charges him with
a horrible crime, 294 ; is expelled from
the priesthood, and flies to the desert
of Nitria, 294.
Italian deputation to Arcadius, 352 ;
maltreated, 353 ; failure of its mission,
354 ; returns home, 354.
Italian synod convened by Honorius, 352 ;
result of its deliberations, 352 ; me-
morialise Arcadius on the restoration
of Chrysostom, 353.
JEALOUSY of wives and husbands, 97.
J Jeremy Taylor quoted, 393 note;
as a preacher, 426.
Jerome quoted, 18 ; promotes the ad-
vance of monasticism, 61 ; sides with
Theodosius, 142 ; three years' residence
at Rome, 194 ; admonition on the
worldly hospitality of the clergy, 218 ;
description of Theophilus of Alexandria,
285 ; opinion of Origen's merits, 288 ;
repudiates Aterbius's charge of being an
Origenist, 289 ; sides with Epiphanius,
291; strife with John of Jerusalem, 291,
292 ; commendation of Theophilus's
letter on Origenistic errors, 300 ; styles
Chrysostom a parricide, 302.
Jerusalem the only lawful place for
Jewish sacrifices, 130, 131; see of, 289 ;
made a patriarchate, its precedence
over Csesarea, 289 note.
Jews, Chrysostom's opposition to, 50 ;
danger to Christianity, 107 ; Chryso-
stom's method of argument against,
121, 124, 125; homilies against, 126-128;
their character and influence at Antioch,
126, 127 ; statutes concerning, 126 ;
ranged on the Arian side in dissensions,
127 ; scenes at their festivals, 127, 128 ;
increasing influence in Antioch, 128,
129 ; Chrysostom's vehemence against,
129-131 ; their sacrifices, 130, 131 ; the
four Captivities foretold, 131 ; revolts
under Hadrianand Constantino, 131 ; jeer
at the tumult at Constantinople, 340.
John, archdeacon of Constantinople,
cherishes malice against Chrysostom,
LEONTIUS
313 ; brings a list of charges against
him at the "Synod of the Oak," 314.
John, bishop of Jerusalem, an admirer
of Origen, 288 ; indignation at the
accusation of Aterbius, 289 ; his pride
wounded, 289 ; preaches against the
Anthropomorphites, and on the Chris-
tian verities, 290 ; places the monas-
teries of Bethlehem under an interdict,
291 ; strife with Jerome, 291, 292.
John, Count, appointed Comptroller of
the Royal Treasury, 256 ; his surrender
demanded by Gainas, 257 ; insulted by
Gainas, and afterwards delivered up,
257.
John, hermit of the Thebaid, consulted
by Theodosius, 200.
Johnites, followers of Chrysostom, pri-
sons filled with, 338 ; persecuted by
Arsacius and Optatus, 344, 345.
Jovimis, Count, commissioned to suppress
paganism, 143.
Judaising Christians, 128-130.
Julian, Emperor : his efforts to resuscitate
paganism, 11 ; friend of Libanius, 12 ;
recalls all the exiled prelates, 20 ; his
death, 94 ; consulted the oracle of
Apollo at Daphne, 102 ; attempt to
rebuild the Temple frustrated, 131 ;
beheaded two soldiers for being Chris-
tians, 179.
Jupiter, destruction of the temple of, at
Apamea, 143.
Justina, the queen-mother, 187; her flight
to Thessalonica, 191.
Justinian, 47.
TTEBLE, Rev. John, quoted, 275 note.
AODICEA made the capital of Syria,
165.
" Laura," a, or street, 60.
Law, the profession of, the avenue to
distinction, 13.
Lent, how to keep, 157-159.
Leo appointed to the command of the
troops sent against Tribigild, 246 ;
crosses the Bosporus and pursues the
enemy to Pamphylia, 246 ; want of
discipline in his army, 246 ; his camp
attacked by night, the troops fleeing in
disorder, 247 ; is drowned in mud, 247.
Leontius, the eunuch, Arian bishop of
Antioch, 17 ; tries to conciliate the
Catholics, 17 ; instructed by Lucian,
109.
INDEX.
449
LEONTIUS
Leontius, bishop of Ancyra, a leader
of Chrysostom's enemies, 329 ; utters
a palpable lie, 330; Chrysostom
escapes him when journeying into exile,
362.
" Let us pray," in our Liturgy, 88.
Letters to Olympius, remarks on the, 370,
371.
Libanius the sophist, 12 ; an eloquent
defender of paganism, 12 ; his lectures
attended by Chrysostom, 12 ; an oppo-
nent of Christianity on principle, 73 ;
elegy over the shrine of Apollo, 102 ;
apology for paganism, 145 ; attachment
to antiquity, 145 ; invective against the
monks, 146 ; regrets the destruction of
the Pagan temples, 147 ; before the
commissioners at Antioch, 165 ; ora-
tions in honour of Theodosius and the
commissioners, 166.
"Love-feast," 182.
Lucian, bishop of Antioch, held doctrines
afterwards called Arian, 109 ; presbyter
of Antioch, 109 ; teacher of Eusebius,
Leontius, and probably Arms, 109 ;
suffered martyrdom, 387.
Lucifer of Cagliari at Antioch, 21 ; con-
secrates Paulinus bishop, and increases
the confusion, 20, 86, 199.
Lucius directed by Anthemius to implore
the people to return to the churches,
336 ; harangues the congregation, but
with no effect, 336 ; is bribed by
Acacius, and commits scenes of violence
at the Baths, 336 ; waiting with troops
to compel Chrysostom's departure, if
need be, 339.
MACEDONIANS forbidden by Theo-
dosius to hold assemblies, 142.
Macedonius, archbishop of Constanti-
nople, deposed, 18.
Macedonius the hermit, 166 ; his appeal
for the people of Antioch, 166.
Magical arts, decree of Valens against
the practisers of, 57, 58.
Mallius Theodoras nominated consul by
Honorius, 243.
Manes, error of, 113.
Manichseans, the, 50 ; celibacy of, 95 ;
their danger to Christianity, 107 ; for-
bidden to hold assemblies, 142.
Marcellina, the example of, converted
many women to celibacy, 61.
Marcellus, bishop, killed, 143.
Marcia, 256 ; an enemy of Chrysostom,
282, 328.
Marcion, error of, 113.
MODUARIUS
Marcionites, 95 ; their danger to Chris-
tianity, 107.
Mariamna, Chrysostom arrives at, 322.
Marriage, Chrysostom on, 95 ; how ar-
ranged, 96, 97 ; its trials and troubles,
97-100.
Martin, St. , bishop of Tours, 40 ; founder
of religious houses, 61 ; followed to
his grave by two thousand brethren,
61.
Martyries, 177, 178 ; trading near, 182,
183 ; visited by Arcadius and Eudoxia
at Easter-tide, 333.
Martyrs, appeal for assistance to, 132 ;
churches built to commemorate their
death, 177 ; their numerous festivals,
178 ; Chrysostom's homilies on, 177-
183 ; St. Augustine on the honour to
be paid to them, 180 ; increasing vene-
ration to them in the Church, 181
discovery of skeletons, and cures
effected, 181 ; procession conducted by
Chrysostom and the Empress, on the
removal of some reliques, 222, 223.
Maruthas, bishop of Martyropolis, in
Persia, an active missionary, 375 and
note.
Maruthas, bishop of Mesopotamia, acci-
dentally causes the death of Cyrinus,
307.
M a \ in: inn. persecution of, 56.
Maximin, persecution of, 60.
Maximus, bishop of Seleucia, adopts a
secluded life, 27.
Maximus the usurper's progress arrested
by Theodosius, 141 ; his disloyalty,
190; passage of the Alps, 191; defeated
by Theodosius, 191 ; beheaded, 191.
Meletius, bishop of Antioch, 15 ; trans-
lated from Sebaste in Armenia to
Antioch, 18 ; preaches by command of
Constantius on the text, "The Lord
possessed me," 19 ; dissents from the
Arians, and is banished to Melitene,
19 ; recalled by Julian, 20 ; banished
again in A.D. 367, and afterwards by
the Emperor Valens, 21, 40; returns
after the death of Valens (A.D. 378),
21 ; presided over the Council of Con-
stantinople (A.D. 381), 21 ; died during
its session, 21 ; his funeral oration, 21 ;
one of his last acts, 86 ; Chrysostom's
encomium, 108 ; invocation to, 108.
Milan, astonishment of the people of, at
Theodosius's act of treachery, 195,
196.
Milman, Dean, quoted, 127.
Moduarius, a deacon, a messenger to
Chrysostom in exile, 376.
F
450
INDEX.
MONASTERIES
Monasteries of Bethlehem placed under
an interdict by John of Jerusalem,
291.
Monasteries, tranquillity of, 80 ; educa-
tion at, 80.
Monasticism, 53 ; rise of, 59 ; rule of
Pachomius, 60 ; introduced into Syria
by Hilarion, 60 ; promoted in the West
by St. Jerome, 61 ; Eastern and West-
ern, 64-66 ; St. Chrysostom's admira-
tion for, 67 ; contemplative form of,
67, 68 ; enemies of, 73 ; its necessity,
74,75; called "the true philosophy,"
75.
Monica, the mother of St. Augustine,
189.
Monk, calm life of the, 53 ; powerful in-
fluence of the, 77.
Monks, custom of reading aloud during
dinner, 63 note ; interfere in political
contests, 65; Eastern and Western
monks, 65 ; daily life, 66, 67 ; reception
of the Eucharist, 66 note ; persecution
of, by Valens, 72, 73 ; exempt from
love, avarice, etc., 76; fanatical fury,
143 ; Libanius's invective against, 146.
Monks of Nitria, 294; the "tall breth-
ren " persecuted by Theophilus, 295-
297 ; they fly to Palestine, and find a
new home at Scythopolis, 297 ; the
malice of their persecutor follows them
here, 297 ; they embark for Constanti-
nople, and reach that city fifty in
number, 297 ; they appeal to Chryso-
stom, who receives them with kindness,
but acts cautiously, 297, 298 ; resolve
to appeal to the civil powers, 300 ; draw
up documents of charges against Theo-
philus and their accusers, 301 ; accost
the Empress, who promises the council
they desire shall be called, 301 ; inter-
view with Epiphanius, 304 ; Theo-
philus reconciled with " the tall breth-
ren," 316.
Monks, Pachomian, number of, 62 ; period
of probation, 62 ; dress and habits, 63 ;
division into classes, 64.
VTEBRIDIUS, prefect of Constantinople,
1M husband of Olympias, 280 ; his death
two years after marriage, 281.
Nebridius, husband of Salvina, 279.
Nectarius, bishop of Constantinople, 47 ;
his subservience to the Emperor, 198 ;
his death, 212 ; had desired to make
Arsacius bishop of Tarsus, 344.
Neocsesarea, Council of (about A.D. 320),
56.
PACHOMIUS
Nestorius consecrated a bishop when a
layman, 56.
New Year's Day a riotous festival, 136.
Nice, Council of (A.D. 325), 17, 56 ; the
custom of keeping Easter according to
Jewish calculation condemned, 130 ;
proposal of clerical celibacy defeated by
Paphnutius, 219 ; prohibition as to
unmarried clergy living with women
other than mother, sister, or aunt, 219 ;
canons of, on ecclesiastical afl'airs being
judged in their own province, 308, 312,
351.
Nicolaus, a priest, supplies money and
men to the Phoenician mission, 380.
Nilus, an anchorite, addresses letters of
warning to Arcadius, 354.
Novatians, pretension of the, to purity
of doctrine and life, 235 ; refuse re-
admission of penitents, 235 ; incur
Chrysostom's indignation, 235.
OATHS, the taking of, excites Chryso-
stom's indignation, 231, 232.
(Ecumenical Council, the Fifth (A.D. 553),
31.
Olympias, the deaconess, friend of Chry-
sostom, 280; early life, 280; married
to Nebridius, 280 ; death of her hus-
band, 281 ; devotes herself to the in-
terests of the Church, 281 ; attends to
the wants of the Nitrian monks, 298 ;
Chrysostom's farewell to, 339, 340 ;
accused of incendiarism, 346 ; conduct
before Optatus, 346 ; refuses commu-
nion with Arsacius, 346 ; is fined, and
retires to Cyzicus, 346 ; intercedes for
Chrysostom, 361 ; the archbishop's let-
ters to her from Cucusus, 367-373.
Olympic games instituted by Commodus
at Antioch, 92, 101.
Optatus, a Pagan, succeeds Studius as
prefect at Constantinople, 342 ; per-
secutes Chrysostom's followers, 342,
345 ; fines Olympias, 346.
Origen, allegorical interpretations of, 28 ;
his voluminous writings, and the con-
troversy upon his teachings, 286-288 ;
the Egyptian Church proud of him,
287. '
Orontes, the, 17, 28, 58, 90, 91, 100, 101.
Ostrogoths, a colony of, established in
Phrygia and Lydia, 140.
PACHOMIUS, the Benedict of the
1 East, 60 ; his practice of asceticism,
62; his rule acknowledged by three
INDEX.
451
PAGAN
thousand monks during his lifetime,
and fifty thousand after his death, 62.
Pagan temples, edict for the destruction
of, 238.
Paganism, Chrysostom's method of argu-
ment and homily against, 121-124;
Theodosius's laws against, 142, 143 ;
its hold upon the people, 144 ; its
apologists, 144, 145 ; prevalent in Phoa-
nicia, 238 ; not extirpated in the fifth
century, 382.
Pagans, conversion of, 175, 176.
Palladius, bishop of Hellenopolis, visits
the Egyptian monasteries, 64 ; his
narrative of events, 265 and note; a
delegate on the affair of Antoninus,
269 ; joins Chrysostom at Bithynia,
271 ; on Chrysostom's consistency, 278 ;
account of Chrysostom and his bishops
before being summoned to "the Synod
of the Oak," 309-311; description of
Arsacius, 344 ; a fugitive to Rome,
350 ; accompanies the Italian deputa-
tion, 353 ; imprisoned near Ethiopia,
355 ; description of Constantius the
priest, 357, 358.
Pamphylia, Tribigild awaits Leo at, 246.
Pansophius, bishop of Pissida, desired to
"offer the gifts, "267.
Pansophius elected to the see of Nico-
media, 273.
Paphnutius, an Egyptian monk, defeats
the proposal of clerical celibacy at the
Council of Nice, 219.
Parents, worldliness of, reproved by
Chrysostom, 78, 79.
Paschal letter, the, 288 note.
Paternus, an emissary from the cabal to
Innocent, 349.
Patriarch, the title, 216 and note.
Patricius, the notary, conveys to Chry-
sostom the mandate of his deposition,
339.
Paul, bishop of Crateia, solemnly warns
Eudoxia, 333.
Paul, bishop of Heraclea, deputed to con-
ciliate Eusebius, 267 ; joins Chrysostom
at Bithynia, 271.
Paul, bishop of Tibur, interrupted while
consecrating Ursicinus, 47.
Paul of Samosata deposed from the see of
Antioch, 109 ; his Sabellian doctrines,
109 ; originally a sophist, and unfitted
to build up a system, 109.
Paul the Anchorite retires to the Egyptian
Thebaid during the persecution of
Decius, 60.
Paulinian forcibly ordained deacon and
priest by Epiphanius, 2111.
PRISONERS
Paulinus consecrated bishop by Lucifer
of Cagliari, 20 ; recognised by Ambrose
as bishop of Antioch, 199.
Peanius praised for his loyal zeal, 377.
Peasant clergy, Chrysostom's praise of,
184, 185 ; simplicity of their wives, 185.
Pempton, congregation at, dispersed, 337.
Pentadia, wife of Timasius, friend of
Chrysostom, 280 ; the archbishop's fare-
well to, 339 ; imprisoned, and charged
with incendiarism, 347 ; protests her
innocence and silences her enemies,
347 ; is persuaded by Chrysostom to
remain at Constantinople, 347.
Persecution intensifies attachment to the
Church, 357.
Peter, a priest, the bearer of a letter from
Theophilus to Innocent, 349.
Pharetrius, bishop of Csesarea, does not
greet Chrysostom on his journey, 362,
363 ; his envy of the exile, 363 ; menaces
Seleucia, at whose house Chrysostom is
lodged, 364.
Philippopolis, Arian Council of, 17.
"Philosophers" of Antioch, cowardice
of, 167 ; peasant clergy more than a
match for, 184.
Phoenicia, mission in, 380-382 ; Pagan
resistance to the mission, 381.
Phrygia overrun by Tribigild, 245.
Pityus, on the Euxine, Chrysostom to be
removed to, 380.
Placidia, sister of Honorius, 201.
Plato, dialogues of, 55 ; compared with
Dionysius the Tyrant, 76 ; Chrysostom
on the teaching of, 428, 429.
Polycarp, bishop, removal of his remains,
179.
Porphyry, a priest, procures the banish-
ment of Constantius, 358 ; imprisons
some of the clergy of Antioch, 358 ;
enters the church, and with closed doors
is hurriedly ordained bishop of Antioch
by Acacius, Severian, and Antiochus,
358 ; is threatened by the populace,
and protected by troops, 358.
Porphyry, bishop pf Gaza, urges the
destruction of Pagan temples, 238.
Preaching, Chrysostom's remarks on, 51,
52.
Priesthood, the, Chrysostom's books on,
40-55 ; probable date of writing, 55 ;
age at which eligible for, 55, 56.
Priestly office, dignity, difficulty, and
danger of, 43-45 ; qualifications for, 50.
Priscillianists, the, ruthlessly persecuted,
by Maximus, 190.
Prisoners, custom of releasing, 172 and
note.
452
INDEX.
PROCLA
Procla, Chrysostom's farewell to, 339.
Proclus, friend of Chrysostom, 279 ; ele-
vated to the see of Constantinople, 388 ;
gains the consent of the Emperor to
transport Chrysostom's remains to the
city, 388.
Procopius, uncle and guardian of Olym-
pias, 280.
Promotus assassinated by order of Rufinus,
205.
Property holders, duties of, 230.
Protasius, discovery of the reliques of,
190.
Ptolemy Philadelphus deposits the Sep-
tuagint in the temple of Serapis, 128.
Pulcheria, daughter of Eudoxia, 248.
Pusey, Dr., quoted, 417, 418.
RAVENNA, Honorius at, 352; court
of, not powerful enough to enforce
the convocation of a general council,
359.
Reader in the Church, office of, 23 ; cere-
mony of ordination to, 23.
Reliques, importance attached to, 382.
Remigius of Rheims made bishop at the
age of twenty-two, 56.
Repentance, Chrysostom on, 34.
Rhadagaisus covets Rome, 359.
Right of asylum in the Church abolished
by Eutropius, 210 ; transferred from
Pagan temples, 249 ; sought by Eutro-
pius, 250 ; maintained by Chrysostom,
251.
Rimini, the creed of, 18, 188.
Roman Catholic countries, abuse of saints'
days in, 183.
Rome, bishop of, growing tendency of
Christendom to appeal to, 335 ; no
jealousy entertained by Chrysostom of
him, 335.
Rome, contest for the see of, 47 ; per-
secutions at, 58 ; St. Jerome at, 61 ;
division into districts, 103 ; love of the
people for chariot-races, 118 ; triumphal
entry of Theodosius, 193 ; its mixed
population, 195 ; deputation of the in-
habitants to Stilicho and Honorius
against the consulship of Eutropius,
242 ; arrival of fugitives from Con-
stantinople, 350 ; efforts of Alaric to
conquer, 359.
Rufinus, a presbyter, sent to Phoenicia to
restore peace, 381 ; Chrysostom's letter
to, 381, 382.
Rufinus, minister of Theodosius, 187 ;
his view of the sedition at Thessalonica,
195 ; endeavours to console Theodosius,
SAVONAROLA
197 ; seeks an interview with Ambrose,
but is repulsed, 197 ; appointed guardian
to Arcadius, and regent of the East,
203 ; some account of his life, 203 ; his
"accursed thirst" for gain, and his
extortions, 204 ; display of piety, 204 ;
builds a monastery and church at "the
Oak, " and is baptized therein, 204 ;
surrounds himself with a powerful
party, 204 ; jealousy of Stilicho, 205 ;
scheme to marry his daughter to Arca-
dius frustrated, 205 ; villanous plot of
overrunning the country with Huns,
Goths, etc., 206, 207; his death just
when he had attained the height of his
ambition, 208.
Rufinus, monk of Aquileia, a warm
admirer of Origen, 288 ; is accused of
being an Origenist by Aterbius, and
refuses to defend himself, 288 ; sides
with Bishop John of Jerusalem, 291.
Q ABELLIANS, the, 50 ; their danger to
(j Christianity, 107.
Sabiniana, the deaconess, follows Chryso-
stom into exile, 366.
Saints' days, abuse of, 182, 183.
Saints, the Old Testament, 84, 99; growth
of devotion to, 108 ; appeal for assist-
ance to, 132 ; their festivals grow
numerous, 178 ; special days of com-
memoration, 178 ; character of the
festivals, 178 ; their Acts or Passions,
178 and note; Chrysostom's belief in
their intercessoiy power, 178 ; feeling
in the Church in regard to their
invocation, 179 ; popular faith in the
miraculous power of their remains,
180, 181 ; pilgrimages to their tombs,
181 ; relics removed by Flavian, 181
note.
Salustius, a priest, rebuked by Chryso-
stom, 345, 376.
Salvina, daughter of Gildo, friend of
Chrysostom, 279 ; the archbishop's fare-
well to, 339.
Saracens, the nomadic, 61.
Sardica, Council of (A.D. 342), 17; (A.D.
343, 344), 56 ; repudiates the Twelfth
Canon of the Council of Antioch, 329,
351.
Saturninus, husband of Castricia : his
surrender demanded by Gainas, 257 ;
insulted by Gainas, and afterwards
delivered up, 257.
Savile, Sir Henry : his edition of Chry-
sostom's works, 9.
Savonarola, 3 ; character of the people
INDEX.
453
SCHISM
preached to by, 233 ; compared with
Chrysostom, 426.
Schism of Antioch, 20, 21.
Secundus, father of Chrysostom, 9 ; his
death, 10.
Seleucia lodges Chrysostom at her house,
364 ; is threatened by Pharetrius, 364.
Seleucus, Count, father of Olympias, 280.
Septuagint, the, 128.
Serapion, archdeacon, encourages Chry-
sostom in his severity towards the
clergy, 222 ; his dislike of and discourtesy
toSeverian, 276 ; remains Chrysostom 's
friend, 279 ; exclamation on the teach-
ing of Theophilus, 288 ; summoned
before the " Synod of the Oak," 311 ;
now bishop of Heraclea, scourged and
exiled, 345 ; seeks shelter with Gothic
monks, 375.
Serapis, the temple of, Septuagint de-
posited at, 128 ; silver image of, at
Alexandria, destroyed, 144.
Serena, wife of Stilicho, 201.
Severian, bishop of Gabala, deputed to
act for Chrysostom during his absence,
270; endeavours to undermine the
archbishop's influence, 275 ; his efforts
to win admiration, 27<> ; irritation with
Serapion 's discourtesy, 276 ; expelled
from Constantinople by Chrysostom,
but recalled by command of Eudoxia,
276, 277 ; becomes a leader of the fac-
tion hostile to Chrysostom, 282 ; extols
the deposition of the patriarch, 321;
again plotting against him after his
recall, 329 ; urges the Emperor to re-
move Chrysostom from the city, 338,
339 ; assists in secretly ordaining Por-
phyry, 358.
Severus, Emperor Alexander : his admira-
tion of the mode of electing bishops,
46.
Shakespeare quoted, 95 note, 161 note.
Sicinnius, the Novatian bishop, writes
against Chrysostom, 235 ; admired by
Socrates, 235 note.
Silk, the use of, 227 and note.
Simeon Stylites on his pillar, 61 ; a cari-
cature of the anchorite, 65.
Siricius, Pope, decree of, on celibacy of
the clergy, 218.
Socrates, 76 ; invited by Archelaus to
court, 76 ; resists the allurements of
ambition, 95.
Socrates, historian, terms dedicatory
churches " martyries," 178 ; says the
treatises of Chrysostom on "spiritual
sisters " were composed during his
diaconate, 220 ; account of the pursuit
SYRUS
of Gainas, 263 ; stories of Maruthas,
375 note.
Sozomen on the dress of Pachomian monks,
63 ; on their industries, 64 ; his account
of the pursuit of Gainas, 263.
Spiritual agency, 82-84.
' ' Spiritual sisters " of priests, 219.
Stagirius, excessive austerities of, 82 ;
their effect, 83; consoled by Chryso-
stom, 84.
Stanley, Dean, quoted, 40.
Stelechius, Chrysostom 's book addressed
to, 69, 71.
Stephen, bishop of Antioch, president of
the Arian Council of Philippopolis, 17 ;
deposed by the Emperor Constantius,
Stilicho, 187 ; Theodosius commends to
him Honorius and the West, 202 ;
likened by Claudian to Scipio, 205;
Honorius betrothed to his daughter,
205 ; advances against Alaric, but is
prevented from attacking him by a
message from Constantinople, 207 ;
sends back his troops under Gainas,
207, 208 ; again hastens to attack Alaric,
but hears that he is commander-in-chief
of the forces of the East, 210 ; receives
a deputation of Romans on the consul-
ship of Eutropius, 242 ; rumours of his
march to the East, 247 ; efforts to
restrain Alaric and Rhadagaisus, 359.
Strabo's description of Daphne, 101.
Superstitions, description of, 137 ; rebuked
by Chrysostom, 137, 138.
Swearing, admonition against, 159, 160.
Symmachus, his apology for paganism,
145 ; eloquent appeal for the retention
of the statue of Victory, 145 ; his cha-
racter, 145 note ; Ambrose's reply to
his appeal, 145, 146 ; obtains a profes-
sorial chair for St. Augustine, 189 ;
cordially received by Theodosius, 194.
Syncletius, bishop of Trajanopolis, a dele-
gate on the affair of Antoninus, 269.
"Synod of the Oak," 309 ; Chrysostom
summoned to the, 309 ; not an CEcu-
menical Council, 313 ; its display of
formalities, 313 ; the archbishop refuses
to attend, and is deposed, 315, 316 ; its
sentence ratified by the Emperor, 316,
317 ; its proceedings declared illegal,
325.
Syria : Antioch degraded, and Laodicea
made its capital, 165 ; Theophilus
travels through, bringing disaffected
bishops to Constantinople, 306; over-
run by Isaurians, 354.
Syrus, an old ascetic, 82.
454
INDEX.
" TALL BRETHREN '
" m ALL brethren" persecuted byTheo-
JL philus, 294, 295 ; their dwellings
pillaged, 295 ; fly to Palestine, 297 ;
thence to Constantinople, 297 ; Theo-
philus is reconciled to them, 316.
Temple, the only lawful place to offer
sacrifices, 131 note ; Julian commands
its restoration, 131 note ; failure to re-
build, 131.
Tertullian, saying of, 177.
Thalia, the, of Arius, 236.
Thebaid, the Egyptian, 60 ; Pachomius, a
native of the, 62.
Theodore, bishop of Mopsuestia, 9 ; joins
an ascetic brotherhood, 27 ; returns
to a worldly life, 31, 32 ; letters of
lamentation from Chrysostom, 32-39 ;
returns again to the brotherhood, 39 ;
made bishop of Mopsuestia (A.D. 394),
39 ; his character, 39.
Theodore of Tyana, friendly to Chryso-
stom, 329 ; quits Constantinople on
seeing the unfair construction of the
council, 329.
Theodoret's story of the meeting of Gainas
and Chrysostom, 263 ; on the jurisdic-
tion of Chrysostom, 274 ; on idolatry
in Phoenicia, 382.
Theodorus executed, 57, 94.
Theodosia, sister of Amphilocius, and
instructress of Olympias, 280.
Theodosius I., on amicable terms with
Libanius, 12 ; his defeats of the Goths,
93; deservedly called "The Great,"
139 ; his services against Scots and
Saxons, Moors and Goths, 139 ; dis-
graced, and retires to Spain, 139 ;
recalled, and made Emperor, 140 ; his
character, 140 ; military achievements,
140, 141 ; a Christian, 141 ; efforts to
establish a uniform type of religion,
141 ; his baptism, 141 ; solemn declara-
tion of faith, 141 ; makes Gregory of
Nazianzus bishop, 142 ; project for a
general council, 142 ; edict against
heretics, 142; forbids the practice of
divination, 143 ; laws against Pagans,
142, 143; his impartiality, 147, 148;
his wife Flacilla, 148 ; choleric tem-
per, 148 ; pardons Antioch after the
tumult, 170 ; interview with Flavian,
171-174; victory over Maximus, 191 ;
generosity to his enemies, 191 ; com-
mands the bishop of Callinicum to rebuild
the Jewish synagogue, 191 ; remon-
strance of Ambrose, 191, 192 ; the order
annulled, 193 ; triumphal entry into
Rome, 193 ; two popular enactments,
193, 194 ; abstains from interfering in
TIIEOPHILUS
religious debates, 194 ; resentment at
the sedition of Thessalonica, 195 ; bar-
barous act of ferocity, 195 ; confronted
by Ambrose, and refused admittance to
the cathedral, 196 ; exhorted to deep
repentance, 197 ; his penance, 197, 198;
forbidden to sit with the clergy during
the celebration, 198 ; collects a huge
force, and solicits the favour of heaven,
200 ; arrives near the scene of his for-
mer victory, 200 ; assaults Arbogastes,
but is repulsed, 200 ; his vision, 200 ;
rallies his army, and completely defeats
the enemy, 201 ; received at Milan with
transports of joy, 201 ; free pardon
granted to the Milanese who had re-
volted, 201 ; his health gives way, 201 ;
receives the Eucharist at the hands of
Ambrose, 201 ; beseeches the Western
bishops to acknowledge Flavian, 201 ;
implores the Pagan Roman senators to
become Christians, 201, 202 ; last ap-
pearances in public, 202 ; his death,
202 ; his law on the right of asylum,
249 ; conduct towards Olympias, 281.
Theodosius n., attacked by an alarming
illness, 304 ; suppresses the Pagan
homage paid to Emperors, 327 ; con-
sents to Chrysostom's reliques being
brought to Constantinople, 388 ; im-
plores forgiveness for his parents'
wrongs to the saint, 388.
Theodosius the elder, 139 ; executed at
Carthage, 139 note; his statue de-
stroyed by the mob at Antioch, 152.
Theophilus, a priest, rebuked by Chry-
sostom, 345, 376.
Theophilus, archbishop of Alexandria,
appointed arbitrator between Flavian
and Evagrius, 199 ; pushes the claims
of Isidore for the see of Constantinople,
213 ; refuses to take part in Chry-
sostom's ordination until threatened
by Eutropius, 215 ; his opposition is
silenced, and he assists in the conse-
cration, 215, 216 ; joins Chrysostom
in urging the recognition of Flavian,
237 ; behaviour to Olympias, 282 note ;
becomes the chief of Chrysostom's foes,
285 ; his character, 284, 285 ; earnest
defender of the teaching of Origen,
287 ; made arbitrator between Jerome
and John of Jerusalem, 292 ; his letter
intended for John is delivered to Vinc-
tius, 292 ; changes sides, 292, 293 ;
brings a horrible charge against Isidore,
who is ejected from the ministry, 294 ;
persecutes the "tall brethren," 294-
297 ; his malice follows the Nitrian
INDEX.
455
THEOTECNUS
monks to Palestine, 297 ; schemes for
the overthrow of Chrysostom, 298, 299 ;
apologetic letter to Epiphanius, 299 ;
writes a sharp complaint to Chry- '<
sostom, 300 ; summoned to Constanti-
nople to defend his conduct towards
the Nitrian monks, 301 ; arrival at the
city with twenty-eight bishops, 306 ;
declines the hospitality of Chrysostom,
307 ; resides at Pera, in a house of the
Emperor's, 307 ; refuses all communi-
cation with the archbishop, 308 ; his
house the resort of the disaffected, 308 ;
bribes to the city, 308 ; draws up a list
of accusations against Chrysostom, 309 ;
holds a synod at "the Oak," and sum-
mons the archbishop to appear, 309 ;
after his object is attained, is reconciled
to the "tall brethren," 316 ; arrives at
Constantinople with a large retinue,
and restores the worthless clergy, 320,
321 ; remains in the city after the recall
of Chrysostom, 324, 325 ; his flight
when summonses were issued for a
general council, 325 ; excuses himself
from attending the council, 325 ; in-
vitt-il by Chrysostom's enemies again
to visit Constantinople, 328 ; declines,
and sends three "pitiful bishops, " 328 ;
his letter to Pope Innocent received
with displeasure, 348 ; reproved by
Innocent, 348, 349.
Theotecnus brings to Innocent a letter
from twenty-five bishops, 349.
Theotimus, a Goth, bishop of Tomis, at
Constantinople, 266 ; a determined
opponent of Epiphanius, 303 ; called
by the Huns "the god of the Chris-
tians," 303; denounces the unseemly
condemnation of the works of Origen,
303.
Therapeutse, the, 59.
Therasius : Chrysostom addresses a letter
to the widow of, 93.
Thermopylae, pass of, violated by Alaric,
210.
Thessalonica, sedition at, 195 ; its Chris-
tian population, 195 ; failure of the
mission of Ambrose to obtain clemency,
195 ; barbarous massacre of 7000 in-
habitants, 195.
Thrace, Flacilla dies at, 148 ; overrun by
Alaric, 207 ; ravaged by Gainas, 263 ;
ravaged by Huns, 354.
Tiberias, Patriarch of, 126.
Tiberius restricted the right of asylum,
249.
Tigrius summoned before the "Synod of
the Oak," 311 ; scourged, and put on
VALENTINIANS
the rack, 345 ; survives, and is banished
to Mesopotamia, 345.
Tillemont's opinion of Theodore, 39 note;
floating synod at Constantinople, 266
note.
Tomis, a market of Goths and Huns, 303.
Tradition, Chrysostom's arguments not
based on, 117.
Trajan, Antioch nearly destroyed in the
reign of, 90.
Tranquillus, a friend of Chrysostom, 329.
Tribigild, the Ostrogoth, solicits promo-
tion for himself and more pay for his
soldiers, 244 ; his suit coldly dismissed
by the Emperor's minister, 244 ; re-
turns home, and resolves to cast off
allegiance to the empire, 245 ; overruns
Phrygia, and captures some fortified
towns, 245 ; refuses to treat with
Eutropius, 246 ; his army retreats to
Pampnylia, where he awaits Leo, 246 ;
swoops down upon his prey at night,
scattering Leo's army, 247 ; his forces
joined with those of Gainas, 257.
Trinity Sunday, 178 note.
ULDES, or Uldin, pursues Gainas and
kills him, 263.
Ulphilas, preaching of, to the Goths,
382.
Unilas, a Gothic bishop, appointed by
Chrysostom, 237 ; dies after a short
but active career, 375.
Ursicinus, consecration of, by Paul,
bishop of Tibur, violently stopped by
Damasus, 47.
VALENS, the Emperor, on amicable
terms with Libanius, 12 ; favoured
the Arians, 21 ; expelled bishop Me-
letius, 40 ; his decree against the prac-
tisers of magic, 57 ; persecution of the
monks, 72-75 ; destruction by the
Goths, 92, 94 ; forbids the sacrifice of
animals, 143.
Valentinian, his decree against magicians,
57 ; his fate, 94 ; territory secured to
him by Theodosius, 141 ; forbids the
sacrifice of animals, 143.
Valentinian n., 187 ; flight to Thessa-
lonica, 191 ; accompanies Theodosius
to Rome, 193 ; in possession of his do-
minions, 199 ; treachery of his general
of the forces, Arbogastes, 200 ; found
strangled, 200.
Valentinians, a church of, set fire to by
fanatics, 191.
456
INDEX.
VALENTIN US
Valentinus, error of, -113.
Valentinus, entreated to benevolence by
Chrysostom, 377.
Venerius, bishop of Milan, Chrysostom 's
letter to, 334, 335 ; sends a letter by
the Italian deputation, 353.
Vinceutius, presbyter and friend of Je-
rome, 292.
Victor Uticensis, 23.
Victory, news of, proclaimed gratuitously
by Theodosius, 194.
Visigoths, a colony of, established in
Thrace, 140.
WEALTH, Chrysostom on, 156, 157.
Wesley, John, at Oxford, 27 ; as a
preacher, 425.
Western Church, the, acknowledges Paul-
inus as bishop of Antioch, 20 ; favour-
able to clerical celibacy, 218 ; does not
ZOSIMUS
fully accept Origen's teachings, 287 ;
appealed to by the Eastern Church,
335 ; not able to insist on justice to
Chrysostom, 349 ; breaks off commu-
nion with Theophilus and Atticus, 358 ;
demands the convocation of a general
council, 358.
Western theology, 391, 392.
Westminster, sanctuary of, 249.
Women, influence of, on early Chris-
tianity, 10, 11 ; they baffle Julian and
Governor Alexander at Antioch, 11 ;
Libanius's letter on, 11 ; interference
in the election of bishops, 48 ; multi-
tudes take vows of celibacy, 61 ; de-
graded position in the East, 96.
70SIMUS, 153 note; account of the
/j pursuit of Gainas, 262, 263.
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