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Showing posts from October, 2023

Chrysostom on Interpreting Scripture: An Example from the Great Tradition

  John Chrysostom (ca. 347–407) was the archbishop of Constantinople, and the most prolific of all the Eastern fathers. He was called Chrysostom (meaning “golden mouthed”) for his eloquent sermons. [1] This most distinguished of Greek patristic preachers excelled in spiritual and moral application in the Antiochene tradition of literal exegesis, largely disinterested, even untutored in speculative and controversial theology. [2]        His work, On the Incomprehensible Nature of God ( De incomp. ), [3] is a polemical and apologetical treatise, which was originally a series of homilies presented to laymen, orthodox and heterodox, who he was trying to edify and sway from error, particularly a new uprising of Arian followers, the Anomoeans. While the Arians erroneously claimed that the Son was of similar substance ( homoiousios ) with the Father, the Anomoeans held that Christ must be dissimilar and unlike ( anomoios ) God, hence the name Anomoeans. Ch...