Title: Golden mouth : the story of John Chrystostom--ascetic, preacher, bishop /
Authors: Kelly, J. N. D.
Publisher: Duckworth,
Year: 1995
Subjects: John Chrysostom,; Christian saints Turkey Biography
Abstract: John Chrysostom, or 'Golden Mouth' was a famous ascetic and preacher of the fourth/fifth century, a controversial bishop of Constantinople and a brilliant orator - hence the name. This is the first comprehensive study of him by a British scholar for over a century. In the early chapters John Kelly highlights Chrysostom's youthful experiments with asceticism at Antioch in Syria, his six years as a monk and then recluse in the nearby mountains, and his influential role as the city's leading preacher. The central section of the book shows him as a fearlessly outspoken populist bishop of the capital, focussing on his authoritarian style, his interventions in political crises, and his clashes with the Empress Eudoxia, and emphasising his efforts to promote the primacy of the see of Constantinople in the east. The final chapters reconstruct the plots that led to his downfall, the drama of his trial, and his exile culminating in his politically motivated death. Golden Mouth also provides fresh analyses of Chrysostom's principal treatises and public addresses, and discussions of his views on monasticism, sexuality and marriage, education and suffering. Making full use of recent research, the author often challenges accepted positions, and in several areas advances original interpretations. Chrysostom emerges from this sensitive examination as a much more complex character than has been generally recognised.