St John Chrysostom
Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος
The golden mouth gave the Church the rule that governs this whole subject: if the ruler errs in life, be not curious; if he errs concerning the faith, flee him, though he were an angel from heaven. His own unjust deposition then taught, from the other side, what the Church does with a wall raised over a person rather than the faith.
- Feast day
- 13 November; 27 January; 30 January
- Century
- 4th to 5th c.
- Region
- Antioch; Constantinople; died at Comana in exile
- Rank
- Archbishop of Constantinople
Biography
Born at Antioch around 349, John was formed by the ascetics, ordained presbyter, and for twelve years preached the homilies that earned him the name Chrysostomos, the golden mouth. In 398 he was taken, against his will, to the throne of Constantinople, where his reform of the clergy and his plainness toward the court made him powerful enemies.
At the Synod of the Oak in 403 a party of hostile bishops deposed him on personal charges, and after a brief recall he was exiled in 404. He died on the road at Comana in 407, with the words Glory to God for all things. His name was restored to the diptychs within a generation, and in 438 his relics were returned to Constantinople in triumph, the emperor kneeling at the coffin to beg forgiveness for his parents' sin.
The controversy
- His deposition was the canon's first half in action, from the wrong side: a synod misused against a righteous man on charges that did not touch the faith. Many of his faithful, the Johannites, refused communion with his deposers and suppressors until his name was restored.
- The Church healed that wound not by defending the Oak but by vindicating the man: his restoration to the diptychs and the translation of his relics were the synodal confession that the sentence had been unjust.
Position taken
- The rule of the two errors: a shepherd's sins of life are no ground for separation, and prying into them is forbidden; a shepherd's public error concerning the faith is ground for flight, whatever his rank, and though he were an angel.
- With equal force he taught the gravity of schism: dividing the Church over what is not the faith is an evil not washed away even by the blood of martyrdom, while of teachers with contrary doctrines he says in the same homily that one must not mix with them.
Quotations
Each quotation carries its source and a verification status. Unverified items await checking against a cited edition; placeholders mark texts not yet inserted.
What then, you say, when he is wicked, should we obey? Wicked? In what sense? If indeed in regard to Faith, flee and avoid him; not only if he be a man, but even if he be an angel come down from Heaven; but if in regard to life, be not over curious. And this instance I do not allege from my own mind, but from the Divine Scripture.
Nothing so provokes God's anger as the division of the Church. A certain holy man said what might seem a daring thing, yet he said it: that not even the blood of martyrdom can wash out this sin.
Related canons
Related figures
Bibliography
- Homilies on Hebrews, Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers series I vol. 14 (public domain).
- Homilies on Ephesians, Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers series I vol. 13 (public domain).
- Palladius, Dialogue on the Life of St John Chrysostom.