 The Rt Rev Jack L Iker, SSC, Bishop The Rev Mark A Stockstill, SSC, Vicar Office 325.356.2997 Vicarage 325.356.2198 Cell 325.330.2411 mastockstill@yahoo.com |
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John was
called "Chrysostom" ("Golden Mouth") because of his eloquence. He was a
priest of Antioch, and an outstanding preacher. (Audiences were warned not
to carry large sums of money when they went to hear him speak, since
pickpockets found it very easy to rob his hearers -- they were too intent on
his words to notice what was happening.) His sermons are mostly
straightforward expositions of Holy Scripture (he has extensive commentaries
on both Testaments, with special attention to the Epistles of Paul), and he
emphasizes the literal meaning, whereas the style popular at Alexandria
tended to read allegorical meanings into the text. He loved the city and
people of Antioch, and they loved him. However, he became so famous that the
Empress at Constantinople decided that she must have him for her court
preacher, and she had him kidnapped and brought to Constantinople and there
made bishop. This was a failure all around. His sermons against corruption
in high places earned him powerful enemies (including the Empress), and he
was sent into exile, where he died. Along with Athanasius of Alexandria,
Basil the Great, and Gregory of Nazianzus, he is counted as one of the Four
Great Eastern (or Greek) Doctors of the Ancient Church. The Four Great
Western (or Latin) Doctors are Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory the
Great.