John Chrysostom

John of Antioch, called *Chrysostom* — "golden-mouthed" — for his eloquence, was the greatest preacher of the early Church and briefly the archbishop of Constantinople. Trained in rhetoric under the pagan Libanius, he chose the ascetic life before ordination.

The preacher of Antioch As a priest at Antioch (386–397) Chrysostom delivered the [homilies](/christianity/commentary) that made his name — verse-by-verse expositions of Matthew, John, Acts, and the letters of Paul that remain the summit of Greek patristic preaching. He read Scripture, as in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5), for its plain moral force, pressing his hearers toward almsgiving and care for the poor.

Archbishop and exile Made archbishop of Constantinople in 398, he reformed the clergy, curbed luxury, and preached against abuses at court — earning the enmity of the empress Eudoxia and of rival bishops. He was deposed at the Synod of the Oak (403), recalled, then banished again; he died in exile in 407 with the words, "Glory be to God for all things."

Legacy Chrysostom is honoured as a saint and Doctor of the Church by Catholics and as one of the Three Holy Hierarchs by the Orthodox; the Divine Liturgy most used in the Eastern Church bears his name. Protestants prize his biblical preaching. His record also carries homilies *Against the Jews* whose harsh rhetoric is widely condemned today and cited in the history of Christian antisemitism — noted here honestly, not concealed.