A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

CHRYSOSTOMUS.
said, that he would not accept the whole city of
Paris for those on St. Matthew, delivered at Antioch, A. D. 390-397. The letters written in exile
have been compared to those of Cicero composed
under similar circumstances; but in freedom from
vanity and selfishness, and in calmness and resignation, Chrysostom's epistles are infinitely superior
to Cicero's. Among the collection of letters is one
from the emperor Honorius to his brother Arcadius
in defence of Chrysostom, found in the Vatican,
and published by Baronius and afterwards by
Montfaucon.
The merits of Chrysostom as an expositor of
Scripture are very great. Rejecting the allegorical
interpretations which his predecessors had put
upon it, he investigates the meaning of the text
grammatically, and adds an ethical or doctrinal
application to a perspicuous explanation of the
sense. The first example of grammatical interpretation had indeed been set by Origen, many of
whose critical remarks are of great merit; but
Chrysostom is free from his mystical fancies, and
quite as well acquainted with. the language of the
New Testament. The Greek expositors who followed him have done little more than copy his
explanations. The commentary of Theodoret is a
faithful compendium of Chrysostom's homilies,
and so also are the works of Theophylact and
Oecumenius, so much so that to those who wish to
gain a knowledge of the results of his critical
labours, the study of the two latter may be recommended as perfectly correct compilers from their
more prolix predecessor.
Of Chrysostom's powers as a preacher the best
evidence is contained in the history of his life;
there is no doubt that his eloquence produced the
deepest impression on his hearers, and while we
dissent from those who have ranked him with
Demosthenes and Cicero, we cannot fail to admire
the power of his language in expressing moral indignation, and to sympathise with the ardent love
of all that is good and noble, the fervent piety, and
absorbing faith in the Christian revelation, which
pervade his writings. His faults are too great
diffuseness and a love of metaphor and ornament.
He often repelled with indignation the applause
with which his sermons were greeted, exclaiming,
" The place where you are is no theatre, nor are
you now sitting to gaze upon actors." (IHom. xvii.
Matt. vii.) There are many respects in which he
shews the superiority of his understanding to the
general feelings of the age. We may cite as one
example the fact, that although he had been a
monk, he was far from exalting monachism above
the active duties of the Christian life. (See Horn.
vii. in Heb. iv.; Horn. vii. in Ephes. iv.) " How
shall we conquer our enemies," he asks in one place,
"if some do not busy themselves about goodness at
all, while those who do withdraw from the battle?"
(Horn. vi. in 1 Cor. iv.) Again, he was quite free
from the view of inspiration which prevailed at
Alexandria, and which considered the Bible in
such a sense the word of God, as to overlook altogether the human element in its composition, and
the difference of mind and character in its authors.
Variations in trifles he speaks of as proofs of truth
(Horn. i. in Matth.); so that he united the principal intellectual with the principal moral element
necessary for an interpretator of Scripture, a critical
habit of mind with a real depth of Christian feeling. At the same time he was not always free

CHRYSOSTOMUS.

705

from the tendencies of the time, speaking often of
miracles wrought by the relics of martyrs, consecrated oil, and the sign of the cross, and of the
efficacy of exorcism, nor does he always express
himself on some of the points already noticed
with the same distinctness as in the examples
cited above. His works are historically valuable
as illustrating the manners of the 4th and 5th
centuries of the Christian aera, the social state of
the people, and the luxurious licence which disgraced the capital. (See Jortin, Eccles. Hist. iv.
p. 169, &c.)
The most elaborate among the ancient authorities for Chrysostom's life are the following:1. Palladius, bishop of Helenopolis, whose work
(a dialogue) was published in a Latin translation
at Venice A. nD. 1533, and in the original text at
Paris in 1680. It is to be found in Montfaucon's
edition of Chrysostom's works, vol. xiii. 2. The
Ecclesiastical Histories of Socrates (lib. vi.), Sozomenus (lib. viii.), Theodoret (v. 27). 3. The works
of Suidas ('Iwad'vv's), and Isidore of Pelusium (ii.
Epist. 42), besides several others, some published
and some in MS., of which a list will be found in Fabricius (Bibl. Grace. vol. viii. pp. 456-460). Among
the more modern writers it will suffice to mention
Erasmus (vol. iii. Ep. 1150. p. 1331, &c., ed.Lugd.
Bat.), J. Frederic Meyer (Chrysostomus LutheraWis, Jena, 1680), with Hack's reply (S. J. Chrysostomus a Lultheranismo vindicatus, 1683), Cave
(Script. Eccl. Hist. Litter. vol. i ), Lardner (Credibility of the Gospel HIist. part ii. vol. x. c. 118),
Tillemont ('fM&noires Ecclesiastiqies, vol. xi. pp. 1 -405, &c.), and Montfaucon, his principal editor.
Gibbon's account (Decline and Fall, xxxii.) is
compiled from Palladius, Socrates, Sozomen, Theodoret, Tillemont, Erasmus, and Montfaucon. But
the best of all will be found in Neander (Kirclhengesch. ii. 3, p. 1440, &c.), who has also published a
separate life of Chrysostom.
Chrysostom's works were first published in Latin
at Venice in 1503, Comment. impensa et studio
Bernardini Staynini Tridinensis et Gregorii de
Gregoriis. Several editions followed at Basle, also
in Latin, and in 1523 the Homilies on Genesis were
translated there by Oecolampadius (Hauschein).
In 1536 his works were published at Paris, but
the most famous edition which appeared in that
city was cura Frontonis Ducaei, 1613, whose:
translation is much commended by Montfaucon.
In Greek were first published at Verona, 1529,
the Homilies on St. Paul's Epistles, edited by
Gilbert Bishop of Verona, with a preface by Donatus, addressed to Pope Clement VII. In 1610 -13, the most complete collection of Chrysostom's
works which had yet appeared was published
at Eton by Norton, the king's printer, under
the superintendence of Henry Savil, in 8 vols.:
this edition contained notes by Casaubon and
others. In 1609, at Paris, F. Morell began to
publish the Greek text with the version of Ducaeus,
a task which was completed by Charles Morell in
1633. Of this edition the text is compiled from
that of Savil, and that of an edition of the Commentaries on the New Testament, published at
Heidelberg by Commelin, 1591-1603. In 1718
-38 appeared, also at Paris, the editio optima by
b Bernard de Montfaucon, in 13 vols. folio. He has
I endeavoured to ascertain the date of the different
works, has prefixed to most of them a short dissertation on the circumstances under which it wau
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