Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series • VOLUME 14
Chrysostom — John and Hebrews
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A SELECT LIBRARY
Title: NPNF1-14. Saint Chrysostom: Homilies on the Gospel of St. John and the Epistle to the Hebrews Creator(s): Chrysostom, St. Schaff, Philip (1819-1893) (Editor) Print Basis: Edinburgh: T&T Clark Rights: Public Domain CCEL Subjects: All; Early Church; Sermons; Proofed LC Call no: BR1705 LC Subjects: Christianity Biography …
701 wordsSECTION 2Prolegomena by the General Editor..................... 3-23
Prolegomena by the General Editor..................... 3-23 Six Books on the Priesthood.............................. 25-83 De Sacerdotio Libri VI......................... Tom. I. 623-693 Two Letters to Theodore after his Fall........... 85-116 Parænesis ad Theodorum Lapsum Libri II.................. .......................…
1,967 wordsSECTION 3Homily I.
Homily I. Preface. [1.] They that are spectators of the heathen games, when they have learned that a distinguished athlete and winner of crowns is come from any quarter, run all together to view his wrestling, and all his skill and strength; and you may see the whole theater of many ten thousands, all there straining their eye…
2,348 wordsSECTION 4Homily II.
[6.] Having therefore ordered yourselves, so come to our next assembly, if at least it be at all an object of desire to you to hear somewhat to your advantage, and lay up what is said in your souls. But let not one of you be the "wayside," none the "stony ground," none the "full of thorns." ( Matt. xiii. 4, 5, 7.) Let us make ou…
2,265 wordsSECTION 5Are not these things with good cause extinct, and vanished utterly? With good cause, and reasonably. But not so the words of him who was ign
Are not these things with good cause extinct, and vanished utterly? With good cause, and reasonably. But not so the words of him who was ignorant and unlettered; for Syrians, and Egyptians, and Indians, and Persians, and Ethiopians, and ten thousand other nations, translating into their own tongues the doctrines introduced by hi…
2,212 wordsSECTION 6For when the desire of money possesses the hearer, the desire of hearing cannot possess him as well; since the soul, being one, cannot suffi
For when the desire of money possesses the hearer, the desire of hearing cannot possess him as well; since the soul, being one, cannot suffice for many desires; but one of the two is injured by the other, and, from division, becomes weaker as its rival prevails, and expends all upon itself. And this is wont to happen in the cas…
1,378 wordsSECTION 7Homily III.
Homily III. John i. 1 "In the beginning was the Word." [1.] On the subject of attention in hearkening it is superfluous to exhort you any more, so quickly have you shown by your actions the effects of my advice. For your manner of running together, your attentive postures, the thrusting one another in your eagerness to get th…
2,255 wordsSECTION 8What then do I say? That this first "was," applied to "the Word," is only indicative of His eternal Being, (for "In the beginning," he saith
What then do I say? That this first "was," applied to "the Word," is only indicative of His eternal Being, (for "In the beginning," he saith, "was the Word,") and that the second "was," ("and the Word was with God,") denotes His relative Being. For since to be eternal and without beginning is most peculiar to God, this he puts f…
2,786 wordsSECTION 9[6.] Do you say that they are many and a sort of collective body? this is the very reason why you ought most to despise them. If when taken
[6.] Do you say that they are many and a sort of collective body? this is the very reason why you ought most to despise them. If when taken singly they are contemptible, still more will this be the case when they are many; for when they are assembled together, their individual folly is increased by numbers, and becomes greater. …
1,112 wordsSECTION 10Homily IV.
Homily IV. John i. 1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God." [1.] When children are just brought to their learning, their teachers do not give them many tasks in succession, nor do they set them once for all, but they often repeat to them the same short ones, so that what is said may be easily implanted in…
2,854 wordsSECTION 11[4.] Let us therefore not lay ourselves under this curse. For this the Son of God came, that He might rid us from this service; for this He
[4.] Let us therefore not lay ourselves under this curse. For this the Son of God came, that He might rid us from this service; for this He took the form of a slave, that He might free us from this slavery; for this He was spit upon, for this He was buffeted, for this He endured the shameful death. Let us not, I entreat you, mak…
1,830 wordsSECTION 12Homily V.
Homily V. John i. 3 "All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made." [1.] Moses in the beginning of the history and writings of the Old Testament speaks to us of the objects of sense, and enumerates them to us at length. For, "In the beginning," he says, "God made the heaven and the earth," …
2,420 wordsSECTION 13Let us now attend to what follows. John having spoken of the work of creation, that "All things were made by Him, and without Him was not an
Let us now attend to what follows. John having spoken of the work of creation, that "All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made," goes on to speak concerning His Providence, where he saith, "In Him was Life." That no one may doubt how so many and so great things were "made by Him," he adds, …
2,149 wordsSECTION 14Homily VI.
Homily VI. John i. 6 "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John." [1.] Having in the introduction spoken to us things of urgent importance [137] concerning God the Word, (the Evangelist) proceeding on his road, and in order, afterwards comes to the herald of the Word, his namesake John. And now that thou hearest that…
1,444 wordsSECTION 15Homily VII.
Homily VII. John i. 9 "That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." [1.] The reason, O children greatly beloved, why we entertain you portion by portion with the thoughts taken from the Scriptures, and do not at once pour all forth to you, is, that the retaining what is successively set befor…
1,990 wordsSECTION 16Homily VIII.
Homily VIII. John i. 9 "That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." [1.] Nothing hinders us from handling to-day also the same words, since before we were prevented by the setting forth of doctrines, from considering all that was read. Where now are those who deny that He is true God? for he…
2,334 wordsSECTION 17Homily IX.
[174] e thelokakountes. [175] proaionion. [176] Paul of Samosata, Bishop of Antioch, denied the Personality of our Lord before His Birth of the Virgin Mary. His opinions were condemned, and himself deposed, at the second Council of Antioch, A.D. 270. [177] Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, who supported Paul against the Catholics af…
2,258 wordsSECTION 18Homily X.
Wherefore a wise man has said, "Pride is the beginning of sin" ( Ecclus. x. 13 ): that is, its root, its source, its mother. By this the first created was banished from that happy abode: by this the devil who deceived him had fallen from that height of dignity; from which that accursed one, knowing that the nature of the sin was…
2,220 wordsSECTION 19Why then did he say not that "He made them sons of God," but that "He gave them power to become sons of God"? To show that we need much zeal
Why then did he say not that "He made them sons of God," but that "He gave them power to become sons of God"? To show that we need much zeal to keep the image of sonship impressed on us at Baptism, all through without spot or soil [238] ; and at the same time to show that no one shall be able to take this power from us, unless w…
1,160 wordsSECTION 20Homily XI.
Homily XI. John i. 14 "And the Word was made Flesh, and dwelt among us." [1.] I desire to ask one favor of you all, before I touch on the words of the Gospel; do not you refuse my request, for I ask nothing heavy or burdensome, nor, if granted, will it be useful only to me who receive, but also to you who grant it, and perhap…
2,185 wordsSECTION 21Homily XII.
Homily XII. John i. 14 "And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only-Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." [1.] Perhaps we seemed to you the other day [277] needlessly hard upon you and burdensome, using too sharp language, and extending too far our reproaches against the sluggishness of the many. Now if we h…
2,412 wordsSECTION 22It behooves therefore those who have been deemed worthy to see and to hear such things, and who have enjoyed so great a gift, to display als
It behooves therefore those who have been deemed worthy to see and to hear such things, and who have enjoyed so great a gift, to display also a life worthy of the doctrines, that they may enjoy also the good things which are (laid up) there. For our Lord Jesus Christ came, not only that we might behold His glory here, but also t…
813 wordsSECTION 23Homily XIII.
Homily XIII. John i. 15 "John beareth witness of Him, and crieth, saying, This is He of whom I spake, saying, He that cometh after me is preferred before me, for He was before me." [1.] Do we then run and labor in vain? Are we sowing upon the rocks? Does the seed fall upon the rocks? Does the seed fall without our knowing it …
2,456 wordsSECTION 24But how, says one, if the Evangelist refers [353] to His manifestation to men, and to the glory which was to attend Him from them, does he s
But how, says one, if the Evangelist refers [353] to His manifestation to men, and to the glory which was to attend Him from them, does he speak of what was not yet accomplished, as having already taken place? for he does not say, "shall be," but "was." Because this is a custom among the prophets of old, to speak of the future a…
1,398 wordsSECTION 25Homily XIV.
Homily XIV. John i. 16 "And of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace." [1.] I said the other day, that John, to resolve the doubts of those who should question with themselves how the Lord, though He came after to the preaching, became before and more glorious than he, added, "for He was before me." And this …
2,205 wordsSECTION 26See ye how gently, by a single word and by little and little, both John the Baptist and John the Disciple lead up their hearers to the highe
See ye how gently, by a single word and by little and little, both John the Baptist and John the Disciple lead up their hearers to the highest knowledge, having first exercised them in humbler things? The former having compared to himself Him who is incomparably superior to all, thus afterwards shows His superiority, by saying, …
1,484 wordsSECTION 27Homily XV.
Homily XV. John i. 18 "No man hath seen God at any time; the Only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." [1.] God will not have us listen to the words and sentences contained in the Scriptures carelessly, but with much attention. This is why the blessed David hath prefixed in many places to …
2,361 wordsSECTION 28Since then we have been vouchsafed a larger and more perfect teaching, God having no longer spoken by the prophets, but "having in these las
Since then we have been vouchsafed a larger and more perfect teaching, God having no longer spoken by the prophets, but "having in these last days spoken to us by His Son" ( Heb. i. 1 ), let us show forth a conversation far higher than theirs, and suitable to the honor bestowed on us. Strange would it be that He should have so f…
1,006 wordsSECTION 29Homily XVI.
Homily XVI. John i. 19 "And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?" [1.] A dreadful thing is envy, beloved, a dreadful thing and a pernicious, to the enviers, not to the envied. For it harms and wastes them first, like some mortal venom deeply seated in thei…
2,383 wordsSECTION 30"But there standeth One among you, whom ye know not." Reasonable it was that Christ should mingle among the people as one of the many, becau
"But there standeth One among you, whom ye know not." Reasonable it was that Christ should mingle among the people as one of the many, because everywhere He taught men not to be puffed up and boastful. And in this place by "knowledge" the Baptist means a perfect acquaintance with Him, who and whence He was. And immediately next …
1,342 wordsSECTION 31Homily XVII.
Homily XVII. John i. 28, 29 "These things were done in Bethany beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day he seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." [1.] A great virtue is boldness and freedom of speech, and the making all things second in importance …
2,346 wordsSECTION 32"But," says one, "how then did not the Jews believe? for it was not John only that saw the Spirit in the likeness of a dove." It was, becaus
"But," says one, "how then did not the Jews believe? for it was not John only that saw the Spirit in the likeness of a dove." It was, because, even if they did see, such things require not only the eyes of the body, but more than these, the vision of the understanding, to prevent men from supposing the whole to be a vain illusio…
1,584 wordsSECTION 33Homily XVIII.
Homily XVIII. John i. 35-37 "Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; and looking upon Jesus as He walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God. And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus." [1.] The nature of man is somehow a thing slothful, and easily declining to perdition, not by reaso…
2,257 wordsSECTION 34Ver. 40. "One of the two who heard, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother."
Ver. 40. "One of the two who heard, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother." Wherefore then has he not made known the name of the other also? Some say, because it was the writer himself that followed; others, not so, but that he was not one of the distinguished disciples; it behooved not therefore to say more than …
1,935 wordsSECTION 35Homily XIX.
Homily XIX. John i. 41, 42 "He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus." [1.] When God in the beginning made man, He did not suffer him to be alone, but gave him woman for a helpmate, and made them to dwell togethe…
2,387 wordsSECTION 36Homily XX.
[493] e ndees. [494] autarkes. [495] Ben. Morel. and ms. in Bodl. read the passage thus: "For this cause also marriage is arranged, in order that what is wanting," &c. [496] kathaper oun kai thneten genomenen. Ben. and ms. in Bodl. read, ho s auten echein kai th. g. [497] eilikrinous. [498] al. "shared." [499] Morel. and m…
2,239 wordsSECTION 37So ought we also to rejoice, who have been thought worthy to know the Son of God; to rejoice, not in thought alone, but to show it also by o
So ought we also to rejoice, who have been thought worthy to know the Son of God; to rejoice, not in thought alone, but to show it also by our actions. And what must they do who rejoice? Obey Him who has been made known to them; and they who obey, must do whatever He willeth. For if we are going to do what angers Him, how shall …
725 wordsSECTION 38Homily XXI.
Homily XXI. John i. 49, 50 "Nathanael answered and saith unto Him, Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the King of Israel. Jesus answered, and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig-tree, believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these." [1.] Beloved, we need much care, much watchfulne…
2,393 wordsSECTION 39These then were the words, not of one speaking rudely to his mother, but belonging to a wise dispensation, which brought her into a right fr
These then were the words, not of one speaking rudely to his mother, but belonging to a wise dispensation, which brought her into a right frame of mind, and provided that the miracles should be attended with that honor which was meet. And setting other things aside, this very appearance which these words have of having been spok…
1,051 wordsSECTION 40Homily XXII.
Homily XXII. John ii. 4 "Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come." [1.] In preaching the word there is some toil, and this Paul declares when he says, "Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine." ( 1 Tim. v. 17.) Yet it is in your …
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Historical text source: Christian Classics Ethereal Library. The downloaded text itself records Public Domain.