Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/723

Rh CHRYSOSTOMUS. said, that he would not accept the whole city of Paris for those on St. Matthew, delivered at An- tioch, A. u. 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 resig- nation, Chrysostoni'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 Monttaucon. 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 grainniaticalh', and adds an ethical or doctrinal application to a perspicuous explanation of the sense. The first example of grammatical interpre- tation 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 fol- lowed 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 recom- mended as perfectly correct compilers from their more prolix predecessor. Of Chr3'sostom''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 in- dignation, 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 I>ervade 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," {Iloin. xvii. Matt, vii.) There are many respects in which he shews the superiority of his imderstanding to the general feelings of the age. We may cite as one example the fact, that although he had been a monk, he v/as 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 alto- gether the human element in its composition, and the diflference 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 prin- cipal intellectual with the principal moral element necessary for an interpretator of Scripture, a critical habit of mind with a real depth of Christian fcel- iug. At the same time he was not cilways free CHRYSOSTOMUS. 705 from trie tendencies of the time, speaking often of miracles wrought by the relics of martyrs, conse- crated 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 dis- graced the capital (See Jortin, Eccles. Hint. iv. p. 169, &c.) The most elaborate among the ancient authori- ties 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. d. 1533, and in the original text at Paris in 1680. It is to be found in Montfaucon's edition of Clirj'sostom's works, vol. xiii. 2. The Ecclesiastical Histories of Socrates (lib. vi.), Sozo- menus (lib. viii.), Theodoret (v. 27). 3. The works of Suidas ('IcDcti'j/Tjs), and Isidore of Pelusium (ii. Epist. 42), besides several others, some published and some in MS., of which a list will be found in Fa- bricius {DM. Graec. vol viii. pp. 456-460). Among the more modem writers it will suffice to mention Erasmus (vol. iii. Ep.Wb^. p. 1331, &c., ed.Lugd. Bat.), J. Frederic Meyer {Chrysostomiis Lutliera- nits, Jena, 1680), with Hack's reply {S. J. Chry- sostomus a LutlieranismQ vindtcatiis, 1683), Cave (Script. Eccl. Hist. Litter, vol. i), Lardner {Credi' bility of the Gospel Hist, part ii. vol. x. c. 118), Tillemont {MemoiresEcclesiastiques^ vol. xi. pp. 1 — 405, &c.), and Montfaucon, his principal editor. Gibbon's account {Decline and Fall, xxxii.) is compiled from Palladius, Socrates, Sozomen, Theo- doret, Tillemont, Erasmus, and Montfaucon. But the best of all will be found in Neander {Kirchen- gesch. ii. 3, p. 1440, &c.), who has also published a separate life of Chrysostom. Chrysostora'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 1 523 the Homilies on Genesis were translated there by Oecolampadius (Hauschein). In 1 536 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 Do- natus, addressed to Pope Clement VII. In 1610- 1 3, 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 Com- mentaries on the New Testament, published at Heidelberg by Commelin, 1591—1603. In 1718 -38 appeared, also at Paris, the editio optima by Bernard de Montfaucon, in 13 vols, folio. He has endeavoured to ascertain the date of the different works, has prefixed to most of them a short dis- sertation on the circumstances under which it in as 2z