St. John Chrysostom: On the Priesthood

by John Chrysostom

Publisher:

Williams and Norgate

, 1866

Overview

S. John Chrysostom: On the Priesthood offers a fascinating study of the fourth-century church. Using provocative ideas and beautiful language, John Chrysostom provides valuable insight into ministry. According to the translator, B. Harris Cowper, the book’s aim “is to magnify the priestly office, and to render those who enter upon it conscious of their awful responsibilities.” The text uses dialogue and a narrative framework and to convey these ideas. In this English translation, Cowper preserves Chrysostom’s intended meaning through literal, rigorous translation.

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Key Features

• Uses provocative ideas and beautiful language to provide insight into the priesthood
• Conveys the ministry of the priesthood through narrative and dialogue
• Preserves the literal meaning of the text

Contents

Top Highlights

“Therefore, much art is needed that the sick may willingly persuade themselves to submit to the remedies provided by the priests; and not only so, but that they may be thankful to them for the cure.” (Page 36)

“For we ought not to inflict a punishment which accords with the measure of transgressions, but inquiry must be made as to the disposition of those who sin; lest while you desire to mend what is torn you make the rent worse, and while you endeavour to restore what is fallen you make the ruin greater.” (Page 37)

“But if a man should wander from the right faith, the shepherd will require much exertion, endurance and patience; for he is not to be dragged back by force, nor to be compelled by fear, but you must restore him by persuasion, to the truth from which at first he fell.” (Page 39)

“his soul must be altogether purified from the desire of the office.” (Page 78)

“The priestly office is discharged upon earth, but holds the rank of heavenly things; and very rightly so. For not man, nor angel, nor archangel, nor any other created power, but the Paraclete himself, instituted this order, and induced those who yet abode in the flesh to make manifest the ministry of angels. Wherefore it behoves him that is consecrated to be as pure as one who stands in heaven itself among those powers.” (Page 61)

Praise for the Print Edition

Mr. Cowper has done his work faithfully and well, literal where it was possible and right to adhere to the strict luster of the text, and always keeping in view the spirit of the words which he has to render into so different a language.

—Church and State Review

A faithful rendering of a book which still remains one of the most valuable as it is certainly the most remarkable of all the treatises on the priesthood.

—Literary Churchman

Product Details

• Title: S. John Chrysostom: On the Priesthood
• Author: John Chrysostom
• Translator: B. Harris Cowper
• Publisher: Williams and Norgate
• Publication Date: 1866
• Pages: 218

About John Chrysostom

John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, was an important Early Church Father. He is known for his eloquence in preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and his ascetic sensibilities. After his death (or, according to some sources, during his life) he was given the Greek surname chrysostomos, meaning “golden mouthed,” rendered in English as Chrysostom.