Skip to main content

John Chrysostom's sermon to the Gothic church

John Chrysostom served as Archbishop of Constantinople 398-404. During this very short period of time he exercised enormous influence, particularly through his preaching. At this time, Gothic tribes were situated to the north of the new imperial capital, and many Goths were to be found in the city. The gospel had been brought to the Goths, who spoke a Germanic language, by an Arian missionary called Ulifas. Arian Christianity was a heretical version of the Christian faith which understand the Son of God to be a creature. To counteract the influence of such teaching, and zealous for the Goths to worship God Father Son and Holy Spirit, John Chrysostom arranged for St Paul's church to be set aside for worship in their native tongue. During Holy Week in the year 400, John Chrysostom visited the church and, through a Gothic interpreter, spoke at their service. The text of the sermon would appear to have been Psalm 19:4-5. Here is a translation of his opening remarks: 

"I wish Greeks could be here today to hear what has been read, and to realise the strength of the One Crucified on the cross, the power of the cross, the nobility of the church, the firmness of faith, the shame of error and the mockery of demons. The teaching of philosophers is overthrown even among those who share the same speech (as them), while our teaching has much power even among those who speak another language. The former falls apart more easily than a spider’s web, while the latter is established stronger than steel.

"Where is the teaching of Plato, Pythagoras, and those who where in Athens? It has been extinguished. Where is the teaching of fishermen and tentmakers? Not only in Judea, but even in another language, as you have heard today, it shines brighter than the sun; Scythians, Thracians, Sarmatians, Moors, Indians, even those who have settled in the furthest ends of the inhabited world..." 

Translation from Russian: Творения, том 12, Беседа VIII, Издательство СПб Духовной Академии, СПб, 1906


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The history of the Christian Church in twenty places

α. Jerusalem (30 or 33 AD) The place where Christ, the Son-of-God-become-man, died on the Cross, was raised from the dead on the third day, and from where he ascended back to heaven. This is also where the Holy Spirit was poured out on the first disciples. Sometime after AD 44 (Acts 12), Peter, John and other Apostles dispersed across the world to bear testimony to the risen Christ. 1. Ephesus (approx. 100 AD) The place where the Apostles, Paul and John, handed over to the next generation of Christian leaders, which included the “Apostolic Fathers”. One such “Apostolic Father”, Ignatius of Antioch, passed through Ephesus on his way to martyrdom at Rome, and addressed a letter to the church at Ephesus. 2. Athens (second century) The centre of Greek thought, which Justin Martyr and other Second Century Apologists addressed in their presentations of the Christian faith, proclaiming Christ as the Logos (the Word or principle underlying the universe). 3. Lyon (from 177) The church in
Post a Comment
Read more

Bury, Greater Manchester - Timeline of churches

979?      First Church on the site of the present Parish Church (the picture below is an artist's impression of Bury parish church in 1485)  1585      Parish church (re)built in the gothic style . 1662+    Chapel on Bass Lane for Henry Pendlebury of Holcombe , supported by Richard Kay , and others ejected from the C of E (replaced in 1712 by Dundee Chapel, Holcombe) 1669      The vicar of the parish reported to the Bishop of Chester that he heard that several conventicles were 'constantly kept at private houses of Independents, Presbyterians, Dippers and other such like jointly, of the bset rank of the yeomanry and other inferiors.' 1689      The passing of the Toleration Act and services held openly by a congregation at Bast House, Walmersley, the home of Richard Kay, 1712      Edward Rothwell , became minister of what would become Bank Street Presbyterian Church, Bury. He ministered at Bury, Holcombe and surrounding district. (D. 1731) 1719      Presbyterian Chapel ("
Post a Comment
Read more

Bible translations

God has given us his written word in Hebrew and Greek (plus a little bit of Aramaic in the book of Daniel).  In order for God's word to be accessible to those who speak other languages, since Biblical times God's word has been translated into other languages.  At the time of Nehemiah, the Levites "gave the meaning" of the Scriptures. This would probably have involved oral translation (interpreting) into the Aramaic language people used for everyday speech. Jesus himself, when quoted in the gospels, spoke Aramaic and quotes the Scripture in that language. Likewise, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon the believers and enabled them to declare the wonders of God in the languages of those present.  There is also a longstanding history of written translation (as opposed to oral translation). The best-known translation of the Old Testament is called the Septuagint, a translation into Greek commissioned by Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285–247 BCE). There were als
Post a Comment
Read more