Dr. Ann T. Orlando 21 March

 Defining Crisis  Introduction to St. John Chrysostom  Introduction to St. Olympias  Crises during the time of John Chrysostom  Themes in Letter to Olympias 2

 From OED: A time of intense difficulty or danger  From Greek (via Latin), krisis, decision ◦ In Greek also root word for judge, judgement  Often connotes a turning point (as in medicine) 3

 Unexpected; unplanned  Imminent threat of harm  Requires a response  Used specifically in ◦ Medicine ◦ Mental health ◦ Economic ◦ Political ◦ Corporate 4

5  Born, 349, and educated in Antioch  Studied rhetoric with Libanius, famous pagan philosopher and orator in Antioch  Joined Diodore’s school  After hiding from those seeking to ordain him, he was ordained in 386  Acquired sobriquet “Golden Mouth” for his preaching in Antioch  Became Patriarch of Constantinople in 397  Almost immediately ran afoul of both Imperial and Church politics ◦ Political and doctrinal disputes between Alexandria and Antioch ◦ Imperial politics, especially in terms of concern for the poor  Because of political problems, John was exiled (twice)  Died in 407

6  Divine Liturgy developed by him commonly used in Orthodox Church  We have more of his works extant than any other Greek Father; ◦ 6 volumes in English in NPNF Series 1 ◦ And nearly 600 works in the pseudo-Chrysostom corpus  John, along with Athanasius, Basil and Gregory Nazianzus is considered one of the Four Doctors of the Greek Church

7  Like most from Antioch, he was skeptical about allegorical interpretations of Scripture  But also accepted that there were multiple meanings or layers of Scripture; the below the surface meaning being theoria  John wrote many commentaries on Scripture, most of which are extant  But John was especially known for his rhetoric, rather than hermeneutics

8  In less than 50 years, Constantinople most powerful city in Empire  At Council of Nicea (325), Rome, Alexandria and Antioch were singled out as patriarchies  At Council of Constantinople (381), Rome, Constantinople (referred to as the new Rome), Alexandria and Antioch were listed as key patriarchies  Growing animosity between Constantinople and Alexandria  After Theodosius’ death (395), Empire divided between his two weak sons, Honorius (West) and Arcadius (East)

9  Eudoxia married to Theodosius’ son, Emperor Arcadius  John Chrysostom p reached vehemently against courtly excess, especially targeting Eudoxia, who has a silver statue of herself placed in front of Hagia Sophia  With help from Alexandrian Patriarch, Eudoxia gets John removed from Constantinople over the Tall Brothers controversy ◦ Tall brothers were accused of being Origenists ◦ Also a political dispute between Alexandria and Constantinople  Pope Innocent supports John  John, however, does not help himself politically by preaching a sermon in exile in which he says, referring to Eudoxia, “once again Herodias is dancing and seeks the head of John”  John dies in exile

 Olympias was a very wealthy widow in Constantinople  Widows owned much of the wealth in the Empire ◦ If a woman survived childbirth, she would probably outlived her husband ◦ Move away from client-patron model to family model may have strengthened legal standing of women ◦ Church supported right of women to inherit and control money and property  Founded a monastery near Hagia Sophia ◦ Practiced voluntary poverty, asceticism ◦ Moved away from civic building to philanthropy as an expression of public support  Gave money to support work of Gregory of Nyssa and John Chrysostom  When John was exiled, so was she; dies in

 Read John Chrysostom, “A Letter to Olympias, To Prove that No One Can Harm the Man Who Does Not Harm Himself” NPNF Vol. 9 available at  Brown, Through the Eye of a Needle, Chapter 24  Write Short Paper: Ramon 11