THE WORKS OF OUR HOLY FATHER JOHN CHRYSOSTOM, ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE

Volume VIII

Book 1

"Commentary on the Gospel of John"

CONVERSATION 1 (introductory). 1. Praise for the Gospel of John. Its superiority and usefulness. - Who can understand him. - 2. St. John's Hill. - How to listen to the Gospel. - The need for a certain disposition towards the Word of God. - 3. There is no need to throw shrines to dogs. - 4. A description of the moods required to hear the gospel. - It is necessary to avoid theatrical spectacles and stand firmly in unity with God and the church. - Must have an attentive ear.

DISCOURSE 2 on John 1:1. 1. External philosophers in comparison with Ev. John. - His poverty and lack of learning, and at the same time his incomparable superiority in the former. - 2. Barbarian peoples, having adopted Christianity, learned to be wise. - 3. Against the teachings of philosophers, and especially against the doctrine of the transmigration of souls. - 4. Why does John speak of God the Son without touching upon God the Father? - What is true wisdom? - 5. The mind cannot think about several objects at the same time. - With what attention should the Gospel of St. John be read.

DISCOURSE 3 on John 1:1. 1. On the consecration of one of the seven days of the week to the Lord. - What kind of education should be given to youth. - 2. The opinion of the heretics of the Anomaeans about God the Word. - 3 and 4. Proofs of the eternity of the Word. - 5 and 6. Against vanity. - The evil it produces. - To him they sacrifice their riches. "For his sake, they do everything to please the people. - The glory of the people is true glory. - How to deal with the crowd. - Let God alone be a spectator and praiser of good deeds.

DISCOURSE 4 on John 1:1. 1. Why does St. John confine himself to a single word about the incarnation of the Son of God, while the other Evangelists expound it in detail? - Paul of Samosata and his delusion. - 2. What is the Word. - 3. Refutation of the heretics' objection to the Divinity of the Son, based on the fact that the Son is called God - "Theos" - without a term (article). - 4 and 5. Jesus Christ suffered and died to deliver us from idolatry. - To give a creature the worship that is due to the Creator is extremely unjust. - Faith and doctrine are useless for salvation if life and morals are corrupted. - Anger must be quenched immediately. - People praise and blame according to whether they love or hate. - Depiction of a person in anger. - Against those who carefully observe the hours and times.

DISCOURSE 5 on John 1:3. 1. How some heretics changed the meaning of the third verse of the first chapter of the Gospel of John by changing the punctuation. - 2. Absurd conclusions to which the opinion admitted by heretics that the Holy Spirit was created leads. - 3. The Son of God is equal to his Father. - The inexhaustible fruitfulness of the Creator. - God is not a complex being. - 4. About the fact that sinners are like drunken and furious people. - It is better to walk and show oneself naked in the streets than covered and burdened with sins.

DISCOURSE 6 on John 1:6. 1. The messengership of John the Baptist. - Explanation of the saying: "Man was sent from God." - Why and how Christ accepts John's testimony. Learning without good works is not beneficial.

DISCOURSE 7 on John 1:9. 1. One should not try to comprehend what is incomprehensible in God. - The true doctrine of the Father and the Son. - The Foolishness of the Sabellians and Marcellians. How sins are washed away.

DISCOURSE 8 on John 1:9. 1. Why Jesus Christ, being the light of truth, does not sanctify all people. - 2. The Foolishness of Paul of Samosata. - Answers to the questions of the pagans: what did Jesus Christ do before his coming, etc.? - One cannot properly pursue the heavenly by attaching oneself to the earthly. There is a great difference between the servants of Jesus Christ and the servants of mammon.

DISCOURSE 9 on John 1:11. 1. Who are the "friends" who did not accept Christ: first, the Jews, who were His chosen people. - Then other people who did not believe in him, being His creatures. - 2. Unbelief as the cause of the blindness of the Jews; pride as the cause of their unbelief. - The grace of mercy extended by God to the Gentiles did not cause any injustice to the Jews. - The Apostle Paul rightly rebukes them and curbs their pride and arrogance. - They are jealous of the salvation of the Gentiles. - Pride renders all virtues useless.