The Surprise of Finding Anti-Semitism in the Heart of the Early Church Fathers

The other disease which my tongue is called to cure is the most difficult… And what is the disease? The festivals of the pitiful and miserable Jews which are soon approaching.

— Saint John Chrysostom (349-407)

The worldwide Church, individually and corporately, needs to consider apologizing to the Jewish people as a result of anti-Semitic remarks by the Early Church Fathers as evidenced in the fourth century works of Saint John Chrysostom called Λόγοι Κατὰ Ἰουδαίων (Discourse Against the Jews).^[59] This article discusses the life of John Chrysostom and the style and themes of Λόγοι Κατὰ Ἰουδαίων, which identifies Chrysostom’s teachings as anti-Semitic. They are supported with examples of anti-Semitic remarks from all eight of Chrysostom’s discourses, or sermons. In conclusion, reasons are given as to why the Church needs to apologise for all anti-Semitic remarks, especially those of the Early Church Fathers, based on John Chrysostom’s example.

The early Church father, Saint John Chrysostom (349-407)^[60] was known as “the most prominent doctor of the Greek Church and the greatest preacher ever heard in a Christian pulpit.”^[61] He was born in Antioch to a Roman father and Christian Greek mother.^[62] He studied under Libanius, the distinguished man of letters and professor in the chair of rhetoric at Antioch (314-393).^[63] After leaving Libanius, Chrysostom fell under the influence of Meletios, the orthodox bishop of Antioch, and was baptised. In Sozomen’s history of Antioch,^[64] he describes Chrysostom as a man “of noble birth and of exemplary life.” He notes that Chrysostom’s wonderful powers of eloquence and persuasion caused his teacher, Libanius the Syrian, to say that Chrysostom, “surpassed all the orators of the age” and that on his deathbed Libanius declared that John would have been his successor had he not converted to Christianity.^[65]

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• ^[1] J. N. D. Kelly, 297. ↩
• ^[2] J. N. D. Kelly, 74. ↩
• ^[3] Manlio Simonetti, Bibical Interpretation in the Early Church (ed. Anders Bergquist and Markus Bockmuehl; trans. John A. Hughes; Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1994), 74. ↩
• ^[4] Manlio Simonetti, 74. ↩
• ^[5] Manlio Simonetti, 55. ↩
• ^[6] Donald Attwater, St. John Chrysostom: Pastor and Preacher (London: Harvill Press, 1959), 11. ↩
• ^[7] Constantinople was known as the new Rome. Robert L. Wilken, John Chrysostom and the Jews: Rhetoric and Reality in the Late 4th Century (University of California Press, 1983), 104. ↩
• ^[8] For the purpose of this essay, the author translated the original Greek text contained in the tome of J.-P. Migne. The Monitum (advice) to the text notes that Chrysostom delivered his first discourse in August 386, the second in September, approximately ten days later and approximately five days before the Jewish Jejunium (fast), and the remaining six followed in short succession of which the final five were held within twenty days, and the sixth was held on the very day of the Jejunium. ↩
• ^[9] Saint John Chrysostom, The Fathers of the Church, A New Translation: Saint John Chrysostom, Discourses against Judaizing Christians (eds. Hermigild Dressler O.F.M., Robert P. Russell OSA, William R. Tongue, Thomas P. Halton and Brennan I.H.M. Sister M. Josephine; trans. Paul W. Harkins, Vol. 68; Washington D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1979), 1-3. ↩
• ^[10] S.P.N. Joannis Chrysostomi, ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ, 1:844 (Discourse 1). All of the translations are my own unless otherwise stated. ↩
• ^[11] Saint John Chrysostom, The Fathers of the Church, A New Translation: Saint John Chrysostom, 4. ↩
• ^[12] S.P.N. Joannis Chrysostomi, ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ, 1:845 (Discourse 1). ↩
• ^[13] Saint John Chrysostom, The Fathers of the Church, 4. Isaiah 58:3-5: "'Why do we fast, but you do not see?' Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?' Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day and oppress all your workers. Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. Such fasting as you do today' will not make your voice heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?" Michael D. Coogan, ed., The New Oxford Annotated Bible (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 1059 (Hebrew Bible). ↩
• ^[14] νόσεω, νόσος, or νόσημα. S.P.N. Joannis Chrysostomi, ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ, 1:844 and passim. ↩
• ^[15] Michael D. Coogan, ed., The New Oxford Annotated Bible, 9-182 (New Testament and passim). ↩
• ^[16] Robert L. Wilken, John Chrysostom and the Jews, 117. ↩
• ^[17] S.P.N. Joannis Chrysostomi, ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ, 1:993 (Discourse 6). ↩
• ^[18] Dressler, in his translation, notes that this is a reference to 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 where Paul sees faith as the Christian weapon. Faith, he says, is above reason and everything opposing faith is wrong and must be set aside or destroyed. Saint John Chrysostom, The Fathers of the Church, 147. ↩
• ^[19] Saint John Chrysostom, The Fathers of the Church, 147-148. ↩
• ^[20] Robert L. Wilken, John Chrysostom and the Jews, 95-107. ↩
• ^[21] Saint John Chrysostom, The Fathers of the Church, 147. ↩
• ^[22] S.P.N. Joannis Chrysostomi, ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ, 1:994 (Discourse 6). ↩
• ^[23] S.P.N. Joannis Chrysostomi, ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ, 1:848 (Discourse 1). ↩
• ^[24] Saint John Chrysostom, The Fathers of the Church, 204. ↩
• ^[25] Saint John Chrysostom, The Fathers of the Church, 204. ↩
• ^[26] Saint John Chrysostom, The Fathers of the Church, 204. ↩
• ^[27] S.P.N. Joannis Chrysostomi, ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ, 1:845 (Discourse 1). ↩
• ^[28] S.P.N. Joannis Chrysostomi, ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ, 1:863 (Discourse 3). ↩
• ^[29] Michael D. Coogan, ed., The New Oxford Annotated Bible, 282 (New Testament). ↩
• ^[30] Michael D. Coogan, ed., The New Oxford Annotated Bible, 270 (Hebrew Bible). ↩
• ^[31] Robert L. Wilken, John Chrysostom and the Jews, 149. ↩
• ^[32] Robert L. Wilken, John Chrysostom and the Jews, 876. ↩
• ^[33] The Jewish Publication Society, JPS Hebrew-English Tanak (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 1999), 1,005. ↩
• ^[34] Saint John Chrysostom, The Fathers of the Church, 81, n. 33. ↩
• ^[35] J. N. D. Kelly, 64. ↩
• ^[36] S.P.N. Joannis Chrysostomi, ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ, 1:915. ↩
• ^[37] S.P.N. Joannis Chrysostomi, ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ, 1:915. ↩
• ^[38] S.P.N. Joannis Chrysostomi, ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ, 1:928. ↩
• ^[39] Robert L. Wilken, John Chrysostom and the Jews, 120 ↩
• ^[40] Robert L. Wilken, John Chrysostom and the Jews, 120. ↩
• ^[41] Robert L. Wilken, John Chrysostom and the Jews, 120. ↩
• ^[42] Robert L. Wilken, John Chrysostom and the Jews, 121. ↩
• ^[43] S.P.N. Joannis Chrysostomi, ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ, 1:848. ↩
• ^[44] S.P.N. Joannis Chrysostomi, ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ, 1:859-60. ↩
• ^[45] S.P.N. Joannis Chrysostomi, ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ, 1:852 (Discourse 1). ↩
• ^[46] S.P.N. Joannis Chrysostomi, ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ, 1:852. ↩
• ^[47] S.P.N. Joannis Chrysostomi, ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ, 1:859-60. ↩
• ^[48] Sigmund Freud, Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego (James Strachey, ed. and trans.; London: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1959), 4. ↩
• ^[49] Sigmund Freud, The Future of an Illusion (4th ed.; ed. James Strachey; trans. W. D. Robson-Scott; London: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1978), 15:7. ↩
• ^[50] Sigmund Freud, The Future of an Illusion, 4-5. ↩
• ^[51] Robert L. Wilken, John Chrysostom and the Jews, 105. ↩
• ^[52] Robert L. Wilken, John Chrysostom and the Jews, 105. ↩
• ^[53] Robert L. Wilken, John Chrysostom and the Jews, 105. ↩
• ^[54] Robert L. Wilken, John Chrysostom and the Jews, 106. ↩
• ^[55] John Chrysostom, St. John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor: Mutual Need, Vol. 3 in The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers: A Manual of Preaching, Spiritiual Reading and Meditation (ed. M. F. Toal; London: Longmans, 1963), 316-19. ↩
• ^[56] St. Vladimir’s Seminary Lectures, Orthodox Internet Services, 2005, http://ancientfaith.com/specials/svs_jan2008/ (accessed June 16, 2008). ↩
• ^[57] Matthew 5:22-24: “But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift” (Michael D. Coogan, ed., The New Oxford Annotated Bible, 14 [New Testament]). ↩
• ^[58] BBC News Online, BBC News, BBC, 2001, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1671540.stm (accessed June 4, 2008). BBC News Online: World: Middle East, British Broadcasting Corporation, 23 March 2000, http://news.bbc.co.uk (accessed April 3, 2008). ↩
• ^[59] Joannis Chrysostomi, ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ, ΤΟΥ ΧΡΥΣΟΣΤΟΜΟΥ, ΤΑ ΕΥΡΙΣΚΟΜΕΝΑ ΠΑΝΤΑ (ed. J.-P. Migne; 18 vols; S.P.N.), 1:843-942. ↩
• ^[60] There are many discrepancies regarding his birth. J. N. D. Kelly says that there are various dates between 344-354 which have been as possible birth dates, but the most suitable to fit all the facts is 349 (J. N. D. Kelly, Golden Mouth. The Story of John Chrysostom, Ascetic, Preacher, Bishop [New York: Cornell University Press, 1995], 4). ↩
• ^[61] Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent: St. John Chrysostom, Kevin Knight, 2007, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08452b.htm (accessed April 22, 2008). ↩
• ^[62] J. N. D. Kelly, 4-5. ↩
• ^[63] J. N. D. Kelly, 6. ↩
• ^[64] Commenced to be written in 442 and covers 117 years from 323-439. The Ecclesiastical History of Sozomen, comprising a History of the Church, from A.D. 324 to A.D. 440 (trans. M. A. Walford Edward; London: Henry G. Bohn, MDCCCLV). ↩
• ^[65] M. A. Walford Edward, 362-3. ↩