St John Chrysostom: Spiritual Gems from the Book of Psalms

by Anonymous

The Psalms, along with the Gospels, were a staple item of the spiritual fare on which Christians in the early Church were nourished. Like many of his peers, John Chrysostom has left us his commentary on many of these sacred hymns set to music by "blessed David." During his ministry in Antioch and Constantinople, therefore, he endeavored to engage with the sentiments of hope and despair, love and loathing, praise and thanksgiving, while wrestling with the Psalms' many obscure expressions. In this volume are assembled the more memorable and uplifting passages of his homilies on the Psalms. While not betraying the accent of his school on the role of human effort in moral development and spiritual growth, he echoes the psalmist's gratitude for divine providence and mercy, the wonders of Creation, and the mysteries of the Incarnation and Pascha.

249 pages, Paperback

First published November 29, 2004

About the author

Books can be attributed to "Anonymous" for several reasons:

* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
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Reviews

[Ted · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of excerpts of Chrysostom's commentary on various Psalm verses. Some are gems, some are Chrysostom in high moralistic form. You can get an idea of how some of the Patristic writers in their biblical interpretations could take a verse out of context and comment on it as if it were a stand-alone truth. They believed the entire Scriptures were "God-breathed" and so thought there was meaning in every word, phrase and sometimes letter of the text. Chrysostom is a pastor, so he uses the texts to meet his purposes. He assumes the full meaning of the Old Testament texts only can be discerned by Christians.