Preaching and Popular Christianity: Reading the Sermons of John Chrysostom
James D. Cook
Oxford University Press (2019). 237 pp.
Book Review
Time spent with the 4th century pastor posthumously surnamed “the Golden Mouth” proves a worthy investment for anyone who preaches or who thinks carefully about preaching. In recent decades, studies of Chrysostom’s preaching have focused on what his sermons tell us about the congregation. While this remains a worthy endeavor, James Cook’s Peaching and Popular Christianity shifts the focus back to the role of the pastor and the importance of preaching as a discourse.
For Cook, current Chrysostom scholarship has mistakenly taken the harsh words in his sermons to betray his ineffectiveness as a pastor. The fact that Chrysostom challenged his congregants, earning him another less felicitous nickname, “the tongue which cut”, must indicate tension in his churches. Cook, on the other hand, argues that when we correctly understand the historical context, Chrysostom’s stern tone heightens the gravity of the sermon and the engagement of the congregation. In order to make his case, Cook makes a series of moves, a few of which we explore here.
Cook demonstrates that Chrysostom’s language fits nicely among modes of classical pedagogy. Borrowing from widely used late antique educational practices such as the lalia, the device that employed the rebuke of a fictitious character, or the protreptic, “an exhortation to complete, all embracing commitment to the way of life advocated by the philosophical school, based on the belief that this was the best or only true way to live” (p. 80), Chrysostom’s church services acted as a kind of schoolroom. As a trained classicist, Cook proficiently casts Chrysostom’s firmness within the fabric of classical paideia. Chrysostom, the concerned but loving schoolmaster, rebukes, challenges, and nudges those in his care.
Similarly, like other ancient schoolmasters and philosophers, Chrysostom’s self-understanding as a physician of souls illuminates his severe tone. Operating on the presupposition of universal spiritual sickness, the Golden Mouth positioned himself as a medical doctor aiming to cure this inner sickness. Unlike doctors who can treat the body with various remedies, “the priest… has only one means by which he can cure the sufferings of the soul: ‘teaching through the sermon’” (p. 88). Influenced by classical notions of virtue formation, Chrysostom saw the need for his listeners “to be educated and habituated through spiritual exercises and sustained effort” (p. 104). In this vein, the preacher’s firm instruction to control one’s passions reflects his concern to cure their souls rather than an overall lack of commitment among those gathered.
Current Chrysostom scholarship fails to consider the liturgical, pastoral, and spiritual dimensions of the sermon. If the sermon is decoupled from its sacred setting, then the modern reader cannot appreciate the gravity of what was at stake. While the ancient rhetoricians persuaded their audiences towards a view of earthly flourishing, Chrysostom exhorted his congregants towards repentance so they might be delivered from God’s judgment. When Chrysostom exclaims that some in the assembly should “hear and shudder” (p. 118), this does not so much indicate an ideological distance between preacher and parishioner, but rather the efforts of a faithful pastor to “arouse in his congregation this reverential fear” (p. 162).
For the pastor-theologian, Cook’s study affirms the best use of contemporary rhetorical techniques to persuade one’s parishioners to follow Christ. Chrysostom perfected the appropriation of secular devices to bring about repentance in the hearts and minds of those he shepherded. This reminds us of Augustine’s famous refrain that “all truth is God’s truth” and that Christians should make the best use of their minds. It is not so far off to think that the pastor acts as concerned schoolmaster, challenging and pushing others forward, and as a physician of souls, addressing spiritual ailments by prescribing the healing balm of Christ.
Behind this study lies the debate as to whether patristic sermons supply us with a vehicle for analyzing the congregation’s social make-up. While Cook sympathizes with the motivation on this matter, he casts doubt on the feasibility of convincing conclusions. Scholars defend a variety of incompatible theses from Chrysostom’s 800 surviving sermons. Practically speaking, those of us who preach may ask if the social make-up of the congregation could be reconstructed from our words alone. I like how Cook concludes this matter in that “it was, after all, not of interest for [Chrysostom] what the social make-up of his congregation was; he was primarily concerned with the state of their souls” (p. 174). While we want to exegete our congregations, may we not fall into the sin of favoritism.
Most importantly, this book reminds us of the sacred nature of preaching. In a time when we witness the sermon’s reduction to a few nuggets for self-help, Cook’s monograph elevates preaching as an activity by which God brings sinners to the point of turning towards him. When viewed as anything less, the sermon disintegrates into an unintelligible discourse. Thanks to Cook’s efforts with the great 4th century preacher, we have another means of moving forward by first going back.
Austin Shaw is the Senior Pastor of Providence Church in Avon, OH. He holds a PhD in Patristics from the University of Oxford. Austin is a member of the St. Augustine Fellowship of the Center for Pastor Theologians.
