What is it about?
This article explores John Chrysostom and Severian of Gabala's views on their Bible's translation, texts, and canon. John Chrysostom, whose nickname Chrysostom means "Golden-Mouth," is arguably the most famous Christian preacher from late antiquity. Many of his homilies were preached while he was a presbyter in Antioch, before he was elevated to bishop of Constantinople in 398 CE. Severian was bishop of Gabala, and a gifted preacher who occasionally filled in for John in the period 401-402 CE, when John was traveling outside of Constantinople. Later tradition paints Severian as John's nemesis and suggests he played a key role in Chrysostom's condemnation at the Synod of the Oak in 403 AD.
Featured Image
Photo by Andrew Seaman on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Severian is often described as a faithful imitator of John in terms of his preaching, but this study challenges that assessment. While we have nowhere near the same volume of homilies by Severian as we do by John Chrysostom, Severian's understanding and approach to the Scriptures is discernibly different to that of John, who is far more nuanced and sophisticated. This highlights the importance of studying individual authors on their own terms, before drawing generalizations about schools of exegesis.
Perspectives
It is very easy to focus solely on a text, but I am also curious about the material context or writing culture in which these texts were composed, edited, and published. Therefore, it was exciting to find evidence of Severian's possible use of an onomasticon. This discovery raises questions about other "preaching aids" which homilists may have used in this period.
Katherin Papadopoulos
St Athanasius College, University of Divinity, Melbourne, Australia
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: SEVERIAN AND CHRYSOSTOM ON THEIR BIBLE’S TRANSLATION, TEXTS, AND CANON, August 2019, JSTOR,
DOI: 10.2307/j.ctv1q26tp0.12.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
