Letters of St. John Chrysostom: Homilies on Gensis, 46-67 (Fathers of the Church (Hardcover))

St. John Chrysostom delivered his Homilies on Genesis sometime between A.D. 385 and A.D. 388, while still a priest at Antioch. In the homilies in this volume - the last of three - Chrysostom concludes his examination of the lives and virtues of the Old Testament patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph as recounted in the last three chapters of Genesis. St. John Chrysostom delivered his Homilies on Genesis sometime between A.D. 385 and A.D. 388, while yet a priest at Antioch. In the homilies in this volume, the last of three, Chrysostom concludes his examination of the lives and virtues of the Old Testament patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph as recounted in the last three chapters of Genesis. Known for his eloquent preaching, Chrysostom delivered these final twenty-two homilies after Pentecost. His motive for examining the accounts of the lives of the patriarchs is to show how the just forebears of the Israelites, in a time when both the law and the Gospel were yet unpreached, were able to live Christian lives with only simple trust in God and the balanced, almost ingenuous manners of antiquity. His interest in the events and characters of Genesis is largely moral, even moralistic; he tends to see Scripture as hagiography. His style of commentary, although not really thorough exegesis, arises out of his deep conviction of the divine inspiration of Scripturehence the habitual attention to detail, "not idly or to no purpose" being his frequent comment on the precision of the text. As an exegete, Chrysostom may seem disappointing to those grounded in the methods of modern biblical scholarship, since he largely ignores any sense of Scripture other than the literal and is generally unaware of how to resolve difficulties and appreciate subtleties that a knowledge of the original text would provide. However, what lacks in scientific accuracy he more than compensates for with his earnest practice of pastoral care. This final volume of the homilies includes a general index and an index of biblical citations, the latter indicating the rich scriptural diet Chrysostom's congregationwho came daily for his homiliesenjoyed. In this volume, St John Chrysostom examines the lives and virtues of the Old Testament patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph as recounted in the last three chapters of Genesis. His motive is to show how these men could lead Christian lives before the preaching of the Gospels. Contents Homily 46 Homily 47 Homily 48 Homily 49 Homily 50 Homily 51 Homily 52 Homily 53 Homily 54 Homily 55 Homily 56 Homily 57 Homily 58 Homily 59 Homily 60 Homily 61 Homily 62 Homily 63 Homily 64 Homily 65 Homily 66 Homily 67 Indices General Index Scriptural Index [1]. 1-17 -- [2]. 18-45 --[3]. 46-67. Saint John Chrysostom ; Translated By Robert C. Hill. Translation Of: Homiliai Eis Tēn Genesin. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes. V. 1. Homilies 1-17.- v. 2. Homilies 18-45