The Theological, Ecclesiological and Eschatological Perspective of the Apostolic OCe According to St
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Durham E-Theses The Theological, ecclesiological and eschatological perspective of the apostolic oce according to St. John Chrysostom Myrou, Panagiotis How to cite: Myrou, Panagiotis (1996) The Theological, ecclesiological and eschatological perspective of the apostolic oce according to St. John Chrysostom, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/5378/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 PANAGIOTIS G. MYROU Graduate of Theology and Ancient Greek Literature University of Athens THE THEOLOGICAL, ECCLESIOLOGICAL AND ESCHATOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE APOSTOLIC OFFICE ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without the written consent of the author and information derived from it should be acknowledged. A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts, Department of Theology, University of Durham for the Degree of the Master of Arts DURHAM 1996 b h MAR 1998 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE ABBREBIATIONS INTRODUCTION 1. The Apostolic Office and its bearers in modem research 2. Data pertaining to the Apostolic Office in other Church fathers before Chrysostom 15 3. John Chrysostom's background as proposition of his teaching on the Apostolic Office 18 4. Data pertaining to the Apostolic Office and its bearers in the work of Chrysostom 22 CHAPTER ONE: THE THEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE APOSTOLIC OFFICE 1.1. Introductory note 27 1.2. The origins of the Apostolic Office 27 1.3. The Apostolic Office as common energy of the Triune God 31 1.3.1. The apostles belong to all three divine Persons 32 1.3.1.1. The apostles receive the revelation of the mysteries from all three divine Persons 34 1.3.1.2. The apostles are sent by all three divine Persons 39 1.3.1.3. The presence of all three divine Persons in the acting apostles 42 1.3.2. "Economic" distinction of divine energies in relation to the Apostolic Office 44 1.3.2.1. God the Father as 'the beginning' (f| dpxTl) and 'first cause' (akia fi 7tpcbTr|) of the Apostolic Office 46 1.3.2.2. The Son as fulfiller of the Apostolic Office 49 1.3.2.3. The Holy Spirit as the fullness of the apostles and treasure of the apostolic gifts 55 1.3.2.4. The Holy Spirit as elucidator of Christ's teaching 58 1.3.2.5. The Holy Spirit transformer and inspirer of the apostles 60 1.3.2.6. The Holy Spirit as the source of the apostolic dogmas and charismata 61 3 1.4. Conclusions 64 CHAPTER TWO: THE ECCLESIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE APOSTOLIC OFFICE 2.1. General consideration of the chrysostomic teaching about the Church 66 2.2. The Apostolic Office in the periods of the Church preceding the incarnation 71 2.3. The Apostolic Office in the historic period of the Church following the incarnation 75 2.3.1. The Church as a building and the Apostolic Office 75 2.3.2. The growth of the Church's body and the Apostolic 81 Office 2.4. The Apostolic Office as is shown in the worshipping congregation 85 2.5. The Apostolic Office as contributor to the Church's unity 90 2.6. The Church is apostolic in its structure 94 2.7. Conclusions 98 CHAPTER THREE: THE ESCHATOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE APOSTOLIC OFFICE 3.1. Basic elements of Chrysostom's eschatology 101 3.2. Jesus Christ's words to the apostles on the eschata 108 3.3. The mindedness and preaching of the apostles about the eschata 114 3.4. The exploitation of the "Kaipoc;" by the bearers of the Apostolic Office 121 3.5. The Apostolic Office as ministry to the "bridal procession" 123 3.6. The place of the Apostolic Office in the Last Judgement and beyond 125 3.7. Conclusions 128 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS 131 BIBLIOGRAPHY 135 1. Ancient Sources 137 2. Books and Articles PREFACE Searching through the bibliography related to the Apostolic Office and the apostles, I noticed that in a vast number of books and articles, one would not be able to find any specific studies based on an examination of the works of the Church fathers. Having noticed that and taking for granted the importance of this office in ecclesiastical life and worship, I decided to embark on the study of this topic on the basis of the work of one of the Church fathers. My preference for John Chrysostom is to be attributed mainly to two reasons; first, to a broader view that Chrysostom is one of the most productive authors and authoritative interpreters of the Bible with a large number of references to the Apostolic Office and its bearers; second, to the fact that I am especially fond of this ancient ecclesiastical author, something inspired in me by my spiritual father Augustine, Metropolitan of Fiori• na, Greece, from as early as my undergraduate years. Since then I have had the opportunity to study the chrysostomic work in its entirety from the original Greek text. When I undertook the present work, I once again started to study, the same texts. This time I focused my attention on texts most related to my topic, such as the expository homilies on the Gospels according to Matthew and John, on the Acts of the Apostles and on St. Paul's Epistles, as well as the homilies referring to the title of the Acts and to particular apostolic words. Furthermore, I have used the TLG electronic system to track down other relevant related concepts from the entire spectrum of the chrysostomic work. In my attempts to improve the present work, I was assisted by several persons, to whom I should like to express my gratitude. First of all, I should like to thank father George Dragas, senior lecturer at Durham University and now dean at Holy Cross Orthodox Theological School in Boston, U.S.A., who, as my supenisor, substantially helped me in completing this work with his constant supervision, experienced guidance and suitable remarks. Alongside him, I should like to express my thanks to the rest of the staff of the Department of Theology in Durham, who kindly admitted me to the university community of Durham, as well 5 as to the staff of the Palace Green Library, who always helped me promptly. Furthermore, I wish to thank Stergios Sakkos, professor at the Faculty of Theology of Thessaloniki University, who contributed to my initiation into theology and more recently read through the longest part of the Greek text and made substantial and useful suggestions. I should also like to express my gratitude to my special friend Athanasios Paparnakis, M.A., who assisted me with computers processing, to Philip Papadimitriou, B.A., M. Phil, and to Dawn Regan, B.A., Dip. Ed., who helped me with English. Finally, a debt is owed to the Administration of the ERASMUS Scholarships Institution for supporting me financially for the first years of my studies as well as to my respected parents who carried most of the burden of the expenses of my stay in England and to my special friends who supported me in every way. Durham, September 1996 ABBREVIATIONS a. Bible books Gen Genesis Ex Exodus Lev Leviticus Deut Deuteronomy Ps Psalms Is Isaiah Jer Jeremiah Mat Matthew Mark Mark Lk Luke Jn Jonh Acts Acts of the Apostles Rom Romans ICor 1 Corinthians 2Cor 2Corinthians Gal Galatians Eph Ephesians Phil Philipians Col Colossians IThess IThessalonians 2Thess 2Thessalonians ITim 1 Timothy 2Tim 2Timothy Tit Titus Philem Philemon Hebr Hebrews Jam James IPe 1 Peter 2Pe 2Peter 1 John Uohn 2John 2John 3John 2John Jud Jude Rev Revelation b. Chrysostom's works GEN In Genesim PSALM Expositio in Psalmos jf£R Fragmenta in Jeremiam MAT In Matthaeum / JOHN In Johannum ACTS In Acta Apostolorum ROM In Epistulam ad Romanos 1COR In Epistulam i ad Corinthios 2COR In Epistulam ii ad Corinthios GAL In Epistulam ad Galatas EPH In Epistulam ad Ephesios PHIL In Epistulam ad Philipenses COL In Epistulam ad Colossenses 1THESS In Epistulam i ad Thessalonicenses 2THESS In Epistulam ii ad Thessalonicenses 1TIM In Epistulam i ad Timotheum 2TIM In Epistulam ii ad Timotheum TIT In Epistulam ad Titum PHILEM In Epistulam ad Philemonem HEBR In Epistulam ad Hebraeos ASC De Ascensione INCOMPR De Incomprensibili Dei natura PAENIT De Paenitentia PENT De Pentecoste PHILOG De beato Philogonio PRINC In principium Actomm SACERD De Sacerdotio VIRG De Virginitate c. Reference books and periodicals ABD The Anchor Bible Dictionary, ed. D.Freedman, N. York 1992 AJTh American Journal of Theology. AvBX 'AvdXxKTCt BXatdScov, 0EaaaA.oviKrj. AsSe Assemblies du Seigneur. AThANT Abhandlungen zur Theologie des Alten und Neuen Testaments Basel/Zurich. AThR Anglican Theological Review, Evanston. AuBR Australian Biblical Review, Melbourne. AMZ Allgemeine Missions Zeit. BEnBT Bauer Encyclopedia of Biblical Theology, London. BEn.EE BiJ3X,ioGfiKri 'EXXr\v(ov natepcov Kai ExKXriaiuaTiKGjv EuYYpoKpEcov, 'A0f|vai.