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፠ GUIDELINES FOR AN ORTHODOX MARRIAGE ፠
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(St John Chrysostom’s commentaries on man-woman relations, marriage and
conjugal abuse)
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The One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, the full name of the
Orthodox Church, traces its beginnings in the revelation received by
the Disciples of Christ at Pentecost. Through the Apostles and their
followers the Orthodox message was disseminated to peoples in the
Middle East, Asia Minor, Mediterranean Europe, Africa and the Indian
subcontinent in a short period of time, where Orthodox communities
exist to this very day. In the early centuries Christians
experienced extensive persecution by different Roman Emperors until
Christianity was accepted as the official faith of the Roman Empire.
While early Christians all belonged to the One, Holy, Catholic and
Apostolic Church, different historical, political and theological
factors grew the hiatus between Eastern and Western Christians.
Political events had led the Western Church to steadily
differentiate itself on important doctrinal/theological matters,
which fostered an eventual schism in the eleventh century.[1] The Eastern
Church Fathers relied on ancient Greek texts and redefined the
philosophy critically to express the soteriological message of the
ancient apostolic Church, without adding new doctrine. It is
understood within Orthodox conscience that their work was not the
product of intellectual exercise and syllogistic philosophy, but
rather theology as a result of
ascesis[2]
and enlightenment. St John Chrysostom (original being ‘Chrysostomos’
which means ‘Golden-mouthed’) is considered one of the most prolific
theologians/saints in the line of Orthodox Church Fathers.[3] Chrysostom was
born in the mid of the fourth century in the city of Antioch, a
prominent Roman capital. He studied Greek philosophy under Libanius,
a great orator of the time, but he eventually turned to Orthodoxy.
After living some time an ascetic life, he was ordained a priest at
Antioch’s cathedral, before becoming Archbishop of Constantinople.
Chrysostom produced numerous homilies (speeches delivered to the
faithful) that commented on or explained the works of the apostles
and especially the epistles that the apostle Paul had written to
different early Christian converts in the first century.[4] In his
commentaries, Chrysostom was driven by the concern to edify his
audiences in the apostolic message and to counter the worldliness
and licentiousness that he perceived to be thriving in the city of
Antioch.[5]
This paper is dedicated to St John Chrysostom’s commentaries
regarding man-woman relations in marriage and the conjugal
relationship as they emerge from seven homilies. An attempt is made
to provide a reading of these homilies through the Orthodox
phronema[6]
understood here as the experience-based historical conscience of the
Church. The aim is to bring the works of the Church Fathers closer
to the conditions of the Orthodox faithful and improve their
awareness of the Orthodox faith. It is the belief of this author
that Chrysostom’s commentaries in particular can become an important
resource for the
alleviation of pernicious attitudes regarding women and marriage
associated with tradition-oriented Orthodox communities.
These are well-known customary attitudes in tradition-oriented
Orthodox societies and may emanate from the public’s lack of
familiarity with Orthodox theology combined with a socio-cultural
emphasis on aspects of life that appear to be valued also within the
faith. They may have been unwittingly enforced through the
discourses of Church hierarchies and clergy when Church teachings
about man-woman relations and marriage are imparted without proper
exegesis. For example, an ecclesiastical emphasis on the
preservation of marriage or the family or the commandment to show
forbearance and forgiveness in challenging times may lead wives who
are abused by their husbands to endure harmful situations
indiscriminately. The aim of this essay is to enhance the
understanding among laity and clergy of Orthodox teachings on
man-woman relations and marriage so as to alleviate distorted
perceptions about the faith and to contribute toward reversing some
pernicious socio-cultural attitudes where these may exist.
[1]/span>
As Fr. John Romanides has aptly put it, the schism was not
between Western and Eastern Christians, but between Eastern
Romanίa
and the Frankish conquerors or the Western Roman Empire who
distorted the previously uniform Christian doctrine and
tradition for their political ends. See John Romanides,
Romiosini, Romania,
Roumeli (Thessaloniki: Pournaras, 1975).
[2]
‘ἄσκησις’;
translates in English as ‘practice.’
[3]
According to the Greek Synaxarium, about 804 homilies of his
have survived. See
Ορθόδοξος
Συναξαριστής, “Άγιος Ιωάννης ο Χρυσόστομος Αρχιεπίσκοπος
Κωνσταντινούπολης,”
http://www.saint.gr/3021/saint.aspx
[4]
Traditionally the Orthodox Church has accepted some fourteen
letters/epistles to have been authored by St Paul. These
are: Romans, First/Second Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians,
Philippians, Colossians, First/Second Thessalonians,
First/Second Timothy, Titus, Philemon and Hebrews. Thirteen
of these bear his name while one (Epistle to Hebrews) does
not. Notably, modern scholarship has questioned the Pauline
authorship for a number of these epistles.
[5]
Disagreements as to where different commentaries were
produced exist among modern scholars. Nonetheless, there
seems to be agreement that the bulk of homilies were spoken
in Antioch.
[6]
‘φρόνημα’;
can be translated in English as ‘conscience.’ It is implicit
in this terminology that the
phronema emanates
from one’s practice/embodiment of the faith. Why it is also
called historical will emerge later in this paper.
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